"Hey, Wang, go fetch your fucking ear-"

This piercing, booze-soaked scream was Kuiyuan's.

"You bastard Wang, that's what happens if you don't listen to your betters, your ear ends up going to the dogs-"

It was obvious that Kuiyuan's knife had cut up the wrong person.

"Kui you bastard, you're going to get it now, you got the wrong person!" someone shouted out nearby.

More and more people gathered around. Some rushed forward, grabbing back the apparently crazed Kuiyuan by the waist. After a bout of brawling, Kuiyuan felled the new arrivals, broke past all obstacles, and headed for the dark night of the hills.

Still trembling all over, the terrified village head covered over the bleeding wound on the right side of his head and launched into an unending wail of sorrow: "Ear… my eyayayar…" He'd collapsed onto the ground on all fours, like a dog, searching. Somebody suddenly had a thought and said Kuiyuan had just thrown something toward the foodstall-could it have been the ear? At this, everyone's eyes instantly switched over in that direction, while those standing there hurriedly moved their feet out of the way to allow room for the bleeding village head, for some beams from a flashlight to sweep over the ground. Bending over, they soon found a cigarette box, a few pieces of watermelon skin, and a few piles of pig dung, but not a scrap of flesh. In the end, a sharp-eyed child found the fleshy fragment in a tattered straw sandal, but unfortunately the blood and flesh had gotten completely mangled, were embedded with grains of sand, smeared with black dirt, and were absolutely stone cold, as if they had never been part of a person. People said the only mercy in the whole unfortunate affair was that it hadn't been snapped up by a dog.

People relaxed, feeling able to tread on the ground at their ease, without worrying they might be treading on something precious. They could be confident of the ground beneath their feet once more.

By the time the village head returned from the country clinic, his head tied up with white silk, it was nearly morning. Apparently the ear had been sewn back on after a fashion, but Kuiyuan had done his dastardly work rather too well, chewing the ear till it was almost beyond recognition. The doctor said that for the time being he couldn't say for certain whether the ear would still work: they'd have to wait and see.

Lots of people thronged the door to his house, craning their necks to get a look inside.

Three months later, Kuiyuan's case was finally judged in the regional court. He'd fled to Yueyang, but was caught and brought back by the public security joint defence team dispatched by Yanwu. His crimes were grievous bodily harm and theft: one sentence of eight years covered both crimes. Having failed to get himself a lawyer, he seemed entirely insouciant about the whole process, standing in the court grinning and laughing every so often at a few mates of his behind him, giving his hair the odd carefree toss. Without the bailiff's intervention, the young men behind him would've passed a lit cigarette over to him.

"Can't I even smoke?" A look of great surprise came over his face.

When the presiding judge finally asked him if he had anything to say, another look of great surprise came over him:

"Did I do something wrong? You're kidding me-what did I do wrong? All I did was get the wrong person, my only fault was drinking too much that day. You know I don't normally drink, unless it's Remy Martin, Hennessey Cognac, dry white Great Wall Wine, Confucius wine, and a small cup at the most. My problem is I have too many friends, whenever anyone sees me they want me to drink, so what can I do? It'd be letting friends down not to drink! A gentleman should never drink alone, and all that. And anyway, it was the middle of July that day, the gateway to the spirit world was wide open, so it would've been letting the ancestors down not to drink…"

After he'd been cut short once by the judge, he nodded his head repeatedly, "Okay okay okay, I'll cut to the chase, get to the point. Of course, I did something a bit uncivilized, but this wasn't a crime, no crime at all; the worst you could say about it was I let my judgement cloud over just that one time, like I just lost my grip, smashed a bowl. Wouldn't you say? After today's hearing, I think this point should already be perfectly clear. The facts speak for themselves. I've already explained this to the higher-ups. Director Li from the prefectural commissioner's office will be here in a minute, that's the director of the Grain Bureau, I had a meal at his place not so long ago…"After the judge had once more impatiently requested him to omit his wide and varied descriptions of the weather, the surroundings, the menu of the day that meal took place, he was once more obliged to obey. "Okay, I won't say anything more about Director Li. The higher-ups have views on this matter. Chief Provincial Editor Han Shaogang also believes I've done nothing wrong.

You all know Chief Editor Han, yes?… What? You don't even know Chief Editor Han? He was my dad's best friend! He used to belong to our County Cultural Institute! My advice to you all is make a phone call and ask him what the provincial government actually thinks about this…"

His stream of consciousness lasted a good twenty minutes.

Staring at his flame-yellow teeth, the judge decided his arguments made no sense at all, refused his appeal, and told the police to take him out. The final image he left with people as he was led away was that of his overlong suit pants, their cuffs overhanging his heels, brushing back and forth over the ground in a wet, muddy mess.

*Open Eyes

: After Kuiyuan had served one year in prison, he fell ill and died. When the news reached Maqiao, his mother choked with sorrow and died. When matters had reached this pass, the enmity between the Kuiyuan and Yanwu households became even more deeply entrenched. To make a long story short, Kuiyuan's three older brothers smashed some glass in Tiananmen and injured Yanzao. Yanwu then sent his people to break in on the Kuiyuan household's funerals and hurl dogshit missiles at the soul tablet, at the offerings table, even at the two coffins. Only when the two households were threatening each other with torches and knives did the villagers ask the Ox-head to mediate between them.

The upshot of the mediation was that Yanwu made a few concessions and agreed to give the remainder of Kuiyuan's family 800 yuan in "comfort money"; in return, Kuiyuan's family would no longer harbor old grievances and old scores would be completely canceled out. In accordance with past custom, the Ox-head presided over the Open Eyes ritual: he killed a black rooster, then filled about ten bowls with its blood, which the men on both sides drank down. Representatives from both sides each produced an almost-finished bamboo arrow, each made a cut on their arrow, then put the two together and broke them with their combined strength, to show that from today onwards they would no longer fight and kill each other-each side took the broken arrow as a pledge. Finally, each side asked an old widow, someone without sons, grandsons, or any descendants, to step forward. A bowl of clear water, in which had been put a copper coin, was placed in their hands, out of which they fished the money, then slowly rubbed it over the eyes of the other widow. One said: "Ma Yanwu's family did your people wrong, you mustn't cover your eyes, you must open your eyes, from now on there will be harmony…" The other one said: "Hu Kuiyuan's family's same-pot brothers did your people wrong, you mustn't cover your eyes, you must open your eyes, from now on there will be harmony…"