Yan Lianke - The Four Books

Someone tossed the red blossoms into the air, and they fell like rain.

Everyone stood on the benches and grabbed at the blossoms.

Everyone grabbed a blossom.

If the blossom had 5,000 written on it, it meant you could report a production target of five thousand jin of grain per mu , and you could claim your hoe, pickax, and scythe, together with a lot of cloth. If it had 10,000 written on it, you were truly in luck, because it meant that your award would be enough muslin fabric to last your entire family for five years — so much fabric that you would need a shoulder pole to carry it home. Everyone took their red blossoms up onstage to claim their awards. When the blossoms fell on the Child’s head, he was only able to grab one that was as large as a fist. The number on the blossom was a measly 500 , which meant that he would have no honor and receive no award.

The Child stood onstage still looking as though he were about to cry. He stood in the crowd of people, like a lamb separated from its flock.

The Child appeared as though he would burst into tears.

Someone went to collect their award, and carried it past him. The Child asked, “Can one mu really yield ten thousand jin of grain?”

The person laughed. Smiling, he stroked the boy’s hair, squeezed his shoulder, and patted the back of his head with his fist.

The Child went in search of the higher-up from the district headquarters, who had brought him there. He looked everywhere, even in the assembly hall’s bathroom. The bathroom was new, and had a light and a cement floor. The higher-up was in the process of kicking at that hard, slick, and radiant floor, saying, “When I go back, I’m going to install a cement floor like this one in the headquarters’ bathroom, so I won’t have to worry about it getting splattered with urine.”

The Child said hesitantly, “I want to report grain production of ten thousand jin per mu .”

The higher-up stared in surprise.

The Child said, “If I can’t report ten thousand, you may take a scythe and slice off my head.”

The higher-up opened his mouth and stared in astonishment.

“In fact.” The Child paused, then continued. “It would be best if I could report a number even higher than ten thousand.”

The higher-up lifted his pants and retied his belt. He stopped staring at the new cement floor under his feet, and instead accepted the blossom from the Child and looked at it. After a moment, he took out a pen and wrote a 1 in front of the 500 , and added a 0 at the end — so that it now read 15,000 jin . With a smile, the higher-up stroked the Child’s head as though he were holding a ball. He said, “Take this to the county chief, whose office is in the second building behind the assembly hall.”

The Child went to look for the county chief.

He found the county chief.

The county chief’s office was in an old-fashioned building. The Child had never seen this sort of building, which was completely unlike anything they had back in Re-Ed. It had wooden floors that were painted bright red. In the places where people walked, the paint had worn off, revealing the grain of the wood. The hallway and the stairwells were filled with the smell of wood, like summer wheat. As the Child entered the building, he stroked the steps, and learned that sandalwood was, indeed, very good wood. The Child stood in front of the door to the county chief’s office, and saw that the county chief appeared benevolent and approachable.

The county chief was in the process of reading his reports, like a doctor taking a patient’s temperature. These were the per- mu production reports from all of the villages and communes under his jurisdiction. As the county chief was reading these reports, sunlight streamed through the window, illuminating his face in a bright, almost divine, light.

The Child walked into the room and handed the county chief his red blossom, then said hesitantly, “My blossom says fifteen thousand.”

The county chief took the blossom and reflected for a while. Eventually, he smiled and patted the Child’s shoulder.

He caressed the Child’s head, as though holding a ball.

2. Heaven’s Child , pp. 91–97

Upon returning to the district, the Child used the red blossom as a model to cut up many more small five-petal blossoms shaped like winter plum blossoms. He stored them in a cardboard box. The box was then locked in a cabinet, which in turn was placed beneath the Child’s desk.

Over the winter, when the ninety-ninth was idle, some people would take books to the Child and ask, “Can we read this?” The Child would compare the book to his list, and if it was there, he’d say, “Go ahead,” but if it wasn’t, he’d keep it himself.

Everyone was reading in an area of the courtyard that was shielded from the wind. They were reading the reports from the previous month, which had just arrived. They were a big group, all sitting around reading.

The Child saw them idle, and decided to convene a meeting.

“Everyone gather around, everyone gather around!” he shouted.

So everyone gathered.

They proceeded to convene right there in the courtyard.

Everyone was idle, so they held a meeting.

The Child stood on a stool in front of them.

The Child said, “Beginning today, we will implement a Red Blossom and Pentagonal Star system. If you are obedient, we will issue you a small red blossom. If you earn an award, we will also issue you a little red blossom. If you receive a blossom, you should post it over your bed, and every month you will be evaluated. Once you have five small blossoms, we will award you a medium-sized one, and once you have five medium-sized blossoms, we will award you a large pentagonal star. Once you have five stars, you will be permitted to return home to your family, your work unit, and your lectern. You’ll return to your laboratory and your library, and won’t ever have to come back here to be re-educated with the other criminals.”

The Child said, “If you receive five stars, that will mean that you have been successfully re-educated and become a new man or woman. Once you have been recognized as new, you will be free.”

“The sun is nice today,” the Child said loudly. “The sun is nice and we are holding a meeting to implement the Red Blossom and Pentagonal Star system. Everyone will post the red blossoms they receive above their bed. Roommates will inspect each other. Anyone who dares to steal someone else’s blossoms and post them above their own bed will have all of their blossoms torn down. And whoever reports someone else for stealing blossoms will be awarded one or two medium-sized blossoms.”

The professors and scholars all gazed up at the Child standing solemnly on the stool. As the sun shone down on him, his face glowed bright red. It seemed as though the light emitted a crackling sound as it radiated outward. “Back in the county seat, I reported grain production of fifteen thousand jin per mu ,” the Child said. “Our ninety-ninth’s rate of production is not only by far the highest in the region, it is even the highest in the entire county. We are in first place. There had been someone who reported grain production of ten thousand jin per mu , and he was first, but after he left we took his place.”

The Child proudly lifted his arm into the air. “Everyone sees that our district has a large red blossom made from red slick paper issued by the county chief.” He made a fist and said, “These small blossoms are also made from slick paper, and even if you wanted to make some for yourselves, you wouldn’t be able to obtain the same shiny paper.”