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，爺爺從合肥漂泊到蕪湖，那年他20歲，無依無靠。一個叫曹光榮的姑娘收留他，把他安置在蕪湖一家叫張恒春的藥廠。曹光榮是藥廠的老員工，別人都叫她曹女士。兩個人漸漸相熟。

爺爺節儉，把掙來的每一份收入都攢著。曹女士抽煙，抽很多煙。每次看到爺爺，曹女士都會說：“李壽民，給我買包煙去。”爺爺問：“給錢嗎？”曹女士說：“我沒錢給你，你買不買？”有的時候，爺爺小半個月的薪水都換成了煙。

爺爺勸曹女士少抽點煙。曹女士告訴他，她16歲之前住在北平，家里很有錢。因為兵變，家產沒了，父親帶她從北平跑出來，卻死在路上。父親沒留下其他遺物，除了兜里的煙。她就這么學會抽煙，一路來到這里。

爺爺明白了，曹女士覺得他和她一樣無依無靠，才好心收留他。

爺爺很快得到藥廠老板的賞識，成了他的隨從。爺爺升職那天，曹女士買件大衣送給他。當天晚上，爺爺趁著酒勁跑到曹女士面前，說：“為什么送我大衣？你是不是看上我了？”

曹女士愣了，說：“老是讓你買煙，我過意不去，就想著送你件東西。你是不是喝高了？”爺爺說：“啊，真的喝多了。我剛才說什么了？聽說追求你的人很多，你一個都沒答應，為什么？”曹女士抽著煙說：“我不會在這里待太久。”

那個年代，輾轉到蕪湖避難的人很多，所有漂泊的人都把蕪湖當作一個中轉站，盼著有朝一日能回到家鄉。曹女士說：“等戰爭結束，我會回到北平，找一個人，蓋一座房子。”

在一個陽光燦爛的日子，日本人轟炸蕪湖。藥廠未能幸免，直接被炸塌，所有人都瘋狂地往外面跑，包括那些曹女士的追求者。爺爺沒有看見曹女士出來，就穿過人群，喊著曹女士的名字往炸毀的藥廠里沖。曹女士被碎石砸到腳，一步都走不動。爺爺扛起曹女士，帶著她逃出來。

所有人都打算逃離蕪湖，準備下一次的漂泊。

深夜，曹女士找到爺爺，爺爺和她漫步到寧靜的長江邊。曹女士對爺爺說：“帶我走吧，我喜歡你。”

曹女士說，她最恨一個人不斷地漂泊。她夢見過自己和父親一塊死在了路上，這是一個美夢，因為能和家人在一起。曹女士對爺爺說：“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

爺爺點點頭。

第二天早上，爺爺準時出現在沿河路。曹女士看到爺爺沒帶行李，呆了。

爺爺對曹女士說：“我有事要辦，不能和你走了。”曹女士盯著爺爺的眼睛，問：“這么說，你改主意了？”爺爺說：“是，我變卦了。”

原來，那天深夜，藥廠的老板找到爺爺。老板說他要去逃了，但他在蕪湖的財產很多，帶不走，日本人來了一定會把他的財產掠走，他希望爺爺幫他藏好他的財產。作為回報，他承諾給爺爺一大筆錢。爺爺想了一夜，答應了。1938年年初，曹女士逃出蕪湖，而爺爺留下來。

六年后，有個人找到曹女士，說在蕪湖的監獄里和爺爺當了五年獄友。

原來，爺爺把張恒春藥廠老板的財產用箱子打包，沉到蕪湖的中江塔旁邊，等他想逃出蕪湖的時候，被偽軍逮捕入獄。日本人問爺爺那筆財產的下落，爺爺沒說，迎接他的便是無盡的牢獄生活。后來，日本人不耐煩了，決定槍斃他。

爺爺知道后，委托即將刑滿釋放的犯人去找一個叫曹光榮的女士。

爺爺的獄友從口袋里掏出一張契約書，遞給曹女士。原來，爺爺之所以答應保護藥廠老板的財產，是因為老板會拿出財產的一部分給爺爺買房置地。爺爺讓老板簽下契約書，隨身帶著。

爺爺的獄友說：“他本想親手把它交給你，要你一定要活下去，等戰爭結束，拿著錢回到北平，找一個人，蓋一座房子。”

我爺爺被執行槍決。槍響了，我爺爺看看自己的胸口，沒有血跡，那顆子彈是臭彈。日偽警察局研究后決定推遲行刑，爺爺將和下一批死刑犯一塊被執行槍決。爺爺罵道：“媽的，晚死一個月還不是得死？”

一個月之后，日軍潰敗，蕪湖被收復，爺爺被釋放。

爺爺對當時執行槍決的士兵說：“幸好你射的是臭彈，但罵你是我不對。”士兵笑了，對爺爺說：“沒有無緣無故的臭彈，有人在井兒巷胡同等你。”

爺爺去了蕪湖的沿河路，左拐走進井兒巷胡同，曹女士站在那里等著他。

原來，曹女士接到爺爺獄友的口信之后，連夜找到張恒春藥廠的老板，對老板說：“他一直保護著你的財產，現在被關進監獄，如果你不去救他，我發誓，你也活不了。”藥廠老板賄賂獄卒，于是有了那顆臭彈。

爺爺問曹女士：“留給你的契約書呢？”曹女士說：“用來賄賂，讓你活命了。”爺爺問：“那一個月之后，如果蕪湖沒被收復，你打算怎么辦？”曹女士說：“那就再來一次。我會花光所有逃命用的錢，直到你活下來完完整整地回到我身邊。”

張恒春藥廠的老板收回蕪湖的財產后，還是給爺爺和曹女士蓋了座房子。爺爺和曹女士結婚了，曹女士成了我的奶奶。

他們的家，就在蕪湖市沿河路井兒巷二號那座江邊二樓的小房子里。（摘自《初次愛你，請多關照》湖南文藝出版社）

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)