The Boy From Sichuan Province

Chapter 1 The Boy From Sichuan Province

Five-year-old Yong watches his father, Guang Ming, closely. Barefooted and wearing baggy trousers and a rough cloth tunic tied at the waist, Guang Ming stands directly in front of the water buffalo dipping its head for another mouthful of the rice straw scattered at its feet. Onlookers watch silently, hands clasped behind their backs. All around them, market-day shoppers stroll from stall to stall searching for bargains on vegetables, sweet potatoes, rice, bamboo baskets, and fish traps. Smoke rises into the autumn air from several fires banked with sweet potatoes roasting slowly in their fire-darkened skins split to expose the orange-red sweetness within. Outbursts of laughter, shouting, and bargaining punctuate the low hum of background chatter.

Guang Ming steps forward, staring into the beast’s eyes, and rests his hand on its snout. He smooths the buffalo’s hide as he draws his hands down to its nose and pries open its mouth. He moves his hand slowly along the beast’s molars, peers into its mouth, and sniffs its breath. When he finishes, he straightens up, withdraws his hand, and moves his attention to the animal’s back, checking the joints

in its ribs, spine, haunches, and legs. Stepping back, he surveys the beast again, nods to the man holding the bamboo rope that runs through the buffalo’s snout, and makes a circling motion with his hand. The man whistles, barks an order, and leads the beast in a small, plodding circle. Yong’s father watches the buffalo intently and then falls in behind the ponderous beast, observing its gait.

Once satisfied, Guang Ming approaches the man holding the rope, speaks a few quiet words, then slips his hand inside the sleeve of the man’s tunic. The man reciprocates the gesture. Yong’s father’s hand moves beneath the rough cloth, then the rope-holder’s hand moves in apparent response. Nodding slightly, Guang Ming withdraws his hand, turns, approaches a man in the crowd who has been watching the action, and repeats the sleeve ceremony.

Again, Yong notices his father nod ever so slightly. The onlooker unties a string attached to a small cloth bag from around his waist and hands it to Yong’s father. He hands it to the man with the rope, who in turn hands the rope to Guang Ming. With a slight bow of his head, Guang Ming hands the rope to the buffalo’s new owner. The watchers disperse, and Yong falls in behind his father, heading for one of the roasted sweet potato sellers.

In this chapter, we see that Yong’s identity as a rule-bender, entrepreneur, and innovator begins with the example of his father, an unconventional man in rural China. Life in their remote and unremarkable village is about survival, which means residents are preoccupied with where their next meal will come from. No one has expectations for the diminutive boy wandering around the village in Guang Ming’s wake. Inspired by his father’s example, Yong tries out various money-making schemes, which typically fail. At the same time, he enjoys the freedom the lack of expectations affords him. This allows him to explore and discover both his strengths and weaknesses.