Chapter 7

The high-speed rail station in the imperial capital was tall, grand and majestic. Yunyu’s high-speed rail was at 6:30 and there were many people in the station. She entered the station according to the procedures and memory, and did not breathe a sigh of relief until she sat down. Though she was a noble princess, the two worlds were too far apart (T/N: I think the author meant she had seen many great and majestic things). These modern times made her always in a dazed and feeling surreal.

She bought a second-class seat, and the environment is good.

Yunyu’s hometown was a small town in a third or fourth-tiered city in a large province in China. In Hexian Town, Changshui City, there were many villages in this town. Such a small town also raised about 200,000 to 300,000 people. There were many small towns like these in China (T/N: Basically the structure is as such – In China there are many provinces. Within the province there are cities (i.e. Changshui City). Within the city, there are towns (i.e. Hexian Town) and within the town, there are villages (ie Heqing Village, Yunyu’s hometown)). When she was a child, the town was still a little poor. Now, the economy had developed and the roads had been repaired. Every household had basically built beautiful villas, only her family still had the original small one-story house.

Yunyu’s mother, Feng Xiuzhen, broke her left leg due to depression after her divorce. After a year of physiotherapy, she still had to take care of the elderly and children in the family. Hence, she was unable to work. She relied on the family’s 10 acres of farmland to raise the three children. After Yunyu’s sister, Yunlan graduated from high school, seeing that her mother was working very hard, she decided not to go to college, and went to work to earn tuition for her younger siblings. Yunyu’s university tuition, as well as Yunsheng’s high school tuition fees were paid by Yunlan.

The person that Yunyu admired and owed the most to was this sister of hers.

It was also because of this that she was anxious as she could not find a job and felt guilty because she did not want to find a job in the media industry. She was, after all, a college student that Yunlan had worked to nurture.

Yunyu leaned against the seat, feeling complicated and a little dazed and scared. She was actually a little afraid to go home and face the Yun family.

Changshui City was seven or eight hundred kilometers away from the imperial capital. It took about four hours by high-speed rail and one hour by bus to reach Hexian Town.

There were also several large and small villages in Hexian Town, but everyone directly claimed that they were from Hexian Town.

At 10:30 am, the high-speed rail arrived at the station. Yunyu left the station and instantly noticed the difference between Changshui City and the Imperial Capital. There was no such prosperous and shocking feeling, but the overall feeling of Changshui City was clean, with blue sky and air. Fresh, because there are many mountains and lakes around Changshui City. The environment was good.

Yunyu dragged her suitcase to transfer to the bus, and it was almost half past twelve when she arrived at Hexian Town.

The road was well designed with beautiful villas by the side of the road. Her house was not on the main street, and it took almost half an hour to walk home. There were also villas in front of and behind her house, but there were still some bungalows, like her family’s, that were from ten years ago in the neighbourhood. The design of the bungalows were such that the main house faced south and to the left and right side of the house were the kitchen and store room. As her family was a large one, the left side was made into the kitchen and store room while the two rooms on the right belonged to Yunyu and YunSheng’s (T/N: Yunyu’s brother). The bungalow was a courtyard- style bungalow with a large courtyard in the middle.

Courtyard-style Bungalows

(T/N: I think the lower left one is a bit too big for what Yunyu’s family would have owned, but you get the jist)

This house was originally built by Yun Maosheng (T/N: Yunyu’s father). At that time, he had a high salary working in the urban area. He had asked someone to design it.

It used large bricks and cobblestones in the yard.

[T/N: The authour used 用的是大青砖，青砖瓦房，院子里铺着鹅卵石 Yòng de shì dà qīng zhuān, qīng zhuān wǎ fáng, yuànzi lǐ pùzhe éluǎnshí – basically it means using bricks (1st row), a blue brick tiled house (2nd row) with cobblestones in the yard (3rd row)].

It was just that many years have passed. The small courtyard that was once very stylish was now old and worn out.

In the big yard, there were only a few pots of wilting flowers in the corner, and a large stone table with a few stone stools. When the Yun family was young, they often ate on this stone table.

Stone table and chairs

Yunyu stood in front of the yard, sweating nervously. She stood outside for a long time as she did not dare enter. But, she still saw an old lady with gray hair walking out with a hunched back.

The old lady did not recognize Yunyu for a moment, and was stunned.

Yun Yu knew that the old lady was the grandmother of the Yun family, Shen Xiying. Her tears suddenly fell, her mouth opened, and her lips trembled for a while before she called out, “Grandma.”

Grandma Yun rubbed her eyes, “Xiao Yu’er? It’s Xiao Yu’er. Why are you back?” Grandma Yun walked in front of Yunyu and grabbed her arms excitedly.

“Why did you come back all of a sudden. Isn’t now the after-graduation-job-hunting period? Ai, come in quickly.”

Grandma Yun was a little excited. Yunyu went to school after Chinese New Year and never came home. She had been busy with graduation.

Yunyu followed Grandma Yun into the small courtyard. The yard was clean and tidy. Yunyu put the suitcase under the eaves and asked, “Grandma, where is Mother? Did something happen at home?”

Grandma Yun sighed, “You already know? Xiuzhen (T/N: Yunyu’s mother) said not to tell you about this as you are still busy with work after graduation. Your mother was pushed down by Wu Dashan and coincidentally fell on her right leg. The doctor came to see it and said that it was a fracture. It has already been taken care of and she can’t move during this time. One must rest for 100 days if they break their muscles and bones.”

Wu Dashan was from their part of the town. He was like a village tyrant. When he was young, he fought and got into brawls, relying on his strength to bully the weak (T/N: 倚强凌弱 yǐ qiáng líng ruò – Literal idiom translation is replying on the strong and bully the weak). He even went to jail before. Now that he was older, he was a lot more restrained, but he was still very hot headed, and would swear at people and pick fights at every turn.

He also had relatives from the city who are doing well, so no one in the village wanted to mess with him.

“Didn’t the village recently divide the fields?” Grandma Yun led Yun Yu into the main house.

Yunyu knew about this, and said it a few years ago.

Grandma Yun told Yunyu what happened, “Before the road was built, many people in the village moved to the city to buy houses and settle down. Over the years, a large number of fields in the village have been vacated, and some fields are in good locations. So, the village party secretary said to draw lots to divide the lands and one after another, the fields were distributed. In the end, there was only a paddy field by Heqing Lake and a dry land at the foot of the mountain left. The dry land has been deserted for many years while the fields by the lake, even if the weather is hot and sometimes drier, the paddy fields will not be short of water.

Everyone was eyeing this paddy field. In the end, there were only Xiuzhen and Wu Dashan who had not drawn the lots. Xiuzhen went first and managed to get the paddy field by the lake. Wu Dashan shamelessly did not agree to it. Xiuzhen argued with him, and he was so embarrassed that he angrily pushed Xiuzhen down…” (T/N: The term used was 恼羞成怒 nǎo xiū chéng nù – Lost temper due to shame and resentment)

Heqing Lake was a very large lake.

Their village was called Heqing Village, which was named after this lake. There was also a large hill called Heqing Mountain.

Grandma Yun did not tell Yunyu that Wu Dashan’s words at that time were even harsher.

He said that their Yun family did not even have a man and yet dared to snatch the land away from him. They were simply courting death. Yun Sheng was still a high school student, and could not do much. Their family did not even have a man who could call the shots.

Feng Xiuzhen (T/N: Yunyu’s mother), who was lying in the room, heard voices from outside. “Mom, is Xiao Yu back? Why did I hear Xiao Yu’s voice?”

Grandma Yun answered loudly, “It’s Xiao Yu’er who is back.”

Yunyu entered the room anxiously, and saw Feng Xiuzhen leaning against the headrest to mend clothes. She smiled when she saw her, “Why are you back now? Have you had your lunch? Are you hungry? I ate earlier on with your grandma. There are still some dishes in the kitchen. I’ll ask Grandma to cook you some fish?” Her left leg was inconvenient, and now her right leg was fractured. So, she could only lie on the bed and Grandma Yun would not let her get out of bed.

Grandma Yun said, “You mother and daughter go ahead and talk. I’ll go to the kitchen to stew a fish for Xiao Yu’er and bake some pancakes. You can eat in a while.”

Grandma Yun went out, Yunyu’s eyes were red, “Mom, I’ve heard about the fields.”

Feng Xiuzhen sighed and put the half-sewed clothes in the sewing basket, “I didn’t let anyone call you just because I was afraid you’d be worried. You are very busy now. Why did you come back? I’m fine. I just fell on my leg and simply need to take care of it for a while.”

Yunyu sat on the edge of the bed, tears still falling, “You’re already like this, and still say it’s okay. That Wu Dashan is such a bully. I’ll go to his door to ask him about this later. Even if he doesn’t agree with the village committee’s decision, he should not have laid a hand on others. We should report to the police to get him arrested.”

Feng Xiuzhen wiped her tears, “Don’t cry. I’m also angry about this, but your Aunt Tian came to the door to apologize and plead for mercy. She even sent over the medical expenses. Wu Li, that child also came to apologize. Wu Dashan was so angry that he wanted to beat them. This person is such a jerk. Now things are still stagnant, I will not let go. Since the field was drawn by me, I will not give it to him.”

Aunt Tian and Wu Li were Wu Dashan’s wife and son. Aunt Tian was kind-hearted and had a soft temperament and Wu Li was also Yunyu’s playmate when she was young. The two were about the same age. Wu Li attended a junior college and graduated last year. After working in an office for half a year, he decided to settle down in his hometown instead. Now, he was busy with farming and helping at home. Wu Li had tried to persuade his father about the field matter but his father was very temperamental and insisted on the paddy field by the lake.

“Mom, what are you going to do?” Yunyu actually did not know much about the fields in the village. But just like what her grandmother had said, the field was next to the lake. So, it was very convenient to water it, and everyone was envious of that piece of land.

Feng Xiuzhen sighed, “The village party secretary is also afraid of Wu Dashan. His brother is from the city, and he has some power. I heard that his business is quite big. Hence, the matter has not been resolved. He said that he was persuading Wu Dashan.”

Yunyu frowned and did not speak. Feng Xiuzhen tucked her daughter’s hair behind her ear, “Didn’t you just graduate? What are you doing here? You don’t have to worry about these things. How is your job search? Do you still need an internship? Just catch the train tomorrow and go back. There’s still your grandma and I at home. Your grandfather has had quite a few connections in the village over the years and will give us a little face. They will help to persuade Wu Dashan.” Don’t know but Feng Xiuzhen felt that her daughter had grown a lot and her skin had become fairer.

Yunyu’s grandfather, Yun Qingshan, passed away a few years ago. In fact, the Yun family was not born and raised in Heqing Village. When there was a famine many years back, Grandpa Yun brought Grandma Yun and the children to move here.

The Yun family’s hometown was not far from Hexian Town, but it was not too close either. It was about eighty or ninety kilometers away in a town on the other side of Changshui City.

Later, Grandpa Yun decided to lay his roots in Heqing Village.

Grandpa Yun could make wine. When he was young, he worked in a winery in the town. There was a wooden house next to this house where Grandpa Yun would make wine. There was still a lot of wine buried in it. He had lived here and had been making wine for decades. There were many who knew Grandpa Yun.

Yunyu thought about it for a while, and said honestly, “Mom, my work has not yet been settled. I want to stay at home for a while. Now is peak farming season. You’ve hurt your leg again and grandma is old and I don’t feel easy letting her carry out all the farm work. What do you think?”

Feng Xiuzhen hesitated, “Will that affect your job search? Isn’t it easier for fresh graduates to find a job during the summer vacation? Before you also mentioned that you wanted to apply for a job at a newspaper company. Was there any result?”

She had never envisioned that her daughter would stay in the village. Her daughter was a graduate of a prestigious school and has a bright future.

Yun Yu lied, “I went to the interview and they have yet to get back to me…”

Grandma Yun shouted from the outside, “Xiao Yu’er, it’s time to come out to eat.”

Yunyu got up, “Mom, I’ll go out to eat first and talk to you later.”