The moment the sentence of exile was pronounced, the courtroom fell silent. Only after a long pause did an uproar rise.
He Yi stared at Wu Yundi in astonishment, while Wu looked down at He Jie. He Jie dug his fingernails into the cracks between the paving stones without saying a word. His stillness was almost unnatural. But when the officers took hold of him, he began thrashing like a madman.
His furious screams tore through the air. “Aaaah! You’re the ones who deserve to go to hell! All of you can die! Die! I’ll take you down with me!”
Although his hands were restrained, He Jie’s frenzy was formidable. He hurled aside the two officers behind him and appeared ready to charge Wu Yundi.
Just in time, the two officers responsible for administering beatings rushed from their corner. Several men wrestled He Jie to the floor. One pair of fists could not overcome so many hands, and at last he was dragged away, still cursing at the top of his lungs.
Even without an order from Wu Yundi, the officers took the opportunity to settle old and new scores. Slap after slap struck He Jie’s face until his mouth was swollen and he was close to losing consciousness.
With that, the case was concluded.
By the time He Yongxing and Zeng Qianqian heard the news, it was afternoon.
“Why couldn’t he just behave himself? Why did he have to go looking for trouble? Heaven has no eyes! My Jie’er! How could you let this happen to my Jie’er…?” Zeng Qianqian beat her chest and stamped her feet, sobbing so hard she could scarcely breathe and nearly passed out.
However bitterly disappointed she might be in the way He Jie usually treated her, he remained the only support she and her husband could count on in old age and the only son to carry on their family line.
He could find another job if he lost one, and the family might rebuild its fortune if it lost its savings. But now He Jie had been sentenced to exile!
Zeng Qianqian could not withstand the shock. She wept until her legs gave way and she collapsed on the ground, heedless of appearances.
He Yongxing had no attention to spare for helping her up. His disbelief and resentment were no less intense than hers. In his fury, he smashed everything in the house he could lay his hands on, yet he could not stop his hands from trembling or his aged eyes from streaming with tears.
“Exile to the far north…”
That was a bitterly cold place, far more distant even than the northwest. The long, perilous journey alone was enough to kill more than half the prisoners sent there. Even those who survived to reach their destination faced a harsh, nearly uninhabited wasteland and grueling forced labor. There was scarcely any hope of survival.
He Yongxing dared not think any further. “No. We can’t just sit here waiting for the worst. We have to find that heartless wretch He Yi. Or else we can scrape together some money and ask Chang He to plead with the inspector, to persuade him to show Jie’er mercy…”
Zeng Qianqian stopped crying and stared at him. A moment later, she scrambled up and staggered into the inner room to search for money.
“Yes, yes. There’ll be a way! Jie’er will be all right!”
The couple hurried to the Patrol Inspector’s Office hoping to find He Yi. Unfortunately for them, He Yi and Xue Ci had already left town in an ox cart bound for Chongzi Village.
Old Man Cen, driving the cart, had evidently heard about He Yi’s arrest. News had spread through the village, and many had been anxious for him. Seeing He Yi safe and sound, the old man broke into a smile of immense relief.
“It’s good you’re all right. Good indeed. A’pu will be delighted when he hears.”
“I’m sorry for worrying everyone.” He Yi lowered his eyes apologetically.
The remark reminded him that he ought to let the villagers know he was safe. So the first thing he did on returning was visit his neighbors with Xue Ci. Everyone was relieved to learn that He Yi was well. Then they began asking why Xue Ci was back when he was supposed to be serving in the army.
He Yi had forgotten about that himself. He had asked Xue Ci earlier, but Xue Ci had not answered.
Now he looked at Xue Ci again, wanting an explanation. Catching his gaze, Xue Ci blinked his bright eyes and said he had been granted leave to visit family.
It was not far from what He Yi had guessed, yet could things truly have worked out so neatly? He kept his doubts to himself, casting Xue Ci one brief glance before looking away.
Their last stop was Tang Huai’s residence. Tang Huai was sitting idly in the main hall, neither drinking tea nor wine, looking almost as though he had been waiting especially for them.
When Tang Huai saw He Yi enter, the fingers resting on his chair’s armrests tightened. Only when He Yi came close enough for Tang Huai to see he was whole and unharmed did those fingers relax, and a smile that could almost be called paternal appeared on his face.
But when Tang Huai noticed Xue Ci standing beside him, he could not hide his surprise. “Why is Xue Ci here too? When did you return?”
The army was hardly a place one could come and go from at will, was it? Soldiers on active service normally could not even leave their assigned area.
Xue Ci repeated the same explanation he had given earlier.
Tang Huai watched him quietly for quite a while, saying nothing on purpose, merely studying him with a thoughtful expression.
After a short time, the two took their leave. Tang Huai immediately stood up, summoned his guards, and seemed to issue them certain orders.
Before Xue Ci left home, the roof and beams had not been entirely built. The house had still resembled a half-finished ruin. On his return it looked transformed. Apart from a few missing stretches of surrounding wall, the building was nearly perfect, with three overhanging-gable roofs arranged in separate sections, gray tiles above white walls and brown beams. It looked elegant, restrained, and unpretentious.
When he had come back earlier to fetch the yao herb, Xue Ci had hardly looked around. Now he was so excited that he tugged at He Yi’s sleeve and bounced on his toes, asking He Yi to show him about and explain what everything was.
Auntie Liu and her family had tidied the place, but He Yi immediately noticed that things had been moved. The crooked cabinet door and badly scuffed tables and stools made it obvious that He Jie’s men had continued their vandalism after he lost consciousness.
Fortunately the house itself was solid, and He Yi had not yet completed the interior or bought much furniture and ornamentation. There was little that could shatter. The actual loss was therefore not too great.
Entering the main hall, He Yi picked up the memorial tablets from the household shrine. Auntie Liu and the others had plainly cleaned them already, but he wiped them once more and set them straight.
Seeing how subdued He Yi looked, Xue Ci stopped bouncing around and copied him, bowing before the shrine.
I’ll offer a few sticks of incense later, He Yi thought.
The main bedroom seemed to have suffered the worst damage. Even the thick quilt on the canopy bed had been trampled filthy. It had hardly been washed in the first place and had gone stiff, so He Yi simply pulled it to the floor and threw it away.
It was hot enough to make do with a thin quilt. Once he harvested the cotton next month, he could have a couple of soft, comfortable quilts made. Then winter bedding would not be a worry.
Xue Ci had been delighted with the handsome canopy bed, but a closer look revealed muddy footprints all over its sleeping mat. His hair almost stood on end with anger.
Seeing him so indignant actually made He Yi feel less furious himself. He gently pressed the crown of Xue Ci’s head. “Don’t be angry. We’ll roll the mat up and scrub it in the courtyard.”
Xue Ci pouted, squeezed out a reluctant “All right,” and bent down to work.
After hanging up the mat to dry, they passed through the kitchen and set down the two doses of medicine the physician had prescribed. He Yi had not brought any money with him in town, so he had asked Xue Ci to slip two hundred wen beneath Wu Yundi’s cloth-covered bolster before they left.
The kitchen was unchanged. Clearly nobody had ransacked it. He Jie had probably thought the place beneath his notice.
To He Yi’s surprise, the pigsty and chicken coop were untouched as well. The two piglets had not been taken out that day and were huddled together in a corner.
The big goose was thrilled to see He Yi. It planted its orange-yellow webbed feet on the tops of his shoes and stood there firmly.
He Yi pointed down at it. “Get off. You’re standing on me. Auntie Liu says you were very brave, that you saved the chickens from He Jie’s men and chased them all the way off. You’re the big brother around here. Tomorrow I’ll gather some water plants as a treat for you.”
The goose lifted its head proudly and did not budge.
Xue Ci shot it a look, but it was not afraid. It even shook its tail feathers at him.
He Yi tried to walk forward. The goose remained on his shoes, refusing to fall off and balancing astonishingly well. It was effectively hitching a ride as they headed toward the vegetable garden.
Does it have no idea how heavy it is? He Yi complained silently between breaths.
Only then did he discover that the vegetable garden had suffered the worst of all. Even after being tidied, it had lost its former lush vitality. Auntie Liu had pulled aside the ruined plants: chilies, scallions, garlic shoots, lettuce seedlings, and radish seedlings, many uprooted, withered, or crushed underfoot.
All that remained in the soil were the bare green Sichuan pepper plants that had not yet grown into trees, five or six chili plants bearing damaged fruit, ginger that had already matured underground, and a few vegetable seedlings revived by watering.
“Ah…” He Yi could not help letting out a long sigh.
He crouched to examine the plants one by one. With nowhere to perch anymore, the goose finally shifted its heavy backside and waddled away.
When he finished inspecting the garden, He Yi found that both the goose and Xue Ci had disappeared.
He was about to return to the house when Xue Ci appeared holding the basin of yao herb. He entered the garden, lifted the whole plant free with its roots and soil, dug a new hole, set it back into the garden bed, and carefully pressed the earth down around it.
He Yi suddenly remembered something. “Has the yao herb been all right this whole time?”
Xue Ci shook his head. “When I came back for it, it had fallen over. It was all wilted.”
“When you came home on leave, did you go to the village first, or did you learn I’d been hurt while you were still in town?”
“It wasn’t family leave. The yao herb had fallen over, and I sensed it at the camp. You’ve always taken such good care of it that I wondered if something had happened to you, so I ran away from the army camp.” Xue Ci answered with perfect sincerity.
“Wait. Didn’t you just tell everyone you were home on family leave?” He Yi was bewildered.
“Didn’t you tell me not to tell anyone about the yao herb? You said it could get us killed. So I made up a lie… Was that wrong?” Xue Ci looked equally confused.
He Yi thought quietly for a moment. The longer he thought, the more his chest ached. Moisture gathered at the corners of his eyes, and he blinked hard to hold it back.
What was he supposed to do with this fellow? His heart had melted completely. He could almost see Xue Ci racing toward him as a snow leopard, utterly fearless, throwing himself forward with such decisiveness because he trusted He Yi. How could anyone fail to be moved?
Struggling to keep his voice steady, He Yi said, “You did exactly the right thing. Thank you, Xue Ci.”
The three words he really wanted to say were too weighty. He could not bring himself to speak them now. He did not know whether Xue Ci would understand. And he… was afraid.
So he could only say thank you instead.
*
They ate dinner at the Zheng household. The family had done so much for him, even going to court to testify on his behalf. He understood how difficult that could be.
He Yi remembered every kindness.
There was no expensive charcoal stocked at the house, so Auntie Liu lit firewood in an earthenware basin and added a few dried leaves to raise the flames. Then she urged He Yi to step across it.
“What’s this…?” He Yi asked as he was pushed into stepping over the fire basin.
“To drive away the bad luck!” Zheng Yuanfeng crouched beside them to watch. “There! The bad luck goes out and good fortune comes in!”
Xue Ci crouched beside him and even applauded. He Yi began to feel as though he had performed some extraordinary feat of difficulty.
“It’ll be dark soon. Tomorrow, gather a few willow twigs from the foot of the mountain and hang them over your door or bed. That can drive off ill fortune too.” Auntie Liu called the younger ones over, then brought out several bowls. “Come and drink this. Mulberry-leaf and chrysanthemum water. A’shi helped me pick a great many chrysanthemums the other day. They’re blooming all over the hills, yellow and white, so pretty.”
Zheng Yuanshi was evidently used to this. He tipped back the bowl and drank it without a moment’s hesitation.
He Yi saw mulberry leaves and chrysanthemum petals floating in the pale yellow water, releasing a faint floral fragrance. He expected almost no flavor. But the moment he tasted it, a sweet, cooling freshness spread through his mouth and throat. He could not tell whether he was tasting the coolness or feeling it as the drink passed down his throat. It seemed cooler than ordinary well water, even though it had clearly been boiled and allowed to cool.
“Is this for dispelling heat in hot weather?” He Yi asked curiously.
“For getting rid of bad luck, too,” Auntie Liu replied.
“…” Were there really so many different rituals for chasing off ill fortune? He Yi was no believer in such things, but it was an expression of their goodwill, so he accepted it.
Each person drank a bowl of the cool infusion, and the evening breeze brought an answering chill.
That night.
With all the sleeping mats washed and drying, He Yi had to spread a thin quilt over the bedboards and cover his belly, which was easily chilled, with clothing. Xue Ci did the same. He lay on the inner side of the bed, leaving plenty of space between them.
So much had happened during the day, followed by an afternoon of cleaning, that both were completely exhausted. They soon fell asleep.
After an unknown length of time.
In a hazy dream, He Yi seemed to be running a two-hundred-meter relay race. Yet no starting pistol had sounded, nobody had even begun running, and he was supposed to take the final leg. Somehow a relay baton had already been thrust into his palm. It was unnaturally hot, rubbing back and forth against his hand.
Strange. Very strange.
When He Yi realized that it had never been a dream and recognized what the object actually was, his eyes flew open.
“?!!”