Tonight is what night - Wang Yuewen's reading

Author: Wang Yuewen
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-09-01
Features: Tao Fan wakes up at six a.m. and practices Tai Chi in the small courtyard in front of his house, then goes for a run, gazing into the distance. His wife, Lin Jingyi, arranges the calligraphy and painting supplies on the large table under the eaves at exactly seven a.m. Tao Fan then sits there with a composed expression, writing with elegant strokes. The entire courtyard is immediately filled with a scholarly atmosphere. It is indeed an elegant and refined place. There are no large, flat houses here, much like a rural farmhouse, nestled among gentle hills. The entire mountain is covered in peach trees. It is late autumn, and the bare peach trees have an ancient and gnarled appearance. The small courtyard in front of the house is roughly thirty steps long and wide, with no strict rules, shapedly. The outer edge of the courtyard is surrounded by rugged rocks, forming a low wall on their own. These stones were left over from when the house was built. When Tao Fan moved in, the stones in front of the house hadn’t been cleared yet. At the time, Comrade Zhang Zhaolin, who was the Secretary-General of the prefectural committee, saw this and immediately called over Administrative Department Chief Long, scolding him so much that Long’s face was full of fear. Tao Fan waved his hand and said, “I like these stones. Just leave them there.” So, he called over a few laborers and had them stack the stones randomly around the courtyard according to Tao Fan’s wishes. After the stones were piled up, Long asked Tao Fan if he wanted to reinforce them with cement. He looked like he was trying to atone for his mistakes. Tao Fan said, “No need. Just make sure they’re stable and won’t fall.” Long was very grateful for Tao Fan’s kindness and thought he was the best Secretary-General he had ever seen. He secretly vowed to serve this leader well. He then checked the newly built stone wall very seriously, pushing and shaking the stones here and there. One stone was shaken by him and fell down. This made Long very uncomfortable and he loudly blamed the laborers for being irresponsible. By then, the laborers had already left, and Long couldn’t lift the stone alone, not knowing what to do. Tao Fan, with his hands behind his back, surveyed the surroundings and said, “Xiao Long, these stones are fine as they are. Don’t stack any more.” Then, the car arrived. Tao Fan said, “Thank you for your hard work, Xiao Long,” and got into the car. Long watched the car driving down the mountain, completely confused. He couldn’t understand Tao Fan’s meaning. If Tao Fan was avoiding trouble for the staff, he was indeed an extraordinary leader. But was he angry at Long for not handling things properly? He had seen many leaders who didn’t look angry when they were actually angry. Some leaders even smiled when they were angry. Lin Yi, Tao Fan’s wife, was tidying things up at home when she saw Long staring at the fallen stone in thought. She said, “Old Tao said not to stack them, so let’s follow his wishes. He probably prefers a more natural look.” The stone stayed there, becoming a wonderful bench. Now, the stone wall is covered with thorny vines, and the stone at the base of the wall is smooth from being sat on. Tao Fan liked that bench very much, but he was too busy to sit there often. Instead, his daughter Tao Tao often sat there in the past, with her loose hair like that of Daiyu from Dream of the Red Chamber. Tao Tao was the only daughter of Tao Fan and his wife, very beautiful. She had just graduated from high school then and was often lost in the poems of Gu Cheng and Bei Dao, as if she had been possessed. Tao Fan was a loving father at home and found his daughter’s obsession very endearing. Sometimes, his wife would complain that her daughter was a bit eccentric, but Tao Fan always defended her, saying that girls with some talent often go through this phase, and it will naturally improve as they grow older. It was better than them running around all day. Once, he even teased her, “Daughters of a family like ours should have some elegance, shouldn’t they?” His daughter listened and became even more coquettish. But even with all his free time, Tao Fan only spent his mornings practicing calligraphy and martial arts in the place he loved. After finishing his routine, it was 7:40 a.m. Then, he took a five-minute shower and had a five-minute breakfast. Tao Fan didn’t pay much attention to his diet. Two steamed buns and a bowl of soy milk in the morning, no sugar. Occasionally, he would drink a bowl of ginseng soup. Tao Fan would tell Auntie Wang, “Don’t listen to Lin Yi’s nonsense. What’s the point of drinking ginseng soup? I’m not that fancy!” Auntie Wang would always awkwardly rub her hands and say, “Comrade Tao is just too frugal.” Tao Fan drank his ginseng soup with a loud slurping sound and said, “I’m just a farmer at heart, after all.” P3-4