Baptism by Yang Jiang

Epilogue

Baptism 277 One Sunday morning, Yancheng said to Lilin, “I’m going to the Yaos’. Does that bother you? Do you want to come with me?” Lilin wasn’t dressed yet. She had already slipped back a little, into her old ways. Her complexion didn’t look so sallow and she no longer wore uniforms. She gave an unconvincing smile. “It’s been a long time since we went to their house. Should I go too? Wait till I change my clothes.” Lilin dressed quickly while Yancheng waited in silence. Suddenly he heard a guest arrive, and seized his chance to slip out the back door alone. Mrs. Yao was at home. Yancheng inquired about her health and asked casually, “Is Yao Mi at work?” Mrs. Yao laughed, “You’ve gotten addled by all those meetings. It’s Sunday, why would she go to work? She went out with Luo Hou.” Yancheng quickly turned away. He felt his heart lurch for a few beats and he knew his face muscles would also react. For a moment he seemed to hear Yu Nan’s words, “Love demands complete possession,” and he was so embarrassed and ashamed that he broke into a cold sweat. Mrs. Yao didn’t seem to notice. She said, “Yancheng, I haven’t congratulated you yet, because I don’t know whether you’re happy about it or not. I hear that you two won first prize in the lottery. Are you glad?” Yancheng said he didn’t know about winning any prize. “You were both posted to the university. The news came yesterday. You didn’t know about it yourselves?” “How about everyone else?” Epilogue 278 Epilogue “Zhu Qianli is going to some foreign language institute, and Jiang Min too. No one else has been assigned yet. But you two are assigned. It’s definite.” Yancheng was silent for a moment, then said hesitantly, “On the form, I said my goal was to teach English grammar, and Lilin said she wanted to teach spoken English. I don’t know whether that will be up to us.” “Why do you want to teach grammar?” Yancheng gave an embarrassed laugh. “Mrs. Yao, I used to be very arrogant. Some people said science would save the country, but I maintained that literature would save the country. And not only the country, I thought the subtle influence of literature would save the people too. But forget about my arrogance. Now I realize that I’m totally unfit to teach literature. If I talked about the subtle influence of art, I would be divorcing myself from politics and advocating art for art’s sake. From now on, the less I have to do with literature, the better. My plan is to teach English to students from other departments, or else just grammar for English majors. But if the choice isn’t mine to make, then I’ll fare even worse than here in the Research Institute.” “Ah Mi said she wanted to do library work, or possibly translation,” Mrs. Yao said. “Luo Hou’s aunt and uncle paid a special visit to tell me they wanted Ah Mi and Luo Hou to put down the same choice, so that they would be assigned to work in the same place. But I don’t know what Luo Hou put down.” Yancheng hastened to say, “Luo Hou is very capable. He’ll accomplish a great deal. He has courage, insight, and generosity. I really like him.” Mrs. Yao said, “He’s wild and undisciplined, but he knows his own mind. He worships you! He’s never wanted anyone to propose a match for him. He says he wants to marry a tough woman who can stand up to him when they fight. Recently, after his aunt and uncle came to visit, I asked if he’d found his tough woman yet. He said he hadn’t, but he planned to ask Professor Xu to find him a girlfriend.” Without thinking, Yancheng said, “What does he need me for! He already has one, doesn’t he?” Epilogue 279 “You mean Ah Mi?” Mrs. Yao smiled. “I asked her. She said she’s never getting married. She plans to stay with her mama all her life.” “She said that before, but does she still say it?” “She said it before, and she still says it.” When Yancheng heard this, it was as if a...