Chapter Thirty-Two: The Small Island of Yellow Earth

  Two steamships carrying eight sailors docked at the shore. Originally, there were two steamships and one junk ship. On that day, when they were docking, one of the ships was damaged in a collision, leaving only two. The two small boats made two trips to transport eleven crew members and nine corpses. Among the nine deceased, only three knew their hometowns and would be cremated; the other six were buried locally.

  The Zhu Yin ship dropped anchor and stopped not far from the coast, leaving nearly twenty people on board. Chen Xin let Hei Pao and others hang clothes on bamboo poles, set up some fake people on the deck, and guarded at a slightly farther point.

  Chen Xin, Pockmark, Song Wenxian, Zhu Guobin, Wang Zugui and Hei Pao were all among the eleven. There was also an old man named Wan who seemed to be in a daze, insisting on accompanying the body of the deceased master. After landing, everyone took axes to a hillside to chop wood. The weather was scorching hot, and everyone except Song Wenxian had stripped down to their waists, despite sweating profusely. Zhu Guobin wielded a large axe, hacking away at a tree trunk, while the others used short-handled axes to chop smaller branches. Whenever Zhu Guobin felled a tree, two men would come over and carry it off towards the beach.

  "Whoosh!" Another small tree fell down. Song Wenxian said to Chen Xin, "Brother Chen, shall we two carry this one?"

  Chen Xin nodded in agreement and followed Song Wenxian as they carried the load towards the beach. Song Wenxian was slender and somewhat older, so carrying it was quite laborious for him. They stopped twice before finally reaching the sandy shore. Chen Xin let Song Wenxian rest for a bit while he went to find a rock to prop up the load with, then began chopping branches with an axe handle. At this time, Old Wang was keeping watch over several corpses in the distance, and only the two of them were left on the nearby beach.

  Song Wenxian's shirt was completely drenched in sweat, and he sat still on the ground, panting. After a while, looking at Chen Xin busily, he asked with his mouth: "Brother Chen just now said that it is all what people want to hear, I wonder if there were any officials in your family before?"

  Chen Xin certainly couldn't say he had been an office director, chopping away as he laughed and said: "Sir, what are you talking about? My family has always been merchants, never officials. I'm just doing things with a clear conscience, didn't think about winning people over."

  Song Wenxian sighed and said, "That Chen brother is indeed born with a silver tongue, I'm not as good as him. Although my family has produced scholars in the past, by my generation, we can only do some humble tasks like being a guarantor for others. It's really a disappointment to our ancestors."

  "Mr. Song's writing is elegant and refined, he must have passed the imperial examination with honors, why would he be willing to go abroad and do this perilous job?"

  "It's embarrassing to say, but I actually passed the Imperial Examination as a Xiucai."

  "Why didn't Mr. Song continue to take the imperial examination to become a juren?"

  Song Wenxian shook his head and said, "After I passed the imperial examination as a xiucai, I traveled extensively, passing through places like Henan and Shandong. Everywhere I went, I saw that there had been years of drought and flood, with barren fields along the way, and weeds growing taller than people. In rural villages, only six or seven out of ten households remained, and in some cases, only three or four out of ten. I wonder why those high-ranking officials in the imperial court, who are supposed to be the pillars of society, have not brought about the prosperous era spoken of by Confucius and Mencius."

  Chen Xin listened to his words and felt a bit strange, according to reason, Song Wenxian had been very smooth all the way, not like someone who was shallow in words but deep in meaning. He couldn't help but stop and ask him: "Does Mr. Song think that there is nothing worth learning from the teachings of Confucius and Mencius?"

  "It's not entirely so; it may be suitable for personal cultivation or the pursuit of ultimate truth, but it doesn't necessarily have practical applications to the country. Nowadays, there are many who hold different views, so I again traveled to Tai State to study the Yangming School of Mind."

  "Does Mr. Song have anything else to gain?"

  "No, neither the theory of Li Qi nor the idea that the heart is reason is what I'm looking for. The daily lives of ordinary people, their clothes, food, shelter, and activities are all complicated and messy. Can the complexity of the world be explained by a single word "Li"? Even if it can be explained, can it be put into practice? Perhaps my natural ability is too low, and I'm not capable of understanding or practicing it. Feeling disappointed and disheartened, I didn't want to learn about things that are hard to understand anymore. But struggling to make a living, I ended up becoming a scribe and boarded this ship."

  Chen Xin saw him sweating too much, handed over the water bottle that had just been fetched from the spring, and said: "These things may only be understood by a genius like Mr. Yangming, why does Mr. Song have to be so stubborn? Just like this fire gun, I only need to make a request, kill people at a hundred paces, as for how to smelt iron and steel, polish the barrel, it's the craftsman's business, I don't need to understand."

  Song Wen Xian took a few gulps of mountain spring water, and laughed: "Brother Chen always has some different ideas, now that the master of the house is gone, what are your plans for the future?"

  Chen Xindao said: "I haven't thought about it yet, I'll think about it when I get back to Tianjin. If I still decide to go by sea, I'll have to ask Mr. Song to take care of me again."

  "Brother Chen is both literary and martial, definitely not a mediocre person. When he soars to great heights in the future, please take care of him for me. I have one sentence that I must say: before boarding the boat that day, the master had asked me to assess Brother Chen, you can imagine how I replied to the master."

  "I don't know."

  "I told the master that Brother Chen was indeed a scholar, but not necessarily a talented one. However, he is reliable, clever and steady in his work, and can be entrusted with important tasks."

  Chen Xing said with a start: "Mr. Song is too flattering, but why did you say I may not have passed the Imperial Examination?"

  "Whether or not Brother Chen has been a Xiucai, I consider Brother Chen as a good friend. Here, I'd like to remind Brother Chen of one or two things: although Brother Chen recognizes many characters, judging from the way he holds his pen, it doesn't seem like someone who uses a pen for a long time. I think the head of the household has also had suspicions about this earlier. Later, when Brother Chen and I exchanged names, he didn't mention his courtesy name; among those who have passed the imperial examination, few are without a courtesy name."

  Chen Xin did not expect this, and it was a weakness in his habit. Song Wenxian spoke only when they were alone, showing that he had no ill intentions. Chen Xin smiled wryly and said: "Thank you, Mr. Song, for reminding me. I have some difficulties in my life that are hard to speak of, and it's not convenient to tell others. If there's anything else wrong, please point it out."

  Song Wenxian continued, "The next day, when you and I were checking goods in the cabin, I said 'Beneficial friends are three: friends who are straightforward, friends who understand, and friends who have multiple wisdom.' It was a deliberate mistake. The correct phrase should be 'friends who are straightforward, friends who understand, and friends who have heard much,' from the Analects of Confucius, Season Zhi chapter. If Chen brother had taken the imperial examination to become a scholar, he must have read it, but Chen brother didn't show any sign of surprise, which shows that this scholar..."

  Chen Xin secretly sighed, the name can still be made up, but these things are hopeless, he couldn't possibly memorize all the Confucian classics of this era, it seems that in the future, it's better not to pretend to be a scholar, lest there be too many loopholes.

  Gong Gongshou said to Song Wenxian, "Thank you, Mr. Song! Your words to the master of the house were also carefully considered. In the future, if there is a need for me, just one word from you, sir, and I will not decline. But since getting on the boat, Mr. Song has been very kind to me, I don't know how I entered your eyes?"

  Song Wenxian smiled and wiped the sweat from his face: "Brother Chen is humble, eager to learn, good at getting along with people, quick-witted, can fight bravely on the battlefield, and can read and write. Perhaps in the eyes of other scholars, these are trivial skills, but I think they are all practical skills for making a living in this world. In this world, being able to recite poetry and compose essays is useless. If one day I have no money to eat and come to rely on you, Brother, I hope you will remember that I am the one who has real skills."

  Chen Xin looked at the smiling middle-aged man in front of him and felt that he seemed to have taken a liking to this interesting person.

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  Ten people spent two hours chopping firewood and building three piles, then spent another hour on the hill digging six holes. Since carving was too time-consuming, Chen Xin asked Song Wenxian to write epitaphs with a brush on six wooden boards. The ten of them worked together to bury the six corpses, including the one who died most miserably from being hit by an iron bullet and was wrapped in a white cloth and buried as well. Chen Xin pretended to be sincere, kowtowing to each person and shouting: "Brother, you're on your way! May you be reborn into a good family next life."

  Others also learned from Chen Xin and knelt down, sending off each sailor. Song Wenxian did not kneel, but bowed instead.

  After finishing here, several people went to the beach and placed the bodies of Zhao Dongjia and others on a pile of firewood. They sprinkled some tung oil on the firewood. Old Wang knelt on the sandy beach, staring blankly at them as they bustled about. Pockmark pulled him several times but he didn't get up.

  Old Wang was usually taciturn, but actually had a good heart. However, this kind of person loved to nitpick, and Chen Xin felt some worry, so he walked over to Old Wang and said: "Brother Wang, you don't have to kneel anymore. The dead can't be brought back to life, and there's still your wife and daughter in Tianjin who need taking care of. If you exhaust yourself and can't take care of them properly, how will you explain it to the master later?" As soon as Old Wang heard the words "wife" and "daughter", his body shook slightly, and his dull eyes slowly regained some luster, muttering to himself.

  Scar's Pui looked at Chen Xin with a glance, seeing that Old Wang had finally reacted a bit, and came over to support Old Wang. Old Wang had knelt for more than a day, his knees unable to straighten, and Chen Xin and several others came over to prop him up and put him down on a large rock. After settling him in, Chen Xin said to him again: "Old Wang, remember, although the master has left, he arranged two things for you before he went, you must do them well, otherwise when the time comes, he will punish you."

  "What's big brother arranged for me?" This was the first thing Old Wang said in two days, he looked like he had aged ten years in those two days, hadn't drunk a drop of water, his lips were completely dry and cracked, and his voice was also very hoarse.

  "Before he left, the master told Mr. Song that he didn't trust anyone else and had to let Old Wang take his ashes back to Tianjin, then look after his wife and daughter until they were a hundred years old, at which time you could go with them to see the master."

  Song Wenxian also chimed in, "Yes, I personally heard the master of the house instructing that you must do it."

  "Alright, alright, the master has arranged it, I, old Wang, will definitely do as told." Old Wang's eyes shone with spirit, and from Chen Xin's description, it seemed that the master had only gone out for a trip, arranging him to take care of things at home. His future life was to take good care of his wife and daughter, and then wait for the master's return. The scar-faced men all looked at Chen Xin with admiration, they had been advising old Wang for a whole day without any effect, but Chen Xin's few words had settled it. They quickly brought over a water bottle and steamed buns for old Wang, who muttered to himself as he ate, his mouth moving silently.

  A torch ignited four piles of firewood, and the three corpses slowly charred. Pockmark and others knelt on the ground, kowtowing repeatedly, crying out loud: "Big brother, you've ascended to heaven as a god, remember to bless us! Pockmark will follow you to sea in the next life."

  In the firelight, Chen Xin's lips moved slightly, and he whispered something in a voice that only he could hear.