Reckless driving

The rooster had crowed three times, and dawn was breaking.

Shopkeeper Liu of the Welcome Inn in Luting County shuffled from the back courtyard toward the front hall, yawning through bleary eyes.

Before he reached the doorway, he heard movement inside. Puzzled, he stepped into the hall and saw a tall figure bent over the tables and chairs, wiping them with a rag.

All twelve neatly arranged sets of tables and chairs gleamed with moisture...

"Morning, shopkeeper!"

Hearing his footsteps, the tall figure raised a handsome face that looked no more than twenty and greeted Shopkeeper Liu with a broad smile.

Faced with that bright, vigorous smile, Shopkeeper Liu could not help smiling too. He nodded warmly, his thin old face softening. "You're earlier still, lad!"

After a pause, he asked in puzzlement, "Weren't you heading out to the countryside to visit family today? Where's that lazy good-for-nothing Wang Dali?"

The tall figure kept wiping the furniture as he answered with a smile, "A lot of people have been coming into town these past few days. With so many customers, Wang can't manage on his own..."

Shopkeeper Liu's smile gradually vanished. He cut him off irritably. "Don't you make excuses for that lazy good-for-nothing! If he had even a third of your sense for what needs doing, I'd burn incense in thanks. If you hadn't bailed him out yesterday, who knows what a mess he'd have made! It's only because his father and I go way back..."

The tall figure merely smiled and went on wiping the tables and chairs without taking up the conversation.

But as Shopkeeper Liu rambled on, the more he watched the young man working diligently, the more pleased he became. Literate, quick to spot work, nimble with his hands and feet, thoughtful and gracious with everyone...

Honest and dependable too, without a trace of youthful rashness or restlessness!

Where else could he find a young man like this?

Kindness really did bring its rewards!

After making two satisfied rounds of the hall, Shopkeeper Liu suddenly slapped his thigh. "I nearly forgot to tell you! I ran into the village head yesterday. He said your household registration has gone into the county register. Judging by the timing, it should be settled within a month or two!"

The tall figure froze. Coming back to himself, he pressed his lips together, put down the broom in his hand, and hurried over to Shopkeeper Liu. He bowed with extraordinary solemnity. "I, Yang Ge, will engrave your great kindness upon my heart and never forget it as long as I live. Even if I must be ground to dust someday, I will repay you for saving my life!"

He was no innocent youth ignorant of the ways of the world, nor was he still as utterly in the dark about local customs as when he had first arrived.

He knew that Great Wei's household registration system had loosened somewhat as increasing numbers of people fled registration and became vagrants in recent years.

But it was certainly not some trivial matter that ordinary folk could easily change with a few casual words.

At the very least, an "outsider" like him, without relatives, possessions, or even an understanding of local customs, could kowtow at the government office until his brains spilled out and still never knock a household registration loose.

Shopkeeper Liu must have spent a fair amount of silver and called in no small number of favors to secure his registration...

Not to mention that if Shopkeeper Liu had not picked him up and brought him back to the Welcome Inn, he would have frozen to death on the streets even if he had escaped starvation.

No one in Great Wei would give him a hot meal on the strength of his university diploma...

Shopkeeper Liu helped Yang Ge straighten, pleased, and patted his shoulder with a smile. "Educated folk certainly know how to make their words sound good. Unlike that lunkhead Wang Dali-all he knows how to say is, 'You're my pa!'"

After a pause, he sighed softly and continued in earnest, "Look at you. You're not some reckless youngster with ambitions higher than the sky. With or without registration, would my household ever deny you a mouthful of food? Even in the worst case, if the authorities checked for unregistered people someday and caught you, a little silver would see it smoothed over..."

"Now that you're registered, you'll have to pay the head tax and sundry levies, and perform compulsory labor. With the world looking ready to fall into turmoil again, who knows when the authorities will start conscripting men? A strong young fellow like you, all alone without kin or clan, is exactly the sort they like drafting most. If anything happens to you, they won't even need to spend money on a burial mat!"

"Why put yourself through all that?"

From his own perspective, he truly could not understand Yang Ge's choice.

But in the half year and more since Yang Ge had come to the Welcome Inn, household registration was the only thing he had ever begged him to help with. He simply could not bear to refuse.

Yang Ge smiled and said softly, "I want a home..."

Shopkeeper Liu glanced at him and said helplessly, "All right. It's getting late. You'd best get out of town!"

Yang Ge went to the countryside once every month. He had long since grown used to it.

Yang Ge nodded. "Then sorry for the extra work today. I'll be back before they lock the town gates."

Shopkeeper Liu shook his head. "No need to rush like that. As long as you're back before dusk tomorrow."

Yang Ge also shook his head gently, but said nothing more. He wheeled a handcart out of a corner of the hall, bowed to Shopkeeper Liu with his hands clasped, and headed straight outside.

Shopkeeper Liu's gaze followed the little mountain of sacks piled on the wheelbarrow as Yang Ge hurried away. Moved, he murmured to himself, He must have spent all the wages I pressed on him a few days ago on this...

Only after Yang Ge's back had disappeared at the far end of the street did a young man come into the hall from the back courtyard, his clothes thrown on haphazardly and one hand covering a swollen cheek. "Shopkeeper, time for breakfast," he mumbled.

Shopkeeper Liu's temper flared three thousand feet high. He snatched up the broom and struck. "I'll give you breakfast! I'll give you breakfast..."

Yang Ge pushed his wheelbarrow out of the county town with the stream of people.

Once outside, he followed the fairly level road southeast. Before long, he caught sight of a broad river in the distance, stretching like a jade ribbon.

This great river was called the Bian River, an important section of Great Wei's north-south Grand Canal.

Along the Bian River, one could travel west straight into Luoyang, the Upper Capital, north upstream to Beiping in Yan-Yun, or turn south toward Yuhang in Jiangnan. It was one of Great Wei's great political, military, and economic arteries.

At that moment, several cargo boats were making their way upstream. Along both banks, the boat haulers' chants rose one after another, stirring and mighty, drawing many travelers to stop and watch.

Yang Ge slowed as well, gazing fixedly at the shimmering river. Only after a long while did he look away and continue pushing his wheelbarrow.

He followed the bank and the current, making his way downstream along the Bian River...

After several turns at forks in the road, the ground grew rougher, yet Yang Ge's steps became lighter. In his hands, the heavy wheelbarrow seemed as weightless as a rush wick.

Once travelers grew scarce, he broke into a full sprint with the wheelbarrow, grinding sparks from the cast-iron fitting where its wheel met the axle!

As the sun approached noon, Yang Ge finally reached his destination.

"Creeeak."

He gently pushed open the crude courtyard gate cobbled together from little sticks. He was just about to call out when he saw a wiry old man with sparse hair and beard, dressed in neat, heavily patched short work clothes, sitting cross-legged on the ground. He was deftly mending a worn fishing net with a shuttle.

At the sight of the old man, a heartfelt smile slowly spread across Yang Ge's face.

At the sight of Yang Ge, however, the old man let out a heavy sigh.

"You boy, why've you come again?"

The old man braced himself against the ground and slowly rose. Taking a dingy sweat towel from the bench beside him, he came over, both reproachful and tender. "Didn't I tell you not to come anymore? This old man's buried in yellow earth almost up to his neck already. How much can I eat or wear? If you've got money to spare, wouldn't it be better to save it, find yourself a wife, and make a home someday...?"

Yang Ge took the towel from him and wiped his sweat while unloading the sacks from the wheelbarrow. Relaxed, he smiled. "Listen to you. I'm just one person too. How much can I eat or wear?"

Hearing Yang Ge's reply, the old man paused in fetching water and could not help sighing again.

Ignoring the sorrow in the old man's eyes, Yang Ge swiftly shouldered the heavy sacks into the low house one by one, untied their mouths, and poured the golden grains of wheat into the grain barrel.

After putting away the grain, he found his way into the kitchen and fetched a battered woodcutting blade that was nearly rusted away. Despite the old man's repeated pleas of "Leave it be" and "Rest a while first," he went outside and strode away with the wheelbarrow.

Only when the sun began moving west did he return to the little courtyard, pushing a load of neatly stacked firewood that towered well above his head.

"The inn's been busy these past few days, so I have to get back early today. Use this firewood for now. I'll come again in half a month..."

"Zhang Laoshuan, Ma Gou, and the others saw me when I came into the village. If they come round looking for handouts, don't begrudge them a little grain. But if they dare climb up your nose onto your face, don't argue with them. I'll sort them out next time I come..."

"And as I always say, if you get a headache or fever, send someone to find me at the Welcome Inn in Luting County. Tell them I'll pay them for the errand, and you won't have any trouble finding someone..."

Yang Ge put away the firewood while fussing over the old man with a stream of reminders.

The old man kept circling him. Several times he opened his mouth but failed to get a word in. Only when Yang Ge had nearly finished putting away the firewood did he seem suddenly to remember something. He seized Yang Ge's hand. "Stop working for a moment. Wait here. I've got something to show you!"

With that, he hurried into the inner room.

Yang Ge had no idea what he meant, but waited where he was as asked.

Before long, the old man emerged and stood inside the doorway, one hand hidden behind his back and the other beckoning. His eyes kept darting around the courtyard as though he were a thief with a guilty conscience.

Yang Ge could not help laughing at the sight. "Let's get this straight first. If it's some family heirloom or other treasure, I won't take it!"

The old man glared and beckoned more urgently. "Stop talking nonsense. Come here!"

Utterly baffled, Yang Ge dusted off his hands and went over.

Only after making sure there was no one around the courtyard did the old man mysteriously produce the object behind his back... a fist-sized cloth bundle wrapped in who knew how many layers.

Yang Ge gave the old man a puzzled look, then lowered his gaze to the bundle.

The old man carefully peeled back the cloth layer by layer. A slanting ray of sunlight came under the eaves and flashed with golden light, dazzling Yang Ge's eyes.

"This is..."

Yang Ge's eyes suddenly widened, and mist welled up in them.

The old man unfolded the final layer of cloth, revealing the two objects wrapped inside.

A solid gold necklace with a distinctly gangsterish air, weighing at least two taels, with a Buddha pendant hanging from its center.

And a Casio Big Mudmaster watch face... encrusted with layers of mineral deposits, as though ravaged by countless years.

Looking at the two objects, Yang Ge froze for a second. Then he snapped back to himself, snatched up the bundle, and pressed it fiercely against his heart as tears burst from his eyes.

The necklace had been a birthday gift from his mother when he turned thirty-three. She had said his birth chart was weak and his constitution frail, and that wearing some precious metal would help anchor him.

The watch had been a birthday gift from his girlfriend when he turned thirty-four. She had hoped that no matter where he roamed, he would remember to come home early.

Unfortunately...

The gold Buddha necklace had failed to anchor him.

And the Big Mudmaster watch could not point the way home.

Seeing his reaction, the old man let out a quiet breath of relief and sighed. "I knew these had to be yours."

Tears streaming down his face, Yang Ge reached out and tightly clasped the old man's rough, withered hand. "You... were you trying to get yourself killed?" he rasped.

He had returned to that backwater many times afterward, but had never found these two things.

He could only imagine how many times this old man, who needed a cane just to walk, had plunged into that backwater to recover them for him!

But the old man proudly bared his sparse teeth and chuckled. "Heh-heh, I've worshipped the Dragon King for most of my life. Going into the water's just like going home!"

After a pause, he shook his head with some regret. "Pity I still couldn't find that iron box you said was bigger than a carriage. Maybe it was so big the undercurrent swept it away..."

Yang Ge waved his hand repeatedly. He wanted to say, "Don't look for it anymore," but could not get out a single word.

The old man sighed, rubbing his back with one hand and supporting him with the other as he helped him sit down.

They happened to sit... beside the torn fishing net.

Seeing the net, the old man remembered something. Still stroking Yang Ge's back, he asked softly, "Boy, do you still want to die?"

Sensing the old man's gaze, Yang Ge turned his head to look at the torn fishing net beside him.

Eight months earlier, the old man had used this very net to fish him out of the Bian River... twice!

He remained silent for a long time before finally shaking his head. "I don't want to die anymore," he said hoarsely.

He just had not figured out how to live yet...

PS1: Unexpected? A pleasant surprise?

PS2: Happy double holiday, gentlemen!!