The Rise and Fall of the Last Imperial Cook

7. Homelessness

Translator: Yang Ting, Jia Manxin

Proofread by Peter Gong

The weather in Taihu Lake is already humid and hot in the fifth lunar month. With the sun high in the sky, the lake, reeds, peach orchard, and farmland all assume a layer of faint vapor, like a soft brocade gently covering the entire world, including the village with green walls and sepia tiles, which lies between the lake and the peach orchard.

The peach trees are laden with ripe peaches, and the plump and bright peaches hang down with the branches and leaves. The peaches are trembling slightly in a gust of wind that blows from nowhere, as if they would fall at any moment.

Trembling with the peaches are copper bells tied to the branches of the tree tops. The copper bell has two functions. One is to frighten the birds pecking at ripe peaches, and the other is to alarm the watchman in time that someone was stealing the peach.

A small figure totters out from the peach orchard, and he is a just child at the age of five or six years old. The reason for his faltering steps is that he is carrying a heavy basket full of big and bright peaches.

The little child manages to lift the basket through the small canal which runs round the peach orchard, and then he has no strength to carry it; he could only hold the handles on the basket with both hands and drags it backwards. But after a short distance, he falls to the ground and could drag no further.

But the little child immediately gets up from the ground, his clever eyes sweeping around. He seems to be looking for someone who can help him.

A man comes along the road to the north, carrying a simple package, tired and excited. This man is none other than Xu Zhiwei, who rushes all the way from Beijing to Wuxi. Bypassing the peach orchard he will see Shibawan Village where his home is located. They say that when you return to your hometown, the closer you are, the uneasier you will feel. But that’s not the case for Xu Zhiwei. He escapes from the palace and keeps himself alive, so now the most urgent thing is to go home, as if to hide back into the womb of his mother. The little boy runs up the road, throws himself to the front of Xu Zhiwei, and hugs Xu Zhiwei’s thigh, “Sir, please help me. My mother is dying of illness. She needs money to buy medicine. Please buy my peaches. My own family planted them. They are sweet and delicious.”

Before Xu Zhiwei could react, the child has already dragged him to the big basket.

“Look, sir. The peach is good. If it were not for my mother’s urgent need for money, I would sell these peaches at a higher price in downtown Wuxi. Please sir! Save my mother! If you buy all these peaches, I’ll give the basket to you, or else you can’t take them easily.”

Xu Zhiwei finally understands what is going on. His first impression is that the child is so clever, speaking clearly and not timid at all. And he is also a good kid. It’s really hard for this little child to drag such a heavy basket to sell peaches in order to get medicine for his mother! At least he is more filial than Xu Zhiwei. He has been away from home for so many years, and never pours water for his parents.

Xu Zhiwei was in a hurry to return home, but now he comes to realize that he doesn’t take anything. Looking at those peaches, which are really good, big and juicy, he takes out a few copper coins and hands them to the little child, “Don’t worry, I’ll take these peaches. You can get medicine for your mother with the money.”

The little child smiles cunningly when he gets the copper coins, then turns and runs away, shouting loudly as he runs, “The watchman comes. Run quickly.” Xu Zhiwei suddenly feels confused-what does the child mean by that? Doesn’t he live in this peach orchard?

At this moment, a couple of teenagers come out from the peach orchard, holding bamboo sticks and pitchers in their hands. Xu Zhiwei grew up here, and with a glance, he understands that these teenagers are here to steal peaches because the bamboo sticks and pitchers are used to deal with the copper bells on the peach trees. They can lift the pitcher with a bamboo stick and put the copper bell into the pitcher. Then the bell will be soaked in the water, and then will not clank. In this way, other people can pick peaches unscrupulously.

As soon as these teenagers see Xu Zhiwei, they immediately hide themselves in the peach orchard and escape instantly. After seeing this, Xu Zhiwei catches on. The little child discovers that some guys are stealing his peaches, but he is too young and too weak to stop them. Therefore, he sells the peaches to Xu Zhiwei; at the same time, he also uses Xu Zhiwei to scare these teenagers away.

Xu Zhiwei praises the child’s cleverness and filial piety inwardly, while picking up the basket full of peaches and walking towards the main road. He is eager to get home and it won’t be too long. Although he doesn’t return home with fame and money, his parents must be very pleased to see him back. Taking some peaches for his parents to taste is a limited way to show his filial piety at least.

But he only takes two steps, while two men, one old and the one young, suddenly rush out of the peach orchard and grab Xu Zhiwei. “You steal peaches. You are old enough but still run into the orchard to steal peaches. How shameless!” The middle-aged man shouts at Xu Zhiwei. “Father, this guy steals not only peaches, but also the basket that contains peaches. It is the basket with which I took you food at noon.” The young man finds out more about Xu Zhiwei’s “stealing”.

Xu Zhiwei is perplexed and quickly explains, “No, no. I didn’t steal the peaches. I bought them. A child sold them to me, saying his mother is dying of illness, so he picked his own peaches and sold them for money to buy medicine. Is that kid from your family?”

“What? How dare you curse my mother to be dying of illness. I’m gonna beat you up!” Upon listening to Xu Zhiwei’s explanation, the young man impulsively rushes towards Xu Zhiwei. It is the middle-aged man who is in his right mood quickly stops the young man. “I didn’t curse anyone. It is the kid who said that. Look at me, I’m in a hurry to return home from afar and is about to get home soon. Do you think I still have the mood to steal peaches?”

The two men look Xu Zhiwei up and down, and see that he is indeed a man treading a long way, with baggage and a face covered with dust. They take the basket and peaches back dubiously, do not embarrass Xu Zhiwei, and just let him go quickly.

Xu Zhiwei is about to get home, but feeling depressed with the result of trying to do a good deed. However, he leaves the peach orchard and goes a long way before he understands that he was deceived by the little child.

It is said that man is born evil, and the experiences of working as a royal chief in the palace have exposed him to too many intrigues striving for fame and wealth. But he doesn’t expect that when he leaves the palace and returns to his hometown, the first thing he runs into is still intrigue, and he was even fooled by a little child.

Xu Zhiwei thinks about it more carefully. In this matter, he may not be the only person to be tricked, the father and son who plant the peach trees, as well as those teenagers who stole the peaches, should have been tricked by the little child. This child gets a handful of coins by taking advantage of the peaches from the peach orchard, the efforts of the peach stealers, and the kindness of Xu Zhiwei. He is just a very young child. If this continues, what illegal things can’t be done by him when he grows up?

Xu Zhiwei walks into Shibawan Village by the lake, depressed, and the village is quiet. People should have gone out to work at this time, and those who have no work or can’t work should be taking their noon break, so it’s normal to see no one in the village.

Passing the old elm tree in the middle of the village, turning a corner and walking inside he will see his home. At this moment, he has completely forgotten the unhappiness he had just now, and walks quickly to the alley with a complex excitement.

As soon as he walks to the alley, he sees a group of teenagers gathering in the alley, looking like peach stealers in the peach orchard. These teenagers are silent, but there comes a voice in the crowd that sounds obviously more immature, saying, “It’s me who saw the owner came, or you would be caught, then lose money and be hit by your fathers. I yelled at you guys and ran away. That basket filled with peaches is so heavy, so how was I able to take it away? It is either taken back by the peach-planter or carried away by the passer-by.”

It turns out that it is the little child who cheated his money just now, so Xu Zhiwei yells, “Return my money to me!” He walks quickly toward them, trying to catch the little child.

But the child happens to see Xu Zhiwei, so he points at Xu Zhiwei and shouts, “Oh dear! The peach-planter is catching up. Run quickly!”

The teenagers look back at Xu Zhiwei, as if seeing a middle-aged man like the peach-planter rushing over angrily, so they immediately disperse and flee to their own homes. This chaotic fleeing prevents Xu Zhiwei from rushing forward, and when everything gets no longer chaotic, the little child has gone.

Xu Zhiwei turns around, but can’t find any trace of the little child. So the depression that has been forgotten becomes even stronger. It is in the village where he grew up, and it is at his doorstep, but he can’t even catch a little child.

“You are Zhiwei, right? You are Zhiwei! It is Zhiwei. I haven’t seen you for many years.” A man walks out of the alley, and probably is disturbed by the noise of those teenagers. “I am. You are? You are Ada, Fan Ada. Nothing has changed. You are still the same, just getting fatter.” Xu Zhiwei recognizes him. This person is his neighbor Fan Ada.

Fan Ada grows up with Xu Zhiwei. But this person is very sophisticated and slick, and he likes to do things by speculation. Therefore, although Xu Zhiwei and he are neighbors, their relationship is not very close. But after so many years, Xu Zhiwei is still very happy and excited to see him. After all, he is the first acquaintance he meets after returning home.

“Bro, where did you make a fortune these years? Are you back with a lot of money this time? By the way, this is not a good place for us to talk. Come home with me first. Come home with me first.” Fan Ada comes to help Xu Zhiwei carry his baggage.

“I haven’t returned to my own home yet. I’ll come and talk with you later.” He is already so close to his own place, so he must go home first to meet his parents and wife. “Don’t you know?” Fan Ada looks a little pale. “Know what?” Xu Zhiwei suddenly feels nervous. “It’s gone, it’s all gone.” “What’s all gone?” Fan Ada lets out a long sigh, “Your home is gone!”

His home is really gone. There is no one in the house, and even the roof is broken. The yard is overgrown with waist-deep weeds, mixed with broken pots and useless sundries.

“Not long after you left, your father fell ill and never recovered. He died two years later. And then your wife Yumei lived with your mother, embroidering and repairing clothes for others. They lived a hard life. Four years later, your mother fell on the river bank and was unconscious. A few days later, she also passed away. So your wife was the only one left in the house.”

Xu Zhiwei stands in his own yard, looking so dazed, shocked and helpless. Fan Ada accompanies him and gushes about stories of Xu’s family, but he does not know how to comfort him.

“Where is Yumei? Did she remarry?” She may be the last person to offer Xu Zhiwei some solace.

“No, she also died.”

“She’s dead? How did she die?” Xu Zhiwei’s last relief is gone.

“Alas, she… she died of difficult labor.” Fan Ada hesitates for a while but still comes clean with Xu Zhiwei.

“What? Difficult labor? How… how is it possible?” Xu Zhiwei suddenly turns his head and stares at Fan Ada, his eyes mixed with anger and query.

Fan Ada is a little flustered, “Brother, don’t worry. Hear me out. As the saying goes, the miserable man often suffers a lot. When your parents died, you wife was left alone. One night, a passing thief slipped into your house and raped Yumei. In order to wait for you to come back, she endured the humiliation and survived. But unfortunately, she was pregnant. Although it was a bastard, it was also her own child, and the child was put into the world by Heaven, so she decided to give birth to it.”

“She insisted on giving birth to the bastard!”

“Bro, you may not be able to forgive her. But we neighbors who often saw her living alone can understand her. You have been away for a long time, and she guards this home for you alone, and you might not be able to make it home alive. So this child is the faith that keeps her alive. Unexpectedly, this child was born at the cost of her life.” Fan Ada says very emotionally.

Xu Zhiwei slowly turns his head, his eyes falling on his dilapidated house, on the shabby windows, tables, chairs, and beds in the house. At this moment, he feels as if his parents and his wife show up in his mind. He couldn’t help but shed tears and his heart is bleeding. He keeps muttering, “A miserable woman, a miserable woman. It’s all my fault. I’m the one to blame! I’m sorry to my parents, and I’m sorry to Yumei.”

The muttering becomes louder and louder, and finally turns into a wail. It is a kind of grieved shout, a wail so desperate that he can hardly stand, but kneel in the weeds.