Black Gold 1983

Chapter 47

Renye closed his eyes. He finally understood what the lit lantern meant, and why the lights in the well were on when Ren Shouyi and Han Changhe went down to inspect it.

Someone went down into the well before sealing it, lit a lamp, and accompanied the woman on her final journey.

That person is Han Tianfang.

"Han Changhe doesn't know I went down there. He thought that chamber had been sealed off and no one had touched it." Han Tianfang stood up, took the photo back from Ren Ye, wrapped it again in oil paper, put it back in the metal cabinet, and locked it. The movements were very light, as if he were placing something.

"You're so old now, and your mother has disappeared. Has no one looked for her?" Renye asked.

"Han Changhe told the people back home that she ran away with someone." Han Tianfang's voice was calm. "The people in Qinshui believed him and no one questioned him. I was just a young boy, and no one believed or listened to me. Later, when I grew a bit older, I went to see my relatives in Qinshui. They said that Han Changhe had already spoken to them and told me not to make a fuss."

Renye clenched his fist.

"Do you hate him?" he asked.

Han Tianfang did not answer. He turned around and looked at Ren Ye, his eyes red, but no tears fell.

"He's my stepfather, but he's also the one I've called 'Dad' since I was little. He beat my mother, and I hate him. He threw my mother into a well, and I wish he were dead. But he supported my education, found me a job, and even burns paper money at my mother's grave during holidays. Tell me, should I hate him, or should I thank him?"

Renye didn't know how to answer.

"He's not a bad person." Han Tianfang's voice suddenly lowered, so low it was as if he were talking to himself. "He's just an ordinary person. An ordinary person who did something wrong, didn't admit it, and didn't dare to admit it."

"But a dead person is dead; no amount of explanation can bring them back to life, can it?"

Han Tian lowered his head, his shoulders trembling. There was no sound; a tear fell to the ground, leaving a small, dark stain on the dusty cement.

Ren Ye stood still for a while before reaching out and patting Han Tianfang on the shoulder.

"Tianfang, this matter can't be delayed any longer. Your mother has been lying in the well for more than three years; we have to get her out."

Han Tianfang abruptly looked up at Ren Ye. "How did I get out? If I report it, Han Changhe will have to go to jail. If he goes, I—"

He got stuck.

Renye knew what he was going to say. With Han Changhe in jail, Han Tianfang would truly be an orphan. Regardless of what Han Changhe had done, he had raised Han Tianfang. This entanglement of gratitude and resentment was inextricable and impossible to sever.

Renye took a drag of his cigarette, exhaled the smoke, and watched it dissipate in the wind.

"Tianfang, listen to me. We don't necessarily have to expose this to the authorities."

Han Tianfang was stunned: "What do you mean?"

Renye squatted down and drew a line on the ground with his cigarette butt.

"Right now, the people who know about this are you, me, my dad, Han Changhe, and Grandpa Liu Dehou. Ma Tiejun and the others only know that there is a female corpse in the well, but they don't know who it is or how it got there. We can keep this matter within these people and not let it spread."

"How do you control it?"

"Bring your mother up from the mine and bury her somewhere else. Then seal this chamber and that tunnel shut, and pretend nothing ever happened. Once the mine is operational, as long as that area isn't mined, no one will know what happened down there."

Han Tianfang fell silent, staring at the line Ren Ye had drawn on the ground with his cigarette butt, as if looking at an insurmountable obstacle.

"Han Changhe won't agree," he said. "He'll definitely stop it if he finds out. He'd rather my mother stay buried forever than dig her up."

"So we can't let him know." Renye stubbed out his cigarette. "Tell him after your mother comes out and is properly buried. By then, it will be too late for him to stop it."

Han Tianfang stood up and paced back and forth in the courtyard.

"Why are you helping me?" He stopped and looked at Renye. "This has nothing to do with you. You don't need to get involved in this mess."

Renye looked at him, but what appeared before his eyes was a scene from another life. Han Tianfang took the knife for him, took the blame for him, and carried the burden for him. Those people forced him into a chair, the tip of a knife pressed against his waist, and he gritted his teeth and didn't utter a sound. Renye owed him a life, and more than one.

"Because you are Han Tianfang."

Han Tianfang was stunned for a moment, then squatted down again and lit another cigarette. After taking two puffs, he suddenly cursed, "Damn, when did you become so cheesy?"

Renye ignored him.

"When do you plan to go down?" Han Tianfang asked.

"The sooner the better. Water has already started seeping from the bottom of the well. If we delay any longer, the water will rise and we won't even be able to get in."

Han Tianfang nodded: "Is there anything you need me to do?"

"Find something, pack her up, bring her up, and then find a place to bury her."

Han Tianfang remained silent for a while.

"There's an open space on the back hill that my mother liked to go to when she was alive. She said that you could see the direction of the Qinshui River from there."

Renye nodded.

"Then let's set it for the back mountain. Tonight, I'll call Ma Tiejun. He's strong, and he already knows there's a body in the well, so we can't hide it from him anymore."

Han Tianfang stood up and gathered the tools in the yard together—shovels, pickaxes, ropes—arranging them neatly as if preparing for a battle. His movements were steady, but Renye noticed that his hands were trembling.

Renye walked to the courtyard gate when Han Tianfang suddenly called out to him from behind.

"Nino."

Renye turned around.

Han Tianfang stood in the middle of the yard, with the clothesline behind him, the work clothes hanging on the line swaying gently in the wind.

"Thanks."

Renye looked at him, didn't say "You're welcome," and only said two words: "See you tonight."

It was eight o'clock at night, and it was completely dark. The lights in the mining area's residential compound were scattered like a patch of coal dust fallen to earth. When Renye came out of his house, Li Yue'e chased after him to the door and asked, "Where are you going so late?" He casually replied, "I need to see Tianfang," and disappeared into the darkness at the alley entrance.

Instead of going directly to Han Tianfang's house, he took a long detour, passing under the western wall of the mining area to avoid the security patrol route. He had walked this road countless times as a child, and he could walk it with his eyes closed without ever making a mistake.

When Renye arrived at Han Tianfang's house, the gate was ajar. He pushed the gate open and went in. Han Tianfang was already prepared. Shovels, pickaxes, ropes, sacks, and miner's lamps—each item was stacked on the cement ground in the middle of the yard, like soldiers awaiting inspection. He had changed into an old set of clothes, with the cuffs and trouser legs tied tightly with rope, and was wearing a pair of rubber boots.

"Let's go." Han Tianfang clipped two miner's lamps to his waist and picked up a shovel.

The two left the courtyard one after the other and walked west along the alley. The night wind was strong, rustling the withered grass by the roadside. In the distance, the static from the mine's loudspeakers could be heard, followed by the prelude to "The Internationale," which started precisely at nine o'clock that evening.

Both knew the way to Shigou Village well. After leaving the mining area, crossing the small stone bridge, and then climbing over a ridge, the dark outline of Shigou Village could be seen in the distance. A figure squatted under the old locust tree at the village entrance, the embers of a cigarette glowing and dimming in the darkness.

It's Ma Tiejun.

"You're here?" Ma Tiejun stood up, stubbed out his cigarette on the sole of his shoe, and said in a low voice.

"Did you bring the things?" Jinye asked.

Ma Tiejun patted the basket on his back: "I brought it. It's woven from brambles, sturdy, and can hold about a hundred pounds without any problem."

The three of them said no more and followed the dirt road outside the village to the collapsed area of ​​the West Second Mining Area. The moonlight was faint, mostly obscured by clouds, and the cracks and pits on the ground were not very clear. They could only walk by memory. Ma Tiejun walked in front. He knew this area too well. He could tell where to step and where to sink even with his eyes closed.

The shaft opening was still in the same place, covered with tarpaulin and weighed down with several stones, just like the last time he came. Renye moved the stones away, lifted a corner of the tarpaulin, and a damp, salty wind rushed up from below.

Ma Tiejun squatted by the wellhead, shone his miner's lamp down, and frowned: "The water level has risen again. It's almost a foot higher than a few days ago."

Renye also saw it; the beam of the miner's lamp shone on the bottom of the mine, revealing a bright, shimmering reflection. It was water.

"We need to hurry down there. The water is still rising, and if we stay too long, we might not be able to get out." Ma Tiejun put the basket aside and began to check the ropes.

Han Tianfang squatted at the well's edge, staring at the dark well shaft, his expression grim. Since arriving here, he hadn't said much, remaining tense like a string about to snap.

"Tianfang," Renye called out to him.

Han Tianfang snapped out of his daze, glanced at Ren Ye, said nothing, and tied the miner's lamp to his forehead.

"I'll go first," Ma Tiejun said. "I know the area down there."

"Let's go down together." Renye glanced at Han Tianfang. "Three people, we can look out for each other."

Ma Tiejun hesitated for a moment, then nodded. He tied one end of the rope to the root of the old locust tree next to the well, tugged hard to make sure it was secure, and then threw the other end of the rope into the well. The rope was a thick hemp rope, about the thickness of a thumb, enough to support the weight of a person.

"I'll go down first, and then you can go down after I swing the rope three times at the bottom," Ma Tiejun said, gripping the rope with both hands and pushing off the well wall with his feet, sliding down section by section. Having done this kind of work before, his movements were quick and steady, and he reached the bottom of the well in less than five minutes. The rope swung three times.

Renye glanced at Han Tianfang: "I'll go down, you come with me."

He gripped the rope and slid down, mimicking Ma Tiejun's movements. The rope dug into his palms, burning painfully, but he didn't let go. The soil and gravel on the well walls were kicked up by his feet, falling into the water at the bottom with a splashing sound. The deeper he went, the colder it became; a chill seeping from the ground enveloped him, as if something in the shadows was watching him.

When his foot touched the bottom of the well, the water was over his ankle. The icy water filled his rubber boots, and he shivered.

Ma Tiejun had already turned on his miner's lamp, the beam of light sweeping around the entrance of the tunnel. Renye looked up and shouted, "Tianfang, come down." Han Tianfang responded and slid down, much more nimbly than Renye. Being young and strong, he slid to the bottom in a few strokes.

The three men turned on their headlamps and headed deeper into the tunnel.

The alleyway was only waist-high, making it difficult to walk even when bending over. With the added water, every step made a squelching sound. Water was still dripping from the wooden stakes overhead, and the drips felt cool on my neck, like someone poking me from behind with their fingers.

Ma Tiejun walked at the front, Ren Ye in the middle, and Han Tianfang at the back.

The further in you go, the lower the alleyway becomes, and in some places you have to squeeze through sideways. The spacing between the wooden stakes also increases, and in some places the roof has collapsed, with rubble piled on the ground, requiring you to crawl over using both hands and feet. Renye silently calculated in his mind that the support of this alleyway was obviously not as stable as when he last came, probably because water seepage had softened the foundation and the wooden stakes had begun to sink.

After walking for about ten minutes, the alleyway turned a corner.

Ma Tiejun stopped, turned sideways, and let Renye walk in front.

That cave is just ahead.

Renye raised his headlamp, the beam cutting through the darkness to illuminate the entrance to the cave. The thorny shrubs were still there, exactly as they had been when he last left. He reached out and pushed the shrubs aside, squeezing his way in.

Nothing changed inside the cave.

The rusty kerosene lamp was still in the niche, the salt frost on the base thickening once more. The enamel mug remained in its place, a layer of grayish-white salt crystals accumulated at the bottom. The candle stubs lay scattered in the corner, like a few frozen fingers.

The female corpse was still leaning against the rock wall, half-sitting and half-lying, in the same position.

Han Tianfang stood at the cave entrance, but did not come in.

Renye glanced back at him. The light from the miner's lamp swept across his face, and Renye saw that he was clenching his teeth, the muscles in his cheeks tense like stone. He was enduring it.

Ma Tiejun was unaware of the details; he only knew he had to come up and take the body out. He looked at the female corpse, then at Han Tianfang, seemingly sensing something, but he didn't ask. He simply took the basket off his back and placed it on the ground.

"How do I install it?" he asked.

Renye crouched down and examined the remains. The body wasn't decomposed, but it had shrunk, with the flesh clinging tightly to the bones, and the person was smaller than normal. It should fit in a basket.

"Be careful not to break it apart," Renye said.

Ma Tiejun nodded, pulled an old bed sheet from his basket, and spread it on the ground. He walked to the female corpse, hesitated for a moment, then clasped his hands together, bowed to her, and muttered a few words softly. The people of Shigou Village believed in this; they would always bow to the dead to find peace of mind.

Han Tianfang suddenly spoke up: "I'll do it."

His voice was hoarse, like it had been sanded.

Ren Ye and Ma Tiejun were both stunned for a moment. Han Tianfang walked in from the cave entrance, his steps very light, as if afraid of disturbing something. He squatted down in front of the female corpse and slowly and carefully reached out his hand.

His hands were shaking. The shaking started from his fingertips and went all the way up to his shoulders; his entire arm was trembling.

Renye turned his head away. Ma Tiejun also turned his head away.

The rustling of fabric came from behind, very soft and slow. Then came Han Tianfang's breath, long and deep, as if squeezed from the deepest part of his chest. There was no crying, but that was more distressing than any crying.

After an unknown amount of time, Han Tianfang said, "It's done."