ten
minutes; he felt exhausted, close to collapse. Before he
crawled under the mosquito net, he went to the basin
on the stand and gave his hands a good wash. There
he discovered they were filthy, with diesel oil and dirt
between his fingers. After he had finished washing his
hands, as a matter of habit he took a paper tissue from
his pocket. He’d already used them up, though, and all
he fished out was the crumpled plastic packaging. He
felt something else come out of his pocket along with
the packaging and fall softly to the floor. The thing he
dreaded most came last: it was a red chilli pepper lying
on the inn’s plastic matting, shining forth its cool dark
red rays.
At night, Weeping Willow was a different world. The
business, small and quaint by daylight, emerged in
all its thriving, prosperous glory. The day’s heavy rain
lingered into the evening, stopping for a moment and
then starting up again. The lights of Weeping Willow
seemed exceptionally bright in the damp air. Perhaps it
was because of the bad weather, or maybe because traffic
accidents had delayed the drivers, but that night Weeping
Willow was very busy. Altogether, there were seventeen
drivers spending the night there. The few tables in the
restaurant were completely packed and the lights in
the inn’s rooms were all turned on in readiness. The
proprietress was radiant as she commanded her flock of
girls in miniskirts, shuttling back and forth between her
businesses.
Among the seventeen drivers was a young fellow by the
name of Li. He drove a fuel tanker, and he knew Xue. He
sat down and started glancing around, looking for Xue
among the other girls, but unable to find her. He asked the
proprietress where she had gone, and though he repeated
his question several times, the frantic proprietress kept
telling him to wait. So he waited, and didn’t drink, and
didn’t talk to the other drivers, and after quite a while
the proprietress finally came to him, but the news she
brought was very unexpected.
‘What a shame you should come now. Xue’s had a
family emergency; it just happened today. Her father
was coming to get her, but he was hit by a truck on the
highway!’
‘Was that the accident by Siqian?’ The young man was
stunned for a moment, then he suddenly remembered
something. ‘The site of the accident is still closed off. I
heard it was a hit-and-run.’
‘That’s the one. Xue had only eaten half her dinner
when the police came.’ The proprietress pointed at a
plastic bowl and said, ‘Do you see that? She just left her
dinner there.’
For a moment Li was at a loss. He opened his mouth,
but didn’t know what to say. The proprietress clapped
him on the shoulder and tittered, saying, ‘Don’t look so
stricken. You’re not the one who hit him. Why should you
be nervous?’
Li asked offhandedly, ‘Who did hit him?’ The proprietress
winked and seemed to want to tell him some
secret, but in the end she rejected the idea. ‘How would I
know? If I did, I’d arrest the truck-driving creep myself!’
Her hands waved ambiguously in the air and then
clapped the driver’s shoulders again. ‘Now don’t you pine
after Xue, she was nothing special.’
As the proprietress spoke, she bent closer to Li’s ear
and said in a low voice, ‘Give me a second and I’ll send
Hong to serve you. She’s our best worker, and she’s
beautiful, and she went to college. I guarantee you’ll be
satisfied.’
On Saturdays
The man they called Papa Qi was in fact still quite young.
Though Meng and his wife realized that he was younger
than they were, they still affectionately called him Papa.
It was a habit, and like all habits it arose from particular
circumstances. It might be inaccurate, but it seemed
wrong to correct it. Calling him anything else would feel
unnatural by now, like the time Ningzhu had suddenly
asked him, ‘Mr Qi, what time is it?’ The two men in the
room had acted as if a bomb had gone off, and turned
abruptly to look at her as she
minutes; he felt exhausted, close to collapse. Before he
crawled under the mosquito net, he went to the basin
on the stand and gave his hands a good wash. There
he discovered they were filthy, with diesel oil and dirt
between his fingers. After he had finished washing his
hands, as a matter of habit he took a paper tissue from
his pocket. He’d already used them up, though, and all
he fished out was the crumpled plastic packaging. He
felt something else come out of his pocket along with
the packaging and fall softly to the floor. The thing he
dreaded most came last: it was a red chilli pepper lying
on the inn’s plastic matting, shining forth its cool dark
red rays.
At night, Weeping Willow was a different world. The
business, small and quaint by daylight, emerged in
all its thriving, prosperous glory. The day’s heavy rain
lingered into the evening, stopping for a moment and
then starting up again. The lights of Weeping Willow
seemed exceptionally bright in the damp air. Perhaps it
was because of the bad weather, or maybe because traffic
accidents had delayed the drivers, but that night Weeping
Willow was very busy. Altogether, there were seventeen
drivers spending the night there. The few tables in the
restaurant were completely packed and the lights in
the inn’s rooms were all turned on in readiness. The
proprietress was radiant as she commanded her flock of
girls in miniskirts, shuttling back and forth between her
businesses.
Among the seventeen drivers was a young fellow by the
name of Li. He drove a fuel tanker, and he knew Xue. He
sat down and started glancing around, looking for Xue
among the other girls, but unable to find her. He asked the
proprietress where she had gone, and though he repeated
his question several times, the frantic proprietress kept
telling him to wait. So he waited, and didn’t drink, and
didn’t talk to the other drivers, and after quite a while
the proprietress finally came to him, but the news she
brought was very unexpected.
‘What a shame you should come now. Xue’s had a
family emergency; it just happened today. Her father
was coming to get her, but he was hit by a truck on the
highway!’
‘Was that the accident by Siqian?’ The young man was
stunned for a moment, then he suddenly remembered
something. ‘The site of the accident is still closed off. I
heard it was a hit-and-run.’
‘That’s the one. Xue had only eaten half her dinner
when the police came.’ The proprietress pointed at a
plastic bowl and said, ‘Do you see that? She just left her
dinner there.’
For a moment Li was at a loss. He opened his mouth,
but didn’t know what to say. The proprietress clapped
him on the shoulder and tittered, saying, ‘Don’t look so
stricken. You’re not the one who hit him. Why should you
be nervous?’
Li asked offhandedly, ‘Who did hit him?’ The proprietress
winked and seemed to want to tell him some
secret, but in the end she rejected the idea. ‘How would I
know? If I did, I’d arrest the truck-driving creep myself!’
Her hands waved ambiguously in the air and then
clapped the driver’s shoulders again. ‘Now don’t you pine
after Xue, she was nothing special.’
As the proprietress spoke, she bent closer to Li’s ear
and said in a low voice, ‘Give me a second and I’ll send
Hong to serve you. She’s our best worker, and she’s
beautiful, and she went to college. I guarantee you’ll be
satisfied.’
On Saturdays
The man they called Papa Qi was in fact still quite young.
Though Meng and his wife realized that he was younger
than they were, they still affectionately called him Papa.
It was a habit, and like all habits it arose from particular
circumstances. It might be inaccurate, but it seemed
wrong to correct it. Calling him anything else would feel
unnatural by now, like the time Ningzhu had suddenly
asked him, ‘Mr Qi, what time is it?’ The two men in the
room had acted as if a bomb had gone off, and turned
abruptly to look at her as she
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