Chapter 239: Going to the suburbs for dinner, a little mysterious

On odd days, I would go to Taiyi Temple to meditate and attend classes. On even days, I would go to Mr. Shu's place in the evenings. This went on for six days, and in a blink of an eye, it was the beginning of July.

Now that I've mastered acupuncture, I no longer need to learn it, which makes me feel more relaxed. On July 5th, Bai Yun pulled out the script outline and told me that he wanted to go to Tianshang Village to experience the environment and then work on the details.

I called Zaisheng right away. Zaisheng said, "Teacher Wan, it would be great if you could come with Teacher Bai."

After hearing this, I was a little tempted and said, "Then wait a moment, I'll call Mr. Chen."

I called twice, but the other party was busy on the phone both times.

After a while, Mr. Chen called back and before I could say anything, he said:

"Shanhong, I was just about to call you. I'm in Xi'an right now. I've just finished dealing with things here and will be back tomorrow.

Last time I told you about going to my hometown, you have to go. The village is building a road that will pass under my parents' graves. You must go and check it out for me.

So, you and Lao Xiao, go to my hometown tomorrow. I'll take the high-speed train from here to meet you in my hometown town. Don't worry, Lao Xiao is very familiar with that place.

When I heard that, I felt a chill. I said, "Okay."

Mr. Chen asked again, "By the way, when you called me just now, was there something important?"

"No. I just haven't seen you for a long time. I don't know where you've been. I want to ask."

"Hehe, thank you for thinking of me."

After hanging up, I called Shengsheng: "Originally, I really wanted to come, but something unexpected happened at the company. I'll make a special trip to see you next time."

Zaisheng said with some regret: "Okay, in that case, you tell Teacher Bai to go to Chengdu first, and I will pick him up in Chengdu."

I explained the situation to Bai Yun. He said, "Forget about Mr. Chen. It's mainly because Master Wan is such a popular guy."

At noon, I didn't eat with Teacher Bai. I went straight home. I'm not very good at housework, so I had to go back and spend more time with my mother.

My mother saw me and said, "Pick a date and hold a family meeting to discuss your marriage. We can't put it off any longer. It's easier to talk to friends upstate, but relatives back home should be notified sooner."

Besides, your uncle and his family are here, so we have to plan to spend a few days with them. This place is not in the same province as our hometown, so if we want them to stay longer, there will be a lot of things to do.

You think it's easy? It's the hardest to entertain relatives from the village. If you make a mistake in seating someone at the guest table, they'll be very upset and will criticize you for being ignorant and keep nagging about you for the rest of your life."

I laughed heartily. "Well, that's not something Wan would care about. The main thing is to treat those 'mother's uncles' well. If they're unhappy, they'll just walk away. That would be troublesome."

"I'm going to give you a good smack."

"Okay, next week, you set the time."

"Then let's do it next Saturday. I won't delay your work."

After lunch, I took a nap at home. At around 3 p.m., I rushed back to the hotel. At 4 p.m., after dropping Baiyun off at the airport, I got a call from Director Shen on the way back to the hotel: "Master, I'd like to invite you to dinner tonight."

"Who else?"

"Just the two of us."

Since there were only two of us, it meant it was a very private matter. I guess they understood what I said last time. I readily agreed, "Okay."

Back at the hotel, I copied out a portion of the prescription and planned to give it to Shiyu tomorrow so he could attend the class. If I keep doing this intermittently, I don't know how long it will take me to finish teaching him.

Of course, not all of them need to be taught to them, just select some commonly used ones. Because they are selective, they cannot be copied.

I typed out forty prescriptions, printed them out, and proofread them again. When I looked at the time, it was almost 6 p.m., so I went downstairs to wait.

I ran into Shi Ge in the lobby and asked, "Why haven't I seen you for a long time?"

He said, "You are a noble man who forgets things easily. Last time I told you, it was moved to the kitchen building in the back."

“The conditions there are worse.”

"Three gentlemen talked about teaching, three butchers talked about slaughtering pigs, and I got along well with the head chef, who also liked to have a drink."

I knew in my heart that Brother Shi was going there to learn a skill.

At this time, the cell phone rang. Brother Shi and I waved, walked to the front yard, and got in the car.

The car drove out of the city, and I thought, this must be what Mingbai had said - leaving the city, going to the suburbs, and even Mingbai was not with us.

I didn't ask and he didn't mention it. The two of us chatted about gossip along the way as if we were going on a trip.

Ten miles out of the city, turn into a small road, and after a few turns, you will arrive at the foot of a hillside. There is a village at the foot of the hillside, with houses scattered sparsely and built high and low on the slope.

Director Shen said nothing as he drove up the hillside until he reached a flat area with a house. He drove straight into the flat area.

When I got off the car, I saw a small three-story Western-style building and a yellow dog lying in the middle of the floor. Even though people came, it was too lazy to move.

The floor is spacious and surrounded by green belts with some flowers planted there. There is a kind of flower that I can’t name, but it blooms bright red and vigorously.

A man came out of the room and bowed to me, saying, "Welcome to my humble home, Master."

I also bowed and said, "Boss Xiang, is this your home?"

"Yes, I built a thatched hut in my hometown. Houses in the city are too expensive and I can't afford it." Then he smiled at Shen Chu and said, "Please sit on the second floor."

I chuckled: "Humble, humble."

On the second floor, Xiang Sanqiu led us into a small living room, which was elegantly decorated with a square table covered with fruit.

I sat down, patted the armchair, and asked, "You have good taste. Where did you find these antiques?"

He brought us tea, sat across from me, and said with a smile, "During the Qing Dynasty, someone in the village was given the title 'General Jianwei'. I bought it from his descendants."

Shen Chu said, "There's also a painting by Huang Yongyu hanging on the wall."

I turned my head and looked over, and sure enough, there was a painting hanging there. In the upper half of the painting was a silly mouse.

In the lower half, there is a postscript: I am ugly but my mother likes me.

I laughed and said, "This old playboy's work is full of joy and humor."

Sanqiu laughed and said, "Master, is this true or false?"

I stood up and walked over, staring at it for a moment, then rubbed the inscription on the painting with my hand. I laughed and said, "It's fake. So fake that even the artist couldn't tell the difference at first glance."

He gave Sanqiu a thumbs-up: "Expert."

Director Shen pointed at Xiang Sanqiu and scolded him repeatedly with laughter: "You guy, you lied to me and said you bought it from a friend."

Xiang Sanqiu touched his shaved head and said with a smile, "I'm not wrong. I bought it from a friend. High-quality imitations also cost a lot."

I nodded and said, "This is printed using high-precision inkjet printing equipment imported from Japan. There are several art companies in Shenzhen that print this kind of painting, but they will tell you that it is a replica.

The first way to identify it is to use a magnifying glass to see the ink particles. The second way is to rub it with your hands. Experienced people can still feel the difference.

The three of us chatted for a while. I vaguely sensed someone in the next room, seemingly playing cards.

At this time, Xiang Sanqiu stood up and said, "I'll go to the kitchen to take a look."

There are people next door, what do they do?

If Director Shen was conspiring with me for a private matter, then Xiang Sanqiu shouldn't have invited a group of friends to his house. Could these friends be related to Director Shen's private affairs?

Just as I was thinking about it, footsteps were heard in the stairwell.