The Corpse Reader by Antonio Garrido Page B

let’s get going!”
    Cí loaded the materials they’d bought for the repair and jumped on board. Each of them grabbed a pole and began pushing the skiff in pursuit of the bandits.

    Just as Ze had predicted, within an hour they caught sight of the barge making its way up a tributary. It was listing badly, and it moved slowly and close to shore. They had no idea how many were on board, but only one person was at the helm, which Cí thought was a good sign.
    They pushed the skiff faster.
    During the pursuit they had considered different strategies, and whether to board the barge as soon as they caught up to it or wait until it had been unloaded. When they saw that there were three bandits, they decided on Cí’s plan: he would pretend to be a sick merchant to awaken the robbers’ greed, and they would get as close to the bandits as possible. “The last thing they’ll expect,” Cí said, “is for two old men and one so ill to attack them.”
    “Then, on my signal,” Wang said, “we’ll hit them with the poles and try to knock them into the water. But we’ve got to reach them before they dock.”
    As they approached the barge, Cí covered himself with a blanket, and Wang smiled broadly in greeting to the three bandits and the prostitute.
    From under the blanket, Cí could hear Wang asking the robbers to help with his wealthy master, who had suddenly fallen ill. They began discussing a price. Heart hammering, and nearly overcome by the rancid smell of fish in the skiff, Cí waited for the signal. But suddenly, silence.
    Something’s wrong.
    “Now!” shouted Wang.
    Cí sprang to his feet, swinging a pole at the man nearest to him and hitting him in the gut. Wang did the same with the man at the stern. Both wobbled on the edge of the barge and, after receiving another blow each, toppled into the water.Ze wasn’t so lucky: the third man had drawn a dagger and was advancing on him. But Cí and Wang used their poles to push him into the river. Ze slapped the prostitute, pushed her to the deck, and stood over her. While Wang used his pole to keep the three robbers from reboarding, Cí ran through the cargo shouting for Third. He quickly grew desperate, but then heard a tiny voice from among the sacks. Under a sheet, there she was, clinging tightly to her doll. She looked even more ill than before and very frightened.

    When Cí asked that the prostitute be allowed to stay aboard, Wang rolled his eyes in disbelief.
    “They made her do it. And she saved my sister.”
    “It’s true,” said Third, who was hiding behind Cí’s legs.
    “You’ll believe anything! Open your eyes! This ‘flower’ is bitter and thorny—they’re all the same. She’ll say anything to try and save herself.”
    They had pushed off from the tributary, staving off the bandits with the poles and heading to the far side of the river, where the current was too strong for the bandits to swim through.
    Cí tried again to persuade Wang.
    “Why should I?” continued Wang, exasperated. “She probably only looked after your little sister so she could sell her to a brothel. I ought to throw her in the water for the robbing, lying serpent she is. Stop arguing and help me with this wood.”
    Cí looked at Peach Blossom, who was crouched down, appearing so pitiful she reminded him of a stray dog that had been beaten so mercilessly that it could trust no one. Her suffering seemed a reflection of his own.
    “I’ll pay for her passage,” said Cí.
    “Wait, is my hearing playing tricks on me? Did I just hear you say that?”
    “I guess so,” said Cí, turning to his sister and taking the 5,000-
qián
note from her jacket. “This,” he said, thrusting it at Wang, “should get the three of us to Lin’an.”
    “Why…you said you didn’t have anything else! Well, it’s your money. Do what you want with it. The harpy is your problem, but when she plucks out your eyes, don’t come crying to me.”

    By midday, they’d repaired the barge: the