Don’t Cry, Tai Lake

had to drink. The only problem with the game was when both of the drinkers wanted to drink. They could purposely lose in order to drink a cup.
    Chen had no idea how long the game had been going on. Judging by the half-empty bottle, the two must have been sitting there for quite a while. It wasn’t the form of the game but its contents that attracted him. Absurd as those lines might have sounded, they presented satirical, scathing comments on society. Indeed, so many things that had been taken for granted now appeared to be unrealistic and unattainable, as if in a fairy tale.
    So he seated himself at a table next to theirs, tapping his finger on the liquor-stained surface, as if beating to the rhythm of the game.
    He chose to sit there, however, not just because of the drinking game. The pub was located not far from the chemical company. Into their cups, people sometimes talked with loosened tongues. During another case, some time ago in Shanghai, he happened to obtain a piece of crucial information from a drunkard, an old neighbor he had known for years. Here, in another city, dealing with two strangers, he doubted he could have the same luck. Still, it was worth a try.
    Aware of his interest in their game, the two appeared to be growing more energetic and effusive, popping up with proper and prompt responses to one another.
    “The court was for justice—”
    “The doctor helped the patient—”
    “The medicine killed the bacteria—”
    “From the fairy tale told to our children long, long ago … now I drink the cup—”
    A crippled waiter emerged limping out of the kitchen, wiping his hands on an oily gray apron like a discolored map and smiling with a wrinkled face like a dried-up winter melon in the sunlight.
    Chen ordered himself a beer, a smoked fish head, and half of a rice-wine-pickled pork tongue. On impulse, he also ordered the white smelt stir-fried with egg. That was one of the celebrated “three whites” here in Wuxi, the one he had not yet tried. Going by the prices on the blackboard menu hanging on the discolored wall, none of them cost more than ten yuan.
    The two customers at the neighboring table must have been paying close attention to the discussion between Chen and the waiter. They even halted their game for two or three minutes. At this place, Chen must seem like a Big Buck customer. The moment the waiter limped away with his order, the two started their drinking game again, evidently with even greater gusto.
    “An actress did not have to sleep with the director for a role—”
    “A child’s father did not have to be tested for fatherhood—”
    “People did not have to take off their clothes when taking pictures—”
    “An idiot could not be a professor—”
    “A married man could not keep little sisters—”
    “Sex could not be bargained or sold—”
    “Embezzlement was not encouraged—”
    “Bad guys were punished—”
    “Stealing was prohibited—”
    “Rats were still in awe of cats—”
    “A barbershop only cut hair—”
    This time the game went on longer but was also more disorderly, no longer strictly following the parallel structure and without either of them stopping for a cup.
    The waiter brought back Chen’s order and put it on the table without saying a word, then retreated back into the kitchen.
    Raising his cup, Chen noticed that the bottle on the other table was empty and the two were looking at the “feast” on Chen’s table. One blinked his eyes obsequiously, and the other raised his thumb in exaggeration. The message was clear: they were waiting for his invitation. Chen couldn’t help wondering whether people in their cups were eventually all alike, too addicted to have much self-esteem or dignity left.
    He nodded and said, “I happen to have overheard some of your brilliant maxims. Very impressive.”
    “Thank you, sir. You are one who really appreciates the music,” the taller and thinner of the two said, grinning, smacking his lips. “My name is Zhang.”
    “When the world turns upside down, you cannot but suffer when staying sober,” the short and stout one said, with his red pointed nose even redder in excitement. “My name is Li.”
    Chen raised his cup in a friendly gesture of invitation. Sure enough, they moved over in a hurry, holding their two empty cups.
    “I’m from another city and all alone here. As an ancient poet said, ‘ How to deal with all the worries? / Nothing but the Dukang wine .’”
    “Well said, young