Those Mountains, Those Waters

In the 1960s and 1970s, life in the countryside was still extremely hard. Adults had to work for work points on the production team, while children had to gather pig fodder. This story begins there.

Children back then didn't have phones and other electronic gadgets to play with like they do now, but they still had plenty of fun, playing all kinds of traditional games like shuttlecock kicking, jump rope, and hide-and-seek. Even though they went barefoot and wore ragged clothes, their faces still lit up with innocent, radiant smiles.

In his book The Ugly Chinaman, renowned author Bo Yang wrote that, influenced by traditional thought and culture such as Confucianism, Chinese people feared trouble. The so-called "protecting oneself through wisdom" provided fertile ground for cultivating tyrants, brutal officials, and violent mobs. Bo Yang specifically mentioned violent mobs, and Zhang Baji in this story is a typical example: poor, but fond of bullying others and taking pleasure in it. After work, Ruan Changfa scooped water from the rice paddy to water his cabbages. When Zhang Baji saw him, he rushed over, snatched the gourd dipper from Ruan Changfa's hands, and smashed it onto the field ridge, forbidding him from using water from the paddy to water his vegetables.

Ruan Changfa is one of the story's protagonists, an ordinary Chinese farmer through and through. Diligence is his nature, and honesty is his character. When others bully him, he doesn't fight back with reason, but simply gives in time and again. He leads his large family through difficult times as best he can.

Schools back then were in poor condition, learning was difficult, and the teachers were poorly qualified. A student's character was judged by their family's political background.

The trees on the hills had all been cut down, making firewood hard to gather. A mistake could lead to punishment. Ruan Daye went out to catch wealthy class enemies, and, unaware of what was going on, cut and carried home a load of fire-scorched fir wood. The production brigade caught him and paraded him through the village for public humiliation.

Educated youth Zheng Tongsheng fell for Pan Qingyu, who had just graduated from high school and returned to the brigade. But Qingyu longed for the city and had no feelings for Tongsheng. Later, Tongsheng became a regular employee, and Qingyu pursued him instead. Tongsheng had found someone else by then and treated Qingyu coldly.

Ruan Youcheng was an outstanding student in high school, but those days, university admissions were based on recommendations, so good grades were useless. Ruan Youcheng returned to the brigade, and before long was sent to build a reservoir and carry utility poles. Later, during the military training campaign, he was sent to Chongli to do manual labor.

The Spring Festival was a major occasion in the countryside. Whatever tasty food a family could afford was saved for the holiday: making rice-flower candy, frying sweet potato chips, and deep-frying glutinous rice cakes... The festive atmosphere was so strong. On the first day of the new year, people set off firecrackers, neighbors visited each other to exchange New Year greetings, families visited relatives in the first few days of the month, and lion dances and lantern shows were held for the Lantern Festival...

Ruan Daye first fell in love with Yu Xiaozhen, a young woman from his brigade, because of his father's connections. But Yu Xiaozhen looked down on Daye and secretly ran away with a middle-school teacher. Daye was devastated. Later, through a relative's introduction, he met Jiang Yuanhua. After Daye's maternal uncle caused trouble and several twists and turns, they finally married.

The national college entrance examination system was reinstated. Ruan Youcheng returned to school to prepare, failed several times, and finally made it into an institution of higher education.

The countryside finally introduced the household responsibility system. People eagerly farmed their own allocated plots, and life improved day by day. The problem of having enough to eat and wear was solved, and people could even afford meat on ordinary days.

"When people have enough to eat and wear, they start thinking about sex." Zhang Baji began having an affair with Huang Xiuying, a widow from his brigade. When his wife, Xu Cuihua, found out, she was so furious that she took poison and killed herself.

Zhang Baji later became seriously ill, and none of his children would look after him. In the end, he died in his own bed, and no one even knew.

"At night, snores gradually filled the little tiled house, along with the soft rustling of little mice creeping around... and the murmuring of autumn insects outside." "City folk are fair and plump. Whatever you say, they're better off than us country people." "Daye rushed out of the room with an axe in his hand and brought it down on his mother, who was sitting in the yard fanning herself to keep cool..." "The bright moon still hung overhead. Beneath the deep-blue sky screen, everything seemed to have gone still and solidified... even the frogs' music." "You silly child! Times have changed. Our village is going to introduce the responsibility system. Things will get better. Who knows, maybe you'll find a good young man in the countryside who's better than one from the city." "Yuxiang, it's not a holiday today, is it? Look, we're eating meat on an ordinary day now." "Flames licked the bottom of the pot with a whoosh, and pale blue smoke drifted above the roofs of the small courtyard, as lovely as a dream."... One simple, fresh image of rural life after another comes rushing forth. The story is true to life and moving, bringing tears to the reader's eyes.

Theme: The work depicts rural life in the 1970s and 1980s, emphasizing how the gap between city and countryside narrowed somewhat with the reform and opening-up.