Beating Bamboo Clappers and Singing an Age-Old Song of Bitter Grief

Er Housheng unexpectedly gets a bamboo clapper from the Land Goddess, along with the ability to improvise lyrics.

Er Housheng begins a career as a street performer.

In one village, three women who love opera sing a piece with Er Housheng.

The three women and their husband, a dimwit, discuss it and find Er Housheng, signing a one-year contract to rent his services.

A year later, he hasn't earned the required amount, so the dimwit kicks Er Housheng out.

The three women send word that Er Housheng has run off with one of them, and the two of them are now wandering together.

The woman is captured and taken back.

Er Housheng goes looking for her, meets her mother, and agrees to wait for the woman at her mother's house.

The scheming, crafty mother has already arranged a son-in-law for her.

The dimwit and his two brothers tie Er Housheng up, then gouge out both his eyes while he's still alive.

While recovering from his eye injuries, Er Housheng uses his own experience to improvise a song about having his eyes gouged out. From then on, he turns his life around and sets out on the path of entrepreneurship.

This novel and its characters are entirely fictional. Any resemblance to real people or events is purely coincidental. Do not imitate.