Although the Salt Road thrived for hundreds of years, it has undergone several decades of desolation by now.
Couch grass and wisteria strove to outshine each other. As the spring rain came, they grew wildly and closely covered the shiny blue flagstones. The moss became active as well; it sprawled layer by layer, seeming to conceal something under its green. However, the centuries-old Salt Road and its centuries-old romance had seeped into the stone crevices. Stepping on the road occasionally, you might unveil the prelude of a past story. Similarly, the town had deserted its centuries-old street in a river bend, and expanded in all directions recklessly and hastily. As the old street became deserted, it restrained itself like a submissive married girl who had done something wrong, silently waiting for daybreak and nightfall. Around noon, the sun was hot while the embers of the stove fire were extinguished. Smoke from a kitchen chimney might snake up from time to time. The door of Fairy Fate Inn was shut. A threshold as thick as the mouth of a bowl lay on the ground, with mottled rust on both ends. As the couplet on the door exaggerated, "Three thousand heroes passed by in the daytime; eight hundred brave men lodged at nighttime." It was pardonable to show off for a while, but the couplet was engraved on the door frame — a most notable place. As circumstances had changed with the passage of time, it had gradually become embarrassing. Look: a young cynic with dyed yellow hair comes along. He immediately spits at the couplet, sneering, "In such a small place?!" The beehives lay scattered, and the bees kept by Mutao had disappeared without a trace. Several wild bees tried to break the silence, chasing each other under the eaves ... The buzz of the bees sounded like the snores of Mo Laojun in the old days, rising one after another, bringing bleakness and dreariness into people's moods.
The Salt Firm was very fragile. It had changed hands several times. Handed down from the Jian family, it had been called "Jian's Salt Firm" for generations. When it was owned by Yang Qingping and her son, it was renamed "Huaiyuan Trading Firm." Later, when it was handed over to the state, it was changed to "Guangming Cooperative" ... In the end, it stood idle in the middle of the street. The chestnut-red counter had turned dark brown. Like the dead skin of a calf in winter, it would shed its surface all around with just a gentle flick. It was coated in an inch of dust, which seemed to hate the past boisterousness and strove to completely cover it up. The carved designs of flowers, birds and beasts on the buttresses had once been exquisite, but now they were covered with cobwebs from which spiders, big or small, played on their swings. Was it necessary to sneer? Worldly things always alternate between prosperity and desolation. How could the Salt Firm, the trading firm or the cooperative be an exception?
"Porters, take your time. The moon will come out after the sun goes down. Your elder brother and sister-in-law will manage the household affairs. Your parents will make tea and cook meals ... " This song was left by the old porters. Most of them had departed, and so had the mysterious Hunan traveling traders. At nightfall, Mendou dozed off unexpectedly while sitting on the steps. When he woke, the evening mist was very thick. Cold sweat oozed from his back …Tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, he would probably become a grain of dust on the Salt Road! He wanted to lead his grandson to walk the Salt Road once again and tell some stories while he was alive, or else the road, the people and the events of the past would be blown away by the wind.
Where to begin our story? Let's begin with Meizi Town. It was said that Meizi was an ancient town, but just how old it was could not be confirmed. I only knew that it had sprung up because of the road; the road had existed prior to the town. "How old is the road?" some people gathered under an old maidenhair tree and asked Mr. Shi. He was the "God" of Meizi Town. He had a thatched shed under the maidenhair tree, with straw sandals, big and small, hanging on the shed and swaying in the wind. There was a rule in Meizi Town: whoever did something wrong had to make several pairs of straw sandals and hang them on Mr. Shi's stall for the use of passersby. As such, Mr. Shi's stall was hung with straw sandals all year round. Mr. Shi often squinted at passersby, his face expressionless. When someone sought divination, he might use three copper coins to predict auspiciousness or inauspiciousness. His divination was fairly efficacious. Actually, Mr. Shi was just an ordinary person who had also to eat food and could fall ill just like everyone else. Every day, he saw people come and go along the road; saw the prosperity and decline of families in the town; saw births and deaths, ups and downs ... After seeing so many worldly things for sucha long time, he had become accustomed to them and understood them fully. The maidenhair tree behind Mr. Shi had grown for many years. It was said that Shennong (Holy Farmer, a legendary figure in Chinese mythology), at his convenience, had discarded several seeds which grew into trees. The trees huddled together and gradually grew into one, with luxuriant foliage in the middle and several claw-shaped branches at the top, seeming to reach for the clouds in the blue sky. The tree's roots formed a large hollow. In winter, it could accommodate seven or eight beggars. Passersby could climb into the hollow to take shelter from the rain. In the hollow, there was an old snake as thick as the mouth of a bowl which used to appear around the time of the Dragon Boat Festival every year, but had disappeared in recent years. Some guessed that it died of old age, so they went into the hollow to search for the snakeskin to make a Huqin (a two-stringed bowed instrument). However, the snake was eventually found on the rafter edge of Ran's Opium House, where it hid smoking. Addicted to opium, the snake no longer returned to the tree hollow. Once it yawned on the roof girder and blew some ash down on Mr. Ran's forehead. He looked up and saw its large, fierce-looking mouth. He was so scared that he fell his entire length. When he woke up, the beast had vanished from sight.
When the clamorous townsfolk gathered at Mr. Shi's stall, he was drinking a mug of Eagle tea. As the folks urgently clamored for an answer, Mr. Shi stopped drinking tea and stroked his white beard, saying, "It may be hundreds of years old at least, or even thousands ... " Dissatisfied with his answer, the folks insisted on tracing the matter to the source. Mr. Shi tilted his head backward and said, "We are the subjects of the State of Ba. Five thousand years ago, we were called 'Salt Birds,' specializing in transporting and selling salt for the 'State of Wuxian.' Later, our ancestors manufactured big casks to separate salt from the river. Then they dug wells in counties such as Yangxi, Yunyang, Pengxi, Quren and Zhongxian. A long salt transportation passage existed among the lofty mountains and high ranges of Hunan, Hubei and Shaanxi provinces for a long time. The Ba people transported salt to Hanzhong, Hunan, Hubei, Sichuan ... A stone on this road is old enough to be your ancestor!" Narrowing his eyes, Mr. Shi immersed himself in his tea again. The folks competed to grab the mug and refill it for him.
After being refilled with water, the tea tasted much lighter. Mr. Shi sipped it, then pushed the mug aside and continued his storytelling. "After the policy of replacing native chieftain with imperial administration during the reign of Emperor Yongzheng in Qing dynasty, commercial trade became active, and private salt started spreading. A large quantity of Sichuan salt was sold among the people. During the reign of Emperor Xianfeng, the Qing government implemented the policy of 'Selling Sichuan salt to Chu.' Thus, the salt merchants of Sichuan became busy. When the Japanese enemy came, the Kuomintang government implemented the policy of 'Selling Sichuan salt to Chu' once again. Porters came and went like lines of ants. How could the mountains and plains within the scope of hundreds of miles obtain any peace? Even the sparrows' tune was influenced with vulgar remark!" As he was speaking, a yellow sparrow flew overhead and its droppings fell into his tea mug.
Mr. Shi did not exaggerate the facts. Though Meizi Town was hidden in the depths of the Daba Mountains, it was the only way for the people of Hunan and Hubei to leave Sichuan and go west. In Meizi Town, the stove fires of each household were never extinguished, and pedestrians walked along the road in an endless stream all year round. Despite its location in the mountains, Meizi was a water wharf. The winding Meizi River flowed from the foot of Qiyue Mountain and made a bend outside the town, forming a mirror-like lake. The townsfolk all knew that the river bend was a little supernatural. If three pieces of cloth (black, white and blue respectively) appeared at the center of the water's surface, it meant that someone in the town would die. Therefore, at dusk, the folks would come to the river bend in a group. The flatland that the Meizi River flowed through was called "Yinziba," and it produced rice.
In Meizi Town, people lived by running shops, making handicrafts, planting crops, hunting, fishing and other ways, but most of them worked as porters. Forced by his mother, Mendou became a porter when he was sixteen because he had hidden on the rafter edge of the Royal Altar in Fuyuan Hall to peek at Magpie Hua's bare buttocks!
Mendou was surnamed Wu. His full name was Wu Shunzi. He was the son of Yang Qingping, the owner of a pickle store. Before he was born, his father went missing on the Salt Road. His father had been a team leader of Jian's Salt Firm, clever and skilled at kung fu. He often led a group of men to transport goods along the Salt Road, and the bandits dared not rob him. Less than one year after he got married, he heard about a profitable deal in Yunyang. He raised money to go out and never came back. Heavily pregnant, Yang Qingping looked for him along the Salt Road. However, like a dewdrop in the dog days, her husband had evaporated without a trace. Over a decade, she had been selling pickles at the door, her eyes eagerly fixed on the street crossing, thinking, "Heartless guy, won't you come back?"
In the spring of the 28th year of the Republic of China, Magpie Hua's buttocks were lashed in Fuyuan Hall.
It was rainy in Meizi in the spring. Most of the colors of the season were gently covered with misty rain, preventing the uncouth touch of passersby. The Spring Sacrifice drew closer, but the weather did not clear up. The abacus sound of Jian's Salt Firm was more pressing than the wind and rain outside. Mr. Jian always led his employees to take inventory at the counter when there were few customers. Mr. Jian's newly married wife Magpie Hua was only eighteen. After seeing them taking inventory from the stilted building, she hurriedly slipped out the back door holding an oil-paper umbrella, and rushed to Lower Street to meet her lover.
The oil-paper umbrella bloomed like a poppy on the riverbank, with embroidered shoes dancing, green silk pants swaying, and water drops dripping from the tips of green grass. The charming lady vivified the scenery along the river! Even the old dog of Fairy Fate Inn was fascinated by the scenery. He obsessively sniffed for a hint of fragrance.
The yellow dog followed Magpie Hua to two secluded thatched huts on Lower Street. Looking like two slanting fuzzballs, the two huts had been deserted by Mo Laojun. Magpie Hua squeezed through the door, and so did the dog. Suddenly, he was hit by a stick. Howling with pain, the dog ran away.
Magpie Hua threw her umbrella in the corner of the room. Staring at the handsome face in the dimness, she said, "Let's run away!" With no expression, the man fondled her body with his flexible fingers.
The man holding Magpie Hua in his arms was Yu Xiaoyong, the private tutor of the Jian family. Living near each other, they had pledged to marry without the permission of their parents. However, Matchmaker Xia placed an obstacle in their path and managed to match her with the widower Mr. Jian. Lured by the two baskets of salt that Mr. Jian sent, Magpie Hua's father forced her to sit in the bridal sedan chair and marry Mr. Jian! He was older than her father, and had married three wives successively. At their wedding, the street was filled with onlookers who wanted to see whether her beauty was worthy of the two baskets of salt. All the people who saw her said, "She is worthy! She's even worthy of more salt!" Since his wedding day, Mr. Jian's ugly face had been wreathed with smiles.
Reluctant to leave his lover who had become another man's wife, Yu Xiaoyong came to Meizi Town. He became the private tutor of the Jian family, teaching Mr. Jian's only daughter Xuetao how to read. Xuetao was on good terms with her stepmother Magpie Hua. They stayed together intimately all day. Thus, Yu Xiaoyong and Magpie Hua seized the chance to carry on a clandestine love affair.
It rained cats and dogs outside the huts, and the street was misty. The hustle and bustle of the street was overwhelmed by raindrops. Various shop signs swayed wildly in the wind and rain. God blessed the lovers! Under the cover of the heavy rain, they slept with each other on the floor among the corn husks.
Afterwards, the rain stopped, the mist dispersed and the gentle Meizi River suddenly became choppy. The wild ducks that had drifted apart reunited, flowing downstream along the rapids; impatient pedestrians walked down the street ... Yu Xiaoyong brushed the corn silk out of her hair, saying, "Go back. The old man is about to go upstairs!" Magpie Hua caught hold of the hem of his clothes, unwilling to let him go. "Let's run away!" she urged. Yu Xiaoyong pushed her out of the door without a word.
"As soon as I get to the point, you become mute!" she said, displeased, and stepped through the back door. She hated the Salt Firm, hated Mr. Jian's saggy face, his yellow teeth, his purulent sputum, his carnal abuse at night ... As a kingfisher fluffed out its feathers in a tree, ice-cold water droplets spattered her face and rolled down her neck. It was so cold! Moreover, there were numerous eyes on the stilted building! Looking up, the distant mountains were enveloped by a mass of dense mist, and she could not see them clearly. Shivering with cold, she stumbled back to the Salt Firm. Yu Xiaoyong appeared to be carefree. He went to the Badong Temple at a leisurely pace, borrowed a Buddhist scripture from a monk, then swaggered back with the book under his arm.
In fact, a pair of eyes behind the stilted building had witnessed the scene, and their owner had immediately run to Fuyuan Hall and described it to Jiangsheng with excited gestures. That night, a meeting was held in Fuyuan Hall. They decided to hold a sacrificial ceremony at the Royal Altar at dawn three days later, praying to the deity to descend to the world and punish the sinner.
It rained unceasingly that spring in Meizi Town, as though there were a leak in the sky. The innkeeper, however, was glad to see the rain. In his view, the rain brought money to his inn. He received his guests with hospitality. However, the passersby were racked with anxiety. They were so impatient that they decided to beguile the time by doing something. Thus, gambling, singing, drum playing and more sprung up, seeming to overturn the roof of the inn.
Luozi came. Wearing a bamboo hat, he waded through the water like a female duck. On his way to Fairy Fate Inn to gamble, he walked by the Pickle Store. There, he saw a bowl of orange pickled turnips covered with a piece of white gauze on the long table at the door. "As there's no one minding the store, let me eat some pickles first!" he said, and strode towards the table.
Mendou was peeing on a yellow-leaved plant at the corner of Butcher Huang's stall. The busier his mother was, the more chances he would have to run about. He was tall and grew fast. The grey shirt that fit him well last year appeared a little shorter now. Wearing the shirt, he looked like a rice dumpling loosely wrapped with leaves, exposing some of the sticky rice inside. He was so stubborn and obstreperous that all the folks on the street called him "Idiot!" They said, "Yang Qingping is such a good woman. Why did she bring up such a son?" When he finished peeing, he saw a blooming peony bud at the door of Carpenter Wang. He blew his nose into his hand and threw the snot heavily upon the bud, which immediately drooped like someone caught doing something wrong. The scene amused him, so he nipped off the bud, crumpled it into a ball and threw it away. When he raised his head, he saw a guy standing at his door. "Damn it! Luozi is stealing pickled turnips!" he cried. Grabbing the bamboo rod that Butcher Huang used to support the shop sign, he rushed towards Luozi. After swallowing a mouthful of turnips, Luozi took to his heels. Running through the streets, the two guys knocked over the Luo family's basket of dried bean curd on Zhuanzhuan Street, and brought down the white valance at the door of Doctor Man in Water Alley ... Luozi intended to hide in the hole of the maidenhair tree, but he knocked over Mr. Shi's fortune-telling stall. For fear of being scolded by Mr. Shi, he ran to the bank of the Meizi River. "Gosh!" he thought, "I have nowhere to go!"
Mendou hit Luozi's heels with a rod. Dragging his sore feet, Luozi quickly threw half a turnip. The turnip fell onto the ground and became stained with a layer of mud. Mendou picked up a stone and held it overhead, assuming a fighting posture.
Luozi yelled at him, "Do you want to see Magpie Hua's bare buttocks?"
Following Luozi's pointing finger, Mendou saw Magpie Hua. Wearing a bamboo hat with a wooden washtub under her arm and a laundry-beating rod, she walked down from the stilted building of Jian's Salt Firm, waddled to the riverside, then started to beat her laundry against a big rock by the river. She stuck her buttocks high up in the air, her upper body close to the river. Her pink blouse covered up her slender waist but could not conceal her buttocks, which were even more dazzling than the pear flowers on the bank! They gazed at her with greedy eyes. Sensing their peeping, she hastily covered up her exposed flesh.
Disappointed, Mendou yelled at Luozi, "There's nothing to see here. Is it possible that you can see through her clothes?"
Tapping his head with one hand, Luozi waved mysteriously at him and replied, "Not now, but tomorrow morning! Go to the Royal Altar of Fuyuan Hall tomorrow at dawn and lie on the rafter edge. I'm sure you'll see Magpie Hua's buttocks!"
"Bullshit!" Mendou retorted, "the Royal Altar is the place for worshipping deities. Who dares go there?"
Luozi took a stride closer. "She's sleeping with the private tutor of the Jian family. Someone told the chief of Fuyuan Hall, who plans to pray to the immortal to lash her buttocks… The doorman of Fuyuan Hall is my friend. I'll ask him to open the door for you tonight ... "
That night, Mendou was eager to go to Fuyuan Hall, but Yang Qingping never went to bed early. She filled up two big jars with finished pickles, then carried a bucket of clean water to wash the edges of the jars. She was busy with a houseful of jars all year round, filling them up with pickles to sell… With something to do, she could distract her attention from worrisome thoughts. Living like a widow, she had become downhearted. After cleaning the edges of the jars, Qingping peeled a basket of turnips and threw them into a wooden basin one by one.
Unable to go out through the door, Mendou used a stool to climb out of the window, then rushed to Fuyuan Hall.
Fuyuan Hall was located behind Lord Guan Temple, with a number of yards surrounded by 10-foot-tall stone walls, and ancient trees with stretching canopies blocking out much of the sunshine. The majestic stone gate was often guarded. Only members of the Hall were admitted. Badong Temple was for worshipping the Buddha, Lord Guan Temple was for worshipping Guan Yu, and Fuyuan Hall was for Confucianism and worshipping local sages and saints. Fuyuan Hall often held sacrificial activities, including sacrifices, calamity investigations, ghost hunting… The person in charge of Fuyuan Hall was called "Zhulisheng" (Ritual Master). Subordinate to him, there were Jiangsheng, Jiaosheng, Gongseng ... They were responsible for the affairs of the altar.
Mendou groped his way to the side entrance under an old cassia tree. The door opened with a gentle push. A dim lantern in a distant corner and a far-reaching, winding corridor came into his sight. Taking off his shoes, he ran barefoot across the empty yard. After passing through the yard, crossing a threshold covered in a layer of iron and going upstairs, he came to another yard through another winding corridor. Raising his head and seeing some light leaking from the tall building opposite, he arrived at the Royal Altar. According to Luozi's suggestion, Mendou went in through the eastern room. After going upstairs, he gingerly climbed up the Royal Altar.
The smell of joss paper and candles assailed his nostrils. He covered his nose, not daring to make any sound. A tung oil lamp was lit. As there was no wind, the smoke rose directly up to the roof. Feeling a chill running down his back, he clenched his teeth, clambered onto the table and climbed upwards along the rafter edge. With one bound, he hid behind a fan-shaped engraved board.
He dozed off until the wee hours. With the door ajar, a cold wind entered and blew out the tung oil lamp. In the first gray daylight, a graceful figure came in. It was indeed Magpie Hua!
She knelt down before the Royal Altar. A voice came from the curtain, "Magpie Hua, we have summoned you to the Royal Altar. Do you admit your guilt?" The voice was frightening, as though it were squeezed out from the throat. Before she could reply, the voice added, "You fornicated with the private tutor and violated the rules of Fuyuan Hall. I will punish you on behalf of the deity! Your palms and buttocks must be whipped 50 times each."
A bamboo stick lashed out from a bamboo tube on the altar, whipping Magpie Hua's palms. When the stick was withdrawn, her palms were swollen. The voice added, "Take off your trousers!" As she untied her belt, her trousers fell down to her knees. She lay prone on a coir mat in a panic.
Holding his breath, Mendou looked down. In his eyes, what he saw was not her butt, but a "full moon" which floated in a deep well, sending out a ray of soft white light. Bang! A batten from the ceiling came down and whipped her butt incessantly. The "moon" faded and darkened, from white to red, from red to purple ... Mendou's heart tightened. He unconsciously opened his mouth, and his saliva dripped down into Magpie Hua's messy hair.
Finally, it was time for the roosters to crow. Magpie Hua got up, hastily fastened her belt, stumbled downstairs and left Fuyuan Hall. For Mendou, when she was gone, the whole of Fuyuan Hall became empty. Climbing down from the rafter edge, he walked to the gate. Suddenly, the Royal Altar behind him became ablaze with lights. Daring not to turn around, he fled as though he had encountered a ghost. However, he carelessly struck his head against the stone gate of Fuyuan Hall. Bang! The bell of Badong Temple pealed.
Badong Temple was located on the hillside in the west of the town. The peal haunted the blue ridges and carved eaves of the roof. Next, the drum of Lord Guan Temple sounded. Lord Guan Temple was located in the middle of the town. There was an open courtyard in front of the temple, surrounded by bluestone walls. The drum was located in the room facing east, where it occupied almost half the room.
"Hot rice cakes! After eating one, you'll have enough energy to climb Cool Breeze Cliff!" cried Xiao Laoqi. He was the first to open for business in Meizi Town every day. He always placed a basket of hot rice cakes at his door before the earliest batch of guests passed by. All the people on the street knew that his rice cakes were amazing. The fist-sized rice cakes were fluffy. Even after being crumpled in one's hand, they would quickly recover their original shape.
Xianyuan Inn was the noisiest place in town. With the door cracked open, the innkeeper's wife spat out a string of expletives which could be heard clear down the street. Standing at the door of a guest room with disheveled hair, she boxed every lodger's ears, trying to dispel the smells of tobacco, sweat and farts from a dozen men ... After her shouting, the floor of the guest room containing only one wide bed started shaking violently. "Landlady, give me a basin of cold water. My penis is restless!" The innkeeper was surnamed Hu, and his wife was dubbed "Pepper Hu.' She was good at dealing with all sorts of people. No matter how serious a matter was, it could be settled by her mediation. She had the ability to reduce a big problem into a small one and a small one into nothing. Pepper was not medicine, but it allowed you to enjoy peace of mind.
Mendou was in no mood to return home. His mind was haunted by the sound of whipping. He felt as though the person subjected to whipping had not been Magpie Hua, but his sweetheart! "Didn't Mom say she would save some money for me to take a wife?" he thought. "I want to marry a girl like Magpie Hua. And then I'd watch her day and night. Would she dare cuckold me?" Absent-minded, Mendou arrived at Jian's Salt Firm and saw Magpie Hua slip in through the back door. The door cracked open like the building heaving a sigh, then closed. "Oh no, she's fallen into an abyss!" he thought. He climbed up the wall. The crabapple flowers were blooming in the corner while the red camellia petals were falling on the lawn, where they would turn yellow when they withered. "Where is Mr. Jian?" he wondered. "Is he still asleep? If he knows about this, he might beat Magpie Hua black and blue, or even beat her to death!" As he was thus flustered, his mother's shout of anger reached his ears through the morning fog.
Mendou hurriedly ran back home. His mother scolded him to his face, "Where did you go?"
"Luozi told me to go and see Magpie Hua's buttocks at the Royal Altar ... "
Qingping was almost choked with anger. "How dare you peek at the sacrificial activity of the Royal Altar?" she yelled, pointing at her son's nose. "After the Spring Sacrifice, you will go and join the porters! I would rather have you die on the Salt Road than let you hang around with Luozi and become a person hated by everyone!"
Qingping left her frightened son at home and went out into the street in a huff. The yellow dog was annoying. It chased a spotted hen along the ground, kicking up dust into her face. Irritated, she rubbed her eyes and cursed to the street, "Heartless guy, you vanished without saying a word, leaving me to bring up our son alone!" Rubbing as she cursed, she wept with sorrow and her hands became wet with tears. She wiped them on the hem of her blouse.
While she was still upset, someone touched the basket on her back and it made several chinking sounds. Looking over her shoulder, she saw the Bunker Street merchant Cheng Laowu passing by. He touched her basket with his shoulder, and silver coins shone in the basket. She tried to catch up with him to remind him that the money should not be manifested, but he disappeared in a moment.
Mendou stood single-mindedly still in the room. He saw his mother come back with a basket of vegetables and rest in the courtyard while wiping her sweat. He glared at her. Showing no weakness, Qingping stared back at him with dagger-piercing eyes. At that moment, someone knocked at the back door.
As soon as Mendou opened the door, a man rushed inside. Qingping recognized him as Cheng Laowu.
"Madam, please don't tell anyone I'm here," he said. "The township militiamen are searching for me. They're looting the belongings of merchants on the pretext of searching for opium ... " In fact, several days ago, they had heard on Liangtianzi Street that the new Township Mayor Hu Bicheng had employed a group of subordinates to loot the belongings of merchants while pretending to search for opium.
Before they pondered over the matter, the back door became noisy. "Open up! Open up!" many people shouted while pounding on the door. Qingping asked Mendou to take Cheng Laowu into the kitchen and hide him in the sweet potato cellar. Bang! The door was smashed in.
Losing her temper, Qingping cried, "What are you doing? Are you about to loot my house in broad daylight?"
A group of township militiamen came in with swords and sticks in their hands. "Did a man enter your house just now?" one asked. Giving no reply, Qingping quickly walked out into the street and cried, "Bandits! They not only smashed my back door, they slandered me as well!"
With a loud shout, the street was filled with people swarming out to see what had happened. Qingping tipped Mendou a wink. He gave himself a punch in the nose, and blood gushed out at once. "Help! Township militiamen are in my house trying to kill me!" he yelled.
Their neighbors came into the room in swarms and seized the township militiamen who were rummaging through the chests and cupboards. When a township militiaman was about to open the sweet potato cellar, Xiao Laoqi and Mr. Hu caught him and dragged him into the street to reason with him. Qingping and weeping Mendou walked towards Middle Street.
The residence of Mayor Hu Bicheng was located in Lichuan County. He came to Meizi Town for his position but he disliked the poor living conditions of the township, so he chose to live in his uncle's house. His uncle ran a silk store on Middle Street. There was a spacious courtyard behind the store. Hu Bicheng lived in a room on the second floor by the river.
As he was sitting in a rocking chair, drinking tea, the noise in the street reached his ears. The corpulent man walked out of his room and went down the stairs like a rolling ball. As he rounded the corner, a pretty woman leading a boy with blood all over his face stopped him.
"Mayor Hu, did my son and I offend you?" Qingping asked. "Why did you send a group of men to our house and let them beat my son half to death?"
Hu Bicheng thought to himself, "Such a waste! Didn't I order them to catch the merchant from Bunker Street? Why did they burst into the Pickle Store? Eh, I've been in Meizi Town for some days, why didn't I notice this woman before? Bright eyes, graceful eyebrows, a nice figure and a fair face! Her skin is as tender as tofu! Her fingers are long and thin. If I have the chance to stroke them, it'll be exciting!'
Gawking at her, Hu Bicheng stood still for a long while. Dragging a township militiaman, Xiao Laoqi came up with enough people to fill the street. Hu Bicheng slapped the township militiaman and scolded him, "Are you blind? The people in the Pickle Store are law-abiding citizens. They won't harbor any opium dealer! Hurry up and search elsewhere!"
Following this, the crowd gradually dispersed. Qingping walked back in a huff, holding Mendou's hand. The township militiamen stopped searching the street after a while.
Qingping asked Cheng Laowu to come out of the sweet potato cellar. Still in great fright, he swallowed down a bowl of scalding hot sticky rice porridge.
"Madam, trust me. I've never sold any opium ... " he croaked.
Seeing his pitiable expression, Qingping said, "If you had ever done anything evil, I would have wished for you to be punished by God, and I would not have helped you."
Upon hearing this, Cheng Laowu stood up and made ready to kowtow to Qingping, saying, "If I had been arrested by them, I would have not only lost my money, but also my life. I have a pregnant wife who is about to give birth in a few days…"
Qingping stopped him and said, "I'll prepare some fried rice for you, and give you several lanterns. Hurry and go back when night falls!"
She then began kneading dough, making a fire and steaming rice. Sparks from the fire leapt from the stove like fireworks on a festival day, creating a heartwarming atmosphere. Cheng Laowu grabbed a handful of silver coins.
"Madam, please accept this as an honorarium. Thank you for saving my life!"
Qingping became sullen. "If you give me this, I'll open the door and drive you away!"
Cheng Laowu withdrew the silver coins. "My house is located under the yellow fruit tree behind Bunker Street. If you pass by someday, please come in and have some tea!"
As night fell, Qingping asked Mendou to see Cheng Laowu off. Mendou accompanied him to the Salt Road. When Cheng Laowu was about to wave goodbye to him, he was heavily punched in the nose.
"Why did you hit me?" Cheng Laowu asked.
"In the future, no matter what trouble you get into, don't run into a widow's house!"
With no intention to argue, Cheng Laowu just nodded his assent. Mendou kicked his ass and said, "Leave quickly, or the township militiamen will come!"
Regardless of the dirt all over his clothes, Cheng Laowu got up and took to his heels. Mendou found it interesting to see the thin man run away and disappear into the shadows of the tung trees. He roared with laughter in the dark. When he walked back, it was completely dark. The light of the lanterns hanging on the stilted building shone on the river. The cold river appeared to be warm, flowing benevolently. The town looked like a painting covered with dust, antique and mysterious. The Lyu family's hound Laoba kept barking, seeming to have been disturbed by the township militiamen. "Luckily, no one chased him on the Salt Road," Mendou thought. "I successfully completed the task! After a day of fear, Mom ought to have calmed down. Be a porter? No way. Doesn't she know the Salt Road is the Gate of Hell?'
However, Mendou was dumbfounded when he returned home. His mother put a pair of baskets which his father had used on the floor, and shook the dust from them. She then took a shoulder-pole made of mulberry wood from behind the door, and placed all these things in the center of the room.
