Chapter 3 Li Jiacong pulled Li Sheng from the ditch…
The medieval Gothic cathedral blends seamlessly with the rural mud-brick houses, its decay imbued with a sense of the sacred, its spires, which should have been alighting on white doves, now overgrown with weeds. In the night, it possesses an indescribable strangeness, even describable as magnificent.
Most of the village is influenced by this church. Whether it's a child's birth, a wedding, or death, a priest will be there to witness: baptism, blessings, prayers…
Li Sheng was running towards the church. But he was disoriented and had lost his way in the place where he had grown up.
Everything happened too fast for him—while cooking, his grandfather suddenly collapsed. He tried to resuscitate him by pinching his philtrum, but there was no response. He frantically ran to the clinic to call for help, but when the doctor arrived, he was told that his grandfather was already gone. What illness it was, he didn't know. There was no point in trying to find out what the illness was; the man was already gone.
His steps slowed, his back slumped, and all around him was darkness; he could see nothing. He covered his eyes with his hands and cried out, his voice still low, like the dying gasps of some young animal. He knew that tonight he had lost the only, most important part of his life—his family.
Suddenly, Li Sheng lost his footing and plummeted downwards. For a moment, he lost consciousness. When he opened his eyes, he realized he had fallen into a ditch, a deep and narrow ditch hidden by grass. He was trapped sideways inside. He tried to push himself up, but couldn't muster any strength—he was caught in a trap.
With stones pressing against his chest, his cries for help desperately escaped his throat, only to burst like bubbles in mid-air.
He looked down at the low wall that flanked him, where an image of the Father was painted—the "one, almighty" Father, the almighty Father gazing at him sadly. He had reached the church door, but was just one step away.
Li Sheng finally broke down. If God mocked his fate of living, he would let Him mock him; if death beckoned, he would follow Him. His cries changed from suppressed to quiet.
Suddenly, Li Sheng heard a sound coming from the church door, and someone came out. Before he could make a sound, the bushes in front of him were instantly parted—
A delicate face appeared before him. At that moment, it was as if a god had appeared, descending upon him from above, watching his embarrassing moment with an expressionless face, and extending a hand to him.
"stand up."
Li Jiacong said indifferently.
He pulled Li Sheng out of the ditch. He had originally come to visit the church out of curiosity. The church door was unlocked, so he went in and took a look around. He had passed by the church near his home before, which was three times larger and more exquisitely decorated. This one was practically dilapidated, so there was obviously nothing to see. After a few minutes, he came out.
He had thought he might run into Li Sheng, but he never expected to meet him in a ditch.
In a dark corner, a clump of struggling, undulating grass. Li Jiacong thought it might be some kind of animal, but when he parted it, it wasn't a stray cat or dog, but Li Sheng, who had a long scar on the corner of his left eye, huddled in the gap, half his face showing, his eyes filled with tears as he looked at him. He was crying again.
Li Sheng, who was pulled out, looked gloomy and swayed in the wind, unable to speak, his mouth covered in dust. Li Jiacong glanced at him with a worried expression, then turned and went into the church to call out the priest for Li Sheng.
"Thank you," Li Sheng said, bowing his head. Li Jiacong waved his hand.
Li Sheng led the priest away, while he continued to wander slowly through the village alone until he was almost home. He passed a small courtyard with a white cloth hanging on it, from which solemn chanting could be heard softly.
Li Jiacong stopped and listened.
"Avoid hell, ascend to heaven, and enjoy the holy face of the Lord."
Amen.
"—Amen."
…
"He'll be all alone at home from now on, how will he manage? How will he manage! Sigh—"
After Li Sheng's family finished their funeral, Comrade Xiuying kept repeating this phrase.
In rural areas, when there is a funeral, some families will set up a tent and hold a continuous feast. After one table is finished eating, the food will be cleared away. Then, they will invite people to perform operas. The dirty children in the village will come to join in the fun, sit in a row under the stage, and laugh loudly while pointing at the people on stage who are playing ugly and silly characters.
But Li Sheng's house was quiet; there was no crying. After burying Li Sheng's grandfather on the mountain, the white cloth was slowly removed from the courtyard, as if nothing had happened.
Li Jiacong hasn't left the house these past few days, sitting on the kang (heated brick bed) reading foreign classic novels his mother bought for him—he's really bored and has nothing else to do.
His grandmother brought a rag to his little house to clean it. After wiping around, she said "Li Sheng is pitiful" five times.
Li Jiacong looked at the book and said dryly, "Just live life as it comes."
His grandmother glared at him: "Why are you so heartless, you little brat? Didn't you get along well with him when you were little? Don't you remember?"
"I can't remember." Li Jiacong rubbed his temples. "It's been so many years, and I've only been here a few times."
His grandma helped him recall: "Back then, your dad would give you a dime, and you would take him to the village store to buy candy. You would even share it with him, and your dad would praise you a lot when you came back."
Li Jiacong gave a thumbs up: "You have a really good memory." He looked up and suddenly asked, "Is Li Sheng an orphan?"
His grandmother hesitated for a moment and said, "No, not really."
“No? If not, then let his parents take care of it,” Li Jiacong said. “Where are his parents?”
Before his grandmother could answer, someone knocked on the window. Turning around, she saw his grandfather holding up a chicken and waving it around. His grandmother shouted from inside the house, "Alright! We'll eat it tonight!" She directed Li Jiazong, "Go, go to Sheng'er's yard and play with him. Afterwards, have him come over for dinner. Your grandfather is going to kill a chicken tonight, so we'll make something delicious."
Li Jiacong frowned: "I'm already this old, why would I go out and play with other people?"
“What can’t you do? If you’re really bored, you can help him with some work. He has to fence off his land, while our land has all been rented out.”
"I'm not going. I'm still studying. It's okay to ask him to eat. I'll call him when it's time."
His grandmother exclaimed, "You said you came here to relax, but can you really relax on your own?"
Li Jiacong remained silent.
“Your small frame needs some exercise; look at you, you can’t even lift twenty pounds of rice…”
"Li Sheng, how pitiful—"
This is the sixth time.
"You're just lucky. Otherwise, I don't think you're as well-behaved and energetic as that kid. Fifth Brother is actually a good guy. Li Sheng is a good kid, he never misbehaves, and he's very sensible. That's right—"
"Fine! Xiuying, please let me go," Li Jiacong couldn't take it anymore, got off the kang (heated brick bed) and put on his shoes, "I'll go! I'll go, okay!"
The narrow dirt paths crisscrossed, and calla lilies and a few pink wildflowers grew at the base of the walls. In less than a minute, Li Jiacong arrived at Li Sheng's house; the countryside was so convenient. He looked at the large, dark iron gate, which was tightly shut, and gently knocked three times, the sound like the wind whistling through the door.
Li Sheng's hearing seemed to be quite good; he asked through the courtyard gate, "Who's here?"
Hearing a slightly hoarse voice, Li Jiacong didn't know how to introduce himself, so he just grunted "Mmm," took a step back, and waited for the person inside to open the door.
Li Sheng took off his shoes and went out, unlatched the door, and saw Li Jiacong, which surprised him.
“I am… Li Erbo from that land…” Li Jiacong paused, cursing the damned yet brainwashing nickname in his heart, and changed his words to “I am Li Jiacong.”
“I know,” Li Sheng said.
Li Jiacong also knew that they had met three times in a way that was too embarrassing to mention, in the cornfield, at their doorstep, and in front of the church, and they no longer needed to exchange names.
"My grandma wants you to come eat." Li Jiacong avoided Li Sheng's gaze, his tone unfriendly, sounding more like he was chasing a debt than inviting someone to dinner.
"Now? Now?" Li Sheng was a little confused.
"Not now, for dinner." Li Jiacong regretted agreeing to come over with his grandma. He had no excuse to stay. What could he say to her? "My grandma asked me to come over and play. Should I smooth things over or play house?"
"Never mind," Li Jiacong thought, turning around, when Li Sheng suddenly called out to him, "Come inside and wait a while."
…
Li Sheng's yard wasn't big. A grape trellis stood in front of the door, and the grapes were ripe, small, shriveled, and a dark purple. A green plastic beaded curtain hung on the door, rustling as it was lifted. Li Jiacong followed Li Sheng into the house.
It was small, even narrower than his west room, so cramped that it made him feel suffocated. It smelled of old wood and grass, but surprisingly, Li Jiacong didn't find it unpleasant. Li Sheng smelled the same way; the scent that hit him when he knelt down last night was unique and not unpleasant.
"Sit down." Li Sheng pointed to the kang (heated brick bed) in the main room. Li Jiacong walked over, swept his hand across the floor, and saw soot on the uneven ground.
Li Sheng took a basin from the kitchen cabinet, filled it with water and tomatoes, and placed it on the table in the room: "Eat."
Li Jiacong nodded, his hand holding a handful of damp water from the basin, and asked, "Do you smoke?"
“It was someone who came to help, and it fell on the ground. I didn’t have time to clean it up,” Li Sheng said, looking at him. “Do you want a cigarette? I’ll find you an ashtray.”
"No need, no need!" Li Jiacong waved his hand.
Li Sheng didn't say anything more, slowly walked over, and sat down on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed).
The atmosphere was awkward. Li Jiacong took a bite of tomato, the sweet and sour taste filling his mouth. He turned his head somewhat affectedly and looked out the window at the yard.
Li Sheng glanced around but saw nothing: "What's wrong?"
"Where are your sheep?" Li Jiacong asked.
Li Sheng looked embarrassed and stammered, "The sheep...the sheep are in the sheepfold, not over here."
Li Jiacong: "Oh."
Li Sheng changed the subject: "You graduated from high school?"
Li Jiacong paused for a moment and said, "I haven't started school yet, I'm a senior in high school."
Li Sheng lowered his eyes: "I misremembered, I thought you had graduated."
"You remember?" Li Jiacong looked at him.
“I’ve seen you before, and my grandfather told me that we went to school in the same year,” Li Sheng said, sitting on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed) and rubbing his hands together on his knees. “I didn’t go to high school, I’m mistaken.”
It seems he really did play this game when he was a kid, but Li Jiacong still couldn't remember: "Oh, so what do you do for a living now?"
“I didn’t do anything. I graduated from junior high school. My grandfather was afraid that I would go astray, so he made me stay at home and help him with chores. He taught me a trade.”
Li Sheng has a heavy accent. When he says "learn," he pronounces it as "xiao," which is a local dialect spoken by older generations in rural areas. It's normal to hear grandparents say it, but it sounds particularly awkward to hear someone as young as Li Sheng say it.
Li Jiacong wanted to correct him but held back. Li Sheng seemed emotionally stable, not as pitiful as his grandmother had described. Li Jiacong tried to communicate, mentioning games, but failed immediately. Li Sheng didn't even know what Contra was. He then suggested they watch something, only to find there was no TV or VCD player. The only entertainment was a set of sparkling glass marbles on the windowsill, but they were both too old to play with them.
Li Jiacong just kept eating with Li Sheng, eating most of a bowl of tomatoes. Li Sheng thought he must have an upset stomach from eating too much, so he silently took the tomatoes away and replaced them with a few washed cucumbers.
Li Jiacong rubbed his stomach, thinking that he wouldn't be able to eat any more chicken if he ate any longer. Then he heard a shout, and Li Jiacong felt like he had been granted a pardon. It was his kind Xiuying calling out, "Sheng Hai'er, is Jiacong with you? Come on, let's eat!" Li Jiacong immediately responded.
Xiuying prepared a table full of dishes. When Li Jiazong came in and saw the dishes, it was still pork stew with vermicelli. It had been the same dish for several days, except that there was a free-range chicken today. His appetite instantly decreased. His grandfather hadn't returned yet. He and Li Sheng sat in a row, picked up their chopsticks, and started eating.
After he started eating, Li Sheng didn't touch his chopsticks either. It wasn't until his grandmother sat down at the table and started eating that he picked up a mouthful of white rice from his own bowl.
"Do you have work to do in the fields?" his grandmother asked Li Sheng casually. "You can't finish it all by yourself, can you?"
Li Sheng swallowed his food and said clearly, "I can finish the job."
"Have Jiacong come with you, and you teach him. He doesn't have much to do."
Li Sheng shook his head: "Really, there's no need."
“You two used to do it all the time, why don’t you use it? Let him go with you tomorrow!”
Li Jiacong ate without saying a word or engaging in conversation. Since he wasn't going down, he naturally wouldn't go either.
“His dad told me not to let him stay cooped up in the house all day… You’re here to recuperate. The city is nice, but the air isn’t as fresh as ours, is it? It’s all cars honking around over there…”
After his grandmother finished grumbling, she couldn't stay still and went out to find the old man to come back for dinner. As soon as she left, Li Jiacong's face instantly turned ugly. He didn't like being ordered around, but he had to show his grandmother some respect. He was feeling annoyed when he suddenly noticed out of the corner of his eye that Li Sheng hadn't touched his chopsticks. He turned his head and glanced at him.
Li Sheng seemed to be waiting for his gaze, and when it came, he smiled at him. Li Jiacong was stunned. It was a very faint smile, one that didn't make Li Jiacong uncomfortable—or rather, a smile that soothed him.
"No need to come." Li Sheng's tone was calm, even tinged with apology and helplessness, as if in an instant, the distance between them had closed and they had formed the same side. Li Jiacong's temper, which had just been agitated, was dissolved by this smile.
When his grandmother found his grandfather, the two of them had already finished eating. Li Sheng picked up his bowl and put it in the sink, and Li Jiazong followed behind with his bowl and chopsticks. Li Sheng wanted to take it from him, but he couldn't wait for Li Jiazong to look up and look at him, so he couldn't talk to him.
His grandmother glanced at the two people from the inner room. They were about the same height, their heads taller than the door frame, and they were squeezed in front of the small sink. Suddenly she asked, "Hey, I remember you two are the same age. Who's older?"
"Oh my god!" Li Jiacong looked at his grandmother with a horrified expression, hoping she would stop talking.
Unfortunately, Sooyoung's eyesight is poor.
"I think it's Jia Cong, right? He was born in the beginning of the year, I remember it was early spring. Li Sheng, your birthday is earlier, right? In winter?"
Li Sheng: "Mm."
Jia Cong's grandma said, "We're close, so you should treat Jia Cong like your brother from now on. He's an only child, and so are you. You're both lonely, so having a companion is good. If it were me, I would have advised Jia Cong's mother to have another child back then, so that the two of them could be together and have someone to help them in times of trouble."
Li Jiacong closed his eyes silently. What was the old lady saying?
However, Li Sheng suddenly called out in my ear: "Brother Cong".
Li Jiacong suddenly opened his eyes and looked at him. Li Sheng politely stretched out his hand and said, "Give me the bowl, I'll wash it."
A note from the author:
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