徬徨

The story opens on a cold, snow‑laden New Year’s Eve in a provincial town, where fireworks crackle and the scent of gunpowder mixes with the bustle of families preparing elaborate “blessings” for the coming year. The narrator, a weary traveler returning to his ancestral home, finds himself lodged in his uncle’s modest house, observing the ritualistic feasting, the clattering of chopsticks on platters of chicken and goose, and the solemn prayers that dominate the season. The detailed tableau of villagers, their aging faces and hurried preparations, paints a vivid picture of a community caught between tradition and the inevitable passage of time.

Amidst this festive backdrop, the narrator encounters a gaunt, desperate woman known as Xianglin’s wife, who confronts him with a simple, unsettling question: does a soul linger after death? Her plea pulls the narrator into a quiet, uneasy contemplation of belief, mortality, and the lonely lives hidden beneath the town’s celebrations. The encounter hints at deeper social tensions and the fragile humanity that persists in the shadows of ritual.