Chapter 66 Chapter 66 Part 2
Only after arriving at the commune by donkey cart did I realize the treatment given to those who were being taken back to Beijing.
Several leaders from the county came in person and were waiting in cars at Fangmaji Commune. He Qing and others knew about this. They did not want to disturb Hetan Farm, so they insisted on setting the location at the commune. This made the two clerks sent from Beijing quite dissatisfied. They believed that the labor reform school in Song County must be a cannibalistic place. One of them was a woman in her forties, and her eyes were red from her speculation.
When they saw Fang Tongjian, his face was sallow, and the comrades in Beijing were even more convinced of their prediction. Fang Tongjian's straight back and vigorous gait were attributed to the spirit he had gained since returning to Beijing. They were deeply moved. The two comrades were honest people, and their report after returning was faithful, describing the attitude of the Song County leaders and their initial impression of Fang Tongjian with exquisite detail. This, in turn, helped to prevent Hetan Farm from being affected much by the Movement Gang's counterattack against the "□□ overturning the verdict." But that's a story for another time.
The car took Fang Tongjian and Lin Xinghuo all the way to the Linchang Railway Station. From the Linchang to the provincial capital, and then from the provincial capital to Beijing, both trains were equipped with a conductor's lounge with a door.
This was Lin Xinghuo's first time riding in a "soft sleeper" in those days. Sister Tan was very attentive to her, probably thinking she was Mr. Fang's granddaughter. After all the running around, the dinner she got was actually dumplings stuffed with black flour, cabbage, and eggs.
Fang Tongjian delighted in the misunderstandings, even dropping "Xiao Lin" altogether and calling her "Xinghuo" or simply "Girl." He even feigned authority by ordering his disciples to call him "Grandpa," arguing confidently, "In our profession, grandfathers often bypass their sons and directly accept their grandsons as disciples! Why can't a master be a grandfather?" A man of culture made research sound like some kind of charade.
The old man was only thinking about satisfying his desire to have sex, and it was not appropriate to call him "Master" outside. The concept of master and apprentice is no longer popular nowadays. Someone with ulterior motives could really label him as a "feudal remnant" if he took it too far... Lin Xinghuo pondered over a newly translated character on the new page of inheritance, and readily followed the old man's wishes.
Ever since Lin Xinghuo broke through to the high level of Qi Refining, the new contents in the wooden book of inheritance have become much more mysterious. Many contents are recorded in a kind of text similar to patterns. Some of these characters look like foxes worshiping the moon, and some look like fallen trees and dead vines... I have never seen them in the caracal inheritance, but according to him, many powerful ancient tribes in ancient times had their own characters. These characters are similar to the runes carved on tortoise shells by humans, and are the symbols closest to "Tao" for this tribe.
Fang Tongjian possessed a profound understanding of ancient runes. He had never once questioned the origins of the strange characters Lin Xinghuo had inquired about, and like a child finding a new treasure, he dove headfirst into the subject... As they got along, the two began to resemble more and more like master and disciple. Lin Xinghuo even wrote a letter to the master of Buxian Temple, seeking his permission. They set up an altar in their mountain retreat and offered tea. But the old man was adamant. He acknowledged the situation in his heart, but insisted that the relationship would be formalized only when he could no longer implicate his disciples. He also demanded that Lin Xinghuo address him as "Master Fang" in public...
As they emerged from the Beijing train station, both the young and old were stunned. Naturally, they felt a sense of being in another world, but the question that dominated their minds was, "Why is Beijing so shabby and desolate?" Lin Xinghuo, in particular, was so emotionally volatile that even the caracal, far away in the mountains of Buxiantun, could sense her. Caracal Anian was particularly furious, holding Qingji down and yelling at him. If Qingji hadn't pinned the position of chief of the Spirit Village on him, and if someone hadn't been left to look after these spirits, the caracal wouldn't have let Lin Xinghuo go to Beijing alone.
*
The residence Fang Tongjian had been given in Beijing was quite good. It was the smallest of the Fang family's confiscated ancestral properties. Although it was only a three-sided courtyard, it was more than enough for two people. Furthermore, this three-sided courtyard was quite elegant, with a small lotus pond in the backyard and elaborate window lattices that let in views, giving it a distinctly Jiangnan style. Fang Tongjian walked back and forth four or five times, lingering particularly long by the lotus pond. He said to his disciples, "This small courtyard was where your great-grandmother spent her later years. It was designed by your great-grandfather himself when he was still alive..."
The small courtyard house was probably allocated to a leader for residence before. The house was well maintained and some basic furniture was left, which saved Lin Xinghuo a lot of effort.
The task assigned to Mr. Fang was to combine history to create a new play that was in line with the red spirit. After the play passed the review, it would be presented to the leader for review as one of the gifts for next year's National Day... Lin Xinghuo glanced at the newly placed calendar, feeling a little dazed: Next year's National Day is November 1st of 1976!
There are guards standing guard at the door, so Mr. Fang cannot enter or leave freely, but fortunately his family members are not restricted.
From the day he moved in, Lin Xinghuo started to get busy, packing his luggage, arranging his bedding, lighting the stove, pulling out vegetables for the winter, and collecting sauerkraut... He even brought yellow mud from the suburbs to build a big stove, connected it to the copper pipes in the courtyard, and set up the earth heating.
The guards standing outside were surprised at first, but by the fifth day they were used to it when they saw Lin Xinghuo climbing onto the roof to change the tiles.
The first visitor was actually shocked. He was a tall middle-aged man in his forties, wearing a Zhongshan suit and looking energetic. He was very kind and friendly to the guards and took the initiative to spread out the documents he brought for the guards to check. The young man had a low level of education and it took him some time to copy the file names. The man also comforted him with a few words.
Lin Xinghuo saw his registered name on the wall as "Lin Qiyun," and his position as a liaison specialist for the Cultural Affairs Group. The man walked into the courtyard before spotting Lin Xinghuo standing on the wall, picking up tiles. He was immediately startled, instinctively stretching out his arms, shouting, "Be careful, don't fall!" as he ran over.
Lin Xinghuo waved her hands quickly, indicating that she could do it. Lin Qiyun was still worried and frowned, saying, "There's a worker who can repair houses in the alley ahead. I'll ask him to come to the teacher's place after get off work to help fix the roof." What if a grown woman falls down after climbing so high? It would be disgraceful.
Fang Tongjian disliked that he was talking to his young apprentice, which not only distracted the young apprentice but also delayed his work. Xinghuo was a methodical girl who did her work and didn't like others telling her what to do. Yesterday, she even complained that he was being a hindrance and was a hindrance. The boss rudely sent the old man back to the house, and the young guards at the door were laughing.
The old man called out from inside the house: "Qi...Qiyun, come in." Fortunately, the young disciple was considerate and called out "Mr. Qiyun" immediately, otherwise the old man really would not remember the name of the person he was visiting.
Lin Qiyun stayed in the room for quite a while before getting up to take his leave, calling Fang Tongjian "Teacher" all the time, seeming to have a special respect for him. He was also quite educated, more so than the so-called principal who had come the previous day to arrange work. Fang Tongjian actually had something to talk about with him, responding to whatever Fang said with his refined words and gentle demeanor, which made him feel very good about it.
Listening to the conversation between the two people, Lin Xinghuo felt that this "senior brother" was more suitable to be Master Fang's disciple than himself. After all, Master Fang had taught her for several years, and she was only interested in ancient symbolic characters. Her biggest role was to help the old man record his ten years of hard work like a human recorder.
"What senior brother?" Fang Tongjian laughed: "I have never worked in a school before. I just taught a few classes in government training." Fortunately, he was not a professor. Several of his old friends had their families destroyed because of the fights with their students.
"But this Lin Qiyun," Fang Tongjian pondered for a moment, trying hard to recall the image in his memory, "Maybe I didn't notice it before, but he must have changed a lot. I remember that he was not so talkative. He was not among the outstanding talents at that time..." But for those who dared to come to see him at this time, Fang Tongjian remembered this favor.
But the old man turned around and lectured his young disciple, who had not yet officially become his disciple: "You can only know a person's face but not his heart. Without a friendship of ten or eight years, how can you know if he is a human or a ghost? Moreover, even if there are decades of friendship, if they say they will fall out, it is still a fall out, right?"
"You're still young, even though..." you have some other skills, "but you're still far from being good at judging people, so stay away from those guys peeking outside the courtyard gate! If anyone dares to bother you, use the skills your old man Ning taught you to deal with them!"
"The skills that Uncle Ning taught you" he said with particular emphasis, and the old man even raised his eyebrows to signal his disciple, which clearly meant that she should just beat him, but be gentle. There was nothing wrong with using Uncle Ning's boxing to hit people, as long as she didn't hurt them - an eighteen-year-old girl was too attractive, even the young comrades on guard would take a peek at her when changing shifts, not to mention the children from the compound whose parents were sent down and lacked discipline.
Fang Tongjian had also been through life since he was young. He had many admirers in his early years, leading to several incidents. This had transformed him from a bookworm with no romantic aspirations into a renowned "romantic figure" in Beijing. He understood the principle that flowers are innocent, but bees and butterflies are drawn to new things. Although times had changed, in this age of "women hold up half the sky," the reputation of girls was still harsh. The old man didn't want his disciple, a beautiful flower emerging from the water, to be tainted by the tainted waters of Beijing.
"Or you can take a pill of that medicine too." The old man looked through the descendants of his old friend again, and felt that there was still no son who was worthy of his filial disciple. He couldn't help but worry about his other hidden plan of bringing Lin Xinghuo back to Beijing: the child is eighteen years old this year. Some mean people say that a girl who is twenty years old and not married in the countryside is an old maid. The Buxiantun Brigade doesn't think so, but they all call the girls "gu" and don't have the heart to worry about the marriage of "gu". The only secretary Chen who has the same heart as Fang Tongjian entrusted this matter to him - of course, even if the old secretary didn't mention it, Fang Tongjian would not agree with his disciple finding a partner in the village. The villagers are all very nice, and there are several young men he likes very much, but the old man stubbornly feels that they are not a match and are not worthy!
If it were a few decades ago, his only disciple would be equivalent to the eldest daughter of the Fang family. What young talent couldn't be married? Or to be even more arrogant, what young, promising, handsome and virtuous young man couldn't be accepted as a son-in-law?
Even though the Fang family has fallen on hard times now, Fang Tongjian glanced at the small lotus pond in the backyard and felt more confident. There can't be any carelessness!
Fang Tongjian was worried. Having never married, he knew the feeling best. He really needed comfort when he encountered difficulties. The old man didn't want his disciple to suffer the same hardships he had, but he was also concerned about the girl's amazing abilities and wanted to find a suitable match. No matter what time, the capital was a place with the most extraordinary people and things. If he couldn't find the right one here, it would be even harder elsewhere. If it weren't for this, Fang Tongjian hadn't planned to bring the child back...
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