Red Sorghum

raped my sister, should he be shot?’
    ‘Of course!’ Commander Yu replied.
    ‘If a Chinese raped my sister, should he be shot?’
    ‘Of course!’
    ‘That’s just what I wanted to hear,’ Adjutant Ren said. ‘Big Tooth Yu deflowered the local girl Cao Lingzi, and I’ve ordered the men to tie him up.’
    ‘Are you sure he did it?’
    ‘When will he be shot, Commander?’
    Commander Yu sucked in his breath. ‘Since when is sleeping with a woman a serious offence?’
    ‘Commander, no one’s above the law, not even a prince.’
    ‘And what do you think the punishment should be?’ Commander Yu asked sombrely.
    ‘A firing squad!’ Adjutant Ren replied without hesitation.
    Commander Yu sucked in his breath again and began to pace impatiently, anger building up inside him. Finally, he smiled and said, ‘Adjutant Ren, what do you say we give him fifty lashes in front of the men and compensate Lingzi’s family with twenty silver dollars?’
    ‘Because he’s your uncle?’ Adjutant Ren asked caustically.
    ‘Eighty lashes, then, and force him to marry Lingzi. I’ll even call her Auntie!’
    Adjutant Ren undid his belt and tossed it, along with the Browning pistol, to Commander Yu. Holding his hands in a salute in front of him, he said, ‘This will make it easier for both of us.’ He turned and walked out into the yard.
    Commander Yu, pistol in hand, stared at Adjutant Ren’s retreating back and growled through clenched teeth, ‘Go on, get the fuck out of here! No damned schoolboy is going to tell me what to do! In the ten years I ate fistcakes, nobody was that insolent to me.’
    ‘Zhan’ao,’ Grandma said, ‘you can’t let Adjutant Ren go. Soldiers are easy to recruit, but generals are worth their weight in gold.’
    ‘Women don’t understand these things!’ Commander Yu said in frustration.
    ‘I always thought you were tough, not spineless!’
    Commander Yu aimed the pistol at her. ‘Have you lived long enough?’ he snarled.
    She tore open her shirt, exposing two tender mounds of flesh, and challenged him. ‘Go ahead, shoot!’
    With a shout of ‘Mom!’ Father rushed in and buried his head between her breasts.
    As he looked at Father’s neat, round head and Grandma’s beautiful face, a torrent of memories flooded Granddad’s mind. With a sigh, he lowered the pistol. ‘Button up,’ he said as he walked outside. Riding crop in hand, he untied his sleek brown colt and rode bareback to the parade ground.
    When the troops relaxing on the wall saw Commander Yu ride up, they jumped to attention and held their breath.
    Big Tooth Yu, his arms bound behind him, was tied to a tree.
    Commander Yu dismounted and walked up to him. ‘Did you really do it?’
    ‘Zhan’ao,’ he said, ‘untie me. I’ll leave.’
    The soldiers stared wide-eyed at Commander Yu.
    ‘Uncle,’ he said, ‘I’m going to have you shot.’
    ‘You bastard!’ Big Tooth Yu bellowed. ‘You’d shoot your own uncle? Have you forgotten what I did for you? After your father died, I took care of you and your mother. If not for me, you’d have been dogfood long ago!’
    Commander Yu smacked him across the face with his riding crop. ‘You no-good bastard!’ he railed before falling to his knees and saying, ‘Uncle, I, Yu Zhan’ao, will never forget your kindness in bringing me up. I will wear mourning clothes after your death and will memorialise you and tend your grave on all the holidays.’
    With that he jumped to his feet, mounted his horse, whipped it on the flank, and galloped off in the direction Adjutant Ren had taken. The horses’s hooves shook the earth.
    Father was there when they shot Big Tooth Yu. Mute and two other soldiers dragged him to the western edge of the village, choosing as the execution ground a spot beside a crescent-shaped inlet in a stream of black, stagnant, insect-laden water. A solitary willow tree, its leaves yellowed and dying, stood on the bank. The stillness of the bend was broken only by hopping toads; alongside a pile of damp hair clippings lay a single tattered woman’s slipper.
    They dragged Big Tooth Yu up to the edge of the inlet andstood him there, then looked at Mute, who unslung his rifle and cocked it; a bullet snapped into the chamber.
    Big Tooth Yu turned to face Mute and smiled. To Father’s eyes, it was a kindly, heartfelt smile, like the miserable dying rays of a setting sun.
    ‘Untie me, Mute. I shouldn’t die all trussed up!’
    Mute thought for a moment