In their hotel room, Lu Congzhi was fiercely whipping the calves of Ou Xiaohong and Ou Xiaolan with a feather duster.
“This is for trying to sneak out of the country!”
“And this is for running off with that blond idiot!”
“And this is for passing that restaurant around until it’s practically polished to a shine!”
“Do you have any idea what would have happened to you in America?”
“They’d tattoo you with gang markings, branding you the way they brand livestock. Over there, you wouldn’t be treated as people. You’d be merchandise. Understand?”
The sisters howled under the blows, clutching their ears with both hands, their faces full of grievance.
Wen Rui watched for a while and only intervened when Lu Congzhi was panting from exhaustion.
“That’s enough. Stop hitting them. They know what they did wrong.”
Lu Congzhi pushed him aside and delivered several more sharp strokes. “Do they? How come I can’t see it?”
Wen Rui hastily said, “Xiaohong, Xiaolan, hurry up and apologize to Brother Lu!”
Several cushions lay scattered on the floor where Lu Congzhi had flung them in his fury. Xiaohong and Xiaolan hastily knelt on the cushions, held their ears, and apologized. “Brother Lu, we were wrong! Please forgive us!”
Lu Congzhi tossed away the feather duster and sank onto the sofa, thoroughly spent.
Wen Rui poured him a glass of warm water, watched him drink it slowly, and gently patted and rubbed his back. “Don’t be angry anymore. You’ve been exhausted these past few days. You need to keep your emotions in check or you’ll make yourself ill.”
The two men sat very close together, their posture intimate. Xiaohong and Xiaolan exchanged looks, sensing something strange. They might not have parents, but they had watched television dramas.
On television, mothers were strict and hit the children, just like Brother Lu. Fathers were gentle, stepping in to defend the children while soothing their mothers’ tempers.
Although they had just been beaten, the sisters glanced at each other and their eyes shone.
So this was what it felt like to be loved! Brother Lu wouldn’t have been so furious if he hadn’t cared deeply about their safety.
They shuffled over on their knees, each hugging one of Lu Congzhi’s legs and rubbing a cheek softly against his knee. “Brother Lu, don’t make yourself sick with anger. We really know we were wrong. We regretted it as soon as they locked us inside the ship. The captain said we’d have to stay belowdecks for more than two hundred days before reaching America. We had to eat, drink, and relieve ourselves in that pitch-black place. The stink was unbearable! If it hadn’t been for those three million dollars, we’d have run away long ago.”
Lu Congzhi shoved their heads aside with his knees and said disdainfully, “The hatch was locked. Where exactly were you going to run? Turn into cockroaches and crawl through the cracks in the deck?”
Xiaohong and Xiaolan imagined themselves scuttling around as cockroaches and burst into laughter.
Lu Congzhi looked even more disgusted. Pointing at the door, he said, “Enough. Get out of here. Just looking at you annoys me.”
Xiaohong and Xiaolan stood up and slowly walked toward the entryway. Their smiles vanished, leaving confusion and hurt in their eyes.
As she opened the door, Xiaohong asked softly, “Brother Lu, when are you going back to Bei City? Could we come and see you off?”
Lu Congzhi said irritably, “Tomorrow morning. And you’re both coming back to Bei City with me. I’ll find a modeling school and enroll you. Once you’ve graduated, you can work as print models at my clothing factory. If an opportunity comes along, I’ll recommend you to big companies as runway models. How far you go will depend on your talent and how hard you’re willing to work. If you’ve got both, someday you could earn millions just by putting on pretty clothes and walking a few steps. Doesn’t that beat washing dishes?”
Xiaohong and Xiaolan stood stunned.
“Models? Us?” They pointed at their own noses.
“Like I said, that depends on whether you can work hard.” Lu Congzhi was deliberately provoking their competitive spirit.
The two girls immediately caught fire with enthusiasm. “Brother Lu, we can definitely work hard! We want to be models!”
Lu Congzhi waved them off with feigned impatience. “We’ll see how you do. Now hurry up and rest. We have a train to catch tomorrow.”
“Thank you, Brother Lu! We’ll always listen to you from now on.” The girls rushed over to hug him, mussed his hair thoroughly, then went giggling back to the room across the hall.
Lu Congzhi shook his head and couldn’t help chuckling. Then he remembered that in his previous life the sisters had disappeared without a trace, not even their bodies found, and his face darkened again.
Wen Rui had been watching him quietly from beside the sofa. Now he spoke at just the right moment. “Don’t dwell on things that haven’t happened.”
No. They already happened. Perhaps that’s how many of us died. That’s why I was reborn.
Lu Congzhi closed his eyes and held back the grief surging through him.
Wen Rui took a dictionary out of his bag. “Let’s look up those two characters on the wall.”
Lu Congzhi opened his eyes at once, his voice full of renewed determination. “All right!”
The pages rustled as they turned, until they found both characters. One was written as 叾??, pronounced du or duo, and meant buttocks. The other was 擩, pronounced ru, and meant… When Lu Congzhi finished reading the definitions, his face grew frighteningly dark.
Elio’s Notes: The first unusual character is followed by question marks in the printed Chinese source. I’ve preserved that form rather than guessing what might be missing.
Why had someone written those words on the wall? Why had they dragged Tang Hu over to photograph him? Was it a public humiliation?
He slammed the dictionary shut, thinking of Tang Hu’s foolish smile in the photograph, his body covered in injuries, and the way he had cried out for Zaizai while being abused…
It felt as though Lu Congzhi’s heart had been torn out and ground up in a blender. The pain was unbearable. He snatched up the dictionary and hurled it against the opposite wall. What burst from his lungs was not breath but fire.
Wen Rui lowered his head, pretending to rub his brow from exhaustion. In truth, he had been seized by a terrible sense of panic and helplessness.
He could imagine the depths of Lu Congzhi’s grief, rage, and resentment. Give Lu Congzhi a gun and he would shoot every person who had hurt Tang Hu full of holes.
What would Lu Congzhi think of gay men now? If he found out Wen Rui himself was gay, how would he react?
I wanted to bring you honor, but you’re nothing but a disgrace to me! Perhaps that was exactly what Lu Congzhi would think upon discovering his sexuality.
Wen Rui felt as though his own heart had been torn in half, the blood in his veins almost freezing.
He opened his eyes and said coldly, “I think there’s a lot to be learned from the Strike Hard campaigns of the eighties and nineties. Deviants with sick minds like that should be shot as soon as they’re caught. Homosexuality should be wiped out. Lu Congzhi, don’t you agree?”
He was testing him, using the cruelest, most self-wounding words he could find. He desperately needed to know how Lu Congzhi regarded people like him.
Lu Congzhi gradually calmed down.
Homosexuality should be wiped out? No! That’s completely wrong! There are good gay people and bad straight people. How can anyone condemn an entire group?
In his previous life, Lu Congzhi’s closest friend and most compatible business partner had been a fashion designer who was attracted to men. His name was Yu Si. He was gentle in manner but not weak in character. When their factory had been on the verge of bankruptcy, he sold the copyright to an entire collection of haute couture gowns to rescue Lu Congzhi’s finances.
To a designer, selling those rights was like selling one’s own children, a heart-rending sacrifice. Lu Congzhi and Yu Si were friends who had been through life and death together.
Yu Si was also deeply kind. When his exclusive model was abandoned by her rich boyfriend and became unexpectedly pregnant, she sought his help. After discussing it with his male partner, Yu Si actually chose to marry the model and shoulder all the responsibility himself.
Yet when the child grew up, greed for money drove him to torment Yu Si’s partner to death.
Lu Congzhi had been at Yu Si’s side, watching helplessly as Yu Si beat his chest and wept as though his heart had been ripped apart. In a single day, that greedy mother and son had destroyed his life, his lover, and every hope he possessed.
Then Yu Si jumped from a bridge as well. Lu Congzhi reached for him, but couldn’t catch him…
The memory cut like a knife, the pain piercing his heart. Lu Congzhi raised a hand to cover his suddenly tear-filled eyes.
Wen Rui stared at him quietly and said in an icy voice, “Homosexuals are a diseased group. Their crime rate is much higher than that of normal people. People like that should be dealt with harshly.”
“Don’t say things like that, Wen Rui.” Lu Congzhi lifted his head, his face dark.
Wen Rui met his gaze, his Adam’s apple moving up and down.
What are you going to say, Lu Congzhi? When you face someone like me, will you be frightened, disgusted, or repulsed?
Lu Congzhi stood up, pressed both hands firmly onto Wen Rui’s shoulders, and looked at him in disappointment. “Wen Rui, there’s nothing wrong with being gay. You can’t smear an entire community because of the evil acts of a handful of people. Whether someone loves men or women is their own freedom. As long as they aren’t harming anyone, nobody has the right to interfere or condemn them. It’s not even an illness, you know? Some people are born that way; others simply choose to live their lives that way. In ancient southern Fujian, there was a custom of forming qidi partnerships. It was a form of same-sex marriage in all but name.”
Lu Congzhi stared into Wen Rui’s eyes and continued accusingly, “Really, Wen Rui, even our ancestors were more open-minded than you. You have such a broad mind and such lofty ambitions. Words like that shouldn’t be coming out of your mouth.”
His expression turned even more solemn and his wording sharper. “Wen Rui, you’re the one who wants to execute every gay person. That makes you the deviant. Do you understand?”
Wen Rui knew it. He had said those things deliberately. His face remained stern, but within him a breeze was stirring, and springs of water were bubbling to life. His frozen blood seemed to warm and circulate through his limbs, carrying an endless, gentle heat.
Wen Rui parted his lips, wanting to apologize.
But the memories had stirred Lu Congzhi’s emotions, and he continued, “Binbin and I started a clothing company. We need to hire lots of models and designers. A large proportion of people in both industries are gay.”
“There’s one designer I have particularly high hopes for. He’s still studying abroad, but I’m determined to recruit him. He’s gay, and he has a wonderful relationship with his partner. I originally wanted you two to meet, but now I’m not so sure.”
“Wen Rui, you’re the friend and partner I’ve chosen. Barring anything unexpected, I’m sticking with you for the rest of my life. If I can’t fit into your social circle, I won’t force it. But I really want you to be part of mine.”
“I want to introduce you to all my closest friends. How nice would it be to meet for late-night snacks and chat together? If you dislike gay people, I honestly don’t know what to do. A lot of my friends in the future are bound to come from that community.”
Wen Rui’s heart seemed to awaken from its slow rhythm and began beating with wild, forceful thuds.
These words were more moving and sincere than anything he had dared hope for. Only the closest friends would want to become part of each other’s lives. Lu Congzhi held nothing back from him. He said they would stay together for life, going from spirited young men to companions with white hair.
For a moment, Wen Rui was dazed, and an image of that future appeared before his eyes.
Lu Congzhi leaned down to peer into Wen Rui’s eyes, trying hard to persuade him. “Wen Rui, can’t you open your mind a little? Gay people aren’t that frightening. They’re ordinary people too. If you’re determined to be prejudiced against them, we’ll probably end up arguing all the time. And I don’t fucking want to fight with you.”
Wen Rui didn’t react.
Unable to help himself, Lu Congzhi lightly slapped him twice on the face. “If you dare discriminate against gay people, I’ll be the first to slap you!”
“You already are.” Wen Rui let out a low laugh, seized Lu Congzhi’s arms with both hands, and said earnestly, “I was wrong. I’d be happy to meet your friends. When will you take me out for late-night snacks with them?”
Why had his attitude changed so quickly? Lu Congzhi gave him a suspicious look.
Wen Rui hastily added, “My treat. I’ll host everyone and make sure you look good.”
Lu Congzhi leaned even closer, narrowed his long eyes, and carefully studied the smallest movements in Wen Rui’s face.
Wen Rui gazed at him intently. “You know, there’s no social circle you can’t enter. As long as someone sincerely brings you in and stands behind you, you’ll find your place. Lu Congzhi, you’re always welcome in my world.”
That settled it. He was telling the truth, one hundred percent pure.
Lu Congzhi broke into a grin, pushed Wen Rui down onto the sofa by the shoulders, straddled him, and punched him hard. “Wen Rui, you bastard! With those thick eyebrows and big eyes of yours, you really aren’t suited to saying such twisted things! You scared the hell out of me!”