Thirty Years East of the River - Readings of Zhou Meisen

Author: Zhou Meisen / Country: Mainland China
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-08-01
Features: This led them into Fengming City. The city gate tower was truly enormous, the walls incredibly high, and the streets inside as wide as a threshing field. The traffic was heavy, with carriages and pedestrians bustling about, coming and going, passing by constantly like a flowing stream. There was a type of carriage shaped like an iron coffin that could move on its own without being pushed, emitting eerie, astonishing noises that sounded neither like a donkey nor a horse, but rather like the suona horn played by mountain villagers. More common were the red and green sedan chairs, with their bearers in bright uniforms that dazzled the eyes. The city was indeed a city, different from the mountains. The streets were lively. Later, Tuo Ge pulled her into a small alley. The alley was not as pleasant as the main street, with fewer carriages and pedestrians, and the shops on both sides were mostly empty, with very few customers. The road was even worse—covered in wet, shiny cobblestones, making it slippery for those in straw sandals. It was even harder to walk than the mountain paths outside the city. Following the slippery cobblestone path, they walked only a short distance before coming across an ornate building made of blue bricks and red wood. The building stood quietly before them, desolate and empty, with no people in sight, except for two red silk lanterns hanging prominently on either side of the door, inscribed with characters. Tuo Ge looked at the lanterns and smiled, saying to Yu Chuan, "We're home." Yu Chuan glanced at Tuo Ge but said nothing, thinking: "This is your home, not mine. You're happy, so why should I be?" Tuo Ge pinched Yu Chuan's cheek and said, "From now on, this will be your home too. Once you step through this door, you'll be in a land of good fortune!" Yu Chuan didn't believe it at all! Since she could remember, she had rarely met any good people. Her parents had passed away young, so she didn't know if they were good or not, but she knew her uncle and aunt were not. Her uncle and aunt either beat or cursed her, and she was often hungry. Since she could remember, she had never been given a single new, pretty dress—her clothes were all discarded rags from her older brother, with no bright colors and patched together endlessly. Therefore, when her uncle sold her to Tuo Ge, she felt no sorrow, only a desperate hope to leave quickly, to go as far away from her uncle's house as possible. Staring blankly at the gate tower, Yu Chuan wondered: This must be a wealthy family, right? Even if it wasn't a land of good fortune, it wouldn't be any worse than her uncle's house. Seeing Yu Chuan lost in thought, Tuo Ge pulled her by the arm, dragging her to the base of the gate tower: "Hurry up! Once you see your mother, I'll be done with my task!" Yu Chuan timidly started walking up the steps, her eyes fixed on the gate tower, not looking down. Unaware, she stumbled on the steps and dropped her straw sandals. The sandals were new and had been stitched with hemp thread, so they could still last a few more days. Thinking this, Yu Chuan bent down to pick them up. Tuo Ge, however, moved quickly and kicked the sandals down the steps, shouting, "We're in a fine place now—why would you still wear straw sandals?!" Yu Chuan stammered, "These sandals are still new!" Tuo Ge said, "New or not, we won't wear them here. The sisters here all wear embroidered shoes." With no choice, Yu Chuan took off the other sandal and tossed it aside, entering the building barefoot. The moment she stepped inside, before she could even see the decorated interior of the building, she heard a middle-aged woman calling from somewhere inside, "Girls, it's time to get up! The sun has burned your buttocks, and they're all blistered." The woman's exclamation about the sun made Yu Chuan suspicious. She really thought the sun, which had never been seen before, had finally appeared and couldn't help but glance back outside—only to see a rickshaw with a clear bell ringing as it whizzed past in the wind. The wheels of the rickshaw seemed to have run over the new, undamaged straw sandal she had left behind.
Later, the sisters of Guanchun Tower recalled that the day Yu Chuan arrived was indeed not a good one! There was no sun burning buttocks; the sky was overcast and depressing. The outside was dark, and the inside of the building was just as dim, making time feel hazy and indistinguishable whether it was noon or evening. At that time, most of the sisters were still asleep. Some who had woken up were still lounging in bed, smoking opium and eating melon seeds, with few moving. Zheng Liu, the madam, stood with her hands on her hips in the downstairs entrance hall, calling repeatedly, but the sisters paid no attention. Only when Zheng Liu started clanging a plate to call for meals did they reluctantly get up and get ready. After finishing their grooming, they went downstairs and met Yu Chuan in the hall.
P3-4