Chapter Six: Meeting Force with Force

Zhou Zhi’s body now held the memories of two men, and he understood well enough the Chen family’s overbearing ways. The former Zhou Zhi, much like his father Zhou Tie, was timid and compliant, an honest and unassuming soul. But the present Zhou Zhi had a proud and unyielding spirit; in his view, a man should never face the world with humility and cowardice. Kindness invites bullying, just as a gentle horse is ridden hard. The Chen family was nothing more than a pack of bullies—did having a bit of money give them the right to act so high-handedly, to trample others as they pleased?

If others do not offend me, I do not offend them; but if they do, I will repay in kind. This was Zhou Zhi’s guiding principle for survival.

He had won the wager, yet now he was expected to bring two chickens to the Chen household as an apology—what sense did that make? True, the Zhou family kept a handful of chickens, but none in the family had ever been willing to eat even a single egg. The eggs were for selling, to buy oil and salt.

With this in mind, Zhou Zhi stiffened his neck and said, “Father, Mother, I will not go. Chen Wenju lost; I have the agreement here. Their family must till our fields and plant our wheat.”

“You…you unfilial child! Truly unfilial! Wife, beat him, give him a good beating, see if he dares talk back, if he dares to disobey!” Zhou Tie bellowed again.

But Mother Zhou He could not bear to strike her son. Her face was full of sorrow as she looked at Zhou Zhi and spoke earnestly, “Little Zhi, you become more disobedient as you grow. Listen to your father and go at once. Our family cannot afford to offend the Chens. They may help us with the fields this time, but they’ll surely take revenge later. For a poor family like ours, crossing the Chens could bring disaster upon us.

“Have you forgotten the calamity that befell the Li family two years ago?”

At this, even Zhou Tie, still fuming, turned pale; terror flickered in his eyes.

Two years ago, a farmer named Li Dayin from White Mountain Village had his youngest son bitten by the Chen family’s dog. In a fit of anger, Li Dayin secretly killed the dog. When the Chens found out, they hounded him mercilessly, demanding ten acres of prime farmland as compensation. Those ten acres were all Li Dayin’s family owned; losing them meant certain ruin.

How could a dog be worth ten acres of good land? Unable to accept this, Li Dayin had someone draft a petition and took the Chens to court, hoping the magistrate would deliver justice. Tragically, the magistrate not only ordered him to compensate the Chens with the land, but also awarded them the Li family’s house. In just a matter of days, over a dog, the entire Li family was rendered homeless and landless. Two years had passed, and none knew whether they still lived.

Thinking of the Lis’ misfortune, Zhou Zhi burned with indignation, frowning in silence.

Seeing Zhou Zhi say no more, Mother Zhou He continued, “Little Zhi, go now. We have no other way. If you won’t follow your father’s orders, what else can we do?”

They thought Zhou Zhi might have repented, but he spoke again. “Father, Mother, I am not Li Dayin—I am not afraid of the Chens. If they seek revenge, let them come. For every soldier, a general; for every flood, a levee. There is still law in this land. Forgive your unfilial son, but I will not go.”

Seeing Zhou Zhi so stubborn today, Zhou Tie’s anger flared higher. He cursed nonstop, “Wretched child, unfilial son—truly unfilial!”

His mother, at a loss, looked at him with tearful eyes and shook her head, murmuring, “Little Zhi, how have you turned out this way? Do you really mean to anger your father to death?”

Zhou Zhi lowered his head in silence. He thought to himself, this should have been a good thing, but who would have thought his father was so timid, so cowed by the Chens? If things went on like this, their family was doomed to a pitiful fate, while the Chens would only grow more arrogant and reckless.

His elder sister, Zhou Lüyun, had been busy in the outer room, but had listened intently to everything said inside. She could not help but sigh inwardly—Father, you are far too honest. This cannot go on. Little Zhi’s behavior today was truly admirable. She remembered that he had once been just like their father, honest to a fault, meek and easy to take advantage of. But ever since Little Zhi fell and lost consciousness that time, he had changed.

He had become like a true man, with opinions of his own—it seemed Little Zhi had truly grown up.

Though Zhou Lüyun was just an ordinary daughter of a peasant family, she possessed a strong and unyielding spirit, almost like a heroine of old.

After thinking a moment, she softly said to her younger brother, Zhou Shaocheng, who stood at the door wide-eyed and at a loss, “Hurry and fetch Uncle Zhang.”

Zhou Shaocheng set off at a run.

Uncle Zhang was none other than Zhang Huo’s father, known to everyone as Old Man Zhang. He too was a poor farmer, but also worked as a swine castrator, traveling from village to village during the slack seasons. Because of this, his family was slightly better off than the Zhous.

Old Man Zhang and Zhou Tie’s families had been close for generations, and Zhou Tie always heeded his advice. Old Man Zhang’s experience and quick wits made him the go-to man for difficult matters.

Soon enough, Zhou Shaocheng came running back, Old Man Zhang hurrying behind him.

Seeing his elder brother Zhang, Zhou Tie’s eyes instantly brimmed with tears. “Brother, just look at this unfilial son—what am I to do with him?”

He then roughly explained the situation.

After hearing it all, Old Man Zhang thought a moment, then grinned at Zhou Zhi. “Little Zhi, you’ve grown capable—not like your father. Good! Well done! This Zhou family needs someone like you. Only with someone like you can the family truly stand tall.”

As he spoke, he clapped Zhou Zhi on the back with approval. “Little Zhi, your uncle thinks you did exactly right. That’s settled—nothing more to it. Go and eat. Leave your father to me.”

Zhou Zhi felt as though a great weight had been lifted. His father was always like this; if anyone could talk sense into him when he was angry, it was Old Man Zhang. Clearly, Old Man Zhang was on his side. With his help, Zhou Zhi was certain his father would come around.

Thanking Old Man Zhang, Zhou Zhi stepped out of the inner room.

His sister Zhou Lüyun smiled at him and said softly, “Little Zhi, come eat. You’ve worked hard all day. You’re the main laborer of the family now—you must eat well.”

In a peasant household, there was little concern for formalities. As Old Man Zhang reasoned with his father inside, Zhou Lüyun, Zhou Shaocheng, and Zhou Zhi sat around the low table to eat.

The hot millet and pumpkin cakes had a faint sweetness as they chewed. Though coarse and rough, sometimes scratching the throat as they swallowed, being able to eat such cakes was already a blessing. Though the Zhou family owned eight acres of farmland and this had been a bountiful year, the northern fields were poorer than those in the south, yielding just over ten stones of grain. Three stones had to be kept for seed; the remaining seven or eight had to last five people until the wheat harvest next year. They had to ration carefully.

In idle seasons, the cakes at home were made from millet flour, pumpkin, chaff, and cabbage leaves, with very little actual millet—those were truly hard to eat. The usual chaff and pumpkin porridge was even worse. Such was the life of the poor; as the saying went, “half the year’s food is wild greens and chaff.”

Zhou Zhi had a hearty appetite; he ate four or five cakes in a row, washed down with two big bowls of rice soup, before he felt full. In the other room, Old Man Zhang was still coaxing his father, but his tone had clearly softened. Zhou Zhi, reassured, nodded to his sister and headed to the stable.

That night, he still had work to do there, taking care of the family’s precious horse.