Fat Years - Chan Koonchung [67]
Fang Caodi was silent, and Lao Chen thought to himself, Old Fang, this time there is nothing you can say.
Lao Chen asked about the report Hu Yan had written on her research on the Christian underground church movement.
“We recommended,” Hu Yan said, “that the central government desensitize the question of religion—that is, abandon their sensitivity to religion. We advised the government not to treat it as a question of ‘the enemy versus us,’ or not even as a ‘contradiction among the people.’ They should normalize the question of religion—that is, they should regard religion as a normal part of life. We should learn a lesson from previous policy and not make another mistake like the 1999 suppression of the Falun Gong.”
“They absolutely should not,” Fang Caodi chimed in, “they absolutely should not make that same mistake, it would be too evil.”
Hu Yan nodded her agreement.
“Hu Yan.” Lao Chen finally came to his main question. “What do you think about the words maizi busi, the ‘grain does not die’?”
“I’m not too familiar with the Christian Bible,” said Hu Yan, “but I think this statement is from the Gospels, something like ‘the grain that falls upon the ground does not die.’ All Christians are aware of this passage. There is an underground church in Henan Province that is called the luodi maizi, the Church of the Grain Fallen on the Ground.”
“Where in Henan?” Lao Chen asked quickly. “Find the exact location for me, will you?”
“No problem.”
After they had parted from Hu Yan, Fang Caodi said, “Professor Hu is a good person, but she is not one of us.”
“Thank God,” said Lao Chen, “that there are still people in the world who are not like you.”
“I could tell from her expression,” Fang Caodi said, “she was so happy. And as I expected, she didn’t know about that lost month.”
“Fang Caodi,” Lao Chen urged him, “forget all about that so-called lost month. It’s not worth it. Life’s too short; just look after yourself.”
Fang Caodi didn’t answer. Lao Chen knew that no matter how clever he was, he could never change Fang Caodi.
Once they were sitting in the car, Fang Caodi said, “Lao Chen, do me the honor of coming to Miaomiao’s house to have dinner with Zhang Dou, Miaomiao, and me, okay?”
Lao Chen didn’t much want to go there, but since he might need his help to find Little Xi and he didn’t have anything else to do, he agreed.
His acceptance pleased Fang Caodi. “This whole area,” he said, pointing to Chang-an Boulevard as he started the car, “used to be full of out-of-town petitioners come to state their grievances to the government. I once went over there specially to see if I could find any people like me among that big crowd of people. What do you think happened? There isn’t even a single petitioner anymore, and the shacks they used to live in on the Southside have all been demolished. At first I was thinking maybe that friend of yours was hiding there.”
It had been years since Lao Chen had given any thought to all those out-of-town petitioners, but he was sure of one thing: even if there still were petitioners there, Little Xi would not be one of them. That area was close to the prosecutor’s office and the law courts, and Little Xi would stay far away so as not to be seen by anyone who knew her.
Fang Caodi continued rattling on about everything under the sun while Lao Chen more or less ignored him. In fact, he would not have agreed to dinner if he had known Fang lived so far out of Beijing.
When they arrived at Miaomiao’s house in Huairou, Fang Caodi introduced him to Zhang Dou, Miaomiao, and their pack of dogs and cats. Then he took Lao Chen into the living room. The four walls were lined with metal shelves on which were piled newspaper clippings, magazines, and other miscellaneous junk. In the middle was a desk, a folding chair, and a camp bed.
“Lao Chen”—Fang Caodi pointed to the newspapers and magazines—“these things are all the evidence I’ve collected for over two years. They prove what really happened during those twenty-eight days. You’re an intellectual. You’ve spent your whole life seeking truth and