Under the Hawthorn Tree by Ai Mi, Anna Holmwood Page B

that mother had cried till her eyes were red-raw, her face was swollen on one side, as were her lips, and her head was shaved. She sat in front of the mirror, trying to neaten the tufts of her hair with some scissors. She’s a proud person, with a strong sense of self-worth. She couldn’t bear being criticised in public like that. She held us as we cried, and told us if it weren’t for us three children she wouldn’t be able to go on.’
    Old Third said softly, ‘You have a wonderfully strong mother who can bear such pain and humiliation for her children. Don’t be too upset, lots of people have had similar experiences; you just need to get through it. Be like that Zhu woman, raise your head, be proud, and don’t let it get to you.’
    Jingqiu thought his class alignment was confused; how can he compare my mother’s actions with that traitor Zhu? She was upset. ‘My mother isn’t an historical counter-revolutionary, she was liberated. She’s allowed to teach. Those people made a mistake. My mother’s father joined the Communist Party but when he moved he couldn’t find his new local branch. People claimed that he’d left voluntarily. Around the time of the Liberation he was arrested, and before they bothered to get the whole story clear he got sick and died in custody. But that’s not my mother’s fault.’
    Old Third tried to comfort her. ‘The most important thing is that you believe in her, because even if she were a historical counter-revolutionary, she is still a wonderful mother. Politics . . . who knows? Don’t use political labels to judge your loved ones.’
    Jingqiu was exasperated. ‘You sound exactly like that traitor Zhu. Her daughter asked her why she had turned herself in, saying if she hadn’t, by now she’d have become a revolutionary martyr. Her mother replied, “I’m not afraid of being beaten, nor of death, but your father is in prison and if I don’t confess you’ll all starve to death.”’
    Old Third let out a breath. ‘On the one hand she has to think of her children, and on the other, the cause. I suppose it was hard for her to choose. But if she hadn’t betrayed anyone there was no need to punish her like that. At that time the Party had a policy – to help them stay in power – that after being imprisoned you were allowed to leave the Party if you made an announcement in the newspaper. As long as you hadn’t betrayed anyone, it was fine. Some people who had been in leadership positions, but were later imprisoned, did this.’
    He rattled off a few names as examples. Jingqiu listened, stunned. ‘You’re such a reactionary!’
    He laughed. ‘What, are you going to expose me? These things are all open secrets in the Party’s upper circles, even people lower down the hierarchy know about some of it,’ he teased. ‘You’re just too innocent. If you want to expose me, I’ll confess and die in your arms, perfectly contented. All I ask is that after I’m dead and buried, you come put some hawthorn flowers on my grave, and erect a stone with the words, here lies the person I loved.’
    She raised her arm and pretended to hit him, threatening, ‘Don’t talk rubbish, or I won’t listen.’
    He bent his head towards her and waited for her to hit him, but seeing that she would not come closer he leaned back. ‘My mother’s story might be even more tragic than your mother’s. When she was young she was progressive, very revolutionary; she personally led the factory’s guards to look for her capitalist father’s hidden property. She watched with her own eyes, unaffected, as people interrogated and tortured him. She thought it was all for the revolution. After she married, however she kept a low profile, working as a cadre in the city community arts centre. She was married to my father for many years,