Preface
"Love Under the Hawthorn Tree" was mainly written based on a memoir-like piece that Jingqiu wrote in 1977. The narrative is Amy's, and most of the dialogues come from Jingqiu's original text.
1977 was the first year China restored the college entrance examination system after the Cultural Revolution. At that time, Jingqiu had already taken over her father's job and was teaching at the Affiliated Primary School of No. 8 Middle School in K City, L Province. She also registered to prepare for the college entrance exam.
Her life back then was much better than before she took over her father's job. This opportunity to register for the college entrance exam made her recall the words of comfort from Laosan, who said she would be recruited back from the countryside and that "a man of talent will surely be useful."
Unfortunately, when Laosan's predictions began to come true one by one, Laosan himself became a beautiful memory. Seeing the scenery and missing the person, Jingqiu started writing the memoir to commemorate the time she spent with Laosan.
Later, she turned Laosan into a novel of about 30,000 words and sent it to "L Province Literature and Art." She didn't even know that submissions should be written on lined paper; she simply wrote it on ordinary lined letter paper and sent it out.
The novel was returned, with the editor commenting: "Delicate writing, fresh style... but the characters lack a fighting spirit..." and asking her to rewrite it according to the following suggestions and resubmit it to "L Province Literature and Art."
Jingqiu did not rewrite it, partly because she was busy preparing for the exam, and partly because she wrote that novel to commemorate Laosan. If she rewrote it as per the editor's request, Laosan wouldn't be Laosan anymore, and even if it were published, it wouldn't have any meaning.
Later, Lu Xinhua's "Scar" was published, marking the beginning of the "Scar Literature" era in Chinese literature...
Amy's father joked that it was a pity that the editor of "L Province Literature and Art" lacked courage; otherwise, they could have replaced the editor of "Scar" and been written into the history of Chinese literature.
Ten years later, Jingqiu left K City to study in the provincial capital of L Province. Later, her sister went abroad, and her mother and brother immigrated one after another. All the things at home were thrown away. That rejected manuscript had long been lost, but the memoir written in a diary was preserved by her mother and brought to Canada.
After finishing writing "Deadly Gentle," Amy often received private messages or replies from netizens suggesting she write about Jingqiu. At that time, Amy didn't know about this part of Jingqiu's story; she only knew a few other parts, so she frequently "threatened" Jingqiu, saying she would write about her, but Jingqiu never agreed.
During the Spring Festival this year, Jingqiu brought her daughter Sara to visit Amy's house and brought along the diary, allowing Amy to pick some parts to write, commemorating the events from thirty years ago.
Thus came "Love Under the Hawthorn Tree."
Chapter One
In the early spring of 1974, Jingqiu, still in high school, was selected by her school to participate in the editing of new textbooks. She was to go to a place called Xicunping, stay with peasants, interview local villagers, and write the village history into a textbook for use by students at No. 8 Middle School in K City.
Of course, the school leadership had ambitions beyond these. If the textbook was well done, it might be used throughout the entire education system in K City, or even make a splash across the whole province of L, perhaps even nationwide in junior and senior high schools. By then, this great initiative of No. 8 Middle School in K City would be recorded in the history of education due to its historical significance.
This action, which seems unimaginable today, was just considered "innovative" at the time because "education must be reformed." The textbooks used before the Cultural Revolution were all feudal, capitalist, and revisionist sets, as the Great Leader Chairman Mao pointed out wisely: "They have been ruled by talented scholars and emperors for a long time."
When the "Cultural Revolution" began, although the textbooks were rewritten repeatedly, they couldn't keep up with the rapid changes in the situation. You might have just written about "Lin Biao's great battle at Pingxing Pass," singing the praises of Vice Chairman Lin's bravery and combat skills, but a few days later, news came of Lin Biao's escape attempt and his plane crashing at Wunduerhan, rendering your textbook obsolete again.
As for letting students compile textbooks, that was exactly the hallmark of educational reform—coming from the masses, going to the masses, the noblest are the clumsiest, and the humblest are the wisest. In short, innovation was key.
Selected alongside Jingqiu were two other girls and a boy, all students with relatively good essay scores. This group was known as the "Educational Reform Group of No. 8 Middle School in K City." Leading them was Master Li from the Workers' Propaganda Team, who was in his thirties, quite lively, could sing a bit, and play the erhu. It was rumored that due to poor health, he couldn't do much work at the factory, so he was dispatched to the school as a member of the propaganda team.
Deputy Principal Chen of the school served as the deputy leader, along with Mr. Luo, a high school Chinese teacher. Thus, these seven people set off for Xicunping on a chilly spring day.
To get from K City to Xicunping, one had to first take a long-distance bus to the county seat of K County, about thirty miles away, but the bus journey often took an hour or more, winding around to pick up passengers. From the county seat of K County to Xicunping was another eight or nine miles, which had to be walked.
When the group arrived in K County, they met Zhang Village Chief, who had come to welcome them. He was quite a prominent figure, well-known in both K County and K City, because his village was an advanced village in the "Agriculture Learn Dazhai" movement and had a glorious anti-Japanese history, making Zhang Village Chief's name quite famous.
However, in Jingqiu's eyes, Zhang Village Chief was just a middle-aged man of average height, very thin, almost bald, slightly hunched, and with a rather ordinary face, not conforming to the stereotypical description of heroic figures: tall and imposing, dark red complexion, thick eyebrows, and large eyes. Jingqiu immediately began to worry how such a person could be written into a "tall, big, complete" hero image. It seemed this textbook really relied on "fabrication."
Speaking of which, each of the seven people had packed their luggage into something resembling a military backpack, with ropes tied in the standard "three horizontal over two vertical" pattern. Each person also carried small daily necessities like a washbasin and toothbrush.
Zhang Village Chief said, "Let's cross the mountain; it's only five miles. If we walk through the riverbed, it will double the distance. Looking at you all, your bodies aren't in great shape, and there are several women, I'm afraid..."
These seven heroes spoke in unison, "No problem, no problem, we're here for training; however difficult, we'll go that way."
Zhang Village Chief said, "Crossing the mountain is also training. Walking through the riverbed means wading through water several times. I'm worried about these few women..."
Hearing themselves being called "women," the few "women" felt uncomfortable because "women" in the local dialect meant married women. However, since the peasants referred to them this way, the "women" couldn't protest and instead reflected on their insufficient understanding of the simple language of the peasants, indicating that they still had emotional distance from the peasants and needed to work hard to reform their petty bourgeois thoughts to integrate with the peasants.
Zhang Village Chief wanted to help the "women" carry their things, but the "women" all refused. Who was so delicate? They were all here for training; how could they ask for help right from the start? Zhang Village Chief didn't insist, only saying, "If you can't carry it later, just say something."
Leaving the county town, they began climbing the mountain. It wasn't particularly high, but with backpacks and mesh bags in hand, everyone was sweating profusely. Zhang Village Chief's hands were getting fuller and fuller, and eventually, his back wasn't empty either. Of the three "women," two had disappeared backpacks, only holding a washbasin and small items, yet they were still breathing heavily.