Chapter Eighty-Nine: The Hidden and the Visible (Seeking Monthly Tickets)

The next day, everyone went off to work, and the three power brokers of Shanghe Village sat in the village office puffing on their pipes.

Brigade Leader Liang recounted how Zhang San had come to his house the previous night bearing gifts, only to be thrown out, and then laid out his own suspicions.

Village Chief Zhao glanced at Liang, then at Zhang the Accountant, and knocked the ashes from his pipe before saying, “We need to be on guard about this. We can’t just keep the villagers out of the mountains because of them, can we? Let’s think it through carefully and decide what to do.”

Zhang the Accountant said, “Our village and the old sent-down youths have been getting along fairly well. At the very least, over the past two years there haven’t been any real troublemakers. I think we ought to pick one or two of them for other work, like tallying or storekeeping. That would not only split up their cliques, it would also give them something to hope for, so they won’t keep staring at every petty little thing.”

Brigade Leader Liang snorted. “And what are the villagers supposed to do about that? Just because they haven’t done anything wrong, the sent-down youths get to bump them aside? When the villagers start cursing us, are you the one going to explain it to them?”

Zhang the Accountant said, “I still think it’s worth letting the youths try. It’s like dangling a carrot in front of a donkey. Who gets the job, who doesn’t, how long they do it before being rotated out — all of that is for us to decide. What could be more worthwhile than that?”

Village Chief Zhao studied Zhang the Accountant for a long moment, then exhaled a mouthful of smoke. “Your idea really won’t do. Not only will the villagers have objections, it also takes too long to show results. Harvest time isn’t far off now; if something unexpected happens in the meantime, what then?”

Brigade Leader Liang said, “I say we find a pretext and send them back. That way they won’t keep getting in our way.”

Zhang the Accountant said, “Send them back? If we repatriate the sent-down youth without cause, will our village still want any of those worker-peasant-soldier university places in the future?”

“When did I say we should send them back without cause? I mean after we’ve caught hold of something on them.”

“All right,” Village Chief Zhao said. “We’ll see how things stand when the time comes. For now, let’s go take a look in the fields.”

Only then did the three of them stop talking. But after Brigade Leader Liang left first, Village Chief Zhao turned to Zhang the Accountant and said, “Zhang Dagan, you’re a little off today. You’ve been trying so hard to find easy work for the sent-down youths — what kind of thoughts are you really entertaining?”

“Village Chief Zhao, Uncle Zhao, my kids are already at the age where they should be getting introduced to potential matches. How could I possibly have such thoughts?”

Village Chief Zhao looked at him but said nothing. He bit down on his pipe and went out. When he reached the doorway, he said, “That sort of thing isn’t something a village cadre ought to be doing. You need to think about the consequences. If this blows up, losing your post as accountant would be a small matter. Ruining your children’s prospects for marriage for the rest of their lives would be the real disaster.”

After Village Chief Zhao left, Zhang the Accountant wiped hard at the nonexistent sweat on his forehead, then let out a long breath.

Inside, he began muttering to himself. He had already done a very good job keeping things secret — could the old man have noticed something?

While the three leaders of Shanghe Village were discussing their affairs, no one had found Zhang San, who was using every spare moment at work to keep an eye on the other sent-down youths.

For the past couple of days, Han Li had been dragged off as extra labor whenever he got off work. Of course, at night he still got to eat a free and satisfying meal.

But today the courtyard for those few women had already been finished. The whole yard was fenced in with thorny brush, and from a distance it looked just like a hedgehog.

Once the work was done, the temporary team naturally disbanded.

So after work that day, Han Li planned to make a trip into the mountains. This time, he had a purpose in mind.

In a couple of days he would be going to the county seat to visit Aunt Liu, and showing up empty-handed would make him seem terribly lacking in social grace.

But if he brought ordinary gifts, it would probably be just like last time, when he had actually gone home with a profit.

If he kept handling relationships like that, it would never do. So Han Li planned to search the mountains properly.

If he could find a ginseng root, all the better. If not, he still needed to find something else with a bit of local character.

But Han Li had not first realized that his time in the mountains was limited and that he could not travel very far.

As for the mountain’s outer reaches near the village, finding ginseng there was nothing but a dream. Even if there had once been ten thousand roots there, they would have long since been dug up.

He only understood this after he reached the mountain and could only give a helpless smile.

Had the brambles these past two days somehow pricked a hole through his brain? How else could he have overlooked something so simple?

If he couldn’t find ginseng, he couldn’t return empty-handed. Mushrooms, wild fruit, edible greens, useful timber, stones — all of them were on his list.

While breaking down a fallen tree, Han Li noticed that its wood was different.

On closer inspection, most of the trunk had already turned to resin-rich pine heartwood, and the oil content was astonishingly high.

The entire tree had taken on a dark red, translucent sheen. This was absolutely top-grade pine resin wood — so fine, in fact, that it could be called amber wood.

Both amber wood and pine resin heartwood are substances formed over many years after a pine tree ages or falls and slowly changes with time.

Pine resin heartwood contains both wood and oily resin, whereas amber wood is almost entirely resin. The difference lies in the amount of oil they contain.

It is said that amber wood can only form from Korean pine, while pine resin heartwood can come from many kinds of pine.

Locally, pine resin heartwood is called “bright wood,” and it is the best kindling for lighting firewood.

In the opera The Take of Tiger Mountain, there is a line that goes, “Light the lamps inside the mountain, and the bright wood outside it.” That is what it refers to.

Bright wood is rich in resin and catches fire fiercely. Sometimes a tiny piece no bigger than a finger can easily ignite a whole pile of kindling.

Its flame is hard and fierce, and even a strong wind has trouble blowing it out.

Han Li examined the cleaned piece of pine resin wood. It was lustrous, translucent, and brilliant, sparkling in the sunlight.

The grain was especially clear, and it gave off a faint scent of pine resin, refreshing and clarifying to the mind.

Han Li’s heart leapt with delight. Wasn’t this the perfect gift to bring to Aunt Liu’s house?

He could use the little medallion of the great man he had brought with him as a model and, through careful carving, turn this dark red, translucent piece of pine resin wood into a figurine.

Not a single mistake could be made in the process, or a good thing would turn bad.

But time was the one thing Han Li had. He could work on it slowly while lying on the kang at night. Even if he grew dizzy, he would only fall asleep where he was.

He slung his basket over his back and headed home.

For two or three days in a row, he had been eating nothing but ready-made meals. Today, after suddenly having to cook his own supper again, he still felt a little unaccustomed to it, so he decided to make do with something simple.

Lately, Zhang San’s attention had been fixed entirely on Wei Chunlan. Especially after dinner, he would keep watch on the direction of the female sent-down youths’ dormitory.