At the beginning of their meeting with the miller, Lou and the narrator, dressed as Communist party leaders, they explain that they are from Beijing. The miller replies, “’Where’s Beijing?’ We were taken aback by his question, but when we realized he was speaking in earnest we couldn’t help laughing. For a moment I almost envied him his complete ignorance of the outside world” (67). The narrator envies the miller's life because he has no worries. Unlike Lou, Four Eyes and the narrator, the miller never has to be worried about being forced from his home or returning to his family or getting caught and arrested for banned items. He is so cut off from the world that he seems to a different, more carefree era of Chinese culture. The narrator desires that total comfort that his life will never be forced to change. Although his ignorance may seem to be bliss at first, the narrator also knows in the back of his mind that the miller is utterly alone. The miller has no friends of people to talk to because he is caught off from civilization. The songs the miller tells them to bring back to the rest of China are his addition to society and the narrator is angered by Four Eyes' total revision of songs that came from the old man's heart and were so important to his life.
