Ordinary People 04

Chinese Stories in English

Ordinary People 04
Stories published in 百姓人家(2023), 秦俑/赵建宁选编
Page citation and link to online Chinese text noted after each story.

1. Tiny Boat 3. Searching for the Cows 4. Hardened by Fire
2. Blessed Bicycle 5. City in a Moat

1. Tiny Boat (轻舟已过万重山)
Not-A-Fish (非鱼)

They filled Blue Boat Lu’s mind when she woke up from the miasma. Filled to what extent? She felt that if she tilted her head slightly, the dense somethings would flow out like water. And what were those somethings? She wasn’t sure.
Short videos were still playing on her phone, one after another. All kinds of sounds, some normal and some not, alternated from the phone as well. The TV was on, too. An old drama about a household with a mother-in-law and a daughter-in-law was playing. Perhaps it was these noises that had made her nap seem like she was only half asleep. Perhaps also the noises were the somethings that had filled her mind.
She turned off the phone’s videos, turned down the TV’s volume and made a cup of green tea. She was trying hard to wake herself up.
As she brought the cup close to her face, the steam rose and opened her pores one by one, just like the tea leaves slowly unrolling in the cup. She took a sip, and the astringent green taste enshrouded her mouth, all the way to her throat. She had trouble sleeping, so she didn't often drink tea, but she did like to watch the young buds rise and fall in the cup. She liked the smell of spring and vegetation, too.
It was the West Lake Dragon Well tea that her daughter had sent her. The thought of her daughter threw Blue’s heart into turmoil again. Her daughter, who was far away, kept saying she was tired and bored. She said her work was boring, weekends were boring, and even her current relationship was boring. Blue wanted her daughter to come home, but Old Zhou didn’t agree. He said the girl was a drama queen and that Blue spoiled her.
“Who has an easy life? I get tired every day. My boss makes me work like a dog and you nag me at home. I’m PO’d, too.” That’s what Old Zhou said.
She was sick and tired of Old Zhou's attitude. He had no great aspirations and just muddled through life. That was it, a mediocre nice guy. But recently he couldn't even be a mediocre nice guy anymore. He complained more and more, especially at the mention of his daughter. He was always too negative and impatient.
What could she do about Old Zhou and Young Zhou? She seemed helpless. A strong sense of frustration came over her, and the trace of peace she’d created a moment before was broken again.
She put down her teacup right away and changed the TV channel to divert her attention. This was a method she’d tried and tested over the past two years. When she found herself about to be swallowed up by any kind of bad mood, this method would stop it in its tracks. She couldn't let herself become a pasty-faced, fidgety old biddy.
A humanities program called Letters Alive was on TV. The host and a distinguished guest talked about a method of interpersonal communication in a slow-paced era – handwritten missives. They weighed the feelings and ideas conveyed by every phrase, every word and every letter in written messages, from sweet nothings on fine linen to tightly constructed poesy from the clouds. They chatted infectiously, completely investing themselves in the topic, and one could tell that they both had rich experience in “reading the written word like reading a person’s face”.
“The tiny boat has passed through thousands of huge mountains” -- why did that poem come up? Blue felt a sudden heat rising instantaneously from her back to her face, giving rise to a thin layer of sweat. There’d once been a person like that, someone who’d also sent her letters from afar. Each letter ended with either, “The tiny boat has passed through thousands of huge mountains”, or “The tiny boat has not passed through thousands of huge mountains”.
The Blue Boat Lu of over thirty years ago had been immersed in her own world. Her mind was full of him, her classmate, on the playground in the clear evening moonlight after doing homework. She’d messed up her studies, except for Chinese and history. He passed the college entrance exam and, logically, got an admission letter from Harbin; while she, as expected, didn’t make the grade. Two months later, in an effort to be like him, she chose to repeat her senior year and stubbornly chose science courses. It was during that repeated year that they began to write letters frequently.
His handwriting was beautiful, and his sentences were beautiful, too. He copied poems by Shu Ting for her on birch bark and she saw them as treasures. She saw every sentence he wrote as a treasure. The happiest moment of every week was when she went to the school's mail room to pick up his letters.
A year later, aside from a thick pile of letters and various beautiful dreams, she had nothing she hadn’t had before.
Her father, Old Lu, was furious when he learned about this from her teacher. He blamed him for Blue's failure in the exam this time. When he came to see her during summer vacation, Old Lu cursed him and told him to forget about the idea of ever seeing her again.
Thus a beautiful time in her youth had faded away in the blink of an eye. She bundled up his letters, wrapped them tightly in newspapers and hid them in a secret place. And him as well.
Later, he and Blue embarked on two similar but different paths. She joined a company, studied Chinese language and literature by correspondence and took the self-study exam for a bachelor's degree. She was transferred to a government office as a writer, married Old Zhou and gave birth to Young Zhou. She did her job and worked her way up the ladder step by step.
He studied for a master's degree and a doctorate and became a nationally known botanical garden expert, serving as honcho of a national forest park. He must’ve gotten married and had children, too. She called him “Professor” in her heart.
Those letters, she secretly brought them to her and Old Zhou's home after they got married. Old Zhou happened to find them, and they had a big fight. He tore up the newspaper and threw the envelopes all over the floor. She cried half the night while holding Young Zhou, who was less than a year old, in her arms. Finally he burned everything in a rage, including the letter on birch bark. Truth is, she’d never opened those letters after getting married.
The letter, the burned up letter. He, the professor who’d written the letter. Her heart shrank into a little ball, hard as a rock. She could hardly breathe.
As she hurried to change the channel, a familiar yet unfamiliar face appeared before her in a flash. It was the professor. He was talking about the artistry of Chinese landscaping as a consulting columnist. He spoke in a gentle and erudite manner.
Their faces were less than two meters apart, their eyes directly opposite. Blue was stunned. She just stared at him, unable to hear anything.
This world, it’s so miraculous. Too wonderous.
Two minutes later, the picture changed and the professor was gone. The tea in her hand had gone cold. Dusk was approaching and the light in the living room was getting dimmer.
She turned off the TV and checked her phone. It was time to make dinner.
She let out a long sigh of relief. It was just an ordinary afternoon, but the coincidence of two TV programs had had her sailing through the huge mountains again.
That's all it was.

Text at p. 66. Translated from 故事者 at
http://m.gushizhe.com/xiandai/21691.html
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2. Blessed Bicycle (幸福的自行车)
Li Shimin (李士民)

Tile returned to the village when he failed the college entrance examination. No one could tell if he was the least bit sad. All they could see was him riding a bicycle, rushing all over around the village as if he was on stimulants.
He’s an excellent cyclist. He can hold the handlebars with his right hand and bend over with his left hand to pick up a straw hat on the ground. He can also let go of the handlebars with both hands and pedal as fast as if he were flying. He can even ride the bike facing backwards with his back turned to the front.
He’s keen on showing off his skills in front of the villagers, and especially the girls. When he saw a girl working in the fields, he stopped his bike and said, “I'll take you for a ride, Flower.” The girl shook her head and dodged him. When he saw another girl going to the market to shop, he rang his bell and said, “I'll give you a ride, Blossom.” The girl waved her hand and dodged him.
The girls all avoided Tile because of his complacency and self-satisfied attitude, except a demure girl named Penny who was willing to ride with him. A pretty girl, she walked like a willow swaying in the wind and sounded like a swallow singing in the springtime when she spoke.
When Tile saw Penny working in the fields, he stopped his bike and offered, “I'll take you for a ride, Penny.” Penny twisted her body and jumped lightly onto the back seat of the bike. Tile bent over and pedaled, singing the popular song “Husband and Wife Return Home Together.” When he saw Penny going shopping, he rang the bell and offered, “I'll give you a ride, Penny.” She lifted her butt and jumped nimbly onto the back seat. Tile stood up to cheer, humming the melody for the opera tune “Flying Through Life, Wing to Wing“.
There was a reason why Penny was willing to ride Tile's bike. She and her brother Buck had been playing in a pond on a hot day. Buck accidentally fell into the deep water. When Penny saw him struggling in the water, she had to stay on the shore to call for help. Tile happened to be passing by and heard her. He sped into the water on his bike and carried Buck back out. He scratched his arm and lost a watch in the process.
Penny often rode on Tile's bicycle but was afraid that her family would see them. Her father was a village cadre and the family was well-to-do. Tile's father, on the other hand, had a lame leg, and his family struggled to make ends meet.
Tile became bolder as the days went by. He didn’t just carry Penny to the fields to work and to the market to shop. He also took her to a neighboring village to see a movie. When they returned to their own village, Tile could no longer remember the plot or even the name of the movie. He only remembered that he’d practically been glued to Penny's body and had almost held her hand.
That autumn Penny told Tile that she was going to work in the South. Tile hated the South with a passion but had no way to keep her from going.
Tile was waiting at the village entrance, pushing his bicycle, on the morning Penny left for the South. He was going to take her to the station in the city. Neither of them spoke. Tile leaned to one side to get on the bike and Penny hoisted herself up behind him. They rode straight for a while, then turned a corner and got on the Tuohe River levee.
The levee road was curvy and covered with rubble and stones. The bicycle shook, quivered, jerked and bounced like the rhythm of a piano being played. Fortunately Tile was a good cyclist and Penny was light, and the two of them echoed each other’s movements to keep the bike upright. It was as if Tile was carrying a sedan chair with Penny riding in it.
They passed through a poplar forest and came to a grove of locust trees. Penny felt that Tile was pedaling faster and the bike was swaying more and more. Their forward motion was no longer a straight line. Sometimes it was like an S, or sometimes when the jerking was severe it was more like a W. When they seemed about to lose their balance, Penny put one arm around Tile's waist. That’s when she realized what he was up to. She resented him for it but still held onto his body even more tightly.
Tile felt that the journey along the levee was too short, shorter than a pig's neck and even shorter than a rabbit's tail. They arrived at Three Mile Bridge in the blink of an eye. Ahead of them the way off the levee was a slippery, steep slope. “This isn’t safe,” Penny said. “I'll get off the bike.”
Tile replied, “When I'm on the bike, you don't have to worry.” He headed off down the hill right away with Penny still on his back seat. “Ka-thunk!” The bike went down, throwing Penny to the ground. Tile quickly jumped up and held her in his arms. He was astonished when he took a look at his bike. The front rim had changed from a nice, circular pancake into a twisted piece of rope.
Three Mile Bridge is still three miles from the city, so Tile took Penny's hand and escorted her the rest of the way to the station on foot. As she was boarding, he told her, “Penny, when you come back, I’ll be waiting for you at Three Mile Bridge.”
Tile heard that Penny was coming home for the Spring Festival. When the festival was about to start, he rode his bike to Three Mile Bridge and waited for her at a distance. He waited until it got dark, then didn't wait any longer. When he got back to the village, he heard that Penny had indeed come home, and that a man from the south had driven her. Tile was stunned and, on the spur of the moment, he pushed his bike into the pond.
Not long after, Tile set up a simple shack at Three Mile Bridge and opened a bicycle repair shop. He offered to repair bicycles for free for any woman named “Penny” or “Pennie” Later he graduated to repairing motorcycles and, after a while, he opened an auto repair shop at the location.
One day a woman came into the repair shop. Tile asked her, “Are you looking to get a car repaired?”
“I don’t need anything repaired,” she replied. “I’m looking for Brother Tile.” Tile was surprised. This was Penny, wasn’t it?
It was. She told Tile that the man from the south had found another woman and Penny had nowhere to go. She wiped away her tears and asked, “Brother Tile, can you give me a ride back to the village?”
He took her hand and answered, “I've been waiting here at the bridge for you. Come on, I'll take you back.”
Tile took her to the village on a bicycle, not in a car. The bike shook, quivered, jerked and bounced on the winding Tuohe River levee. Penny was light, and the two of them moved in harmony. It was as if Tile was carrying a sedan chair and Penny was riding in it.
“I want to carry this sedan chair for the rest of my life,” he said.
“I want to ride in this sedan chair for the rest of my life,” she said.

Text on p. 125. Translated from 驻马店网 at
http://m.zmdnews.cn/article/441832
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3. Searching for the Cows (找牛)
Zhou Yunfang (周耘芳)

The three cows had been lost just three days before.
Constant Shu walked along the blistering hot road wearing a big straw hat. When he saw anyone, he asked, “Have you seen three cows? They have deep yellow fur with a patch of white hair on their foreheads.”
“Nope.”
“Haven’t seen any cows.”
He’d been searching for two days, and the answers he got were always like that.
“They must’ve gone to Gold Ravine.” That’s where the few acres of his family’s lands were. On weekdays, all he had to do was shoulder his tools and Big Yellow would immediately stand up, swish her tail, moo a few times and set off for the fields. She was apparently certain that they were going to go plow. Second Yellow and Third Yellow would follow nose to ass behind her, swaying and walking toward Gold Ravine.
There were lots of people in his family but lots of land, too, so they couldn’t do without the cows. He’d gone to Cattle Pair Hill on the border of Hubei and Henan provinces one year to buy a water buffalo, but all the plump, sturdy stock had already been sold. “Moo” — In a corner of the market an old yellow cow, as skinny as a skeleton, stuck out its tongue to lick the calf cuddled against it.
“I'll buy the pair, mother and child”, Constant told the market’s manager.
“You like them?” he responded.
In fact Constant was attracted by the calf’s strong limbs, and by the glossy pelt with a white spot on its forehead. After he bought them and brought them home, the calf ate grass that was appetizing and drank water that was sweet. In less than half a year, she grew as tall as half a man's height. Constant said he’d call her Big Yellow.
Rice seedlings are planted in the spring. After the fields are ploughed, the cows are led to a hillside where green grass covers the slope. The big animals sway their ears and eat grass voraciously until their bellies bulge like drums.
“Moo.” One time a bull ran over to Big Yellow and cuddled up to her. It swished its tail, nudged her head and licked her body. Big Yellow followed the bull into the pine forest and, afterwards, her belly got bigger day by day. In a few months, she gave birth to Second Yellow. Third Yellow came later.
“Dear tourists, please watch your step!” He heard the female tour guide shouting just after he arrived at Gold Ravine. Constant knew that this place had become a tourist attraction. The entire ravine is surrounded by a wall and his family’s fields are inside it.
“Ticket, please.” Constant was stopped by several uniformed security guards as soon as he arrived at the gate. “I'm here to look for my cows,” he explained.
“Come on! Go look for them at your house. Can a cow grow wings and fly off into the scenic area?” Several security guards pushed him out the door.
Well, who’s to blame? A few years ago, his nephew came back from somewhere and the village lands devolved to him. At first he used machines to plow the fields, plant rice and thresh grain, but now he uses helicopters to sow seeds, spray pesticides and apply fertilizers. Constant and Big Yellow were completely off the job.
“Sell the three cows. I’ll take care of your food and drink.” His nephew told him that when he saw him leading the cows to the mountain to graze.
“The cows didn't call you out or hassle you, so why sell them?” He warded off his nephew with these few words.
The day before yesterday, in the afternoon, the sun was showing off its power and the earth was like a steamer. Constant brought a bucket of cool water to the cowshed. He stood there with a ladle in his left hand and a brush in his right, pouring water on the cows, “drip, drip,” while brushing their bodies.
A car pulled up and his nephew got out. When he saw his uncle brushing the cows, he proclaimed, “The price of beef has gone up, Uncle. Sell them tomorrow or slaughter them for meat!”
“Buzz off,” Constant shouted. “Buzz off! You'll have to kill me before you sell these cows!” He threw the ladle on the ground.
Early next morning, Constant went to the cowshed to check on the cows. The door was open, the cows’ ropes were hanging on a wooden stake, and the three cows were nowhere to be seen.
“If they didn’t go to Gold Ravine,” Constant thought as he walked, “maybe they went to Grandpa Zhang's melon patch.” A few days previously, after he’d let the cows eat their fill on the mountain, he passed by the melon patch on his way home and the melons caught his eye. They looked like babies. He rubbed his belly, licked his lips and looked back at the three panting cows. “Let's buy a watermelon,” he said.
Grandpa Zhang ran out into the field and picked him a big one. When he got home, he cut it into large and small pieces, munched on one himself, and then picked the rest up and fed them piece by piece to Big Yellow, Second Yellow and Third Yellow. “Slurp, slurp,” the cows ate them with gusto.
“Yeah, they must’ve gone to the melon patch.” The sun was already low in the west by that time, and Constant’s clothes were soaked with sweat. He took off his straw hat and fanned himself as he walked.
When he got to the melon patch, Constant asked, “Have you seen my cows, Grandpa Zhang?”
“Anyone who’s seen your cows must’ve seen you, too,” Grandpa Zhang replied with a smile.
“Don't joke around. My cows have been missing for a few days.”
“I really haven’t seen them. No joking.”
“Those three little creatures want to ditch me, but I won’t let them go,” Constant thought. “Did they go to Cattle Pair Hill? No way. Big Yellow couldn’t still remember that place -- the sale happened more than ten years ago.” But he’d rather believe they were there than believe they weren’t, so he headed off to Cattle Pair Hill to take a look.
“Chirr, chirr” -- the sun had already set but the cicadas were still chirping in the woods. Constant stood up, wiped the sweat off his face and kept walking. He crossed over many mountains and hills. After he’d walked for several hours, it was completely dark and stars dotted the sky by the time he arrived at Cattle Pair Hill. He stood under the night sky and, rubbing his eyes, looked to his left and searched to his right. There was nothing on the slope except a patch of green grass.
“Where are the cows?” Constant’s heart felt freezing cold, like it had been stuffed into a block of ice.
“Moo!” Just as he was about to leave, he heard the cows lowing, one moo after another. “It’s Big Yellow! It’s Big Yellow!” Constant almost wanted to dance for joy.
He ran to look, following the sound, and saw Big Yellow standing in a dry field in a thick patch of weeds. Her head was raised, looking toward the north, with Second Yellow and Third Yellow standing beside her.
He ran to Big Yellow, reached out his hand and rubbed the moisture from her eyes. He hugged her wet body tightly and promised, “Big Yellow, I, we… We’ll never be separated again….”

Text on p. 128. Translated from 今天头头条at
https://images.twgreatdaily.com/c57256328d61a2b029e48263d785106a.html
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4. Hardened by Fire (淬火)
Xue Peizheng (薛培政)

A winter’s night, a cold wind blowing through the silent mountains. Rocky Ru was walking in the darkness along a rugged mountain trail towards the sentry post in the pass.
An eerie cry suddenly pierced the empty darkness. An owl, which had been mute in the trees by the road, had begun to screech. Rocky scrutinized the pitch-black wilds. He was a newcomer to the area and his hair stood on end as he involuntarily quickened his pace. All of a sudden, a frightened hare “whooshed” by his feet and he jumped back with a startled cry. Young Liao, a soldier who was accompanying him to check on the sentry, tried to calm him: “Were you startled, Duty Officer Ru? This kind of thing happens all the time. You’ll get used to it eventually.” Rocky’s face flushed when he realized his mistake.
Rocky worked as a propaganda officer at regimental headquarters. He’d been deployed for training at a company stationed in the mountains.
He’d joined the army after earning a master's degree and had long looked forward to an opportunity to “return to the crucible”. Although he didn’t lack for education and was pretty good with a pen, he was always criticized for not having a military air. He didn’t believe it: “I’ve worn the uniform for years but still don't have a military air?” Gradually, though, he began to feel that he was indeed missing something when compared to “old school” soldiers.
Before his deployment, he heard that the soldiers at this duty post had ample “combat attitude”. They trained very hard and had never met their match in any military competition, large or small.
The next morning, after the whistle blew, he rushed outside as fast as he could. His squad was running in a five-kilometer, armed cross-country sprint, and he could just make them out as they disappeared at the end of the mountain road.
Young Yu, a soldier who’d stayed behind to wait for him, saw Rocky buttoning his clothes as he ran to catch up. He hastily took a water bottle and satchel and chased after him. By the time they reached the halfway point, the squad had already rounded the finish line and was headed back. Squad Leader Apex Cao rushed up and reported, “Secretary Ru, we finished the cross-country sprint thirty seconds faster than last time….” Rocky nodded approvingly, his face turning red.
The next few days of organized ardor and high-intensity physical training left Rocky feeling like his body was coming apart at the seams. His clothes got soaked in perspiration and dried out, only to get soaked again, and his body stank of sweat. His performance in the exercises still lagged far behind his squad, however.
“Whether a cadre has a military air can be determined first by looking at his military bearing, second by feeling his calluses, and third by smelling his sweat. If he fails in these three respects, he doesn’t look like a soldier!” When the regimental commander had said that in a speech, Rocky had sat in the audience and muttered, “That’s easy, isn’t it?” Now that he was grist in the mill, he encouraged himself with the thought that nothing is impossible if you stick to it!
As he spent more time with them, he discovered that these soldiers each had unique skills in their training. “The path to the goal is straight ahead, so why take a detour? Just recognize them as your masters and learn from them!”
He didn’t expect that the men would be reluctant to accept him as their “apprentice” no matter what he did. He got anxious and told them straight out, “There’re no masters or officers here, only soldiers!”
The soldiers warmed up to him and began to help him learn when they realized he wasn’t being haughty. Young Zhang, the long-distance running champion, acted as his training partner in the five-kilometer run; Young Li, the “gymnastics king”, trained him on the horizontal and parallel bars; Young Liu, the “push-up expert” coached him to increase his arm strength…. After a few weeks, he was able to keep up in the training exercises.
Loneliness was the thing he could take the least about his assigned duty. After dusk the camp became an isolated island in deathly silent surroundings, which made him feel lonely and panicky. However, the men couldn’t tell that he was forlorn at all when he entered the platoon room. Young Zhang, who liked to collect things, was fiddling with pebbles he’d picked up at the river; Young Wu loved to paint and was sketching mountains and peaks; Young Liu had applied to take the test for the military academy and was engrossed in his studies; Soccer fans Young Xie and Young Hu were talking about the World Cup.... Squad Leader Apex Cao read Rocky’s mind and gave him a puzzled look. “You must be homesick, Officer Ru,” he chuckled. “Why don't you take some time off tomorrow?”
Early next morning, the squad left a guard behind and hiked up the mountain. At the peak, the soldiers looked out into the distance and roared at the valley like tigers coming out of the mountains: “Yo-ho-ho-hey! Yo-ho-ho-hey!” Rocky was infected by their cheers echoing in the empty mountains and became emboldened.
Squad Leader Cao told him, “Life at the camp is monotonous, but we can’t lose spirit. Roaring in the mountains scratches an itch and gives us the courage and strength to keep going. When you’re a soldier at an encampment,” he added, “you must be willing to fight, to howl and shout like a tiger roaring as the wind starts to blow. You must be able to respond heroically to the needs of the situation!” Rocky looked with admiration at this sergeant, a squad leader who was the same age as him.
A cold wind howled and the moonlight was dim. The O.O.D. announced “Rocky Ru, you’re on sentry duty!”. When he arrived at the sentry station, Squad Leader Apex Cao advised him against going to the camp's self-defense guard post, but Rocky’d become familiar with the surrounding area after two weeks and insisted on going to that post. The Squad Leader stopped trying to dissuade him, but Deputy Squad Leader Little Tiger Liang insisted on going along.
As he looked at the pitch-black mountains outside the sentry tower and listened to the whistling cold wind, Little Tiger asked, “We all know the story of the Monkey King fighting the tiger, Secretary Ru. Do you want to hear the story of our old squad leader fighting the wolf?” He began to tell the story without waiting for Rocky to answer.
“One winter night our old squad leader, Tiger Liu, was on his way back from sentry duty when he unexpectedly heard the pigs howling in the open-air pigsty next to the camp. He walked closer and saw two wolves in the moonlight by the pigsty. He shouted, picked up a wooden stick and chased after them as they ran scared towards the dark mountain. He chased them for several hundred meters until they disappeared into the bushes. The story of Squad Leader Liu fighting off the wolves has been recorded in our camp’s history from then on.”
After listening to him tell the story so vividly, Rocky asked, “Have you met squad leader Liu?”
“No, the old soldiers told me the story the first time I was on sentry duty.” Rocky got what he was driving at and smiled knowingly.
Two months passed in a flash and his temporary deployment was over. Rocky looked at the soldiers who were seeing him off and felt reluctant to leave them. A warm current surged in his heart and he felt he now had a “military air” akin to theirs.

Text on p. 133. Translated from 中国军网 at
http://www.81.cn/jfjbmap/content/2023-02/14/content_333654.htm
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5. City in a Moat (水围城)
Zhu Yajuan (朱雅娟)

It was a deluge, as much rain as one could desire.
Liu Bang lay in bed fully clothed in Changle Palace. He was listening to the sound of raindrops hitting the corrugated window lattices. His wife, the Empress Lu Zhi, sat silently beside the sickbed. Liu Bang had just cursed the doctor who treated him but still gave him a reward of fifty gold pieces when he left. As the person closest to him, Lu Zhi could see all of the emperor’s fear, anger, helplessness and sadness in the face of death.
“Prince Ruyi of Zhao requests to see you...” a eunuch reported.
“Let him pass!” Liu Bang turned over and slowly sat up.
Prince Ruyi was the beloved son of Liu Bang and one of his ladies. He loved the boy even though he’d been born of a concubine.
The twelve-year-old looked like he’d been run through the mill, but he was still full of vim and vigor. The whole room seemed to brighten up when he entered.
The youngster flitted like a little sparrow. After the prince finished his ceremonial greetings to the emperor, Liu Bang opened his arms, took the boy into his arms and asked about his health.
“I entered the capital without being summoned by the emperor and should be charged with treason.” These words echoed in Lu Zhi's mind dozens of times until they were finally erased by a bolt of lightning outside the window.
Prince Ruyi snuggled up in Liu Bang's arms and recited slowly:(1)
“The wind and rain are freezing,
“And lonely cocks are crowing.
“Now I have known the gentleman,
“So how could I not miss him.”
Lu Zhi smiled coldly. More than ten years before, she and other relatives of Liu Bang had been captured by Xiang Yu and held captive for two long, humiliating years. She didn’t see Liu Bang again until another rainy day after the peace talks between the states of Chu and Han were completed. Her mood at the time was just like the lovesick wife in the poem. When the couple was unexpectedly reunited, she’d been overwhelmed by the wonderful surprise and was brought back to health both physically and mentally.
That day the two had looked at each other, but before they could embrace, they saw a young woman with bright, fluttering eyes that could brighten anyone’s mood. It was Lady Qi, standing beside Liu Bang and holding her son, Prince Ruyi. The toddler was just learning to speak, and his cry of “pretty lady” broke Lu Zhi's heart. She thought back to that rainy day and recalled, there’d been no lightning and no thunder.
Now she said, “Ruyi, actually your father the emperor is also pretty good at writing poetry.” Lu Zhi smiled as she spoke, but the smile didn’t reach her eyes.
“You mean, “The Song of Great Wind’?” Ruyi stood up and recited:(2)
“A great wind has arisen, oh, and set the clouds to fly.
“My power spread afar, oh, I return to my old home.
“Where are the brave warriors, oh, to guard these many places!”
Lu Zhi chuckled as she walked over and placed her hands on the boy's shoulders. She looked him in the eye and said, “Recently your father wrote ‘A Song of Swans’ for your mother. Haven't you heard of it?”
Liu Bang frowned and asked Ruyi to leave the room under some pretext or another. He then spoke to his wife in a stern voice, “The matter of deposing and replacing the crown prince is no longer open. There’s no point in creating trouble by bringing it up!” A few words said in a few seconds, but it spoke volumes.
Lu Zhi smiled faintly. Yes, the matter had been resolved. Liu Bang had finally given up his plan to set aside her son, Liu Ying, and make Ruyi the crown prince instead.
In the process, the effort that Lu Zhi had made and the hardships she’d endured were beyond anything that could be expected of an ordinary person. That’s why Liu Bang had been taken aback on the day he saw the hermits known as the “Four Whiteheads of Mount Shang“. These famous sages had reached heights that Liu Bang never could, and now they were followers of Liu Ying. This was enough to show that Liu Ying was fully fledged as a leader.
Liu Bang had been helpless. The concubine Lady Qi cried when he told her, “You can see that the Empress Lu Zhi will eventually become your master.” Concubine Qi danced and Liu Bang sang “A Song of Swans” (3) in the Chu style:
“The swan soars, easily covering miles.
“On fully grown wings it crosses the seas.
“It can cross the seas, I can do nothing!
“Even a bow and arrow won’t stop it!”
Lu Zhi had laughed crazily when she heard about this song, hugging herself and rolling around on the floor. In the final analysis, Liu Bang regarded her and her son as outsiders.
“Your Majesty, I had someone make you a dish. It’s called City in a Moat. Would you like to ty it?” She giggled slightly.
After a long while, Liu Bang sighed and said, “Actually, I’d like to have something you made yourself.”
Lu Zhi grinned. “Of course,” she said softly.
City in a Moat is just a mixture of noodles in soup. When Han Xin, a general who served Liu Bang, was unable to attain his objective, he lost his appetite and was unable to eat a full meal. A middle-aged woman who was washing clothes in a river gave him some noodles, and this City in a Moat was the most he ate for the next ten days.
A bowl of piping hot City in a Moat was placed before the emperor. The glistening gold in the center was the city, surrounded by a river of soup, the very picture of a city surrounded by a moat. Liu Bang picked up his chopsticks and ate it bit by bit. Slowly there was less of the city until it disappeared, then slowly there was less of the soup until it was gone, too.
“That day you killed Han Xin, did you also feed him a bowl of City in a Moat?” Liu Bang asked calmly.
Lu Zhi's gaze drifted toward Changle Palace’s bell room in the distance. That was where she’d lured Han Xin to his death the previous year. She said, “All he wanted was a bowl of City in a Moat before he died. City in a Moat was the reason he didn't starve to death back then in the siege. It was also the inspiration for the Ambush from All Sides strategy he used to defeat Lord Ding Yu....
“Do you know why Han Xin didn't start a rebellion?” she continued. “He told me himself. He wanted the people of the world to be able to eat City in a Moat in peace and comfort.”
After a long silence, Liu Bang said: “When I first entered the Central Plains, I made three agreements with the elders. In addition to winning the hearts of the people, I also wanted to end the war as soon as possible.”
As the sound of rain gradually subsided, Lu Zhi and Liu Bang sat before his sickbed. They discussed proclamations for the succession of court officials and other matters over the next few decades.
“Please don’t worry, Your Majesty. After Liu Ying ascends to the throne, I certainly will help him carry on with the policy of ‘Give the People a Rest from War'. I’ll be sure that he implements a national policy of 'Ruling by Inaction' to preserve the vast lands of our Han Dynasty.” She slowly closed her husband's eyes.

(1) This poem is from the Shi Jing (诗经, the Classic of Poetry). See https://ctext.org/book-of-poetry/feng-yu/ens.
(2) For alternative translations of this poem, see https://www.en84.com/dianji/shi/201007/00003012.html.
(3) This poem is said to express “high aspirations”. No other English translations found. Complete Chinese text at https://lyricstranslate.com/en/liu-bang-h%C3%B3ng-h%C3%BA-g%C4%93-lyrics.html?amp

Text on p. 161. Translated from 个人图书馆 (edited) at

http://www.360doc.com/content/23/0402/22/53651044_1074826135.shtml