Can We Still Be Neighbors in the Next Life?

Li Hui

Li Hui is a member of the Hebei Province Writers Association and contracted author for Reader and Wenyuan magazines. His published works include If You Meet Me in the Subway， with essays and factual stories appearing in various newspapers and magazines.

In the spring， the Li family gave cabbage seeds to the Guo family， but in autumn， the Lis pig uprooted the Guos cabbages and nearly flattened the garden.

The Guos cat caught mice in the Gao familys barn at night， but by day， it ambushed and injured one of the Gaos chicks.

The Gao family helped the Zhang family push a cart full of grain ears up the slope into their courtyard， but later， the Gaos chickens ate the millet drying in the Zhangs winnowing basket and， after feasting， overturned it.

The Zhang family gave the Liu family two black locust poles as hoe handles， but the woodcut by Zhang fell on the wall， extending into Lius yard and damaging their drying clothes.

The Yu familys cow urinated right at the Wang familys doorstep.

With all this， can we still be neighbors in the next life？

Thirty years later.

Wang Jincai and his wife plan to stay with their son Shuangquan， who has bought a house and settled in the city. Before leaving， Wang Jincai handed the house keys to Yu Wenwu： “Take care of my chickens while Im gone. Any eggs they lay are yours.”

Yu Wenwu diligently filled an iron basin with water and placed it next to the chicken coop. Then， he fed the chickens daily， usually with corn kernels and sometimes with leftover steamed buns， rice， and vegetable leaves. However， he never collected a single egg. After all， they were old neighbors. Why bother taking the eggs for such a small favor？

Over a month later， Wang Jincai and his wife returned. Upon opening the door， they were astounded， with their dentures almost falling out. They saw an old hen leisurely strolling in the courtyard with a brood of chicks.

Yu Wenwu didnt collect the eggs， so the old hen hatched them into chicks.

Wang Jincai and his wife were immensely grateful to Yu Wenwu： “Oh， how can we thank you enough？ Neighbors are indeed better than distant relatives！ You didnt just leave the eggs， you turned them into chicks.”

When Shuangquan heard this， he laughed heartily and slapped his thigh in amusement. The next time he returned to the village， he brought Yu Wenwu a large piece of tender， fragrant stewed beef.

Hua Huachang came to Li Xiuxius house and circled the bags of corn a few times before shouting into the house， “Sister-in-law， are you selling these bags of corn or not？”

Li Xiuxiu came out of the house.

“Im just estimating how much your corn weighs，” said Hua Huachang.

As it turned out， Hua Huachang wanted to sell nearly two thousand jin （1 jin=0.5 kg） of his corn and had phoned a grain trader who often drove to the village to buy corn. But the trader set two conditions： As fewer people were farming in the village， a trip wouldnt yield much corn， barely covering the cost of fuel， so he would only make the trip for at least 2，500 jin. And the price would be 0.83 yuan per jin， “Not reaching 0.85 yuan，” he said.

Hua Huachang had heard from Li Xiuxiu about wanting to sell corn， so he assured the trader they could exceed 2，500 jin， “If its up to 3，000 jin， well sell it all at 0.85 yuan.” After much negotiation， the trader agreed.

“Your corn should weigh more than a thousand jin. Ive made a deal with them， as long as its enough for three thousand jin， theyll pay eighty-five cents per jin. I spent half a day negotiating this， and I wont go to anyone elses house since weve been neighbors for decades.” Hua Huachang said sincerely to Li Xiuxiu.

“Sell it！ Sell it！ Its eighty-five cents， how can I not sell？” Li Xiuxiu quickly pulled Hua Huachang into the house， “Sit down！ After all， weve been neighbors for decades， and you always think of my family first for any good thing.”

The next day， the corn buyer really arrived.

“A total of 3，300 jin， at 0.85 yuan per jin. But please dont mention this price to others in the village.”

“How could we tell them！ Its just between our two families，” Hua Huachang said.

“Next life， lets be neighbors again！” Li Xiuxiu， clutching the money， gave Hua Huachang a thumbs-up.

The relationship between the Yu Dalu and Zhang Shuzao families had long since normalized.

One year， on the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month， Yu Dalu and his wife were busy frying meatballs in their house. Yu Dalus wife glanced outside unintentionally and exclaimed： “Mom， theres a fire outside！”

Rushing out， they saw that a corner of the twenty or thirty bundles of corn stalks stacked outside their courtyard wall had caught fire.

The couple hurried back inside to grab two iron buckets and frantically pumped water from the well in the yard to extinguish the fire.

At that moment， the neighboring Zhang Shuzao family also noticed the fire and began carrying water from their home in buckets and basins to help.

Nearly twenty bundles of stalks were almost entirely consumed by the fire， but fortunately， it did not spread further.

Later， Yu Dalu and Zhang Shuzao speculated that someone lighting firecrackers downhill might have caused the fire， possibly a stray spark landing in the dry stalks.

Yu Dalus wife brought a bowl of meatballs to the Zhang family as a token of gratitude， but they declined， saying they had just made some the day before.

“Thank goodness we both have wells; otherwise， the fire would have been much worse，” Yu Dalus wife remarked upon returning home.

That Spring Festival， the two families got together for the first time to play mahjong.

Er Juan once swore never to be neighbors with Cai Xias family in the next life， but before the next life even began， just in the latter half of this one， they ended up neighbors again in a different place.

Gao Xiaoshuai and Wang Dashuai， who grew up together， maintained their strong childhood friendship despite the intense “struggles” among the adults.

Both worked in the city： Xiaoshuai as a chef， and Dashuai running a renovation company.

Somehow， they decided to buy apartments in the same neighborhood， the same building， the same unit， on the same floor， and directly opposite each other.

Their apartments had identical layouts.

Dashuai helped Xiaoshuai with the interior decoration.

Two years later， Er Juan started helping Xiaoshuai take care of his granddaughter. Half a year after that， Cai Xia began helping Dashuai look after his grandson.

Typically， Er Juan would take her granddaughter to Dashuais， or Cai Xia， her grandson to Xiaoshuais， or both adults would take the kids downstairs to play together.

“Coming to your place feels just like being at my own place，” Cai Xia remarked.

“Looking at it this way， we might just end up being neighbors in the next life， too，” Er Juan replied.

Time Never Separates Two Villages： Thirty Years in Shanggou Village

Li Hui

Huangshan Publishing House

November 2022

52.00 （CNY）