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SANJAY

SHULI ZHAO

Published by Moontrans, 2023.

This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

For permission requests, write to :

[email protected]

ISBN: 978-3-75468748-2

SANJAY

First edition. January 31, 2023.

Written by SHULI ZHAO.

Translated by NAOMI HAN.

www.moontrans.com

Introduction

Sanjay was notorious in the village for his bad habits. The first one was pilfering. When he visited a fellow villager, the house owner would stare at Sanjay until he left. When he passed farmland, people who were ploughing the land should look after their clothes and tobacco pipe in case of being stolen. Anyone in the village who lost domestic animals or something would firstly visit Sanjay’s home and check whether Sanjay was at home or not. However, Sanjay was an important figure when someone died–preparing graveclothes, carrying the coffin and digging the grave couldn’t be done without him.

Sanjay was also proficient in cultivating lands, and he could do the work of two. Even so, no one would like to hire him because Sanjay would gamble even if he only had twenty cents. People whose terrace edge subsided were willing to pay double to Sanjay since the weir that he mended was solid. However, employers must supervise him in case of los- ing something. Later, Sanjay served as a bugler[1] for which his elder fam- ily member Vasin wanted to bury him alive[2], so he ran away and didn’t come back until the National Revolutionary Army liberated the village after the end of World War II[3]. Seeing Sanjay’s poor situation, the vil- lage cadre wanted to help him but was told that Sanjay was a bad guy. After most righteous people who were misunderstood as undesirable el- ements were redressed, the story of Sanjay was known by village cadres.

Chapter 1

When Sanjay was 12 years old, his father died. His mother fed the family by weaving cloth. Sanjay was a hard-working and smart boy who could weed and plow seed at the age of twelve. He could also do the chores like an adult when he was around 16 years old but he was less ca- pable in carrying a load. It was at that time when his mother arranged him a nine-year-old child bride[4] –Damayanti who also came from a poor family. Her parents died and her brother couldn’t feed her, so she was sent to Sanjay’s family.

Sanjay’s mother treated Damayanti fairly[5] –the wise woman who only had a son, so she treated her daughter-in-law as her own children. Sanjay joined the village self-entertainment group[6] in which he learned opera. Sanjay was a remarkable performer in the group since he was a boy. In the second year she came to the village, Damayanti went to watch the play performed by self-entertainment group. Other children would joke that “It’s your husband, Damayanti!” when Sanjay came out, which em- barrassed Damayanti. Gradually, people were accustomed to it and no longer teased her. In terms of watching the play, at first, Damayanti only enjoyed the lively atmosphere but later she found that her husband was very handsome compared with other actors. Therefore, she would go to watch the opera even though she was busy. After watching Sanjay’s per- formance, she would come back home in case of being reprimanded by mother.