Gold Mountain Blues - Ling Zhang [267]
Such had been the case for over a century, but nothing lasts forever. When the work team arrived in the village, the Fongs got their comeuppance. The Aus were classified favourably, as “poor peasants” or “hired labourers.” When the PPA was set up, most of its members were Aus, and Big Head Au was elected as its chairman. Nowadays it was Big Head Au who called the shots in the village. Big Head Au, once a tiny scrub struggling to sprout between the fingers of the Fong clan, had now grown into a tall tree that no hand could shake, not even the powerful Fongs.
Kam Sau planted herself in front of Big Head.
“Who gave you permission to seize my family’s belongings? Was it the work team leader?”
Big Head Au was stopped in his tracks—not by Kam Sau’s words but by what she was wearing. He might have been illiterate but he was nonetheless sharp eyed. As chairman of the PPA, he had gone with the work team to attend meetings in the county town on a few occasions. That doublebreasted “Lenin jacket” was what county-level cadres wore.
The villagers waiting behind him were getting impatient. “Why are you letting a woman stand in your way, Big Head?” they shouted. “She’s only the daughter of a landlord.”
Needled, Big Head Au shoved Kam Sau so hard she almost fell and said: “Your family are big landlords. If we can’t redistribute your chattels, whose can we take?”
Kam Sau turned to appeal to Ah-Hsien. “Sister-in-law, you know better than anyone where our family’s money came from. You’re in the Women’s Association. Tell them what kind of a life my dad lived in Gold Mountain and how my brother was given a medal for patriotism!”
Of all the members of the Fong family, it was Kam Sau that Ah-Hsien was most in awe of. She was the one with the most education. Her manner was usually pleasant and amiable, and what she said always made sense. So much so that Ah-Hsien found it impossible to pick holes in her reasoning. Her fear of Six Fingers was skin deep, but she feared Kam Sau in her bones.
Today though, she was emboldened by the people standing behind her. And in her mind, Kam Sau’s arguments did not seem so irrefutable after all. “You’re not my sister-in-law,” she exclaimed. “Your family bought me as a servant. Have you ever talked to me about family matters? When your brother writes home, does he ever ask about me?”
There were shouts of “Don’t pay any attention to that landlord’s daughter! Tell her to get lost!”
Kam Sau and Wai Heung ran into the house and upstairs. Six Fingers was sitting on a stool in her room, her head tilted upwards. There was a streak of dried blood at the corner of her mouth. Mak Dau was holding a wet towel to her forehead. “Granny!” cried Wai Heung, running to her. Six Fingers had her eyes shut and cold tears ran down her face to her ears. The diulau was almost emptied of its possessions; all that was left in the room was the bed, a cracked dressing table and the wooden stool she was sitting on.
“Who hit you, Mum?” asked Kam Sau.
Six Fingers said nothing. Mak Dau answered for her, though he seemed to have great difficulty getting the words out.
“That pig-ignorant wife of mine, Ah-Yuet.”
Villagers were coming downstairs waving the rifles that had been kept under the roof. Mak Dau went pale. “Mind the bores! Don’t let them go off!” he shouted.
“If they do, it’ll be you that gets it in the neck!” they shouted over their shoulders.
Ah-Hsien was the last to leave, carrying a bundle of her own bits and pieces.
Six Fingers called her into the room. “Ah-Hsien, wait! I want to talk to you!” She made Mak Dau shut the door.
Ah-Hsien stood, wavering. She could not meet Six Fingers’ gaze.
“Legally, you’re still