In the Pond Read Free Page B

he would be regarded as a liar by the editors of the newspapers and magazines with which he had connections. But if he didn’t meet the demands announced by Director Ma, the leaders would surely have the bonus deducted from his pay. It was obvious he had no way to stop them from doing that, so he decided to let it be. What else could they do to him? Hardly anything. They couldn’t fire him, because he was a permanent worker in a state enterprise and didn’t have to renew his contract as a temporary worker would. As long as his job was secure, he shouldn’t worry too much. Of course, from now on they would make things difficult for him, but he wasn’t a soft egg, easy to crush.
    Despite his tough reasoning, Bin regretted having sent out the cartoon that had cost him a sum larger than two months’ wages. By contrast, from the
Lüda Daily
he had received only a Worker-Peasant fountain pen and a canvas satchel, which came in a parcel together with two copies of the newspaper. In all, they were worth about five yuan. If only Meilan had changed her mind and stopped him when she had seen the cartoon that morning.If only he had known of the price in advance. Too late now; it was impossible to recover the water thrown on the ground.
    Now that he was already in the thick of the fight, he had best engage the enemy. The most effective strategy he could think of was to report them to the commune leaders. Yes, if the devil expanded a foot, the Buddha would grow a yard. He was going to expose the two petty officials, disgrace them, and have them investigated and punished by their superiors.
    A strong sense of justice and civil duty rose in him. An upright man ought to plead in the name of the people. He believed he was going to voice not only his own discontent and indignation but also the oppressed brothers’ and sisters’. Yes, he wanted to speak for all the workers in the plant.
    For two weeks Bin put aside reading and painting and concentrated on writing a lengthy letter of accusation to Yang Chen, who was the Party secretary of the commune and Liu’s and Ma’s immediate superior. Though it didn’t own the plant, the commune supervised it on behalf of the state. So Yang should be the first person with whom to lodge such an accusation. Every night Bin worked on the letter into the small hours.
    Through many years’ persevering effort, he had cultivated a scholarly habit — writing everything in brush, whether it was a title for his painting or a grocery list, unlesshe was pressed for time and had to resort to a pen. He had been extremely careful about his handwriting; according to the instructions of ancient masters, handwriting is something like the writer’s looks. No, more than looks, it displays his taste, cultivation, respiratory rhythm, mental state, spiritual aspiration, manly strength, and, most important of all, his moral character. Once on paper, everything must be brilliant and dignified, even a dot. Therefore Bin had always been conscientious about his calligraphy.
    As a budding calligrapher of sorts, he was patient, ambitious, and diligent. He enjoyed seeing his own words take shape on paper and loved the fragrance of his authentic ink stick, whose brand was always the same: Dearer Than Gold.
    The letter of accusation was completed. All together it consisted of thirty pages, about eight thousand words, every one of which was written in the meticulous style of Little Flies. Bin listed the crimes committed by the two leaders in the past few years, including not giving him a raise the year before on the grounds that he hadn’t shown enough respect for them; persecuting him because he was more artistic and creative than others; feasting at the plant’s cost whenever an important visitor arrived (Secretary Liu had once got so drunk that he had wet both his pants and a sofa in the conference room); accepting a lot of bribes from the poor workers and staff; using the plant’s trucks to transport coal, vegetables,