A Mountain Adventure in Winter

Brief introduction：

This is an excellent work of children’s literature about how human beings and animals lived in harmony. It tells a story about a little boy named Guozi and his master Old Wai who were trapped in the mountains because of a blizzard， how they met the animals and helped， warmed and enlightened each other in dangerous situations such as food shortage and bad weather， and how they eventually found the meaning of life.

About the author：

Xue Tao， a first-class writer， works for the Liaoning Provincial Writers Association. He is a member of the Children’s Literature Committee of the China Writers Association. His representative works include The Botanical Garden at Noon， a collection of novellas and short stories， and dozens of novellas and novels such as Bubbles Going on a Journey， Fighting Japanese Invaders in the Mountains， The Glacier in September， A Small City， The Silver Milky Way， and Sand and Stardust. His works have won a number of important prizes in China including the National Excellent Children’s Literature Award， Soong Ching-ling Children’s Literature Prize， Chen Bochui International Children’s Literature Award， and the Chinese Outstanding Publication Award. His works were also selected as one of the top ten children’s books of the China Reading Weekly， one of the annual best books of the Publishers Association of China， one of the annual most influential books of China， one of the top ten most popular books of the Weibo Children’s Books， one of the best Children’s Books of China， and was also in the White Ravens booklist for the Munich Youth Library in Germany.

It was a long story， which started with Guozi when he left school.

Guozi， the commissary in charge of labor in Class 1， Grade 5 of the experimental primary school， left school because of his illness – his lungs were weak， to put it simply， and he needed cleaner air. His parents decided to send him to an extracurricular class in the suburbs because they didn’t have time to take care of him. “I don’t want to learn musical instruments or art. I want to learn carpentry because it’s like building blocks， which is so much fun，” protested Guozi. His mom objected because she couldn’t accept such a strange idea of her son， and after all， no children are interested in carpentry. His dad agreed with Guozi’s peculiar idea and soon got in touch with Old Wai， his brother-in-law， who worked in a technical school. Old Wai was teaching students in the mountain， and didn’t want to have a child there. His mom didn’t agree with his dad on the grounds that Guozi was still young. Guozi presented the household registration book and held it to announce that he was no longer a child. The doctor actually supported this plan， believing that the fresh air in the mountains was conducive to the recovery of Guozi’s lungs. His mom ?nally yielded. On the same day， his father took Guozi to Baoshigou （meaning the valley of gems） and met Old Wai in the Dabei Temple. His father gave two bottles of wine to Old Wai who grinned and accepted the wine， showing that he was willing to receive Guozi. Old Wai was his father’s sister’s husband， so Guozi should call him uncle. But Old Wai didn’t allow Guozi to call him uncle. He could only call him Old Wai or master. The reason was simple： he didn’t like the word “uncle”. Why didn’t he like it？ Guozi didn’t know， and didn’t want to know either.

On the first two days， Guozi paid little attention to carpentry as he realized that it was not the same thing as building blocks at all.

What attracted Guozi was Baoshigou， the valley of jems. Guozi once read a novel Treasure Island which told that there was indeed gold and silver treasure hidden on that island. During that time， he was dreaming of going to the island to dig for treasure. The treasure island was too far away， but the valley of jems was right in front of him. Guozi was not greedy. What he wanted were just three gems， one for his mother， one for his teacher， and the other for his classmate Jiajia， who was the commissary in charge of studies. On the first day， Guozi found a beautiful white stone. He asked Old Wai if it was a gem. Old Wai answered him with laughter. Guozi understood that he was laughing at both the white stone and himself. The next day， Guozi got a more beautiful blue stone. He went to ask the carpenters’ team if it was a gem. Everyone laughed and said Guozi was obsessed with money. Guozi’s plan for searching gems failed， but instead， he learned about the landscape of Baoshigou. He climbed up to the ridge of the main hall in the Dabei Temple， stood on his tiptoes and looked over the whole valley. It was surrounded by mountains with an exit to the north， and an asphalt road connected the distant town like a trail of ink. It was through that town that he and his father followed the ink into this valley.

On the afternoon of the third day， Old Wai shouted， “It’s time for class.” He took out a chest， picked the tools from it， and introduced them to Guozi one by one.

“This is an axe.”

“Hello， axe. I’m Guozi.”

“This is a chisel.”

“Hello， chisel. I’m Guozi.”

What followed were a hammer， a plane， an adze， a tape measure， and an ink cartridge. All tools were silent， looking at Guozi with glittering light， which showed how carefully their owner took care of them.

“This is a plane， and here is a shaver. You’ll have to work with them the next days.”

“Hello， plane. I’m Guozi.”

Guozi was already dazzling. “Old Wai， it’s good to be a carpenter. Aren’t these all toys？”

Old Wai corrected him seriously. “I must correct you. They are tools， not toys. Let me give you a quiz： who’s the inventor of the saw？”

Guozi replied immediately， “Lu Ban.”

Old Wai smiled. “Lu Ban is the standard answer. But some people disagree， saying that the saw was invented by Meng Zhuangzi. That ancestor also invented the chisel.”

Guozi said， “My teacher said there was only one standard answer.”

Old Wai corrected him again. “Remember， there is always more than one answer. Sometimes there could be two or three， and even more. You have more than one teacher as there are other teachers in your school. I’m simply your teacher in the Dabei Temple.”

Guozi said， “I don’t like to ask questions and I don’t like to answer them either. I like tools. Hey， that wooden chest is fun too.”

Old Wai was very happy. “You are now an apprentice carpenter， so you can use them every day.”

Starting with these tools， Guozi began to really get a little infatuated with carpentry.

A Mountain Adventure in Winter

Xue Tao

21st Century Publishing Group

January 2021

28.00 （CNY）