Chronicle of a Blood Merchant

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Chapter One Xu Sanguan worked in the silk factory in town, distributing silkworm cocoons to the spinners. But today he was out in the country visiting his grandpa. His grandpa's eyes had dimmed and blurred with age, and he was having trouble making out who it was standing by the door. He called for Xu Sanguan to stand a bit closer, looked him over for a moment, and then asked, "Son, where's your face?" Xu Sanguan said, "Grandpa, I'm not your son, I'm your grandson, and my face is right here in front of you." He pulled his grandpa's hand over to his face, let him pat it, and then put it back in his lap. His grandpa's palms felt like raw silk yarn. His grandpa asked, "Why doesn't your dad come and see me?" "Dad died a long time ago." His grandpa nodded, and a string of saliva slipped out from between his lips. He tilted his head and sucked until some of it came back in. "Son, how's your health?" "Good," Xu Sanguan said. "Grandpa, I'm not your son." His grandpa continued, "Do you sell your blood too?" Xu Sanguan shook his head. "No, I've never sold my blood." "Son," Grandpa said, "you're telling me that you're in good health, but you've never sold your blood. I think you're trying to make a fool of me." "Grandpa, what are you trying to say? I don't understand. Grandpa, are you senile?" Grandpa shook his head. Xu Sanguan added, "Grandpa, I'm not your son. I'm your grandson." "Son," his grandpa continued, "your dad wouldn't listen to me. Fell for some 'flower' or other in town." "Golden Flower. That's my mom." "Your dad said he was old enough. He told me he wanted to go into town and marry some 'flower' or other. I said, 'Your two older brothers haven't gotten married yet.' If the eldest hasn't even gotten married yet, how could I let the youngest go ahead and take a wife before him? Around here, that's not how you play by the rules." xu sanguan sat on his fourth uncle's roof gazing at the horizon. The sky was a wash of crimson that seemed to emanate from the muddy paddies in the distance, shining across the fields, transforming the crops into a vast tomato-red expanse. Everything was bright red--the little streams and paths that crawled across the land, the trees, the thatched cottages and the fishponds, even the streams of smoke that poured crookedly out from village chimneys. Xu Sanguan's fourth uncle was spreading fertilizer across the melon patch beside the house as two women, one older, one younger, walked past. Xu Sanguan's uncle said, "Guihua looks more and more like her mama." The younger of the two women smiled, and the older one caught sight of Xu Sanguan sitting on the roof. "Who's that sitting on your roof?" Xu Sanguan's uncle said, "That's my third brother's son." The three people below all glanced up at Xu Sanguan. Xu Sanguan chuckled as he looked down toward the young woman called Guihua. Guihua lowered her eyes to the ground. The older woman said, "He looks just like his dad." Xu Sanguan's uncle said, "Guihua's getting married next month, isn't she?" The older woman shook her head, "Guihua's not getting married next month. We've broken off the engagement." "Broken the engagement?" The fertilizing trowel in Xu Sanguan's uncle's hand dropped to the ground. The older woman lowered her voice. "The boy's health is no good. He can only eat one bowl of rice at a time. Even Guihua can eat two bowls of rice at a time." Xu Sanguan's uncle lowered his voice as well. "How did that boy go and ruin his health?" "I really don't know how it happened. First I heard people say he hadn't gone to