Today, let's talk about something different, unrelated to supernatural beings.
This story was told to me by a mountain runner. When I went there, I had just taken on a job and hired a group of mountain runners to guide me into the mountains.
What are mountain runners? As the name suggests, they are people who run in the mountains. This is quite common in Northeast China. They search for mountain products like mushrooms, wood ear fungus, and ginseng. They spend most of their time in the old forests, and when they come down from the mountains, they sell their finds to middlemen. During this trip, I even dug up a superb old wild ginseng. You know, the land nurtures its people, and mountain runners make a living from what the mountains provide.
This lifestyle is quite interesting, but I can't do it anymore. In the past, I could stay in the old forests for months without feeling anything, but now, after entering, my enthusiasm fades quickly. I feel depressed, and more importantly, there's no money to be made. I feel empty, so I hurried out.
When I first arrived in Xiuyan, I felt the water and mountains were beautiful, the girls were pretty, and people's speech was pleasant to hear. I was very happy. But after staying for a few days, I felt annoyed. Mountains surrounded everything, and at night, looking outside, it was pitch black. I couldn't take it anymore.
When I went there, I encountered a thunderstorm. It was incredible. The thunder came one after another. In other places, lightning usually spreads out in the sky, with occasional vertical strikes. But in Xiuyan, it was different. All the lightning struck straight down, with only occasional spreading. I even thought this place must be full of monsters, with lightning striking in circles. The mountain opposite my hotel was being struck repeatedly. It was very surreal.
We had arranged to eat with the mountain runners. There was a local specialty in Northeast China or Xiuyan called "Shenxian" (divine immortal), which is apparently a stage in silkworm pupa development. It was quite tasty. I joked that I had eaten the flesh of immortals and become one myself.
They asked where I was from since I hadn't eaten this before. I said I was from Shandong, and this was indeed my first time trying it. Although I often came to Northeast China, I had never eaten this before. It wasn't that I disliked insects; I simply didn't know what it was, so I had never ordered it.
Then one of the mountain runners got excited, saying he was also from Shandong, making us fellow townsmen. He asked what business I was in. The jade carving master who came with me introduced me as a writer of folk stories. The mountain runner became even more excited and insisted on telling me a story.
When he was a child, he lived in a mountain valley. His family was originally from Shandong. In those years, many people moved from Shandong to Northeast China with their families, a migration known as "Chuang Guandong" (Venturing to the Northeast). At that time, there were more job opportunities in Northeast China's cities, and land was plentiful, unlike in Shandong where land was scarce. Many people went to Northeast China and simply occupied a mountain, claiming it as their own, somewhat like "occupying the mountain to be king."
The mountain runner, when he was very young, went to Northeast China with his parents. They found a decent-looking mountain and settled there, building a house and clearing land for farming. They weren't particularly well-off, just able to feed the family, but it was still better than in Shandong.
At that time, transportation in Northeast China was inconvenient. When I went to the villages this time, many people lived on the edge of mountains, far from main roads or village centers. This was after roads had been built. So in those years before roads were constructed, when heavy snow blocked the mountains, it was very difficult for people to go out. Men could endure loneliness better; it's in their nature.
Many women, staying in one place for a long time surrounded by vast snow, easily developed problems. Combined with menopause causing hormonal imbalances, they would show symptoms similar to spirit possession, which in traditional Chinese medicine is called "women's visceral irritability." Because of this, many rural areas in Northeast China in the past were very poor. Some places with better transportation could sell mountain products and were a bit better off, but most places had poor transportation and could barely maintain subsistence.
The mountain runner said that one year, their grain yield wasn't very good, so they had to count their days during winter. He was seven or eight years old at the time, always hungry and not getting enough to eat.
So he often went to nearby mountains to find dried wild mushrooms, bringing them home to stew and eat, improving their life a bit. But in that era of poverty, even the mountains were poor, and mushrooms were scarce. Northeast Chinese mushrooms are very thick and meaty, almost like eating meat, very delicious. Sometimes, if lucky, they might encounter silly wild chickens with their heads stuck in the snow, which they would take home to stew with mushrooms.
That day, after finishing his meal and with nothing else to do, he thought of going to the mountains to look around. With heavy snow blocking the mountains, both adults and children were bored. When he went up the mountain, he didn't dare to wander far, just roaming around familiar areas.
Just as he was saying he hadn't seen anything edible after wandering for a while, he spotted a rabbit not far ahead. This delighted him, and he carefully approached, then found a stone and threw it. Usually, he was quite accurate – children in Northeast China often have some special skills.
But that day, whether due to hunger or something else, he hit the rabbit on the side, missing its head. This startled the rabbit, which took off running. Even knowing he couldn't catch up to this meat that was almost in his grasp, he had to give chase, so he pursued it.
After chasing for a while, seeing the rabbit getting further and further away, he gave up. As he was trudging back, one step deep and one step shallow, his foot suddenly slipped, and he tumbled down. This saved him some effort, fortunately not rolling too far before hitting a tree.
When he tried to get up, he suddenly found he couldn't put strength into one leg, followed by a piercing pain that made him cry out loud. But being a man, he thought this small injury was nothing, wiped away his tears, and planned to walk home. However, this wiping of tears made things worse – his hand was covered in bloody water.
This thoroughly frightened him, and he started crying loudly. Fortunately, because of the snow, he hadn't gone far and was still close to home. His father heard the shouting and went to carry him back home.
Back home, they looked at his injury. It was likely a broken lower leg, as it was deformed. His forehead was bleeding profusely from a large cut. In that era, there were no roads near their home, so going to the city to see a doctor was out of the question. With heavy snow blocking the mountains, there was nothing they could do but have him lie on the kang (a traditional heated bed).
Fortunately, his father, having spent years in the mountains, had some experience and was quite adept at handling such small injuries. His father forcefully pulled his leg straight, which made him pass out from the pain – a pain that penetrated to the bone and enlightened the mind. Then he simply put two boards on either side of the leg, clamped it, and this was considered setting the bone. He tied it with rope, found some soot from the bottom of a pot to put on the forehead wound to stop the bleeding, and that was the end of the treatment.
When he woke up, he limped quickly to look in the mirror. What he saw terrified him – there was a large, very fierce-looking wound on his forehead. Although he was young, he still cared about his appearance. He thought to himself, "It's over. Such a big wound will probably leave a scar. Being lame or not doesn't matter, but having a big scar on my forehead will affect my handsome face. How will I find a wife in the future?"
Unexpectedly, the miraculous event occurred on the third day after his injury. Now we're getting to the climax of the story, haha.
That night, overly worried about his looks, he went to bed early. Of course, mainly because in the mountains, it was pitch black with no entertainment, so they basically followed the pattern of sleeping at sunset. Because they had to sleep, he didn't know how long he had been asleep that night when he suddenly felt someone touching his face.
He opened his eyes groggily and was delighted. He didn't know when, but it was already daylight, and even more delightfully, his grandfather, whom he hadn't seen in a long time, was sitting at the edge of the kang, looking at him with eyes full of smiles. Being a child, he didn't think about how his grandfather, far away in Shandong, could have found him in these snow-blocked days. Just seeing his beloved grandfather made him very happy.
His grandfather touched the scar on his head, and he immediately burst into tears, telling his grandfather that he was afraid this place would grow a big scar, and how would he find a wife in the future? If he couldn't get married, how would he give his grandfather great-grandchildren to hold?
His grandfather looked at him kindly and said, "My grandson, you will definitely find a beautiful 'literacy class' girl as your wife in the future." "Literacy class" is used in some parts of Shandong to refer to young girls. During the literacy campaign, the teachers were young college students, so gradually, beautiful young women were called "literacy class" girls.
After saying this, his grandfather stood up smiling and walked towards the door, beckoning him to follow, saying there were fun things to play with outside.
He quickly got up and dressed. When he walked out the door, he was amazed. Somehow, a small pond had appeared in their courtyard. White snow surrounded it, and the pond was steaming hot, creating a very atmospheric scene. His grandfather had already taken off his clothes and was leaning against the edge of the pond.
The mountain runner was shocked by the scenery, not thinking about how the pond had appeared overnight. He remembered that there used to be a low fence outside their house with nothing beyond it, but that day, the scenery he saw was completely different. Beyond the fence was a sea of white clouds, as if their house was built on the edge of a high cliff. It was especially beautiful.
While he was in a daze, his grandfather smiled and beckoned him over. The mountain runner didn't think much of it at the time. He limped to the water's edge, tested the water with his hand, felt it wasn't cold, so he took off his clothes and jumped in. He said the water was very hot, much hotter than a regular hot spring, but it felt very comfortable. His whole body felt warm, and the water smelled good too, not like a fragrance, but like some kind of herbal medicine.
The pond wasn't very deep, just reaching his waist, with a diameter of about five or six meters. What excited the mountain runner even more was that there were half-meter-long grass carp swimming in the water. He was thrilled and dove into the water again, darting left and right trying to catch a fish to stew for his grandfather, but the fish swam too fast, and he couldn't catch them.
He stood up and looked at his grandfather, calling out for him to catch a fish for them to eat. His grandfather walked to his side, smiled, and said "Okay." The mountain runner said his grandfather then dove into the water, caught a big grass carp, and handed it to him. He was overjoyed holding the fish. In his memory, that fish was particularly docile, not struggling at all, completely unlike when he was trying to catch them in the water earlier.
He quickly hugged the fish and got out of the pond, calling for his grandfather to come inside to cook the fish. He didn't notice at all that he had run those few steps without feeling anything in his leg. But in the moment he turned around, he suddenly woke up. Somehow, he was suddenly back on the kang in his home. His mother was cooking outside, and his father, seeing he was awake, was smoking a pipe and poured him a bowl of water before going out.
After drinking the water, he quickly put on his clothes and went to find his grandfather. As soon as he ran out, he saw his parents looking at him with surprise. At first, he was puzzled, but then he suddenly realized – he could walk without a crutch, and there was no abnormal feeling at all.
Three days later, the scab on his head miraculously fell off, leaving no trace at all. Even more miraculous was that the meal they ate that day was a big grass carp. His father said that early that morning, before dawn, he heard laughing voices outside. Cautiously getting up to check, he found the mountain runner wasn't on the kang. Thinking some evil spirit might have gotten him, he put on a jacket, grabbed a kitchen knife, and ran outside.
As soon as he got out, he saw the mountain runner naked, hugging a big fish and rolling around in the snow, laughing as he rolled back and forth. The mountain runner's father was stunned. He went over and picked him up, gave him a slap that knocked him out, and quickly carried him back to the room. He woke up not long after.
No one knew exactly what had happened. It wasn't until the next spring when the snow melted that they received a letter from their hometown. His grandfather had passed away before the New Year, and the time of his death was exactly the day when he had broken his leg.
As time passed, the mountain runner had children of his own and life improved. He went back home to pay respects to his grandfather. He said the feeling was very strange. He had never known where his grandfather was buried, but that day, as soon as he arrived in the village, he felt someone was waiting for him in a certain direction.
He walked in that direction without looking back, not knowing why or how long he walked, until he saw a lonely grave at the end of a field. His uncle, who had caught up, said that was his grandfather's grave. The mountain runner's tears fell at that moment.
When the mountain runner told this part of the story, he was crying with snot and tears, saying that his grandfather must have come to see him that day, worried about him, so he came to treat his injuries.
After hearing this, I didn't say anything. I poured him a glass of wine. In this world, even if you're a lonely person, there are unnamed ancestors quietly watching over you from another world. This is the romance of the Chinese people.
A few days ago, I saw a passage online. I can't remember it clearly now, but it said that after people pass away, they become stars in the sky. The flickering lights of people on earth performing rituals form a galaxy, corresponding with the stars in the sky. The original words were more romantic than how I've described it, but I can't remember where I saw it.
Alright, dear readers, that's all for today's story. We'll see you next time for more exciting stories.