Black Gold 1983

Chapter 58

Renye squatted down to look the old man in the eye.

"Sir, do you remember, when Guihua left, did she leave with anyone?"

The old man paused in his pipe, and the ashes from the burnt-out tobacco fell onto his knees. He didn't brush them off; he just stared at the ashes for a long time.

Why are you asking this?

"I want to know who she went with and where she went when she left Qinshui."

The old man was silent for a moment, then tapped the tobacco pipe on the sole of his shoe, filled it with new tobacco, and lit it again.

"She didn't leave alone," the old man said, his voice lowering. "Someone came to pick her up."

Renye's heart skipped a beat.

"Who is it?"

The old man took a drag of his cigarette, slowly exhaled, and the smoke dissipated in front of him.

"A man. Not very tall, round face, looks quite energetic. Wearing a military green cotton-padded jacket, speaks loudly, doesn't seem like a local."

Renye gripped the fabric on his knees tightly. He wore a military green cotton-padded jacket, had a loud voice, and a round face—exactly as the old woman had described.

Han Changhe.

He came to Qinshui and took Gu Guihua away from there.

"How big were the osmanthus trees back then?" Renye asked.

"Seventeen or eighteen, I guess. She'd just lost her parents and was all alone. Then that man came along and said he'd take her away, so she went with him." The old man shook his head. "A young girl, so naive. She thought that going with a man would guarantee her a good life. Little did she know—"

He didn't go on.

Renye knew what he wanted to say. Little did he know that this departure would last for more than twenty years, and that he would never return.

"Sir, do you remember that man's name?"

The old man thought for a moment, then shook his head: "He didn't leave his name. He stayed in the village for one day, and left with Guihua early the next morning. When he left, Guihua carried a bundle with just a few changes of clothes. She stood under the locust tree at the village entrance, looked back once, and then left."

The old man's eyes reddened, but he didn't shed a tear.

"I still remember the look she gave me when she turned around."

Renye stood up, walked to the courtyard gate, and looked at the big locust tree at the village entrance. The tree crown swayed gently in the wind, and sunlight filtered through the leaves, scattering golden fragments on the ground. Gu Guihua left from under that tree, from where she walked towards what she thought would be a good future, only to reach an ending she could never have imagined.

He turned around, took out ten yuan from his pocket, and stuffed it into the old man's hand.

The old man glanced down at it, didn't push it away, and put it in his pocket.

"Thank you, sir."

"Who are you to her?" The old man looked up at him.

Renye thought for a moment and then told the truth: "I am her son's friend."

The old man looked at him for a while, nodded, and didn't ask any further questions. He stood up, leaning on his cane, dusted off his trousers, and led the old yellow dog slowly out of the yard. After a few steps, he stopped again, without looking back, just standing there like an old tree bent by the wind.

"If she's still alive, tell her that the locust flowers in the village are blooming again."

After saying that, he led the dog away. He walked slowly, step by step, until he disappeared around the corner of the village lane.

Renye stood in the abandoned courtyard, looking in the direction the old man had disappeared, for a long time. The wind blew through the courtyard, rustling the weeds, as if they were saying something, or perhaps saying nothing at all.

He turned around and took one last look at Gu Guihua's old house. The locked door, the cracked window, the half-collapsed courtyard wall, and the knee-high weeds.

Then he walked out of the courtyard and retraced his steps towards the village entrance. He stopped under the old locust tree and reached out to touch its rough bark. The tree was very old; the bark was cracked in patches, like the wrinkles on an old man's face. He remembered what Han Tianfang had said—"She said she would take me back to see it sometime in the future."

Gu Guihua remembered this promise her whole life, but she was unable to fulfill it.

Renye pulled his hand away from the tree and turned to walk out of the village. He still had to catch the afternoon bus back to the county town, and then transfer there to get back to Hongxing Mine. The road ahead was long.

On the way back from Qinshui, Renye didn't say much. The long-distance bus bumped along the mountain road, and the sky outside the window gradually darkened, with layers of mountain shadows like ink-colored paper cutouts pasted on the horizon. He leaned back in his seat, closed his eyes, but his mind was constantly racing.

The way Gu Guihua looked back under the locust tree at the village entrance. The old man spoke those words calmly, as if recounting something from a long time ago, but Renye felt there was so much he couldn't explain in that glance. A seventeen or eighteen-year-old girl, orphaned, was taken away by a man who offered to take her away. She didn't know what lay ahead, or if she could entrust this man to someone else; she simply didn't want to be left alone in that increasingly deserted village.

But she made the wrong choice.

By the time the car reached the county town, it was already dark. Renye didn't stay overnight in the county town and caught the last bus back to Hongxing Mine. By the time he arrived at the mine, it was almost midnight. Most of the lights in the family compound were off, with only a few windows still lit, like the half-open eyes of a sleepy person.

Renye didn't go home; he went straight to Han Tianfang's house.

The lights in the courtyard were still on. Han Tianfang sat alone by the stone table, the half-empty bottle of wine in front of him, the jar empty, unemptied. He sat there, like a weathered stone. When Ren Ye walked in, he looked up at him but didn't say anything.

Renye sat down opposite him, took the letters out of his pocket, and spread them on the table. Han Tianfang looked down at them, then looked up at Renye, his eyes bloodshot, as if he hadn't slept all night.

"I went to Qinshui," Renye said.

Han Tianfang paused for a moment.

"We've found your mother's old home. The village is in the mountains south of Qinshui County. It's small, only about a dozen households, and most of them are empty." Renye relayed the old man's words to Han Tianfang, one by one. Gu Guihua's old house had collapsed walls, knee-high weeds, and an iron lock on the door. Her parents were gone; she was an only child, and the Gu family line had ended in the village. The old man said she looked back once under the locust tree at the village entrance, then left and never returned.

Han Tianfang listened, his face frozen, motionless. After Ren Ye finished speaking, the courtyard remained silent for a long time.

"She even looked back once more." Han Tianfang's voice was very low, as if it were squeezed out from deep in his throat.

Renye did not respond.

Han Tianfang reached into his inner pocket, pulled something out, and placed it on the table. It was a small cloth bag, wrapped in an old handkerchief, faded from washing and with frayed edges. He unwrapped the handkerchief layer by layer, revealing what was inside—a silver bracelet.

The bracelet is not thick, but very thin, with simple patterns engraved on it, though these patterns have been worn away and are no longer visible. The bracelet has a dark patina, the kind of color that only old silver pieces would have, bearing the marks of time.

"My mother left this to me." Han Tianfang's voice was very low. "Before she went down the well, she gave this to me and told me to keep it for her. At that time, I didn't know she was going down the well; I thought she was just going away for a few days."

Renye reached out and picked up the bracelet, gently turning it between his fingers. The bracelet was very light, almost weightless, as if it would float away in the wind.

"The last thing she said to me was, 'Tianfang, Mom's going away for a few days. You go to work and don't wander around.'" Han Tianfang's voice finally broke down. "That's all she said. She didn't even say 'Wait for me to come back.'"

Renye put the bracelet back on the handkerchief, and Han Tianfang wrapped it up again and put it back in his pocket. He looked at Renye, and in those bloodshot eyes, there was something Renye had never seen before. It wasn't hatred, but emptiness, as if someone had ripped something out of his heart, something that could never be filled.

"What are you planning to do?" Jinye asked.

Han Tianfang didn't answer immediately. He picked up the bottle on the table, shook it, and found it was still about half full. He unscrewed the cap, took a sip from the bottle, and wiped his mouth.

"Mining will continue as usual."

"Where's the explosives?"

"The same as before." Han Tianfang's voice suddenly became steady. "Blow up that cave, and seal off that alley you mentioned. Bury what needs to be buried, and turn the page on what needs to be turned."

Renye looked at him, neither saying yes nor no.

"Where is Han Changhe?" he asked.

Han Tianfang placed the bottle on the table and stared at the murky liquid inside for a long time.

"He's not my father, but he raised me for so many years. He owes me a debt for my mother, a debt he can never repay in this lifetime. But I don't want to settle accounts with him anymore. Debts that can't be settled will only get more complicated the more you try to settle them."

He stood up, walked to the courtyard gate, and looked out into the dark alley. The streetlights were still out of service, and the alley was pitch black; he couldn't see anything.

"From today onwards, he and I are two separate people. He lives his life, and I live mine. I will handle my mother's funeral arrangements; he has no need to interfere."

Renye nodded and walked to his side.

"On April 1st, I'll go see Ma Tiejun and finalize the mining arrangements. You can prepare the explosives on your end."

Han Tianfang turned to look at him: "You really intend to do it?"

"I'm really planning to do it."

"Not to help me?"

"Helping you is one thing," Renye said, looking at the dark night sky in the distance. "On the other hand, I have to dig out that coal mine in West Second."

"For money?"

Renye did not answer. He remembered Tian Sui'er squatting by the wall waiting for him, remembered her gently placing a stone in front of the new grave on the back hill, and remembered her saying at the entrance of the family compound, "I will not tell anyone about what happened tonight."

For money, and for other reasons.

Han Tianfang didn't ask any further questions and extended his hand. Ren Ye grasped his hand. Both of their hands were rough, with large knuckles, the kind of hands that had done heavy work. When they clasped hands together, they could feel each other's strength.

"April 1st," Han Tianfang said.

April 1st.

After leaving Han Tianfang's house, Renye didn't go straight home. Instead, he went to the small hill behind the family compound. The old pine tree was still there, and so was the big rock. He sat on the rock, looking at the night view of the entire mining area.

The lights in the family compound were sparse, but a few were still lit in the direction of the mining area—lights on the mine shafts, burning all night. Further away was the collapsed area of ​​the West Second Mining Area, pitch black, where nothing could be seen, but Renye knew it was there.

He lit a cigarette, took a puff, and the smoke was quickly dispersed in the night breeze.

April 1st is just around the corner.

He ran the plan through in his mind. Policies, Shigou Village, Ma Dewang, fundraising and shareholding, equipment, explosives. He went through each item one by one. Every matter was progressing, and every matter had its variables. But he wasn't in a hurry. In his previous life, he had seen too many variables and knew that things never went the way you expected, but as long as the general direction was right, he would eventually reach the end.

He finished his cigarette, stood up, dusted off his pants, and started walking downhill. When he reached the entrance to the family compound, he suddenly stopped.

A person was standing under the streetlight at the entrance of the courtyard.

It's not Tian Sui'er. It's Xu Dongsheng.

Xu Dongsheng was wearing a dark gray wool coat, unbuttoned, revealing a navy blue sweater underneath. He stood under the streetlight, his face expressionless, watching Ren Ye walk towards him.

Renye stopped in front of him, the two of them less than two steps apart. The night wind passed between them, carrying the smell of coal dust.

"Who are you waiting for here?" Renye asked.

"I'll wait for you." Xu Dongsheng's voice was flat, revealing no emotion.

Renye looked at him, waiting for him to continue.

"I heard you've been working on things around Shigou Village lately," Xu Dongsheng said, having thoroughly inspected Renye. "You're thinking of starting a mine in the West Second Mining Area?"

Renye neither admitted nor denied it.

Xu Dongsheng took half a step forward, lowering his voice to a level that only the two of them could hear.

"Renye, I don't care what you're up to. But the West Second Mining Area isn't something you can do alone. That land belongs to the Hongxing Mine's mining area, and without the mining bureau's approval, no one can touch it."

Renye looked at him and suddenly smiled.

"Xu Dongsheng, are you warning me on behalf of the mine, or on behalf of yourself?"

Xu Dongsheng's expression changed slightly, but he quickly regained his composure.

"I'm just reminding you. Don't blame me if something goes wrong." He turned around, took two steps, then stopped without looking back. "Also, I won't give up on Sui'er's matter."

Renye watched the direction he disappeared in, put the unlit cigarette in his mouth, stood there for a while, and then turned and walked into the family compound.

When Renye pushed open the door, the light in the main room was still on. Li Yue'e wasn't there; Ren Shouyi was sitting alone in an old rattan chair. On the coffee table in front of him was the tin box, its lid open, revealing a pile of papers inside. He was wearing reading glasses and was hunched over the table looking at a yellowed blueprint, his fingers slowly tracing the lines on the paper, as if walking a path he hadn't walked in a long time.

Renye stood at the door for a while, watching his father's back. Ren Shouyi's back was much more hunched than when he was young, his shoulders were slumped, and most of his hair was gray. He was wearing a faded long-sleeved shirt, the collar loose and the cuffs frayed. This man, who had spent half his life working underground, saving people, and who was now lame, sat quietly under the lamp, looking like an ordinary old man.

"Dad, are you still awake?"

Ren Shouyi looked up, glanced at him through his reading glasses, put down the blueprints, and took off his glasses.

"You're back? How's it going in Qinshui?"