Chapter 2: A Rural Shenzhou Tale (Part 1)
The countryside in southern China was sticky, humid, and full of the worldly wisdom and shortsightedness unique to the Chinese people. After leaving the city and enduring a two-hour ride on a diesel bus filled with the smell of leather, smoke, engine heat, and constant bumps, Lu Li finally arrived at Chengxia Bridge. The north wind in the countryside was even more biting than in the city. Here, there were no ordinary cars, only motorcycles carrying people leaving for the Spring Festival, zipping past like fish in a river.
Lu Li bought a bottle of mineral water from a roadside grocery store, moistening his parched throat. The owner told him that Shanzhu Village was still forty li away. If he was in a hurry to visit his relatives, he would only charge thirty yuan to take him there. Lu Li declined. The owner continued to exaggerate the distance, and seeing that Lu Li remained unmoved, lowered the price to twenty-five yuan.
“There’s no paved road ahead, only muddy paths full of rocks. Shanzhu Village is a remote and impoverished place. Twenty-five yuan is already a very reasonable price.” The owner was quite talkative. “Young man, are you even twenty yet? Do you have a job?”
“No, I’m still a student.” Lu Li took another sip of water, silently observing the passersby.
“Where do you study? My son studies at No. 9 Middle School in Beixian County. Hehe, he’s in the top class. Maybe you’re classmates.”
“Really?” Lu Li smiled. “Your son is quite impressive then.”
“He is. In this entire Chengxiaqiao Town, only three students got into the top class. Three!” The man widened his eyes and held up three thick fingers. “But this kid is disobedient. He doesn’t listen to anything I say, always doing things his own way. Haha.”
“He’s quite independent.” Lu Li commented.
The man beamed. “If others heard that, they would think I’m a bad father. Hey, young man, what are you doing going to Shanzhu Village? There’s no road access there anymore. Only some childless elderly people are left. I haven’t seen anyone from Shanzhu Village in years.”
“I’m visiting my grandparents.” Upon hearing this, the owner’s expression changed. He pondered for a moment and said, “Young man, have your parents bring your grandparents out of there. Staying in that kind of place, even getting enough to eat is a problem.”
“Is Shanzhu Village that poor?”
“Oh, it’s practically dirt poor.” The man shook his head. “In our Chengxiaqiao Town, Shanzhu Village is the poorest. The roads in other villages have been repaired, but there’s been no movement in Shanzhu Village. It’s like a ghost town.”
Lu Li hummed in acknowledgement, put the half-empty water bottle into the side pocket of his backpack, and made a move to get up.
“Are you walking there, young man?”
“Yes.”
“Hey, it’s forty li! You’ll break your legs! And it’s so cold, how can you walk? Fine, fifteen yuan. Give me fifteen yuan, just enough to cover the gas, and I’ll give you a ride.” The man said, reaching for his felt hat. This time, Lu Li didn’t refuse. The grocery store owner called out to his wife and then pushed out an old motorcycle.
The motorcycle started. The man didn’t even wear a helmet. He looked around, then weaved through the traffic, carrying Lu Li onto the bridge, making him nervous. “Where are you from, young man?”
“Chuanhai.”
“From the provincial capital?” He was clearly surprised. “You study in the provincial capital?”
“Yes.”
“What’s the difference between schools in the big city and our county? Are there more opportunities?” His tone softened. “My son wanted to take the entrance exam for No. 4 Middle School in the provincial capital, no, No. 5 Middle School, but he didn’t get in. He said it was very difficult.”
Chuanhai No. 5 Middle School was a vocational school, the lowest-ranked high school in Chuanhai. Lu Li smiled and replied, “It is quite difficult.”
“Right?”
“Right.”
“Which school do you go to in Chuanhai?”
“Just an ordinary high school. Not very famous.” Lu Li answered.
“Do students like you get assigned jobs after graduation? Your monthly salary must be tens of thousands of yuan, right?”
Actually, most students from Chuanhai No. 1 High School would choose to go to university. They wouldn’t need to work and didn’t have the concept of a monthly salary. The imperial system might have been abolished, but the thousand-year-old clan system of China had quietly persisted. There was a saying among the graduates of Chuanhai No. 1 High School that each graduate would receive a ranking upon graduation, from excellent to poor, commonly known as the “Nine Ranks of Talent.” The ranking process wasn’t transparent, and the identities of the judges remained a mystery. These nine ranks would be used by university professors as a reference for admissions. Most of the privileged children at Chuanhai No. 1 High School worked hard to achieve a high ranking.
Students from other ordinary high schools, however, wouldn’t even know about the existence of the Nine Ranks system until they died, let alone reach the lowest rank.
“I’ll have to find a job myself after graduation.”
The man clicked his tongue and shook his head. “That won’t do. The pressure of living in the city is so high… Young man, what do your parents do? Are they in business?”
Lu Li’s throat tightened. “My parents…” A gust of wind blew the man’s felt hat off. He cursed and braked, walking over to pick up the dirty hat, patting it a few times before putting it back on his thinning hair. “Damn wind, so strong and cold, getting colder every year. I heard it’s because people in the north cut down all the trees and destroyed the environment, that’s why winters are getting colder and colder, right?”
He smiled and hummed in agreement. The topic of his parents was dropped. Seeing that Lu Li was shy, the man became even more talkative. He boasted while driving, saying that although he didn’t have much education, he had decades more life experience than students. He talked about how popular his son was with girls at school. However, all topics eventually led back to the common people’s resentment and analysis of high-level politics.
Lu Li heard him cursing the central cabinet for their terrible policies, especially the recent revisions to the inheritance law and marriage law. Lu Li thought of Chu Jingyi’s father. His future father-in-law had left for the capital on the fifth day of the Lunar New Year. It was said that he had been selected for the central cabinet. Should he address him as “Uncle” or “Minister Chu” in the future? And An Baili, she should be awake by now. Perhaps she had already seen his message and was on her way to Silly Goose’s house.
It was so cold.
Lu Li felt his fingers were numb, and his nose had long lost all sensation. Riding a motorcycle in this weather was torture. It should be included in the penal code as a modern form of punishment. The road beneath the tires had turned into a bumpy dirt path, littered with gravel. The already unstable motorcycle bounced even more on this terrain, shaking like an eighty-year-old with asthma. The sound of the exhaust pipe was like a broken bellows.
The scenery on both sides changed from endless fields to untrimmed woods. A small, straight river followed their path, disappearing into the horizon. The air became fresher, with a hint of earthy smell, perhaps the smell of earthworms, or the fishy smell of the thawing river. Only then did Lu Li feel a sense of escaping human civilization and entering a hidden paradise.
Suddenly, the motorcycle stopped. Lu Li heard the man curse, “Damn wind, you’re out of luck, young man.”
Several small trees had been blown down by the north wind, blocking the dirt path ahead. It was impossible for the motorcycle to pass. Lu Li said it was fine and took out fifteen yuan from his wallet. The man said, “But Shanzhu Village isn’t far from here. Walk straight ahead for about a li, and you should see it.”
Lu Li followed the man’s pointing finger and saw a few faint silhouettes of houses in the distance, barely visible through the thick fog.
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