Read Online Old Land, New Tales: Twenty Short Stories by Writers of the Shaanxi Region in China by Chen Zhongshi, Jia Pingwa - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Chen Zhongshi, Jia Pingwa
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problem.”
That night, Lai Shun and Mu Du wore masks and took their positions near the school—Lai Shun on sentry duty and Mu Du lying still beside the road. As the mayor’s daughter approached, Mu Du tackled her, grabbed her tightly, and punched her. Finally, he scratched her delicate face, saying, “Since you don’t want to save this face, let me take the skin off!”
The mayor’s daughter had been attacked, but only she and the small husband knew why. They could not speak about it in public. The girl told her father that a man had blocked her path and tried to rape her. The mayor ordered the local police to investigate.
When questioned, the girl said she thought the criminal’s voice sounded like Mu Du’s. Mu Du was promptly taken into custody. He confessed to the charge but revealed his reason for jumping the girl. As a result, the local police station did not pass the case up to the county bureau, nor did they release Mu Du right away. Under the mayor’s orders, Mu Du was kept behind bars for fifteen days.
3
Before long, the small man divorced Darky and married the mayor’s daughter.
Though she was no longer a part of the upstart family, Darky did not move away. She gathered her pride and refused to accept a single thing from her former husband. She returned to the village and bunked in a cowshed in the fields. Hearing the news, her elder brother came to her and lamented, “My poor sister!”
Darky asked, “Why do you cry? Have I done anything shameful?” At that, her brother’s tears stopped. Instead he complained that she had exchanged her comfortable life for a life of misery. He wanted to bring her back to their parents’ home. Darky refused. “I would rather stay to see what other tricks they might play!”
In the daytime, Darky cultivated with great care the field assigned to her. She became a jack-of-all-trades in farmwork and a match even for a strong man. In the evening, she tended the kitchen fire and cooked for herself. Despite her brother’s laments, Darky lived a comfortable and carefree life. She swept the withered grass dust beside the road and burned this fuel to heat the kang; lying in bed was like lying in a pan upon the stove. She used to think that without a man, a woman was like a vine that had no sturdy tree to lean on or a kite without a string. But it turned out that a woman was also human and could live vigorously on her own!
Lai Shun often came over and helped her chop wood and fetch water or simply chatted with her. Darky would offer him a meal or a cup of tea. At dusk, she would always say, “You’d better go. Rumors cluster around a divorcée’s door!” But Lai Shun didn’t care.
One day he’d dropped in as usual. He told Darky that her former husband’s family had just made a great deal of money when the credit agent bought a share of a straw-bag factory. They both sighed over the unfairness of life.
Darky asked, “Is the new couple living a happy life?”
Lai Shun answered, “Money makes the mare go! The woman is pregnant; they’ll have a baby within the year.”
Darky stared blankly at the mountains on the other side of the river, but she was unaware of the clouds in the sky and the smog above the faraway village. Lai Shun couldn’t tell what was on her mind; Darky wasn’t sure herself. When she finally sent Lai Shun away, a thin, faint smile played around the corners of her mouth.
In the village, rumor had it that Lai Shun was making a move on Darky. When Darky eventually heard the idle chatter, it made her heart heavy. Combing her hair in the morning, she looked in the mirror and saw just a face—dark, but smoother than before. Surprised to find herself neither old nor ugly, Darky said to herself, can’t I be left alone and single? At this thought, her cheeks flushed. She felt something unspeakable in her heart.
When Lai Shun came again, Darky paid special attention to his face. His voice made her ears itch.
However, it was Mu Du who appeared
That night, Lai Shun and Mu Du wore masks and took their positions near the school—Lai Shun on sentry duty and Mu Du lying still beside the road. As the mayor’s daughter approached, Mu Du tackled her, grabbed her tightly, and punched her. Finally, he scratched her delicate face, saying, “Since you don’t want to save this face, let me take the skin off!”
The mayor’s daughter had been attacked, but only she and the small husband knew why. They could not speak about it in public. The girl told her father that a man had blocked her path and tried to rape her. The mayor ordered the local police to investigate.
When questioned, the girl said she thought the criminal’s voice sounded like Mu Du’s. Mu Du was promptly taken into custody. He confessed to the charge but revealed his reason for jumping the girl. As a result, the local police station did not pass the case up to the county bureau, nor did they release Mu Du right away. Under the mayor’s orders, Mu Du was kept behind bars for fifteen days.
3
Before long, the small man divorced Darky and married the mayor’s daughter.
Though she was no longer a part of the upstart family, Darky did not move away. She gathered her pride and refused to accept a single thing from her former husband. She returned to the village and bunked in a cowshed in the fields. Hearing the news, her elder brother came to her and lamented, “My poor sister!”
Darky asked, “Why do you cry? Have I done anything shameful?” At that, her brother’s tears stopped. Instead he complained that she had exchanged her comfortable life for a life of misery. He wanted to bring her back to their parents’ home. Darky refused. “I would rather stay to see what other tricks they might play!”
In the daytime, Darky cultivated with great care the field assigned to her. She became a jack-of-all-trades in farmwork and a match even for a strong man. In the evening, she tended the kitchen fire and cooked for herself. Despite her brother’s laments, Darky lived a comfortable and carefree life. She swept the withered grass dust beside the road and burned this fuel to heat the kang; lying in bed was like lying in a pan upon the stove. She used to think that without a man, a woman was like a vine that had no sturdy tree to lean on or a kite without a string. But it turned out that a woman was also human and could live vigorously on her own!
Lai Shun often came over and helped her chop wood and fetch water or simply chatted with her. Darky would offer him a meal or a cup of tea. At dusk, she would always say, “You’d better go. Rumors cluster around a divorcée’s door!” But Lai Shun didn’t care.
One day he’d dropped in as usual. He told Darky that her former husband’s family had just made a great deal of money when the credit agent bought a share of a straw-bag factory. They both sighed over the unfairness of life.
Darky asked, “Is the new couple living a happy life?”
Lai Shun answered, “Money makes the mare go! The woman is pregnant; they’ll have a baby within the year.”
Darky stared blankly at the mountains on the other side of the river, but she was unaware of the clouds in the sky and the smog above the faraway village. Lai Shun couldn’t tell what was on her mind; Darky wasn’t sure herself. When she finally sent Lai Shun away, a thin, faint smile played around the corners of her mouth.
In the village, rumor had it that Lai Shun was making a move on Darky. When Darky eventually heard the idle chatter, it made her heart heavy. Combing her hair in the morning, she looked in the mirror and saw just a face—dark, but smoother than before. Surprised to find herself neither old nor ugly, Darky said to herself, can’t I be left alone and single? At this thought, her cheeks flushed. She felt something unspeakable in her heart.
When Lai Shun came again, Darky paid special attention to his face. His voice made her ears itch.
However, it was Mu Du who appeared
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