一岁半体检归来

安安是个苗条的小姑娘--至少这是妈妈对一岁半身高体重头围数据的理解。妈妈从小就是个胖丫头，10岁的时候就知道胖姑娘穿裙子不好看，初中时候流行的健美踩脚裤也都是瘦子穿上才能体现出中缝的笔直和小腿的修长。

姥姥对医生的问题都很感兴趣。妈妈一边躲避医生尖锐的问题，一边见缝插针得给姥姥做同声翻译。姥姥笑眯眯，妈妈脸通红，这情形医生也是很纳闷的吧。 妈妈说安安每天要吃两次牙膏，牙膏管上标的是可吞食，吃两次会不会太多？ 妈妈还在滔滔不绝得解释早上挤在安的牙刷上是黄豆那么大，晚上是绿豆那么大，美女医生连忙抓住重点，为什么要刷两次？ 呃... 妈妈权衡了一下还是觉得不要说真相--因为只要甜牙膏才能让安稍微平静一点，让妈妈和姥姥吃两口安稳饭。心下一横，女儿妈妈对不起你， 弱弱得说，因为她非要... 美女医生盯了妈妈一眼，她这个年纪是不可能"非要”做什么的，你要及早告诉她事情的boundary在哪里，No means No. 这一段妈妈就不给姥姥翻译了，要不然她老人家肯定要跑过去和美女医生握手，您说她您说她。我说她惯孩子她根本不听！

姥姥除了爱说妈妈由着安安胡闹，另一个分歧就是认定安走路内八字是因为妈妈从小给她穿连袜的睡衣。 今天医生终于给妈妈平反了，解释说因为安还在妈妈肚子里的时候就是盘腿儿坐着躺着，所以初学走路的时候脚是朝里的，这种现象两三岁的时候就自己能纠正过来。 妈妈忙不迭得给姥姥加油添醋得翻译，您以为那睡衣是铁做的呀？那是棉的有弹性，不会把她的腿别着。

后来医生问起安安语言能力，能不能有意识得说出10个词，语言不限。姥姥说，别说10个，30个也能说。回来的路上非要和妈妈把安会说的词列出来。

字母： A B C B (暂时分不出B和D的区别), E, F, G, H J J J (I, J, K在小人耳朵里也一个音）
数数： 1--10 后面还要加个“喽”，姥姥给她推秋千的口令(一二三喽！)也给她学了去，一二仨抖！
人： 爸爸，妈妈，姥姥，爷爷，妹妹，姐姐， 安安，啥呀（Sarah)，小baby，
身体部位： 脚丫，脸，眼睛，鼻子，牙齿，嘴巴，耳朵
食物： 馍馍，面条，西瓜，黄瓜， 草莓，牛奶，吃饭，水
动物： 狗，猫，大象，小猪 （目前用来label爸爸的照片和Olivia the pig），鱼，毛毛陈（虫），熊，羊，马，兔，企鹅，小鸭子, 狮子，小西西 （小猩猩）
植物： 叶子，发发（花）
物品： 鞋子，裙子
颜色：绿的
礼貌用语： hi, hello, bye-bye，谢谢
还有： 不要（要配上激烈的摇头动作），走啦走啦， 没有哇， 没有回，没有回呀，这是什么，这个是什么，这个是什么呢--对，妈妈就要把这几句分开算。

说起走啦走啦倒是很逗，每次出门换好鞋后，妈妈总要折回厨房看煤气关了没--多年的强迫症，安就急得不行，扶着门框哇哇大叫，妈妈只能一边朝厨房跑一边喊，走啦走啦走啦走啦，两遍说下来煤气也检查了，人也回到门口了。一天邻居的福建奶奶来访，临走时打开大门，正在穿鞋，安安激动得满屋子边跑边吆喝，“走啦走啦！” 妈妈和姥姥互看一眼，暗自庆幸奶奶耳朵有点背。

The Vagrants

There was quite some buzz when I first heard of the book. A popular opinion of some Chinese overseas is that, simply put, the author was a sellout. Serving up a skewed history with flavors tailored to the western palate, the author tried to depict China in an unforgivably dark era with unimaginable atrocities committed for the most insignificant purposes. Now that I’ve finished reading the novel, I believe such accusation was completely unfounded.

Even though the author did not grow up in the years when China was paralyzed by the Cultural Revolution--the opening scene of a denunciation ceremony of a female counter-revolutionary took place at the end of the Cultural Revolution, in 1979, I believe she has captured perfectly the social atmosphere of that period. People were made to develop a sixth-sense for detecting minute changes in the political atmosphere and were expected at all times to follow the supreme decrees of the central government. The terrifying events and unflinching details, as well as the motive behind certain atrocities were very credible. An overall sense of despair and withdrawal from actively participating in anything meaningful permeates every facets of human existence; fear became the most efficient and effective moral police with its invisible iron grip tightening around the necks of those who dared to look beyond the boundaries, never hesitating to drain the life and blood out of those who have... Yet traces of humanity, courage, tenderness managed to peek from the most unexpected places.

The author weaved seamlessly an intricate web of events surrounding the central characters. The story climaxed on Ching-Ming, a Chinese festivity for paying respect to one’s ancestor, hereby holding symbolic significance. It's a relief to see little trace of stereotypes of characters for such a volatile and disruptive time. The author carefully cultivated nuanced depth in each character. Gu Shan, whose criticism of Mao would find many supporters in the later years, was in essence, a victim of the environment, a tool used and abused. Teacher Gu, who thought he saw through everyone in this political farce committed suicide at the end. Bashi, a deeply troubled young man who fell through the social cracks, all at once pitiful, cold-hearted yet vulnerable, would face long prison sentence for something he had not taken part in, but there was hope for Nini’s return one day. While reading, I often held my breath because of the despicable things I thought he might do to Nini if and when he got the chance. And he surprised me again and again.

The style of writing is detached, scrutinizing and sharp in a way cold metal surgery instruments lacerate through the flesh, not missing a single detail. Seasonal changes, school aged children playing in the school yards, the townsfolk huddling together and exchanging gossip, scenes big or small, still or dynamic, all came alive as the pages turned. Li writes in fluent English, yet I could almost hear the buzzing animated chatter of middle-aged women in my native tongue.

I was brought to tears within minutes of reading the first chapter, an almost minute-by-minute account of what went on in the psyches of Mrs. and Mr. Gu, whose daughter, Shan was to be executed that day. The couple tried to maintain some sense of continuity with life that they had become accustomed to. Everywhere they looked and avoided looking at, fragments of memory of their little girl's childhood collided with the reality of aging parents having to see their child go out of the world in the most humiliating way possible. When Kai thought of never seeing her son again, she noticed a small toy stuck inside one of her shoes, a prank pulled by Ming-ming, who learned to do this with consistency and persistence of an already strong-willed toddler. She thought to herself, soon he will be pulling this prank on someone else, possibly a grandparent. Measured and controlled, Li's verses skip the melodrama yet making the stark truth more obvious in the bleakest reality.

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这天妈妈看杂志，安安跑过来凑热闹，哼哼叽叽半天妈妈不给就用抢的。妈妈想想那些葬身在她铁手下被撕成一片一片的杂志，还是决定暂时妥协，与狼共舞。杂志上有一张图片，椅子上有两只一模一样的狮子狗，一只坐着直视镜头，一只趴着眼睛被爪子挡住。妈妈指坐着的小狗, "这是什么?" 安安大声说, "小狗狗!" 妈妈又指旁边那只趴着的小狗, "这个呢?" 安安看了看--这种躺着的小狗见得不多，端详一会，还是大声报告说, "小坏蛋!"

又有一天, 妈妈看安安八个月的时候去夏威夷时候的照片，照片里的安安光着脑袋，圆滚滚，胖呼呼，笑起来两只眼睛眯成两条缝，非常可爱。妈妈正在感叹时间的流逝，这厢安安又冲将过来，照例要抢妈妈手上的东西，妈妈指着照片上穿着游泳衣肉呼呼的小朋友说，"这是谁呀?" 安毫不犹豫得说，"小猪!"