Authors: Yan Lianke
The cart then drove off.
After the cart’s departure, the deaf man tugged Mao Zhi’s hand and asked in bewilderment, Stonemason’s wife, was this the people’s commune? Mao Zhi looked over at the soldiers, who were following the oxcart, then quickly covered the deaf man’s mouth with her hand.
The sky began to turn dark red, and the two oxcarts from the commune were full. Each cart was full of the villagers’ new and old iron tools—including plows and hoes, pots and ladles, door latches and chest buckles. The carts were so heavy that the oxen were panting with exhaustion as they laboriously hauled them away .
After seeing off the two oxcarts and the rugged soldiers, Mao Zhi turned to go back home. She saw the entire village, including blind men and cripples, old people and children, and particularly women responsible for cooking for their families, all standing, sitting, or lying paralyzed on the ground. They were all glaring at her. Some of them clearly hated her—particularly the young and sturdy women, who were standing in front of the crowd, biting their lips in anger and staring silently at Mao Zhi as she walked toward the village, as if they were prepared to throw themselves onto her and beat her when she approached. Mao Zhi noticed that the stonemason was pale as he waited for her at a house somewhat removed from the village. He waved at her, and she stood still for a while, then walked to her husband’s side. Needless to say, a sea of angry gazes followed her. So she walked extremely slowly, one step at a time, and although she tried to avoid their eyes, it was as if she were waiting for the people behind her to call out, to curse her.
However, there was no sound from behind her.
Everything was quiet. Even the sound of their gazes was muffled, as if a window had been slammed shut. The sun began to set behind the mountains, as the iron-smelting furnaces beyond the mountain ridge began to light up. There were a handful of these furnaces in caves behind Liven, and they also lit up. Mao Zhi walked to the two furnaces behind the village, and as she moved farther and farther from the gazes of the blind, deaf, and crippled villagers, it was as if everything was already over.
But suddenly, she heard someone shout out behind her: Mao Zhi, don’t leave. Now that we have entered society, our family needs to use a tile basin to cook our food. Would it be okay if we were to withdraw from society?
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Mao Zhi, our family has to use an earthenware pot to cook our food. It’s all because you led us into society. Could you now lead us back out again?
Hey, my family doesn’t even have a tile basin or an earthenware pot. Tomorrow we’ll have to use a stone pig trough to cook our meal. I say, Mao Zhi—if you don’t pull us out of society, don’t expect to have any more pleasant days to look forward to!
Mao Zhi stood under that barrage of cries as if in the middle of a furious river current.
Even Further Reading:
1)
Withdraw from society.
This was a phrase used in reference to Liven’s entry into society. Its entry into the mutual aid teams and cooperative societies was called “entering society,” and therefore when the village subsequently wished to leave these people’s communes, it was referred to as “withdrawing from society.”
Book 7: Branches
C
HAPTER 1:
H
OWEVER, THAT EVENT SUDDENLY ERUPTED
Chief Liu was finally going to lead the performance troupe he had organized out of Liven.
Its first stop would be in the city—to do a fund-raiser to purchase Lenin’s corpse.
One-Legged Monkey’s event was the One-Legged Flying Leap, Deafman Ma’s was Firecracker-on-the-Ear, One-Eye’s was the One-Eyed-Needle-Threading, Paraplegic Woman’s was Leaf-Embroidery, Blind Tonghua’s was Acute-Listening, Polio Boy’s was Foot-in-a-Bottle, and Mute Uncle’s was Spirit-Séance. All of the disabled villagers, as long as they had a special skill, followed Chief Liu into the city. As for Huaihua, because she was pretty and dainty, Secretary Shi said it would be possible for her to come as well, and he had her act as their announcer. An announcer is such a visible role that after Secretary Shi mentioned it, he caressed Huaihua’s pretty and delicate face, and she allowed him. She smiled seductively at him, and even let him kiss her on the cheek.
On that day, a large truck drove in from the county seat and stopped at the entrance to the village. Regardless of whether a villager was blind, deaf, crippled, or mute, as long as anyone had a special skill, he or she rushed over to the truck to leave Balou. Chief Liu’s car had not yet arrived, and he said that he would save a tank of gas by riding in the truck as well because, after all, wouldn’t the driver in the truck’s tower
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take him back to the county seat just the same? He therefore sat in the tower with Secretary Shi, and they all prepared to leave Liven together.
The sun was already several pole-lengths high in the sky, and the villagers had eaten an early breakfast. They prepared to meet at the entrance of the village in order to load their bags into the truck and leave for the city. Tonghua, Huaihua, and Yuhua also hauled their bags to the courtyard, and as the sun began to warm up, the village’s bell began to toll. Then, Chief Liu’s secretary began shouting an announcement in the morning air:
“All of the members of the special-skills performance troupe must go to the village entrance to board the truck. If you are late and the truck leaves without you, you will no longer be a member of the troupe.”
Secretary Shi’s voice was as sonorous as a fan, as crisp as an apple pear, and as sweet as sugar. When Huaihua heard him, she immediately blushed bright red. Yuhua glanced at her, and Huaihua said, “What? What are you looking at?” Yuhua didn’t reply but rather stared coldly at Huaihua, then picked up her bags.
Yuhua went to grab Tonghua’s cane. As they prepared to leave, they first went to bid farewell to their mother, who had been sitting stiffly in the courtyard. Their mother was like a rotten stump, her face ashen and lifeless. She sat there staring out the front gate, then looked at blind Tonghua like someone who has already died but is still grasping a statue of the Buddha.
Yuhua said, “Mother, they are calling for us. We have to go now.”
Huaihua said, “Mother, are you concerned? Don’t you still have Mothlet to keep you company?” She added, “Don’t worry. We’ll send you some money in a month. I plan to earn more than anyone, and simply can’t imagine that anyone will be able to beat me. In the future, if you don’t want to continue farming, you won’t have to.”
Tonghua knew that their mother was worried. She didn’t say anything, but rather knelt down in front of her mother and took her hand. As Tonghua did so, tears began pouring from Jumei’s eyes. Outside, One-Legged Monkey’s cadre-like voice rang out, urging them to hurry: “Tonghua and Huaihua, why don’t you come? Everyone is waiting for you!” His shout was like a whip, and when Jumei heard it she wiped her eyes and waved her daughters out the door.
They left.
All that remained in the courtyard was solitude. The sun had risen past the building and was now perched just below the wall of the facing house, making the entire courtyard look as though it were covered in bright glass. It was the end of the fifth month, around the time of year when they would normally begin harvesting the wheat, but there wasn’t the slightest hint of wheat in the air, only the smell of soil that was soggy from the melted snow. The sparrows were on the roof of the house, chirping loudly, while the crows were in the courtyard trees, carrying twigs to rebuild the nests that had been destroyed by the midsummer blizzard. Jumei was still sitting in the doorway of her house, not moving a muscle. She waved her daughters away. She would have accompanied them to the village entrance, but she was afraid to see a certain someone and, therefore, remained in her courtyard.
She was afraid to see that certain someone, but at the same time very much wanted to see him. Therefore, she kept her front gate tightly shut and sat in her doorway, staring out at the courtyard.
The entourage staying in the temple guest house was about to emerge, and would need to pass by her front door.
Secretary Shi had passed by carrying a large bag and a small one. The sound of the bell tolling was echoing everywhere, but for some reason County Chief Liu Yingque had still not appeared. Jumei was in a state of utter distraction, and thought that perhaps he had already walked by and boarded the truck, and was about to leave the village. The sound of footsteps that had engulfed the village street had already died down, and suitcases full of bedding, clothing, and dishware had already been loaded onto the truck. The joyous and tearful ceremonies of parting had already been performed, and the only sound left in the village street was the chirping of the sparrows. Jumei had stopped watching the front gate when she finally saw him. She stood up to clean a pile of trash her daughters had left behind, but at that moment she saw two legs walking past from the guest house door. Those legs were buried in a pair of reddish brown uniform shorts, and on the feet were a pair of leather sandals and silk socks. The silk socks shimmered in the sun, and the light flashed in Jumei’s eyes.
She stared in astonishment from the entranceway. She initially had no intention of saying anything to that person, and instead merely stared silently. But when she saw that he was about to walk away, she suddenly cried out,
“Hey! Hey!”
The sandals immediately paused and turned around.
“What now?”
She pondered for a moment, and it seemed as if it suddenly occurred to her that perhaps she should not have called to him. She said apologetically,
“Nothing. So, I’ve handed over my daughters to you?”
He glared at her in annoyance:
“You handed over your daughters to the performance troupe, not to me, County Chief Liu.”
Astounded, she looked at him helplessly. Then she said softly,
“You should go now.”
He turned again and left. He walked quickly, as if he were trying to escape something. A large crowd had gathered at the entrance to the village. All of the villagers, young and old, were there. The disabled villagers with special skills climbed into the back of the truck. They stuffed in their suitcases and bags, and then sat on them. There was also a pile of miscellaneous items, including pots and flour for cooking, steamers for heating buns, earthen pots for making dough, jars for storing water, buckets for carrying water, and sacks of grain and bran.
The entire truckload of people was waiting for Chief Liu. Secretary Shi and the driver were both standing below the truck’s tower and peering into the depths of the alley. The people in the truck gazed into the distance, craning their necks in an attempt to see Chief Liu.
Needless to say, the truck couldn’t depart until Chief Liu arrived, and the longer it took, the more anxious those who had come to see them off became. Mothers and their children were being separated, and the children outside the truck were trying to climb into their mothers’ laps inside the truck—and if they weren’t allowed to do so, simply sat there and cried. As for the men in the truck, their wives were giving them countless tasks to do, as if once they departed they would never return. There were some girls in the truck, and the old people outside kept repeating the same things, saying that the girls needed to wash their clothes regularly, because if they didn’t the clothes would get moldy. They also told the young woman charged with cooking for the troupe that when she was using flour, she should add some extra baking soda to help the dough rise more quickly, because without it the dough would collapse. They even suggested that when people were thirsty they should drink boiled water—stressing that, regardless of whether they were using a basin or a pot to boil the water, it wasn’t safe to drink until it reached a full boil. They went on to say that when it rained, everyone should use an umbrella, and that those who didn’t have umbrellas could use the money the troupe issued them at the end of the month to buy a raincoat or something. They said that a raincoat had its benefits, since, unlike an umbrella, it could also be used as a mat to air-dry their grain.
Huaihua was the only person in the truck who wasn’t speaking. She repeatedly glanced into the driver’s tower, where Secreterary Shi was now sitting, and when no one was paying attention he would peek back at her and smile.
Chief Liu finally appeared, and everyone inside and outside the truck immediately fell silent.
The reason Chief Liu was late was that as he was leaving the temple guest house he suddenly needed to use the restroom. He squatted in a latrine for so long that his feet went numb, and only then did he slowly emerge. As he approached the truck, he surveyed everyone inside and outside the vehicle, and said, “It looks like everyone’s here.” Secretary Shi answered, “Yes.” Chief Liu asked, “Nothing is missing?” Secretary Shi said, “I had everyone make sure they have all the props they need for their performances.” Chief Liu therefore turned to the driver and said,
“Let’s go.”
The driver quickly started the engine.
Along the mountain ridge, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. The sky was so clear you could see more than a hundred
li
in every direction. The sun was shining down brightly, and everyone in the truck was covered in sweat. Huaihua was in the front, and she had picked some tree leaves to fan herself. Other people sat in front of her fan, and soon there was a large group. A sweaty odor wafted over her, and so she tore up the leaves she was holding. The fresh fragrance of corn and millet wafted over from the fields by the road. Everyone was eager to leave. Liven had been turned upside down—but it suddenly occurred to the villagers that, given that they were going to participate in the special-skills troupe, they were, after all, departing. Realizing that they were going to carry out some earth-shattering event, they all suddenly grew silent.