Page 210 - I Live in the Slums: Stories (The Margellos World Republic of Letters)

stories about girlfriends her cousin had had in the past: she was sure he had had
girlfriends in the past. She yearned to be with him at night on the mountain,
viewing the moon and stars. But that was impossible, for her parents and the
neighbors would all say she was shameless.

It was Sunday. Qiu Yiping had gotten up early and hastily done the housework

—washed and dried the clothes, prepared food for the pigs, fed the chickens,
swept the courtyard, and cooked the breakfast. Then she had gulped down two
stewed potatoes and slipped out of the courtyard. She started running toward
Tomb Mountain, because she was afraid her family would stop her.
When she had climbed halfway up the mountain, she saw that her cousin was
still asleep in the wicker basket. He had covered one side of his face with a quilt,
and he looked very funny. The sound of Yiping’s footsteps awakened him, and
he suddenly sat up, hastily reaching out for his glasses.
“Oh, I overslept. I was really exhausted before daylight,” he said,
embarrassed. “You can’t imagine, Yiping. I ascended to the top of the mountain
and then even higher. Even higher! All of a sudden, I saw her. She was flying
past like a big bird. My God!”
“Who? Who was flying—flying past like—like a big bird?” Yiping began
stammering.
“You don’t understand. You don’t get it.” Her cousin waved his hand,
revealing his annoyance.

“Let’s not talk about it anymore,” he added.
He was wearing a blue-and-white-striped sailor shirt as he stood at one side
and washed his face and brushed his teeth. He looked like a bittern. After he had
cleaned up, he took some bread out of the basket and cut it into several small
pieces, dipped them in catsup, and ate slowly. He offered some to Yiping, but
she turned him down. She didn’t want to make a pig of herself!
Seeing that her cousin’s mind was elsewhere, Yiping thought he had pretty
much forgotten her existence.
“Cousin, let me ride in the hot-air balloon just once! Just once!” Yiping
begged.
“How could I do that?” He was immediately on his guard. “If your parents
found out, they would break my neck! And what would the other villagers say? .

. . Don’t be silly.”
“We could keep them from seeing. I could run out quietly in the middle of the
night. No one would know. Didn’t you say just now that when the big bird flew
past, you didn’t get a good look at it? If you teach me how to operate the hot-air
balloon, I can take care of it and you can get a good look at the bird!”