RMCF: Chapter 1

 

Chapter 1

After the rain, late autumn had settled in.

The wind swept away the few remaining leaves from the withered osmanthus tree in the front courtyard. The rain fell in a pitter-patter, soaking the earth and seeping into the dilapidated house.

They say: ‘When someone is about to die, a tree in the courtyard will wither first.’

Zhang Fangyuan had never believed such superstitions, until he witnessed with his own eyes the verdant osmanthus tree outside the window turn yellow overnight, its leaves falling in the autumn wind overnight, its trunk growing lighter, its roots unsteady. Only then did he believe it.

That osmanthus tree was planted when he came of age at twenty, and it had now stood for over fifty years. All these years, no matter how dry the summers or how heavy the winter snows, come autumn, the entire courtyard would still be filled with the fragrance of osmanthus blossoms.

Such a resilient tree had perished without warning.

For years now, the Zhang family courtyard only had one old bachelor. Having lived alone for decades, now that the tree in the front courtyard was dead, the person who must die could only be Zhang Fangyuan himself.

He lay in the cold room on a late night autumn rain, his body limp as a pool of soft mud, hunched under the dirty and rough as iron quilt. Even drawing a breath could sap half his strength.

No lamp lit the room; only the cold wind blowing in through the unpapered window kept vigil by his bedside. As the rain fell and the sky darkened, the house grew colder and more desolate.

Since taking to his bed, his days had passed in a daze. On better days, he'd feel his way along the wall to cook a few mouthfuls of rice; on worse days, he'd lie in bed hungry. After all, his secluded courtyard wouldn't see a visitor for weeks on end.

After days of hazy consciousness, today felt strangely different. After nightfall, he felt the cold, heard the rain outside, and suddenly his mind became clear—he could actually feel the cold and dampness.

His heart was came to understanding; this was the return of light before darkness, the final hour had come tonight.

Once clear-headed, he quietly listened to the sound of rain filling the room. The broken roof could not keep the rain out; it leaked straight into the house, some landing near his bedside. Though his heart was willing, his strength failed him; he could only curl up on the bed like withered grass, reminiscing about his muddled life.

The Zhang household had not always been this desolate; it had once been a lively place. Zhang Fangyuan wasn’t an orphan; before the age of twelve, he had both parents, also uncles, cousins, and distant kin. Back then, his days were carefree—one day fishing in the fields, the next hunting birds in the hills. He even learned the butcher's trade from the village's old widower. He was skilled at anything he tried.

Because he grew the fastest and was built full of muscle, the village children looked up to him as their leader. He held sway over them like wind and rain—hen he said one, no village child dared say two.

How full of himself was he back then! He'd pound his chest and tell his mother he'd become the village landlord, earn thousands of strings of coins, build a whole estate, take three or five wives, have a bunch of children, and make the Zhang family prosperous and thriving.

His mother always laughed at him fo not knowing his limits, for lacking any sense of steadiness, spending his days spouting empty words.

Zhang Fangyuan vowed to prove his mother wrong. Who would have thought before that day came, his father stumbled home drunk, had a big fight with his mother, and laid hands on her. His mother, unable to bear it, jumped into the river. Zhang Fangyuan hated his father so much he wanted to bite him to death. Yet before he could, the very next day his father too had swallowed poison… Only then did he learn his mother had been unfaithful, and his father couldn’t stomach the shame...

Zhang Fangyuan arranged both parents' funerals, his life thrown into utter disarray.

He squandered the money his family had saved for his marriage on drink and merrymaking. Associating with good-for-nothing rich young masters from the city, he let himself be used him as a pawn, yet foolishly thought himself capable. In the end, he took the fall for the master he trusted most, ended up in prison, and emerged riddled with illness and crippled, unable to find work.

Thinking he had lived a life of wild freedom, only to find himself alone in his final days, with no one to care for him in his old age or send him to his grave. His uncles, aunts, and cousins wanted nothing to do with him and had long since cast him out of the clan.

His reputation in the village was equally muddied, forever branded by the villagers as a useless old bachelor, a good-for-nothing loafer... Despite being ill for so long, the generally helpful villagers hadn't come to check on him.. In the end, he died alone and forgotten in his bed.

It was only at the very end that he understood, he had squandered his whole life away.

He lay with his eyes wide open, his heart full of regret and unwillingness, staring at that dead osmanthus tree outside the window, perhaps he himself did not know when he stopped breathing......

…

“Zhang Fangyuan! Zhang Fangyuan! Are you home?”

“Zhang Fangyuan!”

Through the haze, Zhang Fangyuan seemed to hear someone calling his name, followed by the sound of someone banging fiercely on the door. He felt annoyed—which junior in the village would dare call him by his name directly? He was, after all, of great-grandfatherly generation. But the knocking and shouting was too noisy that he scrambled out of bed in one motion.

Only then did he realise something was amiss—when had his body grown so strong and light? In disbelief, he stepped outside. A cold wind swept through the yard, where withered grass lay scattered. The space felt eerily empty—the osmanthus tree that had accompanied him for decades had vanished.

“You are home! The Xu family's water is boiling over and you haven't gone over yet. Everyone's getting anxious! Hurry up, grab your things and let’s go. The meat buyers are already there, don’t keep them waiting for nothing.”

Zhang Fangyuan stared at the familiar yet strangely unfamiliar young face before him. He remembered this kid was Chen Si, their neighbour’s. In his youth, the boy had often trailed behind him. Yet this very lad had fallen to his death from a cliff at the age of twenty, decades ago. How could he stand here perfectly fine now?

“What are you staring at?”

Zhang Fangyuan asked, “What are you calling me for?”

“I reckon you drank too much in town yesterday and haven't sobered up yet. The Xu family is slaughtering their New Year’s pig today. You promised them you’d butcher it, but you're still dawdling about indoors. What do you think I'm calling you for?”

Chen Si watched the man before him still lost in thought, and with a sigh, went inside to gather all the pig-slaughtering tools for him.

Zhang Fangyuan stared blankly at the surroundings—familiar yet strange, as if he had returned to over thirty years ago, when he was nineteen. Even the courtyard had been bare then, the osmanthus tree hadn’t been planted yet.

He paced back and forth of his house, finally stopping by the well. He stared at his youthful face and the well-defined chest muscles that stretched the fabric of his clothes taut.

He rubbed his face, even pinching and pulling at his skin until he cried out in pain.

A surge of joy rose from his soles so much he almost couldn’t stand steady.

“What on earth are you doing there? Possessed or something?”

Zhang Fangyuan paid no mind to Chen Si’s question, snatching the tools from his grasp with delight. He ran his fingers over the old companions he’d once spent a fortune on—the wooden handle still bore its original hue, the blades remained sharp and untarnished, everything look still brand new.

Chen Si was pondering why the man seemed so odd today when he was suddenly yanked up. “You're the one who's come back from the dead! Hurry up, don't keep everyone waiting.”

Dragged along by Zhang Fangyuan, Chen Si watched the man striding ahead, his mouth stretched almost to his ears, and found it rather unsettling.

Feeling uneasy, he softened his tone, “Fangyuan, you should really drink less in town from now on. I know you're not short of a few coins, but going every single day... the village gossip will start running wild again. You seem off today. Besides, at our age: it's high time to start discussing marriage. If your reputation outside is ruined, who’d dare come propose?”

Zhang Fangyuan couldn't recall anyone ever giving him such genuine advice before. Perhaps such words he never truly registered in the past, but after enduring a lifetime of hardship, hearing such earnest words now touched his heart. He hooked han arm around Chen Si's neck and agreed, “Alright. No more reckless drinking in town.”

Chen Si knew a person’s nature wasn't so easily changed. Poor Zhang Fangyuan—once a fine young man, his character ruined by his family's sudden misfortune. Now steeped in drunkenness and revelry, how could a few words bring him back?

If he could really listen to reason, Zhang uncles wouldn’t have shut their doors and turned cold faces upon him, nor would his aunts sigh, avoiding him like the plague.

But seeing Zhang Fangyuan’s earnest expression, Chen Si—though knowing full well his words hadn’t sunk in—couldn’t help but smile. “That's the spirit! The Xu family is slaughtering a pig today, keeping half and selling half. Lots of people are going to buy meat. Winter Solstice's just around the corner. My mom told me to go help hold the pig at the Xu's, maybe haggle a bit and buy two jin of meat to treat ourselves.”

Zhang Fangyuan chuckled, “Winter Solstice calls for mutton—warms you up.”

Chen Si sighed, “That stuff's so expensive, almost twice the price of pork. How could we afford it?”

Zhang Fangyuan's eyes sparkled with amusement, “I'll get some another day. Come to my house to eat.”

Chen Si's eyes lit up, “Really? You're really inviting me?”

“Why would I lie to you? Food tastes dull alone; it's only delicious when shared.”

“You're probably the only one in this village who'd say that.”

Zhang Fangyuan chuckled. He was indeed the only one whose parents had passed leaving him some wealth. With his belly full, the whole family wasn’t hungry—a freedom that naturally made him more carefree than ordinary lads.

Chen Si, in high spirits, his words flowing more freely. He murmured mysteriously, “I hear quite a few folk went to the Xu house for the New Year pig slaughter this time. Not just to buy meat, there were matchmakers too. Word is they're seeking out Madam Xu to arrange a match for her daughter.”

Zhang Fangyuan raised an eyebrow. In the past, he was solely focused on the town and didn't know much about village gossip. “Matchmaking?”

“Have you forgotten? The second daughter of the Xu family, Xu Shaochun, came of age last year, yet no suitable match has been found. I'll be heading over to join the festivities myself.” Chen Si flashed his customary roguish grin: “What if fortune smiles and the second daughter takes a fancy to me?”

Zhang Fangyuan's brow furrowed. Xu Shaochun was widely acknowledged as the village beauty of Jijiu Village. The girl possessed such a fresh, vibrant charm, comparable even to daughters from wealthy families in town. Matchmakers declared her a prime candidate for marriage, and she had the village men completely smitten.

Now that the young girl had reached marriageable age, she naturally became a prized catch.

Talking about this matter, Zhang Fangyuan’s heart also grew warm.

 

***

 

T/N 

I pick up this novel because I really like it, but the original translation is really hard to read and confusing, and since I'm already going through it for myself I decided to share it with anyone else interested in enjoying this heartwarming slice-of-life 

(〜^∇^)〜

 

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