First Month

Liu Yuanzhou had drunk with Liu Chuang and the others the previous night and did not return home until very late. The moment he got back, he fell into bed. He was sleeping soundly when a sudden burst of crackling firecrackers rang out.

Liu Yuanzhou woke with a start. He opened his eyes and lay there blankly for a while, then pulled the quilt tighter around himself, planning to sleep a little longer. A day of laziness was hard to come by.

"Get up and eat dumplings." His father, Liu Da, urged him from the doorway.

His plan to sleep in had gone up in smoke. Liu Yuanzhou could only sit up and look for clothes, only to find a neatly folded set of new garments beside his pillow. They were dark navy, and his mother, Zhang Shi, must have left them there the night before.

Once dressed, Liu Yuanzhou stepped out of his room. The sun was already hanging high outside.

When he entered the central cave dwelling, the dumplings had already been cooked, and his elder brother and sister-in-law had begun eating. Liu Yuanzhou wished everyone a happy New Year, then took a bowl of dumplings from the stove and began eating. Zhang Shi added soup to his bowl—tofu and vermicelli soup—and deliberately fished out extra tofu for him.

Local custom dictated that no one went out on the first day of the first month, and visiting relatives was forbidden that day. After the meal, with nothing else to do, Li Shi suggested playing cards. The cards were square bamboo tiles called Mahjong, played by four people. Everyone agreed. Liu Yuanzhou brought over a kang table and set it up, seating his parents at it to play while he stood behind his mother and watched.

Zhang Shi had not played for a long time and was somewhat rusty, so Liu Yuanzhou offered pointers from time to time. After several rounds, Zhang Shi gradually became more adept. Liu Yuanzhou soon grew bored, said a word to everyone, and headed out.

He did not go to the riverbank where he usually practiced martial arts, nor did he go to Third Master's home. Instead, he climbed toward the mountaintop behind the village.

Liu Yuanzhou reached the summit in one breath without even panting. It seems that after more than two months of martial arts training, my stamina has already far surpassed what it used to be. He marveled inwardly.

The wind howled across the summit. Gazing at the rolling mountains in the distance, Liu Yuanzhou felt his heart and mind open wide. Once he had calmed himself, he took his stance and began standing practice.

After roughly the time it took to drink three cups of tea, Liu Yuanzhou emerged from Enter Samadhi and slowly withdrew his stance. Joy filled his heart. His standing practice had improved again. This feeling of making a little progress every day truly fascinated him. After resting briefly, he began practicing Plum Blossom Fist. He went through it twice, carefully sensing the changes in force within the forms, and gained another faint insight.

After finishing his boxing, Liu Yuanzhou was drenched in sweat. Practicing fist techniques still consumed quite a bit of strength.

After coming down the mountain, Liu Yuanzhou had nothing to do for the moment. He considered going to Third Master's home to read, but found even that boring, so he simply wandered aimlessly through the village. Groups of children occasionally ran past along the village roads, playing games, while few adults were in sight. They had likely gathered somewhere to drink and play cards.

Without realizing it, he arrived at the little square before the village Ancestral Hall. Several old men were squatting by the wall in the sun, chatting about something. Liu Yuanzhou thought of his grandparents. He had still been young when they passed away, and his memories of them were now very vague.

He remembered how, when they had burned paper offerings for his grandparents the day before, Liu Da had kowtowed while muttering under his breath. There had probably been two meanings to it. First, he was reporting good news—that the eldest, Liu Yuanbo, had taken a wife. Second, he was saying that the second son, Liu Yuanzhou, was nearing the age to take a wife as well, and hoping his parents' spirits in heaven would bless him with a good wife.

Liu Yuanzhou could neither laugh nor cry, and his feelings were a mixed bag. In the end, he was bound to go out into the world. As the saying went, when one's parents were alive, one did not travel far. How would he explain it to them when the time came?

Liu Yuanzhou shook his head and gave a bitter smile. "If I can't figure it out, then I won't think about it. When the cart reaches the mountain, there will always be a road. Besides, I'm not in any hurry to leave yet."

Starting from the second day of the first month, people began visiting relatives. Liu Yuanbo took his wife, Li Shi, to his father-in-law's home to pay New Year's calls. Early that morning, Liu Yuanzhou also left with his mother, Zhang Shi, to visit his maternal grandfather. Liu Yuanzhou carried a shoulder pole with rice, flour, liquor, and meat in the baskets—gifts for his grandfather and two maternal uncles—as well as candies and pastries for the children.

The village where Liu Yuanzhou's maternal grandfather lived was called Zhang Family Gully. There were two routes from Liu Li Village to Zhang Family Gully. One was a mountain path: they could climb the back mountain of Liu Li Village and cross two mountains to arrive. It was closer, but the paths were narrow goat trails and difficult to traverse. Furthermore, because of the winter snow, the snow on the shaded slopes had yet to melt, and some stretches were completely impassable. Thus, they could only take the other route. It was flat and required no Mountain Crossing, but it detoured through five or six villages such as Crouching Tiger Slope and Great King Village, making it more than ten li farther than the mountain route.

The two set off from home early in the morning, but by the time they reached Zhang Family Gully, it was nearly noon.

"Isn't that Cui Cui? You've come back to see your father?" As soon as they entered the village, familiar villagers greeted them. Zhang Shi returned their greetings. Cui Cui was Zhang Shi's childhood name.

Liu Yuanzhou and Zhang Shi entered his grandfather's courtyard and saw four or five children chasing and playing there. One boy of five or six had a sturdy, tiger-headed look. Seeing people enter the yard, he shouted, "Grandpa! Father! Mother! My aunt is here!" He wiped his nose with his sleeve, abandoned his playmates, and ran toward them.

Zhang Shi smiled. "Xiao Ning, come let your aunt have a look. Oh my, you've grown taller again." As she spoke, she stroked the boy's head.

The boy named Xiao Ning was the youngest son of Liu Yuanzhou's second maternal uncle. He had attended Liu Yuanbo's wedding feast last time. Liu Yuanzhou's second uncle had previously had two daughters, and Xiao Ning was his only son, so he was treasured beyond measure.

Xiao Ning shook off Zhang Shi's hand and went to the basket Liu Yuanzhou was carrying. He grabbed the basket with one hand and reached to lift the cloth covering it with the other, shouting, "Where's the candy? I want candy!"

Liu Yuanzhou hurriedly set down the shoulder pole, pulled Xiao Ning away, and frowned. "Wait until we get inside, then I'll find you some. What kind of sight would it be if you turned everything into a complete mess?"

"I don't want to wait! I want to eat now!" Xiao Ning struggled, but he could not break free from Liu Yuanzhou's grip, so he kicked at Liu Yuanzhou instead.

Liu Yuanzhou dodged but did not release him. With his other hand, he grabbed Xiao Ning by the back of his collar and lifted him up. Xiao Ning's feet left the ground. Liu Yuanzhou laughed. "Hehe, try kicking me again."

Dangling in midair, Xiao Ning flailed his arms and legs and screamed, "Let me go! Let me go, Liu Yuanzhou!"

Liu Yuanzhou refused to let go and burst into laughter. Xiao Ning immediately let out a wail and began crying loudly.

"Second Child, hurry up and put him down." Seeing Xiao Ning being teased into tears, Zhang Shi rushed over and smacked Liu Yuanzhou's hand.

Liu Yuanzhou set Xiao Ning down and laughed. "Such a crybaby little flower dog."

Xiao Ning cried even harder. Zhang Shi shot Liu Yuanzhou a fierce glare and went to soothe Xiao Ning.

Liu Yuanzhou shrugged. He sighed inwardly. Xiao Ning had been so well-behaved when he visited their home last time, but now he really was this mischievous.

Just then, several people came out of the cave dwelling.

A woman of about thirty-seven or thirty-eight hurried over and anxiously asked, "Xiao Ning, what happened?" This woman was Ma Shi, Liu Yuanzhou's second aunt and Xiao Ning's mother.

When Xiao Ning saw his mother, he cried even harder. He simply lay down on the ground, kicking his legs wildly without caring that his clothes were becoming covered in dirt, and wailed, "Second Child hit me! Second Child hit me!"

Ma Shi picked Xiao Ning up, brushed the dirt from him, and glared at Liu Yuanzhou with a stern face.

"How could I dare hit him? I was really just playing around." Liu Yuanzhou hurriedly explained.

"Xiao Ning, stop crying. Here, have some candy." Zhang Shi stuffed a handful of candy into Xiao Ning's hands, then smiled at Ma Shi. "Oh, sister-in-law, the children were only fooling around. You're taking it seriously?"

At that moment, Liu Yuanzhou's second maternal uncle and grandfather came over. His second uncle, Zhang Xiaoan, said with a smile, "It's nothing, it's nothing."

With candy in his hands, Xiao Ning stopped crying. He broke free from his mother, stuck out his tongue at Liu Yuanzhou, and shouted, "Candy!" Then he ran off, with his playmates chasing after him.

"Cui Cui, Second Child, come into the cave dwelling." Second Uncle Zhang Xiaoan called out. His wife, Ma Shi, still wore a stern expression, clearly still nursing a grievance over what had happened.

"Yes, Cui Cui, Second Child. It's cold outside. Let's go inside and talk." Grandfather spoke as well. He walked up to Liu Yuanzhou, patted his shoulder with a large hand, and laughed. "Second Child has grown taller again! Haha!"

Liu Yuanzhou smiled. "Next year, I'll catch up to you." His grandfather was tall, and Liu Yuanzhou was still half a head shorter than him.

"Haha, good, good." Grandfather laughed heartily.

Zhang Shi linked arms with Ma Shi as they chatted and walked toward the cave dwelling. Liu Yuanzhou picked up the shoulder pole again, and the family entered together.

After entering, Zhang Shi lifted the cloth over the basket and took out the gifts. "Sister-in-law, this meat and liquor are for Father, along with some rice and flour. These are snacks for Xiao Ning and the others." As she spoke, she handed the items to Ma Shi.

Ma Shi finally stopped wearing a stern face and smiled. "Why did you bring all this?" She accepted the gifts as she spoke.

Liu Yuanzhou's grandfather had two sons and one daughter. The eldest son was Zhang Xiaoping, the second was Zhang Xiaoan, and the third child was Zhang Cui, Liu Yuanzhou's mother. When the eldest son married, he had already moved out and set up his own household. By the time the second son married, the old man's wife had passed away, so he lived with the second son's family and never divided the household again.

Zhang Xiaoan invited his younger sister and nephew onto the kang to rest, then told his wife, Ma Shi, to prepare the meal. Ma Shi went happily.

"Father, keep my sister and Second Child company. I'll go help with the cooking too." Zhang Xiaoan poured hot tea for the three of them before leaving.

Thus, the three remaining people sat on the kang, drinking tea and chatting about family matters.

"Father, how is Dan Dan's matter going?" When the conversation turned to her elder brother's family, Zhang Shi asked.

Grandfather leaned toward the window and peered outside. He sighed and said in a low voice, "Sigh, we finally managed to return all the betrothal money to them."

"Your elder brother still had some money of his own left. Dong Lin and Dong An scraped together some for him too, and I gave him all the money I had hidden away. He also borrowed some from the second son, and finally managed to gather enough." Dong Lin and Dong An were Eldest Uncle Zhang Xiaoping's two sons, and both had already started families.

"The second son's family doesn't know that I gave him money."

"Sigh, no matter what, it's good that it was repaid. Otherwise, how could Dan Dan go on living?" Zhang Shi let out a relieved breath and sighed.

"Isn't that so? I pity my granddaughter." Grandfather choked up, then said hatefully, "That unfilial son—he's already a grandfather, yet he still loves gambling."

"Grandpa, Aunt, the food is ready. My mother told me to call you to eat." As the three spoke, a timid girl of thirteen or fourteen entered. She wore a dull gray padded jacket with several holes that exposed the cotton stuffing inside.

"Ping Ping, is that you? All right, we'll come over now." Zhang Shi spoke. The girl called Ping Ping was Zhang Xiaoan's second daughter and Liu Yuanzhou's cousin.

Ping Ping lowered her head and left. Liu Yuanzhou said, "Why haven't they made Ping Ping a new outfit even for the New Year?"

Grandfather coughed. "You know what your second aunt is like. Sigh." His expression became somewhat awkward as he spoke.

"Come on, let's eat. Everyone's hungry." Zhang Shi got down from the kang and urged them along.

Lunch was dumplings. After lunch, Liu Yuanzhou and his mother, Zhang Shi, took gifts to visit his eldest maternal uncle, Zhang Xiaoping. The two households were quite far apart.

When the two arrived at Zhang Xiaoping's home, however, they found the door locked. They asked the neighbors and learned that the entire family had gone out to pay New Year's calls, so they could only return to Zhang Xiaoan's home.