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周大新丨《湖光山色》

推荐理由

乡村叙述是当代文学的重点，90 年代以来的乡村叙述侧重于表现乡村的凋敝、荒芜和贫困，也传达了文学良知为苦难与不公而发出的呐喊。周大新对于乡村的苦难也是深有感触的，但他的思考并不仅仅停留在对苦难的揭露上，而是要为乡村的父老乡亲们谋出路。他像其他立足于乡村立场的作家一样，看到了当今现代化进程中的最大问题：城市现代化的崛起是以疯狂攫取农村资源为代价的，被透支了乡村丧失了元气，在现代化的速度面前它只能被抛在身后。大新看到了这样的现实，但他不愿意让这样的现实成为永恒的真理。于是周大新设置了一个田园的乌托邦，这就是我们在《湖光山色》所看到的使暖暖以及楚王庄村民摆脱贫困、走向幸福生活的丹湖迷魂烟雾。他的田园乌托邦并不是逃离现实的虚无缥缈，他把这个乌托邦搭建在现实的土壤上。于是现实的种种矛盾也会在这个乌托邦中得到反映，他又是通过解决这些矛盾从而使乌托邦得以完善。这个矛盾主要可以归结为城市与乡村的矛盾、物质与精神的矛盾。

周大新的《湖光山色》的意义就在于，小说所构建的田园乌托邦为乡村写作开辟了一道亮丽的风景。

Reviews

The rural narrative is one of the focuses of the contemporary Chinese literature. The rural narrative since the 1990s has been emphasizing the forlorn, the bleak, and the poor aspects in the rural areas in China. They aim in conveying the conscience and concern of literature over, and the outcry of, the misery, unfairness and injustice that are afflicting humanity. Of these excruciating sufferings Zhou Daxin has had a deep experience, but his contemplation is not restricted to exposing such wretchedness. Moreover, he intends to work out ways and solutions for the people there. Like other writers who have grounded their writing in the countryside, he has discerned and discovered the biggest issue arising out of the modernization process that the rise of urban modernization is achieved by crazily snatching rural resources away. As a result, the rural, which has been exhausted of all of its vitals, can only be thrown far behind by the modernization tempo. Although acutely aware of such stark reality, Zhou Daxin does not want to allow this reality to continue. Instead he devises an idyllic utopia that is fully reflected in the novel we are reading now. Within such a utopia exists the spell-binding mist from Danhu Lake, which is able to lift Nuannuan and the people in Chuwang Village out of poverty, as well as lead them towards a happy life. The idyllic utopia is not fairy thing, far detached from reality, but rather well built on solid soil. That is why the conflicts and contradictions of every conceivable kind present themselves in this utopia and that is why, by solving all of them, he wants to perfect the utopia. Moreover, these conflicts and contradictions can boil down to the clashes between the urban and the rural and between the material and the spiritual.

The significance of this novel resides in that the idyllic utopia constructed in this novel carves out a brilliant way for the rural writing. 

作家简介

Author Profile

周大新（1952－），当代作家，河南邓州人。在家乡读完小学、初中、高中。1970 年应征入伍，1985 年毕业于西安解放军政治学院。历任济南军区战士、班长、排长、副指导员、干事，现为中央军委后勤保障部专业作家。中国作家协会第五届、第六届全国委员会委员。

周大新 1979 年开始发表作品。现已发表和出版长篇小说《走出盆地》《有梦不觉夜长》《第二十幕》《21 大厦》《湖光山色》《预警》《曲终人在》等。其短篇小说《汉家女》《小诊所》获全国优秀小说奖；《湖光山色》获得茅盾文学奖。其作品被译成英文、法文、德文、朝文、捷克文。多部作品被改编为戏剧、电影和电视剧。

周大新不少作品被改编成电影、电视剧和戏剧，其中由其小说《香魂塘畔的香油坊》改编的电影《香魂女》获 1993 年度柏林国际电影节大奖——“金熊奖”。

Contemporary writer and Dengzhou (Henan) native Zhou Daxin was born in 1952. He finished his primary-, middle-, and high school education in his hometown, and later in 1970 he was conscripted into the army. Fifteen years later in 1985 he graduated from the PLA Political Academy in Xi’an. Moreover, during his time in the military he was promoted to several different positions in the army from soldier, to squad leader, to platoon leader, to deputy commissar, to executive in the army. Currently, however, he holds the position of Professional Writer at the Logistics and Security Department under the Central Military Committee. Additionally, it is worth mentioning that he has been a member on both the fifth and sixth National Committees affiliated to the Chinese Writers’ Association.

It was from 1979 onward when he began to publish novels. So far he has already published a several hosts of works. His most noted works include Walking out of the Basin, Dreams Defy Long Nights, The Twentieth Act, No. 21 Building, The Scenery of the Lake and the Mountain, Early Warning, The Music Ends but the Man Remains, and many more. Moreover, his two famous short stories The Han Chinese Girl and A Small Clinic have each won the National Best Story Award respectively. Another famous story The Light of Lake and the Color of Mountain has won the honorable Maodun Literature Award. To add to the popularity of his many publications, they have also been translated into English, French, German, Korean, and Czech. Additionally, quite a few of his works have also been adapted into films, TV plays, and dramas. Amongst them, the film Woman Sesame Oil Maker, adapted from his short story “The Sesame Oil Mill by the Side of the Woman Sesame Oil Maker Pond”, won the Golden Bear Award at the 1993 Berlin International Film Festival. 

中文概要

Synopsis

在北京打工的楚暖暖听到娘病重的消息，连夜赶回丹湖西岸的楚王庄。也因为娘的病，暖暖收起了再去北京打工的心，扑下身子，一边做家务，一边负责种家里的那块责任地。

暖暖留在楚王庄，让村里一些因故没能外出打工的小伙子都兴奋起来。其中最兴奋的，当属和暖暖青梅竹马的旷开田。暖暖爹下湖捕鱼，她家的地里活忙不过来时，开田总是主动来帮着做。两个人一边干活，一边像过去一样无话不谈。因此，尽管她从未对开田承诺过什么，但她不得不承认开田在她心里一直占着重要的位置。除了开田，村里还有个叫詹石梯的，是村主任詹石磴的弟弟，兴奋得更是过头，经常有意在村边等着和暖暖碰面说话。更出乎意料的是，他很快便托媒人天福爷来家里提亲。

能够与村主任结亲，爹和娘都很满意，满口答应。

暖暖气得把手中的筷子扔到了碗沿上，怒冲冲地说 : 我的婚事我自己定 !

暖暖给自己定的自然是旷开田。她让开田悄悄去聚香街上买两挂鞭炮，再买些红喜字，选了一个日子，她自己便偷偷来到开田家。旷开田放响了鞭炮，然后把那些喜字往院门上一贴，引来了众多村里人看热闹。人们发现新娘子是暖暖，都很意外，暖暖的父亲气急败坏地过来打了开田两个耳光，詹石梯也带人打了开田一顿。但不管怎么说，两个有情人终于走到了一起。 婚后的日子苦并快乐着，不久，暖暖怀了孕，十个月后，生下了儿子丹根。

有了儿子，开田自然觉出肩上的担子重了，开田因此就在种地之余，到处寻找发财赚钱的路子。也巧，那天两口子正在丹湖边的一块责任田里整地，碰到一个卖锄草剂的，价格很便宜。小两口商量了一下，觉得有钱赚，便毫不犹豫地买了下来，准备再转卖给乡亲们。锄草剂效果不错，用过的地里不见一棵野草出来，可不料那锄草剂竟然连绿豆苗也杀， 村里九十亩绿豆苗被弄得颗粒无收……暖暖这才知道被骗了，于是赶紧去找那个卖锄草剂的骗子，却怎么也找不到。

派出所来人把开田带走了，暖暖扑到好友青葱嫂怀里，放声痛哭。

青葱嫂劝暖暖去找村主任詹石磴，请主任去派出所把人保出来。暖暖觉得也只有这一个办法，虽然因为拒婚不好意思见詹石磴，但还是硬着头皮去找了。

对于暖暖嫁给旷开田的事，村长詹石磴虽然表面上装得若无其事，但实际上却怀恨在心。因此，他表面上答应了暖暖，但到了派出所，他非但不替旷开田求情，反而强烈要求派出所从严处理。

暖暖是自己去乡上问了情况才知道詹石磴落井下石的，她再次找到詹石磴。“主任，求你让他们放了开田吧 !”“那恐怕不行，他毁了村里的庄稼，必须受到惩罚 !”詹石磴声音虽然不高，但说得斩钉截铁。“这恐怕只是借口吧 ? 你要惩罚他的真正原因是因为他娶了我。”暖暖直盯着詹石磴的眼睛。“你和旷开田当初把我们老詹家的脸踩到地上，现在……”“你说要我咋办 ?”“这种事你还能不明白 ?”“我确实不明白，你说吧，要不以后让开田去帮你家种地 ?”“地我倒是想种的，你有那么好的地……”

暖暖在短暂的一怔之后脸轰地红了，她听明白了，她知道詹石磴嘴里的“地”是啥意思，“狗 ! 猪 !”暖暖怒不可遏地骂着，边骂边转身跑出了门……

但是，为了救回丈夫，第二天，暖暖还是找到了詹石磴，流着屈辱的眼泪脱光了自己……

开田回来了，暖暖舒了一口气，但紧接而来的四万多元赔款，又压得一家人喘不过气来。屋漏偏逢连阴雨，就在这时，开田爹又病了，把他们又向难境里推了一步。

好在天无绝人之路，好运突然降临到暖暖面前。一个北京来的老人请暖暖带他去后山上看长墙，且坚持付给她二十块钱，这让暖暖喜出望外。老人叫谭文博，是个退休的研究员，他看到石墙后兴奋不已，断定是楚长城，并决定再留下来看几天。谭老伯请暖暖安排食宿，并坚持每天付给她一百五十块钱，这样一来，老人住了十一天，他们便赚了一千六百元。不久，天津大学历史系两个研究生来了，湖南的四个大学生又来了……

接连几次接待，让精明的暖暖看到了商机，她坚信，以后会有更多的人来看楚长城。为了能接待更多的客人，夫妻俩商量了一下，决定盖新房子。

盖新房子必须有宅基地，旷开田只好去找詹石磴，但去了几趟都无功而返。暖暖估摸詹石磴拖着不批是在等着她出面，等着她低头，便决定自己再去找找詹石磴。果然不出所料， 暖暖一去詹石磴便同意了，只是，詹石磴又趁机凌辱了她……

三间房子终于盖起来了，谭老伯也带着十个学生来了。看到暖暖家的新房子，谭老伯很高兴，挥毫给他们题了“楚地居”三个字。谭老伯走后，他们又在原有房子的东西两边各盖三间厢房，使楚地居客栈就成了一个很规整的院子。暖暖请来青葱嫂协助管理，请麻四哥做导游，又请了三个姑娘帮工，队伍也壮大了。

各地的大学生陆续来看楚长城，楚地居热闹起来。接待完这几批游客，挣得的钱除了可把外欠的钱全部还完，还剩有几千元。

詹石磴看着暖暖家挣了钱，便眼红了。在一个晴好的早晨，他来到了旷家。暖暖和开田因为昨夜那事做得太用力，还在被窝里，突然听到詹石磴的喊声：“开田在吧 ?”

暖暖被詹石磴的喊声惊醒，满脸厌恶地披衣起身，隔了窗户看见坐在院里悠闲吸烟的詹石磴，当初所受的侮辱就又在脑子里翻腾了出来，一股恨意便立刻从心里生出。

“主任，对不住，我睡过头了。”开田这时边扣着衣扣边慌慌地跑进了院子。“开田，你如今是楚王庄的富人，应该高枕无忧地睡大觉了。”“哪里哪里，主任，你有事 ?”开田陪着小心问。“是呀，没事哪敢登你这三宝殿 ?——根据上边的规定，为了保证丹湖的水质，你们家的楚地居要停止接待游客，以免污染湖水，从今往后，你该种地还种地，不要再瞎折腾了 !”“这—─”开田惊在那儿。

詹石磴欺人太甚，暖暖决定去告他。没料到，詹石磴先下手为强，在乡里县里先打了招呼，暖暖跑了半天没有什么结果。詹石磴跟踪他们到县里，扬言还要跟着一起去市里省里。暖暖明白去市里告状不会有什么好结果，就虚晃一枪，说是去市里，却去县法院起诉了他。

法院判决下来了，暖暖扬眉吐气，詹石磴却恼羞成怒。他不断使出坏招对付旷家，暖暖只好针锋相对。几个回合下来，尽管暖暖取得了胜利，还在谭老伯的帮助下成立了南水美景旅游公司，但她明白，要想不受詹石磴欺负，只能不让他再当村主任。

不久，村里的换届选举开始了，暖暖鼓动开田参加竞选，并替开田设计了竞选策略，公开与詹石磴叫板。

选举当天，暖暖填好选票投进票箱，就一个人向湖边走去。她在湖边蹲下来，凝了神去看地上的葛麻草，她想用这个办法转移自己对会场的注意力，她是想听又怕听到那声宣布。

“选上了──开田选上了──”暖暖听到了青葱嫂那兴奋的喊声。

轰地一声，一直坠在她心上的那坨东西碎裂了，她仿佛看见那些碎片在向下落着，她感到了一阵从未有过的轻松……

暖暖第二天起得很晚，多少天的紧张和焦虑都化成了疲劳，加上开田和她昨夜里都高兴，把那件事做了一遍又一遍，使得她彻底放纵了自己的睡眠，直睡到了日上三杆。

婆婆把早饭给她温在锅里，她去吃时婆婆告诉她开田去了村委会。她点了头后继续吃着，这是多少天来她吃得最香的一顿饭，她突然意识到，一个人知道自己不会再受欺负 ,这种感觉真好。暖暖一门心思扑到楚地居上，生意越做越红火。这时，省城五洲公司的项目开发经理薛传薪找上门来，要投资三百万建度假屋。于是，赏心苑开工建设，暖暖的事业步入了发展的快车道。在赏心苑建设过程中，无意中发掘出土了一批楚国的文物，而且还是王宫里的用品。谭文博推断，当年的楚王庄可能发生过一段跟楚王有关的故事。颇有远见的薛传薪决定改变赏心苑的建筑规划，特意增建了与谭文博的故事相关的出土棚和离别棚，准备演绎那段故事，以吸引游客。

赏心苑开张后，他们便组织了离别表演，果然如薛传薪所料，收到了很好的吸引游人的效果。

开田在表演中扮演楚王，起初他不太愿意，但演了几次后，也渐渐地迷上了，不仅主动到场，还非常认真，所以演得越来越自如，举手投足很像一个手握生杀大权的楚王。暖暖没想到，这种表演竟可以很快消解掉开田身上一些宝贵的东西。

日子顺，生意好，暖暖的心情自然也不错。但不久后，詹石磴却又来捣乱了。他把与暖暖睡觉的事告诉了开田。开田不问青红皂白，对暖暖大打出手。暖暖伤心极了，一度离家住进了赏心苑。

赏心苑的事情也越来越难做，有一次客人竟然要吃娃娃鱼，暖暖认为犯法的事不能干，便坚决反对。没料到，薛传薪却找来了开田，一起合谋把事情做了。后来，又有客人要女人按摩，暖暖更加气愤，甚至和客人吵了起来，薛传薪却从省城带来了六个按摩女，睁只眼闭只眼地让她们在赏心苑卖淫……

暖暖知道情况后，与薛传薪吵了一架。老谋深算的薛传薪拉拢了旷开田，不让暖暖再管赏心苑的事。他们还计划扩建赏心苑，占民宅占耕地，更加肆无忌惮。

旷开田自从知道暖暖与詹石磴的事后，很少再主动同暖暖说话，更没有床上的事了。他与悠悠勾搭到了一起，暖暖知道后想离婚，无奈老人和孩子百般阻拦，暖暖不忍心。但不久后，暖暖却又意外地发现他与一个按摩女睡在一起……这一次，暖暖再也忍受不了，她顶着家人的压力，毅然决然地与开田离了婚。

为了赏心苑占宅占地的事，暖暖再次去找薛传薪，旷开田却以主任的身份不让暖暖多管闲事。暖暖觉得一切都因为开田当了主任，便想把他拉下马。换届选举时，暖暖动员九鼎参选。但没料到，同样的手法，这一次却因为权力和资本扭结在一处而没有奏效。

为了正义，暖暖再一次走上告状之路。但这次告状却与上次一样，从乡上到县里，都有薛传薪派的人跟着，一点也没起作用。暖暖改变战略，决定用写信的法子告。她给市里和省上的领导以及公安局、检察院、法院写了八封信，全用挂号信发了出去。

赏心苑开始扩建，强行扒掉了几家的房子，暖暖忍无可忍，又写了十几封告状信。

旷开田知道后，便不客气地对暖暖下了狠手，做事已完全像一个说一不二的楚王了。他让人冒充游客在楚地居赌博，害得暖暖被抓，楚地居停业整顿。

暖暖回家后，到赏心苑质问旷开田，却遭到了旷开田的一顿毒打。青葱嫂为了给暖暖报仇，把告别演出的船弄翻，想与旷开田同归于尽，但却没有如愿。

然而正义终将战胜邪恶，侥幸逃脱青葱嫂之手的旷开田最终却没有逃脱法律的制裁 ,他和薛传薪一起，被便衣警察抓走了。

楚王庄的楚国一条街正式剪彩开业，旅游业更加兴旺。

在一次带外国游客观览湖中迷魂区的烟雾时，暖暖在那神奇的烟雾顶部，看见了一队前呼后拥的人，中间走着的分明就是楚王赀。暖暖无声地说出了自己的心愿：楚王赀，你走得越远越好……

When Chu Nuannuan, a migrant worker in Beijing, learns the news that her mother is severally ill, she hurries back home on that very night to her hometown Chu Duke Village. Her village sits to the west of Danhu Lake. It is because of her mother and her illness that Nuannuan rejects the idea of returning to Beijing to do odd jobs, and devotes all her energy and her life to housework and farming on that tract of contracted land.

The fact that Nuannuan remains in the village and does not go out thrills and catches the attention of many of the young men in her village who are unable to go out to do temporary work for various reasons. Among them the man in the highest of spirits and pride would definitely be Kuang Kaitian. He is a young man who has known and been rather close to Nuannuan since childhood. When Nuannuan’s father goes fishing at the lake, it delays much of the farming work that she needs to attend to. Because of this Kaitian always offers her a hand. While farming, the two confide everything in each other, just like how they did when they were younger. It is clear to her that although she has never made any explicit promise to Kaitian, he holds a very special place in her heart and that she cares for him dearly.

Kaitian aside, another young man in the village is also quite infatuated by Nuannuan, albeit in a more overwhelming way. His name is Zhan Shiti, and he is the younger brother of the village head Zhan Shideng. He often awaits Nuannuan at the entrance of the village in order to meet her in person and steal the chance, to talk with her. Even more unexpectedly, he even commissions the so-called “match-maker” Grandpa Tianfu to, on his behalf, present his offer of marriage to her in front of her family. To this offer Nuannuan’s parents both fully agree, and they are very happy that her daughter marrying him would mean a bond with the village head family that can grow even stronger in the future. Nuannuan, however, isn’t pleased. She gets so infuriated that she thumps the chopsticks in her hands onto the edge of her bowl blurting out furiously, “It is who decide my own marriage!” 

The spouse Nuannuan selects for herself, naturally, is Kuang Kaitian. And so she lets Kaitian go up to the Fragrance-gathering Street to purchase two sets of fireworks, some traditional red 喜(happiness) character banners, and choose a favorable date for their marriage. Thereafter Nuannuan walks herself to Kaitian home in secret. Kuang Kaitian then sets off the fireworks and pastes the 喜(happiness) character banners onto the gate to the courtyard. All this draws many villagers to Kaitian’s home to see what is going on. To their utter surprise, however, they find that the bride is Nuannuan. Nuannuan’s father comes over to her angrily and slaps Kaitian. Then Zhan Shiti heads a gang of people to Kaitian’s home and they all give him a good beating. Even with all this going on, the two lovers were happy. They finally come together and set up their own home, which in all was the most important thing. The life for the newlyweds was bitter yet happy. Moreover, it wasn’t long until Nuannuan got pregnant, and ten months later she gave birth to their son Dangen.

The arrival of the son makes Kaitian feel as if there is a heavy load on his shoulders. So in addition to doing farming in the field, he is forced to seek means of making money anywhere he could. As luck would have it, the day when the two are toiling the soil in their contracted land by the side of Danhu Lake, they meet with a man selling very cheap herbicide. The couple discuss for a while thinking that there is profit to be made out of this business. Later, without much hesitation, they decide to buy and plan on reselling it to the people in the village.

The effect of the herbicide proves extremely good. The fields where it was applied sprouted not a single weed. However, it killed more than weeds too. It rooted out all mung bean seeds together with the weeds. This leads to the ninety-mu land of mung bean seeds harvesting nothing at all. It soon occured to Nuannuan that they have been fooled by that man. They wasted no time looking for the swindler, but it was all to no avail. Consequently, the local police had Kaitian taken away for this. Because of all of this Nuanuan felt she could do nothing other than put herself into the arms of Qingcong, her sister-in-law, and burst out a loud and bitter cry .

Qingcong advises Nuannuan to turn to the village head Zhan Shideng. She urges Nuannuan to ask him to bail Kaitian out from the local police station. Nuannuan knows this is a possible way out, but having rejected Zhan Shiti’s offer to marry her, she feels quite guilty having to plead with him. But with no other possible alternative she could think of, she decides to go to him for help.

That Nuannuan married Kuang Kaitian continues to be a resentment in Zhan Shideng’s heart. However, he pretends that nothing unhappy has happened between his younger brother and her. Although he promises Nuannuan to help Kaitian out, when he arrives at the local police station, however, he does not appeal to the police for Kuang Kaitian’s release. Instead he requires the police to give him a more severe punishment.

It is after Nuannuan has inquired about the ongoing of the matter at the township that she is shocked by Zhan Shideng’s actions than add further insult to the injury regarding Kaitan’s case. She again goes to Zhan Shideng and pleads, “Village head! I beg you to ask them to let Kaitian go!” He replies, “That won’t work, I am afraid. Since he has spoiled the crops of the village, he deserves a punishment!” His voice is not loud, but firm and resolute. “This might be your justification. But I believe the real reason for you punishing him is that he married me.” She looks into the eyes of Zhan Shideng. “You and Kuang Kaitian defaced our family then and stamped us down right to the ground and now.... “What do you want me to do now?” “Can’t you be clear about this kind of matter?” “I don”t understand what you mean. Please tell me directly. Or I will ask Kaitian to help with your family”s farming work....” “I need to plow the land and you are the very fertile land....” Nuannuan feels shocked for a second, and then she blushes. She has now come to understand what Zhan Shideng means by “land”. “You dog! You pig!”Nuannuan fumes, turns around, and walks out the door.

However, in order to help her husband, the next day she is forced to go back to Zhan Shideng’s house again. It is with tears of shame running down her face that she agrees to his terms and she denudes herself.

When Kaitian has been let off and returns home, Nuannuan heaves a long sigh of relief. However, what follows is their loss of around forty hundred thousand yuan for the spoiled crop, which almost weighs the whole family down. Misfortunes never come single. Even worse, Kaitian’s father falls ill during this time, which pushes them even further into the sea of trouble.

However, Heaven never seals off all the exits. With that said good fortune suddenly loomed large before Nuannuan. One day an elderly man from Beijing asks her to take him to have a look at the long wall on the nearby hill, and insists on paying her 20 yuan as a form of compensation. This pleasantly surprises her. The elderly man is called Tan Wenbo, and is a retired research fellow. He cannot refrain from getting excited, asserting that this is the Great Wall built by State Chu. Thereafter he decides to stay for a few days and asks Nuanuan to make arrangements for his accommodation. Moreover, he was insisting on paying her 150 yuan each day.

Tan Wenbo spent eleven days there which earned them 1650 yuan altogether. Before long two postgraduate students came there from the Department of History, Tianjin University,followed by four undergraduate students from Hunan. This row of receptions allowed smart Nuannuan to clearly see the chance of doing business here. She was firmly convinced that in the near future there would be more people coming to visit the Chu Great Wall. However, in order to be able to have more capacity to receive more guests, the couple, after much discussion and deliberation, decided to have a new house built.

To build a new house, however, requires a housing site. Kuang Kaitian has to turn to Zhan Shideng for permission to acquire this site. He visits him several times but all in vain. Nuannuan reckons that the reason Zhang Shideng puts the matter on hold is that he is awaiting her to turn up and yield to him once more. So she has to face him again. As expected, once Nuannuan shows up, Zhan Shideng relents immediately and capitalizes the chance to insult her again and again.

Later a three-room house is finally built and at this time Tan Wenbo pays a visit together with ten students. Seeing the new house, Tan gets so thrilled that he is pleasantly surprised and wield a Chinese brush and impromptu writes three Chinese characters saying  “Chudiju” on the side of the house. Afterwards, the couple have another two wings added on both the western and the eastern sides of the house, separately, turning the original inn of the so-called “Chudiju” into a very rectangular one. Nuannuan asks her sister-in-law Qingcong to help manage the inn, brother Masi to be the guide and employs three girls to be housemaids, thus having increased the number of staff members.

University students from different parts of the country come to visit the Chu Great Wall in a steady stream, boosting the Chudiju’s business. After they received these batches of guests, the money earned thereof have virtually all been appropriated to pay off their debts, with several thousand yuan left to spare.

Seeing Nuannuan’s family make considerable money, Zhan Shideng becomes very jealous, and on a fine morning he comes to the Kuangs’ house.

Nuannuan and Kaitian are still under their quilt because they exerted too much in enjoying sexual pleasure last night when they hear Zhan Shidengil call from outside, “Is Kaitianthere?!”

Nuannuan gets startled by Zhan’s shout and quickly drapes her clothes on. She does this with full hatred on her face while getting up. Through her bedroom window she sees Zhan Shideng sitting in her courtyard smoking leisurely. Now all insult and shame she suffered in the past resurges and re-seethes in her mind again, and in an instant a wave of hatred bursts forth in her heart.

Kaitian rushes into the yard gingerly and fearfully while fastening the buttons on his clothes. “Kaitian, now that you are the upstart of our Chu Duke Village, you should be able to enjoy some sound sleep with no worry at all. Fastening the buttons on his clothes, Kaitian asks and cautiously cozies up to him. “Yes, if I have nothing important to say to you, how dare I come to your grand house? Now, according to the rules and regulations made by our superior agencies and in order to ensure the quality of waters in Danhu Lake, your Chudiju ought to stop receiving tourists lest the waters in the lake be polluted. From today onward you should stop doing what you are up to and carrying on with farming is your duty. Do not make any fuss at all. Kaitian gets stuck there, dumbfounded, and not knowing how to respond.

Against Zhan Shideng’s brutal bullying Nuannuan decides to file a lawsuit. But, quite unexpectedly, Zhan Shideng has already taken preemptive actions by asking the township and county councils to bend the case to his advantage. As a result Nuanuan’s attempt at a lawsuit against him and his action goes in vain. Zhan Shideng stalks them to the county town, swearing that he will follow them even to the prefecture and provincial capitals if need be. Knowing that her efforts will yield no good result, she pretends to be going to the prefecture. However, instead she secretly goes to the county court to sue him.

When the ruling from the court is issued in their favor, Nuannuan feels both bold and proud. Zhan Shideng, however, becomes at once both ignominious and furious over Nuannuan’s actions and her success in going against him. And he then works out several evil tricks to deal with the Kuangs. This forces Nuannuan to confront him head on. What follows are several bouts of fights. Nuannuan, however, manages to get the upper hand and even succeeds in setting up a Southern Water Scenery Tourism Agency with Tan’s help. Additionally, she knows all too clearly that if she wants to be free from any bullying from Zhan Shideng, she has to unseat him from the village head post.

Soon the voting for a new village leadership unfolds and Nuannuan pushes Kaitian to enter the election. For him she even devises a competition strategy, thus opening up a public contest with Zhan Shideng. On that very voting day, Nuannuan goes toward the lake after filling up the vote and slipping it into the poll box. She squats at the side of the lake, gazing intently at the hemp herb on the ground, thereby attempting to divert her attention away from the meeting place. She is both eager for, and afraid of, the announcement of the voting results. To her luck and to set her heart at ease she soon hears the excited shouts being uttered by her sister-in-law Qingcong. “Kaitian has been elected!” 

The massive lump that has long been choking her heart now crumbles and cracks into splinters. Those splinters soon disappear and a feeling of relaxation which she has never ever experienced before fills her up.

She gets up very late the next morning, as days of stress and anxiety had translated into overwhelming fatigue. Because of this Nuannuan and her husband feels immensely happy that night and make love several times. Therefore she really needs a good rest.

Her mother-in-law puts her breakfast in the stove so that it can be kept warm. When she goes for it her mother-in-law tells her that Kaitian has already made off to the village board. Nodding her head, she goes on with eating her breakfast. This is the breakfast in which she relishes most over many days. While eating she suddenly realizes that she no longer will be bullied by other, which makes her very happy. 

Nuannuan is putting all her heart and soul into the Chu Residential Estate and the business is booming all the more. At this time Xue Chuanxin, a project development manager from the Five-Continent Company in the provincial city, visits her intending to invest three million yuan towards building resort estates. Needless to say, soon the construction of Shangxin Estate gets under way and Nuannuan’s enterprise comes onto the fast track of development and rapid success. 

In the course of expanding the construction, a host of relics and curios belonging to ancient Chu Kingdom are unearthed by accident. They are utensils that were used by the royal palace. According to Tan, a history related to the Duke of Chu must have taken place at the site of the then Chu-Duke Village. The far-sighted Xue Chuanxin thus decides to alter his expansion scheme. With that he deliberately has two additional sheds, the Excavation Shed and Farewell Shed, built so as to attract tourists. This is because they are related to the history inferred by Tan Wenbo. When the Shangxin Estate opens to the public, they organize a farewell performance. Just as Xue Chuanxin anticipates, the performance manages to draw tourists in a large scale. 

Kaitian plays the role of the Duke of Chu Kingdom. Initially he shows reluctance and seems unfitting for the role. But after several rounds of performance, he comes to get obsessed with the role. Moreover, Kaitian not only takes initiative to take the stage, but also acts out his role with great seriousness and with extreme ease. With that he then appears more and more life-like, as if he were the real Duke of Chu executing the mandate of life and death in his hands. Quite contrary to Nuannuan’s expectation, a performance of this kind could very soon dissolve some valuable qualities in him. 

Days go by uneventfully and the business flourishes, so she is also happy. Shideng again puts himself out to cause trouble. He imparts his affair with Nuanuan to Kaitian who, in turn, gives Nuanuan a very good beating without inquiring about the underlying reasons. Heartbroken, Nuannuan moves out of her home for a time and resides in Shangxin Estate. 

The business in Shangxin Residential Estate is becoming harder and harder to run. Once, a guest even wanted to eat a giant salamander. Nuanuan flatly rejected the request, maintaining that anything illegal should be kept forbidden at the Estate. Quite out of her expectation, however, Xue Chuanxin asks Kaitian to come over and they two conspire to have the guest’s request satisfied. Afterwards, some guests even request for female massages. Nuanuan gets very angry and even has quarrels with them about this. But Xue Chuanxin still brings six massage girls from the provincial city over to the Estate, and turns a blind eye to the depravities unfolding in there. 

After knowing of all the happenings, Nuannuan has a fight with Xue Chuanxin, but the wellcalculated Xue Chuanxin co-opts Kuang Kaitian into keeping Nuannuanep mind off Shangxin Residential Estate. They also plan to expand the estate by taking over more housing and arable land more unscrupulously.

From the time when Kuang Kaitian has learned the affair between Nuannuan and Zhan Shideng, he rarely takes the initiative to talk to her, let alone to have sexual affairs with her. He, in retaliation, cozies up to Youyou and has an affair with her. After learning this, Nuannuan wants to divorce him, but she cannot bear to do that because her parents and her children stops her at all costsfrom taking that step. But not long after Nuannuan discovers by accident that Kaitian is sleeping with another massage girl. That was the last straw. Against all the pressure from her family, she resolutely and defiantly divorces Kaitian. 

To settle the matter of Shangxin Estate’s illegally taking the housing land, Nuannuan turns to Xue Chuanxin once more but Kuang Kaitian does not allow her to put her finger in their pie. Nuannuan feels that all troubles have arisen solely because of Kaitian’s promotion to the post of village head, and she wants to bring him down from this post. When the voting for new leadership occurs, Nuannuan mobilizes Jiuding to run for the new leadership candidacy, but unexpectedly they fail this time around. Although with the same finesses, the conspiracy between power and capital proves to be futile. 

To seek justice and get the wrongs undone, Nuannuan once more chooses to file lawsuits against him. Like the previous one, this time around she has been stalked all along from the township to the county town. All her efforts go in vain. Nuannuan changes her strategy and decides to write letters to aid in suing him. She writes to the top leaders in the prefecture, the provincial governments, the public security bureaus, the procuratorates, as well as the courts. There were eight letters altogether and all sent by registered mail.