After the busy harvest season in Autumn, villagers began to have time to take care of their own private household plots. They had to dig or pull their taro and

    potato. The local people called “Dig taro”. Several people with spades and baskets  went to the plots, would say hello to each other by saying, “Are you going to dig  taro?” “Yes, dig taro.” But others might answer, “No, I am going to pull potatoes.” In fact, the two things were very similar, but what’s the difference? Any one who  was familiar with the rural life would know that taro grew on the flat land, their  roots were underground. So they had to be dug out. While potatoes grew on the  ridges about the land, unnecessary to dig, only turned over the earth with spades, the  potatoes would come out, so “Pull” potatoes was more appropriate.

    After the taro was dug, potatoes were pulled, it’s time to plant vegetables to be pickled.

    Every household was doing deep ploughing and meticulous cultivation in their  private household plot. They had their own ideas. If they couldn’t do it well, others  might laugh at them. It’s humiliating. It would even impact their children’s marriage.  “This family’s girl is not good to marry. This family’s boy is not fit to be husband.” The villagers did farm work all the year round. If the boy or the girl didn’t know  how to work in the fields or private plots, they were not fit to marry, to live a good  life in the future. They would suffer if they married.

    Before the dewdrops got dry on the road, Chunyu and Cuiyun went to their private household plot to plant vegetables. Chunyu dug pits, Cuiyun planted vegetable seedlings. Cuiyun worked very carefully, disliked his brother for digging the pits so roughly, without smashing the fertilizer and earth uneven and impact enough. “Brother, don’t go too fast. Slow work yields fine products.” Cuiyun squatted on the ground, without looking up, took the vegetable seedlings from her basket and planted them into the pits with a small spade. She tried to smash the earth in the pit as she planted. “Do you think you are doing flower drawing, embroidery?

    Just do it.” Chunyu said to her in a bad tone. Cuiyun felt strange about him, because he seemed to change into another person since he came back form Xuehua’s house in Yang’s Village, looking stuffy all day, with a gloomy face. He was lukewarm to Qin Yatou, which made them completely at a loss. Cuiyun was thinking of Qin Yatou when she was coming over from the distance. Cuiyun first saw someone in a red gown on the ridge,jumping and hopping towards her. After carefully looking at her, it was Qin Yatou. Needless to say, she came from the tofu shop. Now the sun had risen higher, shining on her red gown, looking pretty. “Come here, we are thinking of you.” Thinking that in the new year, Qin Yatou would become her sister-in-law, one member of their families, she felt a kind of intimacy to Qin Yatou. “Do you want my help?” She was talking to Chunyu. “Yes, yes. I don’t have much to talk with my brother. So please come and talk as we plant.” Cuiyun stood up, stretched her waist. Although planting was not a heavy job, it still made the waist suffer a lot.

    “Come and join us.” Qin Yatou stood before him, so he said neither hot nor cold, without stopping his spade, digging pits. “OK.” Qin Yatou answered in a very low voice, softly. She knew that Chunyu was in a bad mood because of Xuehua. Seeing a lively girl going to die made people feel terribly sorry for her. Moreover, she fell in love with Chunyu, so Chunyu must be more sorry and sad for her. But it didn’t matter. Chunyu would feel better after some time, in a few months she would became his wife, have a lot of time to comfort, look after and serve him, would sure not make him feel sad. Her face went red while she was thinking of things she had done with Chunyu. But once they got married, nobody would mind what they did, they would become legal. Qin Yatou simply felt it wrong to do those things before marriage even they were happy. They would be legal to do whatever they wanted to do after getting married. Thinking like this, she pretended to take seedlings from the basket, glanced at Chunyu, looking silly, repeating his action of digging one after another, without any feelings in his eyes, absent-minded.

    Chunyu had been in a bad mood. But looking at Qin Yatou in front of him, he felt very sorry, guilty. Coming back from Xuehua’s house,seeing Qin Yatou waiting for him at the gate of the village, he felt very regretful, he shouldn’t have done like that at Xuehua’s house, got excited. Getting excited would be punished. He was punishing himself these days, feeling rather confused. Qin Yatou was lovely, it was wonderful to stay with her. He got a strange impulse to think of her. It was Qin Yaotou who made him a real man. He would never forget her in his life, she was the woman who made his life rise.

    As to Xuehua, Chunyu already held her in his arms. Facing such an infatuated girl, which young man would not get excited? Xuehua said so much devastated words with tears in front of him, only showing that she loved him very much. How could Chunyu refuse a girl so infatuated? Besides, she was a pretty girl. Every young man would be excited at seeing beautiful girls.

    Chunyu was obviously getting thinner, having sad dreams at night, sometimes dreaming Xuehua really died. She held her bloody heart up to him, said that she was heart-broken since he didn’t want to marry her, looked at her, her heart was bleeding. Sometimes, he dreamed that Qin Yatou became a hanged ghost, stretching out her tongue, having her hair hanging loose, holding him and don’t let him go, complaining that since you had fallen love in her, had sex with her, then he betrayed her by falling in love with another girl. What’s the meaning of living rather than dying to help him out? Chunyu was worried with sweat all over, opened his eyes, pinched himself, only to find that everything happened in a dream.

    Again, it’s time to hand ingrains to the government as tax grains. In this area, handing in tax grains was done in Summer and Autumn. In the summer, handed in wheat, in the Autumn, rice. Generally speaking, the areas for rice were much more than wheat, so the volume of selling tax rice to the government was bigger, the boats for handing in tax grains were more, laborers were naturally more.

    The boats for handing in tax grains were made of wood, very big, wide and deep, which could hold one thousand or eight hundred jin of grains. Wooden boats had an advantage——bigger floating power to hold heavier load. So the boats in the river for handing in tax grains were mostly piled up with grains. It wouldn’t work for such a heavy load of boat without some strong laborers. A heavy boat had two poles, two oars, one roller. That needed four to five people. Some boat had a rope, which needed another man. If everything was ready, with the strength of the six people, the boat would be rowed fast forward against the waves. Generally speaking, there were not enough people in the boat as it was the busy season, many people were needed to row the boats. So it would take a whole day to go and return from the warehouse of the county town. Lunch had to be eaten in the boat on the way. The villagers couldn’t afford to eat in a restaurant, so they all took lunch boxes with them.

    Although the laborers in the boat were strong with big arms and waist, rowing, swinging and pulling the rope needed skills. Tens of miles of waterways, the heavy boat deep in the water, it wouldn’t work without endurance. The worst thing to worry about traveling in this kind of boat was using too much strength at first to row fast, then on halfway, people had not enough strength to row, they had to take a break. This was the most taboo of sailing.

    In Xianghe Village, there were many strong laborers, but only a few could do everything in the boat to deliver tax grains to the government. Chungen was one of them, not only had strong shoulders, but also skills and endurance. No news about him yet since he left home. We couldn’t count on him for the delivery of tax grains this Autumn. Besides him, there was another man called Sangouzi, a good hand at rowing and towing.

    Sangouzi was a tall man in his thirties, with big muscles, very strong. Towrope the size of a finger was held on his shoulder, his cheek was bulging. The towrope was held tight, urgent and no longer in vain. The boat was splashing forward lightly. At this time the rower often turned the oar into a rudder, controlling the directions; the helmsman became the pilot, standing on the head to try the depth of the water with a pole, avoiding to get stranded. Now all the people in the boat stopped, taking advantage of Sangouzi, making no more efforts. Sangouzi didn’t mind it. There was a saying like this, strength was a treasure, it went in the day, came back again in the evening. Sangouzi had lots of strength. So whatever to do, all the people in the team competed to work in the same boat with Sangouzi——that would save a lot of labor. The man working with him was the secretary Xiangyuan.

    Look, the first time to deliver tax grains, Xiangyuan named Sangouzi for the post, “San, after the supper tonight, ask Xiang Dashao to go earlier to the warehouse to get the grains ready, we are going to deliver tax grains. Several teams will go together. I will be the leader myself for our village. As usual, you and I get on the first boat. We have to give a good example. Don’t let others laugh at you or me. We will start out early tomorrow.” Sangouzi knew what Xiangyuan said was true. Seven teams all went together; Not only Xianghe Village, but also tens of villages in the commune. Of course, Sangouzi didn’t want to lose face. More important, he wanted to win credit and honor for the secretary, that was the face of the whole village. “Secretary, put your heart in your stomach(* rest assured, relieved), I have made up my mind to accomplish the task.” The honest Sangouzi had never expressed his mind before Xiangyuan.

    Early in the next morning, as usual, Sangouzi took an old square cloth bag prepared by his wife,with some bean cakes, very hard, not easy to chew, but could allay his hunger. He got on his usual boat. Not long after, other people arrived. Those men checked out the pole, oars, etc. Sangouzi took out a towrope from the front cabinet, straightened it up, waited to start out as soon as Xiangyuan arrived.

    Xiangyuan double checked everything. This was the first time when seven boats went together to deliver the Autumn tax grains, he had to be careful so that nothing wrong wouldn’t happen. After he made sure everything was okay, he jumped onto the boat, shouted, “Let’s go!” Right after him, someone shouted out aloud, “The boat is leaving!” So every boat started moving, rowing, punting, pulling oars, shaking. Everyone started getting busy.

    The fleet led by the first boat with tax grains was heading towards the grain warehouse of the county along the River of Xianghe. The seven boats with grains piled high up were travelling in the river, winding long, like a huge serpent, struggling upstream in the water. In a little while, the fleet of tax grain boat left the village. Sangouzi put down his pole, carried a basket of ropes on his shoulder, jumped onto the shore. He scattered the ropes, held tight one end to his shoulder, ran fast as little bit as the rope tightened up, then bent down to pull the rope. Sangouzi did this alone by himself, so other people on the boat could take a break. As it was Autumn, those willows at the bank were scraped by the rope, leaves and branches floated into the river, soon left behind the boats. Xiangyuan immediately took out his cigarette of “Flying horse”, smoking it in his mouth, feeling the trees at the river bank going back one after another. Sangouzi was working hard with the ropes, the boat went fast. Xiangyuan was satisfied.

    When turning at a river branch, Sangouzi went back to the boat, with one leg half knelt on the boat head, stretching out his coarse hand of size of a cattail leaf fan, cupped a few mouthfuls of clear water to moisten his throat. Then lifting up the edge of his white coarse cloth gown, he wiped off his mouth, took out a box of cigarette of “Economy”, which cost him eight cents, from his pocket. To be honest, Sangouzi didn’t often smoke this kind of cigarettes, most of the time he smoked cigarette leaves. This time he came out with the secretary. It would lose face to smoke leaves, so he went to the store last night and bought it. He took out matches, lit it, smoking tastefully, feeling relieved.

    “Come over, I have got better cigarettes, take one!” Xiangyuan took out his “Flying horse” from the pocket. Sangouzi didn’t refuse, he took it over, lit it with his own cigarette head, softly bite it, enjoying a different taste. He turned back at the secretary, who was enjoying himself with the smoking, with his eyes slightly closed. “Ah, San, the secretary gave you good cigarette, you have to pull all the way to the warehouse at the South Gate Warehouse.” The other laborers were jealous of him with the “Flying horse”cigarette. Sangouzi listened but didn’t reply, carefully tasting its flavor. The villagers seldom bought cigarettes, they generally smoked tobacco planted by themselves. Few smoked high quality cigarettes.

    After turning around the branch corner, to show his grace, Xiangyuan passed him another cigarette without being stingy, “You work very hard today, don’t worry about your work points.”

    Sangouzi took it over, too, carefully put it in his pocket, getting on the bank, reluctant to throw the cigarette head away. He worked harder, the boat went faster than ever. After a while, the boat slowed down. Sangouzi felt his lips were burned painful by the cigarette butt. He was trying to hold it, unfortunately the wind came, the cigarette butt was blown into the river. Sangouzi looked at it moving up and down on the water, then sank. He sighed, headed down, stepped forward……

    Gradually, Xianghe Village was left behind, far in the distance, unable to see.  The shadow of county town came into sight. The people in the boat got excited,  “We can see it. We can see it.” “Come on, guys, the county town is drawing near.” Xiangyuan stood up, dancing his hands to the other boats behind. “Going to the  town, going to the town!” One of them brought his kids with him. He got so bored,  what they saw were only water, trees, and reeds, nothing interesting. Well, now they  were happy because they could see the town, he could go and play in the streets.  This was their first time. No chances for the kids to go to town, just running around  the village every day. The town of Chu County must be a paradise in the kids’ mind.

    The grain boats finally arrived at the South Gate Harbour. In the Xianghe area, villagers didn’t say town, but streets, going to the streets instead of going to town. It was reasonable for the villagers to say so because the county town was not big enough, there were only one street from the east to the west. The street was town, the town was street. So calling it a street was more appropriate.

    The town of Chu County was surrounded by water, with separate gates on four sides. They were witnesses of bloody battles of the New Fourth Army. It was said that Grandma Three’s husband, Platoon leader Wang was killed hereafter both hands were cut by the enemy, when taking up the town walls of Chu County while being attacked. That battle was fierce and tragic, countless soldiers died, blood was flowing over the ground like water. The current four gates were used separately for different purposes. The East Gate was for pig market. The villagers came here to buy piglets. After raising them for about one year, they came here again by boat to sell big fat pigs. The South Gate was for grain warehouse. All the villages nearby came here to deliver tax grains, either in Summer or Autumn. The West Gate was for special passenger boats. Only a few small private boats, not like state-owned big boats, carried villagers and townspeople to and from the town to the countryside, with very cheap ticket fess of forty to fifty cents, depending on the distance. The North Gate was for crematory. The place was large, but the business was dull. In this area, most of them were buried in the ground, they couldn’t bear to see families or relatives to be cremated. Generally the juniors would make coffins for their seniors. They trusted that burial of dead bodies brought peace to the deceased.

    Now, the most lively one was the South Gate. The boats with tax grains were lined up for almost one mile long, filled up with the water of South Gate Harbour.

    Tens of miles of waterway, Sangouzi pulled the ropes all along to the end, without a break, which was admired by the villagers for his skills. The boat arrived at the harbour. The harbour was full of boats. It would take quite some time to wait for their turn, so Xiangyuan told Sangouzi to watch their boats. “San, have my porridge when you are hungry. I have got something to do in the town.” Jumped on the other boat afterwards, got on the bank. In his eyes, he was respected to be asked by Xiangyuan to watch the boats, trusting that he was honest and reliable. So he liked the job. What was worth seeing in the street? No money, no see. He was thinking like this when he felt a little bit hungry. So he took out the lunch bag, started to eat those bean cakes, drank some porridge, which was very thin like soup, but much better than those hard chewing cakes. In a little while, his belly grew big, he was full. However, he still licked all the porridge bowl, then washed it, wiped his mouth, laid down on the grain bags, closing his eyes for a break. Very soon his thundering snoring could be heard in the boat. He went to sleep.

    Xiangyuan had never thought that he was withdrawn from the important position of the party secretary after he led the first delivery of tax grains in Autumn by himself. As the old saying went, “Storms gather without warning in nature, bad luck befalls men overnight.”. Xiangyuan had never thought of that, neither did the people in Xianghe Village. In their eyes, Xiangyuan was a responsible secretary,practical, realistic, paid much attention to what they wanted. As for those rumour  about his extramarital sex, the villagers didn’t care about. If someone else was the  secretary, perhaps he would have done more. Who knew? None of their business  whether Xiangyuan had sex with other people’s wives as long as their own wives  kept their trousers tight enough. There was another old saying, “Every family sweeps  the snow in front of its own door, and does not care about the frost on others’ tiles.” There were so many girls and wives in the village. Take your time to play with them.  But no men could be 100% sure that his wife hadn’t had sex with Xiangyuan.

    Director Wang from the commune came to Xianghe Village to announce that Xiangyuan seriously contradicted the decision of the Commune Revolutionary Committee, didn’t carry out the adjustment planning of the village, which had brought about very bad influence among the members. Therefore, Xiangyuan was suspended for inspection. The accountant was temporarily acting in that post of the secretary.

    The commune made a rearrangement of the Rural House Land in Xianghe Village, saying that the village was too long. The production teams in the east were moved to the west. The villagers knew the new rural house land was made out of the farming fields, without solid foundation. No new houses could be built on it until a few months later. Otherwise the base would sink, the house would change, or even the wall would break. Building a new house was one of the most important things to the villagers. So they paid great attention to it.

    From the standpoint of villagers, Xiangyuan did not agree to the arrangement to move the four production teams from the east to the new rural house land in the west. Not until after the winter, when the land base became solid, it would be impossible to build new houses. Of courses he was one of these tens of households to be moved. Xiangyuan had pulled down the house of his own, was planning to rebuild it at the same place. All the family temporarily stayed in the Brigade Department, hoping the new one to be built up soon, moving back. Director Wang was very careful, found out his problem from “Letters of the Villagers”. He told Xiangyuan clearly that he could not rebuild his house at the same place, must do according to the new planning. Xiangyuan knew clearly that the new planning would not have good results. He could listen to the leaders about other things, but building a new house was so important that he couldn’t take it. Director Wang’s instructions were not taken for the first time in Xianghe Village ——his old base area. Xiangyuan did rebuild his house at the same place, which made Director Wang annoyed, lost face. Then Monk Cai brought a message, asking Xiangyuan to stop building, immediately go to the commune for an inspection.

    It was First Frost. Frost in the fields in the morning was thick, wild grass on the ridges were covered tight by the white frost, looking white and fluffy. Xiangyuan said to his wife Qiao Guanzi “Don’t worry about me. Nothing serious. I know what I have done. I can’t resit stubbornly when he asked me to stop building. Let’s see when I am back home.” Qiao Guanzi and Shuimei saw his back gradually disappear in the distance, leaving a line of his footprints.

    All the production teams in the village began to watch on the Earth Field. The warehouse was filled with grains. It was not safe enough to lock the doors and the gate. It wouldn’t dofor ten thousand jin of grains without someone watching full- time. What’s more, the warehouses in this area were not big enough to store grains, some of them had to be stored in the open air covered by rice straw. Although sealed with lime-prints, some of the grains still got stolen or missing. So the team leader arranged the main laborers in order, took turns to stay on the Field for the night. This was called Watching the Earth Field. In fact, it was to watch the things,i.e. grains on the Field, not the bare field.

    The weather in Chu County was very good with four distinctive seasons. When the Cold Dew and the First Frost came, it was almost winter, next, the Beginning of Winter in the twenty-four solar terms in a year was approaching. The weather was strange. After a few northwest winds, it was getting cold. This time most of the villagers carried on their cotton padded jacket. The word “carry on” could only be understood by the local people. It was cold, snowing, they put on cotton padded jacket, when meeting each other outside, would say, “Have you carried on cotton jacket?” “Yes, Carried on.” The answer was short and simple, but not “put on.”

    Theoretically, the watchers had to stay inside the small shed. Most of the sheds were built of wooden frames, square, not big. The roof was almost the same as that of a regular house, The herringbone shaped shelves were nailed with different kinds of tree sticks, covered with the linoleum and rice straw on top of them. A wooden board was nailed over the height of half a meter, it was not only the bottom of the shed, but also the bed for the watchers. With thick wooden boards on the four sides, well ventilated, it was very good for the summer, but when winter came, the coldness got in. So in winter, the shed was mostly covered with a layer of plastic cloth inside and straw curtains outside, only to prevent the coldness. Then again, even if all these were done, it was still not as warm as in a regular house, making people feel a bit cold. So, when it was turn forAgenuo and Sangouzi, the two didn’t sleep in the shed, but went in the cattle shed, shared it with Laikou Huo.

    As the saying went, it was cold before the first frost, it became frozen cold after the first snow. Two days ago, it snowed heavily. The sky became white, the ground became white, trees became white, so it was with the entire village. The three men crowded in the cattle shed sharing the same bed, chatting about everything, both dirty talks and clean talks, about girls and women, having a goodtime, but after a while their stomach began to cluck(*feeling hungry). The villagers were busy with different things in every season. They ate different foods. Transplanting rice seedlings in summer, harvesting in Autumn, they worked so hard that they had to make their stomach full. In the morning they put a few knots made from smashed rice. It could allay their hunger. At lunch most of them had hard rice, full of the big rice bowl, with some pickled vegetables, delicious to chew them. In the evening, the children had porridge, the laborers first ate the leftovers from lunch, then ate a few bowls of porridge, too, making a wet mouth. This was called half dry and half wet. In the deep mid-winter, it was unnecessary to carry heavy loads and to work hard, they didn’t have good food to eat as in the busy seasons. Most of them took thin porridge three meals a day. Some families simply stayed in bed until lunchtime, suffering from hunger. So only two meals a day. They only had porridge at supper, after a few times of making water, their stomach became empty again soon.

    “It would be nice to find something to eat.” Sangouzi was well-known to be a big eater. He was only half full after eating four bowls of rice and a big pot of porridge. He was alive when wheat was in season. Why? Because his kids didn’t like to eat wheat. That was great for him, so he could eat as much as he could, became full at every meal, feeling happy. Now, his stomach began to hunger for food. He looked out of the straw curtains, didn’t realize when it started to snow, large snowflakes were falling, flying all over the sky.

    “At this time of the year, there is nothing in the Land to get. Even if there is anything, you will be frozen to death to get it outside.” Laikou Huo said as he shrank into the bed. In summer and autumn, at night work, they used to steal something from the private owned household land, two taros from this, half a basket of potatoes from the other, cooked them for a meal.

    “If I could find something to eat, I would sure go even if frozen to death.” Agen Huo was too hungry, his empty stomach kept clucking.

    “Don’t brag. I would give one jin of nuts, throw them in the snow, would you get naked and eat them up there, come back to the cattle shed? Do you want to do it or not?” Laikou huo was not convinced, hoping to stimulate Agen huo.

    “Man speaks for himself. Bet on it…… But shit, one jin of nuts were too little. I would become a ghost full of food if I died. What do you think of it, San?” Agen Huo looked at Sangouzi and said.

    “Yes, I agree with you. I will give you another jin of nuts on the bet, ok?” Sangouzi intentionally wanted him to suffer.

    “I will bet on it.” Agen Huo said with a tone as hard as iron. He was so greedy for the two jin of nuts.

    Everything was done according to the agreement. Laikou Huo put on his worn cotton jacket, knocked at the door of the store, bought two jin of nuts on account. Sangouzi took off Agen Huo’s clothes with only an underwear left, took him to the northwestern corner of the Earth Field, nothing to protect him, gave him the nuts, returned to the cattle shed himself.

    “Agen Huo will be frozen to the bones this time.” Sangouzi beat the snowflakes on him, then bent down into the bed.

    “San, you are too tough. One jin of nuts is enough for him, but you gave more, that would kill him. No joke.” Laikou Huo was worried.

    “It’s better that he died so as not to be a follower of Xiang Dashao, I am bored of him.” Sangouzi earned work points by strength, not like Agen Huo, wandering about behind Xiang Dashao, having those leftovers, getting work points relying on Xiang Dashao. Sangouz looked down upon this kind of people.

    About one hour later, cold air came into the shed. Laikou Huo and Sangouzi felt nervous, cried out with courage, “Who is it?”

    “Ha, ha. I have eaten them up, two jin of nuts. My gosh, it worked.” They stretched out their heads from the bed and saw, Agen Huo was red and purple here and there, standing before the bed. He went into the bed and felt the cold all over. “Go, go, further inside.” Agen Huo was still naked, like a piece of ice in bed.

    The next day, Agen Huo got up, found Sangouzi who slept on the same end with him was sleeping at the other end with Laikou Huo. They were bending their bodies in the quilt, groaning. He looked at them, both having a severe cold.

    “That’s strange. I suffered from cold, but you guys are having a cold, too.” Agen Huo put on his worn cotton coat, tied it up, left the cattle shed.