Cherry

Author: Wang Xiaotian
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-09-01
Features: I am over seventy now, and it is a fragile age for a person. Many, many years ago, I can't remember how many years ago it was. Back then, my father was a local official with great power. He had a dyeing workshop, an oil mill, and many shops. We lived in a spacious and sturdy official's mansion, with fine iron wires on the walls, and a guard of over a hundred officials protecting our home. Under my father's command were two important figures: a fat steward and a tall, strong military officer, who were the most loyal servants of the official family. I was the second son of the lord, and I had an older brother and a stepmother, Lady Zhen. Cherry and her mother fled from the northern war and came to our place. Lady Zhen discovered Cherry and kept her as a maid. That's when I started to like Cherry. Lady Zhen's beauty made Cherry envious, and the naive heart of a young girl began to bloom. She believed that a woman without color was not a woman, and that a woman only becomes a woman through bloodshed. She longed for bloodshed. Because the uprising of the northern peasant army was expanding, my father had to lead troops to suppress it, and Cherry, being from the north, served as a guide with the army. The journey was full of dangers, and Cherry was always ready to accept my father's large hand in caressing her, but she was disappointed. The army won the victory easily. The victory of the war brought joy back to the village. However, the incident of the venomous centipede buns by Tian Qu gave the village a shadow of gloom. My older brother raped the daughter of the local chief, Mu Ya, and to appease the Mu family, my father had my brother marry Mu Ya. Mu Ya's beauty made Lady Zhen jealous, and she poisoned her with medicine when she was pregnant. Enraged, my brother grew tense with Lady Zhen. At that time, my father returned from the capital. My brother was whipped twenty times in the ancestral hall, losing his confidence and sinking into despair, starting to take opium. Rumors about a girl he had slept with also created a rift between us brothers. Strange things kept happening. My father fell seriously ill. My brother became obsessed with brothels. My father died. After the election, my brother became the local official. My brother contracted a venereal disease. After Cherry took care of him and his condition improved, one day, she cut off his life root with a knife. She wanted to avenge my father, as she believed my brother had killed him. To save Cherry, I agreed to the military officer's suggestion to kill my brother. Our plan failed, but Cherry was saved. Meanwhile, the country's war broke out, and the uprising peasants overthrew our president with overwhelming force. Because of the national war, the struggle between me and my brother seemed no longer important. To fight against the common enemy, I and my brother reconciled. My brother died in battle, and I raised the white flag for the people. Cherry was taken by a general and made his wife, while Lady Zhen became her maid. Life is a cycle. The new country's laws stated that all people are equal. The military officer was executed, but I was left behind, as the government said I had merited credit for surrendering. On the night the monument was completed, people went out to celebrate, and Cherry came to where I was detained. When the bonfire party outside reached its climax, with thousands of voices shouting, we here also reached our climax. Lady Zhen died, taking her own life. Cherry's husband Tian Hong died, and she was taken to the capital. It wasn't until winter that news came, saying Cherry had died in prison. They also said, "You have a son, born this summer, and your presidential uncle named him Tian Zhang."