Chapter Eighty-Nine: Saving Lives

The second day, Wei Hua met the five men Ah Liang had approved of in a quiet place outside Jakarta.

The oldest was thirty-three; the youngest, seventeen. All of them had lost relatives to Indonesians, and all of them burned with hatred for them. The eldest was named Lin Jihan. He had once owned a shop, but four years earlier a gang of Indonesian thugs had stormed into it, robbed it clean, and murdered his wife and children. He still had an old mother to support, so he set vengeance aside. Only this year, after his mother passed away, did he finally devote himself wholly to revenge and seek out Ah Liang, hoping for some help. He was not a rash man. He had come to Ah Liang in hopes of obtaining weapons through him, but Ah Liang felt he was too weak and alone, and tried to dissuade him, keeping him at the plantation estate all the while. The other four were Liu Guangming, Li Pingru, Wang Hai, and Yu Xiaomeng. Their circumstances were basically the same as Lin Jihan’s.

“My name is Wei Hua. I am Ah Liang’s brother. The estate you are staying on now belongs to me; my brother Ah Liang only helps me manage the business. Ah Liang told me that all of you are men of spirit, men who bear an irreconcilable blood feud with the Indonesians, and that you think of revenge at every moment. If you want revenge, I can help you and provide everything you need. But have you considered this: even if your own vengeance can be taken, there are many Chinese in Indonesia whose blood feuds cannot be avenged. Can we bear to watch them suffer? Can we bear to see our countrymen continue to be bullied and humiliated by those Indonesian pigs?” Wei Hua asked bluntly.

Lin Jihan said, “Then what do you think we should do?”

“We Chinese in Indonesia are so numerous—why should we not unite to fight for our own interests? Since Suharto’s faction was able to seize power through a military coup, why can’t we arm ourselves and pursue our rights through armed struggle? That is why I believe you should form a resistance organization and unite the strength of the Chinese community in Indonesia.”

“We have not never thought of it, but you can also see how miserable the situation of the Chinese in Indonesia is now. Survival itself is already difficult for us. Where would we find the time to think about unity or resistance? We five have no family burdens, so that is one thing. But for those who have wives and children, it is different. If the men leave, their families will starve. That is why so few are willing to do it. And besides, we have no weapons, and we have never been trained. How could we possibly defeat the Indonesian army?”

“I understand your difficulties,” Wei Hua said. “And now that you have my support, these problems are no longer major ones. First, I will send you abroad for military training. Then I will expand my investments in Indonesia, especially in plantations. Of course, all of this will be handled through my company in America. We will buy up large numbers of Indonesian plantations and hire Chinese to work them, providing stable jobs for the relatives of those who join the resistance, improving their families’ lives and easing their worries. We can also help some Chinese compatriots who do not join the resistance. When your training is complete, you will lead the Chinese in Indonesia in resisting the oppression and humiliation our people suffer at the hands of those Indonesian pigs.”

“What? How could that work? Mr. Wei, it should be you who leads us!”

“Yes, Mr. Wei should be the one to lead us!”

“How could we possibly do it ourselves?”

Lin Jihan, Yu Xiaomeng, and the other five all began speaking at once after hearing Wei Hua’s words.

“All right, listen to me,” he said. “I am not Indonesian, so it would not be appropriate for me to lead the Chinese in Indonesia in opposing the oppression of those Indonesian pigs. This concerns the future political standing of the Chinese community. Second, I have many other matters to attend to, with a mountain of business to manage, and the resistance will be a long-term undertaking. Therefore, it must be led by people like you. I will only be your support, both spiritually and materially. Now go back and make your preparations, then contact those willing to join the resistance. Be sure to keep it secret. Gather those willing to take part here at the estate. I will find an opportunity to send you out of Indonesia, and then arrange for someone to train you.”

Ah Liang escorted Wei Hua back to the hotel and then left with his bodyguards to return to the estate. He had to prepare to receive the people Lin Jihan and the others would bring to join the resistance. Wei Hua intended to fly back to Hong Kong on the following day.

After asking the hotel reception desk to book him a ticket home for the next day, Wei Hua wandered aimlessly through the streets of Jakarta. In his memory, Indonesians were nothing but lazy, filthy pigs. In his previous life, a friend of his had once gone to Indonesia as a labor export worker. When he returned and the two were drinking together, he told Wei Hua that those Indonesian pigs had no real sense of life at all. His friend said that after every payday, when the factory reopened, all those Indonesian pigs would be missing—they had all gone off to eat and drink their fill. Only after their wages were completely spent would they return to the factory to work again. The factory owner could do nothing about it; if he did not use those Indonesian pigs, he could not find anyone else. The traditional virtues of the Chinese are diligence and thrift, and most of the property of the Chinese in Indonesia had been accumulated through the labor of several generations. Yet the Indonesian pigs saw only the Chinese prosperity, never how hard-won that wealth had been.

Wei Hua walked on aimlessly until he unknowingly came to a market. The market was crowded and bustling. Vendors selling vegetables, fruit, meat, and seafood all shouted their wares at the top of their voices, while many others bargained with the small merchants. The place was lively, loud, and chaotic. Just as Wei Hua was thinking of leaving, he heard six or seven gunshots ring out one after another. Panic broke out at once, and people scattered in every direction to flee and take cover. Wei Hua also turned to leave, and at that moment a young man, covered in blood, staggered out of the market, a pistol still in his hand. Through the chaos of the crowd, Wei Hua saw a group of Indonesian pigs pursuing him. The young man also noticed his pursuers and cursed loudly:

"Damn it! Those bastards! Today I’ll fight you to the death."

After cursing, he turned and fired twice more.

This man was Chinese, because the insults he shouted were in Mandarin, and quite standard Mandarin at that. Since he was Chinese and the ones chasing him were Indonesian pigs, Wei Hua had no reason not to help. He quickly moved to the man’s side, struck him unconscious with a knife-hand blow, then hoisted him onto his back and fled the market at high speed. With Wei Hua’s physique, even carrying a person, he was far faster than those Indonesian pigs. By the time they burst out of the market, Wei Hua had already vanished.