Where do alternative youth come from - He Jianming Reader

Author: He Jianming
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-07-01
Features: Story Three – The Fate of Dogwa and His Dog Friends
Dogwa had no name, and he himself didn’t even know what it was. He just loved dogs very much. There were many wealthy people in Guangzhou, and many of them had dogs. However, dog lovers often lost their priceless pets. Once a beloved dog disappeared into the streets and alleys without a master, it was no longer cherished and was often beaten by passersby. Perhaps out of a sense of empathy, Dogwa always tried his best to protect and adopt stray dogs he encountered.
One time, the owner of a beloved dog found it and gave Dogwa two hundred yuan. From then on, Dogwa treated all the homeless “dog friends” on the street and at night as if they were his own brothers. It is said that dogs are very human-like. Once, Dogwa fell ill and didn’t eat for three days. When he finally woke up from a dazed state, he found a pile of bread and fruit beside him. Turning his head, he saw two of his “dog friends” who had followed him for several months lying there, watching him with wide eyes. Dogwa cried, hugging them and saying for a long time, “My parents are even worse than dogs! They’re even worse than dogs!”
“It was his crying and cursing that made our soldiers notice him,” my comrade-in-arms said.
Last year, I was interviewing in Sichuan when a dockworker told me he had once taken in four homeless children who had been abandoned by their parents for various reasons. One of them was 13 years old but had never seen what his parents looked like. In his memory, his parents were just a mystery because his mother abandoned him three months after his birth and went to Zhejiang to find his father, a local geologist.
When the child grew up, he heard people say that his mother was once a very famous “flower” in the town, exceptionally beautiful and pursued by many men, but she refused to marry the “unambitious” local men. Later, a group of geologists came to the town, claiming to be looking for oil. These men were all burly and well-educated, at least with associate or bachelor’s degrees, skilled in music and arts, and excellent workers. Such men were hard to find locally.
The “flower” was captivated by one of the geologists from Zhejiang, and their relationship was so good that it made the local men and the geologists jealous. Two months later, the geological team moved to another place. A few months later, people noticed that the “flower” was pregnant. This was yet another piece of news that wasn’t really news.
The “flower” quickly wrote a letter to the man in another place, but he never replied, leaving her anxious. She had no choice but to travel hundreds of miles with her big belly to find the geologist. Fortunately, he didn’t refuse her.
When she returned, she proudly showed off her marriage certificate, telling everyone that she was now married to prove the legitimacy of her child. Later, the child was born, but strangely, the “flower” didn’t take him to Zhejiang with her when she married the geologist and never returned home.
Some said the “flower” had made an agreement with the man from Zhejiang: she could come, but not with the child, because he was already married to another woman and had a son. He said he couldn’t have children after divorce, so marrying the “flower” meant he couldn’t have more children. What hurt the “flower” most was that the man actually told her, “I’ve only been in your place for a few days. Can I really believe that child is mine? But compared to my original wife, I’d still rather have you.”
It was through this that the “flower” obtained her marriage certificate, and it was also through this that she permanently left her hometown and her child.
P22-23