24 City Page #5

I'd never been on a boat before.

I felt seasick and threw up.

All around me, it was chaotic on the boat.

My husband suggested

that I rest for a while.

But I couldn't sleep.

There were kids running around.

I still felt seasick. Still kept throwing up.

And the boat was juddering.

Not easy. We finally reached Fengjie.

In Fengjie, we docked on the wharf.

We went on land.

They gave us two hours there.

It was nice to take a breather.

But the boat was carrying

important equipment.

So we couldn't stay long.

During the short stop, it was really...

Everyone went ashore.

We were a small community,

everyone knew each other.

So I was off-guard.

They sounded the first siren.

It meant that there was

half an hour to departure.

My husband and l

were buying some local specialties

and some oranges.

I suddenly thought about my boy.

He wasn't with me anymore.

I panicked and started calling him.

I called and called.

But I couldn't find him.

I panicked.

My husband tried to reassure me:

"Maybe he went back to the boat

with the other kids."

So we went to the boat

to see if he was there.

All the other kids were back.

All the other families were together.

Except us.

My husband panicked too.

He called his workmates.

They looked for him everywhere.

I was at my wits' end.

My husband and I rushed back ashore

to look for him.

But we couldn't find him.

And then,

the second siren sounded.

Some women comrades

dragged me back to the boat.

When we were transferred

from Shenyang to Chengdu,

we were working for the military.

Part of the war effort.

Everything we did had implications

for national security.

That made me all the more nervous.

They said Chiang Kai-Shek

was going to invade China.

So when that siren sounded,

it was like an army bugle.

We had to go.

Then

a big crowd of people

dragged me back to the boat.

I leaned on the railings.

The boat went farther offshore,

the houses turned smaller.

I felt that my child

got farther and farther away.

I hated myself so much.

My heart was flurried.

It was empty.

Jaguar! The Commies are taking the bait!

The Commies are taking the bait!

Captain Morgan...

Act in good faith!

Second!

A flotilla of small planes on the right!

Enemy planes in the south-west!

Enemy planes in the west!

It's clear, enemy tactics have changed.

They're using small planes as decoys

and surrounding us with big ones.

Very crafty!

Captain!

The bombers have crossed sector 2.

Captain!

Bombing as originally planned.

OBSERVE SAFETY, TREASURE LlFE

If the aeronautics factory

is like a huge eyeball

The laboring is its pupil

Poem by Ouyang Jianghe

Song Weidong

The money we get selling this land

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