稀里糊涂進班房

Getting in jail without knowing why

秋陽西斜，把周興和的影子拉得又細又長。

The autumn sun dropped in the west, stretching Zhou Xinghe's shadow thin and long.

?“這里面的規(guī)矩你都聽明白了嗎？”身著公安制服的獄警板著一張臉，見檢察院的人把周興和送到看守所來，他們給他交代完這里的規(guī)章后，打開周興和的手銬：“進去好好悔罪，等著審查結(jié)果！”

"Do you understand all the rules here?" With a straight face, the prison guard in the uniform of the Public Security Bureau saw Zhou Xinghe brought to the detention house by the procuratorate. After explaining the rules to him, they uncuffed Zhou Xinghe's handcuffs: "Go in and repent, and wait for the result of the investigation!"

兩個獄警帶著周興和七彎八拐走過兩道鐵門，來到一間獄室前，打開門將他塞了進去。隨后，身后的鐵門“哐當”一聲關(guān)上。從這一刻起，周興和就和外面的空間完全隔離起來，徹底失去自由了。

Two guards led Zhou Xinghe walking through two iron gates to a prison cell, opened the door and stuffed him in. Then the iron gate clanged to shut behind him. From this moment on, Zhou Xinghe was completely isolated from the outside space and lost his freedom completely.

獄室里光線很暗，周興和從強烈的日光下走進這陰暗潮濕的地方，眼睛一下還沒適應(yīng)過來。他閉了閉眼，一股汗臭尿臭的氣味沖進他的鼻孔。良久，他睜開眼睛，這才看清里面的一切。獄室里空蕩蕩的，除了門口有個尿桶，靠在里邊地下草鋪上，橫七豎八或躺或坐著六七個人。這些人大都衣衫污濁，面色蒼白，頭發(fā)胡子蓬亂，他們見獄室里又進來一個人，都用驚詫的目光望著他。

The light in the prison cell was dim, and Zhou Xinghe's eyes had not yet adjusted to the damp and dark place from the intense daylight. He closed his eyes, and the stench of sweat and urine came up his nostrils. For a long time, he opened his eyes and saw what was inside. The prison cell was empty except for a urinal at the door, and six or seven men were lying or sitting in a sprawl on the straw mat inside. Those men, most of whom were dirty in clothes, pale in face, and with unkempt hair and whiskers, gazed in amazement at the newcomer who had entered the cell.

少頃，一個面善的年輕人見周興和站在那里無所適從，這才從草鋪上爬了起來，從旁邊拖過一張草席，挨著他的草鋪鋪好，又從他肩上接過被子放在草席上，周興和這才在牢室里安頓下來。

A few moments later, a young man with a friendly face saw Zhou Xinghe still stood there, not knowing what to do. So he got up from his straw mat, pulled another straw mat from the side, spread it next to his straw mat, and took the quilt from Xinghe’s shoulder and laid it on the straw mat. Then, Zhou Xinghe was finally settled in this prison cell.

這是1988年9月。

This was September of 1988.

周興和記得，他進去時，快過中秋節(jié)了。

Zhou Xinghe remembered that when he went in prison, it was almost the Mid-Autumn Festival.

“你是犯了哪樣事進來的呢？”那個年輕人見他呆呆在草鋪上坐下，關(guān)切地問他。此時，一個獄室里的人都直勾勾地望著他，想聽到他的回答。

"What have you done to get in here?" The young man asked Xinghe solicitously, as Xinghe sat down on the straw mat dully. All the inmates of the prison cell were looking at him, hoping to hear his answer.

犯了哪樣事呢？周興和想了想，還真不好回答。他環(huán)視了眾人一遍，只是苦笑著搖了搖頭——說實話，他稀里糊涂被弄進來，到這時他還沒想通，自己到底犯的是哪條罪呀！

What did I do? Zhou Xinghe thought about it, but it was really hard to answer. He looked round at them all but shook his head with a wry smile - to tell the truth, he was brought in so bewildered that he had not yet figured out what crime he had committed.

在甘肅高蘭縣的工程搞砸了后，周興和不但沒賺到錢，反而還拖了一屁股債。無可奈何，他在那建筑工程公司待不下去了，只好又回到農(nóng)村。他先是在老家種桑樹養(yǎng)蠶，同時把自留山的茅草鏟掉種蓑草。那一兩年，他和妻子起早貪黑辛勤勞作，剛開始這些東西勉強還可賣些錢，可后來隨著國家經(jīng)濟調(diào)整，絲綢行業(yè)越來越不景氣，蠶繭收購價越來越低，有時甚至還賣不出去。蓑草的價格，更是越壓越低，到后來基本不值錢。

After the botched project in Gaolan County, Gansu province, Zhou Xinghe didn't make any money, but ended up in debt. He had no choice but to go back to the country because he couldn't stay in the construction company any longer. He started growing the mulberry and silkworm in his hometown, while shoveling the couch grass from his land to plant the Chinese alpine rush. For one or two years, he and his wife worked hard from dawn to dusk. At first, they could barely sell these things for money, but later, as the country's economy was adjusted, the silk industry became more and more depressed, and the price of cocoons became lower and lower, sometimes even unable to sell out. The price of couch grass, was lower and lower, to the end, basically worthless.

這期間，盡管他出去做了幾回生意，但都是賠錢的買賣，有一回他出去買棉大衣來賣，由于輕信朋友，還被人騙了，連本錢也沒收回。如此，老債新債加一起，又使周興和再次跌入債務(wù)的深淵，讓他又喘不過氣來。債主時常上門催債，坐在家里不走，有時弄得他連家也不敢回。每次債主上門，都由王瓊?cè)A給人家說不盡的好話。

During this period, although he went out to do some business, it was all at a loss. Once he went out to buy the cotton coat to sell, but because he was credulous to his friends, he was cheated and did not even get his capital back. In this way, the old debts and the new ones together made Zhou Xinghe falling into the abyss of debt again, making him breathless again. Sometimes the creditor came home to press for payment of debts, and sat at home and stayed in, so that he did not dare to go home. Every time his creditors came to his house, Wang Qionghua had to link their boots.

這期間，王瓊?cè)A的大哥見周興和折騰這些年，沒有什么起色不說，反而又欠一屁股債，他多次勸妹妹王瓊?cè)A改嫁，并還給她物色了另外的婆家。但這時王瓊?cè)A還是沒有嫌棄落魄的周興和，她說：我嫁雞隨雞，嫁狗隨狗。周興和現(xiàn)在是有困難，但我要照顧幾個孩子，不能離開這個家。

Also during this period, Wang Qionghua's eldest brother saw Zhou Xinghe tossed about for these years, but there was no improvement in their economy, but owed more debts, so he advised his sister Wang Qionghua to remarry for many times, and also tried to introduce other men to her. But at this time, Wang Qionghua still did not abandon the abject Zhou Xinghe, she said: a woman follows her husband no matter what his lot is. Zhou Xinghe was in trouble now, but I had several children to take care of and couldn't leave this home.

到了1987年初，屢戰(zhàn)屢敗窮愁潦倒的周興和，他還是不甘心就此罷休。過了年，他帶上家里賣肥豬剩下的56塊錢，又出門去闖蕩去了。出去后，他和3個朋友在鹽亭縣合伙做木材生意，他們從大山里買來木材，賣給外面的木材商或加工廠，從中賺取差價。

By the beginning of 1987, Zhou Xinghe, frustrated again and again after repeated defeats, still refused to give up. After the Chinese New Year, he took with him the fifty-six yuan left over from selling the pig and went out again. After going out, he and 3 friends did the timber business in Yanting County together; they bought the timber from the mountains, sold to the outside timber dealers or processing plants, to earn a price difference.

周興和是個絕頂聰明的人，他跟這幾個朋友只做了兩趟生意，就窺見了其中的商機。他對幾個朋友說，我們應(yīng)該改變經(jīng)營策略，對運木材的駕駛員不能太苛刻，山高路險白天晚上，駕駛員長年奔波很辛苦，不要在他們身上舍不得花錢，招待他們的伙食要好一點，有了利益要均攤。比如，駕駛員每運一趟木材，就給他們100～200塊錢的辛苦費，我們只要求他在木材空隙處，多裝50～80個菜板，這筆錢就夠他們的生活費和辛苦費了；另外，在汽車大梁下面，多裝10副床枋，每副可賺30多元，10副床枋賺的300多塊錢就是純利潤了。

Zhou Xinghe was a very clever man. He had only done business with his friends twice before he saw the business opportunity. He said to his friends that, we should change the business strategy, not be too strict to the driver of the wood transportation, since the mountain was high and the road was precipitous, the driver of the long journey in day and night was very hard, so we shall not hesitate to spend money on them, shall treat their meals better, and have the profits to be shared equally. For example, every time the driver delivered the timber, he would be given 100 ~ 200 yuan for their hard work. And we only asked him to put 50 ~ 80 additional cutting boards in the gap between the timbers, which was enough for their living expenses and hard work. In addition, under the vehicle beam, there could be put 10 additional bed columns, each of which can earn additional 30 yuan. So, the net profit of 10 bed columns was more than 300 yuan.

可幾個朋友認為他們資格老，對周興和的這些建議嗤之以鼻。他們認為，我們是老板，是拿錢請駕駛員運木料，駕駛員理所當然就該按我們的吩咐去做，他不想干，我還不想請他呢！

But his friends thought they were senior and scoffed at Zhou's suggestions. They thought we were the boss, and we paid the driver to transport the timber, so the driver should do what we told him. If he didn't want to do it, I didn't want to employ him!

有人說農(nóng)民一般都目光短淺，太精于算計，都認為自己比別人聰明，因而他們常常看到的只是眼前的雞毛利益，算計的都是分分厘厘的小錢，時常做些因小失大的事情。所以說，他們絕大多數(shù)人是成不了大氣候的——周興和雖然也是農(nóng)民出身，但他卻具備了一般農(nóng)民所不具備的另類素質(zhì)，那就是：誠信、大氣和睿智。

Some people said that the farmers were generally short-sighted, calculating too much, and thinking they were smarter than others, so they often only saw the immediate interests, calculated the small money, thus often saved a little but losing a lot. Therefore, most of them were not promising - although Zhou Xinghe is also a farmer, but he has the other qualities that ordinary farmers do not have, that is: integrity, generosity and wisdom.

同時，他給幾位生意伙伴建議，為了贏得市場，爭取更多客戶，應(yīng)該薄利多銷。別人1立方木材賣430元，我們就只賣410元。還有，由于當時很多人不太懂木材體積計算方法，要與林區(qū)的人搞好關(guān)系，買木材時要求他們在頭部退后1～2米量尺寸。這樣算下來，1立方就要多出0.3立方米木材，1車10噸木材就可多賺1000元錢?？蛇@幾個人依然自恃高深，根本就不把周興和放在眼里，把他的這些建議當做耳邊風(fēng)，不置可否。

At the same time, he advised his business partners that in order to win the market and win more customers, they should make small profits and sell more. Others sold a cubic of timber for 430 yuan, but we could only sell it for 410 yuan. Moreover, since at that time a lot of people did not understand the timber volume calculation method very much, it shall get along well with the person of forest area; when buying the timber, it could ask them to measure the dimension from 1 ~ 2 meters after the head. In this way, a cubic meter of timber shall have 0.3 cubic meters more, and a truck of 10 tons of timber could earn 1,000 yuan more. However, those people were still proud of their profound knowledge and did not pay attention to Zhou Xinghe at all, ignoring his suggestions.

志不同道不合。后來，周興和只好和他們分開經(jīng)營，連最后做兩筆生意的利潤他也沒要。

There is little common ground for understanding between persons of differing principles. Later, Zhou Xinghe had to separate from them, and he did not even ask for the profits from the last two deals.

但，周興和和幾個朋友分開后，他哪來做生意的本錢呢？他這時采取的方式是，利用別人的資本。比如3車木材只能賣到12000元，他讓出資人賺夠了應(yīng)該賺的，超出部分才歸他所有。這種生意當然有人愿意干，大家互惠互利皆大歡喜。由于周興和的誠信和勤奮，很快他就贏得了鹽亭、三臺、綿陽等許多木材商的信任，銷售渠道十分暢通。短短三四個月時間，他個人已盈利5萬多元。

But after Zhou Xinghe was separated from his friends, how could he afford to do business? The way he adopted was to use other people's capital. For example, 3 trucks of timber could only be sold to 12,000 yuan, so he let the investor earn enough firstly, and the excess part shall belong to him. Of course, there were people who would like to do this kind of business, and everyone was happy. Because of Zhou Xinghe's honesty and diligence, he soon won the trust of many timber merchants in Yanting, Santai and Mianyang, and the sales channels were very smooth. In just three or four months, he has made a personal profit of over 50,000 yuan.

與此同時，原先和他合伙做生意的3個伙計的經(jīng)營狀況，卻是王老二過年，越過越艱難了。沒有辦法，他們只好屈尊“下矮樁”找到周興和，要求還是共同經(jīng)營。

Meanwhile, the operating condition of the 3 guys with original partnership business to him was more and more difficult. There was no way, so they had to condescend to find Zhou Xinghe, and required for joint management.

周興和這時做出了一個既正確又錯誤的決定：同意再和他們合伙經(jīng)營。他這樣做，當然出于朋友義氣，他是感念當初出來時人家曾幫助過自己，現(xiàn)在大家應(yīng)該有福同享，他這樣做自然在社會上會贏得好的聲譽；但，原先的合伙人都是些自視清高之人，根本就沒把你周興和放在眼里，這些人是“武大郎開店”，只能是自己比別人高，而今你周興和不但要和他們平起平坐，反而處處要超出他們一頭，他們心理上能平衡么？他們就能心服口服聽從你的調(diào)遣么？

Zhou Xinghe then made a right and wrong decision: he agreed to partner with them again. He did it, of course, out of the kindness to his friends, because he felt that they had helped him in the first place, and that they ought to share in the good fortune now, which naturally won good reputation for him in the society; but, his former partners were the person that look high themselves, and did not put Zhou Xinghe in their eyes at all; these people always though themselves higher than others, now that Zhou Xinghe not only should be equal to with them, and even surpass them instead, how could they balance psychologically? Would they be convinced to listen to you?

周興和忘記了古人那“木秀于林，風(fēng)必摧之；行高于眾，人必誹之”的至理名言——而今，他自己釀就的苦酒，要由自己喝下去了。

Zhou Xinghe forgot the ancient saying, "If a tree rises above other trees, the wind is sure to break it; if a person has higher virtue than others, they will surely slander him." Now he was going to drink the bitter wine made by himself.?

周興和被弄到這里來，其實就是這些人把他推進了一個陷阱呀！

Zhou Xinghe was brought here. In fact, it was those people who pushed him into a trap!

天慢慢黑了，獄室外甬道上的燈亮了起來。失去自由的周興和連晚飯也沒心思吃，他躺在草鋪上，眼睛呆呆地望著天花板，腦際間始終有個問題在盤旋：自己到底違犯了哪條法律，會被檢察院的人抓起來，被關(guān)到這里來呢？還有，檢察官說自己給人送了錢，不錯，自己是給人送了錢，但就是送點錢，難道就犯了這么大的法么？另外，送錢的事，只有自己幾個合作伙伴知道，是哪個人去告發(fā)的呢？……

It was getting dark, and the lights were on in the alley outside the prison cell. Without freedom, Zhou Xinghe did not even want to have supper. He lay on the straw mat, staring at the ceiling. The question in his mind was always hovering: which law had he violated, and lead him to be arrested and sent here by the procuratorate? What’s more, the prosecutor said that he had sent money to others, that’s true, he did send money to other person, but did sending money to others break any law? Additional, that thing only had himself and his partnesr known, who informed on? ...

周興和百思不得其解。

Zhou Xinghe was puzzled.

夜已經(jīng)很深了，旁邊的幾個牢友鼾聲大作起來，周興和躺在草鋪上輾轉(zhuǎn)反側(cè)，始終睡不著。直到天快要亮?xí)r，他才迷迷糊糊地睡了一會兒。

It was quite late at night, and several of his fellow prisoners were snoring loudly. Zhou Xinghe lay tossing and turning on the straw mat, unable to sleep at all. It was not until near daybreak that he dozed off for a while.