Chapter 112: The Arduous Path of Pioneering

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Wang Ge was indeed certain that Third Uncle would ask A-Peng for those hundred-odd coins, just as, when Wang Nanxing was little in her previous life, her mother would always coax away the New Year’s money relatives gave her, using one excuse or another. Before she turned five, not once did Wang Nanxing’s New Year’s money spend an entire night beneath her pillow.

So when A-Peng said, “Father smiled at me—he was smiling so happily that it frightened me,” Wang Ge had not imagined anything so serious. Her mind had even conjured up the smile her mother wore when taking away her New Year’s money—a transparently false smile.

But after hearing A-Peng out, the image of her mother faded from Wang Ge’s mind. Wang Sanlang was not fit to be compared with her! He had no intention of keeping A-Peng, only the money. Money was all he had in his eyes and all he held in his heart!

He knew perfectly well that someone had already drowned in that well, yet he still meant to send A-Peng to the widower’s house and have Wang Zhu, that little wretch, watch over him. What a selfish, cold-blooded, greedy beast. Love of money was human nature; loving money so much that one forgot all family feeling was depravity.

When dealing with a vile person, reason was all that was needed. Wang Ge said, “In our family, when honoring your elders, of course you honor your grandparents first, and your father after that. What sense is there in giving the money to your grandparents and then asking for it back to give to your father? Wouldn’t that make your father seem unfilial?”

“Yes.”

Only then did Old Master Wang understand that Sanlang had summoned A-Peng in order to demand those hundred-odd coins. The old man shook his head, already so disappointed that he could not even be bothered to grow angry.

Wang Ge said, “That is why I reminded you from the beginning, little cousin. I was afraid your father might lose his senses again and do something that would make others accuse him of being unfilial.”

Wang Peng considered her words. Once he understood, he nodded. “Thank you, Cousin.”

“It is the same with the money as it is with moving to Reed Pavilion. You have never been there. It is far harsher than our village. At first there was only a wooden shelter. It was Pavilion Head Huan who spent his own money to hire people to put up three thatched huts in time for the New Year. Around the pavilion… there is a marsh of reeds on one side, and thorn bushes and wild grass on the other three. After you move there, you will have to help your grandparents clear the land. You must pull out the thorny vines and brambles. Like the wild grass, they sink their roots deep into the earth. If you do not remove them completely, they will quickly come back to life and compete with the crops for space. Yet even after clearing the land and turning the soil over again and again, there is no guarantee the seedlings will take root. If you stay in the village, who will help your grandparents from the third branch? Who will honor them?”

By then, not only Wang Peng but Wang Shu and Little Tiger as well were staring in astonishment. Ah-Shu hurriedly asked, “If nothing grows, won’t all that work have been for nothing?”

“Of course it will have been for nothing,” Granny Jia said. “That is what clearing wild land means. You children are too young to know how difficult it is. The wastelands and grasslands you see now were all cleared long ago. When I fled here in those days, I was much younger than your grandfather. The village was covered in wild vines and brambles. The places with fewer thorns, the places close to the people, and the land near the riverbank had long since been claimed by Landlord Jia’s family and by the households who had fled here before us.

“But Old Grandfather Jia truly was kindhearted. He pitied helpless widows and orphans like us, so he built us a thatched shed and extended us one meal’s worth of grain on credit every day. At the very least, he would not let us freeze or starve to death. In any case, I had no name or family, so when the village clerk came to register us, I simply said that my surname was Jia too.”

Old Master Wang and Eldest Brother both laughed.

“What?” Wang Ge and the others covered their mouths and cried out in surprise. They had never imagined that their grandmother had made up her own surname.

Granny Jia clicked her tongue. “What of it? Who knows whether your grandfather’s surname is truly Wang or merely Wang?”

Old Master Wang said, “Do not speak nonsense in front of the children.”

Wang Ge and the others exchanged glances. Why did it sound as though Grandfather’s rebuttal lacked confidence?

“When your grandfather fled here, there was another household traveling with him,” Granny Jia continued. “The man of that family was your grandfather’s sworn brother. He was a fine man, but hot-tempered and unwilling to listen to advice. He thought the land here was too poor, so he continued onward…”

At that, she sighed.

Old Master Wang gave a low grunt and took up the story. “I did not go with them. Then I regretted it and went after them. In the end, I found only their remains scattered across the ground. His entire family had been eaten by wild beasts. So I came back.”

Ah…

Wang Shu, Wang Peng, and Little Tiger were all so frightened that they pressed close against Wang Ge.

“Back then, clearing the land required more than strength. You also had to fight the wild beasts. Landlord Jia had a large clan, and thanks to them hunting the beasts around the village, they managed, little by little, to carve several paths for gathering timber through the wilderness. It was no easy thing! Later, the village gradually became safe, and poor people like us settled around the Jia family’s ancestral land. Even the two wells to the north and west of the village were dug with money from the Jia family.”

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Old Master Wang said, “The Reed Pavilion of today is just like Jia She Village was in those days, except that there are fewer wild beasts. After clearing the land, you plant vegetables and grain year after year. Whatever will grow, you plant; whatever grows, you eat. If there is no harvest, you exchange for grain seeds and vegetable seedlings and keep planting.”

Wang Ge said miserably, “So this is what clearing wild land really means. Grandfather, Grandmother, I… I will return to South Mountain a month later. I want to go with you…”

“Foolish nonsense!”

Old Master Wang’s shout jolted little Ai awake. Half-asleep, she whimpered as though about to cry, and Eldest Brother Wang hurried to soothe her.

Lowering his voice, Old Master Wang picked up the broom and pointed it at Wang Ge. “Say that foolish thing again and I’ll have your grandmother beat you. Do you think a place as fine as South Mountain is somewhere you can go whenever you please, or refuse to go whenever you wish? Has the county magistrate given you special treatment? Or is the great Xie clan begging you to come? A master artisan is still an artisan. Do you think the artisan workshop cannot function without you? And now you say you will return a month late? With your little bit of strength, you could not clear even two acres in a whole year at Reed Pavilion!”

The old man’s voice rose higher and higher as he spoke. With no alternative, Eldest Brother Wang picked up Wang Ai and rocked her in his arms.

Wang Ge hung her head, chastised and in tears.

Little Tiger and the others began to cry as well. “Elder Sister, go study without worry. I’m five now and full of strength. I can recite my lessons while pulling weeds.”

Wang Peng said, “I’m six. I have even more strength. Sob… I refuse to stay home. I want to honor Grandfather and Grandmother and clear the land with them. The more I do, the less they will have to do.”

Wang Shu sniffled. “Me too.”

“That is nonsense too!” Old Master Wang pointed his little broom at Little Tiger. His heart felt comforted, yet he was also deeply afraid that Little Tiger might truly neglect his studies because of the land-clearing.

Little Tiger wiped away his tears and stood up. While spreading out the bedding where his grandparents would sleep, he softly recited, “In ancient times, during the reign of Emperor Yao, his wisdom, understanding, and literary gifts illuminated the whole world. He was about to relinquish the throne and yield it to Shun, so he composed the Canon of Yao…”

“‘He greeted the rising sun and set in order the labors of spring in the East…’”

After finishing the bedding, the little fellow poured water for his father and carried it over, his small mouth never stopping.

“‘Fang Qi said…’”

“‘Huan Dou said…’”

“‘Yue said…’”

He picked up his grandmother’s needle and combed it through his own hair several times, still reciting without pause.

“‘The Emperor said…’”

Then he carefully added oil to the two lamps.

“‘Make the obscure and lowly shine forth…’”

Finally, he came behind Old Master Wang, moved the broom aside, and began massaging the old man’s shoulders.

“‘Be cautious in observing the five relations; then the five relations will be followed… Shun yielded the virtue to another and did not succeed to the throne.’”

Old Master Wang could not understand a word, but he loved listening all the same. He understood what his grandson meant and grinned so broadly that his teeth showed.

“Grandfather, see? My work does not interfere with my recitation, does it?”

“It does not, it does not.”

Old Master Wang drew his grandson into his arms. He looked around at all his granddaughters and grandsons, his heart surging with emotion.

“Every one of you will make something of yourselves. Our Wang family will surely prosper because of you. Ah-Shu, practice your craft diligently. This May, have your father take you to the district to sit for the artisan examination.”

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“What?” Wang Shu immediately asked Wang Ge, “Cousin, can I really do it?”

“Why not? Have you forgotten what Grandfather said yesterday? If you do not try, how will you know you cannot?”

“Well said!” Old Master Wang’s shout woke little Ai completely.

“Hee-hee, Uncle.”

She felt around for the stubble on her uncle’s chin, then laughed when her palm began to itch.

Eldest Brother Wang laughed in exasperation and set her down. “All right, stop fooling around with Uncle. Go play for a while.”

Once the hour of midnight had passed, the New Year was considered over.

The moon was round and bright, shining over the ground in front of the widower’s house until it looked as though a layer of frost had fallen. Wang Zhu sat on the rim of the well, kicking his legs against the stone wall again and again.

Ever since Jia Qin’s accident, the well had been covered at night with a thick stone slab, so there was no longer any need to fear while sitting there. He looked toward the withered tree and seemed to see Jia Qin beneath it once more, shivering in the cold and clutching his old bamboo slips, their hemp binding frayed and coming loose.

Wang Zhu imitated Jia Qin’s voice. “Little Brother Zhu, actually, we are fellow sufferers.”

He immediately answered the imaginary Jia Qin. “I’m not sick. You are the one to pity. Your mother has a lover—I saw him. He limped when he walked, and your mother was delighted to see him. He even said he had once given your mother a pair of belt hooks. Your mother said she had hidden them very well, and had not even told you, her own son.”

“Jia Qin” sneered, “It is the Lantern Festival, yet your father has not even come to see you.”

Wang Zhu replied, “You are no better. You will be with your father forever.”

“Jia Qin” flew into a rage, and the shadowy figure vanished.

Wang Zhu was pleased with himself.

At that moment, the widower called from inside the house, “Ah-Zhu, it is cold outside. Come back quickly.”

Wang Zhu shifted his buttocks, let out a fart, and sneered coldly at the mouth of the well. “I’ll send you on your way.”

Then he pushed open the door and went inside.

End of Chapter