Yan Lianke - The Four Books

Upon reaching the town, they boiled some water, had something to eat, then hurried to see the higher-ups. The sparrow flew up to the roof of one of the houses. Outside, people were already selling firecrackers and red paper for the couplets that were posted on the front of every door for the annual Lunar New Year’s celebration. The New Year was rushing closer.

The Child was delighted, and even sang a little song. He turned around and waved, saying “Hurry up! Now that we have produced a hundred tons of steel, we’ll finally be able to eat meat tonight.”

And, in fact, they did have meat to eat. They weighed the steel, recorded the weight in a notebook, then used an abacus to add it all up. The accountant shouted in delight, “Ah! You are the first to reach a hundred tons!” He grabbed the ledger and rushed into the building, whereupon the higher-up took the ledger and walked back out. Smiling, he shook the Child’s hand and said, “Congratulations, this is wonderful. You are indeed the first to reach one hundred tons.” He continued to smile and shake the Child’s hand, saying, “Congratulations! Tonight I’ll invite you to eat pork and beef, and drink wine.” He then shouted in the direction of the canteen, “Add two more tables — with rice, steamed buns, and stewed beef. Also, be sure to add honey to the water.” The residents of the ninety-ninth who had been pulling the cart were sitting in the courtyard and picking at the blisters on their feet. Upon hearing a shout, they looked over in the direction of the canteen, their faces filled with delight.

The earth was bright. When God said let there be light, there was light. When He saw that the light was sufficiently bright, He divided it into light and darkness. Seeing that the people were tiring easily, He decided that they should work during the day, and rest at night. In the past, as dusk approached, the sun would turn red, and appear to hang for a moment from a tree in a village to the west of town. Now, however, all of the trees had been cut down and burned to smelt steel, leaving the land completely bare. There was, therefore, nothing to obstruct the bright sunlight that covered the sky and the earth, as the light from the setting sun poured over the land like blood. Pulling the Child’s hand, the higher-up led him into his room and had him sit down. On the wall were the Child’s and the ninety-ninth’s steel-smelting records, and the higher-up used a red pen to draw another pentagonal star. With the addition of this final star, the ninety-ninth district’s column was completely filled, becoming fiery red. The higher-up put down his red chalk and, holding the Child’s hand again, said,

“I can confirm that you will be representing the entire district when you attend the meeting at the provincial seat. because you were the first to smelt one hundred tons of steel. you discovered how to smelt steel from black sand.” The higher-up held and shook the Child’s hand, as though he were trying to shake dates from a date tree. “There is only one more thing, which is that we need a piece of steel. It is astonishing that you were able to smelt a hundred tons, but in order to go to the provincial seat to receive your award, you need to take a piece of recently smelted high-quality steel weighing at least fifty jin .”

As the higher-up was speaking, he walked over to the canteen’s chopping board and picked up a cleaver. Then he took the Child to the courtyard, where they had just unloaded a pile of steel, and told the Child to find an ingot the size of a goose egg. The higher-up then struck this steel ingot with the cleaver, producing a brittle sound, like the shattering of ice next to the river. Then he struck the ingot with a stone, producing an empty thud as though he were hitting a pile of clay bricks with a wooden board.

“How can you take something as inferior as this to the provincial seat, and hope to collect an award?”

The higher-up kicked the lump of steel and waved his cleaver, saying, “If you can smelt a piece of steel the quality of this cleaver, I guarantee that you will be awarded first place when you go to the capital.”

The Child looked at the higher-up.

“You haven’t yet been to the capital, have you?”

The Child looked at the higher-up.

“Have you been to the capital?”

The Child gazed at the higher-up’s face.

“Go figure something out.” The higher-up brushed the ash from his hands and grasped the Child’s head, as though holding a gourd. Then he patted the back of the Child’s head and added, “Within three to five days, you need to smelt a piece of steel that is as hard and strong as this cleaver, and take it to the provincial seat. If you are unable to smelt something of this quality, then you needn’t worry about going at all.”

The sun went down.

Dusk arrived.

The world became uncannily quiet. Outside the headquarters, people began bringing over more steel. The higher-up shouted to the person manning the scales, “Take them to the large canteen to eat!. ” The higher-up then took the Child to the smaller canteen. There they shut the door, and the Child and the higher-up sat down at a table with a white tablecloth, on which were arrayed plates of vegetables and bowls of rice. There were large bowls of rice, steamed buns, and wine. There were also platters of pork ribs stewed with turnips, and beef stewed with carrots. There were large bowls and platters of scrambled egg and fried peanuts. They ate, and the higher-up continued putting more pork and beef into the Child’s bowl.

So it came to pass. They still needed to smelt a batch of high-quality steel.

2. Old Course , pp. 317–27

On the morning of the first day of the twelfth lunar month, the banks of the Yellow River were still covered in snow that enveloped the land in whiteness. On this day, the Child led the procession of carts back from the headquarters. Everyone assumed that this time they had hauled at least three tons of newly smelted steel into town, which was certainly enough to bring them up to the one hundred tons that the higher-ups had specified. If they reached a hundred tons, the Child would be able to go to the provincial seat; and if he went to the provincial seat, at least twenty or thirty, or perhaps even forty, people like the Technician would be permitted to return home to celebrate the New Year. They had not expected, however, that when the Child went to deliver the steel, he would not proceed from the town to the county seat, from the county seat to the district seat, and then from the district seat to the provincial seat.

Instead, the Child traveled through the night, arriving home just before sunrise the next day.

The wind whistled through the open fields, and the snow was already knee-high. Nothing was visible except for a blanket of white. The comrades of the ninety-ninth crowded into thatched huts to warm themselves by the fire. The steel-smelting furnaces were all extinguished, and people took the leftover kindling and used it for their own stoves, then huddled together to keep warm. They anticipated that after the Child returned from the provincial seat, between thirty and fifty residents would be permitted to return home for New Year’s. They discussed who might be included if thirty were allowed to go, and who else might be added if the number were to be increased to fifty. As they were happily entertaining these conjectures, someone noticed a line of shadows approaching unsteadily through the snow, accompanied by the sound of footsteps and cart wheels. The person who noticed their approach immediately turned and shouted in the direction of the row of thatched huts, “The Child and the others have returned!. The Child and the others have returned!. ”

His excited and hoarse voice wandered down to the white riverbank and along the embankment. Several people rushed out of their huts, one after another, and soon everyone was standing in front watching the Child and his procession of carts. Like a line of sand dragons, the procession came up to the ninety-ninth. In the procession, everyone’s heads and bodies were completely covered in snow, and their eyebrows and hair were coated in a layer of ice. But they all smiled with delight, because the Child had agreed to award each of them ten small red blossoms. With these additional ten blossoms, their names would be positioned ahead of the others, potentially allowing them to return home first. Their comrades didn’t know why they had spent a full day and night hauling carts with bright smiles on their faces. They watched the Child walking ahead of the procession, with the line of seven carts beside him.