Someone Is Waiting

By Mi Meng

In 1937, my grandpa, aged 20, went out rambling from Hefei to Wuhu without a stitch of extra clothing or a creature comfort to his name. It was just him and the road. Luckily, a girl named Cao Guangrong took him in and found him a job at Zhang Hengchun Pharmaceutical Factory in Wuhu.Cao Guangrong was a senior worker at the factory, and her colleagues usually called her Madam Cao. She and my grandpa started getting along very well with each other.

My grandpa was a thrifty man who would save every penny of his income. Madam Cao was a heavy smoker. Whenever she saw my grandpa, she would say to him, “Li Shouming, please buy me a pack of cigarettes.”

“You mean to give to you for nothing in return?” Grandpa asked.

“I don’t have any money to give you, but are you going to buy them or what?” was Madam Cao’s curt reply.

Sometimes, Grandpa would spend nearly half a month of his salary buying cigarettes for her.

Once, when Grandpa advised Madam Cao to cut down on smoking, she told him her story.She used to live in Peking (today’s Beijing) until she was 16, and her family was relatively affluent.Later, a rebellion broke out, and all of her family’s possessions were confiscated. Her father took her away from Peking, but he died on the journey. Her father left nothing to her except for the cigarettes in his pocket, which was how she learned to smoke, and later, she made the trek to Wuhu all alone.

It suddenly dawned on my grandpa that Madam Cao must have realized that they were both alone in the world so she kindly took him under her wing.

Soon, Grandpa won the recognition of the factory owner, and was promoted to be his attendant. On the day of Grandpa’s promotion, Madam Cao bought a new coat for him.

1937年，爷爷从合肥漂泊到芜湖，那年他20岁，无依无靠。一个叫曹光荣的姑娘收留他，把他安置在芜湖一家叫张恒春的药厂。曹光荣是药厂的老员工，别人都叫她曹女士。两个人渐渐相熟。

爷爷节俭，把挣来的每一份收入都攒着。曹女士抽烟，抽很多烟。每次看到爷爷，曹女士都会说：“李寿民，给我买包烟去。”爷爷问：“给钱吗？”曹女士说：“我没钱给你，你买不买？”有的时候，爷爷小半个月的薪水都换成了烟。

爷爷劝曹女士少抽点烟。曹女士告诉他，她16岁之前住在北平，家里很有钱。因为兵变，家产没了，父亲带她从北平跑出来，却死在路上。父亲没留下其他遗物，除了兜里的烟。她就这么学会抽烟，一路来到这里。

爷爷明白了，曹女士觉得他和她一样无依无靠，才好心收留他。

爷爷很快得到药厂老板的赏识，成了他的随从。爷爷升职那天，曹女士买件大衣送给他。当天晚上，爷爷趁着酒劲跑到曹女士面前，说：“为什么送我大衣？你是不是看上我了？”

曹女士愣了，说：“老是让你买烟，我过意不去，就想着送你件东西。你是不是喝高了？”爷爷说：“啊，真的喝多了。我刚才说什么了？听说追求你的人很多，你一个都没答应，为什么？”曹女士抽着烟说：“我不会在这里待太久。”

那个年代，辗转到芜湖避难的人很多，所有漂泊的人都把芜湖当作一个中转站，盼着有朝一日能回到家乡。曹女士说：“等战争结束，我会回到北平，找一个人，盖一座房子。”

在一个阳光灿烂的日子，日本人轰炸芜湖。药厂未能幸免，直接被炸塌，所有人都疯狂地往外面跑，包括那些曹女士的追求者。爷爷没有看见曹女士出来，就穿过人群，喊着曹女士的名字往炸毁的药厂里冲。曹女士被碎石砸到脚，一步都走不动。爷爷扛起曹女士，带着她逃出来。

所有人都打算逃离芜湖，准备下一次的漂泊。

深夜，曹女士找到爷爷，爷爷和她漫步到宁静的长江边。曹女士对爷爷说：“带我走吧，我喜欢你。”

曹女士说，她最恨一个人不断地漂泊。她梦见过自己和父亲一块死在了路上，这是一个美梦，因为能和家人在一起。曹女士对爷爷说：“和你在一起，我就不再害怕了。”

That night, emboldened by alcohol,Grandpa went to find Madam Cao.“Why did you buy me that coat?Do your feelings for me go beyond friendship?” Grandpa inquired.

Madam Cao was a little taken aback. “Because I always ask you to buy cigarettes for me, and I feel bad about it, so I thought that I should give you something in return. Have you been drinking?” She queried.

“Uh, maybe I have had a little.What did I say just now? Well anyway, I hear that you have many suitors, but you turned down all of them. Why?” Grandpa said.

“Because I won’t be here for long.” Madam Cao said with a cigarette dangling from her lips.

At that time, lots of people took refuge in Wuhu but they were just passing through, hoping to return to their own hometown one day.“When the war is over, I’ll return to Peking, find a man and build a house.” Madam Cao said.

On a sunny day, the Japanese army bombarded Wuhu, and the pharmaceutical factory was not spared. The explosion razed the factory to the ground.People scattered in all directions,including those who had been hoping to woo Madam Cao.Grandpa didn’t see Madam Cao coming out, so he went through the crowd, yelling her name. And when he couldn’t locate her, he ventured into the collapsed factory. It turned out that a stone had crushed

爷爷点点头。

第二天早上，爷爷准时出现在沿河路。曹女士看到爷爷没带行李，呆了。

爷爷对曹女士说：“我有事要办，不能和你走了。”曹女士盯着爷爷的眼睛，问：“这么说，你改主意了？”爷爷说：“是，我变卦了。”

原来，那天深夜，药厂的老板找到爷爷。老板说他要去逃了，但他在芜湖的财产很多，带不走，日本人来了一定会把他的财产掠走，他希望爷爷帮他藏好他的财产。作为回报，他承诺给爷爷一大笔钱。爷爷想了一夜，答应了。1938年年初，曹女士逃出芜湖，而爷爷留下来。

六年后，有个人找到曹女士，说在芜湖的监狱里和爷爷当了五年狱友。

原来，爷爷把张恒春药厂老板的财产用箱子打包，沉到芜湖的中江塔旁边，等他想逃出芜湖的时候，被伪军逮捕入狱。日本人问爷爷那笔财产的下落，爷爷没说，迎接他的便是无尽的牢狱生活。后来，日本人不耐烦了，决定枪毙他。

爷爷知道后，委托即将刑满释放的犯人去找一个叫曹光荣的女士。

爷爷的狱友从口袋里掏出一张契约书，递给曹女士。原来，爷爷之所以答应保护药厂老板的财产，是因为老板会拿出财产的一部分给爷爷买房置地。爷爷让老板签下契约书，随身带着。

爷爷的狱友说：“他本想亲手把它交给你，要你一定要活下去，等战争结束，拿着钱回到北平，找一个人，盖一座房子。”

我爷爷被执行枪决。枪响了，我爷爷看看自己的胸口，没有血迹，那颗子弹是臭弹。日伪警察局研究后决定推迟行刑，爷爷将和下一批死刑犯一块被执行枪决。爷爷骂道：“妈的，晚死一个月还不是得死？”

一个月之后，日军溃败，芜湖被收复，爷爷被释放。

爷爷对当时执行枪决的士兵说：“幸好你射的是臭弹，但骂你是我不对。”士兵笑了，对爷爷说：“没有无缘无故的臭弹，有人在井儿巷胡同等你。”

爷爷去了芜湖的沿河路，左拐走进井儿巷胡同，曹女士站在那里等着他。

原来，曹女士接到爷爷狱友的口信之后，连夜找到张恒春药厂的老板，对老板说：“他一直保护着你的财产，现在被关进监狱，如果你不去救他，我发誓，你也活不了。”药厂老板贿赂狱卒，于是有了那颗臭弹。

爷爷问曹女士：“留给你的契约书呢？”曹女士说：“用来贿赂，让你活命了。”爷爷问：“那一个月之后，如果芜湖没被收复，你打算怎么办？”曹女士说：“那就再来一次。我会花光所有逃命用的钱，直到你活下来完完整整地回到我身边。”

张恒春药厂的老板收回芜湖的财产后，还是给爷爷和曹女士盖了座房子。爷爷和曹女士结婚了，曹女士成了我的奶奶。

他们的家，就在芜湖市沿河路井儿巷二号那座江边二楼的小房子里。（摘自《初次爱你，请多关照》湖南文艺出版社）

Madam Cao’s foot so she couldn’t move. Grandpa picked her up on his back and carried her out.

Everyone was planning to flee Wuhu and migrate to another city.

At midnight, Madam Cao came to find Grandpa, and they roamed along the edge of the tranquil Yangtze River. “Please take me away with you. I like you.” She said.

She also said that the thing she hated most was to wander alone all the time. She had even dreamed once that she died with her father on the road to Wuhu.She thought it was a nice dream,as she could have been with her family if the dream was true. She told Grandpa, “If we are together,I won’t be scared anymore.” And Grandpa nodded.

The next morning, Grandpa appeared on Riverside Road on time. But Madam Cao was astonished to find that Grandpa came without any luggage.

Grandpa said, “I’ve got something else to deal with, so I can’t go with you today.”

Staring at him Madam Cao replied, “Well, have you changed your mind?” “Yes, I have,” was Grandpa’s solemn reply.

The fact of the matter was that late the previous night, the factory owner had visited Grandpa and told him that he was fleeing but he had a tremendous load of valuable possessions in Wuhu that he couldn’t take with him.The Japanese would definitely seize them when they arrived,so he hoped that Grandpa could help him stow them away in a safe place. And in return he promised to give Grandpa a large sum of money. After pondering for a whole sleepless night,Grandpa reluctantly agreed. In the beginning of 1938, Madam Cao fled from Wuhu, but Grandpa stayed behind.

Six years later, someone located Madam Cao and broke the news that he had been Grandpa’s cellmate for five years.

It turned out that Grandpa had packed up the factory owner’s possessions in a trunk and sunk it in the Yangtze River by Zhongjiang Tower. But when he planned to escape Wuhu, he was arrested by the Japanese puppet army and sent to jail. The Japanese asked Grandpa the whereabouts of the items, but he refused to say a word, so he was given life imprisonment as punishment. Later, the Japanese got impatient and it was decided he would die by firing squad.

After hearing about the news,Grandpa requested a cellmate who was about to be released from prison to find a lady named Cao Guangrong.

The cellmate pulled out a covenant agreement from his pocket and handed it over to Madam Cao. It turned out that Grandpa agreed to protect the factory owner’s possessions because the owner had promised to give part of the possessions to him to buy a real estate. Grandpa asked him to sign a contract and he had had it ever since.

The cellmate said, “He wanted to hand it to you in person, and tell you to stay alive, return to Peking, find a man and build a house when the war is over.”

The execution day arrived. A gunshot rang out breaking the stillness of the chilly morning air. Grandpa looked down on his chest, but there wasn’t any blood.It was a blank shell. The Japanese puppet army had decided to delay the execution for a month.Grandpa was going to be executed with the next group of prisoners who had received the death sentence.

“Damn it! All I’m doing is sitting around waiting to die. I’m going to die in a month anyway.”He cursed with shaking fists and gnashing teeth.

A month later, the Japanese army was defeated. Wuhu was recovered. And Grandpa was released.

Grand pasaid to the executioner, “It’s a good thing that it was a blank. I shouldn’t have cursed you out.” The executioner laughed, “There are no coincidences in life. Someone is waiting for you at Jing’er Xiang Alley.”

So Grandpa went straight to Riverside Road of Wuhu, and turned left into the Alley. Madam Cao was standing there waiting for him.

Grandpa asked Madam Cao,“Where is the agreement I gave you?” Madam Cao said, “It’s been used as a bribery to save your life.”Grandpa asked, “What would you do if Wuhu hadn’t been recovered a month later?” Madam Cao said,“Then I would have spent all my money to bribe them again and again so that you would have lived and could come back to me safe and sound.”

After the owner of Zhang Hengchun Pharmaceutical Factoryrecove redhis possessions, he still built a house for Grandpa and Madam Cao.Later, Grandpa and Madam Cao got married, and Madam Cao became my grandmother.

Their home was a small twostory apartment by the Yangtze River, located at No.2 Jing’er Xiang Alley, Riverside Road of Wuhu City.

(From The Moment I See You, Hunan Literature and Art Publishing House. Translation:Zhu Yaguang)