Chapter 486 Another Legendary Figure

The next day at ten o'clock, Shaojie called me and said he'd be there in twenty minutes. I rode my bike to Mr. Fang's shop. When Mr. Fang saw me, he burst into laughter, which left me baffled.

He said, "Stone merchant, you are such a liar. You are so famous."

I laughed and said, “Who told you that?”

"My son-in-law's surname is Fei. If you want to buy a house here and pay it in one lump sum, you should look for him, remember?"

I said, "Oh, so you're Mr. Fei's father-in-law. But Mr. Fei and I have only met once, and he doesn't even know what I do."

"My son-in-law and Tian Dehan are relatives."

I laughed out loud: "It's a small world."

He said, "Sit down, sit down, don't just talk."

The two of them sat down, and he said as he made tea, "I heard you're very good at fortune-telling."

I said, "I can't carry anything on my shoulders or lift anything with my hands, but I can only make a living by doing so."

"Hahaha, don't be so modest. Dehan always calls you amazing. How about this, since we're acquaintances, you call me Lao Fang and I'll call you Shanhong. It's much more casual this way."

I said, "I can't bring myself to call you Mr. Fang or Lao Fang."

The two were chatting and laughing when Shaojie called: "Stand outside, I'm nearby."

Mr. Fang and I walked outside the store. After a while, I saw Shaojie's car, followed by a small truck.

The two cars stopped in front of the store, Shaojie got out, and I introduced him to Mr. Fang. Mr. Fang said, "Just move to the backyard."

Two people jumped out of the truck, one of them was Shaojie's cousin. He nodded to me. I said, "There's a backyard in the store. We'll move them piece by piece."

Mr. Fang took Shaojie and me to the backyard. The backyard was about ten square meters and there were some items piled up. Shaojie's cousin and the driver who came with him came in carrying sacks.

They moved the items back and forth ten times before finishing the job. Shaojie said, "You guys can go back."

I said, "Let's eat first."

Shaojie said, "They can go back just in time for lunch."

After the two men left, we looked through the stones in the backyard.

Mr. Fang said, "They're all good. We can choose a name later. Let's go have some tea."

Everyone washed their hands and sat down at the tea table. Mr. Fang poured tea for Shaojie and asked, "Mr. Tan, are you in the stone business?"

Shaojie smiled and said, "I'm a photographer. I like to pick up rocks when I go out, and Teacher Wan suggested that I sell them online."

"Oh, I see."

I suddenly remembered and said, "You two are from the same hometown."

The two immediately began chatting in their local dialect. After all, they were from the same county, so they could easily find common acquaintances. They spoke animatedly and rapidly, leaving me completely bewildered as I listened.

Shaojie said to me: "My aunt and Mr. Fang are from the same village."

I laughed and said, "If you go through five corners in a county, everyone can be related."

Shaojie asked, "Why does it have to turn five corners?"

I said, "If your county has 1 million people, divide it by 5 and you get 200,000. 200,000 divided by 5 is 40,000. 40,000 divided by 5 is 8,000. 8,000 divided by 5 is 1,600. 1,600 divided by 5 is 320.

320 becomes your villager. This is a special study of Chinese rural society by a sociologist.

They both laughed out loud.

Mr. Fang thought for a moment and said, "Shanhong, what you said is indeed correct. Shaojie's aunt and I are related, not just through three twists and turns, but also through two twists and turns."

I said, "This is why Chinese society is dominated by patrilineal relationships. Within five generations, paternal relatives are still considered brothers, while maternal relatives basically only go back to the generation of cousins.

If I keep in touch, I won't have time for production. I'll just be drinking every day. Birthdays, moving houses, weddings and funerals..."

Mr. Fang said: "The ancients were very smart. If the relatives of both parents wanted to keep in touch, they really didn't have that much energy."

Shaojie said: "As society develops, the relationship between relatives becomes increasingly weak. Now relatives are not as important as friends."

Mr. Fang sighed and said, "That's true."

As we were talking, people kept coming into the store to look around. Mr. Fang's attitude was to answer each question, which naturally made the customers less interested and they would just look and leave.

Next, I brought up the question of how to split the profits from the stones being consigned. After all, this is a partnership. Both parties need to be happy.

Shaojie said, "I counted them, and there are 1,027 pieces in total, big and small. As for how much they can be sold for, Mr. Fang sets the price. I don't care about the money. As long as I make a little profit, it's fine. After all, these stones were picked up."

Mr. Fang said, "Mr. Shanhong will choose the name, and I will make the base. As for the pricing, the three of us will set up a WeChat group and decide on the price together. As for the distribution, I don't care about the money. My greatest joy is that someone appreciates my craft."

Shaojie glanced at me.

I said, "It's true that Shaojie doesn't care about money, and it's also true that Mr. Fang doesn't care about money. As for me, I'm learning from you two and I'm not particularly interested in money either.

But we must finalize the distribution plan today. The word "friend" (peng) is composed of two characters (bei), representing a relationship of interest. The original form of the character "you" (you) is two hands joined together, representing like-minded people.

Friends fall out because of unequal distribution of interests and differences in moral pursuits. We are united in morality, but if we don't agree on a plan for interests, we will have disagreements later."

Tan Shaojie said: "No way."

I smiled and said, "Of course. The more you say money doesn't matter, the less likely you are to cooperate in the end. So, there must be a spirit of contract. Also called rules. Once the rules are established, we each do our own thing."

Mr. Fang said, "I really don't care about money. None of the three of us care about money. Let's follow Shanhong's advice and set a rule."

Shaojie said: "Then Teacher Wan, please give us a plan."

I said, "The stone is yours. Mr. Fang will make the base and be responsible for selling it. You each get 30%. I'll get 20."

Mr. Fang asked, "What about the remaining 20%?"

"The charity fund fulfills the virtues of the three of us. If we have little money, we can donate a little love; if we have a lot, we can donate a lot of love. We will send some money to those who deserve help. If a person's life can help others in some way, then his life is meaningful."

Both Mr. Fang and Tan Shaojie said, "Okay."

Shaojie said: "Follow Teacher Wan and improve your life."

Mr. Fang said, "I've met so many young people, but Shanhong is the one I agree with the most. Her realm is indeed quite good."

I said, "Doing good deeds and accumulating virtue can satisfy our spiritual needs and give us a small sense of accomplishment. It makes us happy and helps us live longer."

They both laughed out loud.

I looked at the time and said, "It's time. I'll treat you. Let's go eat."

Mr. Fang asked, "Have you ever eaten chicken at Village Chief Zhou's house?"

I shook my head.

He said, "I'll take you there."

Along the way, Mr. Fang talked about the rise of Village Chief Zhou. He said that Village Chief Zhou owed a lot of debts from the projects he contracted, and when debt collectors came to his house, he happened to have a good wife who was kind and friendly and greeted them with a smile. Whenever a debt collector came, her first move was to catch a chicken and kill it.

He said he couldn't pay the money back for the time being. Let's not get upset and have a meal before we go. Cool down, sit down and we'll discuss this together.

She turned around and left, saying that your husband has ten days to pay back the money, otherwise she will do something. Some people were moved by this woman and stayed for dinner.

When Mr. Fang said this, I burst out laughing. "The debt collector thought her fried chicken was so delicious. After trying it once, he wanted to come back for a second time. Word spread. Eventually, someone persuaded her to open a family restaurant. After a few years, not only did she pay off her debts, but she also became a famous chicken restaurant."

Mr. Fang laughed heartily: "Shanhong is very smart."

Shaojie said, "Life is full of twists and turns. It's interesting."

Mr. Fang was overjoyed and said, "Her shop is called 'Feng Lu Zhuan'. The idea and the name are both from the same person. It's Mr. Meng, the teacher in their village."

"Do you know Lao Meng?" I asked.

"I know him. He bought root carvings from my shop before, and we got along well. He also took me there once to eat. I've been going there often since then."

I said, "Invite Lao Meng out for dinner."