Wang Zhanyuan came to buy one but learned that the rabbits had been injected with some kind of medicine, so he hesitated. I had just exited the General Affairs Section, and overheard someone inside tell Wang: "We have asked Zeng Qing Si. It's edible." Then Wang felt confident enough to buy one. 9 Now Wang’s companion Yang casually chatted with me for awhile, but said nothing about taking me out. A few minutes later they left. My visit by Yang and Wang came caused a stir among the jail aides: A Jeep came, two people jumped down, both were the directors of divisions! After that the jail aides had a more respectful attitude toward me. I thought that after the visit of Yang and Wang, my problem would soon be resolved. But the days continued to pass and nothing happened. Lobar Pneumonia When I got up one morning, I felt a chill, followed by a cough, headache and chest pain. I barely tasted brunch and developed fever in the afternoon; the chest pain and cough were getting worse. I asked the jail aides to report me to the supervisors but with no result. I picked at my dinner, leaving most of it uneaten. A fellow detainee said that I talked in my sleep that night. I was groggy for the next three days, with a racking cough, and spewing rusty sputum! I knew immediately it was lobar pneumonia. When I could bear it no longer, I roused myself, put on most of my clothes, dragged myself over near the exit from the square leading to the office, and knocked on the door. When nobody answered, I squatted nearby under the eaves. It was raining. In Kunming whenever it rains the weather becomes cold, socalled “a rain changes to winter”. Water droplets splashed on my body and face. Even with a high fever, I continued to shiver with chills because of my skin’s microvascular contraction. I did not know how long I had waited, but finally the door opened. A supervisor came over and asked, "What is the matter?" “Fever,” I answered feebly. He glanced at me and told me to follow him to the infirmary where a doctor checked my temperature. "Thirty-nine point five degrees (centigrade)," he whispered to the supervisor. When the supervisor asked what to do, the doctor recommended sending me to the hospital. The chief was called and, after glancing at me, ordered, “Send him.” The supervisor called a jail aide with a flatbed cart and told me to climb on it. As the jail aide pushed the cart and the supervisor 10 escorted, I was taken to the Second Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical College. An x-ray showed lobar pneumonia in the upper lobe of my right lung, so I was admitted to the hospital. The supervisor talked with the doctor for a while and then left with the jail aide. I lay quietly on the bed receiving an intravenous drip, looking at the ceiling with mixed feelings. Was I now a patient, or a prisoner? Probably both. Although I had little conversation with the other patients, they seemed to know I was sent from the detention center and also had been affiliated with the Medical College. I admitted that I had escaped to Vietnam and was sent back. A patient sighed, "Alas, why should you escape to Vietnam?" Other patients, who probably had never heard of such a thing, were surprised but dared not ask more. Nevertheless, there were still three patients who shared with me food sent by their families. One of them even visited me twice after I returned to the Medical College. Two days later, the fever gradually subsided. Several doctors treated me although I didn't know them. I wondered if any one of them might be my former student at the Medical College. But now, smiling bitterly in my heart, I thought: Who would be willing or dare to recognize you? It might be someone who had denounced you, or ransacked your dormitory. It's much like the old saying: "The changeability of men's feelings depends on the fickleness of the world.” During "Class struggle every day" how could you deviate from “Drawing a line from enemy”? One was even expected “Not to recognize one’s own closest relatives.” However, there was one familiar person who did come to see me. It was Zhang Jiezhi. We had been seniors in the same year but from different medical colleges; now she was a senior attending physician. She had long been a Party member and likely had risen to the leadership level. Zhang and I stood face to face for a while, and then she asked: "Are you better?" “It is better,” I answered in a low voice. She stood a while longer and said, "If there is anything you need, just call me," and then slowly walked away. I made a phone call to my cousin at the Provincial Design Institute. That afternoon he came with some delicious snacks to visit 11 me. Reunited after being apart for so long, there was a bittersweet taste in our hearts. Cousin said, "Nowadays the Cultural Revolution is rarely mentioned and there is no longer fighting between factions, although there are still some Big Character Posters used to attack each other. We have not many things to do in the work unit." Cousin also said I should not worry too much. I asked him to write a letter to my parents letting them know that I had returned to Kunming. The detention center sent a jail aide to see me. When he saw a box of biscuits on the bedside stand, I explained about my cousin from the Design Institute. To my surprise, the jail aide urged me to visit my cousin. When I asked the doctor in charge, he said I could go but should return soon. My cousin still lived in his old place. He was very happy to see me and asked his wife to prepare lunch. After lunch he gave me five yuan (his monthly salary was 56 yuan). Two days later, the Detention Center sent the jail aide to take me back. Cousin later told me that the jail aide returned again after a few days, claiming that I needed money to buy something to eat. Cousin knew he was cheating, but knowing I was under his control, gave him five yuan. Cousin was following the adages, "spend money for blocking a disaster" or so called “afraid not of the officer but of control.” Returning to the detention center I was put in a room with two other sick detainees. Finally, one day, a supervisor ordered me, "Pack up your belongings." In less than a minute I stuffed my things into a bag and followed him to the office. The chief sitting behind a desk waved and told me to get myself back to Medical College.