In the autumn of 2000, the eighty-year-old ninth sister Liu Kongmei returned to Bajiao Bay in northern Sichuan. Under the century-old banana tree, she told the author about the vicissitudes of the five generations of the Liu family over the past century.
During the late Qing Dynasty, Liu Xuexiao, a poor boy from a poor family, came out of Bajiao Bay and rose through the ranks. From a private school teacher to a master of the Baoning government office, he served as the first president of the court in Langzhong in the early years of the Republic of China. He married three wives, raised nine children, bought a thousand acres of land, Huaguanglou Market, and Baoning Silk Factory, and established the family business. His first wife, Wang, died young due to hard work, leaving behind Liu Kongxiu and four other children.
At its peak, the fate of the family branches varied: the eldest brother, Liu Kongxiu, was honest and kind, returned to his hometown to manage land, and treated his tenants well. After liberation, he was forced to kneel by his nephew Liu Zilai, but spared his life, and later died of illness; the second brother, Liu Kongde, was idle and drowned in a pond, and his son Liu The son came to participate in the revolution. After liberation, he returned to his hometown as the leader of the working group to avenge his personal grievances and classified himself as a landowner. Later, due to women's issues, he was decentralized and became a fortune teller. He died alone; the three-room women either joined the army and stayed in Shanghai, escaped to marry in Nanjing, or worked in Panzhihua Iron and Steel Co., Ltd. Jiumei herself is the youngest daughter of three wives.
The eldest daughter, Liu Kongmei, married into the Hou family. After liberation, she was shot because of her status as a landlord. Her son Hou Baoguo became a teacher and writer; the second wife, Liu Kongxiu's wife, Zhao, died of starvation in the canteen; the third brother, Liu Kun, joined the army and became a pilot. After liberation, he stayed in Shanghai and adopted his daughter, who lived to be a hundred years old.
Over the past hundred years, the banana leaves have turned green and yellow. The girl in the big house is indolent, the second house has many talented people but is entangled in grudges, and the third house is mediocre. Land reform, the canteen period, reform and opening up, the torrent of the times washes away every branch...
