The Pengs had purchased Dengmei for one piece of silver and ten catties of brown sugar to be the future bride of one of their sons. Although unfortunate from birth, she had never brought the Pengs any bad luck. She had always been hard-working, skilled, and of gentle temper. Dengmei was actually superior to the Pengs’ own daughters in many ways. When Lanmei favored one of their daughters or was unfair to Dengmei, Peng Aqiang felt unhappy but knew that he shouldn’t say anything. He was the head of the family and as such could not openly support younger female members. But now Dengmei was coming into her own. When she and Renxiu were married and she took her rightful place as the wife of their youngest son, she would no longer be the purchased child bride, no different from a dog or a cat.

  The thought of this gladdened Peng Aqiang, but he also suffered inwardly because he couldn’t afford to buy her a new set of clothes for the wedding. As for Renxiu’s needs, his mother had obtained a piece of bright blue Fuzhou silk five years earlier, and just after the New Year, she had asked Xu Shihui’s second wife to sew a jacket with knotted silk buttons. Renxiu’s leather wedding shoes were to be supplied by Renjie. In fact, it was the same pair Renjie had worn six years earlier and only once or twice since. He let everyone know that he was giving them to his brother and not merely lending them to him. The preparations for the wedding were more or less complete. There was no help for what couldn’t be obtained, so they decided to make do with what they had.

  For Dengmei, the wedding, which had always been a vague, unimaginable event, was now taking shape and becoming a reality. She ate and slept very little. Her eyes were wide open and she always seemed preoccupied. She kept telling herself that she was going to become the Pengs’ daughter-in-law, a reality she would soon have to accept. She was only now beginning to take the idea seriously; it was something she could not accept as a matter of course. She was eighteen and had her dreams, but they never included a young man like Renxiu. When she was young, Renxiu had always bullied her; as she grew up, he never treated her well. When she had been scolded or beaten by Lanmei, it was always on account of Renxiu. And he was to be her husband? She could never see him in that role, but he would be in a matter of days. She wondered why it couldn’t be someone like Yongbao, Uncle Ajin’s second son, or the soldier, the one called Ahan, or even Renxing.

  Suddenly she was startled by her own wild thoughts. Peng Aqiang had told her that she should now address third brother Renxing as “younger brother.” That would make her his elder; that was impossible! She silently scolded herself for being so shameless.

  She let her thoughts wander to Yongbao and Ahan. Ahan was quite handsome. His gaze was deep, and it had seemed as though he wished to speak to her. Those were the eyes of someone who had a lot on his mind. They were lonely eyes that could penetrate the depths of one’s soul. He must be very lonely, she thought; we are the same. Her eyes began to itch as she thought about her loneliness and solitude. Then everything before her began to sway.

  Lost in thought, she called out for her mother, but the very sound of her voice brought her back to herself. She immediately corrected herself and said “Not this one, my real mother.”

  Thoughts of her real mother were something she always kept to herself; her real mother existed only in the realm of her imagination. But it didn’t matter. By carefully and patiently conjuring the image over time, revising it, redoing it, she had made it more vivid.

  She consoled herself with the fact that her real mother did exist. She didn’t blame her for what she had done; there must have been no alternative when they had thrown her into the pigsty. Surely she had too many siblings, especially sisters, and this made it impossible for her mother to raise her. Her mother must have been afraid that she would suffer too much in life, so she had released her to find another womb in another incarnation.

  Dengmei could not find it in herself to blame her mother, especially now that she was going to take her place in life as a woman. She didn’t want to be a woman, and she didn’t want to marry Renxiu. But that was her destiny, and she had to accept it. She thought that happiness might be hers if her mother were to know of her marriage. How she wished her mother could be there for the ceremony, but that was impossible. But if only she could know….

  She also seemed absent-minded during the day. When Liangmei and Qinmei teased her, she merely blushed and smiled faintly.

  “Oh, Dengmei looks so pretty these days.”

  “That’s only natural; after all, she will be married in a few days.”

  “Marriage will be so interesting.”

  She was going to be married day after next, that was the day of the ceremony.

  When the sun was sinking in the west, Renjie and Renhua brought home the glutinous rice and ritual objects for the ceremony. The rice was put into a pot to soak overnight. The next morning, bright and early, Renxiu and Renxing would take it to Xu Shihui’s house and mill it there. Renxiu looked very happy. He said that it was not because he was going to be the groom, but because he’d have a fine meal of rice balls.

  “Hey, I’d say that you are just stupid,” said Renxing with a smile.

  “Renxing, is your horoscope compatible with Azhi’s?”

  Renxing laughed so hard that he almost let the grindstone slip.

  “What are you laughing about? It’s no laughing matter.”

  “Yes, it is important,” said Renxing seriously. “Yours is compatible with Dengmei’s.”

  “That’s what Mother said,” replied Renxiu, quite unaware of Renxing’s apparent sadness.

  “So your future looks good.” Renxing glanced at Renxiu and was about to say something but held back. He concentrated on turning the grindstone and said nothing more.

  I don’t really like her. She is not as good as Uncle Xu Shihui’s young daughter, Azhi, thought Renxiu. But he knew that everything was set. Dengmei was going to be his wife; she was the woman with whom he would spend the rest of his life. I have to be hard on her, he thought. It’s best to be hard on one’s wife. He clearly remembered this rule that his mother had taught him. After the wedding, I’ll put on airs; I’ll make her wait on me, make her suffer. That’ll make her obedient and gentle. She won’t dare disobey me, he thought to himself as he laughed aloud.

  I might not be able to do it, he thought. I do like her….

  Dengmei’s face had grown thinner, but she was fair and quite pretty. And her breasts…. Once, he had glimpsed her pert breasts. It was in the bathroom; she had just finished bathing and was wearing a thin undergarment when the wind lifted a corner of the rush matting that curtained off the bathroom. Normally when he looked at her from the side, her chest looked so flat, but suddenly there were her lovely breasts. After the wedding the following day, he would not only be able to see Dengmei in a thin undergarment, but … just like those dirty guys said.

  As he was thinking, his body grew hot all over and his stomach began to ache terribly. His lower abdomen pained him greatly.

  No one had seen Renxiu’s illness coming. Around noon the day before the wedding was to take place, the dull ache became a searing, gut-rending pain. Renxiu lay in bed, his hands and feet jerking spasmodically. Then he screamed and sobbed without stop as if he were being torn apart from inside.

  Many of their neighbors had crowded into the room. At some point, Dengmei returned from Uncle Ajin’s potato patch, where she had been picking potato sprouts. She too had most likely heard Renhua shouting unusually and returned home in spite of the fact that she risked a scolding or a beating. She trembled at the scene before her eyes; her legs felt weak. She wanted to move forward but didn’t dare. Finally, Qinmei gave her a shove; only then did she approach Renxiu’s bed. She didn’t feel grief or pain but a terrible fear and an uneasy sense of isolation.

  “Go away,” said Lanmei, pushing her.

  Dengmei was so startled that she nearly jumped. She covered her mouth with her hand and, in tears, hid in a corner of the room.

  The crowd of people parted to make way for Xu Rixing, the geomancer. Aside from being able to pick lucky days and petition the gods, he was the only person in Fanzai Wood who knew anything about medicine. The news of Renxiu had reached his house, and he had hurried right over.

  Renxiu continued screaming, but everyone else in the room was absolutely silent as Xu Rixing attempted to diagnose the illness. After looking at the patient and asking a few questions, he closed his eyes and thought for a while. He reached out to press Renxiu’s stomach, then solemnly announced, “It’s an illness called ‘heaven’s hook.’ He has been hooked by heaven.” Heaven’s hook was fatal. Aside from the torment of an inhuman pain, the illness was considered a punishment from heaven. A person was hooked like a fish by heaven for doing something wrong; it was a form of divine retribution, a shameful affliction.

  After announcing his diagnosis, Xu Rixing turned to go. As everyone else started to leave, he turned to Renjie and said, “We’ll be here to help when you need us.”

  As their kind-hearted neighbors departed, Renjie couldn’t help wondering what Xu Rixing’s words implied. He turned away from his family to wipe his tears.

  From that day forward, Dengmei was excluded and forgotten. On several occasions, after hearing Renxiu’s screams, she could not control herself and went to see what was happening, but Renxiu’s parents and brothers shouted at her and would not let her in the door. Why me? she asked herself over and over again.

  All she could do was hide. When she was beaten or scolded, she always hid in the small space between the kitchen and the sheer rock face behind the house. It was a safe place cut off from the outside world. She did her best to understand her situation and work through what had happened to her over the last two weeks. She forced herself to consider her predicament and how she had ended up there.

  Husband, wedding, wedding night … a man, Renxiu, a woman, herself … Renxiu hooked by heaven. When a person is hooked by heaven, they will surely die. Her husband dead; what about herself? What was the meaning of death? All these things were linked together. What did they mean?

  Did she have something to do with Renxiu being hooked by heaven? This thought had been going through her mind since morning. She avoided it, she resisted it, but to no avail. The idea grew, took voice, and took hold. As she pondered the connection, tears ran down her face.

  It had grown dark and suddenly she felt cold, colder than she had felt all winter. She was numb to the cold now. She started to squat, but before she knew it, she was kneeling. The ground was freezing cold and damp. Her tears were like ice on her face and the cold wind blowing off the mountain penetrated her bones, but she was oblivious. She lifted her head and glanced around at the matted walls of the house, which were nothing more than a dark outline. Behind her the high cliff, the forest above the cliff, and the sky beyond them were all pitch black. Everything was shrouded in darkness. Even the wind off the mountain and the cold itself seemed black.

  Just one time, Renxiu suddenly came out of his delirium. His face was flushed and his eyes were bright and alert. He seemed at ease as he turned, apparently looking for someone.

  “What is it, Renxiu?” asked Peng Aqiang.

  “Where is Dengmei? I want to see her.”

  Renhua went and got her and pushed her before Renxiu. Renjie, Weimei, and the others all crowded around.

  “It’s no good. I’m not going to get better. Mom, Dad, I am an unfilial son….”

  “What nonsense. You are getting better.”

  He gave them a sad smile. His eyes swept over the room and lit on Dengmei’s face. Unconsciously, Dengmei knelt but dared not look at him.

  “Dengmei,” said Lanmei, pinching her arm, “lift your head and look at Renxiu.”

  Dengmei lifted her head and fixed her gaze on Renxiu. She understood him; no one needed to tell her; she knew. Renxiu’s eyes burned with a gentle flame, and although it lasted but a moment, she saw it quite clearly and understood. Renxiu had never looked at her with such an expression. No one had ever looked at her in that way before. She felt as though her heart, her whole body, was going to break into pieces.

  “Dengmei, you must look after yourself. It’s all over with me; I can’t …”

  Dengmei, who had been biting her lower lip, suddenly burst into sobs.

  “Mom and Dad, I heard you….”

  “What’s troubling you? Tell us.”

  “Treat Dengmei well…. Dengmei …” His face was suddenly contorted with pain. “Dengmei has done nothing wrong. Don’t blame her.”

  “Oh, Renxiu,” Dengmei cried out as she knelt, putting her head to the floor.

  Renxiu seemed to want to say more. Then came the sound of violent sobbing. It seemed as if he were seized by some powerful force and pushed aside—no, not pushed aside but discarded. Then he fell into a breathless fog and lost consciousness.

  Renxiu died, hooked by heaven. The next morning, with Xu Rixing acting as priest, they conducted the funeral ritual. At noon, the body, wrapped in a specially woven mat, was buried at the end of a newly opened field. The graveyard already contained the graves of half a dozen other settlers.

  On the afternoon of the same day, Renhua conveyed a piece of news to Liangmei that sent her to her room in tears. The news was from the garrison: Aling had been severely wounded and had lost his left ear.

  FOUR

  •

  The Unexpected

  Although Liu Ahan had been at South Lake for more than six months, he had never taken the time to really look at the place or the surrounding scenery. Though he had some trepidation about the future, Liu Ahan really felt less burdened now that he was about to leave. Not knowing if he’d ever have the chance to return, he decided to take a look around. He climbed to the summit of Door Bolt Cliff for the panoramic view it offered.

  From his vantage point on the cliff, he could see the mountains, layer after layer, stretching off in all directions. The high mountains near at hand seemed to lie in the lap of even higher and more massive peaks, and the highest mountains were a barely visible line on the horizon. Below lay South Lake and the lakeside settlement, beyond which ran the river, on the opposite bank of which were the newly opened fields. Above the fields were the orchards, a green belt that formed a decorative base to slopes that rose precipitously in successive masses of peaks that receded into the distance, each layer a slightly paler shade of blue.

  Looking at the mountains on that bright and beautiful summer day, Liu Ahan felt exhilarated as his heart was filled with the view. For a moment he seemed to step beyond himself and felt completely at one with his surroundings. Then in a flash he came back to himself. His breast was filled with warmth and tears welled from his eyes. Never had he been so moved; never had he shed such tears of joy and happiness.

  He felt a boundless love for the mountains and trees, for all of nature, for that great and limitless land. He decided then to leave the post at South Lake and visit Huang Aling at Stone Walls.

  The camphor convoy left Big Lake for Miaoli only in the full light of morning. Camphor oil was the economic mainstay of the people there, and for the sake of security the convoy was provided with an armed escort. Each convoy had a large number of followers including local settlers, peddlers, itinerant merchants, and traders. Liu Ahan had already given up his rifle, so he had no choice but to join the convoy followers. With such a large and mixed group, progress was naturally slow, but their strength in numbers provided a sense of security. In any case, Liu Ahan was in no hurry. He felt very much at ease talking with his fellow travelers as they walked along. It was nearly noon before Stone Walls appeared.

  Stone Walls was situated to the left of the road, down in a hollow. Behind the protective wall of gray slate were about fifty houses of varying heights with thatched roofs. The Hakka town had been established in the twenty-second year of the Jiaqing era (1817) by Wu Linfang with imperial permission. Along with Tongluo Bay and Miaoli, it was one of the earliest Hakka settlements.

  Liu Ahan began to think about his home in Tongluo Bay. He thought about his father and wondered where his grave was located. He had heard that his mother, the woman who bore him, was living in one of the big houses over in Tongluo Bay. But her face was an indistinct blur; it was something his heart refused to see. Only his grandmother was clear and vivid in his mind. She was his anchor in a sea of emotional turmoil.

  But his grandmother had already been buried. Before she passed away, she had said: “Ahan, be a good man. The spirit tablets of the Lius are at your aunt’s place. You must go and get them and make sacrifices to them yourself. You must do your best to send my bones and those of your father back to Changshanmei. Also, you must have nothing to do with that hard-hearted woman who deserted you when you were but four years old. You must make a life for yourself and provide for a family.” Liu Ahan felt ashamed of himself; he had turned out badly. He shook his head and headed off for Aling’s house. Aling’s house, which was behind the Earth God’s temple, was a long, low, rickety structure. The roof and walls were made of woven straw.

  “Brother Aling, I’m here.”

  The doors of the house were all open. Outside, beneath a papaya tree, sat three children. He called again. Still no one replied. He approached the central hall. Someone was struggling to crawl out over the threshold to greet him.

  “Are you Aling’s brother?” Ahan couldn’t remember his name.

  “Yes. So brother Ahan, you’ve arrived.”

  “Where is Aling?”

  A middle-aged woman walked unsteadily out of the house. Ahan felt nervous and stumbled over his words, scarcely able to speak. This was the woman he most feared. How should he address her? Mrs. Ajiang or Mrs. Aling?

  “Ahan, would you like to come in and sit down? Why are you just standing there?”

  “I … Where is brother Aling?” He wanted to see Aling right away. He would feel better after he saw him.