by Zhou Daxin
Kaitian had no choice but to put 500 yuan into a red envelope marked with Spring Couplets and carried it, alongside a case of Wolong liquor originally for guests as he went to Zhan Shideng’s house.
Zhan Shideng was at that moment just finishing his dinner, and now sat beside his table picking his teeth. He had expected to see Kaitian arrive and, seeing him enter holding a box of alcohol, stood up with a smile: “Kaitian, a rare guest here, please take a seat! Why have you arrived carrying this alcohol? No need for these formalities with me. Nowadays your house has many guests, it is only right to let them drink these gifts.” Kaitian was naturally uncomfortable to part with the things, but kept a big smile on his face and said: “Leader, you supported us right from the beginning to build the lodging house, allowing us to earn money. How could we ever forget your kindness? I had said a long time ago I would come here, but it seems that tourists seem to be arriving in droves, and I have been as busy as ever, delaying me up till today. Well, take this change for your children to wear new clothing, as a token of regard from their uncle.” Whilst saying this, Kaitian stuffed the red envelope into Zhan Shideng’s pocket. Zhan Shideng did not refuse, but instead picked up a cigarette and handed it to Kaitian, saying: “My wife’s brother gave me these Hongtashan cigarettes a few days ago. This here is Yunnan tobacco. You know Yunnan right? In the vast Southwest, the mists are thick, and the tobacco leaves are moist, making for ideal flavours. These flavours are more flavoursome and smooth than ours are.”
Kaitian pressed some under his nose and sniffed, exclaiming with much praise: “Fragrant! This tobacco really is fragrant, what a pity I don’t smoke!” And then quickly he said: “Leader, it seems that if the stone wall tourists really did want to stay in other homes we would have nothing to say about it, but for the sake of our guesthouse, please do not distribute the tourists and allow us to continue to do as we have been doing, as we really do need to earn some money at the end of the day, and of course we would give you a cut of this. I am no fool you know, shouldn’t I know how to thank you after you have kept an eye on me all this time?”
Zhan Shideng took a long draw on his cigarette, and then laughed: “Kaitian, this is all very conscience of you, but from the beginning wasn’t it I that saved you? What, do you think that the town level police station could get you out of there? From the beginning, wasn’t it I that allowed you to build your housing, and then the Chu Di Ju guesthouse? I only ask that you remember my help, and carry on as you are. I will take control over how lodgers may earn money, and of course can take your place. The only thing is, I want to see you for this at least once a month!”
Kaitian’s heart skipped a beat. Oh fuck he thought, ‘I have to do this once a month?’ However, he hurriedly agreed: “Okay, Okay …” After making the commitment with Zhan Shideng, Nuannuan and Kaitian felt temporary respite, and Nuannuan was next occupied with how to keep guests to the Great Wall of Chu staying at the guesthouse for longer periods. Most of the guests typically had no real research interest in the wall, rather they would arrive in the afternoon, stay at the guesthouse, see the stone wall on the second day, spend another night and depart after breakfast on the third day, a total of two nights accommodation and five meals. If every group of guests were to stay for four nights it would double their earnings. Thus, Nuannuan thought long and hard for a way to keep guests for a longer period, with her first thought being to take guests to the Lingyan temple. The Lingyan temple was not far from Chu Wang Village, and was a large structure, with visible temple frescos and areas used for Buddhist prayer and ceremony, and also a prayer and ceremony forest of stopes constructed to worship monks who had passed away, and if visitors go to see it, it will take about a day or so. Kaitian had some doubts, saying: “temples are everywhere, who is willing to go and see another?” Nuannuan replied: “We will have to be convincing, and must inspire the guests to see it.” Kaitian waved his hand: “But I haven’t the talent to do such a thing.” Nuannuan: “I’ll give it a try.”
Not long after, another group of tourists arrived to see the Great Wall of Chu. Whilst eating a meal after returning, Nuannuan met them with: “there is another place here you may find worth a visit to. Only three li from Chu Wang Village is the Tang Dynasty Lingyan temple. This temple was constructed in AD 700, that’s more than 1,000 years after the Great Wall of Chu. To first see the Great Wall of Chu, and then the Lingyan temple, you will experience the true greatness of our ancestors, at a time when public officials would build such great walls, temples and buildings. To look upon the Great Wall of Chu, you will see the boldness of vision, to look upon Lingyan temple is to be shown the delicacy of exquisiteness. This temple has been destroyed and rebuilt many times over the past thousand years, but as it stands, with incense abundant, and prostration and prayer before Buddha rewards the soul most, people on the western banks of the Red Lake say: ‘As the wicks burn fragrant in the Lingyan temple, so a family will flourish …’”
And so, the visitors were inspired by Nuannuan, and all expressed interest in going to the temple for a look. After breakfast on the second day, Nuannuan brought the group of tourists to see the temple. On that day, the tourists were first enticed by the immense structures and elegant scriptures, and then watched with fresh eyes as the monks, solemn and quiet, conducted a ceremony, and finally, in the surroundings of the temple, ancient woods reaching to the sky, thousands of tall leaning bamboos, fragrances rushing through the white stupas, the chirping of insects and birds, spring water bubbling, the group stayed till the night set in before turning back.
This was a good start.
But regrettably a trip to the temple only took one day, and would not keep the tourists there for much longer. The only way would be to think of another idea. After the tourists left, Nuannuan was just cleaning the yard and turning the thought over in her mind she saw her father arriving with two carp. The old man entered the yard, and said to Dangen: “Gen, Grandma and Grandpa have some fish for you.” Nuannuan quickly welcomed her dad by taking the fish and offering a seat, saying: “You shall keep the fish for yourself and mum. Dangen has much to eat, you know that?” The old man then laughed: “Yesterday I went down to the lake, and by the favourable wind cast out my net, and sure enough without realizing, the boat entered the ‘Enchanted Triangle’ area. Well, as soon as I saw the channel marker I hurried to get the boat out of there, and just when I least expected, a mist, smelling like gunpowder emerged, and covered my view until I couldn’t even see the front of the boat, and instead, I just closed my eyes, did not change direction and rowed forwards. It was fine, nothing unexpected happened and I rowed out of it fast enough. I caught these two fish from within the fog, and think they are not like the normal fish I catch every day, so I brought them back to our Dangen to taste.” Just as Nuannuan heard her father’s words, her mind started turning automatically: “Mists? The Enchanted Triangle? Yes, tourists could go to the lake and see this strange mist. Never mind what we come up with for going to see it, as long as it extends the stay of the tourists at our place!” Nuannuan told her father of her new plan, and the old man grew interested as he listened, saying: “Yes, to the lake to see the mist, going there and coming back at a slow pace will need about a day. The old man naturally understood that the longer the guests stayed at the Chu Di Ju, the more money his daughter and her husband could earn.”
Nuannuan called out to Kaitian, who was busy in the back yard, and with a thrilled expression, said: “After tourists see the Great Wall of Chu and Lingyan temple, tell them that the Red Lake has an enchanted area, full of strange mist, that when looked within allows you to see what you desire. There must be a few tourists that will want to go after hearing this, right?”
“Now that’s an idea to keep tourists, but whose boat will they go in? We don’t have one?” Kaitian scratched his head.
“Just sit in dad’s boat, which we will convert from a fishing boat into a tourist boat.” Nuannuan spoke flatly.
“What?” the old man stopp
ed: “I won’t fish?”
“How much money can you earn by fishing? After one day you are tired to death, and the most you could catch would be about 20 jin of fish. If we were to take tourists to the Enchanted Triangle area, that’s at the very lowest 10 yuan per ticket per person, and our boat will sit 12 people without a problem, so 12 people on one trip is 120 yuan! When there are more tourists, how much do you say we could earn with two trips a day?”
“That’s … in fact pretty reasonable.” The old man nodded his head: “You do what you have to.”
“So let’s do it! Kaitian, tomorrow you go to Juxiang Street and buy some lacquer, give the boat a fresh coating, clean it up and fix 12 small seats in. The boat will look as good as new, and when the next group of tourists come we can give it a try. Sound okay?”
The old man hesitated a second, and then nodded his head. Kaitian stood off to one side looking worried, said: “But what if nobody goes to see it?”
“Isn’t all of this success just based on risk? Didn’t we take a risk when building the Chu guesthouses?” With that, Nuannuan pat Kaitian on the shoulder, and the matter was decided. On the second day she persuaded Kaitian to buy lacquer and some other things to tidy up the boat. After ten days the boat, originally a tired old fishing vessel, had been lacquered with a fresh coat, and turned into a reasonably convincing tourist boat, with 12 fixed chairs, each of which had its own safety belt.
After about half a month, a group of tourists from Xuzhou, 21 in total, came to see the Great Wall of Chu. Nuannuan’s idea, initially planned for them to stay at the guesthouse on the first night, take them to see the stone wall on the second day, the temple on the third day, and on the third night Nuannuan would tell them about the mist of the enchanted triangle. In order to get the tourists in the mood to see the enchanted area, Nuannuan spoke with much excitement: “There is a place here that you will regret to miss! In our Red Lake, there is a small triangle, and at that place you may sometimes see a strange mist. To get there you must take a boat, and in the mist you can see what you desire, and if you are not careful and enter the mist, you may become dizzy, you may become enchanted, and a great peril may befall you …” The first few people didn’t believe there could be such a place, and only through Nuannuan’s sincere conviction did they, half doubting, finally express willingness to see it. After breakfast on the fourth day, Nuannuan and Kaitian took them to the lakeside. Everyone produced 10 yuan. Shortly afterwards, Nuannuan took 12 people first onto the boat.
That day, the wind on the lake was calm, the sun glittered with clear radiance in the sky, and the water clear and with good visibility. Nuannuan’s dad sat by the tail of the boat, steering steadily. Nuannuan stood at the head of the boat, introducing tourists to names of the surroundings, and fretting to herself: what if the tourists aren’t interested?
Once the boat had stopped by the triangular area, Nuannuan said: “During the past two days we have seen the Great Wall of Chu and Lingyan temple, both man-made wonders. Today we come to see a natural wonder —” She dropped her voice to a whisper, and before them from the very surface of the calm lake suddenly arose a white mist, filling the air. The tourist’s eyes opened wide, and they all cried out: “wowww …”
Nuannuan had seen the mist more than once, but on this occasion it really had unexpectedly risen out of the lake without any warning. Nuannuan felt awe and astonishment spreading within her, and unblinkingly she stared at the mist as it rose, thickening and accumulating, and finally from deep within she could make out a big house …
“A house, this means that I most desire a house.” Nuannuan called out …
When the converted Chu family boat made it back to the lakeside, the tourists aboard were theorizing one after another, with each face full of surprise and excitement. As soon as the boat had pulled up to the shore, the remaining tourists hurried to the waterside, and asked loudly to the boat group: “Hey, did you see it?” Some from the boat answered: “We saw it! The mist is so strange, rising straight from the water surface, and with all kinds of visions within.”
The remaining trip to the enchanted triangle was also a success, and the tourists were endlessly excited for the new experience and sight. Even that evening the tourists were still discussing the boat trip, amazed by the mysteries of that part of the Red Lake, and still guessing as to the reason behind the mist. With the addition of the Lingyan temple and Enchanted triangle, tourists were staying at Chu Wang Village for two more days and two more nights, and Kaitian and Nuannuan earned a lot of money from accommodation fees. That night after dinner, Kaitian stuffed 210 yuan from the 21 boat tickets into his father-in-law’s hands. The old man felt some embarrassment, and with a red face, stuffed the money into Dangen’s pocket, saying: “Is this money for me?” Kaitian laughed: “Next I will install an engine, and we can split the earnings of the following trips between us.” After he said this he looked at Nuannuan, who took the money and put it back into her dad’s hands: “Take the money as yours. Isn’t money in your hands the same as money in ours?”
Chapter 25
The enchanted area in the lake quickly attracted the attention of tourists, and just about everyone that came for the Great Wall of Chu would also go for a trip there. With more tourists, Nuannuan’s dad’s single motorized boat was not sufficient, so Nuannuan found Jiuding, and convinced him to refit his fishing boat, all expenses covered by the Kuang family, and afterwards to assume the role of taking tourists to the enchanted area for Chu guesthouse. Every return trip would earn him 60 yuan. Jiuding thought this much easier than fishing, and immediately agreed to the plan.
The Kuang family was now receiving a steady daily income, the guesthouse accommodation fee, Great Wall of Chu and Lingyan temple tourist fee, and, by adding the enchanted area boat ticket, Nuannuan and Kaitian could more or less expect a daily income. But they gradually realized that some tourists would arrive from the eastern bank, and in order to save money would not look for their guesthouse, and instead, they would directly head to the Great Wall of Chu and Lingyan temple, and some would even put up a small tent on the mountain and sleep in the outdoors. Nuannuan thought to herself: we must earn some money from these tourists as well. As you have arrived at Chu Wang Village, you will have to leave some money behind you. Nuannuan thought about this for a night and came up with an idea. Early the next morning she asked Kaitian to find Red Belly and Big Mouth, the two local lay-abouts, and to ask if they would want a lazy way to earn a buck. The two men said of course they’d do it. Thus, Nuannuan made them follow her and Kaitian, carrying a plank of wood. The two walked and pouted: “This is no lazy way to earn money, so why are we carrying this wood about?” Nuannuan ignored them, walking alongside Kaitian, axe and saw in hand. On they walked, all the way to the foot of the mountain, and the road that leads to the Great Wall of Chu. Here the road was no more than five meters wide, with a precipice on either side. This was the only way up the mountain to see the Great Wall of Chu. Here Nuannuan and Kaitian put up a simple wooden gate, and on the side hung a small sign with ticket prices. Red Belly and Big Mouth were to guard the gate on each side, and explain that from that point on, anybody that is not from a Chu Wang Village family would have to purchase a 10 yuan entry ticket. No entry ticket, no way up the mountain.
Nuannuan said: “You both guard here for the day, we will give you 10 yuan each.” This really was a lazy way to earn a buck, and Red Belly and Big Mouth were delighted with the prospect: “Sure, Sure!” Kaitian wrote the character “Chu” on a white banner, and stamped it with a personal seal, so as to qualify it as a mountain entry ticket. He would sell the tickets himself, and outsider tourists would believe this as a governmental regulation, stick to the rules and buy a ticket to head up the mountain. Sure enough, after one day Kaitain had earned 230 yuan. After sorting out Red Belly and Big Mouth, the earnings were 210 yuan. Fuck, now this is easy money! Kaitian was just about jumping up and down with happiness, and at the same time regretting that he hadn’t thought
of this idea sooner. To think if he had sold tickets from the beginning until now, how much money he would have earned!
The days grew warm, tourists arriving from the eastern banks by small boats continued to grow, until finally, the May 1st Labour Day holiday arrived. Kaitian was now a grown man, and had never paid much attention to the Labour Day holiday, and certainly never experienced any benefit from the holiday itself. But now he suddenly understood the importance that this holiday would bring to him. This was because on that day, for the first time 197 people arrived to Chu Wang Village from the city. The great number of colourful city folk that all stepped off the boat at once and onto the banks of the lake gave the people of Chu Wang Village a big shock. The young and old of the town rushed out all together to see what all the noise was about. The men looked with excitement at the tourists holding cameras, recording equipment and fantastical shaped water kettles. Women looked with envy at the tourists’ clothing and apparel. Zhan Shideng suddenly walked out to take a look, believing that people had come to ask for the village leader. He didn’t expect that not a single person asked for him, and nobody took any notice of him at all, asking only: “Who is Chu Nuannuan? Which one is Kuang Kaitian?” Nuannuan and Kaitian were both pleasantly surprised and a little flustered. Oh fuck, how can so many tourists all show up at once? Nuannuan at once told her sister Hehe to head to the mountain and take the place of Kaitian, who was selling entry tickets, and also called for Spotty Laosi and a few tour guides she had hired beforehand to split the tourists up and lead groups up the mountain to see the Great Wall of Chu, and then explained to Shallot to go to Jiuding’s wife Huiyu and ask for her employment, in order to quickly steam buns and roll noodles in preparation for the return of the tourists from the mountain. But where will they all stay? Split them into different homes? As soon as that occurs it will be very difficult to keep them at the Chu guesthouse. There must be a way! Nuannuan tapped on her own forehead and thought hard, whilst Kaitian pulled at his own hair, going around in circles in the yard. Nuannuan suddenly had a thought and said: “I have an idea, but don’t know if it will be useful.”
