Chapter 15 Xuan’er Shou

For many weekends, Lin Fengjiang had been looking everywhere this Shijia Village, but his search had yielded no result. But there was no wonder to that. The production brigades of the rural areas were being unified into people’s commune to handle common geo-political and commercial as well as agricultural functions. His local production brigade had been responsible for five villages, and his village which was part of greater Fengzhuang Township was now also part of the Yahong Bridge People’s Commune. He found a town called Shijia Pu (literally Shi Family Town), and discovered no new-born babies there. 1961 was one of the few years in the period where the entire country suffered from a tremendously low birthrate. Sometime after that, Lin Fengjiao was enlisted to join the military special forces. When two daughters still hardly old enough to leave home, Lin Fengchuen’s mother could send no one to look for her now-lost friend. Sorely missing her friend, Lin Fengchuen’s mother could only hope that her friend could find her somehow, more so, since her village was considerably closer to the vicinity of Huan Xiang River where they had once met.

For the next few years, Lin Fengchuen suffered from calcium deficiency as he grew up. This was, in huge part, because he was a premature birth. However, his grandmother asked for the counsel of a witch doctor. The witch doctor then advised that Lin Fengchuen change his name into Lin Fengquan. Still, the move had hardly produced any promising results.

Years passed until Lin Fengquan was about six or seven years old when an incident that would change his life took place!

On this day, came a group of laborers into the village. They were working on a project launched by the government to upgrade all facilities of the Hai River tributaries. Despite not being part of the Hai River, the river of this village was also included in the list of upgrading works. Therefore, some of the workers took up lodgings at Lin Fengquan’s home. These workers were led by a captain, similar to the army captains of military companies and squadrons, whose name was commonly known as Xuan’er Shou (In truth, “Xuan’er Shou” should have been Xuan Shu or Uncle Xuan, as in the surname of the captain. But when pronounced in the local tongue of the region, the name “Xuan Shu” was read as “Xuan’er Shou”. In earlier editions of the story, the author had used the name “Uncle Xuan”, but he later opted for “Xuan’er Shou” for the name truly translated the intimacy shared between the boy Lin Fengquan and the captain. Hence, the author elected to revert to the use of “Xuan’er Shou”, especially when he could vaguely imagine and feel the warmth of being addressed by an affectionate name).

The leader of the workers, “Xuan’er Shou”, was especially fond of Lin Fengquan. Whenever he was finished with work, he would play with the little Lin Fengquan. Sometimes when he had free time, he even made the little boy trinkets and playthings. Once, he even made the little boy a birdcage out of straw. “Xuan’er Shou” dangled the cage over Lin Fengquan and asked him, “Do you like it? Go ask for some peanuts from your grandma and this cage is yours!” The little boy scampered to his grandmother and asked for a handful of peanuts and promptly returned. “Xuan’er Shou” smiled at him and said, “I’m not eating this. You go ahead! And this cage is yours!” It was the first time Lin Fengquan had learned the word “peanut”. Afterward, “Xuan’er Shou” taught the little Fengquan some mathematical multiplication formulas and trained him in using the abacus. The bright little boy was quick to pick up these skills!

It was in the summer when the weather was unusually warm and humid. Without no supply of electricity yet into the village, everyone sat and chatted at the porch of the house to enjoy the crisp and fresh air outside. The little Lin Fengquan would squirm and pester “Xuan’er Shou” to tell him stories. Sometimes, in return, “Xuan’er Shou” would ask the boy some odd questions, such as ‘where do humans come from’, ‘how many hairs are there on a pig’, ‘would a human catch fire during fever’, and so on. The boy’s ludicrous but yet hilarious answers would bring laughter to everyone!

Once, a vegetable vendor had come by to peddle his wares to the workers. After completing their selection, “Xuan’er Shou” proceeded to pay the vendor. Little Lin Fengquan was nearby playing. When the peddler was about to leave, the little boy trotted to “Xuan’er Shou” and whispered into his ears, telling him, “You’ve paid two yuan extra!” “Xuan’er Shou” immediately took an abacus and made some calculations. Lo and behold! He had indeed overpaid the peddler. He used a bicycle to chase after the peddler and asked for his money. The incident sent a ripple of wonder across the village, and everyone praised, “He’s but only a boy of six or seven! That’s not even schooling age! No wonder ‘Xuan’er Shou’ doted on him so much!” After the incident, “Xuan’er Shou” would brag about this matter as if the boy was his son and the pride of his life, telling to anyone who would listen that he was not a boy of common and modest stock.

One day, “Xuan’er Shou” mentioned of a temple not far away from his home. The monks in the temple have all been conscripted into working teams of production brigades. As a strongly superstitious person, Lin Fengquan’s grandmother too knew that this grandson of hers was constantly under the weather. Hearing that “Xuan’er Shou” knew the abbot of the temple, she was interested in asking him to take Lin Fengquan to join the temple. This was due to a common practice among older generations in the area where parents and elders of children often believed that sending their offspring to be monks in a Buddhist institution would bestow them protection and blessing from Buddha himself. They would later arrange for their child to be returned to them when the child was old enough to continue their lives or marry. “Xuan’er Shou” was due to return to his village to collect more baskets for his team’s work at the river. Therefore, Lin Fengquan’s grandmother asked “Xuen’Er Shou” for help, begging him to take Lin Fengquan to the temple. When Lin Fengquan heard that “Xuan’er Shou” would be taking him to his home, the boy grew extremely excited. “Xuan’er Shou” laid some hay on his wagon and the little boy playing on his own on the stacks of hay until he grew tired and fell asleep.

They were almost near their destination when Lin Fengquan woke up. He called to “Xuan’er Shou”, saying that he needed to urinate. The man stopped his carriage, carried the boy down the wagon and asked him to pee behind willow trees by the roads. Despite his age, the boy was shy to have anyone watching him as he relieved himself. The boy ran to the side of the road and crossed a makeshift bridge which was actually two large pipes that spanned over a large culvert at the side of the road. The bridge was large enough that small carriages, wagons, and vehicles could pass over it. Lin Fengquan dashed across the bridge and went to a row of willow trees and urinated there. At the opposite side of the road was nothing but quiet and empty wetland marshes. Little did they know that something dreadful was about to take place…

Unbeknownst to them, there was an incident in one of the People’s Commune at Wu Zhong County. There had been a man, named Yang Baoshan, who, in a stroke of insanity, had committed a series of anarchical crimes and caused chaos and riots. He and his men had robbed post offices, pillaged stores and shops as well as damaging other public facilities. Due to the Cultural Revolution, the doctrines of Three Supports and Two Militaries were still widely enforced. The riots and upheavals that Yang Baoshan had a hand in had attracted the attention of the Military Control Commission and they were all charged with counter-revolutionaries. His followers were all rounded up and detained by the People’s Liberation Amy. Still, Yang Baoshan was able to escape alone, and he was armed with a gun!

Collaborating with other local groups and organizations, the Military Control Commission released orders for Yang Baoshan’s arrest. Armed guards manned every checkpoint around the areas and everyone passing the checkpoints were examined and inspected. Even the army was mobilized and ordered to make camp nearby should their help be required. In those days, the armed militias no longer used trumpets or bugles to alert one another; instead, they used gunshots. All military and militia personnel would rush to whichever point or station where gunfire was heard.

When “Xuan’er Shou” and Lin Fengquan were passing through the area, Yang Baoshan was hiding in the lush sorghum fields near the marshes. He was so hungry that he thought that there might be food on “Xuan’er Shou’s” wagon. Lacking enough strength to fight his prey, the ruthless savage opened fire directly at “Xuan’er Shou” who immediately crumbled to the ground and fainted. Yang Baoshan quickly ransacked the wagon, looking for food. Lin Fengquan, being frightened by the gunshots was so terrified that he stood, frozen to the ground for seconds before he panicked and ran behind the willow trees. Yang Baoshan fired two shots at the boy but he missed. It was fortunate for the boy that Yang Baoshan never had any training in shooting moving targets! At this point, the gunshot echoed far and wide. In the midst of his rush and frenzy, Yang Baoshan grabbed a bag of rations and fled into the lush sorghum fields.

The militia personnel nearby soon rushed over, being alerted by Yang Baoshan’s gunfires. But when they got there, they saw Lin Fengquan hugging the semi-conscious “Xuan’er Shou”, crying loudly. Blood was oozing uncontrollably from his wound as he tried to stem the bleeding with one hand. His other hand held the wrist of the captain of the militia who had come. Trembling with pain as he mumbled, “It’s too late for me now! Take the boy! Please! Console him and see that he reaches home safely! He’s the son of my landlady…” The captain turned his carriage and whipped his horse maniacally, trying frantically to reach the town as soon as he could with the dying “Xuan’er Shou” at the back.

But it was indeed too late when they reached the hospital. “Xuan’er Shou” had bled to death. Seeing that “Xuan’er Shou” had perished in the line of duty, the Revolutionary Committee named him as a martyr! That night, Lin Fengquan reached home. He was delivered home by an army jeep. Due to the intense shock and psychological trauma he had suffered, the incident would forever remain a shadow in his heart. He would sometimes burst out crying while sleeping. But due to this, many of his dormmates in school made fun of him and ridiculed him.

It took many months until Lin Fengquan managed to recover from the shock. Still, horrors of the incident continued to haunt him. Although the nightmares began to reduce gradually, he would still need his grandmother to accompany him to sleep.

Not long after that, the laborers working by the river all left when their work was done. Still, every day without change, Lin Fengquan would go to the river. In the past, he went there to look for “Xuan’er Shou”. But with the death of his best friend, Lin Fengquan continued going to the river to look for a person that he would never again see. It was a habit that he maintained, until one day, he met a person who would change his life…