I finished reading the book in a week and picked out the following five short
stories to summarize with the author and translator listed after each title.
1. The Story of Old Xing and His Dog (Zhang Xianliang, Alice Childs)
Old Xing, a widower and hard-working peasant, took in a woman running from the
famine in northern Shaanxi and later married her. He treated her well and she
brought him life. It turned out, however, that she came from a rich peasant
class and couldn't get her residence transferred. Indeed, even disclosing this
fact was risky for her. In a year she stole away, they believed, back to her
parents in law and two kids. The poor illiterate Old Xing understood no class
struggle and he waited and waited for her return and his faithful dog became his
only family. Soon after the dog was put down, to save grains as ordered from
above, Old Xing breathed his last. Three years later, a letter came from the
north for Old Xing and was sent back with the stamp "deceased."
2. Pages from a Factory Secretary's Diary (Jiang Zilong, Wang Mingjie)
The chemical factory's top job was tough and two managers had left in three
years. The new chief, Jin, however, won the trust of the workers and juggled
well with his peers. Through connections, he borrowed a van and saved the
funeral of a worker's father and secured the desired job for the daughter of the
ambitious assistant manager. He earned esteem for the tiny factory at company HQ
by eloquence. His cunning and philosophy, however, seemed at odds with party spirit
and discipline and did not impress the straight-laced party secretary, Liu. In
addition, his personal life was a mess: he splurged his fat paycheck on luxuries
but left his family in the cold. Nonetheless, productivity was up and, by the
book, Jin would pay out all the year-end bonus although Liu argued for saving for
rainy days and new dorms for workers. Jin won with good timing as, in three days,
a document arrived, freezing 1979's bonus. Next, Jin won the majority votes for
People's Congress but did he please everyone? No. His aide was sure that he
would lose the next round.
3. The Log Cabin Overgrown with Creepers (Gu Hua, W. J. E. Jenner)
Azure and her husband, Mutong, both forest wardens, lived with their two kids in
Green Hollow, deep in the south-western mountains. Strong, capable, illiterate,
and insecure, Mutong kept his beautiful wife away from the outside world, until
a youth, Xingfu (aka One-hander as he lost one arm in an accident), was sent to
him for "education and reform." The young man, however, along with his radio and
books, posed a threat to the family's isolated lifestyle. Azure and the kids
welcomed changes as Mutong became more afraid, jealous, and violent. Overtime, the
wife grew defiant of her husband's iron rule. One day, as Xingfu was on his way
back from visiting the forestry station, Mutong locked his wife up, took the kids,
and set fire to Green Hollow. Azure escaped and disappeared into the mountains with
Xingfu. Mutong, after piling all the blames on Xingfu and his wife, formed a new
family with a widow and their kids.
4. The Tall Woman and Her Short Husband (Feng Jicai, Gladys Yang)
Their disparity in height intrigued the neighbors: how could they pair up? The
two kept to themselves, which only fanned the others' curiosity: the couple must
have something to hide. In 1966, the beginning of the Cultural Revolution, the
residents of the Union Mansions finally had a chance to find out, their way. Mr.
Short, the chief engineer, was thrown into prison. After all the public shaming and
torture, however, Mrs. Tall admitted nothing. They lost almost everything in the
first two years except for their love and loyalty to each other. Mr. Short finally
was released, cleared of all the false charges, and came back to his wife. They
lived just as before and the neighbors lost their interest in them. In two more
years, Mrs. Tall passed away and Mr. Short was reinstated but he never remarried.
5. A Land of Wonder and Mystery (Liang Xiaosheng, Shen Zhen)
Reclamation in the Great Northern Wilderness was the hardest and bitterest work
I ever did. After the first three winters, my mom passed away, I reconciled with
my younger sister who had an abortion, and we joined the small team spearheading
the effort to reclaim the land beyond the Spririts' Swamps in Devil's Reach, a
vast swath of wilderness. But I also joined because of love. I was smitten with
our deputy instructor, Xiaoyan, a fellow educated youth and former dancer from
Shanghai. After accomplishing our mission and sending for the company, the four
of us stayed behind: me, my sister, the deputy instructor, and the Moor, a strong
man nicknamed after Othello and my rival for Xiaoyan. The company took forever to
come, we ran out of food, and my poor sister was swallowed by the deadly swamp
while chasing a roe deer. The Moor left the only gun to me to escort the sick
Xiaoyan to meet the company. My love expired half-way. The Moor charted the
shortcut, which became the Reclaimer's Road, through the swamp with sticks but
perished fighting a gang of wolves the next day.
"We had experienced the blizzards of the Great Northern Wilderness, the
hardships and the joy of reclaiming this land of wonder and mystery. From then
on, no matter what the difficulties were, whether we stayed or whether we left,
nothing could produce fear in us or make us surrender ..."
