The day after her period ended, and just as Yahui was beginning to feel a bit better, she received a call from the hospital. The call was from a volunteer, who reported that not only was Jueyu shifu now able to get out of bed and walk around, she could also use the bathroom on her own and fetch herself hot water from the kitchen. She could even say a few words, and the utterance she repeated most often was, “Gong, Director Gong … is good, a good man … he, he stopped … he canceled the tug-of-war competitions!” The hospital recommended that Director Gong come and talk to Jueyu shifu about how he had decided to end the competitions. That way, in a few days—or at most a week or two—Jueyu shifu could hopefully be discharged and return either to the school or to Jing’an Temple to recuperate.
Yahui got out of bed, brushed her teeth, and washed her face. She applied some facial lotion, and while rubbing it in she proceeded to the first floor. There, she knocked on the door of the center’s administrative office and asked where everyone was. Then she went to the conference room, where she found the center’s director, instructors, and professors distributing rice and peanut oil, as well as red envelopes. The recipients were weighing their envelopes in their hands and giving Director Gong the thumbs-up. Yahui stood in the entrance to the conference room and bowed, clasping her hands to her chest and lowering her head, whereupon all the teachers stopped laughing and looked around warily. Yahui realized she had arrived at a rather inopportune moment, so she backed away while calling out to Director Gong, then returned to the first-floor hallway.
When Director Gong emerged from the conference room, Yahui told him about Jueyu shifu’s condition and the hospital’s suggestion. To her surprise, Director Gong immediately agreed, like a flower blooming in season. “I’ll go see her … In fact, I would have gone sooner if I hadn’t been so busy.” Director Gong added, “I’m happy to do anything I can to help Jueyu shifu regain her health.” Then, holding a couple of books, he headed toward his office, as though preparing to leave with Yahui. He opened the door and went inside, leaving her standing in the doorway waiting for him. But after a while he waved to her, gesturing for her to enter.
This was Yahui’s first time inside Director Gong’s office, and as she stepped through the doorway, she stood there gazing curiously at the ten-square-meter room, which contained a black sofa and a large bookcase. In an empty space on the bookcase, there was a group photograph of the teachers, together with a trophy and certificate. Director Gong was sitting at his desk in the middle of the room, and when he saw Yahui he said: “It suddenly occurred to me—if your shifu recovers and returns to the center, I’m afraid you won’t be able to continue attending class in her place.”
Yahui stared at him.
“Do you want to remain in Beijing and stay at the school?”
Yahui nodded.
“Are you really a jade nun, and under the age of eighteen?”
Yahui replied, “I’m already eighteen.”
Director Gong said, “I’m asking you seriously, do you want to join the Party?”
Yahui stared in surprise. “Which party?”
Director Gong laughed. “What other party is there?”
“But I’m a disciple.” Then Yahui repeated more loudly, “Director Gong, I’m a disciple!”
The room fell quiet. It was as though the air had been sucked out of it, leaving everything frozen in place. Fortunately, this pause lasted only for a moment, whereupon Director Gong preemptively broke the silence. He smiled, leaned back, and proclaimed, “I’ll just go ahead and say it—I think that if a disciple who has undergone religious training joined the Party, that would definitely be major news and that disciple would be our center’s prized asset.” Then, rather oddly, he added a few words complimenting Mingzheng, remarking that the young Daoist was young and smart, and that his heart was as lively as though it were mounted on a ball bearing. Director Gong stood up and cleared away the books on the table, placing a copy of Religious Structures Under the Socialist System on the bookshelf, then he leafed through a copy of On the Possibility of Integrating All Religions before placing it in his bag. He told Yahui to wait for him at the school’s east gate, explaining that he was going to clean up and then would go visit Jueyu shifu in the hospital.
Yahui left Director Gong’s office as though emerging from a cage.