New Year

For the next several days, Zhang Cai's entire family revolved around the well-digging. Fortunately, on the sixth day, the water they had long awaited was finally dug out. They had at last completed a grueling task before winter set in, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Just as Zhang Cai was settling the diggers' wages and Zhang Xiaolong and his two brothers were busy repairing the small path from the fields to the well platform, gloomy winter clouds pressed down overhead. Tiny pellets of snow, like grains of salted beans, drifted from the sky, heralding winter's arrival.

The first snow had fallen, the cold wind grew sharper, and the New Year was not far away.

Zhang Cai was very satisfied with this year. He had acquired another plot of land for the family and dug a well. From now on, this land would no longer fear drought; if tended properly, it should become the family's main source of grain. Thus, with the year's end approaching, he told Guo Sufi to prepare a little more New Year's goods so the family could properly celebrate. His old mother-in-law was advanced in years—each New Year she lived through was one more New Year. In recent days, her health had worsened considerably, and she spent half of every day lying in bed. No one knew whether she would see another New Year. Thinking of his own parents, then of his old father-in-law, Zhang Cai could not suppress the warmth in his heart. He looked forward to a full and happy New Year.

Agriculturalists' New Year provisions were easy enough to arrange. Their so-called abundance merely meant a greater variety; the quantities themselves were scant. Most were dried mountain goods saved from ordinary days, with only a very few items purchased by Zhang Cai from a distant market. Because of his mother-in-law, Zhang Cai had bought some foods they normally never saw this year, making Zhang Xiaolong and his two brothers drool with anticipation, wishing the New Year would come quickly so they could taste them. Besides handling the New Year preparations, Guo Sufi spent more of her time visiting familiar relatives in the village, and sometimes went to nearby villages to inquire around. What concerned her was still her eldest son's marriage. Yet judging from how her face was sometimes gloomy and sometimes delighted, matters did not seem to be going as smoothly as imagined.

Time hurried past amid the Zhang family's bustle, and the New Year finally arrived before their eyes.

On the day before the New Year, everyone was gathered around the brazier, discussing the coming year's harvest, the state of the fields, and Zhang Xiaolong's future wife. Suddenly, they heard a clamor of shouting outside the village, and chaos broke out beyond. Could bandits have come to plunder the village? The thought immediately sprang into Zhang Cai's mind. But it probably was not so. Guo Village was tiny, the Guo Lineage was small, and every household was poor. The nearby bandits who occupied mountains and crowned themselves kings had never come to this godforsaken place where even birds would not shit. Why would they come today for no reason? Though he thought this, Zhang Cai did not dare let down his guard. He called his three sons over, had them take hoes and other iron tools, and cautiously walked out of the house. The Zhang family's wall was only waist-high, so he saw the state of the village at a glance. Many people were gathered in the village talking, while others ran about. Yet there were no strangers. Though everyone's faces showed some alarm, there was also, surprisingly, a trace of relief and schadenfreude. Zhang Cai found this most strange. He told the three boys to return inside and put away their "weapons," then went out himself to ask around. Naturally, Zhang Xiaolong and his two brothers had no desire to stay idle. They slipped out after him and mingled with youths their own age.

Quite a few villagers were out, standing or sitting in twos and threes, all discussing one matter. Zhang Cai walked over to a group of old men who were smoking dried tobacco, gesturing as they spoke loudly. Spotting Liu the Blacksmith, whom he knew rather well, Zhang Cai patted him on the shoulder and said, "Old Liu, what happened? Why's it so chaotic?"

Liu the Blacksmith had been smoking silently. When he saw Zhang Cai asking him, he knocked the ash from his finished pipe onto the ground, packed a fresh bowl from his tobacco pouch, carefully lit it, and took a deep drag. Only then did he say gloomily:

"Brother, do you know One-Eyed, the bandit eighty li north of our village? The one who occupies West Cui Mountain?"

Zhang Cai said, "Of course I know. He's the biggest thief within a hundred li around here. How could I not know? But they've always operated in the prosperous places to the north. Why have they come here?"

Liu the Blacksmith took another drag and said, "Right. Do you remember some time ago, when Mr. Wu of Xin Village dug a well and found a whole chest of treasure?"

Zhang Cai suddenly understood. "Could it be... them..." He asked no more. He already knew the reason. Wealth must not be flaunted. Such a conspicuous windfall had caught the bandits' eye—what good outcome could there be?

Seeing that Zhang Cai had stopped asking, Guo the Butcher squeezed closer and said mysteriously, "It wasn't only that. At first, Mr. Wu still harbored a lucky hope. He claimed there was no such thing and refused to admit it. So One-Eyed drove Mr. Wu's entire household of several dozen people into the ancestral hall, then sent men to turn Mr. Wu's home upside down. They found heaps of treasures in the vegetable cellar and at the bottom of the well. One-Eyed was enraged that Mr. Wu had deceived him, so he set the Wu family ancestral hall ablaze. Several dozen living people—none of them escaped. Luckily, Xin Village is only a little better off than ours; everyone there is poor, so One-Eyed did not make things too difficult for the others. When those bandits left, they even shouted for the villagers to be careful not to report it to the authorities, or they would make everyone in Xin Village accompany them in death."

Liu the Blacksmith said, "Fortune and misfortune can turn in the space of a morning and evening. A few days ago, they thought they had become rich; now their whole household has been wiped out. Tragic..."

Guo the Butcher continued, "The household has not been entirely wiped out. Mr. Wu's younger brother's wife returned to our village yesterday to visit her parents, and she did not go back today, so she escaped this calamity. Only when someone came to report the news just now did she learn of it, and she has found people to go see what happened. Also, the messenger said that when the mountain bandits left, they dragged a woman away on horseback. Her face could not be seen clearly. It was probably Mr. Wu's daughter. The bandits must have taken a fancy to her and carried her off to the mountain. Perhaps she'll become the bandit chief's wife."

Zhang Xiaohua and his two brothers had long been standing behind their father. Hearing the villagers speak, their hearts turned cold for no reason. They had heard before of bandits' vile deeds, but those had merely been stories. Now it had happened right beside them. Mr. Wu was someone they had met; when Zhang Xiaohua was little, Mr. Wu had even taught him a few characters. Now he was gone, burned into charcoal. Though Zhang Xiaohua had not seen it with his own eyes, he still felt sorrow and fear. Unconsciously rubbing the bracelet on his left wrist, Zhang Xiaohua thought darkly, Fortunately, what I dug up was not real treasure. Even if it had been, I would never tell anyone, lest disaster befall me and my family. A common man was innocent, but possessing jade made him guilty. This blood-soaked lesson carved itself deep into the young boy's heart.

The three brothers told Zhang Cai that they wanted to go to Xin Village to see what had happened, but Zhang Cai refused. The New Year was about to arrive, and running into a bloody calamity would truly bode ill for the coming year. Besides, the Wu family of Xin Village was now nothing but scorched earth. The utterly appalling sight would terrify anyone who saw it. The government office's people had likely already arrived there, and going over might bring a whole heap of trouble.

As they talked, the people of the entire village gradually dispersed. After all, someone else's days had come to an end, but their own days still had to go on. Even agriculturalists understood the principle of sweeping the snow from one's own doorstep. Night had fallen, their own New Year was nearly here, and it was better to collect their thoughts and attend to their own affairs.

Zhang Cai and his three sons returned home. Seeing the old mother-in-law and Guo Sufi warming themselves around the brazier, he told them what had happened in Xin Village. Both women were shocked pale. They prayed to Heaven that the departed spirits would be reborn soon, and that their own family would never encounter such a disaster. Even after darkness had fully fallen and oil lamps had been lit in the house, Zhang Xiaohua's grandmother was still muttering, "Fortune and misfortune can turn in the space of a morning and evening... Fortune and misfortune can turn in the space of a morning and evening..."

It was the same New Year, yet Guo Village was far less lively than before. Beneath the night curtain, only children played with lanterns in hand. Only they did not understand the world's dangers and evils, and let their natural dispositions run free. Most villagers were like Zhang Cai's family: after eating a lavish New Year's Eve dinner, putting away the toil of the past year, and hoping for sweetness and happiness in the year to come, they still carried a thread of gloom in their hearts. Thinking of Mr. Wu's fate, thinking of this world where the weak were meat and the strong devoured them, they could not help feeling, I am fish and meat. They looked upon the vast world, yet did not know how they could protect their family's peace and security.

Thus, the New Year's Eve that should have been bustling and clamorous passed quietly away. No one knew whether the dreams of the other villagers held happiness, joy, harvest, or sweetness. But Zhang Xiaohua's dream held only flickering light—and that flickering seemed to have gained a trace of clarity.

Agriculturalists' New Year was in truth very simple. Apart from paying one another New Year calls, there was only the market fair in distant Lu Town. Beginning on the third day of the New Year, one street in Lu Town became a bustling "fair" where people from all the surrounding villages gathered. Everyone wore new clothes, brought along their families, and carried money pouches that were a little fuller at their waists, coming here to savor the atmosphere of the New Year.

In Zhang Cai's family, Guo Sufi needed to stay home and care for Zhang Xiaohua's grandmother, so Zhang Cai took his three sons to the fair in Lu Town.

Lu Town lay south of Guo Village, more than thirty li away.

Lu Town did not have many streets to begin with, and ordinarily there was not much bustle for people to share. Now that they had finally caught a New Year fair, everyone brought out the vitality they had stored up over an entire year, forcefully crowding one street in Lu Town into a fever pitch. It was a broad street running north to south, apparently the town's main street. There were many shops on both sides. No matter what business they did, business was excellent. Their doors stood wide open, with many people entering and leaving. Shop assistants stood both inside and outside, calling out to passing customers. There were also many peddlers carrying their own little livelihoods on shoulder poles, setting them out along the street and constantly crying their wares to draw in the streams of people passing before them. On ordinary days, if a shop assistant saw someone blocking the entrance, he would surely call out and chase them away. But today was an exception. Everyone had come out to earn a living, and for the sake of gaining good luck at the New Year, no one would turn red-faced and damage the harmony. They even exchanged wishes of good fortune whenever they met.

As a result, the already not-so-spacious street became even more crowded. Zhang Xiaohua, who had come to the fair with his father and brothers, no longer knew where to look.