Joy

Author: Wang Da Jin
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-10-01
Features: Nanjing writer Wang Da Jin gained attention in the literary world with The Path of Desire. Like his previous works, his newly completed novel Joy vividly portrays the frustration, despair, suppression, and struggle of ordinary people, moving readers to tears. M. Merleau-Ponty said, "Humans are like an unfinished sentence stuck halfway." This book is a novel that tells only half of a story. Can it be finished? Of course, but then the novel would cease to exist. There is a perfect ideal that contradicts the art of writing. A perfect ideal is forever just a longing within our hearts, existing in the dreams of poets.
Excerpt:
Chapter Two
When Second Uncle was almost at his wit's end, he surprisingly got a job. The job was simple: walking through the streets and alleys to post medical advertisements. He could earn ten yuan a day. The price for this ten yuan was that he had to post all one hundred medical advertisements thoroughly and effectively at the entrances of every alley. This kind of pay was even worse than child labor, but Second Uncle was already very satisfied. He was deeply grateful to the old Chinese medicine doctor who gave him this job.
Several days earlier, Second Uncle had been wandering around various construction sites, asking people if they needed small laborers, but the answers he received were all "no." Most projects had already been underway for some time—who would still need small laborers? And the city was full of construction sites. He envied the migrant workers who worked on these sites.
That day, Second Uncle was again searching for work, like a headless fly. But, as before, the construction sites he visited had no need for labor. In this big city, Second Uncle ran around everywhere. He couldn’t afford to take a taxi and walked to every place, hurriedly, like a sprinter. To find a job, he didn’t even spare a moment to admire the city’s splendor and beauty.
Dusk fell again. Second Uncle hadn’t eaten. He thought that the money in his pocket shouldn’t move, thinking, "If I don’t find a job here, I’ll just lose the capital I came with." When he sat exhausted under a French tree at a street corner called Xiaobiaoying, he suddenly heard someone ask him, "Buddy, you want to find work?"
This question was like good news from the heavens. Second Uncle looked up and saw a man in front of him wearing a set of faded old military uniform. The man was probably in his seventies, with a dirty black beard and a dark face. A pair of small, bean-like eyes were hidden behind a pair of tattered black-rimmed glasses, making it impossible to tell his exact age.
"I want to," "I want to," Second Uncle smiled and happily stood up. The old man looked around and then whispered to Second Uncle, "Follow me."
The city’s alleys twisted and turned. Second Uncle followed the man. He walked very quickly and didn’t say much to Second Uncle. As the sky grew darker, the alleys became darker. The low, dilapidated houses on both sides of the alley were covered with clotheslines like spiderwebs, hanging above people’s heads. The road was covered with dirty, foul-smelling wastewater.
After passing some small hairdressing salons and vegetable markets, the man stopped near a public toilet. Second Uncle saw a small house next to the toilet. The wall of the house was painted with a few crooked red characters: "Chinese Medicine Clinic." The room inside was dim and smelled of disinfectant.
Second Uncle thought: Could this person be the doctor? And indeed, he was. The man went into the back room, put on a white lab coat, and sat down at a desk.
"I want you to help me post some advertisements," the man said, clearing his throat, his eyes glancing at Second Uncle from the top of his glasses.
Second Uncle was desperate and quickly nodded, saying, "Okay, okay. I understand."
The man cleared his throat again, as if there was always phlegm stuck in his throat, "Ten yuan a day."
Second Uncle’s face showed a flattering smile again.
"But you have to post all one hundred," the man emphasized.
Second Uncle nodded firmly, saying, "Okay."
No matter what, this was still a job, Second Uncle thought. And this kind of job was very easy, he thought again. The money was easy to come by. The more he thought about it, the easier it seemed.
"I’m an old military doctor. I’ve worked in the army for decades," the old doctor said.
Second Uncle showed great respect. He never expected an old military doctor to be in such an unremarkable place.
"I specialize in treating venereal diseases. Do you know what venereal diseases are?"
Second Uncle nodded. He did. That was dirty diseases.
"Moreover, my family has been practicing this for generations. We guarantee to cure it—hundred percent effective. Whether it’s syphilis, herpes, gonorrhea, or chancroid, we can treat it."
The old doctor said.
Second Uncle nodded nonstop in agreement.
"Not only that," the old doctor said, "I can also treat those who suffer from impotence. Anyone who takes my stamina pills will see results within half a month. I’m afraid his wife will eventually be unable to handle it. Don’t be too strong, okay!"
As he said this, he couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
"Three months ago, I treated a migrant worker from Anhui. He said he was impotent. He had been married for two years, and his wife was still a virgin. After taking the medicine I gave him, what happened? His wife is now pregnant."
"In short, whether you’re too good in bed, have problems, or not good at all, if you come to me, I can solve your problem."
The old doctor summarized his work, "What I do is give people back a healthy and happy life."