To Live

After Youqing’s death, Fugui thinks that Jiazhen will certainly die, for she “[doesn’t] have any meat left on her bones. Picking her up [is] like lifting a piece of firewood” (163). The team leader summons a town doctor, who gives her less than a month to live. That night Fugui goes outside and cries:

Time really flies—it seemed like ever since Jiazhen and I were married we’d been through nothing but hard times. And now, in the blink of an eye, it was time for her to leave me. I decided that just crying and feeling upset was no use. When it came to times like these, a man had to be practical. I decided to make sure Jiazhen would have a decent burial (165).

Fugui borrows what little money he can from his fellow villagers and has a wooden casket built for Jiazhen. Surprisingly, after 20 days of being near death, Jiazhen sits up in bed and has an appetite again.

Almost immediately after Jiazhen gets better, Fugui falls ill and becomes bedridden beside his wife. This makes things especially hard for Fengxia, who now has to take care of both parents on top of working in the fields all day to earn work points. Around this time, just over a month after Youqing died, Chunsheng shows up at Fugui’s home. He tells the story of how Fugui fought for the Liberation Army instead of going home, and he tries to give Fugui money to make up for Youqing’s death. However, Jiazhen blames Chunsheng for Youqing’s death and yells at him to go away. Fugui doesn’t see Chunsheng again until the Cultural Revolution, which occurs many years later:

When the Cultural Revolution hit, the whole town turned upside down. The streets were crawling with people, and there were fights every day. People were even beaten to death. No one from the countryside dared go into town. Compared with what was happening in town, the countryside was much more peaceful. Everything was just like before, except that you didn’t feel as safe when you were asleep at night. That was because Chairman Mao’s supreme directives were always issued in the middle of the night (170).

The team leader blows his whistle and calls everyone out to the fields when there are instructions from Chairman Mao. Fugui and the other peasants unfailingly comply with these orders.

With their health waning, Fugui and Jiazhen decide that Fengxia needs to get married so she’ll have someone to take care of her after their deaths. After asking the team leader to put out a marriage call, he lets them know that a porter from town is interested. The porter’s name is Erxi, and he comes to visit almost immediately. He has a crooked head, and when he looks around he has to turn his shoulder to see things. However, he is much wealthier than Fugui, and he wants to marry Fengxia. He leaves, and when he comes back he brings meat, spirits, and five people with him. Erxi and his friends repair Fugui’s roof and paint his walls; he then prepares an extravagant meal. Fugui and Jiazhen decide that Erxi is an honest and loving man, and they are happy that he will marry Fengxia.

Erxi arrives to marry Fengxia, and they have an elaborate wedding. Fugui notes how openly Erxi displays and shares his wealth. Even though Fengxia seems to love Erxi, she cries when he carries her away in the wedding cart. After Fengxia leaves, Jiazhen and Fugui are devastated. Erxi and Fengxia break custom by coming to visit Fugui earlier than a full month after being married. After this, Fugui frequently goes into town to visit Fengxia. Fugui observes that Erxi really loves Fengxia, and all of Erxi’s neighbors have taken a special liking to Fengxia as well.

At this time, the Cultural Revolution is growing in intensity. Fugui tries to avoid the crowded areas of town when he visits Fengxia because people are always fighting in the streets. The team leader won’t even go into town anymore for fear of the violence. Because of this, a group of Red Guards from the city come and take the team leader away, calling him a capitalist roader and accusing him of abusing his power. Everyone in the village knows that this isn’t true and that the team leader has always been good to them, but everyone is also too scared to speak up. The team leader eventually comes back but has been badly beaten. However, Chunsheng isn’t as lucky. He is beaten every single day and called a capitalist roader. Chunsheng shows up at Fugui’s one night and tells him that he’s going to die by suicide because he can’t handle the abuse anymore. Despite Fugui’s pleas, Chunsheng ends up dying by suicide a month later.

Work in the fields starts to pick up, though Fugui struggles to keep pace: “It was a good thing there was the people’s commune at the time so I could work with the other villagers—that way I didn’t have to worry about not carrying my own weight” (201). Fengxia and Erxi come to visit and tell Fugui and Jiazhen that Fengxia is pregnant. Months later, Fengxia gives birth to a healthy baby boy, but she dies moments later. Jiazhen says they should name the baby Kugen, meaning “bitter root,” and then dies three months after Fengxia. With nothing left at home, Fugui travels into town every day to help Erxi with the baby, and Erxi and Fugui grow close.