Chinese Stories in English
Opposite Shore (Page 11)
Stories printed in The Other Shore 《彼岸花》作家网*选编|冰峰*主编
Page citation and link to Chinese text noted after each story.
1. Extensive Virtue United 3. Fish-Flavored Wontons 4. Giving Thanks
2. Cats Don't Know 5. Don't Talk to People
1. Extensive Virtue United (德盛合鞋店)
Ye Xing (叶星)
Extensive Virtue United was a shoe store located by the north gate of a county-level town. Surprisingly, for a place with such a sonorous name, only two people worked there.
The master, surnamed Gong, was a big, taciturn fellow from Shandong Province. He’d apprenticed at the Domestic Ascendent Shoe Company in Beijing when he was young, where he learned superb shoe-making skills. He specialized in hand-sewn, comfortable and durable multi-layer, round-mouth cloth shoes. Even Captain Yamada of the Japanese Military Police liked them.
The other worker was his apprentice, Favorable, a clever young local about seventeen or eighteen years old. He was already quite tall, even though not yet fully grown. He looked a bit like a giant bean sprout because he always walked with his back hunched over.
The year 1936 was a very turbulent time. Anti-Japanese guerrillas active in the mountainous area north of the city had grown stronger and stronger, until they posed a very real threat to the county seat. Sometimes a few of the bandits would appear out of nowhere, frightening the Japanese and puppet troops even more than they already were. Every day, the Japanese Military Police had to dispatch a special group of armed Japanese soldiers, puppet troops and police officers from the city to man the north gate. They called it a checkpoint. It guarded the only road on which people could drive into the city from the north.
Early one morning, Captain Yamada strode into Extensive Virtue United wearing civilian clothes. Warm sunlight illuminated a small, mottled wooden table on which sat awls, needle awls, duckbill pliers, vises, hammers and other tools. The morning sun also shone on Master Gong, who sat on a small stool with his back bent and his head bowed, supporting a piece of plywood about two feet square on his knees. He first concentrated on splitting a cord and threading it through a needle, then he used awls to poke small round eyelets in the sole and upper sections of a shoe. Next he skillfully used two curved needles to cross through eyelets. Finally he wrapped a hemp thread around the needle tip, knotted it and pulled it through the eyelets. This lifted the sole to the upper sections and, once they were tightly joined, he could hammer the seam flat…. He seemed to have taken no notice whatsoever of the "important man" who’d entered the shop.
Favorable saw the man, of course, but he hated these devils from the Eastern Sea because they grew more arrogant with each passing day. He even spat at them behind their backs when he made shoes for them.
But the master was different. He was a pure craftsman who adhered to the teachings of the pioneers in the trade. He’d posted some of them on the on the wall: aphorisms like "People from near or far are all the same, and not to be cheated whether young or old”; and "You must be pure in your work, refined in your character, diligent in your profession, respectful in your conduct and sincere in your beliefs." All customers were the same in his eyes, whether they were rich and powerful officials or ordinary people who pulled carts and sold soy sauce -- even including, perhaps, those arrogant and domineering devils from the Eastern Sea. In his words, “Everyone who comes in is our guest. They put food on our tables and clothes on our backs.”
Captain Yamada didn't say anything, just quietly watched Master Gong making shoes as though he were appreciating a piece of fine art. He’d just received news that five more of the Empire’s transport vehicles had been ambushed the previous night, and the losses were quite serious. With such strict checkpoints, who on earth could be passing top-secret information about convoys and such to the Eighth Route Army in the mountains?
Master Gong eventually noticed Yamada's arrival, but he didn’t say anything. Without even pausing his work, he just signaled to Favorable to pour tea for the guest. He often told Favorable that it’s important to sew shoes in one go, never getting up to rest, especially when sewing at a bend. If you do stop, you’ll apply force unevenly, which will affect the quality of the finished product and ruin the brand.
Yamada didn't mind. He kept staring at Master Gong's work and didn't drink the tea. Every part of making shoes at Extensive Virtue United was very precise. For example, the process of making a sole included cutting the material, binding the layers together, punching the eyelets, then sewing and hammering the sole. A "straight line sole" needed 2,100 stitches, while a "crossed sole" needed 4,200. The procedure was so rigorous that one stitch more or less was not allowed. No matter how you looked at the sole, horizontally, vertically or diagonally, the stitches all lined up. Master Gong's superb skills awed the little devil.
After Favorable took the finished soles from his master, the first thing he did was soak them in clean water. When the hemp threads were thoroughly wet, he hammered them repeatedly. Because of the soaking and hammering, the hemp threads gradually became a solid hemp nail, so that the multi-layer soles would not easily fall apart or crack from wear. Favorable put the hammered soles one beside the other in a cool, ventilated place under the window. Two hours of drying in the shade and a pair of comfortable, durable multi-layer cloth shoes was done.
Favorable hammered particularly hard that day, perhaps because he was angry. The “bong, bong” sound of his pounding filled the entire store. Captain Yamada understood that this was a message – it was Favorable’s way of "showing the guest the door". He left glumly.
As a general rule, the hard work of hammering the soles was always Favorable's job. Master Gong would do it himself only in very rare cases, such as when Uncle Zhong came along in the afternoon.
Uncle Zhong was a peddler who sold his wares door to door. He was also one of the few other people from Shandong in that town. He and Master Gong were even from the same village, so naturally they were closer than they otherwise would’ve been. Uncle Zhong came in to rest his feet and get a drink of water whenever he passed by the shop. He followed custom strictly and never came empty-handed, bringing either a bag of tea or a pack of cigarettes to share. If he wasn’t too busy, Master Gong always sat with him to drink the tea and smoke.
Interestingly, the two old friends often sat together in silence, not saying a word. Although they were close, they were both quite taciturn. They chain-smoked cigarettes and drank cup after cup of tea until Uncle Zhong took his leave, without ever a word passing between them.
Before allowing his guest to get up to leave, however, Master Gong always took the multi-layer cloth shoes from Uncle Zhong's feet to do some maintenance work. He’d hammer the soles himself, and sometimes even replace a couple of stitches, which shows the unique and strong hometown feelings between the men. Whenever this happened, Favorable would remain tactfully off to one side. He kept busy with his own work or helped serve the tea and cigarettes to the two friends.
None of this dispelled the cunning Captain Yamada’s suspicions of Extensive Virtue United. In fact, he sent people to monitor the store day and night. Favorable learned the truth only after Master Gong and Uncle Zhong were arrested and had sacrificed their lives -- Extensive Virtue United was a secret intelligence station set up by the town’s underground. Its name was a pun implying "Victory and Peace". Uncle Zhong's multi-layer round-mouth cloth shoes were the means by which Master Gong and others passed information through the checkpoint. Master Gong personally hammered intelligence between the layers the shoe’s soles.
It wasn’t until more than eighty years later that I learned about this historical fact by reading the county annals. One Qingming Festival day, I made an appointment with the comrades from the county CCP’s history office to visit the old site of the Extensive Virtue United Shoe Store. The area has now been developed into a large vegetable market with a wide variety of goods and is filled with the aroma of daily life. We went through a lot of trouble to find the exact location of the shoe store and eventually saw a small wooden table under the giant billboard of a joint venture. Two pairs of old-fashioned, multi-layer round-mouth cloth shoes sat impressively on the table, evoking memories. Next to them was an open bottle of liquor, two paper cups and two lit cigarettes. Warm sunlight shone on the small, mottled wooden table, and the lingering smoke continuously wafted upwards....
Chinese text at 《彼岸花》 p. 233. Also available here.
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2. Cats Don't Know (猫不知道)
Zhang Aiguo (张爱国)
Beauty Yang pushed the door open, but her cat didn't come running up to her. Beauty called softly and heard a faint "meow" from under the coffee table -- more of a moan than a greeting. She leapt to the coffee table and moved it away. The poor cat was tightly tangled in yarn and covered with dust and scraps from under the table. Beauty hurried to untie it, but the yarn was tangled so securely and bafflingly that she couldn't find where to start.
Sturdy got home from work just then and bent down to change his shoes at the door. Beauty was sitting on the floor holding the cat. "Quick,” she demanded worriedly, “get the scissors!"
Sturdy seemed unconcerned as he untied his shoelaces. He muttered, “uh” -- he hadn’t yet realized that she was talking to him.
"Hurry up!” Beauty cried. “Mimi’s all….”
“Ah”, Sturdy bellowed in surprise. He ran into the kitchen barefoot and got a pair of scissors. Squatting down beside Beauty, he carefully cut the yarn to free the cat. The way things had been going with their marriage lately, perhaps the cat was the only thing that could make the couple cooperate so well.
Once the cat was free, Beauty held it in her arms and sat on the sofa, petting and comforting it. Sturdy went and got water and cat food. He squatted in front of Beauty and very gently encouraged the cat to eat and drink.
Beauty looked up from the cat. "How did Mimi get all tangled up?" she wondered.
"Yes, how did she? Let me look." Sturdy sat on the sofa, not far from Beauty, and opened the monitoring app on his cell phone.
Sturdy started to fast-forward through the video. He’d woken up downstairs in the morning and the cat came down as he was washing up. He fed it and left for work. Beauty came downstairs a bit later. After she washed her face and brushed her teeth, she warmed a cup of milk for herself and sat on the sofa. The cat scrunched up on her legs. It was still early when Beauty finished her milk, so she picked up a sweater she’d been working on and started knitting. The cat still lay on her lap, half asleep. Beauty put down the sweater and the cat at 7:30 and left for work.
Sturdy turned off the fast forward function to slow the video down. He watched as the cat crouched on the floor for a while, then jumped onto the coffee table. When the ball of yarn rolled down onto the floor, the cat saw it and jumped down to chase it. The cat playing with the ball of yarn was quite funny and Sturdy had to giggle. Beauty was petting the cat and turned her head to look at Sturdy’s phone.
The video kept playing. The cat was rolling around on the floor like a ball, with the yarn getting tangled around its body. "Roll back the other way," Beauty shouted, gawking at the phone in Sturdy's hand. The cat wouldn’t have gotten in trouble if it’d rolled back like she wanted, but it kept rolling forward and got even more tangled. By the time it rolled from the coffee table to the wall under the TV, where it could roll no further, the yarn was already wrapped around its body six or seven times.
"Come on, roll back the other way." Beauty moved a little closer to Sturdy. Where was the cat? It had just paused momentarily at the wall before flipping over, twisting the yarn. When it rolled back towards the coffee table, more yarn wrapped around its body.
"Go back, go back." Sturdy was also yelling anxiously. The cat had probably realized something was wrong and rolled back with a "meow". However, because the yarn was too tangled and stuck to its fur, rolling back just got more yarn tangled in the opposite direction.
The cat started to wail. It tried to grab the yarn with one of its front paws but it just got more tangled. After several more rolls, both of its front paws were caught. It stretched its head out to try to use its mouth to pry its way out of the hateful yarn, but after more rolls, its mouth was also ensnared.
"Don't move, Mimi." Beauty snatched Sturdy's phone, wishing she could pull the cat out of it. Sturdy turned to look at Beauty, then leaned over and continued watching. It took a full half hour for the cat to finally tie itself up tightly in the cramped space under the coffee table.
"Foolish thing, why didn't you roll back the other way right at the start?" Beauty petted the cat gently, but then she slammed the phone down on the coffee table and edged away from Sturdy. He seemed upset that she’d thrown his phone down. He glanced at her, picked up the phone and moved to the far end of the sofa. He thought for a few moments, then stood up and walked away.
"If you’d gone back, just one step back, you would’ve been all right." Beauty continued to pet the cat gently. "If you don't turn back the first time, you won't the second time, and pretty soon you can't turn back ever, even if you want to." Sturdy stopped and looked at Beauty, then stepped further away.
"I could just strangle you! You’d be better off dead!" Beauty slapped the cat a little too hard and it fell to the floor.
Sturdy stopped again. Without looking back, he asked her in a cold voice, "What’re you talking about?”
"Idiot! Jackass!" The cat, who’d not yet completely recovered from being knocked to the floor, wailed in distress.
"What are you doing to that cat?" Sturdy still stood there without looking back, but his voice was much less agitated.
Beauty picked up the cat and gently held it in her arms. "You’re an animal. You didn't understand the principle. I can't blame you for not knowing enough to turn back. A human isn’t a cat, not....”
Sturdy turned around slowly and sat down next to Beauty. She made a show of turning away, showing him her back. Her face close to the cat, she moaned, "You animal, why didn’t you have enough sense to step back?"
Sturdy gently put his arm around Beauty 's shoulders. "My little Beauty”, he said, choking up. Don’t say anything more. I hear what you’re saying. I’ll step away from it…."
The next morning, Sturdy, with Beauty at his side, voluntarily walked into the compound of the Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision, the anti-corruption police.
Chinese text at《彼岸花》p. 238. Also available here.
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3. Fish-Flavored Wontons (鱼香大抄手*)
Chen Meiqiao (陈美桥)
The ground was thoroughly soaked after the spring rain, making the soil happy enough to rise like puff pastry. It stuck loosely to the sides and soles of pedestrians’ shoes, so the street was crisscrossed with an assortment of yellow mud splotched and shoe prints. A pair of wide-toed leather shoes had been parked in front of the No Name Restaurant for quite a while. The toes were worn out and the shoelaces had been stretched out for so long that they’d lost their durability.
The drizzle fell on an old man’s head so his gray hair looked like it was emitting tiny bubbles. He was wearing leather shoes. He retreated to the restaurant’s eaves to avoid the rain and stood there for a long time looking at the "Fish-Flavored Wonton" shop across the way.
That restaurant’s manager, Gimpy Zhang, was rinsing the bowls from which customers had just finished eating noodles. Detergent foam and a residue of red oil still covered the thick palms of his hands. The small restaurant, less than thirty meters square, did a land-office business.
Gimpy ran the wonton shop and also kneaded and pressed the dough himself. He did it very precisely. His special wonton wrappers were squarer, larger and more resilient than ordinary ones, and he filled them with plenty of moist, fresh meat fillings. He’d concocted a dry-mix, fish-flavored sauce from chili oil, soy sauce and other condiments to spice up the wontons. Diners couldn't help but praise the mellow taste: "Gimpy, you’re like a cook who shaves with a kitchen knife -- one of a kind!"
Whenever that happened, it was Gimpy’s habit to force a silly smile and bow to everyone. He was a kind fellow, and if someone didn't have enough money, he’d say, "Pay me next time."
Gimpy had to wash a few more dishes that day than usual. The tap water gushed out and hit the sink’s wall, bounced back and hit Gimpy in the corner of his eye. He looked into the distance when he wiped the water away with his elbow and noticed a pair of eyes staring at him. After their eyes met, they each moved on to other places.
Cloudy Yun owned the No Name Restaurant across the street from Gimpy’s wonton shop. She’d stepped out to run some errands and, as she walked back, she saw the old man still standing at the door. "Sir,” she asked, are you trying to stay out of the rain? It's windy out here. Come inside and sit for a while."
The old man's cheeks had turned a little red from the wind, and his hands were slightly red from the cold. He coughed twice and accepted the invitation. "Thank you very much, boss."
He sat down on a bench and Cloudy handed him a cup of hot tea. He held it with both hands and took a sip. "Why is your restaurant closed?" he asked.
"It's almost time to open. Would you like a little something to eat?"
"I'm really hungry. Can you go get me a bowl of wontons from across the street?"
Cloudy was mystified. If the old guy wanted wontons, why hadn't he gone to the wonton shop to eat instead of standing at Cloudy’s door for so long? But she noticed how bad his complexion looked, so she shouted across to the wonton shop, "Mr. Zhang, do you have any wontons left?"
Gimpy looked up from the wontons on his serving tray. "Not even enough for one bowl!"
The old man said to Cloudy, "That's okay. Tell him to start cooking."
"Get cooking!" she yelled. After a bit, she took her umbrella and went over to get the wontons. Gimpy had poured fish sauce on the freshly cooked wontons and also added a small spoonful of minced garlic and chopped green onions.
When the old man saw the bulging wontons in the bowl, his eyes brightened and he perked right up. Cloudy handed him a pair of chopsticks and he picked up a wonton and took a bite. But suddenly he seemed distracted and didn't swallow.
"Don’t the wontons taste good, old fellow?"
"No, no, that’s not it."
"Then, you…."
"Is this Gimpy a local?"
"No, he came to this town and rented that shop a few years ago."
"Oh?"
Gimpy was an honest, hardworking bachelor. There was nothing wrong with him other than his lame leg. Matchmakers had taken it on themselves to introduce him to potential partners several times, but he always declined with a smile, citing his disability as an excuse. Some people speculated that he already had someone in his heart.
Jade Flower Yan, a widow with an eight-year-old son, owned a tailor shop next to Gimpy’s restaurant. Her shop was always so crowded on market days that she didn't have time to make lunch, so she’d send her son to eat next door. Gimpy knew the child didn't like spicy food, so he made his wontons without the fish sauce. When the boy was almost done eating, Gimpy’d prepare another bowl with fish sauce for him to take to his mother. There were always more wontons than usual in that bowl. When Jade smiled to thank Gimpy for the wontons, her two dimples looked particularly beautiful.
The neighbors wanted to set them up with each other, but Gimpy always smiled and didn’t otherwise respond. After a long time, Jade felt that Gimpy didn’t like her, so she decided not to have anything to do with him anymore. Gimpy wanted to explain things to her but didn't know how to start. Jade gave him the cold shoulder, and her round face never again showed him her dimples.
The old man walked to the wonton shop with his empty bowl, handed money to Gimpy to pay for his wontons and complimented him. "These fish-flavored wontons taste delicious. Quite like the ones I used to get in Yongchuan, near Chongqing."
"I don’t often get such praise." Gimpy’s face turned red.
The old man didn’t leave right away. He watched Gimpy mix the seasonings and tasted the mix from a spoon. "Thick, salty, sweet and fragrant. Tastes just the same!" he took a photo from his trouser pocket and called out, "Righteous Liu!"
Gimpy, busy putting seasoning into a bottle, was stunned for a moment when he heard that name. The ladle in his hand fell to the ground.
"It really is you! You've changed your name but your skills betray you. There’re lots of lame people in this world, but not many of them can make fish-flavored wontons.
“You can run but you can't hide. For your information, your boss is pushing up daisies!”
"The boss is dead? I didn't do it on purpose. I didn’t steal his money, but he thought I did and ran into the kitchen to beat me up. I pushed him and he fell onto the corner of the kitchen counter...."
"Then why did you run away? You know, I’ve been looking for you everywhere since I retired from the police force after your murder case went cold."
"I was afraid people would say I was a murderer.... I.... I’m not a killer, I’m really not...." Gimpy knelt down on his knees in front of the old man.
The old man pulled him up, intending to take him in. Gimpy immediately knelt down again. "Please trust me this time, Officer. I’ll go with you tomorrow morning after I finish up some things."
Gimpy finished writing two letters at dawn the next day. He stuffed one under Jade's door and hid a large bag of cash in the cardboard box where she kept her deadstock fabric. He shoved the other letter under the door of the No Name Restaurant. Then he got into a car with the old man for the ride into the city.
Cloudy opened her letter and found a detailed recipe for fish-flavored wontons. It described selecting the grade of meat, preparing fish-flavored sauce and mixing it with the meat fillings. As for Jade, he left her all the money he’d earned from his hard work over the past few years. His letter expressed his deep affection for her and explained why he was helpless to form a relationship.
*Translator’s Note: 抄手 is Sichuan dialect for “wonton”.
Text at 《彼岸花》 p. 117. Also available here. Translated
from 故事族网 at https://www.gushizu.com/951/read_5.html
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4. Giving Thanks (感恩)
Xu Jian (徐剑)
Mountain Zhu looked like a typical shriveled up old man. He was about fifty, short, thin, and wrinkly. He did look a few years younger than his contemporaries, though, because of his small physique. He had a high-sounding nickname despite his unattractive appearance -- "Little Emperor" -- purportedly because he’d been a super fan of the TV series "The Last Emperor" when he was young. His friends also called him that because his name was a near homophone for an alias of Zhu Wen, the first emperor of the Later Liang Dynasty.
Mountain had an emperor’s name but not his fate. His father died unexpectedly when he was ten years old, and his family's financial situation deteriorated rapidly. He had to drop out of school and stay home to help out his mother. Later, an old man from outside the village married his mother and moved in with them. His stepfather had never been married before and also had no children with Mountain’s mother, so he treated his stepson as his own child. Mountain thus had a happy childhood even though the family was impoverished.
Mountain remained skinny when he grew up, perhaps due to malnutrition. He reached marriageable age before he knew it, but no girl was willing to marry him. The women around his mother’s age all had grandchildren and his mother wanted grandchildren, too. She was so worried about Mountain’s inability to find a wife that her hair turned white.
People in the village said the short, poor and ugly "Little Emperor" would probably be single his entire life. Before long, however, the news came like a slap in the face: Mountain was going to get married! His stepfather couldn't stand the thought of his stepson following his old path, unable to get a wife when he was young and finding a widow to live with in his old age. He therefore visited his hometown and brought back a charming, pretty young woman.
He hurried to arrange a wedding for Mountain the day he got back. The couple, one attractive and one not, didn’t make a good match. Mountain smiled as he greeted the guests, while his bride frowned and said nothing. Someone suggested that this "Empress" would run away sooner or later.
Those words came true sooner than expected. Mountain’s mother invited the newlyweds to breakfast the day after the wedding, but only Mountain showed up. She thought the bride was shy, so she was going to go into the couple's house to get her, but Mountain said something that stopped her at the threshold.
“She ran away.”
"So go after her! Get going!"
“I wouldn’t be able catch up with her. She ran away in the middle of the night.”
“And you couldn’t stop her?”
“I let her go.”
Pow! A loud slap landed on Mountain's face. “I’m going to call the cops!”
"Don't. Dad bought her. If the police find out, he’ll be in trouble." His mother plopped down on the ground and burst into tears.
The "Empress" had run away, and no one talked about getting a wife for Mountain after that. His stepfather got sick and passed away a couple of years later, and no one knew if anger at Mountain had hastened his death.
The "Little Emperor" continued his solitary life, and things returned to the way they were before his ill-fated marriage. Mountain worked hard to support his mother. He learned to be a bricklayer, sold vegetables, and set up stalls for other vendors. He made enough money to build a house and buy a car, and gradually became prosperous.
Matchmakers saw that Mountain was lonely after his mother passed away. They felt sorry for him, so they came to his house to match him up with women who were divorced or widowed. The matchmakers thought that the old bachelor would be grateful, but he turned them down one after another. He even refused to meet some of them. They were so angry they cursed him behind his back. They whispered that he really thought he was an emperor and wanted to marry a virgin!
The nearby city was expanding and Mountain’s village was scheduled for demolition. All the villagers were happy except Mountain. Everyone wondered what the "Little Emperor" was thinking. Didn't he want three houses and a large amount of demolition compensation? Was he just hanging on to the old house because he was waiting for his “Empress” to return?
Mountain didn’t smile until a young man from another village came to visit him. The young man stayed overnight and took Mountain back to his village the next day. Ten days later, Mountain came home and announced to the villagers that he had obtained a marriage certificate. His bachelor days were over! People asked, "Where’s your Empress? Bring her out so we can all have a look."
"She’s still in her hometown,” Mountain replied. I’ll invite everyone to the wedding banquet after the demolition is done."
It wasn’t long before the whole village was demolished. To everyone's surprise, Mountain registered all his properties in the name of his stepson, the young man who’d visited him. Someone asked him, "How can you be so stupid, Little Emperor? If this Empress runs away too, you’ll have nothing left."
Mountain smiled. "Don't worry,” and answered. “He’ll inherit it anyway, sooner or later. I'm just trying to save the transfer fee when that happens."
Mountain had no place to live while his new home was being built, so he moved in with his stepson. He returned home half a year later, when the new place was finished, but he was alone.
"Hey, Little Emperor! Where’s your Empress?"
"Oh, gone." Mountain looked like he was crying.
"Another runaway?"
"No. Oh, lord, she’s gone to the next world."
Mountain was still a lonely man and moved into his new house alone. He’d lost his "Empress", but at least he’d acquired a "Prince", which made him feel he had someone to care for him in his old age. But within a few days, he moved out of his new home and into a rental, and no one knew what had happened to the "Prince".
Rumor had it that Mountain was too kind and had been taken to the cleaners. His stepson induced him to marry his terminally ill mother to get hold of Mountain’s property, and when his mother died, he kicked Mountain out. The poor "Little Emperor" was left with nothing.
Take another look, though. Mountain had experienced the pain of losing his wife and his house, but his mental state was still okay. He often visited people’s homes. He’d ask one family what their son was studying in college, and ask another whether their daughter had found a job. He had lots of free time, and nothing at all to worry about.
A bit of news arrived just after the Spring Festival one year. A huge enterprise was moving in from another village and would hire lots of workers. This was undoubtedly a great benefit for the people from the demolished village, since many of them were worried about not being able to find jobs. Eventually everyone from the old village who applied for a job was hired, and they all got suitable positions. But when the factory opened, the workers were all shocked -- the boss turned out to be the "Prince", the young man who’d taken all of Mountain’s property.
But when the factory opened, the workers were all shocked -- the boss turned out to be the "Prince", the young man who’d taken all of Mountain’s property.
The boss was approachable and often visited the shop floor to chat with the workers. One of them asked, "Why’d you let your stepfather live in a rental house instead of his new house, Boss?"
"Because the formaldehyde used in building the place exceeded government standards. He couldn’t live there for the time being, until the formaldehyde dissipated.”
"Why’d you move your factory here?" another asked.
"To give thanks."
"Give thanks?"
"Yeah. My mother was kidnapped when she was young and sold to Mountain as a wife. He liked her a lot, but when he found out she was already in love with someone else, he took her to the train station that very night.
"Oh, your mother was the girl who ran away that time!"
"Well, when they parted that day, my mother told my stepfather, 'You’re such a good man, if it ever becomes possible in this life, I’ll marry you for sure.' Last year, not long after my biological father died, my mother was also diagnosed with a terminal illness, and she wanted to see my stepfather before she died. When she found out my stepfather had been waiting for her, she married him on the spot."
"What a touching love story!" everyone exclaimed.
"My stepfather’s a good man. My father and mother wouldn't have had their careers if it weren’t for him, and I wouldn't have all these things I have now. This place nurtured my stepfather, and I wanted to give something back to express how grateful I am."
Two lines of tears rolled slowly down the Boss's cheeks.
Chinese text from 《彼岸花》 p. 241. Also available here.
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5. Don't Talk to People (不要和百姓人说话)
Lan Yue (蓝月)
Auntie Peach Blossom was walking in a circle around the room with baby Treasure in her arms when she heard a knock on the door. She hurried towards the door but abruptly stopped, remembering her son's instructions: “Don't open the door at home, and what’s more, don't talk to strangers.”
Auntie Peach had been surprised. “How could things have come to this?” she thought. “The door to your home was never closed during the day when you were a child. No one in the village closed their door. Even now, as long as someone is home, the door stays open.”
Her son had told her, “The city is different from the country. People in the country have lived in the same village for generations and know everything about each other. The city has a complicated population with people from all over the place, and some scammers roam around specifically looking to cheat you old people. You don’t want to hurt anyone, but you have to keep an eye out for people who want to hurt you.”
Scammers? Auntie Peach 's heart skipped a beat. She had to be careful. “What my son said makes sense. We should always be on guard against other people.”
“Who is it?”
“I live across the hall from you.”
There was indeed a family residence across the hall, but Auntie Peach had been there for a week and never seen their door open. Her son said that it might not have been sold yet, or maybe it had been sold but the owner hadn’t done the interior decorating yet.
Her son lived in a new residential complex close to a commercial street, so shopping was very convenient. But every household kept their doors closed and used the elevator to go up and downstairs. They never talked when they saw each other, even if they’d run into each other many times. They’d just smile and nod a greeting.
Auntie Peach couldn't help feeling depressed. Living in the country was still better. Neighbors were like family. They’d lend each other soy sauce or vinegar, or help out if someone needed it. They never mentioned the word "money". Money couldn’t buy warm human relationships. Country people were so warm!
Why was the person across the hall coming to visit? Could it be a scammer?
Auntie Peach got nervous. She put baby Treasure in the rocking bed, went to the door, covered her left eye and put her right eye close to the peephole. A woman about her age stood outside the door. She had brown curly hair and was wearing light makeup. She looked like a decent person.
Could she be a scammer? Auntie Peach accidentally muttered out loud what was in her mind.
“Ha, ha,” the woman laughed. I'm not a liar. I really am your neighbor from across the hall!”
“Don't lie to me. There's no one living across the hall.” Auntie Peach was still on the alert.
“We just bought it for our son to use when he gets married, and it hasn't been fixed up yet. Look, the door’s open, isn’t it? You can see it through the peephole.” The woman moved aside so that Auntie Peach could see.
Auntie Peach looked through the peephole. The door across the hall was indeed open, so it seemed the woman really was her neighbor. Auntie Peach felt a little embarrassed and quickly opened the door. “What can I do for you?”
Auntie Peach looked towards the door opposite again. The condo was still unfinished and empty.
“It’s like this, ma’am. My son is out of town and won’t be back until the end of the year, so he asked me to hire someone to decorate the place. What do I know about interior decorating? I’d like to see yours for reference. Is that ok?”
“She’s quite friendly and sincere,” Auntie Peach thought, “and about my age. I should let her take a look. It’ll be nice to be on good terms with the neighbors and have someone visit with.”
Auntie Peach got a pair of slippers from the shoe rack for her guest. "Come in,” she said, smiling. “Our home is quite messy because we have a child."
“No, your place is clean. I can see you’re a clean person.” The woman changed into the slippers.
Baby Treasure was whimpering in the cradle, so Auntie Peach hurried over and picked him up.
“Wow, the baby is so beautiful, just like a foreign kid. How old is it? Is it a boy or a girl? The woman looked at Baby Treasure with envy in her eyes.
“He’s my grandson. Four months old,” Auntie Peach answered, still smiling.
“You’re so lucky. I’m about the same age as you, but my son isn’t married yet. It’s about time for him to tie the knot, isn’t it? I hope it’s soon. Ha, ha.”
Before they knew it, the sense of unfamiliarity between the two disappeared. The woman followed Auntie Peach around to see all the rooms. She praised them as she looked around, which made Auntie Peach feel very comfortable. “She seems like a good neighbor,” she thought.
Auntie Peach told her son about the neighbor lady when he came home. He said, "Not bad. She has a similar temperament to you, so you have a companion now."
Her son and his wife had the next day off and were at home. The child’s mother took care of the baby while Auntie Peach was responsible for preparing the family’s meals. Cooking was her specialty and she enjoyed it, and it was fun having the whole family at home. Auntie Peach was very happy.
There was a knock on the door and her son opened it.
Auntie Peach poked her head out of the kitchen and saw it was their neighbor. She told her son, "She’s the neighbor I told you about."
“Hello, ma’am,” the young man greeted her politely.
“Wow, your whole family’s at home today,” the woman exclaimed. “That’s so nice!”
Auntie Peach wiped her hands and walked over to the door. She got slippers from the shoe cabinet for the neighbor and, smiling, said, “Come in and sit down.”
“No, thank you. I'll just want to say a few things and then I’ll go.” The neighbor was also smiling.
“Ma’am, my mom tells me your condo is going to be decorated soon. Please keep it quiet while the work is being done. You can see we have a baby at home.”
Her son was really smart. He said directly what Auntie Peach was embarrassed to say.
“Sure thing. Don't worry about it. I’ll tell the workers to be careful.”
“Thanks. Please let me know if there is anything we can help you with.”
“There is something I want to discuss with you.”
“Sure. What is it?”
“It's like this. It’ll take at least three months to decorate our condo, and we need to let it dry after it's done, which means we won't move in for at least half a year. Do you want to use our parking space downstairs?”
"That’d be great. We have two cars but only one space. It's a real pain finding a place to park."
“Good. We'll rent it to you for half a year….”
“Sorry,” Auntie Peach interrupted, “we don't need a parking space. Please find someone else.” She slammed the door shut.
“What’s wrong with you, Mom?” Her son didn’t understand why his mother had suddenly got angry.
“Don't talk to strangers!” Auntie Peach glared at her son.
“Strangers?” The young man scratched the back of his head, confused.
Chinese text from 《彼岸花》 p. 256. Also available here.