The Years, Months, Days

by Yan Lianke

  Fourth Wife You said, “As long as she can get married, she’ll be fine. Many people are a total mess, but after they get married they become diligent and frugal.”

  Wu Shu looked around, then turned to Fourth Wife You and said, “I keep hearing someone twittering next to me. Look at that grass there—it used to be straight and tall but now someone has stomped it flat.”

  Fourth Wife You glanced down at the patch of grass, and said, “If you marry Third Daughter, will you treat her well?”

  Wu Shu straightened his neck, and said, “How could I not treat my own wife well?”

  Fourth Wife You proceeded to arrange her daughter’s marriage as though she were completing a business transaction in which both parties were left satisfied. Then the bright red sun set behind the mountains, bathing the village’s houses, trees, and streets in a purple glow, like a strange summer cloud.

  Chapter Four

  Autumn was over.

  Many families had already sown their winter wheat.

  It was during this period that Fourth Wife You planned to marry Third Daughter to the man from Wu Village, forty-five li away. She carried new thatching from her own village to her future son-in-law’s house to help fix his leaky roof. She even stayed there and hoed several mu of barren soil. She collected all of the weeds and flower stems, together with the rocks and tiles that were mixed in with the soil, and piled them up along the edge of the field. Everything her son-in-law had requested was prepared to order, and the only thing left was for him to come and haul away half of their autumn harvest. The first time he came had been for the grain that was Third Daughter’s dowry, and the second time would be for the grain she would eat after moving into her new home.

  When Wu Shu first arrived, it was the third day of the lunar year, and they all woke at the crack of dawn. As soon as the sun came up, Wu Shu hauled a cart to the You family’s front door. It was Third Daughter who went to open the door, and when she saw Wu Shu her eyes lit up with delight. Several days earlier, when she first realized that Wu Shu was a wholer, she hid in her room and refused to come out. Alone in her room, however, she laughed to herself. When Wu Shu left her home that time, she escorted him to the mountain peak and then returned, and that entire night she sat next to her bed chortling happily, refusing to lie down and go to sleep.

  This time when she saw Wu Shu, Third Daughter was very friendly, and her blush of embarrassment disappeared like storm clouds on a clear day. She turned toward the main room and called out, “Ma, he’s here,” then proceeded into the kitchen, where she fried him an egg and brought it out.

  Like a pear tree that bursts into bloom overnight, Third Daughter’s illness was suddenly cured—and apart from sounding a bit manic when she laughed, and the fact that the stitches on the shoes she made for Wu Shu were somewhat too large, there was nothing about her that was out of the ordinary. On the other hand, Fourth Idiot’s illness had become more and more acute. As soon as he learned that Third Daughter had gotten engaged and would be married, he kicked the door for several days straight, refusing to eat or speak. When Fourth Idiot saw Third Daughter, he began sobbing. His snot ran all the way down his neck, but he wouldn’t even reach up to wipe it. It was as though he would lose something when Third Daughter got married.

  Wu Shu ate his fried egg and wiped his mouth. When he handed his bowl back to Third Daughter, he pinched her mountain-like breasts, but she just laughed and stepped aside. When Fourth Idiot saw this, his face turned scarlet. He stood in the courtyard staring angrily at Wu Shu, his hands curled into fists as though he were about to rush forward and beat him.

  Wu Shu stepped back half a step, then said, “I’m your brother-in-law, and your third sister is my wife.”

  Fourth Idiot cried out, “You’re a pig, a dog, an ass!”

  Third Daughter shouted, “Ma, your fourth son won’t let me get married! Are you going to fix this?”

  At that moment, Fourth Wife You was in her room packing up the several pairs of new shoes she had made for Wu Shu. She carefully threaded each pair together, then wrapped them in cloth. When she emerged, she stood under the awning and told Fourth Idiot to come over, saying that she wanted to tell him a secret. When he hesitantly approached, she slapped him and then pushed him inside his room and locked the door.

  Fourth Idiot wailed, “I want a wife. I want to get married, too! I want to marry a wholer wife.” At this point, the sun was shining down on the courtyard, and Fourth Idiot’s cries, tears, and snot were illuminated by the sunlight streaming in through the window, as though a handkerchief used to wipe away tears had been hung out to dry.

  Wu Shu said, “I don’t know if joining this family was auspicious or not.”

  Fourth Wife You said, “You are marrying our third daughter, not our son. Quick, go load your grain onto the cart.”

  Wu Shu said, “I want to take some more.”

  Fourth Wife You said, “Take as much as you are able to haul away.”

  He parked the cart in the doorway and tied a rope to the end. He took sack after sack out of the cart, then opened the jar beneath the bed and began filling the sacks with the grain that was stored there. Fourth Wife You held the sacks open as Wu Shu used a basin to ladle the grain out of the jar. The entire room was filled with the sound of grain rubbing against the side of the basin. The scent of wheat had accumulated over the years like water behind a dam, lingering thickly in the room. Wu Shu filled one sack after another, and after each one was filled, he would pick it up and shake it a bit to let the grain settle to the bottom, so that he could then stuff in another couple of bowls. After Wu Shu filled the third sack, Third Daughter suddenly appeared from the kitchen with a rolling pin, and as he was stuffing grain into the sack, she used the rolling pin to stuff it down further. In this way, a sack that was usually able to hold twelve or thirteen bowls of grain could now hold fifteen.

  Upon tying up the sack, Wu Shu looked at Fourth Wife You and laughed. “Third Daughter is not stupid at all.”

  Fourth Wife You replied, “Load it up, take as much as you can. As long as you treat her well and don’t beat or curse her, it’s OK.”

  Wu Shu said, “How could I do otherwise? For better or worse, she’s now my wife. After all, a crazy person is still a person.”

  At this point, shouts could be heard coming from inside the house: “Good news! Your second son-in-law has arrived!” At first she couldn’t believe it, but then she listened more carefully and sure enough, Second Son-in-Law had arrived. Fourth Wife You felt oddly anxious and hurried outside to take a look. Her son-in-law was strolling up from the village entrance. In the sunlight, he stood as big and strong as a century-old tree, and each time he took a step, a cloud of dust swirled up from under his feet. Fourth Wife You thought to herself that his arrival must mean something, since it had been several years since he last visited. As he approached, Fourth Wife You couldn’t discern anything out of the ordinary from his expression; there was only a glint of happiness in his one good eye. She said, “You’ve arrived! What about Second Daughter?”

  He stopped in front of the main gate and replied with a smile, “She’s at home resting. We think she may be pregnant, as she has suddenly developed a craving for sour and spicy foods.”

  Fourth Wife You’s heart jumped for joy, and she asked, “Do you need anything?”

  He replied, “No, nothing in particular.”

  Fourth Wife You said, “If there is anything you need, just let me know.”

  Her son-in-law sat on her doorstep and said, “I don’t need anything.”

  Fourth Wife You said, “Then why don’t you go home and rest? If you want to eat something, I’ll fix it for you.”

  Second Son-in-Law loosened his collar, wiped the sweat from his brow, and said, “I already had breakfast at home. Second Daughter cooked me a fried bun.”

  Fourth Wife You said, “She can cook fried buns? You should go and meet with Third Son-in-Law.”

  Second Son-in-Law’s hand froze as he was
wiping his brow. He looked at the cart in the entranceway, and asked, “Has he come to claim some grain?”

  Fourth Wife You said, “Let him. Do you need any?”

  Second Son-in-Law said, “We don’t need any grain, but there is something else I want.”

  A cloud passed over Fourth Wife You’s face. She pulled aside her graying hair and said, “Just tell me what you need.”

  Second Son-in-Law stood up. He was silent for a moment, then stuttered that now that Second Daughter was pregnant, her illness had been acting up again, and in the past month she had had several more episodes. In fact, she had had two episodes the day before—the first occurred when she was leaning over the cistern to ladle out some water for cooking. She suddenly cried out in pain and with a thunk fell into the cistern. When the second episode occurred, she collapsed on the well platform and nearly fell into the well and drowned. When Second Son-in-Law finished telling this to Fourth Wife You, he gazed ahead at the village and asked, “What are we going to do? What in the world are we going to do? It was hard enough for her to get pregnant in the first place.” Four Idiots Village was located on a mountainside, and there were old straw mats hanging everywhere. The villagers living downhill all emerged from the village’s streets and alleys, herding sheep and carrying shovels and scythes; as they disappeared into the distance, the sparkling dust on their bodies gradually melted into the light from the distant fields. Second Son-in-Law looked back at Fourth Wife You, and pleaded, “If Second Daughter is not able to have this child, I don’t even want to live.”

  Fourth Wife You said, “Tell me what you need.”

  Second Son-in-Law said, “Every night, I dream I’m running around to find an old Chinese medical practitioner. He tells me I should make her some bone marrow soup, which will cure her illness.”

  Fourth Wife You said, “Then make her some.”

  Second Son-in-Law said, “But the prescription doesn’t call for just any kind of bones.”

  Fourth Wife You asked, “What kind of bones do you need?”

  Second Son-in-Law hesitated, then said, “It calls for the bones of a dead person, a relative, and the closer the kin the better.”

  Fourth Wife You was silent for a while. She looked at her son-in-law’s face, then over at the village. She turned toward her house, and from beneath the awning she pulled out a hoe and a couple of shovels. Standing in the courtyard, she shouted, “Third Daughter … Wu Shu … there is something I need to attend to. The two of you can take as much grain as you need. Go ahead and fill up the entire cart, since you’ve made the trip.” Then, carrying the tools, she left the house. Second Son-in-Law was still standing there waiting. Fourth Wife You came over and handed him the hoe, then led him to the mountain ridge.

  Second Son-in-Law asked in surprise, “Ma, where are you going?”

  “To dig up the grave of Second Daughter’s father,” Fourth Wife You replied without turning around. “Didn’t you say you needed a dead person’s bones to cure Second Daughter’s illness? I’ll help get whatever you need.”

  Second Son-in-Law ran up to her, the color draining from his face, surprised at how quickly everything was progressing. He said, “I feel a bit bad about her father.”

  Fourth Wife You replied, “Her father is the one who should feel bad about us.”

  Second Son-in-Law said, “Even dead, he can’t lie in peace.”

  Fourth Wife You replied, “He is the one who is not letting us live in peace.” They walked quickly. Fourth Wife You was only a step away from sixty, but even carrying the shovel she was still faster than her thirty-year-old son-in-law.

  Wheat sprouts already blanketed the entire field. The grave was located in a cemetery several li away, where each of the You family graves had a cypress or pine tree planted next to it, covering the ground in shade. The sunlight was squeezed by the shade into a variety of different shapes, or else simply remained shapeless. In front of Stone You’s grave there was a mountain pine, and since Stone You had been dead for a long time, the pine tree had already grown quite tall and bore several sparrow nests. When they reached the grave, Second Son-in-Law hung his shirt on a branch and used a shovel to dig open the grave, knocking down many twigs, leaves, and pinecones in the process.

  The grave was opened.

  The warm soil emitted milky white steam that spiraled upward and mixed with the scent from the pine trees, the decayed odor of the casket, and the fragrant smell of wheat. Second Son-in-Law tossed out spadeful after spadeful of soil, as Fourth Wife You waited under the pine tree and collected pine nuts. Several sparrows were sitting on the tree branches, singing as they looked down at the village before flying away. Another dozen or so sparrows came and alighted in the tree, their songs like a shower on a clear day.

  Second Son-in-Law stood on his tiptoes and peeked out of the grave. “What are they twittering about?”

  Fourth Wife You said, “Keep digging. They’re a good omen—it means Second Daughter’s illness really will be cured.”

  Second Son-in-Law opened the door to the tomb, and inside he found the decayed coffin. The black paint had long since peeled off, and the wood had been gnawed by insects into a dense honeycomb. The tomb was actually a cellar, and was half a normal person’s height. He squatted in the opening of the tomb, and in the sunlight he could see that the coffin was resting on several large stones, and there were two white maggots crawling around on the lid. He knew that these were ordinary grubs, but the sound of them crawling was as though a mosquito had flown into his ear. The character for “Offering,” inscribed on the lid of the coffin, was still faintly visible, and below it there was a date-sized opening that looked like a dark eye staring out. White smoke wafted from the opening, up past the door of the tomb and Second Son-in-Law’s head. Second Son-in-Law squatted at the opening of the tomb, as though he had lost the keys to his house and was locked out. Fourth Wife You shouted down to him, “Are you afraid?” He replied, “Have I ever been afraid?” She said, “Then open the coffin,” and he replied, “I was just about to.” He ducked his head and shuffled forward a couple of steps, then placed his hands on the front of the coffin and gently shook it back and forth.

  The coffin fell apart. There was the sound of decayed wood shattering, and a cloud of smoke surged out, like water vapor from a hot steamer.

  After the dust and smoke dissipated, Second Son-in-Law stood there motionless. Not a speck was left of his father-in-law’s flesh, and the clothing had completely disintegrated. Instead, there was just a layer of dust and a skeleton—foot bones, leg bones, hip bones, back bones, neck bones, and a skull, all neatly arranged in their original configuration. The skull resembled a sheet of dirty paper that had fallen to the ground in the middle of the night, while the two eyes were still clear and bright, like two wells sitting in the sunlight. A shiver ran down his spine, as he took two steps back and shouted,

  “Ma … come take a look.”

  Fourth Wife You went down.

  Second Son-in-Law said, “Say something to my father-in-law. Give him some sort of explanation.”

  Fourth Wife You said, “We are trying to cure his daughter’s illness. There’s nothing to explain.” With this, she entered the tomb, squatted in front of the coffin and pushed aside a couple of maggots that had fallen onto the leg bones. She looked everything over and saw that, apart from some white moss, the walls of the tomb were completely intact. “Good soil in this tomb,” she remarked. Then she turned and asked, “Did you bring a sack?”

  Second Son-in-Law took a white cloth out of his pocket and laid it out in the lighted area at the entrance to the tomb.

  Fourth Wife You asked, “Which bone do you want?”

  Second Son-in-Law said, “Whenever Second Daughter has an episode, her hand begins to tremble, so let’s take a bone from his hand.”

  Fourth Wife You took two bones from her husband’s hand and placed them on the cloth, then asked, “What else?”

  Second Son-in-Law said, “Whenever she has an
episode, she loses the ability to walk.”

  Fourth Wife You took one of her husband’s leg bones and placed it on the cloth, then asked, “What else?”

  Second Son-in-Law said, “Anything is fine. Just take a few more.”

  Fourth Wife You said, “Mental illness is the result of something wrong in the brain, and if the brain can be fixed the illness will be cured. So, we should definitely use the skull.” As she was saying this, she took the skull and held it in both hands as though it were a bowl, then gently placed it on the cloth. She tied up the four corners of the cloth, and after Second Son-in-Law climbed out of the grave, she handed him the bundle. Then she stepped out of the dirt hole and, holding Stone You’s hand, left the graveyard.

  Outside, the sun was already at its apex, shining down brightly as the trees and mountains twinkled in the sunlight. On the opposite hill, a villager was preparing his field for planting. He was standing on an elevated area and asked Fourth Wife You what she was doing at the graveyard. She replied that the grave of her husband, who had gone on to enjoy better days, had been flooded by the rain, and she and Second Son-in-Law had come to fill in the collapsed pit. The villager went back to preparing his soil, and the rhythmic sound of his work reverberated up the ravine to the riverbank opposite, and to the other side of the mountain ridge beyond.

  After filling in the grave and replacing the grave mound, Fourth Wife You and Second Son-in-Law had picked up their tools and returned home. The bone-filled bundle was tied to the handle of Second Son-in-Law’s spade, and it swung back and forth as he walked. All the while, the bones made a grinding sound like bright moonlight falling to Earth, and a stench of decay trailed silently under their feet. Along the mountain ridge, villagers were on their way home after a day’s work. They were driving sheep and oxen, some villagers walking in front of the animals and others walking behind. Upon reaching the crossroad that turned to the village, Fourth Wife You asked, “What are we going to have for lunch? Garlic noodles?” Second Son-in-Law replied, “I’m not going. Let Third Son-in-Law eat there. I don’t like him; he takes everything he wants just because he’s a wholer.”