My father is the eldest son of the family and has a high status, so I have been treated well since I was young. Every year on the second day of the second month, a grand stage is set up in the town, inviting famous theater troupes to perform, and the sound of drums and boards echoes for a whole day and night. The elders in my family would never miss this opportunity. And because of my father's influence, I was also allowed to go to the town to watch the play, but most of the time I went to escape from private school.
Although Chixian and Huanzhen are only a hundred or two hundred miles apart, they have completely different scenes. Unlike the desolation of Chixian, Huanzhen gathers people from various counties and even from the city. The stone-paved roads in the town are made of transparent blue stones, without a single crack. On both sides of the street are merchants selling rare goods from Japan and Korea. I am very interested in learning their loud and crisp shouts, which are unique like the whistle. To the north of the street is the stage, surrounded by clusters of houses, tea houses, inns, and even a few gambling houses can be found. Huanzhen was usually lively like this in previous years.
But this year, Huanzhen is not so peaceful. Since someone in the town died of a strange disease in January, a strange illness has spread. Those who contracted the disease have symptoms similar to tuberculosis, with fever and coughing as if they were going to cough out their lungs. This disease has been spreading for over a month, and many people have died. The government posted notices, prohibiting people from moving around, and ordered the doctor from the medical clinic to diagnose people everywhere. This notice did have some effect, but in the hearts of the theater-goers, the actors are the real cure.
After packing our luggage, I boarded the boat with my father. Usually, the boat is rowed by a thin old man, but this time it was replaced by a middle-aged man. My father told me that the old man had died of lung disease, and this man is his son. My father and he stood on the shore and each smoked a cigarette. The man coughed severely, as if he had been choked by the smoke. My father patted his back, took his tobacco pipe, and told him to untie the boat rope. On the way, my father and he chatted at the stern of the boat, and I couldn't join the conversation, so I boiled water to drink. I didn't bring a container for water, so I had to borrow a small bowl from the boatman. The water in the bowl was steaming, and I held it up to my eyes, looking through the steam towards the outside, and found that many other boats were also filled with people who longed for the play.
The boat floated downstream and arrived in Huanzhen in less than half a day. Stepping on the stone-paved road, I felt that the town was no different from previous years, still bustling with crowds, crisp shouts, and crowded tea houses and inns. The play was scheduled to start the next day, so my father took me to the small shop where we had stayed before. The shop was located in an alley, with a pharmacy inside. But when my father and I walked into the alley, we found that the pharmacy's door was tightly closed. My father asked the innkeeper and learned that the pharmacist, Li, had died of lung disease a few days ago.
After settling down, my father sent me to buy some food. I didn't want to return too early, so I wandered around the town. The town was very lively, especially the restaurants and taverns, which were filled with guests from all directions. There were many shops selling masks on the roadside, colorful and beautiful. The teahouses were crowded with people listening to storytelling, and those who arrived early had their own round stools, while the latecomers stood at the entrance, creating a lively atmosphere.
Before long, the sky gradually darkened, so I picked up the food and headed back. On the wall near the entrance of the alley, there was still half of an old yellowed notice, probably posted by the government, but I didn't know who had torn off half of it. I also saw the closed door of the pharmacy, and a sense of fear arose in my heart, so I hurriedly left.
I lay on the bed with my clothes on, but I kept tossing and turning. On one hand, I was curious about the play the next day, but on the other hand, I felt that Huanzhen had become unfamiliar to me. But I couldn't explain why.
My father said that each color of the mask represents a different character.
Is it the people watching the play, or the play watching the people?
The play in Huanzhen will last for a whole day and night.