with fire in their eyes.
‘
Who are these beasts? They are insane! Why does the local government not prohibit them from entering
our town?’ A wealthy woman with a coruscating gold necklace and few diamond rings on her fingers grunted,
giving stares of contempt and vehement disgust towards the ‘insane’ people.
‘
Probably from that village on the other side. I really cannot stand seeing them every day. Who can
guarantee that they will not flock into our town one day and disturb the peace and order here? These barbarous
people!’ Another woman in a light pink silk dress, long brown boots and with a conspicuous yellow chignon
replied. Together they swaggered down the street and continued to discuss how barbarous and annoying they
thought the people were.
The people’s faces were euphoric, their actions looked delirious, their eyes brimmed with hopes. Any green
hand would be filled with consternation and perplexed and nonplussed at the sight: a large group people dashing
like crazy towards you, an upsurge of uncommon fervency impelled by hours of anticipation. They had been
sitting outside the gates at the very tiptoe of expectancy.
‘
Get my blood first! I came first! Get my blood first!’
‘
Nonsense! I came first! Do not listen to him! You should get my blood first! I really…’
‘
Shut up! I tell all of you to shut up! Line up now! Like a human! I do not care about you being a mad
barking dog or a beast in your old, desolate village, but you must be a human here where we all behave like a
human!’
‘
Rules and civilization are anchored in this town and we will not allow you to violate them! Now line up,
quick!’
Although the mother and sister lavished for selling their blood just like any other person, they were too
weak and slow to catch up with the pace. They were at the end of the long queue.
The daughter had learnt to be submissive and patient for long. She knew she could do nothing but wait.
Wait, just wait. Drowsy and listless, she lay on her mother’s legs and fell asleep.
She was immune to the impatient and tiresome shouts and grumbles around her, something she knew clearly
that would not even make an infinitesimal change to the toilsome and desperate reality where one could not see
the light at the end of the tunnel. Her family had been walking in the dark since her birth and they had never
seen any light in front. Instead the darkness seemed to be intensifying.
No light, no hope, no help, no change.
She liked dreams so much. Every day the same few hours of waiting allowed her to escape from the harsh
reality and hide in her beautiful dreams. It was a temporary extrication from the real world which she never
wanted to end. Dreams took her away from the abyss of despair and brought her to never-never land of bliss.
She had always wished that she could stay in her dreams forever, and found herself being so naïve when she
woke up.
‘
Baby, it is time to get up. It is our turn.’ The calling from her mother spelled the end of her jovial virtual
world and drew her back into the dreadful real world. Two hours had elapsed imperceptibly.
A man plugged the blood-contaminated needle into the daughter’s hand without cleaning it. The needle had
been plugged into at least a hundred people. Trickles of her blood quickly filled up a 500ml transparent bag. The
man unplugged the syringe sloppily, delved into his left pocket, picked out a 100 dollar note which stunk of
blood and threw it at the daughter without even giving her a glimpse.
A dumpy man with a reddish and radiant face came forward to the man, let out his chubby hand and shook
hands with him with a hypocritical smile and an affectation of decorum.
‘
Nice job Mr. Wang. Keep it up. It is all going well and it seems that more and more people come every
day.’
‘
Not without your assistance officer Chen. Let me express my gratitude towards the Shandong government
on behalf of my company. Just think of how much we can get from selling the blood to hospitals.’
‘
Yeah it is such a lucrative business. Low cost, few manpower, no special technique needed, easy operation.
Those people from villages on the other side must come anyway for that small amount of money. We earn
profits, meanwhile patients can be benefited. How meaningful and great this business is!’
The daughter listened attentively. The word ‘meaningful’ left a haunting impression on her mind; the word
‘
great’ filled her with sorrow. She caught a glimpse of the dirty note in her hand, a proof of the ugly part of
humanity. With a heavy heart she left the station with her mother and made their way back to the other side.
Another two hours. Part of the daily routine. A tinge of sombreness hung in the air. White. It was all white.
A sense of foreboding descended on her when she found herself in an all-white world. The people were in white
too. She turned her head round and round and found grey and black interspersed in white.