Chapter One: The Ordinary Liu Haizhu

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Life rushes by; don’t let yourself miss the sunset and the evening glow.

In Hubei Province, in Huang’an County, there lay a town so poor it bled itself dry.

In years gone by, this place had once been an ancient city, heavy with the epic hues of revolutionary war.

Those weathered city walls, those ancient alleys—each seemed to be recording a stirring tale of heroism, bearing witness to the turmoil and glory that had swept this land.

In this small town, at the Township Land Management Office in Xinghua.

The old gatehouse was stuffy and dim, the ceiling fan creaked overhead, stirring up hot, breathless air. Old Hu, hunched alone in the gloom, nodded off, his head drooping again and again.

Suddenly, the shrill ring of the telephone split the silence of the night, jarringly loud.

“Damn it all!” Old Hu cursed, startled awake.

At this hour, who could be calling?

Irritated, he slapped the table and snatched up the receiver. “Hello, who’s this?”

“… Oh, it’s Guifen? Chief Xue? … Ah, the chief went out with the director!”

“Yes, they left after work … for some business, I think. Yeah, I saw them. All right, I’m hanging up now.”

Click.

After hanging up, Old Hu flicked on the light, put on his reading glasses, and rummaged through a yellowed, battered phone book pulled from the drawer.

His wrinkled fingers slid slowly over the pages, found Xue Hongxing’s number, and dialed.

When all was done, he muttered to himself, switched off the light, leaned his head against the edge of the chair, and soon drifted back into a deep sleep.

Most people at the office had already left for the day. Now and then, moonlight spilled through the window, casting a patchwork of shadows on the floor.

On the third floor, in the office—

“Snore… snore…” Liu Haizhu, deep in sleep, suddenly startled awake. He glanced outside; it was already dark.

He sprang up, opened the door quietly, tiptoed down the stairs like a thief.

His office was on the third floor, but as he passed the second, he suddenly frowned.

He followed the sound.

Pressing up against the window, he peered through a slender gap in the curtain, from which a faint light shone.

Instantly, his eyes widened in shock.

Beneath that dim desk lamp—

Good Lord, it was Director Gu!

What a sight!

A faint, anxious voice drifted out: “…open it a bit, let me taste if it’s salty enough.”

Usually well-mannered and polite, Liu Haizhu now crouched outside the window, frozen in place. He hardly dared to blink—for to do so would be to disrespect two of his superiors.

Wow!

Director Gu had only been married a short time, and she always looked so shapely… Why were her legs so thick?

The longer he watched, the more excited he grew; his breathing grew heavy, and with a trembling wrist, he accidentally bumped the steel window frame.

Clang—a crisp sound.

Director Zhan, sweating profusely and caught in the midst of his urgent escapade, whipped his head up in alarm.

He hurriedly pulled up his trousers and burst out the door.

Leaning on the railing, Director Zhan took a deep breath to compose himself.

The corridor was empty.

No footsteps echoed in the stairwell.

Wait!

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Downstairs—who was that, skulking along the wall like a cat?

“Liu Haizhu!”

Director Zhan, ever the seasoned official, slipped on his overcoat with practiced ease as it was handed to him from inside, then gestured for her to hide.

By now, his face had regained its usual authority.

“Liu Haizhu!” Director Zhan called out again, his shout carrying down the stairwell and startling Old Hu out of the gatehouse. “Sir, any instructions?”

Director Zhan ignored Old Hu, narrowing his eyes at the shadowy figure nearing the wall and barked again, “Liu Haizhu!”

Hearing his name, Liu Haizhu broke out in a cold sweat, anxiety gripping his chest.

Damn it, am I going to lose my job over this?

Old Hu’s vision was poor at the best of times. Hearing the commotion, he peered around, eyes wide.

Sweating and flustered, Liu Haizhu blurted, “It’s not me!” as he stumbled, nearly falling.

Covering his mouth, he dashed to the two-meter-high wall, bent his knees, and sprang up.

Whoosh!

In the darkness, his figure shot through the air like a flying fish, touched the top of the wall with one hand, and vanished.

“Heh, not bad…” Director Zhan stood on the upper floor, eyes bloodshot, clicking his tongue in frustration.

He stepped out into the quiet night.

Opening his own door, Liu Haizhu fell heavily onto his bed, arm cradling his head, his face clouded with worry.

Old Zhan must have recognized him. That old fox was not to be trifled with. He’d better get to work early tomorrow and find Brother Dan for help.

It looked like he’d have to pay his way out of this.

Thinking these thoughts, Liu Haizhu drifted into a muddled sleep.

In his dream,

He found himself on a fairy mountain,

Mist swirling all around, clouds rolling beneath his feet, distant peaks half-hidden.

He stomped hard on the ground, leaving a pit beneath his heel.

“Tsk tsk!” Liu Haizhu marveled. “This dream feels damn real.”

Suddenly,

A thunderous dragon’s roar echoed across the sky. Liu Haizhu jerked his head up, eyes wide.

What the hell…?

Dragons!

Yes,

He saw two dragons flying overhead, golden and resplendent, stirring the clouds into a frenzy.

Between them, a dazzling golden object caught his eye—a suit of armor, exuding an aura of majesty.

For some reason,

Liu Haizhu felt an odd sense of familiarity.

Acting on impulse, he beckoned toward the golden armor.

Whoosh!

In the next instant, something miraculous happened.

The armor shot through the clouds like a streak of light and plunged straight into his body.

Holy—!

Liu Haizhu stood there in the valley, utterly dumbfounded.

“…Brother-in-law!”

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A voice called out from behind.

Liu Haizhu turned his head.

Across from him, atop the branches of a towering tree, sat a little girl, elfin and sweet.

“Brother-in-law!” she called again, leaving Liu Haizhu completely baffled.

A mournful dragon’s cry sounded above; the great dragon glanced at him, then slowly faded away, taking the sea of clouds with it.

He watched the dragon fly off until it vanished; when he turned again, the great tree and the girl had disappeared too.

Drenched in cold sweat, Liu Haizhu woke up.

What a jumble.

He sat on the edge of his bed, rummaged in his pocket for a pack of cigarettes, slapped one into his mouth, and took a hard drag.

…

…

Dawn arrived in utter stillness.

A faint glow crept up the eastern horizon.

The battered loudspeaker, riddled with lime holes, at the entrance of the village blared on schedule:

“Socialism is good, socialism is good!
…In the socialist country, the people hold their heads high!
The reactionaries have been toppled, imperialists tuck tail and run, the whole nation is united!”

In the early days of reform and opening, Huang’an was just stepping into a new era.

It was still dark, but the street vendors selling hot dry noodles and steamed buns already had the bulb in the gatehouse burning.

Gradually, the sun came up.

Near the county seat, villagers began to stir—early risers heading out.

Reform and opening had brought good times.

Parents and grandparents were up before dawn to pick vegetables, covering them with damp cloth overnight. Among the early risers, there were even a few pretty young wives.

The menfolk of the house, of course, would never stoop to such chores.

Back then, the economy was far from the prosperity that would come later.

In the little shops along the street, what drew wild children in were blocks of mint candy the size of erasers, selling for just two cents.

And the tallest building in Huang’an County? It was none other than the city management bureau’s tower in the town center.

It wasn’t even a real four-story building—just three stories with a heat-shielding layer on top, covered in thick red tiles.

Out front, a few elderly men were practicing tai chi, each posture steady with the calm of years.

Nearby, in the outskirts of Liu Family Village—

A courtyard on the edge of the village.

Though only a single-story house, it had its own scenery.

A pond at the gate, a hill behind the house;

The yard was neither large nor small, with a dozen chickens and a big yellow dog to guard the place.

Most striking of all, from the gate to the main hall, the house was festooned with banners.

From the doorway to the inner rooms, every inch was draped with them—bearing all sorts of inscriptions:

“Hero of the People, Gallant in Righteous Deeds.” —East City Machinery Factory

“Warrior of Justice, Iron Monkey in Action.” —Second Textile Mill

“Protector of the People, Nemesis of Evil.” —Huang’an Cigarette Factory

“Police-Civilian Cooperation, Promising Young Man.” —Xinghua Police Station

“Fearless Hero, Courageous in Pursuit of Thieves.” —This one Liu Haizhu had earned chasing a thief for three streets to help the lady owner of a tofu shop, who sent it to him herself.

There were many, so many that the house could not contain them all; in the main room, beneath the spring platform, the extra banners were rolled up in dusty bundles.

It was nearly seven.

The chickens in the yard were hoarse from crowing before Liu Haizhu finally emerged, his face dark as thunder.

Barely had his feet touched the ground when he sprang up onto the roof in a single bound!