The main content of the novel, Border Town, EnglishThe story takes place in Chadong, a remote small town in the mountainous area of western Hunan in the early years of the Republic of China. There is a ferry two miles away from the town. The ferryman is a 70 - year - old old boatman and his granddaughter Cuicui.
Seventeen years ago, Cuicui's mother, the old boatman's only daughter, had an ambiguous relationship with a soldier stationed in Chadong. According to the local marriage custom, the Miao and Han ethnic groups do not intermarry, so although they had love, they could not get married. The soldier wanted to elope with her downstream, but eloping would violate the soldier's duty, and the woman would have to leave her lonely father. After consideration, seeing that she had no courage to go far away, and he also had his own military duties, the soldier thought that since they could not be together in life, no one could stop them from dying together, so he poisoned himself. The woman couldn't bear to abandon the unborn child. When the old boatman, her father, knew about this, he didn't blame her at all, and she continued to live a peaceful life as if nothing had happened. She was both ashamed and pitiful, and stayed by her father's side until she gave birth to Cuicui. But after giving birth, she went to the stream and drank a lot of cold water and died.
Seventeen years later, when Cuicui reached the age her mother was at that time, her marriage became the old boatman's heart disease. He had only one long - cherished wish, which was to marry Cuicui to a reliable person. There was a shipowner named Shunshun in Chadong town. His family owned four ships and was quite well - known within dozens of miles. Shunshun had two handsome sons, both of whom were of marriageable age. Tianbao, the eldest son, was simple and honest and taciturn, while Nuosong, the second son, was handsome and sang folk songs very well, and was praised as "Yue Yun" on the stage by the local people. The two brothers grew up together and had a deep affection for each other, but they had a conflict in this matter because they both fell in love with Cuicui at the same time. Cuicui was fifteen years old and just beginning to be interested in love. Although she had a special feeling for Nuosong after accidentally meeting him on the first Dragon Boat Festival night, she was always shy in front of Nuosong, which made it difficult for the old boatman. When Tianbao sent someone to propose marriage, the old boatman was hesitant because he didn't know Cuicui's mind, which made Tianbao dissatisfied. One day, the two brothers finally made things clear at a calm stream. They decided to sing love songs simultaneously on the high cliff across the stream from Cuicui's home, and let heaven decide. When the old boatman heard the love song, he couldn't wait to go to the town to tell Tianbao that there was hope, but unexpectedly, the song was sung by Nuosong. Half a month passed, and the old boatman didn't hear the love song again. At this time, the sad news came that Tianbao drowned unfortunately when his cargo ship was passing through Qinglang Beach on its way down the Chuan - East River because his marriage was not successful and he was depressed. Shunshun's family blamed the old boatman for Tianbao's death, and the old boatman was severely mentally stricken.
As days passed, the old boatman gradually knew who Cuicui really liked. One day, when ferrying, he met Nuosong and wanted to greet him, but Nuosong, because of his brotherly love and unable to forget his brother's death, gave the old man a cold look. The old boatman also summoned up the courage to go to Shunshun's house to propose marriage, but was rejected by Shunshun. Many setbacks made the old boatman more worried about Cuicui's fate. At this time, Wang Tuanzong in Zhongzhai sent someone to Shunshun's house to propose marriage for his daughter. They offered a new mill as dowry, which made Shunshun happily agree. But Nuosong, thinking of Cuicui, refused this marriage. However, fearing his father's order, he had to use the excuse of going to Chenzhou with the cargo ship to go out and escape. Seeing that Cuicui's marriage was hopeless and his long - cherished wish was in vain, the old boatman was physically and mentally exhausted and finally died in bed on a stormy night.
After the old boatman died, only Cuicui was left on the ferryboat. But Cuicui understood many things that she didn't understand when the old man was alive. Grief did not make her follow her mother's path. She took over the old boatman's job, ferrying people back and forth all day long, and at the same time, she waited on the ferryboat for Nuosong to return.
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