Chapter 54: Zhong

"It's all my fault. I shouldn't have run my mouth and let the neighbors find out about this."

Yuan leaned against the door in silence. His wife — Huan, Zhong's younger sister — was weeping and tugging at Zhong's sleeve, telling him the whole story from the beginning.

By now, the village head had brought dozens of men and had their door blocked so tightly not a drop of water could seep through. Every so often someone would stand on tiptoe and peer inside — mostly village women who loved a spectacle and feared no trouble.

The shouts, some righteous and indignant, some gloating over the misfortune, came in an endless din that made Zhong's ears ache...

Zhong sighed and turned his head. His son and daughter were still small and had been frightened into loud wails by the commotion. His mother hurriedly gathered them in her arms, covering their ears and murmuring, "Don't cry, don't cry..." But that feeble comfort could not block the shouts so loud they made the roof tiles tremble:

"Zhong, come out and say something!"

"Why so much dawdling? Come out quickly and explain yourself!"

Zhong had never been one to put himself forward. This past month, he had even more willingly handed the family's main burden to his second brother, Heifu. Watching Heifu make the household's circumstances improve bit by bit, watching his originally wayward third brother Jing also set foot on the right path — Zhong felt that all his years of toil as the eldest brother had not been in vain...

But now, of his two younger brothers, one had gone to the plaque office and was probably at this very moment concentrating on reciting laws and ordinances. The other had taken a bronze axe up the mountain to chop firewood, bragging before he left that he would bring back a month's worth of firewood.

With that scrawny frame of his — could he really manage?

Zhong shook his head. Right now, the only ones left at home were himself and Yuan, who was even more simple and honest than he was.

"Husband..."

Zhong's wife Kui walked over timidly, her voice tearful. "If there truly is no other way, then just agree to the village head's demand. It's only a treadle trip-hammer — let the village head and the whole hamlet use it, what harm would it do..."

Ever since she had married Zhong, the village head's family had nursed a bitter grudge, and in recent years their retaliation had grown more and more blatant. Kui was truly frightened now, even thinking with shame that she herself had brought this predicament upon the whole family.

"That's right."

Huan wiped her tears as well and grabbed Zhong's arm. "Eldest Brother, although we promised Second Brother we wouldn't show that thing to outsiders, at this point there really is no other way. We should just hand it over. Yuan already smashed the one at home — that can count as keeping faith with Second Brother. But now we truly can't hold out any longer. All those people outside are our fellow villagers. If we stubbornly refuse, how will they look upon us from now on? I fear we will never be able to hold our heads up in this hamlet again..."

Listening to his wife and sister's urgings, Zhong nodded.

From outside came the village head's loud shout again: "Zhong, if you still refuse to come out, we will come in ourselves! And when your mother and children are frightened, don't blame us for disregarding the bonds of our hamlet!"

Kui and Huan instantly turned deathly pale. Zhong's brow furrowed slightly, then at once returned to its usual placid calm.

He turned his head and looked at his terrified mother and weeping children, then forced a faint smile for his wife and sister.

"I'm going out now. Kui, Huan — take Mother and Yang, Yue, and Chen into the inner room. Shut the door tight. Don't be afraid. Nothing will go wrong."

Once his wife and sister had led the old mother and small children into hiding inside the house and shut the door firmly, Zhong finally sighed. He waved a hand, motioning Yuan away from the door, and with his own hands he opened that thin wooden door...

Creaaak — the door swung open. Zhong set one foot on the threshold and kept the other inside it, his left hand holding the door and his right hand concealed behind his back.

He lifted his head and saw the familiar mulberry groves and paths outside, all packed full of people from the hamlet — a dark mass of perhaps several dozen. Most were faces he knew, yet at this moment, their expressions seemed so hideously unfamiliar.

And the village head stood right in the middle of that crowd, arms akimbo, swaggering with arrogance. When he saw Zhong slowly open the door, a smug look at once spread across his face.

"Zhong, I knew you would come out..."

Zhong was a man who disliked putting himself forward. In daily life, even having eyes focused on him would make him feel awkward.

He knew that at this very moment, his own face must be deathly pale.

Zhong did not dare look at the crowd again. Instead, he turned his head and looked at the door.

His family's door leaf was no longer the shabby thing it had been a month ago. After Second Brother returned, he and Yuan had found good timber and built a sturdy wooden door. They had also found lacquer, and the three brothers had spent half a shichen painting it glossy black and sleek — it looked very presentable.

This door was like their family: after being spruced up, it had taken on a new life.

Yet today, those shameless people outside had thrown clods of earth at it, turning the wooden door into a blotchy painted face again.

Zhong's heart ached. He reached out and brushed the remaining dirt from the door, then gritted his teeth and gave his own trembling, injured leg a fierce smack! To make it stop being afraid!

"You people can insult me and bully me all you want in daily life — I can bear that. But if you want to disgrace my family's door and frighten my family — don't even think about it!"

With that, he threw all his strength into shoving the wooden door completely open!

When the door flew wide, the village head and everyone at the entrance saw that in Zhong's other hand, he was brandishing a firewood-chopping blade!

"Zhong, what do you think you're doing?"

The village head saw the weapon in Zhong's hand and his expression changed. "We've tried every argument, and still you refuse to bring that device out and share it with everyone in the hamlet? How can you be so petty!"

Share? For Zhong, that would not be difficult. But Second Brother had quietly told him that their family's treadle trip-hammer might earn them another merit reward, which could lift the whole family's livelihood to a higher level.

Zhong did not understand these things, but he trusted Heifu's words — just like before, when they had never made a food called "year cake," but under Heifu's guidance, after everyone worked together to make it, the taste had actually been quite good.

This matter was the same. He only needed to trust his brother and keep the secret for him.

But now, the secret had leaked. The village head had stirred up the neighbors, and relying on overwhelming numbers, was using "share with the hamlet folk" to coerce him, forcing him to hand over the treadle trip-hammer.

Zhong knew perfectly well that once he let this crowd cross his threshold and take the treadle trip-hammer, whatever Second Brother was planning would likely be finished.

If Second Brother returned to find the house in shambles, the treadle trip-hammer seized, and the old mother and small children terrified out of their wits — how would Zhong explain himself to him?

As the eldest brother, what face would he have left to ever again say, "Set your mind at ease while you're away"?

Thinking these thoughts, faced with the village head's interrogation, Zhong opened his mouth and at last gave a reply.

"Village Head!"

It had been a long time since Zhong had spoken loudly before so many people. His voice cracked, carrying a hint of hoarseness, but it made everyone hear him clearly.

"Since you are so fond of sharing, why not bring out your family's plow oxen, your farm tools, your field slaves, and let everyone in the hamlet share them? Why must you come and seize my family's device?"

At those words, the village head was dumbstruck, and the hamlet folk looked at one another in confusion.

Was this still the Zhong they knew — honest, cowardly, too timid even to speak loudly to anyone?

Publicly rebuked by Zhong, the village head lost face and flew into a rage. "Zhong, I never imagined you'd be so obstinate! It seems you mean to make us go in and take it ourselves!"

At that, under the village head's orders, several of his field slaves started forward.

Zhong pointed at them and warned in a loud voice, "Let me see who dares!"

"He's a cripple — what can he do? Charge in!" The village head urged them on relentlessly from behind.

As several men advanced together, Zhong could not help but retreat half a step. Yet after a moment's hesitation, he stepped forward again — one full step!

He strained to recall the line he had seen that day while helping Second Brother recite the laws and ordinances — the line that had left such a deep impression on him...

Just as those men were about to reach the door, Zhong raised the firewood blade high with one hand and hacked fiercely down at the air before him, shouting at the same time to stop them:

"The law says: whoever enters another's dwelling without cause, the master of the house may strike them dead on the spot and be held guiltless! Let me see who dares come forward! Do not blame me if the blade in my hand does not recognize fellow villagers!"

At that moment, Qiu behind him also stepped over the threshold carrying a small iron hammer. The eight-foot giant stood shoulder to shoulder with Zhong, and let out a furious roar at those men!

Those field slaves were frightened back several steps. They turned to look at their master, trying to confirm whether those words were true…

The village chief was stunned too. Just as he was at a loss, a burst of hearty laughter suddenly rang out from behind the crowd.

"Ha ha ha ha!"

What followed was a furious bellow like a thunderclap!

"Well said, elder brother! Those who trespass into private homes without cause may be killed without penalty! Let me see who dares take half a step over my doorstep without permission — just try it!"

……

PS: If one enters another's dwelling, residence, or cottage without cause, boards another's cart or boat, or drags and leads others with intent to break the law, at that moment striking them dead is without penalty. — *Statutes of the Second Year, Statute on Banditry*. There will be an extra chapter at midnight.

PS:

I recommend my good friend Chenchen's book *The Great French Literary Giant*. The author is a veteran of foreign historical fiction, and depicts 19th-century France with incredible vividness. It's about to go on sale — if you're interested, you can bookmark it and take a look.

Paris in 1860, the center of European arts and letters.

It was the best of times — Hugo, Dumas fils, Maupassant, Flaubert, an endless stream of literary titans who rendered Paris a golden age of art and literature.

A reckless transmigrator arrives in this era. With no particular talents, he puts his residual literary youth to use — by copying books.

Rivals whose livelihoods he stole resent his talent, publishing houses scramble over the copyrights, the people of France worship his prose, and even the rigid Académie Française extends an olive branch to him.

Before, he had no choice. Now, in this golden age of art and literature, he wants only to be a literary giant.

(End of chapter)