Chapter 6: Women in the Chinese Communist Party

六

“Women in the Chinese Communist Party”

Not only was Lijian stoked to serve his country, he was also elated to have an excuse to speak with Dou Dou. Her status had not only been restored, but had been elevated, in his eyes, after he’d learned of her efforts, her persistence in the struggle.

And now, they’d be in frequent contact, and he’d be within mere meters of the goddess, her perfect body ... her sugary, peach-soft skin...

It’d turned out, too, that she was Comrade Zhang’s niece, had been recruited that past summer, and had already been writing online comments for two months.

After the meeting, they left together and Lijian kept his gaze fixed on the floor, struggling to maintain eye contact with a girl so beautiful. He felt his heart thumping, his pulse racing, his mouth dry as sand. Walking down the administration building’s long gray hallway, the cold air of the concrete building slapped at them, and as they padded toward the elevator, Dou Dou told him that their team would consist of two other English majors, along with International Trade and Marketing majors.

Dou Dou was the first girl Lijian had ever really talked with. In school, primary, middle, high school, and even at college, the boys and girls mostly sat strictly segregated by gender, on opposite sides of the classroom, opposite sides of the cafeteria, opposite sides of student association meetings. Some interacted, and there were a handful of couples, but the majority maintained their distance, remaining pathologically shy around one another, almost to a crippling degree...

Dou Dou wasn’t shy, though, like most of the other girls. She was outgoing, plain-spoken, and, when talking with Lijian, she carried herself more like a man. It was this forthright nature that began to set Lijian at ease, but actually, in a way, he found it turned him off. He didn’t appreciate her assertiveness. Watching her bark orders, to him, felt emasculating, and lessened the sting of her beauty, to the point he began to view her, more and more, as a man.

His crush on her again evaporated. Though, unlike before, he respected her as a comrade. He thought of Chairman Mao’s teachings on women in the Party. And, in Lijian’s eyes, Dou Dou, Comrade Dou Dou, became just another warrior in the struggle.