Free The Four Books by Yan Lianke

betrayed the national development project. One day, the district reported that it could produce eight hundred jin of grain per mu , but the professor said that at most they could only produce a hundred and eighty jin . The district reported a per- mu production of five thousand jin , but the professor said they could only produce two hundred, for which they would need new irrigation. The district reported a per- mu production of eight thousand jin , but the professor replied that he had studied agriculture his entire life, and not even technologically advanced countries like America, England, France, or Germany could produce that much. As a result, the people of the district seat proceeded to struggle against him—attempting to reform his thought and get him to admit that five thousand jin per mu was in fact possible.
    During this reform process, the great steel smelting began. The professor faced the furnace and began sobbing for no apparent reason. Everyone thought he was simply exhausted, so they told him to rest, but then he took advantage of this opportunity to escape. He was caught and returned by newly awakened and almost remade comrades. After they brought him back, they realized that not only was he an inveterate reactionary himself, but he even had brothers working as professors in the United States and was carrying letters they had sent him. It turned out that this play was based on a true story, and it ended with the professor appearing to repent for his wrongs, but he nevertheless continued secretly writing to his brothers in America and making false charges against the nation. As for the others, those who had been successfully re-educated, they were aware of his deceitfulness and swore never to forgive him, and instead escorted him to the execution site onstage.
    This was the story.
    This was the plot.
    In the play’s final scene, accompanied by the cheers of the progressive comrades in the audience, the actors dragged the professor up to the execution site and told him to kneel at the front of the stage. The actors pointed guns at the back of his head, and then shouted to the crowd,
    “How do you think we should deal with him?”
    The crowd shouted back, “Shoot him! Shoot him!”
    The actors onstage asked even louder, “Should we really shoot him?!”
    The crowd laughed, and waved their fists. “Yes, just shoot him! Just shoot him!”
    “Bang!” White smoke emerged from the guns pointed at the back of the professor’s head, and he collapsed like a rag doll. Everyone initially assumed this was merely a performance, but then they saw a pool of blood on the stage. The professor who had attempted to escape had fallen to the stage with a thud.
    As the crowd stood there motionless, the play ended.
    The area below the stage was so quiet, it seemed as if no one were there.
    During the trip back from the performance, not one person from the ninety-ninth uttered a single word throughout the entire thirty- li walk. There was smoke coming from a distant building, and they could hear it in the light of the setting sun. There was also the sound of footsteps, as if someone were striking the frozen ground with their hand. The earth was barren. Barren and distant, it sucked all sound into its belly.
    The Child said, “They performed very well. When they shot that man, it looked extremely realistic.”
    The setting sun was behind them, and they went back and began smelting steel. Those who smelted were awarded a red blossom, and those who didn’t were fined a blossom.

C HAPTER 4
    Light and Shadows
    1. Criminal Records , p. 53
    After the criminals returned from the ninety-first, the revolutionary situation in the district underwent a series of rapid transformations. Beneath a calm veneer, there was a hint of unease. Virtually no one said another word after witnessing the execution of the professor. At dinner, no one chatted while bringing their food to the table, as they had in the past. They seemed to sense that this