N0.2 now had his chance to serenade,but he never

came to Green Creek Hill to sing again.The ffteenth

passed,the sixteenth,then the seventeenth.Unable to bear the wait any longer,the old ferryman went to town and looked for the young fellow on River Street.When he got to the gate in the city wall and was about to enter River Street,he met Horse. man Yang,who had been No.I's matchmaker.He was heading out of town,leading a mule,when he saw the old ferryman and

took him aside:

“Uncle,here you are come to town,just when I had some- thing to discuss with you!'

“What?”

“That boat Tianbao took downstream was wrecked in the Puncture Vine Rapids.He fell into a whirlpool and drowned. Shunshun's family got the news this morning.I hear that No. 2 set off for the place at once.”

This bad news stung the old ferryman like a heavy slap in

the face.He couldn't believe it.Feigning calm,he said,

“No.1,drowned?Since when does a duck drown in

water?'

“But thats just what happened to this duck ...I salute your wisdom in not letting that young fellow have your

granddaughter so easily,by the chariots move.”

The horse-soldier's words were not enough to still the old ferryman's doubts about the news,but he could clearly sce from his expression that this was completely real.He said, grimly,

“What wisdom?This is the doing of Heaven!Everything is according to Heaven's will ...”As he spoke,the old fery- man choked up.

To confirm the reliability of the horse-soldicr's news,the old ferryman took leave of him and hurried over to River Street.People were burning paper spirit money in front of Shunshun's house.A crowd had gathered.Pressing in among them,the ferryman heard them talking about the tragedy of which Horseman Yang had spoken.Yet,as soon as they discovered that the old ferryman was listening in,they all changed the subject,unnaturally,to the price of oil in down- stream markets.Nervous and worried,the old ferryman looked around for a boatman with whom he could talk on

friendlier terms

A short while larer,Fleetmaster Shunshun arrived home,

wholly dejccted.This honest middle-aged man,ordinarily

bold and gregarious,seemed beaten down by his misforrune. Struggling to go forward,he said,as soon as he saw the old ferryman:

“Elder Uncle,that plan of ours has fallen through.Tian- bao has met his end.Have you heard?”

His eyes red,the old ferryman wrung his hands:“What, so it's true?It can't be!Did it happen yesterday or the day before?”

Another man broke in,who appeared to be just back with the news:“The morning of the sixteenth,the boat got stuck on a reef and water came pouring over the bow.No.1 was flipped into the water while trying to pole the boat free.”

The old ferryman asked:“Did you see him fall into the water?”

“I fell in with him!”

“What did he say?”

“He had no time to speak!During the whole trip,he didn't say a word!"

The old ferryman shook his head and timidly looked at Shunshun.As if aware of his unease,Fleetmaster Shunshun said,“Uncle,its all Heaven's doing.That's all there is to it. Someone from Daxingchang has given me a gift offine winc. Take some home with you."One of the lads brought a bam- boo tube full of wine and covered it with a fresh tung tree leaf.He gave it to the old ferryman.

Taking the wine,the old ferryman went out onto River

Strect,then bowed his head and walked toward the wharves

to find the place where Tianbao had boarded his boat three

days before.Horseman Yang was already there,keeping

cool in the shade of a willow tree while letting his horse roll

around on the sandy shore.The old ferryman walked over

and asked him to taste the wine from Daxingchang.Afrer a

few swallows,when they were in better spirits,the ferryman

told Horseman Yang how on the night of the fourtcenth the

two brothers had come to Green Creek Hill to sing.

When Horseman Yang heard this,he said,

“Uncle,don't you think Cuicui ought to go to No.2

since she's willing...”

He hadn't even finished his sentence when Nuosong,No.

2 himself,came down to the river.The young man looked as

ifhe were about to go on a long trip.Catching sight of the old

ferryman,he averted his gaze and went the other way.Horse-

man Yang called out to him,“No.2,No.2,over here,I'd like

to talk to you!”

No.2 halted.Irritated,he asked the horseman,“What is

it?”The horseman looked at the old ferryman,then said to

No.2,“Come here,I've got something to say!”

“What?”

“Td heard you'd already gone—come over here so we can

talk,I won't bite you!When are you leaving?"

Nuosong,dark-faced,broad-shouldered,and full of life

and energy,forced a smile and came over under the willow

Wanting to clear the air,the old ferryman pointed toward the new mill far upriver and said,“No.2,I hear that mill will be yours in the future!When it is,what say you let me run it for you?”

As if irritated by what the old ferryman was driving at, No.2 remained silent.Horseman Yang,seeing that they were headed toward an impasse,put in:“No.2,how goes it,are you ready to set sail?”The young man nodded.He left with-

out another word.

Realizing that he had brought about his own humiliation, the old ferryman returned to Green Creck Hill feeling very upset.When he reached the ferry,he pretended to have taken

it all in stride as he told Cuicui:

“Cuicui,news has come from the city today.Tianbao, No.1,took his oil boat downstream to Chenzhou and ran into some bad luck.He met his end in the Puncture Vine Rapids.”

Nothaving understood his meaning,Cuicui at first seemed

not to take Grandpa's report too seriously.So he added:

“It's true,Cuicui.Horseman Yang,who came here the time before as a matchmaker,even said that by not giving you away too soon,I showed a lot of foresight!”

A quick glance at Grandpa told Cuicui that his eyes were red.She knew he'd been drinking and also that something was troubling him.She thought,"Who got you so angry?" When the ferryboat reached the home side,Grandpa laughed

unnaturally and went toward the house.Cuicui remained in

the boat.Hearing nothing from Grandpafor a very longtime,

she headed home herself to have a look.She saw Grandpa sit-

ting on the doorstep,plaiting straw sandals.

She could tell that Grandpa was not himself She knelt in

front of him.

“Grandfather,what's bothering you?”

“Tianbao is dead,don't you see.No.2 is angry at us.He

thinks we caused all this."

Someone at the stream hailed the ferry,so Grandpa hur-

ried on out.Cuicui sat on a pile of rice straw in the corner of

the house,greatly upset.When Grandpa didn't return,she

began to cry.