Chapter 1 "You should call me—brother..."
On a sweltering day, the air was suffocating, and the cicadas' chirping sounded like screams, echoing beside the roadside where cars sped by.
At Pengda Auto Repair Center, a young man crawled out from under a car, his chest damp with sweat and his hands smeared with black engine oil. His colleague outside called him again, "Sheng, someone's looking for you."
Hearing the sound, Li Sheng turned his head and saw a pair of long legs in black suit trousers not far away. Slender fingers held a phone, which hung dangling from the seam of the trousers. The person noticed him, and with a swift movement of his black leather shoes, walked quickly towards him.
Li Sheng pulled himself out from under the car, and as he sat up, he asked, "Who are you?"
The other person took a step forward. The distance was so close that Li Sheng had to look up. The sunlight fell directly on the person's head, and he couldn't see the person's face clearly: "What do you want with me?"
The other person remained silent, then their shoulders, which were gleaming with light, began to tremble, accompanied by a sneer.
In that instant, his eyes widened, his expression freezing—though he couldn't see the face clearly, in the blinding sunlight, he could still precisely discern a pair of familiar thin lips. The lips were clearly defined, the corners sharp, and the smile they conveyed was bright and arrogant.
As before, Li Sheng was once again looked down upon, and as before, the man's tone was seductive, as if he had ill intentions, as he called out his name loudly: "Li Sheng!"
Li Sheng's throat tightened suddenly, and his heart pounded uncontrollably. He struggled to find his voice, which was dry and hoarse: "Li... Jia Cong."
“You should call me—brother,” Li Jiacong said, squatting down and looking into his eyes.
***
Summer of 2002.
The only road leading from the provincial capital to Dashiqiao Village was under repair, forcing all buses to detour via a dirt road at the foot of Camel Mountain. The mountain road was bumpy, and Li Jiacong sat in the car on his way back to his hometown, his expression fierce as if he wanted to devour someone.
The bus was bound for his grandfather's house, a rural, desolate, and inconvenient place that he disliked. But his father still forcibly confiscated his phone and wallet, and kicked him onto the bus. Footprints were still visible on his thigh. His father, gritting his teeth, said from outside the bus, "Look at the conditions your father grew up in!"
Li Jiacong, clutching his schoolbag in frustration, was suddenly awakened by the old woman next to him. The old woman looked at him intently and said, "You're from the Erbo'erlu family, right? Your name is Li Jia... Jia something again?" The number "Er" refers to the birth order of brothers in the family, and "Bo'erlu" is a dialect word meaning forehead.
Li Jiacong's tone was flat: "Li Jiacong."
"Oh right! Scallions!" The old lady stuffed the vegetables she bought in town under her feet and nudged his foot without any politeness. "I can tell just by looking at you, but you're different from when you were a child. You've grown up and are so handsome now."
Li Jiacong gave a perfunctory smile.
"Are your parents doing well?" the old woman said. "Why didn't they come back with you? Did you come all by yourself? Didn't your parents see you off?"
“They go to work,” Li Jiacong said. “Only I go to my grandfather’s for the summer vacation.”
"Oh my god, isn't earning that much money enough? Your dad's been promoted to factory manager, right? Your grandparents must be so happy to see you come back by yourself!"
Li Jiazong's family was one of the first to move away from the village. His father, from a rural area, was admitted to a prestigious university, and after graduation, he got a job at a local state-owned enterprise. He then married his mother, a well-educated and reasonable teacher. Their success shone brightly for decades, and they are still praised by everyone to this day. But Li Jiazong is extremely annoyed by this. Whenever he returns, people come to him and express their sour admiration.
Is this interesting?
"Do you even know what you call me?" The old woman's face was very close. "I run a small shop at the entrance of the village."
"Sorry, I forgot." Li Jiacong dislikes getting close to strangers.
The old woman laughed and slapped his thigh: "You! You have to call me Second Aunt."
Li Jiacong's temples were throbbing, but he held back his words, stiffly turning his head away and letting out a long sigh. He really didn't know how long he could endure in this wretched place.
The car stopped at the village entrance. The village committee was at the front, and to the left of the brigade was an alley that looked like the main road. People got out of the car and walked into the village one after another.
The Li family found their grandfather's house based on their remaining childhood memories. The courtyard gate faced west. Inside, there was a low wall made of red bricks that enclosed a garden. Walking along the path on the left, there were two small bungalows facing south.
Before he even reached the door, a burst of cheerful laughter rang out. A sprightly old woman emerged from the room on the east side, running towards Li Jiazong and calling out, "My eldest grandson!"
This time, Li Jiacong showed a genuine smile: "Grandma, slow down."
"Come inside! Come inside quickly!"
Li Jiacong entered the house with his head down. He happened to see his grandfather sitting on the kang (a heated brick bed), holding a fly swatter in his hand. The grandfather nodded to him and then began swatting flies. In Li Jiacong's memory, his grandfather had hardly ever spoken a word. He was a simple, honest old farmer with dark skin and rough hands. What he cherished most in his eyes was the corn in the field.
His grandma took his schoolbag off his back and asked, "Have you eaten?"
Li Jiacong shook his head: "I haven't eaten. I'm not hungry. Grandma, I want to take a nap."
"Okay, you must be tired from the car ride, you should rest! I've prepared a room for you, go sleep there, the blankets and mattress are all new ones I made for you!"
Li Jiacong entered the small room next door. The room was dark and cool. There was a large water vat by the door with a lid that looked like an iron pot on top. He almost knocked it off when he entered. His grandmother reached out to steady him and said, "This water vat is for collecting water. Be careful. If you are thirsty in the future, just scoop water from here."
The tap water filled a large vat; it was raw water. The tool for scooping the water was half a gourd, which looked very rough. Li Jiacong felt that after drinking the water in this vat, he could take an ambulance back to his city—it was perfect.
This area is the kitchen, with a rusty stove. Further in, on the left, there's a small door leading to the bedroom. Inside, there's a large, two-meter-long kang (heated brick bed), and a brownish-yellow, peeling TV cabinet. The walls are uneven and slightly yellowed. Newly made quilts are piled at the end of the kang, revealing large pink peony patterns on the exposed kang surface. The front of the kang is charred and blackened.
It's so dilapidated. Li Jiacong closed his eyes and suppressed a sigh.
After he finished paving the kang (a heated brick bed) and left, Li Jiacong sat quietly on the edge of the kang for a long time before kicking off his shoes, climbing onto the large kang, and cursing as he knelt down. The kang was so hard it hurt, it felt like kneeling on the ground. He lay down with difficulty and took out a Walkman from his pocket—something he had secretly brought from home.
I inserted the cassette tape, put on my headphones, and lay back down. I closed my eyes, pressed play, and it was Sandy Lam's "The Night Is Too Dark"—
"The world is as dark as you imagine, with ghostly figures in the neon lights. This city has a kind of decadent beauty. If someone seems颓废 (颓废 is a difficult word to translate directly, but it implies a state of being listless, decadent, or dispirited), he's just tired..."
When Li Jiacong woke up, it was nearly evening. His earphones had rolled to the side. He looked at the unfamiliar, moldy ceiling, reached into his backpack, and rummaged around inside. Suddenly, he frowned, and when he took his hand out of the backpack, he was clutching two things.
A pack of cigarettes and a letter.
He wanted the cigarettes, not the letter. He tore open the envelope; it was on the special letter paper typical of state-owned factory workers, and the handwriting was his father's. It must have been secretly slipped in before he left.
The letter from Deputy Factory Director Li was a far cry from his usual fierce demeanor; his words were earnest, and he genuinely hoped Li Jiacong would repent and mend his ways. As Li Jiacong read the letter, he smirked, displaying a look of disgust.
All of this stemmed from a school-wide reprimand he received this semester for disciplinary issues. In other words, he was caught dating. Dating during adolescence is almost instinctive, but for adults, it's like a veil of shame. Once discovered by the school, he'll be labeled either "precocious" or "improper."
The girl's family felt ashamed and arranged for her to transfer to another school. Before leaving, they handed him a breakup letter. He found it troublesome and didn't want to readjust to school. After his family paid him off, he wasn't punished or recorded. However, he watched as his name was blatantly displayed on the bulletin board for five days.
His father, the "prosperous" deputy factory director Li, lost face and beat him with a belt when he got home. He then searched his room and found pornographic videotapes and sexy magazines. After confiscating them all, he gave him a bus ticket, kicked him, and here he is.
The sluggish and isolated countryside had no video games, no videotapes, and no pretty girls.
The letter ended with: "Dad got into university in that little room back then. Studying hard by the light of a firefly and the snow, life is always tough, but one day you will understand my intentions!"
Li Jiacong remained unmoved even after reading the whole thing; nothing his father said made any sense to him. His father wanted him to have some self-respect, but Li Jiacong didn't know what "respect" meant. When his name was posted on the bulletin board, he passed by it every day without feeling any shame. What was wrong with dating? Who was he holding back? Even when he was dumped, he didn't care. He read the seemingly painful and resolute breakup letter, crumpled it up, threw it away, went out and played a game of basketball. A few weeks later, he couldn't even remember what the girl looked like.
However, for Li Jiacong, the biggest loss and cost of the whole thing was that he would have to spend the summer vacation in such a rural and unrefined place.
He couldn't understand Director Li's good intentions; he just wanted to have fun.
Li Jiacong tore open the cigarette pack, took out a cigarette with his lips, felt for a lighter in his pocket, and walked outside. He stood there for a moment, lest the old men and women passing by look at him as if he were some rare Western painting, then walked around to the back of the house with the cigarette in his mouth.
Behind him was a cornfield. He walked a few steps into the field, found a flat spot, squatted down by the furrow, and lit his lighter. The flame was blinding. Li Jiacong looked up; a summer breeze brushed his face. It was getting dark.
It was getting dark. The shepherds in the village were all herding their sheep back to their pens. The grass on the mountain wasn't growing well, so they had to take a long detour to get the sheep to eat their fill.
Li Sheng pedaled his old-fashioned bicycle down the earthen slope, the white pebbles splashing up and bouncing onto his legs. He wore a loose white vest, his arm muscles were firm and well-defined, and his back was soaked with sweat. A large flock of sheep followed him down the hillside.
As he rode down the road, he glanced at his own cornfield and spotted a bright red dot at the edge of the field. The corn was still ripe at this time of year, so no one was stealing it.
He was squatting down smoking in a secluded spot, probably...
Li Sheng rode very fast and shouted, "Hey! Don't come and poop in my field!"
A note from the author:
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We meet again! I'm going to drag you all here to farm! (A simple yet wicked smile)
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