by Zhou Daxin
With the remaining time that afternoon, Nuannuan asked Kaitian to hire a tractor immediately to go to Juxiang Street and buy bedding. They explained to Shallot, Juiding’s wife and all of the other employees to prepare meals, then arranged for the three girls to lay out beds and tidy the rooms, and then volunteered herself to accompany the tour group from Beijing to the lakeside, firstly to see the cogongrass, the poplin grass on the embankements, the Chinese ashes, tung trees and magnolia groves on the hillside. After this, she split the group into two to visit the water in the lake, as clean as glass, and after their minds were set at east about the water quality, she began to tell them abut the three other sights worth seeing, the Great Wall of Chu, Lingyan Temple and the Enchanted Triangle of mist. If you don’t see them you will forever regret it …
Nuannuan used all of the elaborate words she could recall, and after introducing the Great Wall of Chu, Lingyan temple and the Enchanted Triangle, the Beijing group, who had originally planned only to see the lake water, grew excited, and requested one after another to the tour guide to stay a while longer on the west bank, and to see all three of the sights. Nuanuan’s heart sang with happiness: another big sum earned!
As the elderly people had already retired, they were not hurried, walking at their own slow convenience, moving gradually, so it took four days in total to see all three of the sights. Nuannuan was overjoyed: This is the kind of business only gods could gift us! The income from four days accommodation, touring fees, boat hire and the mountain pass tickets was 20,000 yuan, and even subtracting the 2,000 yuan expenses for buying ingredients for meat and vegetables, the remaining money all went into Nuannuan’s pocket. This was the first group of tourists to stay at the renovated Chu Di Ju, and also the largest number ever to stay. As the group left, the head of the tour company expressly walked over to Nuannuan and said: “Your Chu Di Ju, the compound for tourists within the village is a good place, especially the meals, with all of the flavours of wilderness, city folk who are used to eating bland fish and meat will find them fresh. Everybody is very satisfied, and from now on my tourism agency may establish trips to the Red Lake. Just to confirm with you, how about if Chu Di Ju was to become our designated tourist accommodation?” “What is a designated tourist accommodation?” Nuannuan didn’t understand. “It means that every time I bring tourists here, they will stay at Chu Di Ju, and even if other tour groups want to stay, you must first grant accommodation to us”. As Nuannuan heard this she broke out into a laugh, saying: “Yes, yes, I’m just worried that my Chu Di Ju won’t have the room for everyone …” Owing to this success, Nuannuan had a better grasp on what the days ahead would be, and it looked as though committing to the renovation of Chu Di Ju was the right thing to do. With an income like this, they would earn back the money from this initial investment in no time.
Chapter 28
With no guests to receive, Kaitian and Nuannuan felt at ease. The next morning they did not get up early as usual; and instead were still in bed when the sun had fully risen. The previous night, Kaitian was too tired to move, so he stayed in Chu Di Ju. Nuannuan, on the other hand, went back to their room because she had to take care of Dangen. Yet Dangen had already fallen asleep with his grandma when she was home. Nuannuan slept on her own that night. When it was time for breakfast, the voice of Zhan Shideng, the Leader, was heard outside the yard gate: “Is Kaitian home?”
Zhan Shideng was standing outside. Kaitian’s mother ran to let him in: “Mr. Leader, come inside! Kaitian is not up yet. I’ll wake him up now.”
She gave a chair in the yard to the leader and rushed to the room of Kaitian and Nuannuan. Nuannuan was woken up by Zhan Shideng’s loud voice. She was getting up, looking resentful. Seeing her mother-in-law, she spoke in a low voice: “I don’t want to see him. Go get Kaitian in Chu Di Ju, he stayed there last night.”
Her mother-in-law nodded and rushed out to apologize:“Mr. Leader, sorry for the wait. Kaitian slept in the other house yesterday. I’m heading there now.”
“Mr. Leader, many apologies, I slept over,” said Kaitian as he ran into the yard, his hands busy buttoning up his shirt. “Here, have a smoke!” He offered a cigarette from his pocket.
“I’m fine, Kaitian. Now that you are the rich man in the village, you can sleep as long as you like.”
“I’m nothing! Mr. Leader, what can I do for you?” Kaitian asked carefully.
“Of course. I don’t dare to intrude your graceful house without any serious business.”
“You shouldn’t have come over yourself. If you need anything, just send for me and I shall be there for you!”
“This business I have today, some business it is! So I have to come over and tell you about it myself.”
“What serious business? Does it concern us?” Kaitian was surprised.
“Yes it does. According to regulations from above, in order to prevent water pollution in the Red Lake, your Chu Di Ju must be closed to all tourism business. Moreover, the stone wall on the hill has been there since ancient times, so it does not belong to you. You do not have the right to sell tickets, or to guide any sight tours. As for the Lingyan Temple, it’s where the monks live and there is no need to attract tourists there, either. Whoever wants to tour around here should go himself and you should not be part of it. From today on, you should farm your fields, and your father-in-law should fish in the lake. No more nonsense!”
“What is this —” Kaitian was stunned.
“I am here to announce the decision made from above and the village committee. If you dare violate it, you’ll have to be careful.”
Kaitian’s face turned red, he said: “We have a deal! You’ll have half of our income!”
“I am not a man bought with money!” said Zhan Shideng with a cold smirk. “Half of your income? You think I’ll believe you? You built yourself this big new house. But with the money you are willing to share with me, I can’t even make a house half as big as yours! Forget about the deal, this is serious. Stop all that you’ve been doing! We shall live on as we used to!”
Nuannuan walked out of the room, her expression cold as ice: “I’m afraid that Mr. Leader cannot have his wish granted this time!”
Zhan Shideng turned to her. He spoke in a motionless tune with his eyes narrowed: “Just when I thought the wife was not home. Why not?”
“I learnt about it from TV, the regulation only prohibits factories alongside the Red Lake. Nothing talked about tourism and guesthouses in the village. What pollution can tourists cause apart from their piss and shit? That will be used as fertilizer for the fields! There is no pollution! People in the village piss and shit themselves! You are the leader, you must understand how much the fertilizer has helped the crops and plants alongside the lake and purified the water.”
“You and your sharp tongue!” said Zhan Shideng, his eyes still narrowed. “You can talk all you like, but the regulation from above is done! I told you not to receive any more visitor and you must abide!”
Three days after Zhan Shideng’s visit, in the afternoon, Nuannuan heard some noise from the small pier. She knew it was from a new group of visitors. She stepped out and found dozens of people from the city walking towards her house. She rushed inside to get Kaitian and the couple walked quickly to receive the visitors. Nuannuan thought to herself: “I’ll give them accommodation and Zhan Shideng will have no way to stop us by then.”
Much to her surprise, before Kaitian and she could reach the pier, Zhan Shideng’s voice, loud from the tin horn he had in his hand, was heard from the pier: “Dear visitors, according to the new regulation from above, no house in this village shall provide accommodation to you. Please return to the east bank before sunset, otherwise you will have nowhere to stay tonight!”
Nuannuan and Kaitian stopped in surprise: they did not expect Zhan Shideng to do so. Hearing his words about no accommodation available, the visitors hastened a look around beside the lake and without seeing the Great Wall of Chu, returned to the boat they arrived
in to hurry back to the east bank.
Zhan Shideng walked towards the young couple with a smug smile. He spoke seriously: “My apologies to you two. It is my responsibility to maintain stability in the village. I am the leader and I must execute the decision made from above!”
“We will sue you for this!” said Nuannuan in full resentment.
“Go! Sue me! Be it the town court, or the county court, wherever you like to sue me!” Zhan Shideng laughed with his eyes narrowed. “I’ll be there! Chu Nuannuan, I know your boldness has increased just as the money in your pocket does. Three years ago, you never dared to talk to me like this!”
“Three years ago I also never believed you capable of such things!”
“We’ll see!”
“We will!”
Nuannuan turned her back to him abruptly to hide her angry tears …
Chapter 29
The next day at midday, Nuannuan and Kaitian arrived at the town office on Juxiang Street. Nuannuan had Kaitian buy two bottles of Red Lake liquor and two cartons of Fengyang cigarettes, and they went to the porter and called out at the guard: “Big brother, how have you been? I came to the town with my boy’s father, and I want to see you, too!”
They gave the liquor and cigarettes to the guard. He was happily surprised, and offered seats to the couple: “What are these presents about? I can’t accept them!”
During her last visit, Nuannuan looked so worried and painful. However, this time she was calm and relaxed. She laughed out loudly and said: “I haven’t seen you for some time. Do not mention these small gifts! Without your help last time, my family would have been taken away from me!”
After some small talk, Nuannuan spoke out again: “Big brother, I have something to ask you. In my village Chu Wang Village, we have houses with extra space and there have been some visitors that came to see the Red Lake. Do you think we could give them accommodation and earn some extra money?”
“Of course! You have the house and they are willing to pay to stay. Just let them stay,” said the guard. He sounded quite certain.
“But I heard that the town office set up this new rule against receiving guests. Because their piss and shit may pollute the water in the lake.”
The guard looked surprised: “What bullshit! I’ve been to your village and it’s not that close to the lake. People only piss and shit in the toilet and you peasants get fertilizer from that. How can that pollute the water?”
Nuannuan felt assured by his words. She said: “Big brother, can you please go ask the leader who’s in charge of this pollution rule? I must be sure about this!”
“Sure, sure. I’ll go ask the chief now,” said the guard as he pushed the gate leading to the courtyard outside the town office.
After a short while, the guard returned and said: “The leader of your village, Mr. Zhan, is also in the office of the chief. The chief is asking for you two so that he can talk about it with you.”
Nuannuan’s heart sank. She knew that things would not work out like this.
Zhan Shideng was sitting aside in the chief’s office with a smile. The chief spoke in a friendly tone: “Your leader has told me about your situation. The Red Lake is included in the South-to-North Water Diversion Project, so we must make sure of a high water quality in the lake. Your Chu Di Ju is indeed harming the lake so you should stop receiving guests. Let us all think of the big picture. You can use the house for other purposes. Is that OK?”
Nuannuan argued with him for a while, but that did not change the chief’s mind. She knew that no words from her would change the result, as the chief fully trusted the leader. She stopped talking and walked out of the office.
Kaitian was also looking quite upset. He asked: “What next?”
“We’ll go to the county office!”
“Seriously?”
“You think I’m bluffing?!” Nuannuan could not hold back her anger anymore.
The next day at midday, the couple walked out of the long-distance bus station in the county town. The busy streets and crowd fully amazed Kaitian: it was his first visit to the county town. The couple asked their way around and finally reached the county office late that day, and no one was working. They had to stay for one night. The couple went to find accommodation, but the hostels in the county town were too expensive: they went to a couple of them and every place would cost more than 100 yuan without meal or tour guiding. Nuannuan said: “We’ll stay in this expensive hostel. We are running our own accommodation now so we must learn from the city.”
The next morning they got up at sunrise and bought some steamed buns from a small restaurant. They rushed to the county office with the buns in their hands. They spent a great deal of time asking about which office to go to and learnt that they could only be seen in the office for petitioners. When they finally reached that office, it was already in the late afternoon. As they rushed inside to talk about their trouble to the official sitting behind the desk, they saw Zhan Shideng sitting aside in the sofa whilst smoking his cigarette with his eyes narrowed, gazing upon the couple. Nuannuan’s heart sank again. She looked at Kaitian. The couple could feel their hope vanish in the air: they simply could not win. Unsurprisingly, before Nuannuan could finish her talking, the official said to her: “I have heard about this from your leader. You must understand that it is our priority to assure the water quality in the Red Lake. Please use your house for other purposes. Go home to farm your fields and fish in the lake.”
Nuannuan did not say anything back. She knew that any word of hers would be in vain. She nodded at Kaitian: “Let’s go.”
The couple left. Kaitian sighed and said: “We cannot go against Zhan Shideng. He has been the leader for all these years and he knows everyone everywhere.”
Nuannuan answered: “I thought about it. Zhan Shideng does have his connections in the government. We cannot win as petitioners. We should go to the court; judges will listen to us, they only know of the law, not the leader. Have you thought about why he did not stop me from marrying to you? Because if he did, he’d be working against the law of marriage! Certainly he is not afraid of us, but he will be afraid of violating the law! Let’s go now.”
The couple went to the county court and talked about their trouble to an old judge. The judge said to them: “if you want to sue your leader, you should go talk to a lawyer and he shall help you.”
Nuannuan asked: “Will that cost us a fortune?”
The judge answered: “Lawyers normally charge some money. But with the case like yours, it won’t cost much.”
Nuannuan made the decision. She said to Kaitian: “Let’s go find a lawyer.”
They went to a law firm with the help from the judge. A young lawyer with the surname of Sun listened to Nuannuan. He took out a book about the regulations of construction and demolition in areas alongside the Red Lake, and a book about the regulations concerning the environment near the Red Lake. Then, he took out a map of the Red Lake and did some measurements. He said: “Your village, Chu Wang Village, is not one of the villages built in the past few decades to relocate neighbouring residence. Therefore, the regulation only states that no factory shall be built in your village, but nothing was said about receiving visitors in your house. If what you told me is true, your leader is violating your right to own a legal business. I will make the case in the court, and I will go to Chu Wang Village to find you once things are advancing.”
Nuannuan looked at the lawyer and found herself slowly tearing up. She wiped her face and said: “Finally, a man of reason in a place of reason! Thank you so much! You must keep your word and come find us!”
The lawyer answered amicably: “Don’t worry, I have taken your case and I will not abandon you. Otherwise, no one else will trust me anymore …”
Chapter 30
Prohibited to offer accommodation to visitors, Nuannuan and Kaitian had no choice but to return to the farmwork. Kaitian had always been a good peasant, so he undertook much work with efficiency and there was not enough
work for the two of them. One day, they were mending the small ridges in the field particularly for the sweet potatoes, which was not even necessary at that time, when Hehe ran over and told them that a man named Sun just arrived. She said there were also some officials wearing big hats that were looking for them, too. Nuannuan knew it was the lawyer. She dropped the farming tools and hastened home. When they reached home, the lawyer was guiding two judges to inspect Chu Di Ju. Seeing her, the lawyer said: “The county court sent a patrol team to your village and I invited two judges to come down here and investigate your problem …”
