Explore Chapter 6 of '老张的哲学' with the original Chinese text, English translation, detailed Chinese vocabulary explanations, and audio of the Chinese original. Listen and improve your reading skills.
The next morning, Wang De joyfully took his snack money, tucked his schoolbag under his arm, and set off for school. Having reached the spot from which he could already see the school gate, he suddenly thought, ‘Has Lao Zhang forgotten about yesterday? How could Lao Zhang forget?’ He found a broken stone stump leaning against a willow tree and sat down. A large greenish moth fluttered off the stump, modestly yielding the seat to Wang De. Wang De paid it no mind, lost in thought. ‘Go home? Father would never agree. Go to school? Lao Zhang is not to be trifled with. The teacher’s wife? Perhaps she’s dead!-No! She is a good person. Good people don’t die so quickly!...’
Wang De usually had a knack for thinking of the unthinkable when telling jokes. In dreams, he saw what others never dreamed of. But today, his mind was like a stalk of withered wheat, swaying this way and that with the wind’s stirring, without a shred of resolve. The cicadas in the willow trees chirped incessantly, ‘Zhi liao! Zhi liao!’ Yet they never said what it was they knew. So he stood up, only to sit down again, then rose once more. People hurrying to the morning market or heading into town on business rushed past Wang De. Some glanced at him, others did not bother, as if Wang De were as inconspicuous as the broken stone stump itself.
On ordinary days when nothing was amiss, Wang De would think to himself, ‘Birds converse with you, flowers smile upon you, but when you need a clear plan, nothing is of any use, not even people. ... Yes, I’ll go find Li Ying. He has ideas! What if he doesn’t? Impossible-the plans he’s given me before have all been sound!’
Wang De stood up and mumbled as he walked westward. Usually, the stroll from school to Li Ying’s house took a leisurely ten minutes. But today, it felt as if he had walked for dozens of such intervals. The more he walked, the farther away it seemed. And he kept glancing over his shoulder, haunted by the feeling that Lao Zhang was following him.
Wandering to and fro, he finally saw: Li Ying was sitting on a broken millstone outside his door. On any other day, Wang De would have circled behind Li Ying, quietly covered his eyes, and made him guess the culprit, not letting go until Li Ying grew frantic. But today, Wang De had no heart for such games. From a distance, he called out, ‘Li Ying! Li Ying! I’m here!’
Li Ying’s home consisted of only three north-facing rooms: a central hall flanked by two side chambers. In the main hall, an old bamboo chair stood lonely against the wall, with no other furnishings to keep it company. The east inner room served as the bedroom for Li Ying and his uncle. Along the front eaves was a low earthen *kang* bed, opposite which stood an old nanmu wood cabinet. Upon it sat a polychrome vase from the official kilns and a silver-inlaid water pipe. The *kang* was piled with old books. The west inner room was both the bedroom for Li Ying’s elder sister and the kitchen. Though sparsely furnished, everything was arranged with perfect tidiness. Outside, a low fence enclosed the dwelling, with flowers and plants growing at its base. Li Ying’s sister often stayed with her aunt in the city, so Wang De seldom saw her.
Li Ying’s uncle was in his fifties but looked a man of seventy or eighty. His sallow face, though cleanly washed, was shrouded in a dull pallor. His eyes, however, were sharp and bright, betraying the capable and ambitious man he had been in his youth. He wore an old, faded indigo cloth gown. He was lying on the *kang* and, upon seeing Wang De enter, slightly raised his head to gesture for him to sit. After a moment, he asked Li Ying to pass him the water pipe. Li Ying lit a paper spill for him, and he sat up, drawing fiercely on several bowls of tobacco in one breath.
‘Right or wrong is not the issue. I understood everything about yesterday. There is no need to speak of it again. The question is how to proceed from here. This affair has several layers: your teacher’s wife and Lao Zhang; myself and Lao Zhang; and you two and Lao Zhang.’ Li Ying’s uncle paused for breath. ‘My own affairs I will handle. I have given thought to your teacher’s wife as well. As for you two, you naturally have your own minds. I will not force my counsel upon you.’ His voice grew weaker, as if speaking to himself. Wang De and Li Ying listened with rapt attention. ‘Li Ying, take Wang De outside and tell him what I confided in you yesterday.’
‘Neither did I, but Uncle told me yesterday. After losing his official position, Uncle was left penniless. Disheartened and with no desire to re-enter officialdom, he decided to start a small business to support himself and earn his daily bread. Later, through an introduction, he borrowed two hundred dollars from Lao Zhang, and then another hundred, making three hundred in all. That is the tie between Uncle and Lao Zhang.’
‘The go-between was Wei Si from the city.’ Li Ying paused before continuing. ‘Wei Si later volunteered to help Uncle manage that small venture. Then he conspired with Lao Zhang to wrest the business into his own hands. Thus, Uncle found himself trapped by his debt to Lao Zhang. Uncle is not a man who craves money, and it was precisely this indifference that led him into their snare. My elder sister and I have been raised by Uncle since we were small. My parents-I can scarcely recall their faces.’ As he spoke, Li Ying swallowed back tears that had touched his lips. ‘Uncle would never have sent me to study at Lao Zhang’s school if not for that debt. Lao Zhang treats me like a slave; only now do I understand that he forced Uncle’s consent. Yesterday, Uncle wept himself speechless. He understands, yet he… he is old, with no spirit left to resist anything! That is his deepest anguish, the very reason he seeks only death. A few days ago, Lao Zhang spoke to Uncle again, suggesting I enlist in the patrol force. His aim was to place me in that corrupt yamen, the better to skim money from my wages. Uncle knew that agreeing to this would be no different from sending me to my doom, yet he consented. He only wished for Lao Zhang to leave him be. He would rather die than speak another word to that man. He was willing to sacrifice everything just to make Lao Zhang go away. Uncle is a man of understanding, a good man, but-he is old!’
‘Li Ying! I care for you, and I care for your uncle! I cannot stand aside! My father was deceived by Lao Zhang. Whenever he sees Father, he always says, “The restoration is coming soon. Wang De must not neglect the old classics. If he does, when the imperial examinations are revived, he’ll regret it forever if he fails to become a scholar!” I’ve long wished to leave that school, but never found the chance. Now, at least, I’ve openly broken with Lao Zhang. I might as well seize this chance to act. I have my own aspirations. I cannot simply wither away at home!’
The two of them turned over many other plans, but none seemed better than going to the city to seek work. Li Ying was reluctant for Wang De to accompany him, but after much desperate pleading, Wang De finally won his consent.