"Peiking has changed so fast." "In 20 years, it's become a modern city." "Almost nothing is as I remembered." "Change has wiped out my memories." "I can't tell what's imagined from what's real." "My stories always take place in summer." "People expose more of themselves in the heat and find it harder to control their desires." "It seemed like it was always summer then." "The sun always had time to come out and play with us." "The sunlight was so relentless, so bright, that our eyes were washed in waves of blackness." "In the Heat of the Sun." "In the raging storms of Revolution." "The soldiers' hearts turn towards the sun." "Oh, Chairman Mao, Chairman Mao." "We want to express our ardour to you." "You launched the Cultural Revolution." "and your military victories are stunning." "Your brilliant thoughts are like dew and sunlight." "After the 9th Party Congress in 1969 my father was sent to Guizhou as an army rep." "to stop factional battles taking place there." "I longed for a Sino-Soviet war." "I was sure that in a new world war the PLA's iron fist would smash the Soviets and Americans." "A new war hero would become a legend - that's me, of course." "Hurry" "wild goose hurry on your way." "With a letter from the liberated serfs under your wing." "Passing on love to Chairman Mao in Peking." "After Dad left" "I was more free than I'd ever been." "I always envied kids whose parents worked out of town." "Now I was one of them." "Let's bet that who can toss their bag the highest." "What's the wager?" "Ice pops?" "Butter flavour." "Two." "Ok." "Let me go first!" "No." "We'll start with Big Ant." "See if you can get it as high as the roof." "Ok, go for it Big Ant." "1, 2, 3" "No good." "Your turn Liu Sitian." "1, 2, 3" "No good, no good!" "Yang Gao, your turn." "1, 2, 3" "Oh, look at that stupid thing!" "Your turn, Monkey." "1, 2, 3" "You are such a lazy bastard..." "You even hold on to your bag yourself?" "Come on!" "Big Ant!" "Big Ant!" "And so I graduated from primary school." "We were all sent to different high schools." "This was a policy of the school... aimed at breaking up our little gangs." "But several years later... our families all moved to the same army compound... and I was reunited with my mates." "Gooloomoo!" "Oo-ba!" "Gooloomoo!" "Oo-ba!" "In the seventies" "Beijing didn't have so many cars or luxury hotels or even that many people on the street." "The older kids were in the villages or army and the town belonged to us." "Time for class." "Attention!" "Hello students!" "Hello teacher!" "Don't laugh." "It's a simple principle of physics." "Sit down." "Who said you could get up?" "Take your seat!" "I mean, first put that hat back and take your seat." "Yes, Mr Hu." "Who's class monitor?" "She is." "Get back here." "Who's asking you?" "I am asking class monitor to identify herself." "After class, get rid of these coals." "Open your books to page 35." "Let's look at the Sino-Russian Treaty of Nerchinsk." ""Sino"" "refers to the Qing dynasty." ""Russian"" "to czarist Russia." "But Nerchinsk, what's Nerchinsk?" "It's the region east of the Baikal Lake." "Who did this?" "What's the meaning of this, huh?" "Who?" "It wasn't me." "My hands are clean." "Hold up your hands, everyone." "Mr Hu." "Speak up." "Never mind." "Speak up, don't be afraid." "Maybe it was to keep the hat from flying off again." "It was well-intentioned." "So don't be angry." "I'm asking who did it!" "Well I don't know." "Sit down." "Don't be angry." "Mr Hu." "Class is adjourned." "I shall get to that bottom of this!" "Mr. Hu, Mr. Hu!" "Would you mind tossing me my shoe?" "Sure, and I'll wipe your ass in the toilet too!" "Shall I help you put it on as well?" "NO," "Just toss it out here, please." "Get out of here!" "You rotten apple!" "Mr. Jiao!" "Someone get Mr. Jiao of the Workers Propaganda Team here right now!" "Jeez, Hu." "give me a bit of face, OK?" "I'm not asking for much." "OK, just you wait!" "Wait for what?" "What a joke?" "What are you going to do?" "Don't threaten me." "Fine." "I don't need that stupid show." "Come back here!" "Going to have someone beat me?" "Puncture my bicycle tyres?" "Stab me in the back?" "No one wants your filthy shoe." "Attention!" "March in time!" "Our leaders should rest assured, we will complete our mission." "8-5-1, 8-5-1, this is Yan'an, this is Yan'an." "Fire in my direction!" "Fire in my direction!" "I loved keys." "I learned how to make them." "I practiced on all the locks at home peering into my parents' secrets." "Then I began going into other people's homes." "The "click" of a lock popping open propelled me into a realm of sheer bliss." "This feeling" "This feeling, only the Soviet army attacking Berlin in WWII could have felt what I feel." "I can't hide it." "I got my talent from my father." "In the Korean War he worked out how to countless American bombs." "Lots of people lost their lives that way but he came out of it without a scratch... which is why Mom suspects that all his time in Korea was spent hiding out in the mountains." "I'd check carefully for any cash." "The machines everyone demands today were unknown then." "Work units provided most of the furniture." "I can testify that at the time... except for a very few politically suspect cadres there was virtually no corruption at all." "In all my exploits..." "I only spotted one old Soviet black-n-white TV." "I considered stealing it, but it was too heavy." "Besides," "I vowed I'd only break in," "I wouldn't be a thief." "When I tired myself out.." "I'd take a nap on the bed imagining what might have happened there." "I knew I'd never be caught 'cause no one ever snuck out of their office then." "And I never stole anything, so I didn't arouse any suspicion." "Of course, I ran into trouble from time to time." "But this didn't dampen my courage." "It only increased the thrill." "Usually, I only went for padlocks, they were safe." "But that day, something moved me to pick a built-in one." "I'll be damned." "I'll be damned." "I'll be damned." "Well, Hu, you've fallen low!" "This is Yu Beipei, from the Foreign Ministry compound." "This is our mate, Ma Xiaojun." "Come on up!" "That's Liu Yiku." "Liu Sitian's stepbrother just out of the army." "He was handsome and fought dirty." "We thought he was terrific, 'cause he always brought home girls." "She was called Yu Beipei." "That "pei" is usually pronounced "bei"." "But we called her Yu Beipei... and even she didn't know which was correct." "I didn't know you were waiting?" "No one told me anything." "Had a date, did you?" "Fuck you!" "No way!" "Don't be embarrassed, Monkey!" "Say it!" "Who had the date." "Enough, enough." "What thin skin!" "What's so bad about having a date?" "Wasn't it a date that brought me here today?" "Who with?" "Him." "Come, sit over here." "Just ignore them, they've got dirty minds." "She's talking about you, Ant." "Ignorant fool!" "Filthy mind!" "I'm wasting my breath on you!" "Now he's talking!" "Forget it, have a cigarette." "Yu Beipei next time bring Mi Lan with you." "We want to meet her." "You want to chat here up?" "Find her yourself." "Haven't you said no girl can resist your charms?" "Seriously we hear so much about her." "She's a legend." "Guys have fought over her... friendships have ended and some have died." "All we ask is that you introduce us." "Forget it, she's a proper sort." "I didn't say she wasn't." "Anyway, I've asked her and she said no." "The photo I discovered that day put me in a daze." "She filled my entire field of vision." "The implications of her gaze were bounded only by my imagination." "I had no idea she was the Mi Lan everyone talked about." "Gooloomoo!" "Oo-ba!" "Kiss, and one more." "Catch him!" "You OK, Yu Beipei?" "I'll bite you to death." "Let go, let go!" "Let me go!" "I'll get you, you little bastard!" "Forget it, leave him alone, Yu Beipei." "Beautiful flowers blossom across the land." "Friends are coming from distant places." "Flowers of friendship blossom across the land." "Welcome!" "Welcome!" "Warmly welcome!" "Welcome!" "Welcome!" "Warmly welcome!" "I was always hanging out there.." "like a cat on a hot tin roof." "frantic for the girl in the picture to appear." "Like a ghost.." "she came and went without a trace." "Only my intuition and a lingering fragrance.." "could verify her existence." "I'd wait till the stars were high in the sky," "and still nothing." "The ambassador." "It's Koreans." "How would you know?" "It's true." "But didn't the ambassador come last night?" "What would you know?" "There's not just one, you know." "There's gotta be two or three at least." "Maybe this one's from South Korea?" "What the fuck would you know?" "South Korea is America's." "We wouldn't even let him in." "Running dog!" "Who's a running dog?" "Hey, which country is she ambassador for?" "Yu Beipei, go get her to come talk to us." "Have some soda." "What'd you say to her?" "Are you a dancer?" "Yes." "At Youth Palace?" "Can you tell me your name?" "I'm Ma Xiaojun." "I'm Zhang Xiaomei. "Xiao" as in "dawn"." "The "Xiao" in my name means "small"." "These guys really are a pain." "Where do you think you're going?" "I love music, just wanted to see the concert." "Just because you're a music lover you pretend to be a foreigner." "And the Korean ambassador at that." "What's the real story?" "What are you doing?" "What's wrong?" "What d'ya mean, what's wrong?" "What the hell..." ""What the hell"?" "!" "I didn't do anything." "Right." "I've had my eye on you." "Come on!" "What'd I do?" "I didn't do anything." "And the girl there, you're coming in as well." "Your father's name?" "Ma Wenzhong." "Your mother?" "Zhai Ru." "Where do you live?" "No. 11 Internal Affairs Department Street." "What are you looking at?" "Just found this." "What a menace!" "Don't let that sort of thing slip by next time." "That gang's not going anywhere." "Carrying arms!" "Gonna rebel, were they?" "We'll take'em to lockup this evening." "Guoqing!" "Hear that?" "Uncle, Uncle, please let me go." "What are you crying about?" "What's his story?" "I was waiting for tickets, and they hauled me in." "Look at you, you think half of Peking is your turf." "If it's anyone's turf, it's ours." "Get that?" "Yes." "Wipe the snot off your nose... and don't show you face round here again." "Get that?" "This isn't mine, that is." "That." "You taking it or what?" "Yes." "If not, you're welcome to spend the night here." "I'm taking it!" "This one is fine!" "Go fetch my belt." "My belt!" "Go get it!" "Don't you think you're Mr. Tough?" "Lose your nerve, have you?" "Get up off your knees and stop crying." "I don't buy that crap." "When I cry, it's just to confuse you wimps." "What's it your business if I pick up chicks?" "I'm not after your mother." "I'm coming back to do it again tomorrow." "I'll be alone." "If you don't arrest me you can kiss my ass." "I'm the king of half of Peking and of your station as well." "OK, Get outta here." "If you don't move it, you're welcome to spend the night." "Who's there?" "Someone's bashed Yang Gao." "Fuck!" "On his way home he saw some kids from Liutiao bullying the retarded boy." "They were making him eat cat shit and trying to take away his pole." "Yang Gao went to his rescue and they bashed him up." "He can't open his eyes." "They broke the pole in half." "Let's go." "What about me?" "Girls stay behind." "I wasn't involved, mate!" "Out of my way!" "Yang Gao, was he involved?" "Let's go." "Monkey when'd you get to be such a thug." "What do you mean?" "What you did with that brick?" "It was dark." "I couldn't see." "Otherwise I'd really have wasted him." "If you told Monkey he was fat he'd loosen his belt." "He's really full of himself now!" "Actually..." "Actually what?" "I don't think that kid was involved." "Fuck you!" "Asshole!" "Why didn't you say so earlier?" "It all happened before I got a good look." "He's part of that gang." "What the hell!" "Get out of my sight." "Who's there?" "Yu Beipei." "Monkey." "You asshole." "I'm going to get you." "Come on out, then." "Come on, get a move on." "You jerks." "Look at this." "My clothes are soaking." "And you've torn the sleeve." "Jeez, you're a pain." "Yu Beipei, you've got to leave." "Go away!" "No" "I won't." "I said, get out!" "You bore me!" "Hiding like that... as if anyone wanted to look at you guys." "Oh no!" "Those are my clothes!" "I don't care whose they are." "Monkey." "this all your fault." "He's erect!" "The bastard's got an erection!" "He's erect!" "You scumbag!" "I have to pee." "Get outta here." "Hei." "Talking to me?" "Haven't we met somewhere before?" "Forget it, kid." "You're not old enough for this." "Wait, don't go!" "Don't you live in that building?" "Do you go to school down the street?" "Yes, I've seen you at the door of the police station." "You were with a policewoman." "Can we be friends?" "Is that necessary?" "I don't think so." "Why not be friends?" "You're obviously a very bad boy." "Can't we just get to know each other?" "Be an elder sister to me." "Find your elder sisters elsewhere." "If you won't be friends, I'll.." "You'll what?" "Beat me up?" "Yeah." "Really?" "You really think if we fought you'd win?" "Kid, come over here." "How old are you?" "Sixteen." "Let me look at you." "No way you're sixteen, liar!" "And you?" "How old are you?" "Older than you." "Still want me to be your elder sister?" "Yes!" "How can I put it... you're just like my sister." "You have a sister?" "No." "What's your name?" "Ma Xiaojun." "Really." "It's here on my book bag." "I'm not lying, and you?" "Mi Lan." "You're Mi Lan?" "So?" "Nothing." "Uh, you don't spend much time at home?" "How do you know?" "You live at No. 5." "I've been to your building." "Go home.." "before you get into trouble with your parents." "Go home." "But I've still got something to say." "There's something I forgot." "Uh, have you been to Beihai Park?" "Nice try but forget it kid." "Time for little children to go home." "So you will be my elder sister?" "Only if you do as I say." "I promise." "Ok, then run off home now." "OK!" "And no more picking up girls on the street!" "I swear before Chairman Mao this was my first time." "Bye!" "Uh, can I really come visit you?" "You really are your father's son, you!" "He's never at home and neither are you." "You treat this place like a hotel and me like a maid." "Aren't you something else!" "Get me some water." "And a bowl!" "Trying to scald me to death?" "!" "No." "You make me so angry." "No, Mom." "I'll kill you." "I'm going to give you a beating!" "No, Mom." "Don't, Ma." "No, don't hit me." "You're never here." "You're never home, you little son of a bitch." "You little son of a bitch." "You hang out with those bad kids." "One day I know you'll end up in jail and no one will sympathise." "This is a letter from your teacher." "Read it." "Read it!" "Other children come home to do their homework after school." "But you?" "It's dark and you're still not home!" "What's going on, huh?" "!" "Why don't you be exactly like your father.." "and never come home?" "Get out, go!" "Go!" "You're free." "Go visit the police whenever." "Why don't you just move directly to jail?" "!" "I'm an educated women with a proper upbringing" "but I've been a "dependent"" "since your dad joined the army." "Is that all I deserve?" "Me?" "I'm so furious..." "I'd like to burn down the house." "I can see your father in you and you in him." "Peas out of the same rotten pod you are." "If you were a chicken," "I wouldn't even eat your meat." "I hate you that much." "You hate me too, don't you." "When have you ever done anything to make me proud?" "You disappoint me." "I regret ever having had you." "You bastard." "I never hit or cursed anyone" "before your father and you came along." "Turtle spawn!" "Get out of here!" "..." "Oh!" "..." "Aaah!" "In a fit of anger, my mother gave birth to my brother." "My mates took her to the army hospital on the back of a bicycle cart." "Because the driver couldn't get the jeep started." "I thought, what sort of war-preparedness is this?" "An attack by the imperialists and we'd be dead meat." "Ma always cursed Dad when she was beating me, but her curses brought him home this time." "When I got older I realised my brother's birth had to do with my breaking into Dad's drawer" "and puncturing that big balloon." "That kid from Liutiao was in hospital for a month." "His mates sent word that there'd be a rumble on Monday at the Marco Polo Bridge." "We could each take 100 people." "I couldn't help feeling nervous and regretted trying so much to be a hero with that brick." "They demanded my participation." "My thoughts turned to Mi Lan." "I had to see her immediately." "Maybe it would be the last time." "The bastard's here." "Let me go see him." "What for?" "Act smart and watch for my signal." "Are you Ma Xiaojun?" "Yeah!" "Was it you who hit him with a brick?" "Yes." "The rumble never got underway despite all the planning." "We went to the old Moscow Restaurant." "Brothers of the 4 Seas  5 Continents.." "the supreme virtue is - unity!" "Cheers!" "I discovered a rule." "With a dozen people you can fight to death." "With hundreds involved, the fight never gets going." "'Cause the more you drag in the more likely it is that the same people will be friendly with both sides." "So it was this time." "We'd both gone for the most fared bully in Peking." "He had an awesome reputation and everyone talked about his underhanded ways." "This was my first and last encounter with him." "He was later killed by teenage punks who wanted to take his place." "All I remember is that his hand was so soft, it was like a girl's." "So I got off without a scratch." "But something else was driving me completely mad." "Mi Lan seemed to be avoiding me." "Mi Lan." "Mi Lan!" "Mi Lan!" "Who's there?" "Oh, it's you." "Come over here." "Why aren't you in school?" "Uh.." "Teacher's sick." "We're having study period." "I snuck out." "Have you been by before?" "No." "Humph, Why not?" "I've been busy with end of term exams." "I haven't had any time." "I've been really busy." "Really busy." "And I was thinking where he's disappeared to?" "Off meeting other "elder sister"?" "No, no." "So have you met anyone new lately?" "Seems like I've nothing better to do!" "No, definitely not." "OK!" "Give me a hand, would you?" "Sure." "Fetch that kettle from the hallway?" "Careful, don't burn yourself." "No problem." "Don't worry." "Let me help you rinse it." "Thanks." "Put in a bit of cold water first." "Oh, Ok." "Too hot?" "No, go ahead!" "It's so hot." "And summer's barely begun." "Can you swim?" "No." "And you?" "Yes, I'll show you some day." "Great." "If I fall in you can save me then?" "You bet though you're a bit big for me so I'll have to work out a bit first." "Every day, in Shisha Lake." "What about school?" "When I finish with exams, we" "Put it over there." "Yeah, we can go there together." "Stand there, don't move." "OK." "What are you studying?" "Studying?" "Dunno.." "I mean, how to make wine... and, uh, violins... sesame paste, stuff like that." "Where do you learn those silly things?" "From the workers and peasants!" "We worked for a month in the wine factory, got into a big fight there," "200 of them, but we won, and now we always carry cleavers in our book bags." "This older kid was begging for mercy, but we slashed him up anyway." "Really?" "So what do they test you on?" "Wine-making or fighting?" "Sit down." "You kidding?" "We were only there one month, the rest of the time we're in the classroom." "I like reading." "What sort of books do you like?" "How Steel Is Tempered," "Gadfly," "The Song of Youth, Bitter Blossoms, that sort of thing." "Do you like the heroine Dunya?" "I like Pavel, but I like Dunya too." "Pity how she changed... and became bourgeois." "Have you finished all those books?" "No." "Why not?" "They're just old books without beginning or end." "What about "200 Songs"?" "You read that?" "Of course!" "200 Folk Songs from Abroad." "It's a songbook." "I can't read music, I just read the lyrics." "Why don't you teach me to sing them?" "Sure, no problem." "Where do you work?" "Really far away." "So why aren't you there?" "I'm just back," "I usually stay there." "That's why you're never home." "So you have come to see me?" "No." "Liar." "My grandma told me you've been by." "A kid would call out "Mi Lan"... and run when she opened the door." "That wasn't me." "Really." "Fine." "Anyway, I'm on sick leave." "Come visit anytime." "What's wrong?" "Mind your own business." "Isn't there a photo of you in a bathing suit?" "Nonsense!" "When have I ever worn a bathing suit?" "It was hanging right there." "I'm sure of it." "There was a photo, but I wasn't in a bathing suit." "Impossible!" "Show it to me." "A friend took it." "I'm positive you were in a bathing suit." "Such a stubborn kid!" "Want to see?" "Strange!" "I'm so sure." "Really?" "Just like this one, but with a bathing suit." "No?" "Hanging right here?" "Just tell me this, am I wearing a bathing suit?" "No, you're not." "I don't get it." "It was hanging there, I remember it was in colour." "OK... why don't you take a photo of me like that sometime?" "OK." "Can I keep this one?" "No." "Come on." "No." "Why do you want my photo anyway?" "You really won't give it to me?" "Then I'll steal it." "You'd dare!" "Stop it!" "Angry?" "Don't be." "Really..." "It's not good to take girls' photos." "Come over here." "I've got something for you." "Come here." "Here." "It's got three colours." "I saw her practically every day." "To make myself look good..." "I'd claim credit for things other people had done... exaggerating and padding... out the stories with abandon." "My alleged evil deeds... matched neither my actual age or experience." "She encouraged me, never looking shocked at anything I said." "I told her how I'd learned how to make keys... and pick locks... and broken into her house... and seen her photo... and all she said was, "Really"?" "Sometimes she'd fall asleep, and I'd try my hardest not to stare at her body," "and keep my thoughts under control." "But wait..." "My memory plays tricks." "I've confused reality and dreams." "Maybe she never fell asleep in front of me." "She may never have stared at me like that." "Heavens!" "If not, Why is her gaze... and her sleeping figure so deeply etched in my brain?" "I passed my last exam... and holidays were beginning in two days." "You shop for groceries?" "Like a little housewife." "A housewife I am then." "How else am I supposed to eat?" "We go on vacation day after tomorrow." "How wonderful to be a student." "Two holidays a year." "But if I don't go to school, I might not be able to come every day." "Come on up." "No, I have to go." "I've been here all afternoon." "Really?" "What's up?" "Uh, when are you coming to visit me?" "I'm not." "I've no desire to meet that gang of bad kids." "You haven't met them, how do you know they're bad?" "Really, they're a lot of fun." "Some other time." "That's no good." "How will we get in touch?" "Let's set a day now." "All right, then." "What day's good?" "Monday." "Fewer adults around." "OK." "This is a map." "Just follow the arrow and you'll find it." "I'll be at the gate." "OK." "Give me a cigarette." "Why don't you buy it yourself?" "Just one, please." "Go play." "Smoke at the gate... just like a heavy smoker." "Don't smoke here." "Is she really coming or is this a trick?" "Yeah, Monkey, you've been had." "Maybe she's not even Mi Lan." "Why don't you wait inside and stop clogging up the view?" "OK, we'll be behind the hill." "Let's go." "Gu Lunmu!" "Ouba!" "Ouba!" "Can I stay here with you, Monkey?" "If you behave." "What's she look like?" "Pretty?" "Why don't you just go with the others?" "No, tell me, I can help you look out for her." "Hey!" "That her?" "Yes." "Why'd you come from that direction?" "I got lost cause of your dumb map." "This way." "They're waiting by the pavilion." "I've seen you before." "You work at the same farm as Yu Beipei." "Yes." "We're good friends with Yu Beipei." "Really?" "She knows a lot of people." "This is Liu Yiku, whom I've told you about." "This is his brother Liu Sitian." "This is Big Ant, you've just met." "Where's Yang Gao?" "Buying ice-pops." "They're all my pals." "Not a bad place you live in." "Give me a hand, Ant." "This is Yang Gao." "What took you so long?" "This is Mi Lan." "Hi." "Have an ice-pop." "Thanks, I was dying of thirst." "It's dangerous to come this way?" "It's a short cut." "Know which film's on tonight?" "Which?" ""Lenin in 1918"." "Really?" "Great." "Vasily...!" "Quick, take this." "Quick go tell Kerenshy..." "Bukharin" "Trotsky are traitors." "They want to assassinate Lenin." "It's all right." "BANG BANG!" "Bastard, die already." "BANG!" "That girl really looks an old trooper, her ass is round from too much fucking." "I'll kill you!" "Do you think she's good looking?" "You bet." "Have you made a move yet?" "What d'ya reckon?" "Get one for me, too, please." "Please?" "One for me too?" "Get up!" "Shit, hold it right there!" "If only you could play violin." "My dad's cultural troupe needs a violinist." "Can't you play violin if you play pipa?" "They're different." "You pluck one and use a bow on the other." "Mi Lan!" "Don't join his dad's troupe whatever you do." "His father would ravage you first off." "Monkey." "Sure you're not thinking of your dad?" "He's the one who got demoted for bad... behaviour." "Your dad!" "It was yours!" "He has two wives." "One in the country, and one here." "That's why you're Sitian - "thinking sweetness" and he's Yiku - "recalling bitterness"." "Monkey's insulting your dad - shall we beat him up?" "Forget it, let's give him a bit of face today." "Enough, already, no need for panic." "I'm not going to join the troupe today." "So do you really want to join the army?" "Yes." "Try out for "The Soldiers' Friends" troupe." "I'm aiming for "Political Headquarters"." "Mi Lan, if you play the pipa, you can play guitar, can't you?" "More or less." "We've got a guitar." "I'll go get it." "Keep your pants on." "I want to fly!" "I want to fly into the skies all way to the Kremlin." "To Leningrad." "Fly!" "Fly!" "Why sit down?" "I want to ascend the heights and revel in the view." "Monkey seems a bit different today." "He's talking all poetic." "Really?" "Stop scaring us like that." "Didn't he say he wanted to ascend the heights?" "This isn't a "height"!" "Isn't there anyplace higher in this compound?" "Yes, the smokestack over there." "That's a height!" "Yang Gao, don't stir him up." "Unless you want to try." "You go and we'll watch." "I didn't say I wanted to ascend the heights." "Has anyway ever climbed to the top?" "I have!" "Really!" "You're really something!" "Show us!" "Forget it." "Come on, show her!" "We'll give you two packs of cigarettes." "Get lost." "Just two?" "Plus two packs of filters." "There were four last time." "But I've been up there before." "A hero doesn't bring up past glories." "Don't rest on your laurels, make new contributions!" "Why don't you do us?" "How about this - four packs of filter tips, plus two of Cathay." "Your serious?" "Ma Xiaojun!" "He's really going to do it!" "No way." "He doesn't know how to get up there." "Rolls of barbed wire are blocking the ladder." "He's just trying to scare us." "Don't worry." "He'll be back in no time." "Vasily!" "There he is!" "Vasily!" "Vasily!" "Ha Ha!" "Get down from there, now!" "Vasily!" "Don't be stupid!" "Monkey!" "Get down from there, now!" "Coming!" "Shit!" "Here's another!" "Come down, Monkey!" "You mad?" "We're all excellent shots and each bullet takes down an enemy." "Ma Xiaojun, where are you?" "Go buy my cigarettes!" "My cigarettes!" "Mi Lan, don't go away." "Stay for the film tonight." "Everyone said I was charmed." "No one talked about supernatural powers then... otherwise I'd have been famous." "Later I figured out that it was the upward draft and years of accumulated ashes that saved my life." "You scared us to death." "You're not even scratched!" "Amazing!" "Cat got your tongue?" "What a temper!" "If you won't talk to me." "I'll be off." "What temper?" "So you really like talking with strange boys?" "What do you think?" "Dunno." "I think you're jealous." "Come on, what sort of girl do you think I am?" "Who's jealous?" "What were you talking about with Liu Yiku, anyway?" "Nothing!" "About joining the army, he said he'd help." "You never told me you wanted to join the army." "You meet him once and tell him everything." "Fast mover." "What was I supposed to do?" "Just sit there?" "You ask me here, and then you ignore me." "You just play heroes of "Lenin in October" with Big Ant." "That's "Lenin in 1918"." "Whatever, "Lenin in 1918"." "But that's no excuse for ignoring me." "Oh, Dad?" "Uh, this is my father." "This... this is..." "Hello, Uncle." "Our teacher." "Oh, how do you do?" "I'll be off then." "Bye, Ma Xiaojun, Uncle." "Bye." "Oh, little comrade," "What is your name again?" "Mi Lan." "Is there anything else, sir?" "Uh, no, that'll be all." "Then I'll be going." "Bye!" "Ok, bye." "Get my overcoat." "Why do you need that on such a hot day?" "I said get my overcoat." "Here it is, Dad." "Sit down." "So where does this teacher of yours really work?" "She works... at our school." "New, is she?" "Yes." "Where's she from?" "Somewhere in the west city, er, Xidan, yeah, Xidan." "What does she teach?" "Uh, a bit of everything." "She's making home visits, probably seeing the others now." "Teacher my ass!" "What teacher calls me "uncle"?" "You'd lie to your old man?" "You've got gall." "Take off that uniform." "Liar." "I saw through you right away." "You're a bad student, disobedient, and now you've got a girlfriend." "Girlfriend?" "She just came to wash her face." "Wash her face?" "You think I couldn't see her blushing?" "Don't forget I'm your father." "I know everything." "If she's not your girlfriend, what is she?" "Puppy love!" "That's not allowed." "Where's she from?" "Forget it." "I've no time for this." "Tell your mother I've been sent to Inner Mongolia." "Urgent mission." "War games." "When'll you be back?" "In a month." "Don't get into mischief while I'm away." "Political Commissar Ma!" "Time to go!" "Coming!" "This is this month's salary." "Give it to your mother." "Don't upset her." "I'll say that once more." "Take two Yuan for yourself, spend it carefully." "Don't go bringing girls back here." "Never lie to me again." "All right, I'm off." "Yang Gao!" "Yang Gao!" "Yang Gao!" "Comrades, comrades, quiet down!" "There's been a technical problem, so we'll move to the second film "Lenin in 1918"." "Liu Yi Ku!" "Liu Sitian!" "Vasily!" "Vasily!" "Quick, go save Lenin!" "Yang Gao!" "Yang Gao!" "Careful, it's poison!" "Careful, it's poison!" "Shit, where were you bastards?" "Where the hell did you go?" "Been looking all over for you." "Never mind, follow me." "Comrades!" "Some children have snuck into the theatre... so we've had to turn off the projector." "Where are the kids?" "Everywhere." "I didn't see them." "Stand up, stand up all of you." "How's this happen?" "Who was watching the door?" "Not one came through the door!" "This film is under criticism, it is extremely poisonous... children could be led astray by it to commit major crimes." "That's it for the film." "Just let their parents take them home." "The moonlight stirs my heart on this enchanted evening." "With my sweetheart by my side." "Only the wind softly singing..." "The moonlight stirs my heart on this enchanted evening." "The long night is quickly receding under the misty dawn" "I wish you well, girl, with all my heart" "and hope that neither of us will ever forget this evening on the outskirts of Moscow." "You sleeping?" "No." "Why haven't you said anything?" "You haven't either." "Why don't you try to sleep?" "I'd fall off." "Hold on to my waist." "You don't mind?" "No." "That was the most perfect day of my life." "The morning breeze raised goose bumps on my skin... and I remember the delicious smell of burning-off." "But who'd be burning dead grass in summer?" "Whatever the truth is... everything that happened that summer had the scent of burning grass." "Here it is." "That's our farm." "Thanks for carrying me all that way!" "I can take you further if you like." "No need, I can cut through this orchard." "Go home and get some sleep." "Bye!" "Bye!" "I saw Mi Lan again in my dreams last night." "Dad!" "Mom's father died." "They said Grandpa 'committed suicide to escape punishment'." "A 'landlord', 'capitalist', KMT member and 'counter revolutionary'... his home was searched for gold and documents he didn't have." "Tortured physically and mentally, he died in anger." "Later I learned my father's superiors hadn't approved of my mother because of grandpa, and it hurt dad's career prospects." "Ma also lost her teaching job and became an army dependent." "And her temper got worse and worse." "Before school, I lived with Grandpa and Grandma," "I couldn't understand how he could have been a class enemy." "After Grandpa's death," "Ma became sullen." "I went back to my wicked old ways." "The first thing I did after my return was to look for Mi Lan." "Mi Lan!" "Mi Lan!" "Who's there?" "Who's there?" "Don't run!" "Don't cry!" "Gooloomoo" "Oo-ba!" "Oh, Monkey!" "Where'd you come from?" "Haven't seen you for days!" "We missed you." "I missed you guys too." "Something happened at my grandparents, and I went back to Tangshan with my folks." "I wanted to see you." "I've a great idea." "What?" "You have a great idea?" "!" "When'd you get so full of yourself?" "You've just noticed, have you?" "Just." "But how'd you hide it from me?" "I hid it deep inside." "What else are you hiding?" "So, you want to know, do you?" "Yes, right now." "Then, I'll tell you..." "Go on." "You really want to know?" "Oh, Ma Xiaojun!" "Come over tonight!" "Do you think I'm awkward and fat?" "You're a fat cow." "What?" "I said, you're fatter now." "Can't get ivory from the mouth of a dog!" "Can't get ivory from a person, either." "Can you produce ivory from your mouth?" "Mi Lan." "He wants you to watch him dive." "Yeah?" "I don't want to watch." "Actually, I'm just a bit thick-waisted." "Not just your waist." "Look at those legs, that tummy, and here!" "Export quality!" "I am a bit fat." "Do you think I should be wearing a bathing suit?" "Does it expose too much of me?" "Nothing I can't see when you're not wearing one." "What?" "What do you mean?" "Never mind, you'd be angry." "Tell me!" "I won't be angry." "It's like you've just had a baby." "Ma Xiaojun!" "I'm not speaking to you." "Mi Lan, come on in!" "No, you come here." "Ma xiaojun, you're a beast." "Fuck off." "Hey, kid, come here." "You Liu Yiku?" "Yes." "Biaoge, don't you know each other?" "Let me introduce you." "This is the famous Biaoge." "It's no big deal." "Just asking." "If that's the case, see you around." "See you around, pal!" "Mi Lan!" "Who's that Biaoge guy?" "You really want to know?" "Forget it." "Every time I asked about him, she told me to drop it." "Later I heard they were once very close... and that he lost his eye on her account." "From then on," "Liu Yiku openly took Mi Lan as his chic." "August 23 was Romanian Liberation Day... and my and Liu Yiku's birthday." "We were born the same day, different year." "We had a party at the Moscow Restaurant." "Hello!" "Hi!" "You're looking gorgeous!" "I feel about you like the Masses about the Party." "Like the Masses about the Party!" "Look what I've brought the birthday boys." "Hands clean?" "Check them out." "OK." "Wow!" "Pushkin's poetry!" "Won't you look sharp skating in that!" "Really sharp." "No chick will be able to resist his advances." "Wrong - they'll surround him." "No need to advance." "No good, no good, that's too dangerous." "If they surround him the ice will crack give that to me, it's safer." "Thank you." "Look at you." "You're just going to say 'thank you'?" "What should I do?" "Think about it." "Open yours, Ma Xiaojun." "She looks after you like the Party itself." "For once you've said something clever." "Try it on." "The waist looks right." "Then it'll fit, won't it?" "Not necessarily." "Try it on." "Try it on!" "Try it on!" "Gutter-heads!" "Ignore them." "Just practice your swimming." "I'm still counting on you to save me." "Well, then no need to thank you." "It's only so I can save you, after all." "Consider Liu Yiku's deeply felt thanks from both of us." "You're a jerk." "That's right." "Comrade, could you bring us our food?" "Or at least some water first?" "Bitch!" "She's ignoring us." "Never mind." "Let's have some fun." "How?" "What?" "Think!" "You're always got lots of ideas!" "Let's play 'find the hanky'." "We can use Ma Xiaojun's red undies." "Then that's 'find the undies'." "I've got a game." "You're not allowed to ruin your gift!" "Relax, we don't need it." "Who's got a coin?" "How do you play?" "One enough?" "Gambling?" "No, it's a test of your honesty and courage, and whether you are a virgin!" "OK!" "Let's do it!" "I'm putting the coin here." "Each time I ask a question... you have to answer truthfully while pulling out the coin." "No dirty tricks, all right?" "First question:" "how old are you?" "No good, can't tell you." "Older than you." "I'll let you pass on that one." "But when's your birthday?" "Pull out the coin first." "Right." "Big Ant knows." "Right." "What's the date?" "January 1, same as the year itself." "That's more cool than Romanian Liberation Day." "Second question." "Give me back the coin." "How old were you when you had your first boyfriend?" "Uh... 16." "That's young!" "Third question." "What did your boyfriend say to you on the first date?" "Said what?" "What?" "That's so tight!" "I can't pull it out!" "Monkey, you are a beast." "You are so bad!" "What are you hitting my head for?" "I'm not your son." "I was dumb to begin with, but it gets worse with every hit." "What's wrong, Ma Xiaojun?" "Mao Xiaojun?" "What's going on?" "Don't touch me!" "Ma Xiaojun." "You're angry." "No... why should I be angry?" "So why are you so upset?" "Who's upset?" "Not me!" "What did I ever do... to make you behave like this to me?" "Nothing, you've been great." "Ma Xiaojun, everyone was having a good time, you can dish it out... but you can't take it in." "I use my wit, not my hands." "Why don't you use yours?" "You're not being very nice." "I'm not a nice person." "I mean, you're not like you were before." "I am too." "No, you're not." "Well, you're not either." "Are you sick of me?" "So what if I were?" "What if I were not?" "If you're not, I'll stay for your birthday." "If you are, I'll go." "Comrade Waitress!" "Can't you bring us our food?" "We're so hungry we are getting cranky." "Then go." "Can I ask why?" "No reason." "Calm down, Ma Xiaojun." "Drop it." "No." "Let her go!" "Monkey, drop it." "Hunger's put us on edge." "You still haven't left?" "Didn't you say you'd go?" "Fuck off!" "I'd better go then." "Sit down." "Ma Xiaojun?" "Give me a little face and let her stay, all right?" "No way." "I'll take on anyone who's on her side." "Fuck you, it's you I'm pissed off at!" "I'll kill you!" "I'll get you!" "You're dead!" "Ha ha!" "don't believe any of it." "I never did anything so "heroic" in my life." "I keep reminding my self to tell the truth." "But no matter how I try, something keeps interfering." "and the facts slip away." "My memory plays with and betrays me." "I don't know what the truth is myself." "I even suspect I didn't meet Mi Lan for the first time... on the street but when she visited." "That afternoon, Liu Yiku asked her over, and Big Ant and I... waited at the gate for her... that's the first time we met... and that's why Big Ant and I played Vasily." "and didn't talk a lot to her." "I hardly knew her." "In fact, I never really knew her." "Heavens!" "Is Mi Lan the girl in the photograph?" "And whatever happened to Yu Beipei?" "Maybe... she and Mi Lan were the same person?" "I really don't dare think about it." "I started telling this story in all sincerity and... then forced it to turn into a lie." "Is that a reason to give it up?" "No, no." "and you wouldn't want me to, either..." "How hard it is to keep your promises!" "True honesty is impossible." "Listen, sometimes a sound or a smell... takes you right back to the past." "My head is as clear as the moon." "So I'll continue our story." "Never mind whether it's the truth." "Nothing bad happened... on my birthday." "Liu Yiku and I had a great time... taking turns toasting Mi Lan." "Yu Beipei was there too." "I almost forgot." "There were stacks of gifts." "Mi Lan was really affectionate, fixing me with that gimlet gaze of hers." "We all got very drunk." "Mi Lan!" "Mi Lan!" "Mi Lan!" "Mi Lan!" "Mi Lan!" "Mi Lan!" "Ma Xiaojun?" "What is it?" "What's wrong?" "Tell me, what's wrong?" "I really like you." "What?" "What are you saying?" "I... my bike... my bike fell in the ditch." "Afterwards... it seemed that nothing had happened." "I tried to remind her of that, but she didn't react at all." "She still treated me nicely." "Is it possible that what happened that night wasn't real?" "But the part where I was injured still hurts!" "Ma Xiaojun." "What are you doing?" "Let me go!" "This is how you get your kicks?" "You bet!" "Mi Lan and I were no longer friends." "Soon." "the others began to stay away from me as well." "I passed my days in bitterness and pain." "Two months later." "Mi Lan stopped hanging out with us." "At the end of the year, Liu Yiku went back to the army... and found a proper girlfriend." "Later, we all went into the army." "I heard that Liu Yiku went mad... in the border war with Vietnam." "We all lost touch after awhile." "What now?" "What's going on?" "Who's that?" "Oo!" "Oo-ba!" "What do you mean "Oo-ba"?" "It's " Gooloomoo"!" "Gooloomoo!" "Hey!" "Gooloomoo!" "Gooloomoo!" "Cretin."