The Mao Case

Guards threw stones and curses and eggs at her. Needless to say, Qian, too, suffered horrible discrimination.
     We were called ‘black puppies.’ She was once marched onto the stage to stand beside Shang — as a companion target of mass criticism.
     That was too much for Qian. She denounced Shang and moved to the school dorm.”
    “I can understand all that, Mr. Xie. I was younger then, but my father was also ‘black.’ ”
    “If there’s any difference between me and Qian, it was that I still had the old house to fall back on. There was nothing for
     her. Shang died. Qian was driven out of her home, and she sort of disappeared for weeks. When she reappeared, she had changed
     so much. Like in an old saying, she threw a broken jar like a broken jar, but unfortunately, the broken jar happened to be
     herself. Then she fell for Tan, a good friend of mine, another black puppy of a capitalist family. He told me about their
     affair. In those days, it was a crime to have sex without a marriage license, but what else could two doomed young people
     do? She soon found herself pregnant. I was worried sick about them. One early morning, Tan sneaked into my place and pushed
     into my hands a large envelope, saying that it was something from Qian. He hurried away before I could ask questions. About
     a week later, they were caught in their attempt to flee to Hong Kong. He was beaten so badly on the way back to Shanghai,
     he committed suicide, leaving a note in which he shouldered all the responsibility. That’s how she was acquitted.”
    “That’s how she survived, I see. Did you approach her after his death?”
    “Qian was under surveillance. I knew better than to look for trouble. Besides, I was disappointed with her. So soon after
     Tan’s death, she found herself another lover — a new body hot in her arms with the old body not yet cold in the grave. And nothing
     but a lustful stud, almost ten years younger than she. They were caught in the act, with him doing something perverted, so
     he was jailed as a ‘degenerate hooligan.’ Of course, I still planned to give the package back to her, but then she died too.”

    “What happened afterward, Mr. Xie?”
    “Well, things started improving, though my wife left me to go to the United States. I must have told her too much about the
     American dream. Karma.”
    “That’s not your fault, but her loss. Please, come back to our topic.”
    “In the early eighties, people once again called me Mr. Xie. I no longer had to sulk about like a homeless skunk. My house
     was described as a symbol of the old Shanghai in the glittering thirties. So I ventured out to look for Jiao. It was a promise
     I made to Tan’s memory. She lived in the orphanage, where Zhong, Shang’s old maid, occasionally visited her. I gave some money
     to Zhong for Jiao’s sake — not much, but things were so hard for Jiao.”
    “Did you meet Jiao there?”
    “I tried not to, but one afternoon, she happened to see me in the company of Zhong, who introduced me as her father’s friend.
     Not long afterward, she left the orphanage and started working odd jobs.”
    “Did you still keep that package with you?”
    “Yes, I did. She shared a small room with three or four provincial girls, no privacy at all. I didn’t want to give it to her
     under the circumstances, whatever it could be.”
    “You did the right thing, Mr. Xie, but a lot of things changed for her, yes?”
    “Yes, and suddenly too. She quit her job and moved into a high-end apartment —”
    “Hold on. You had nothing to do with the change?”
    “No, not at all. I actually learned about it from Zhong, who thought I had helped. But how could I? Look at this garden. I
     can’t even afford a gardener.”
    “You should have one,” Chen said nodding, looking at the wasted garden.
    “After a few months, Jiao came to me, first as a visitor, and then as a student.”

    “Did she inherit a large sum of money?”
    “No, not that I know of.”
    “But she came to you after the publication of the book
Cloud and Rain in Shanghai
, I assume.”
    “I think so. As a student in my class, she’s well-qualified, but why she came to the class, I don’t know. Possibly it is her
     way of paying me back — her tuition is, I mean.” Xie said with his brows knit tight, “She’s helpful. It’s really beyond me why
     she provided an alibi for me the other day. Repaying me with more than money? I have done so little for