Old Land, New Tales: Twenty Short Stories by Writers of the Shaanxi Region in China by Chen Zhongshi, Jia Pingwa Page B

deeply moved and wanted to help him up. But Darky stopped him, saying, “Let him alone—he needs to get it out of his system.”
    Henceforth, Mu Du’s aversion to Lai Shun disappeared. When Lai Shun stepped into the restaurant in his spare time, Mu Du treated him warmly, offering food and drink at mealtimes. Lai Shun was a bright, changed, and nimble man who helped the couple with the washing; he’d greet guests and offer them the menu. He was much better at attracting customers than Mu Du was.
    However, Darky knew Lai Shun’s heart. The more solicitous he was, the more uneasy she felt. She delicately asked him to hold back from his busy activities at their restaurant. But the more Darky tried to restrain Lai Shun, the more Mu Du felt Lai Shun was a good guy, which in turn made Lai Shun work harder to please Darky.
    In private, Darky told Mu Du, “This is our restaurant; we don’t need his help. Next time he comes, let him do nothing!”
    But Mu Du replied, “He is so good-hearted to help us. If we dismiss him like that, it would create a rift and hurt his warm heart!” Darky had to keep her silence.
    One hazy moonlit night, Darky hurried home from the restaurant, eager to go to sleep. With the yard door open, she could see new seedlings swaying in the breeze, shining darkly under the old Chinese scholar-trees outside the courtyard. As Darky sat in the yard, she heard a soft sound like that of a crawling snake. She looked around suspiciously and saw a dim, smoky light, red like a firefly. She rose with fright, asking, “Who’s there?” Lai Shun approached.
    “You are sneaking around,” Darky said. “I thought it was a thief!”
    Lai Shun said, “So you stay at home while Mu Du sleeps at the restaurant?”
    “We have shifts, and he has to chop meat tonight. Where have you been? Are you just passing by?”
    Lai Shun answered, “I’ve come from school especially to see you!”
    “Take a seat. Tonight the moon is so beautiful. Have you been to your hometown recently? Do the cuckoos chirp?”
    “Last night they chirped, and four days later the winter wheat will be filling out its ears. After that people will talk big about the coming harvest—the wheat this year is better than the last. But in my hometown up in the mountains, the wheat is just flowering; it ripens twenty days later than on the plain. So I can help you like a migratory farmer until it’s time to go harvest wheat!”
    Darky smiled softly and said, “So you do, help me to do everything . . .”
    “Darky,” said Lai Shun, “I know I shouldn’t come to your home. But I dream of you and feel empty-hearted when I wake up.”
    “What’s your dream?”
    “Sometimes in my dream, you’re dressed in a new suit of clothes and look like a girl of seventeen or eighteen. You go to town and sing opera while many people play musical instruments for you. And in other dreams, you’re sobbing under the weeping willow in front of the restaurant. When I have good dreams I worry: dreams are the opposite of reality, so isn’t this a bad omen? And when I have bad dreams, I worry that they might come true. So tonight I came over to take a look at you. It’s ridiculous, isn’t it?”
    Darky was amused. “Lai Shun, you have a sweet tongue and your words are too pleasant to my ear!”
    Lai Shun, adopting a stern expression, said, “It’s true! If I’m telling a lie, let the devil take my soul away.”
    Then Darky looked into Lai Shun’s face, thin and shining white. He did not evade her glance but returned it boldly. His mind flew high into the clouds.
    Afterward, Darky tilted her head and watched the bright moon in the sky and a pair of birds perching in a willow at the foot of the yard. She could tell that the birds were a couple; they balanced their bodies together on a thin twig with their small talons, one sleepingsoundly, the other lightly dozing and waking. They reminded Darky that human beings, like birds, pair off wing-to-wing during the