The Scenery of the Lake and the Mountain

by Zhou Daxin

  Three people from the county Culture Bureau arrived on that same afternoon. They used small brushes to carefully brush the sticky mud away from the Ding, and discovered that the Ding was covered with decorative lines, and on two sides they could make out vague characters. With this, the three were without doubt: this is certainly an ancient cultural relic, but will require more steps to determine what age it had come from. Uncle Tan arrived in the afternoon of the next day, and by this time the Ding had been carried into Chu Di Ju. Uncle Tan stood before the Ding, inspecting carefully and saying: “Strange. Strange.” Then he went to the sight that it was dug from, and said: “There may be more things in the area, you should keep digging and searching.” Xue Chuanxin was worried that this would delay the construction process, and had some doubts, but Nuannuan was unable to refuse Uncle Tan, and instructed the labourers to keep digging. Sure enough, after only a short time, another piece of copper, smaller this time, was dug up, and Uncle Tan held it up with utmost excitement, saying: “Bell chimes, extremely valuable!” With all of their energy, the labourers dug across the whole area, and ultimately had a collection of a set of Qing, an ancient musical instrument made from jade; the Yong chime bells; pottery jars, pots, bowls and incense burners.

  Everybody was shocked and mystified, asking Uncle Tan how he knew about these things. Uncle Tan carefully examined the dug-up items, saying: “The inscriptions on the copper object confirm it as a Chu Ding, and not any regular Chu Ding, but an object used in the Chu imperial court. If you look closely, on the four corners here is an inscription that looks to be the symbol ‘king’, not a word that was used casually back then. How could an object of the imperial court find itself here in such a remote area? This leads me to doubt that this had any ceremonial use in the king’s quarters. There must be remaining objects apart from this one, so I say you keep on digging in the area. You see, the set of bell chimes also has a vaguely inscribed ‘king’ symbol”. Nuannuan and the crowd went to look at the bell chimes, and sure enough, every bell showed a raised symbol that looked like the ancient symbol ‘king’. After Xue Chuanxin had come to see, he and Nuannuan exchanged an expression of amazement.

  “Uncle Tan, as you see it, what ceremony related to the imperial court would have been performed here in the time of Chu?” Nuannuan could not resist asking.

  “At this moment it is hard to say,” Uncle Tan shook his head: “It will require more text-based analysis.”

  “Expand the digging, there could still be more objects down there.” Xue Chuanxin suddenly exclaimed.

  Upon hearing this, the labourers recommenced digging, and just about dug up the entire 20.3 acres of land. Apart from a few areas of ashened black earth, nothing new was dug up.

  “Let’s seize the moment and continue with the building of the houses.” Nuannuan urged Xue Chuanxin. “Don’t worry, first wait for Uncle Tan to conclude his research before we carry on.” Xue Chuanxin was not at all concerned.

  People from the provincial Culture Bureau and Nanfu City Culture Bureau arrived after dinner the next day. Uncle Tan spent three days in Chu Di Ju and at the excavation site researching, and although they all believed it to be an object from the Chu imperial court, were unable to establish the exact time that the objects were cast in a kiln, and as to why they were discovered here, nobody could conclude anything.

  The next day after dinner, Xue Chuanxin asked Nuannuan to meet with them by the shore of the Red Lake, and laughed whilst asking the old man: “Uncle Tan, I know you have not yet come to a conclusion about the cultural relics yet, but would you be able to first tell us what you personally think about them?”

  “What I think about them —” Uncle Tan hesitated, then: “Why are you both so anxious to know what I think about them?”

  Nuannuan looked at Xue Chuanxin, she didn’t know the reason for this either.

  “Because this concerns our next plans, as we originally decided to build holiday dormitories on this plot of land. If we know your opinion, we may be able to adjust some of our original designs.”

  “Okay, I will tell you what I think. But it is only a hypothesis, and at the moment, fact and fiction are just the same one, so in order to explain how these imperial court copperwares come to be found here, we must make up a story, which has no grounding in archaeology.”

  “We are willing to hear your story.” Xue Chuanxin couldn’t hold himself back.

  “As I’m sure you already know, the earliest capital of Chu was in Danyang, though the seat of Danyang is still debated amongst archaeologists. Some say its location was in today’s Zigui of Hubei Province, but I believe that the ancient Danyang can be found only a dozen or so li (soom) from today’s Danyang, at the confluence of the Xi and Dan rivers. There it stayed, until Chu’s King Wen who ruled after Chu’s King Wu, moved the capital from Danyang to Ying, today’s Jinan, north of Jiangling County. If my idea is correct, then the Early Chu capital Danyang is not far from your Chu Wang Village, and according to this hypothesis, Chu’s King Wen, who lived in Danyang was also called Chu’s King Zi, which may have some connection to your Chu Wang Village.”

  “Oh?” Nuannuan’s eyes opened wide.

  “I have carried out an investigation; Chu is the last name of most people in your village. However, for generations there had not been any family with the surname Wang. Normally, a village like yours should be named Chu Village; yet your village is named Chu Wang Village. That is very strange, but it had also, to some extent, proved my hypothesis. Wang, as a character, also means king. Of course, there might be many other reasons for the naming.

  “According to legends, King Zi was the son of the former king and a common-born woman. My guess is, during official work ruling the palace of Danyang, his father would take short vacations and go to different places. On a hot summer day, in search of cooler weather, he might have arrived at this village, when it had not been named as Chu Wang Village, with some stewards. In this quiet village by the side of the lake, he had not only found a cooler weather and relaxed from the stress of ruling as a king, but also, much to his surprise, a beautiful young woman. After spending many joyous nights with her, he had returned to his palace in Danyang. He heard about her pregnancy and took her to the palace. The child she had was named Zi. When he grew up, he became the King Zi of Chu. People in the village that had raised the king’s mother must have named their home Chu Wang Village, village of the king of Chu, to commemorate his name.”

  Nuannuan smiled and said: “Uncle Tan, you are such a good storyteller!”

  “Let him finish!” said Xue Chuanxin.

  “That must have happened no earlier than 600 BC. Due to internal and external crisis, King Zi was forced to move the capital of Chu. Before the departure, he performed a solemn ceremony in front of his palace in Danyang. After that, he rode a southbound boat with his advisors and consorts. They had brought many goods from the royal palace as well. When they passed Chu Wang Village, King Zi thought about his mother, who had passed away by then, as well as her home village. He had been sorrowful since the decision to move the capital. Thoughts of his mother had an even more profound impact on him. Therefore, he ordered the boats to halt so that he could come to the village himself. He had a simple ceremony shack built and ordered people to decorate it with a Ding from the palace, and many other ceremony vessels. He had also sent for the musicians with their chime bells in his court because he needed to hold a small farewell ceremony there …”

  “You could write a fiction with this story!” Xue Chuanxin smiled happily.

  Uncle Tan sighed and said: “It’s a shame that it is a fiction. I will be so happy if we could find archaeological evidence to prove it.”

  Xue Chuanxin was excited: “But a fiction has its use, too!”

  “What use?” Both Nuannuan and Uncle Tan were confused.

  “You would understand me if you had been to Yangcheng in Shanxi and visited the former residence of Chen Tingjing, Grand Secretariat and Minister of Personnel under the reig
n of Emperor Kangxi during the Qing Dynasty,” said Xue Chuanxin, still smiling. “In front of Chen’s former house, there is a large performance every day. The show is based on one of the local legends: Emperor Kangxi used to frequent Chen’s residence with his royal guards; every time he made the visit, Chen would welcome him with his family outside the door. More than one hundred people in the village participated in the performance, wearing clothes in the style of the Qing Dynasty. Because of this performance, visitors from all over China swarmed in there. My idea is that we can turn Uncle Tan’s story into a similar performance to enhance tourism here.”

  “Wow!” Nuannuan started to understand.

  “How do you plan to put up such a show?” Uncle Tan was still confused.

  “We shall preserve the excavation site where they found Chu Ding, chime bells and potteries and build a shack above it for protection. Not faraway from it, we will build a ceremony shack according to the Chu culture and set up replicates of Chu Ding, chime bells and potteries. We will hire people in Chu Wang Village to dress up as King Zi, his advisors and royal consorts, and train them to act as if they were putting up a serious sacrifice and farewell ceremony before they rode the boats southwards. A show like this will surely attract visitors and bring us more opportunities.”

  “You are a good businessman!” said Uncle Tan as he burst into laughter. “If you want to use my story, you’ll have to pay me a royalties fee.”

  “Of course. Next time you visit, you can stay in this Shang Xin Yuan for free. And that will be your fee.”

  Nuannuan spoke up in satisfaction: “If this can work, then people in the village will have some extra income outside of farm work.”

  “We work in tourism, so we must do everything to attract more visitors. And the things we do could diverge from one another. Do you understand? Brilliant, let’s get started,” said Xue Chuanxin as he waved his hand. “I will go now to the provincial city and ask the architects to update the blueprint.”

  Chapter 38

  Nuannuan had developed respect for Xue Chuanxin after their last meeting: he was indeed a clever businessman prepared to make money; and he would not let any opportunity slip away from him.

  One week later, Xue Chuanxin returned from the provincial capital Zhengzhou. The people from the Bureau of Culture had already left with the relics from the excavation. Uncle Tan had returned to Beijing, too. According to the updated blueprint that Xue Chuanxin had brought back, one row of guesthouses was to be torn down to make space for two shacks: one named as the “Excavation Shack” where the archaeology research site was; the other called the “Farewell Shack”, which was to be built according to the style of buildings where people from ancient Chu would hold sacrifices and farewell ceremonies.

  The construction resumed.

  Every morning after breakfast, Nuannuan would inspect tourism work in Chu Di Ju, then, she would go to the construction site of Shang Xin Yuan. Though she did not have any knowledge about construction, she could tell whether or not the workers were loafing on the job, or wasting unnecessary materials. Her observations were so accurate that Xue Chuanxin was surprised and praised her as “a very fine inspector”.

  The construction of shacks was not complicated. Therefore, it took no more than a month to finish. Looking at the fine result, Nuannuan felt relieved; finally she did not have to worry about the investment: it was now the new houses in front of her. It was not before then that she eventually put her full trust in Xue Chuanxin’s determination to do business here.

  Following the construction, the renovation, quite beyond Nuannuan’s knowledge as well, had started. Boats carried tiles, floor planks, plaster mounds, boards, paint and lights from the east bank. Nuannuan had only seen all those materials in Beijing and she had never expected them to be useful in Chu Wang Village. The electronic wares and furniture’s were purchased in Nanfu or the provincial city. There were microwaves, electronic irons, mini fridges, combined-cabinets, swivel chairs, chaise lounges, heaters, fitness equipment, tapestries, etc. Nuannuan found the decorations quite an eye-opener: all the goods from the city! During the decoration, people from the village also came over to check the progress. Like Nuannuan, they were all completely amazed …

  Before finishing the renovation, Xue Chuanxin came to Nuannuan and Kaitian. He said to them: “We must now look to the preparations for the opening. One of the preparations is to pick 25 girls and 15 boys and send them to the provincial city for training.”

  Nuannuan did not understand: “That many people? What are they trained for?”

  “They will learn how to receive guests properly.”

  “You don’t need training for that,” laughed Nuannuan. “Offer them some water, bring them some tea, keep their rooms clean and make their beds. No one went through any training to do that in my Chu Di Ju.”

  “Chu Di Ju is for common tourists, so your staff would suffice. But Shang Xin Yuan is built to receive VIPs and we must have a high standard service system. Three of the 25 girls will work at reception and they must be able to check in guests through a computer system; five will wait in the restaurant and they must learn to arrange the cutleries, help the guests with the menu, and serve dishes properly; 12 will work in housekeeping and they must understand how the electronics work in the rooms, how to protect the carpets and wood furniture; two will work in the laundry room and they must be familiar with the washing machine and ironing goods; one will work in the beauty salon and must learn about washing, cut, and dye; two will work as cleaners and must keep the whole place in order; they must also make sure to learn about garbage sorting and processing. I acknowledge the Red Lake’s water protection; people from above are concerned with the pollution, so any casual litter of even general waste will not be tolerated. As for the 15 boys, ten will work as security guards: there will be one security officer, and the other nine will take turns to patrol in a team of three and make sure that our guests and properties are under protection in Shang Xin Yuan; three will help the cooks in the kitchen and they must know the basics of cooking; one will be the electrician and must understand how to deal with regular problems such as a dead bulb; the one left will work in the garden and take care of the grass, flowers and trees in the yard. So tell me now, do you still think that training is unnecessary?”

  Hearing his speech, Nuannuan was stunned. She had never thought about a detailed division of labour. Of course training is necessary! Nuannuan smiled and answered: “Big brother Xue, I did not realize how different things are in Shang Xin Yuan and Chu Di Ju. We will do as you say. I’ll go find people and send them to the provincial city to study.”

  There are a few young people in Chu Wang Village and the neighbouring villages who had not left to work in cities. They hastened to Nuannuan’s house after hearing about the job opportunity with a promised monthly salary. The courtyard was filled with people, some even came with their parents in hopes of getting hired. Nuannuan hired some good-looking ones who had been educated in high schools. However, wishing to offer the opportunity to the poorer families in Chu Wang Village, she also picked several quick-witted ones, despite their modest background and lesser education. The next day she took the 40 young people to Xue Chuanxin. He was quite satisfied and said: “This place is indeed a good area — every one of them is easy on the eye. Now go home and prepare for the trip. We will go to the provincial city in three days and stay there for a twenty-day training. All fees are covered by Shang Xin Yuan.”

  The young people went home in great excitement.

  Xue Chuanxin turned to Nuannuan and said: “You should prepare for the trip, too.”

  “Me? What am I going to do there?” Nuannuan blinked in surprise.

  “According to the contract, we are running the business in cooperation. Since your husband is working as the leader of the village, he will not have time to manage it. Therefore, my partner here is you. And you must go to the provincial city and learn to work as a manager!”

  “I need training, too?�
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  “You have signed the contract with Five Continents Travel Group, so you must work accordingly. If you, our business partner, are managing this place with no knowledge of budget, taxation, strategy and human resources, how do we expect to make any money at all?”

  “Makes sense. I will go get trained. And I will learn how to work as a proper manager!” answered Nuannuan as she took Dangen in her arms. She kissed him on his cheek and lightly pat him on the buttock: “You will sleep with Grandma now …”

  Chapter 39

  Nuannuan led the 40 young people she had hired and lodged at Zhangyuan Hotel in the provincial city. It was the time when all the brilliant lights in the city had just turned on. Seeing the colourful lights shining behind the windows of shops, the never ceasing stream of cars in the streets, hearing the lively noises of the crowds in the city, Nuannuan suddenly remembered the first time she saw Beijing. At that moment, once again, she felt the charm of it all: wouldn’t it be lovely to live in the city! She looked back at the young people behind her and noticed the amazement and fear in their eyes, not quite different from herself when she first arrived in Beijing.

  Xue Chuanxin said to them: “This is a four-star hotel subsidiary of our Five Continents Travel Group. You will get your training here.”

  Nuannuan nodded and said: “Yes.”

  She felt quite nervous: could she and the young people from the village manage to stay here?

  After dinner, Xue Chuanxin had his staff bring over 41 navy-coloured uniforms and offered one to everyone. Nuannuan asked about where the hotel staffs take shower. She took everyone over and said: “Each of you must take a shower and change into the uniform with clean underwear. I know many of you have lice. But from today on, we will live as people in the city do: shower once every two days. You will soak your old underwear in boiled water to kill the lice. You must make sure that you are rid of lice before you put on the uniform. The uniform will become your identity and you will bring it back to Shang Xin Yuan and wear it at work. So everyone, take good care of your uniform!”