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Part I. To Qiuniang Master He is teaching me to write. I did not want to learn. He said learning a few charact…

Part I. To Qiuniang Master He is teaching me to write. I did not want to learn. He said learning a few characters does a person good. Said it lets you write letters. Qiuniang, so I'm writing to you, all right? I miss you. I think of you all the time... It would have been better if I'd gone with you... ... Part II. To Miao I dream of you all the time, Miao. You and your mother are both gone. Why am I still here, still alive... I worked the fields all my life. How did I still let your mother and you starve? What kind of farming is that? ... Part III. To Miao Miao, I failed you. I did not keep watch over you... that dirt was not to be eaten, not that much... I know you were hungry. I know you were hungry... ... Part IV. To Miao I have learned a few more characters now. If only I could have taught them to you. They even gave me a proper name, Liu Sinong. Heh.... I have a real name now. No one calls me Liu Er anymore. They say they are studying farming. Farming... what is there to study? ... Part V. To Qiuniang This place is full of strange people. They call me "Master Farmer." They want me to write a book. We who work the fields were always treated like dogs. Since when could people like us be called "master"? If only you and Miao were still here... Back in the village, the fortune teller used to say people are born again in another life. In your next life, I hope you both be born into a good family, with full bellies every day... They say here at the academy that one day everyone will have enough to eat. If that ever comes true, then even if you two are born into an ordinary family in your next life, at least you'll still have full bellies.