Dawn was breaking, and the roosters crowed.
"Cock-a-doodle-doo!"
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Startled by the sound of drums and gongs, the crowing roosters got a fright and tumbled off the walls.
On the main street, a group of people, filled with righteous indignation, beat drums and gongs as they followed Su Jie's lead, weaving through the streets.
In the crowd.
There were boys and girls, as well as young men and women.
There were people carrying vegetables, others carrying manure, housewives, and teachers.
They beat their gongs and drums, full of righteous anger, and made their way to the open space in the square. Under the puzzled eyes of the onlookers, they took to the wooden stage at the center of the square—one that had endured wind and rain, was riddled with wormholes and appeared to be on the verge of collapse.
"Fellow villagers!"
