The distinction between city and rural people is as clear as that between black- and white-skinned folk. My father had it very carefully calculated. He arranged for his own retirement, citing ill health as the reason, and for my eldest brother to quit school and replace him. My brother’s official residential status was immediately elevated from from a rural one to an urban one. He started enjoying state wages, and everyone else nearly died of envy.

My brother, Li Shunqiu, was born good-looking, bashful, reticent, and soft-spoken. When he occasionally laughed out loud, he would emit a couple of syllables of ha-ha, then stop abruptly. He was prone to nostalgia, and never let go of friendships forged in our village, but always gathered with his friends when he came home. By the time the nationwide anti-crime crackdown started in 1983, his old pals had become real peasants with dark skin, thick knuckles, slipper-clad feet, and smoking low-grade cigarettes. When they gathered, it was just like old times when they were kids going to the fields to pluck gourds or to the river to fish. My elder brother had a complete set of fishing equipment. When they were not used, the nets hung in the backyard neatly, like polished weapons. He could quickly straighten out messy nets, and knew how to repair the holes. He knew which sort of net to use to catch which type of fish at different stages, just as he knew which kinds of fish spawned in the shallow waters and which kinds liked to come to the surface in the dark of night.

Summer nights in the village were as docile as an unspoilt maiden. The moon parked itself in the night sky. Fireflies flitted around the grass field and thorn bushes. The Lanxi River lay on the ground basking in the moonlight. My brother was fishing on this sort of night, his body cutting across the satiny surface of the water like a pair of scissors.

There was no warning sign for the bad turn of events.

The night the incident occurred was livelier than when the folk theatre group came to perform in the village. The people had come out in force, flocking towards the Brigade Department, surrounding the police cars, taking stock of those powerful and forceful people. Leaning from the window, they watched the police shave half the hair of the young people, covering their mouths as they snickered. At the time of the Great Leap Forward, the Brigade Department was the interrogation room and prison used to imprison farmers in the fight against secret agricultural production, and only later it was converted into a mill. Now, it was once again the temporary interrogation room.

The village Party Secretary tried to find out the sense of propriety of the matter from an armed man. ‘Young people watch open-air films, sometimes jeering and engaging in group fights. This is not unusual. . . But why are the armed forces alerted this time? Will there be a problem?’

Looking arrogantly at the Party Secretary, the armed man took a cigarette from his mouth and said, ‘Don’t you know this is a special crackdown period?’

‘Do you think you could send the trial back to the township government for verdict? If anything happens here, my skull will be cracked.’ The Party Secretary lit a new cigarette for Minister Cai, then tossed the match away. He looked at the other party helplessly. ‘The neighbours meet frequently and they are under the mistaken impression I am colluding. . . No, of course, it is cooperating. As a member of the Communist Party, I have always cooperated unconditionally with the work of my superiors.’

Minister Cai wore a uniform that was stretched around his body like a ball. He seemed like he was about to raise a hand to slap the secretary’s face. Smoke swirled from his nostrils and mouth, as if his whole person were being consumed in flames. ‘Just do as I say. You’re so short-sighted. You can’t see any farther than you can piss.’

The Party Secretary stared at the minister alertly, his facial features all bunched together. ‘But, how far I can piss depends on the minister’s orders, right?’

Minister Cai said slowly, ‘There is too much chaos in society right now. The central government had a meeting and is launching a nationwide “severe crackdown on criminal offences” movement. Those who can be caught and those not easily caught will eventually be swept up in an iron grip. Those who can be sentenced, will be; and those who cannot be sentenced, will also be dealt with resolutely. Those who must be killed and those who can’t be killed, all will be eliminated without delay. The population of our county is large, so the crime index is also higher than other counties. This is no good. There is so much to be done I don’t even have time to sleep at night. These people today are gangsters. They gather to fight, molest women, fish in the river, and steal state property. . .’

‘Gang crimes have to be settled with a bullet!’

The Party Secretary was shocked. ‘These. . . young people were watching an open-air film, jeering, and fighting, but they always do this! They are law-abiding people who have never committed any outrageous act. It was not a gang, nor a gang issue,’ he protested.

The minister said that whether or not they had done anything outrageous, or committed a crime, everything would be clear after the interrogation. The law functions on evidence.

Two hours later, six handcuffed young men with half-shaved heads were squeezed into the police car.

A week later, the verdict was handed down. Li Dage, the leader, was given the death penalty, along with several of the other participants. For his role in the fight, my oldest brother received the lightest sentence, eight years in jail.

The Lanxi Middle School’s drill ground served as the site for the mass trial meeting, but this was not what was most important. After the trial meeting, the condemned prisoners were to be dragged to the Lanxi River and executed. Nobody had seen a killing before and did not want to miss the opportunity. It was as if a public holiday had been declared.

My sister was still at the factory and had no idea what was happening at home. My mother’s tears flowed and her nose ran. My father was no longer cursing, but kept his mouth tightly shut. My second brother, Li Xiazhi, quietly filled a bucket of water, then obediently went to the vegetable field and hoed for a while. I snuck up the dam and rushed to the school to watch the mass trial meeting.

The weather was not bad. It was hot, with a wind blowing in from the south and the river’s layers of ripples moving north. I went on the causeway, where it seemed a crowd of people had sprouted from the ground. All of them were rushing toward Lanxi Town, where there were organised groups of orderly students looking especially stern and confident. The causeway was usually only this lively during the Dragon Boat Festival. The burst of festive atmosphere gave me a thrill. I was soon swallowed up by the crowd, feeling nervous and excited. I became so sweaty as I walked that perspiration dripped from the ends of my hair, falling to the ground and producing a soft, tough sound, transparent and sticking thickly to the ears. I was not even sure where the school gate was. I just followed the crowd and made my way straight to the drill ground.

Many photos were taken, forming a record of the scene I witnessed. A large poster was hung, and a shrill loudspeaker pierced my ears. The heads of the condemned hung low. On Li Dage’s chest hung a sign with the words ‘gangster’ on it, with a huge red X. A few who did not have red X’es on their signs stood in a row at the back, their hands behind their backs. The drill ground was surrounded by a packed crowd. The air turned muggy. A huge mushroom-shaped cloud formed overhead, like a lion watching the proceedings, its profile greyish-white. After a while, it turned into a ball, then became formless. There were periods of total silence. One of the marked criminals collapsed, unable to stand any longer. Two uniformed personnel held him up after that. Later the crowd began to loosen and expand. The trial was over. The people turned and followed the vehicle parading through the streets, escorting the offenders to the execution ground. They wanted to see for themselves as the bloody red flower came into sudden bloom across the chest of the condemned when he was shot.

I twisted my ankle as I squeezed through the exit of the drill ground, so I did not make it to the execution ground, but this had no effect on my later boasting to my classmates when I described all I had heard, as if I had seen it. I said ten people with guns stood in a row before the ten kneeling criminals. There was a gunshot, and it was as if the condemned had been kicked. The bodies lurched, blood-spattered, and a burnt smell instantly filled the air, like the smell of a barbecued kebab.