Chapter 2812 Banquet

"Going to war—swords and spears have no eyes. Some will always lose their lives. That's fate." Old Master Chen spoke with the weight of years behind his words. "When Little Five from our family went off to be a soldier, his parents wept themselves hollow. I told them to stop crying—if he's fated to die, no amount of tears will bring him back. If fortune smiles on him, he'll return even through a mountain of swords and a sea of fire. We're fisher folk. Every time we put out to sea, we never know if we'll return. The only difference now is that before, we risked our lives just to survive. Now we can risk our lives for fortune."

He pointed at the Private tending to the guests. "When Little Fa came home on leave this time, the family asked whether he should apply for discharge. I told them there was no need. Our family has built up such a large enterprise—someone has to protect it. We can't rely on others alone." He cast a meaningful glance at a middle-aged couple busy serving food and drink in the distance, his expression caught somewhere between disdain and pity. "I'm old now. Can't go to sea anymore. Can only sit at home keeping up appearances. If I were ten years younger, I'd want to go out and try my luck too."

Then he turned to the village head: "I heard they're recruiting immigrants again?"

"That's right," the village head confirmed. "It came up at the commune meeting the other day. Those willing to go receive money, positions, and land..."

The stationed police officer adopted a mysterious air: "This hasn't been officially announced yet..."

The village head was dismissive: "What's so secretive about it? Plenty of people have emigrated these past two years. The house your man lives in now was originally assigned to Old Zheng the Donkey. He took his whole family to Jeju Island. Not many in the village know how to handle livestock, but he's one of them. I heard he didn't want to go—had to be practically dragged there." The village head lowered his voice for this last part, seeming to realize the secret was unseemly. The words had barely left his mouth when he felt it was improper—there were two Fubo Army NCOs present, practically half-officials themselves.

"Being dragged there isn't so bad," the militia captain said indifferently. "He went crying, but now he's laughing. He went there to enjoy his blessings! A while back during militia target practice, we happened to share a range with the Cavalry Training Squadron. I heard that all the immigrants from Lingao to Jeju Island became cadres—given houses and grain, specifically assigned to manage horse-breeding. There are more women than men over there. They say at matchmaking sessions, groups of women line up to choose. That old bachelor is living the good life now!"

At such topics—the kind all men love to hear—everyone stirred. They began exercising their imaginations in a babble of voices, even recounting legends about Senators selecting personal secretaries. The air filled with merriment.

Just as the conversation was careening toward Political Security Bureau tea sessions, Tan Shuangxi cut in: "Have many people emigrated these past two years? I mean not just from our village, but from other places too."

"Plenty," the accountant replied, his face flushed from drinking. "The Senators' territory has expanded so much; officials are needed everywhere. Where do the cadres come from? Naturally, only the most trusted. Lingao is where the Senate rose to power—everyone here counts as a founding loyalist. Sanya, everyone knows, so I won't elaborate. These past two years it's mainly been Taiwan and Jeju Island. At first, people went just for work. Over time, they brought their families and simply never came back. A poor xiucai who came to Lingao on the same boat as me started teaching in the quarantine camp, then was sent somewhere... what was it called... Kaohsiung! He came back once to move his belongings and chatted with me. Said things were fairly well developed over there. Plenty of laborers but few who can manage, so opportunities for promotion abound. He signed up to emigrate. A few days ago, I saw his name in the newspaper—well, look at that... Deputy Principal of Kaohsiung National School. In Lingao, you think his Class A diploma could have gotten him a teaching post at Fangcaodi? A few from our village left too. Old Zheng the Donkey—the village head already mentioned him. And that fellow from the east end of the village went to the fishery cooperative in Hongji and landed some minor position, married a local woman. He probably won't come back either."

The militia captain took a sip of tea, used his finger to pick up fish crumbs from the oil paper wrapper and licked them clean, then said with satisfaction as everyone stared at him: "I heard it's not just one wife."

Everyone burst into laughter. It took a while before things quieted down.

"They say this immigration drive is heading south, to some place called something—I didn't quite catch it. Somewhere in the Hongji direction. The terms are quite generous: a moving subsidy upfront, then a hundred mu of land. You build your own house over there, but bricks, tiles, and timber are all provided free." The militia captain lowered his head, contemplating the wine in his cup as he muttered, "If I hadn't been scared witless fleeing from disasters... I'd want to go too."

"It's not too late for you. They say for those going to Nanyang, land is free for the claiming. Stake your claim and it's yours—farm as much as you can manage. Just don't work yourself to death."

...

The sun gradually sank below the horizon, dyeing the blue of the sky ever deeper. Golden afterglow illuminated the clouds at the horizon's edge, gilding the beach, the buildings, and the people gathered by the sea. Flocks of birds returning to roost began circling above the village, more clamorous than before. Women shielded their eyes with their hands and called for their children to come home for dinner.

Isn't the south just the sea? Tan Shuangxi had never imagined one day moving to some faraway foreign land. But at this moment, he felt certain that place—whose name he didn't even know—must be as beautiful as this village was right now.

The silence stretched on. It was broken at last by Chen Kefa, who had been quiet for a long while: "Fate is something you earn yourself."

He didn't look at the others. He picked up a chopstick of fried dried fish, then unhurriedly took a sip of wine before continuing, head bowed, addressing the fish heads on his plate.

"Is becoming an official in Jeju Island good? Certainly—you get a position. But you have to command a bunch of people who don't even understand what you're saying. Is that easy? Not at all. Those people... they don't even count as Miao or Yi. Who knows when they'll go mad and draw their knives—they won't hold back. You still remember those Jin siblings from the newspaper, don't you? Is becoming an official in Taiwan good? Certainly. But the miasma from land reclamation has killed many. The sailors told me on the boat. Is Hongji good? Certainly. I heard there are more women than men, and you can marry as many as you can support. But coal mining—any day the mine could collapse, and they won't even find your corpse. You all think fishing earns a lot. It does. But fishermen all know—the moment we put out to sea, we've already got one foot through the gates of hell. Set out on a cloudless day, haven't even cast the nets when a rogue wind and freak wave capsizes the boat. Our family—which generation hasn't lost several to the sea? Six months ago, Fourth Uncle died at sea as well. Pricked his hand on a fish spine, didn't think much of it. Started running a fever, headed back. Didn't live to see shore. There's no easy work under heaven. If you want a good life, you have to risk your life to earn it. Besides—you still have a choice, don't you?"

"If you ask me, what's the difference between life now and before? It's that now you can risk your life for a good life—go to Jeju Island, go to Taiwan, go fishing, join the army... Before, you might have wanted to risk your life to make that trade, but was there anywhere to make it? When I first joined the army, did I do it to risk my life for fortune? No. It was because our family truly couldn't make ends meet. There was no choice."

Whether from the wine or not, Chen Kefa's eyes began to redden. He grabbed the bottle and downed two cups in quick succession. Night had shrouded the village. The sea breeze carried a touch of coolness as it swept through the courtyard. A gust made the kerosene lamp's flame sway, its light passing across the Private's face. In the alternating brightness and shadow, two tear tracks flashed for an instant.

"Is being a soldier good? Certainly. Enough to eat and wear, travel everywhere, gain experience, learn some skills. Besides, this life was won by those of us who shouldered rifles—I don't regret it. But I'm scared. Scared that one day I won't come back. Even more scared that I'll come back and my brothers in the unit won't. The moment I got home, I went out to sea. I was afraid Elder Sister Li would come looking for me. Only dared to come back to the village after you'd been to Li Anze's home. I'm scared Elder Sister Li will ask me: you came back—how come my brother didn't? Even if she doesn't ask, there'll always be someone in my heart asking..."

Here, he couldn't go on.

Silence fell all around. Even the children playing between the banquet tables had gone quiet. The village head, seeing the heaviness of the mood, hurried to smooth things over: "Life and death are fated; wealth and honor are decreed by heaven! Don't overthink it. Just do your job well in the army! Earn yourself an officer's future, and your family will bring glory to its ancestors!"

Chen Kefa's face was flushed as well. He gave a cold laugh: "Bringing glory to ancestors—naturally. Alive, it's glory; dead, it's honor. What's not good about that? I accept it."

These words didn't sound quite right. Tan Shuangxi feared something might happen next that could sour this send-off atmosphere for the new recruits. He immediately cut in: "What's all this talk about life and death? Our Fubo Army goes into battle—when have we not been overwhelming, sweeping everything before us like a storm? The only time casualties ran a bit higher was during the bandit suppression afterward. Now bandits are handled by the National Army. When we form up for battle, we never lose..." He spoke so urgently his face flushed. He nearly said, "the chance of dying in battle is very small."

The words came out rather awkward. Zhang Laicai immediately followed up: "Brother Chen is right. Before, it was sitting and waiting to die—there wasn't even a way out! Since the Senate came, everyone has a path forward, don't they?"

Everyone hurried to smooth things over, and the table quickly recovered its merry atmosphere. But Tan Shuangxi had a vague feeling Chen Kefa still had words left unsaid. He knew one thing, though: Chen Kefa wouldn't apply for discharge. He would go back to the unit.

In the night sky, the Milky Way spanned the heavens, stretching from Scorpius and Sagittarius in the south to Altair and Vega at the zenith. To the southeast, Jupiter, Saturn, and Mars adorned the darkness as well. Beneath this vast firmament, the inky, boundless sea surged onto the beach again and again before retreating into the depths. The night wind swayed a kerosene lamp. Its faint glow cast the figures frozen in time into long shadows.

(End of Chapter)