Page 65 - updated on July

Yu Jihui: “A Stinking Old Ninth – A Tale of the Coal Capital” (updated on July 2020)

At the hospital I met a man who looked like a

doctor. I told him White Swan’s mother’s name and

said I want to see her. The man asked me to wait and

went into the hospital. Two minutes later, a woman

with a white gown about fifty came out. She looked

gentle and kind.

“Are you Soapy?” she asked, as soon as she saw

me.

I nodded. Then she stared at me for a long time

with a look that reminded me of a kind mother. I

lowered my head with guilt. She told me White Swan

was working as a teacher at a primary school for the

kids of the villages.

“The school is not far from here. It’s about half

an hour’s walk,” she said calmly. Then she pointed

at a mountain nearby and said, “Go along the road.

It’ll take you straight to that mountain. The school is

at the foot of it.”

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