Sip a few days of iced tea, through the body seems to feel cooler, I went next door to lie down in their own bedroom. Although I still felt hot and stuffy, but also fell asleep. In a haze, I felt someone pushing me awake, it was my room aunt Chen Ma.
I looked at the clock above my bed, it was only 6:30 in the morning, but the sun was already shining brightly outside the window and the temperature inside, too, had risen.
“Chi and another one of your colleagues are here.” Chen’s mother said.
“What can I do for you?” I asked sleepily.
“They didn’t say anything, but they didn’t seem very polite. They just barged into the living room and sat down on the couch, not waiting in the aisle like they used to.” Chen’s mother said.
“So, who is that other one?” I asked her as I walked into the bathroom. Chi is the vice president of the union, because of the work relationship, I have several contacts with him. He is still relatively decent and reasonable.
“I don’t know, this man has never been seen coming. Could he be a security person?” Chen’s mother said, “This man is long and lean.”
According to Chan Ma’s description, I guessed that the man might be one of the militants in the Asean union. There were no party members in our agency, but from some signs of union activity, they were appointed by the union to monitor our office. I have never had any direct dealings with them; they are mostly security personnel.
Lao Zhao knocked gently on the door outside, then handed Chen’s mother a tray and said through the doorway, “They’re urging the wife to hurry.”
“Got it,” I instructed Lao Zhao, “Tell them I’ll be down, and you entertain them with some cold drinks and cigarettes first.”
I dawdled consciously; I needed time to think it over to cope with what I was about to face. This early morning visit by the two of them was a foul one. In any case, in China, when people are required to attend a certain meeting or listen to a political presentation, it is rarely done with individual notice in advance. The leaders ask everyone to drop everything they are doing immediately and attend the meetings. I wonder what kind of meetings they want me to attend? As far as I know, the Shanghai Municipal Federation of Trade Unions has been assigned to the former employees of Asia Company one by one, so that they can receive the same low wage standard as the rest of the people in the future under the arrangement of our government agencies.
While sipping black tea and eating toast, I once again reviewed all the circumstances before and after the dissolution of Asia, in my head; at the same time, I also reflected on my own performance in the negotiations between the company and government agencies. I think every meeting is accompanied by the general manager, but I, myself, did not participate in any discussion. My task was to discuss with the general manager in detail and make some suggestions after I returned to the company. I made up my mind that if they asked me something about Asia, I would fight with them and let them go directly to London to investigate.
I put on a white shirt, a pair of gray trousers, and a pair of black shoes, which is the fashionable attire of Chinese women in public places, so as not to make myself too conspicuous in plain sight. As I descended the stairs, I considered that these two unexpected guests, who had entered early in the morning, might be intent on making things difficult for me and finding fault with me, so I deliberately put on a slow and leisurely pace and tried to look calm and collected.
When I stepped into the living room door, the two men were sitting on the sofa with their arms and legs tangled, each with a glass of cold juice, but the original seal is untouched. Seeing me, Chi habitually bent up, the other one, but still motionless, then, Chi looked a little embarrassed, red face, and snapped back to sit down. I walked up to them, and the one radical remained the same, still. It seems that this was a prepared disrespect. Shortly after the liberation in 1949, a person in charge of the Public Security Bureau where I lived made an initial visit to my house. As soon as he entered the front door, he rudely shoved Lao Zhao aside, stepped into my living room on his own, and spit on the carpet with a “boo”. This is the first time I have seen people who show their authority with rude behavior. In the future, I have witnessed grassroots cadres who often do the same, deliberately using excessive rudeness to hide the inferiority complex that grows within themselves.
I pretended to be oblivious to Qi’s wretchedness and that one’s rudeness, sat down in a comfortable chair, and asked in a soft voice: “You two have come here so early in the morning, what is the matter?” “We informed you to attend a meeting.” Chi replied.
“We’re going to be late if you dawdle so much.” The other one said, and immediately stood up.
“What meeting?” I asked, “Who is presiding? Who asked you to inform me of this meeting?” “You don’t have to ask so many questions. We wouldn’t have come without instructions from our superiors. Anyway, all the old employees of Asia must attend this meeting, which is a very important meeting.” The militant chattered in a bad voice, paused, and added: “You know what? The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution has begun.” “But what does this have to do with us? We work in a trading company, not a cultural unit.” I said.
“Chairman Mao has said that every Chinese person must participate in the Cultural Revolution.” Chi said.
At this point, they all impatiently urged, “Hurry up, we’re going to be late.” Chi got up too. I looked at the clock on the mantelpiece, it was quarter past eight.
Chen’s mother was waiting for me in the aisle with my handbag and a light blue silk folding umbrella. I smiled at her as I took them, but she didn’t smile, just looked at me silently, it seemed, worried about me.
“I’ll be back for lunch.” I reassured her.
She just nodded her head and remained silent.
Old Zhao stood by the open door with his hands down, he was also worried about me. But he said nothing, only after we stepped out of the door, quietly closed the door.
Their concern for me was understandable. It is well known that during the successive political movements of the 17th year under the interference of the extreme left line, some people just stepped out of their homes and never came back.
There were not many pedestrians on the road, but the buses were crowded, and the passengers looked serious and restrained. It was a bumpy ride, as it were, until nine o’clock.
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