The Murky River: True Stories of Northern Jiangsu Village 河浑黄：苏北农村的人间真相
Every week, I read a book. Today‘s book is one I wrote myself — The Murky River: True Stories of Northern Jiangsu Village.
I’m not bragging. I‘m not a professional writer. I’m just someone who left a small village in northern Jiangsu and went south to work in factories. I wrote this book because some people shouldn‘t be forgotten.
There are no heroes in this book. No feel‑good stories. More than eighty tales, each between one and three thousand words. They stand alone, but together they paint a decades‑long portrait of life in northern Jiangsu.
Let me tell you about a few I just finished.
Buying Prison. Zhang San, sharp dresser, shiny leather shoes, could talk the hind leg off a donkey. But he couldn’t find a wife. Then a trafficker brought two young women from Yunnan and Guizhou. He bought one. Beat her, cursed her, abused her. A few days later, the trafficker was caught, and the police tricked Zhang San into going to the township office to “get a marriage license.” As soon as he arrived, they arrested him. Three years in prison. The villagers only said: “He paid money for jail time.”
Going to America. Mu Mei, a junior high classmate. His family fell on hard times. His mother died; his father drank, gambled, and frittered away everything. Teacher Wang paid his tuition, bought him rice, gave him meal tickets. Mu Mei was a good student but couldn‘t afford high school. He went south, worked, opened a shop, bought an apartment. Then business got tough. He started ranting online, badmouthing everything, praising America. Guozi argued with him, then blocked him. Later, Mu Mei took his whole family and overstayed their visas in America, driving a big rig at eighteen bucks an hour. He kept posting scenic road photos in the class chat group. Guozi left the group.
Counterfeit Money. The wife of Sanguang got a fake hundred‑yuan bill. She suspected a neighbor gave it to her and asked Lao Gu, Guozi’s mother‑in‑law, to mediate. Lao Gu ended up caught in the middle, blamed by both sides. In the end she said, “That‘s why they say — don’t be a go‑between, don‘t be a guarantor, don’t be a matchmaker — three generations suffer.”
Street Tyrant. Zhu Tianbao, a thug in the 1990s. He and his gang shook down students. When one of his boys got slapped by a PE teacher, Tianbao led his crew to a bridge after school and beat the teacher up. Later, he set up roadblocks pretending to check bicycle licenses and levy a pig‑slaughtering tax, fining farmers. The worst? He beat up a Taiwanese entertainer, made the papers, and got a year in a labor camp. He got out, behaved for a while, then went back to his old ways. Now he’s in his fifties, runs a small hardware store, squats outside breaking down cardboard boxes, and picks up his grandson from school. Watching his hands, Guozi thinks of the fists that used to drag people out of trucks. It‘s not that there’s no retribution. It‘s that nobody remembers to exact it.
After reading these, you might ask, isn’t this book too dark? Maybe a little. But you have to believe there‘s light beneath the gloom. The light of Daxiang, remembered by Guozi. The light of Igniters, remembered by teachers. The light of Classmate Wenjian, remembered by friends.
This river has been murky for decades. Yes, there’s silt at the bottom, but also stones that have sunk deep. Yet it still flows.
Search for “The Murky River” on Tomato Novel. This isn‘t an ad. I genuinely want you to see these forgotten people. Their tears are real.
每周读一本书，今天读的这本，是我自己写的——《河浑黄：苏北农村的人间真相》。不是自卖自夸。我不是专业作家，就是个从苏北农村走出来的打工者。写这本书，是因为有些人不该被忘掉。
书里没有英雄，没有爽文。八十多个故事，一千到三千字不等，篇篇独立，合在一起是苏北农村几十年的缩影。
挑几篇刚写的说说。
《买牢》。张三，西装革履，皮鞋锃亮，苍蝇落上去都得劈叉。能说会道，可就是娶不上媳妇。后来有人贩子带来两个云贵姑娘，他买了一个。打她、骂她、糟蹋她。没几天人贩子被抓，派出所哄他说“去办结婚证”，刚到乡里就被摁住了。判了三年。庄子上的人只说了一句：“花钱买牢坐。”
《赴美》。慕美，初三同学。家道中落，母亲病逝，父亲吃喝嫖赌败光家产。班主任汪老师自掏腰包帮他交学费、买米、给菜票。他成绩好，却没钱读高中，去江南打工，开店，买房。后来生意不好，开始在网上发牢骚，骂这骂那，说美国啥都好。郭子跟他吵了几句，拉黑了。再后来，慕美带着全家黑在美国，开大货车，时薪十八美金，还在同学群发沿途风景照。郭子退出了同学群。
《假币》。三广媳妇收了张一百块假币，怀疑是邻居给的，找郭子丈母娘老古去说和。老古夹在中间，两头受气。老古最后说：“真是应了那句话——不做中，不做保，不做媒人三代好。”
《街霸》。朱天保，九十年代的混混。收学生“吃混钱”，小弟被体育老师打了一耳光，他当晚带人去桥上堵老师，一顿拳脚。后来借查自行车牌照、生猪屠宰税的名义，拦路罚款。最狠的一次，打了台湾艺人，上了报纸，被判了一年劳动教养。出来消停一阵，又接着干。如今五十多岁，开了个五金店，蹲门口拆纸箱，接孙子放学。郭子看着他的手，想起当年他把人拖下车揍人的样子。不是不报，是没人记得报了。
读完这些，你说这本书是不是太灰暗了？是有点。可你得信，灰暗底下有光。《大祥》的光，郭子记得；《点火人》的光，老师记得；《同学·文建》的光，朋友记得。
这条河浑黄了几十年，底下有泥沙，也有沉下去的石头。可它还在流。
番茄小说搜“河浑黄”。不是广告，是真的想让你看看，那些被忘掉的人，他们的眼泪，是真的。
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