Not everyone here in Wudaokou makes it home on time. Last Thursday, Wang Didi never made it home at all.
Wang Didi sells chicken wings in front of a couple Western-leaning bars close to campus. Every time I visited his makeshift grill, wings flew off as soon as they cooked. At 3 RMB a pair, I'm sure Wang Didi cleared 300 RMB a night in merchandise. Even after subtracting for the raw chicken and charcoal, that leaves a substantial sum for a migrant working in Beijing.
Wang's outfit technically lay outside the law. He has no permit to sell the wings, and therefore he operates in China's large black market economy. In the eyes of the law, his operation was no different than the people peddling fake North Face jackets and "300" DVDs outside of shopping bags.
Last week the police decided to have a random sweep, the kind they sometimes conduct on illegal activities. They picked up the chicken wing sellers, seized their merchandise and took them away.
Two days later, the wings people were back, but Wang Didi wasn't with them. For some reason, he wound up in jail. The wings salesmen didn't seem to know why, but they did say he would be released this upcoming Wednesday, nearly two weeks after he disappeared.
In a very small way, I now have felt the uneven touch of the law in China. Why did Wang Didi go to prison, and not the salesman on his left or right? It all seems so arbitrary.
Tonight I went back to Wudaokou to buy a snack around one in the morning. The main square was lively, nearly at its Saturday night peak. Old women sold Chinese books out of dusty wheelbarrows. Other people hawked pineapples, there were even a few puppies for sale in cardboard boxes. A couple police officers walked around the area, looking disinterested.
Hopefully in a few days Wang Didi will return here. And if he does, I will be appreciative of just how ephemeral his presence here really is.
