Shuli Zhao
Sanjay
Their wedding was held on 26th July. Damayanti’s brother also par- ticipated in the wedding. Vasin, as the elder family member, entertained guests at tangwu room[7] Sanjay’s mother cooked chicken instead of tofu on the special day.
The wedding finally ended. Sanjay’s mother was satisfied with the sound relationship between Sanjay and Damayanti since they knew each other for a long time.
However, Sanjay’s mother was on the verge of death with the de- creasing temperature after harvest–she even put on cotton-padded jacket in September but still felt cold. Same as before, Sanjay’s mother had stomach ache and vomited all she ate. She had livid rings round her eye and she was so skinny that her cheekbones were prominent.
Sanjay was told by the neighbor auntie again that “I’m afraid that your mother couldn’t make it through. You’d better prepare the funeral.” Actually, Sanjay knew the situation clearly so he went to seek help from Vasin.
Vasin whose medicine shop sold medicine and sundry supplies like coffins made of polar, said: “We have all things ready.” However, Vasin
had a rule that people must write an IOU to him no matter what they used. He told his children that lending money for interest made more profits than doing business.
Sanjay’s mother died after autumn harvest. Damayanti, as a teenager with less life experience, only cried. Twenty-three-year-old Sanjay was only a little better than her. He was busy preparing the funeral–finding people to carry the coffin and practice geomancy–so he had no time left for his own family. Fortunately, the neighbor auntie helped Damayanti make mourning cap, hang white shoes, cook noodles[8], thus finishing the funeral.
Sanjay owed Vasin thirty yuan[9] (including both principal and in- terest) for cloth, household supplies and coffin for preparing the wed- ding and funeral, and Sanjay wrote an IOU.
Chapter 3
Sanjay and Damayanti totally had 4 mu[10] farmland. They were concerned that they couldn’t return money to Vasin so they worked as long-term farm laborer[11] for him. Damayanti started to learn about weaving when she was not high enough to touch the weaving machine. Therefore, she was proficient at weaving at 16 years old. Every day, the young couple woke up early and did their own jobs to pay back debts.
Vasin employed four laborers to plow the land. The veteran praised Sanjay a smart and capable man. Although he was too old to do physical- ly strenuous activities, the veteran was Sanjay’s knowledgeable teacher.
Sanjay ran out of grains for the wedding and funeral last year, so he kept lending grains until harvest this year. In October, Vasin gave Sanjay pay according to the food price in spring. Although he paid off 30 yuan debts, Sanjay still had to pay 10.8 yuan interest. Vasin let Sanjay pay back 10 yuan because Sanjay was his relative and employee.
Ever since, Sanjay got stuck in the debts. In the fourth year, Sanjay had owed over 90 yuan to Vasin. In October that year, Sanjay didn’t pay back his debts even with all his payments and grains on his own land.
Damayanti gave birth to their first child on the tenth day of the first lunar month, but her elder brother’s wife was busy treating relatives in Spring Festival thus failing to take care of her. Sanjay could only cook rice soup for her.
As all grains had been given to Vasin, Sanjay’s family had no food to eat during Spring Festival. Damayanti drunk rice soup made with a spoon of rice even she just had a baby. Sanjay was unwilling to drink his wife’s soup or to cook meal with more rice, so he ate up Damayanti’s left- over. The fact Sanjay only drank rice soup leftover for two days made Damayanti so heart-rending that she kept crying.
Chapter4
On the 14th day of the first lunar year, the self-entertainment group planned a play to celebrate new year, so they came to invite Sanjay. At that time, Sanjay was too hungry to act in opera, so he refused and said: “I have to look after my newborn baby.”
In daytime, others substituted Sanjay’s part. However, audience were unsatisfied that Sanjay didn’t appear in the opera till night. Some people yelled that: “Sanjay keeps up appearance even in our village. How dare him! No matter what reasons, we must see him today.”
Hearing their words, the neighbor auntie replied hastily upstairs: “You don’t know the actual situation. It is because they have no food. Sanjay didn’t eat three or four days so he is weak now. How can he act in the opera?” Then, villagers all shouted: “Why not tell the truth ear- lier? We will send them some food. After all, it is Spring Festival.” The neighbor auntie answered: “Sanjay was too shy to say such words. He was ashamed even I gave him a steamed bun.” Vasin said: “Go to invite him again! The commune[12] will pay him and provide them food.”