Yan Lianke - The Four Books

Once the sun came up, however, everyone found that they had somehow returned yet again to that same road behind the town. The clothes they had left on the side of the road were still there, as were the leather belts and strips of cloth they had left hanging from the pagoda tree.

The sun rose in the east, its bright rays pressing everyone down into the field. They felt a sense of despair. Before them there was only the shadow of death. Some people simply went to sleep, saying that if they died right there then at least they would no longer have to keep climbing over those graves. Many collapsed in the grass, their faces greenish yellow, while others went to ask the Author, “Why did you lead us to the back of this town, such that we can’t make our way to the front?” They spit in his face.

“Can it be that we simply cannot come up with a way to cross over to that road? And if not, then what was the point of your leading us here?”

The Author decided to go over to that inspection station himself.

Everyone removed the red blossoms and pentagonal stars they had hidden in their pockets, so that in the event that the Author were to be interrogated, they would be able to help save his life. In the sunlight, they handed the Author the dozens of small blossoms, medium blossoms, and pentagonal stars they had received from the Child. He shook his head, thanked everyone, then removed a small cardboard box from his pocket. He opened it, revealing more than a dozen red grains of wheat, each of which was larger than a bean or peanut. “I’m going to present the higher-ups with these blood wheat seeds. With these seeds, a mu of land will be able to yield several thousand, or even tens of thousands, jin of wheat. but I’ll only give them the seeds on the condition that I be permitted to take all of you to the county seat with me.”

The Author left, carrying a cane in case he got tired. Everyone else lay down in a hidden area in the grass facing the entrance to the town, hoping that the Author’s blood wheat seeds could help get him past this juncture and to the main road on the other side of town. They hoped the seeds would get him to the bus station in the county capital. They could see that when the Author reached the inspection station, the sentries detained him and took him inside.

Time slowed, to the point that a second seemed like a year. Everyone lay on the ground and waited, digging up wild roots as they gazed at the entrance to the town. The Author finally emerged and went back to them.

“This is not the only place with one of these patriotic inspection stations — they can be found all over the country,” the Author said. “The highest of the higher-ups decreed that in the areas affected by the famine, everyone has to remain in their original villages. They are not permitted to go anywhere else, nor are they permitted to reveal to others how many people have starved to death in their area.”

Everyone was silent.

The Author added, “There are only two kinds of people who are permitted to go back and forth: those who have a letter of reference from the higher-ups, and those who have a red star on their soldier’s cap or a paper star stamped with the stamp that the higher-up issued the Child.”

4. Heaven’s Child , pp. 434–40

Several days later, everyone finished eating wild grass and crawled back to the ninety-ninth. When they left, there had been fifty-two of them; but when they returned, there were only forty-three. The remaining nine died on the road. When everyone returned to the compound, no one said a word. They were careful to make no mention of the possibility of leaving. Instead, when they had a chance they would gaze out at the main road, hoping that either the Child or a higher-up would appear.

By mid-spring, the roadside was full of wild grass. Some people came out of their rooms and headed to the courtyard to take a look. They saw that the iron locks on the Child’s room were now gone. The door was unlocked, and the cobwebs that had been covering it were also gone. After a moment of surprise, people began running over. Everyone ran out of their rooms and stood in the doorway of the Child’s building. They all stood there solemnly, in absolute silence. The Child was woken by their footsteps and noisily opened his door. Then, he himself appeared before them. The Child had returned quietly at around noon, and then had promptly gone to sleep. His face, legs, and torso were simultaneously swollen and emaciated. The sun shone down on him, revealing a look of exhaustion, ennui, and excitement. At the same time, in his figure there also appeared traces of what everyone recognized to be adulthood. The Child had grown bigger and taller, and now had black facial hair on his chin and over his lip. He was still as thin as a tree sprout though, and his disheveled hair was about two inches long and had a couple pieces of straw stuck in it.

Like the sunlight, the Child appeared sturdy, confident, and full of accomplishment. The Scholar was standing in front, and asked carefully, “How are you?” The Child whispered solemnly, “It turns out that there is a steel-smelting furnace in Zhongnanhai after all. And in Tiananmen they planted an experimental field designed to produce ten thousand jin of grain per mu .” No one said a word, and the Author turned pale. At this point, the Child squinted and looked up at the sky, which was filled with bright light and propitious clouds. There was a flock of doves that had flown in from somewhere. As the doves flew overhead, the Child rubbed his eyes. Smiling brightly, he softly said something astounding,

“You are all free to return home.”

The Child’s voice was rough and firm, and as strong as that of a grown man. As he was speaking, he turned around and went back into his room, where he took a cloth sack and, with a bright smile that we had never seen before, said, “There is no need for you to go hungry here while undergoing your re-education.” As he lifted the cloth sack, it made a clanging sound. It was a pounding from a small iron implement, and seemed to be providing a musical accompaniment to his words. The Child stood on the steps in front of his door, and from the sack he removed a handful of red iron stars each the size of a copper coin. “Each of you should take one of these iron stars, which will permit you to proceed openly from the main road to the town. If you show this star at each inspection station, you will be allowed to pass. You’ll be able to go wherever you wish. You’ll be able to proceed to the county, the district, and the provincial seat, and even to Beijing. You’ll be able to go anywhere in the country, and will be able to return to your family and your work unit.” The Child held a handful of stars as though clutching a bundle of fire, and as he was speaking he waved his hand through the air, producing a streak of red. “Go back and get your things ready!” he shouted. “Sleep well tonight, and tomorrow I’ll issue each of you one of these stars and a bag of fried soybeans for you to eat on the road.” The Child spoke in a resonant voice that bore no resemblance to the timid voice he had had just a few months earlier.

He didn’t say whom he had seen or what he had done during the month he spent in Beijing. Instead, he shouted casually but firmly,

“Everyone go get ready!. I also plan to get a good night’s sleep. Right now, I’m simply exhausted.”

After saying this, the Child turned and returned to his room, pulling his door shut behind him. He left behind a fog of confusion that was clearly visible in the faces of the Scholar, the Author, and everyone else.

Everyone stood there in shock, and then, in a daze, returned to their respective rooms. No one uttered a word the entire night. No one really believed that the Child would actually issue everyone a red star and a bag of fried soybeans, and allow them to leave Re-Ed. That night everyone went to bed as they normally did. They planned to sleep until they woke up on their own, as they normally did. But the next morning things turned out to be unlike what they ever had been. Early that morning, a magpie alighted on a windowsill. Someone woke, put on their shoes, and went outside to stand under the sky. Then he went over to the Child’s door, and stared in surprise. He saw that the ground was covered in red, as though it were on fire. He looked in surprise, then rushed back to the dormitory, shouting,