Chapter 172 Tribesmen
Yu Mingtang looked at Tao Nanfeng and slowly told a story from the past.
It turns out that Yu Mingtang is turning seventy this year, and he is the youngest of three brothers. His family was poor at that time, so Yu Mingtang followed his clansmen across the ocean to Country M to build railways, and then wandered around in Southeast Asia to settle down.
Before leaving home, he clearly remembered what his mother said: Only those who endure the most hardships can become successful people. He started as a road construction worker, worked as a handyman in a laundry, married the daughter of the laundry owner and took over the laundry, turned the laundry into a chain store, opened his own clothing factory... He worked hard bit by bit and finally accumulated some money.
Being overseas, he had no choice but to ask people from his hometown to send money back home many times, but he never received a single letter from home. He didn't know whether his parents received it or not.
The moon is brighter in my hometown. I have dreamed of returning to my hometown many times. He is still the naughty boy who was beaten with a bamboo stick by his mother for stealing sweet potatoes from the neighbor's field, or the happy child who caught loaches in the rice fields with his brother. When the mainland's policies were finally relaxed, he returned to his hometown immediately, but found that everything had changed and he could no longer find his loved ones.
His parents and two brothers have all passed away, leaving only two nephews and a niece alive. When the childhood friends met again, they all burst into tears when they talked about the scenes of playing together.
What's left of Yu Mingtang? There's only a little money left. He helped his hometown build roads, ancestral halls, and family tree. When he saw his parents, brothers, and his own names placed together on the family tree and the ancestral hall tablets, he felt that he had truly found his place.
He also paid for the renovation of the old houses for his two nephews, and built a villa for himself across the street. Every day, he could see the place where he lived as a child from his room, expressing his lingering longing for it.
When he paid for the construction of roads and ancestral halls, people in his hometown were warm and friendly to him, calling him "Mingtang", "Uncle Mingtang" and "Grandpa Mingtang" one by one. He was warmly welcomed wherever he went. The elderly told him stories, the young people talked about his overseas struggles, and the town leaders gave him the green light to set up a factory.
However, since his new house was completed this year and he asked a feng shui master to set up three auspicious formations, the villagers' attitude towards him has subtly changed.
First, the two nephews, their wives, and their great-nephews stopped visiting, and then several old friends turned a long face and kept silent when they met. After he fell and was hospitalized, only a handful of villagers came to visit him. Those who come to him are either looking to borrow money or to invest in him, and none of them are sincere.
Yu Mingtang didn't understand what he had done wrong and why he didn't get the respect and love of his fellow villagers despite giving so much. Is it really because of the mistakes in the Feng Shui formation that caused him to become estranged from his fellow villagers?
After Yu Mingtang finished speaking, Yu Chengze added a few words.
"A bunch of ungrateful wolves! We have fields and properties in Country T. If it weren't for my old father missing his hometown and us being Chinese and wanting to give back to our motherland, we wouldn't have to come to this small place. We spent millions of dollars, but it was just a small price to pay at first. Later, we got used to it and everyone changed. If this place is no longer habitable, we might have to consider moving back to Country T."
Hearing this, Yi Tiancheng looked at Tao Nanfeng: "Why are you asking these questions? We are here to understand Feng Shui, not to listen to stories. Mr. Yu just said that everything was fine before moving into the villa, but after moving in, the clansmen changed their attitudes. All this is the disaster of the three auspicious formations. People often think that the more auspicious formations, the better, but they don't know that greed can't digest it, and haste makes waste. The auspicious formations affect each other, and this villa has become a place of evil!"
His expression was serious, and every word he said was well-reasoned and true to the ears of the people in the villa.
Yu Chengze looked at Tao Nanfeng with an apologetic look in his eyes.
In his heart, he had already accepted Yi Tiancheng's judgment and secretly admired him: After all, he was a master from Hong Kong City, and he could see the three auspicious formations set up in the villa at a glance. It’s just a pity that those masters became famous suddenly, but they didn’t understand the principle that things will turn into the opposite when they reach the extreme, which led to many disasters in their families. Even if it costs a lot of money, I have to ask Master Yi to break the feng shui situation, otherwise there will be unrest in my home.
Yu Mingtang was silent for a while, then asked Yi Tiancheng: "Then according to what Master said, as long as I break this Feng Shui situation, my relationship with my tribesmen can return to the close and harmonious one we had when we first arrived?"
Yi Tiancheng nodded: "Of course." He added in his heart, but... that's another new price.
With the approval of the two heads of the Yu family, Yi Tiancheng was full of confidence. He narrowed his eyes, and his small eyes suddenly became triangular. He stared at Tao Nanfeng and said, "I'm afraid you lost this first competition."
Tao Nanfeng suddenly burst out laughing.
Although her laughter was soft, it drew everyone's attention to her.
Yi Tiancheng's face darkened. If someone in Hong Kong City dared to sneer in front of him like this, he would probably have a fit on the spot. But the one laughing now was Tao Nanfeng, Yi Tiancheng didn't dare to say a word.
Yu Mingtang looked at Tao Nanfeng strangely: "Master Tao, what are you laughing at?"
Tao Nanfeng stood up and said, "There is no such thing as a good feng shui formation. It's just a psychological suggestion. Do you want to know why strange things keep happening after you move into the villa? I'll ask a few people to tell you!"
After saying that, she walked out of the hall, pushed open the iron gate of the villa, and invited in the four villagers named Yu who were stopped by reporters from entering the house.
Yu Mingtang stood up suddenly when he saw them: "Mingtong, Chengyun, Chengyu, Xiaona, why are you here?"
Walking in front was an old man in his sixties or seventies. Although he was wearing cloth clothes and rubber shoes, he was simple and steady, with a wise look, which made people respect him. This was Yu Mingtang's childhood friend, Yu Mingtong.
Yu Chengyun and Yu Chengyu are Yu Mingtang's two nephews, both in their forties; Xiaona is Yu Chengyun's daughter and Yu Mingtang's granddaughter.
When Yu Chengze and Yu Haonan saw their relatives coming, they hurried forward to call them.
For more than half a year, no relatives were willing to visit this villa. When Yu Mingtang suddenly saw them, he couldn't suppress his joy and kept saying to Mei Hui, "Hurry up, bring tea and snacks."
Yi Tiancheng asked Tao Nanfeng in confusion: "Why did you call these people here? They are not from the Xuanmen sect and cannot solve the Feng Shui situation."
Tao Nanfeng said calmly: "To solve the Feng Shui situation of the villa, there is no need for people from the Xuanmen to take action, these few ordinary people can do it."
Yi Tiancheng wanted to ask more, but Tao Nanfeng raised his right hand slightly and stopped him from speaking with his eyes.
Yu Mingtang was so happy that his face was beaming with joy. He pulled Yu Mingtong to sit next to him and said, "Mingtong, I haven't seen you for so long. What are you busy with? Why don't you come and talk to me?"
Yu Mingtong looked at his childhood friend's gray hair and felt a little sad. "I thought you had become arrogant after making money and had forgotten your roots. How could you be willing to associate with us peasants?"
Yu Mingtang hurriedly explained: "What are you talking about? If I had forgotten my roots, why would I have come all the way back home with my family? If I didn't want to associate with you, why would my whole family live in town?"
Yu Chengyun and Yu Chengyu were listening on the side, looking at each other and curling their lips, obviously disapproving. But because Yu Mingtang was his elder, he did not say anything in rebuttal.
Tao Nanfeng said from the side: "Mr. Yu, don't you want to know why your relatives and clansmen no longer associate with you after you moved into the villa? Instead of hiding it, why not tell them the truth? Sometimes, misunderstandings arise slowly when you don't say anything and I don't say anything."
Yu Mingtang was shocked. He looked at Yu Mingtong and said, "Mingtong, we grew up together playing in the mud and playing house together. If I did something wrong, just tell me. I will explain everything I can, and I will correct my mistakes. I have been wandering overseas for more than 50 years, and I have always dreamed of going home. I finally returned home, but my parents and brother have passed away. The only relatives I can rely on are you, my clansmen."
Hearing Yu Mingtang's sincere words, Yu Mingtong sighed and then asked him.
"Since you care so much about us, your people, why did you insist on building such a luxurious villa and putting a three-star-high-shining-star pattern on the roof?"
Yu Mingtang was confused. Yu Haonan said, "Is this villa luxurious? It's not even half the size of the one we have in Country T. The three stars are a Feng Shui formation, which brings blessings and longevity."
Xiaona had long disliked this cousin, and when she heard him speak, she started to speak sharply.
"How can it not be luxurious? Don't you see that there are three-story Western-style houses on this street, with gardens and pools, and the houses are made of shiny marble bricks that are so clean that they can be used as mirrors. In our town, everyone lives in a one-story bungalow. My family and my uncle's family live across from yours, and none of them are more luxurious than yours.
It’s okay to be extravagant, it’s your own money, you can build the house and decorate it however you want! You should never, ever, do this. Your family is already more blessed and wealthy than anyone else, yet you are so greedy and insist on setting up some feng shui formation. Three big bright lights are hung on the roof of the villa. At night they shine like little suns, radiantly shining. What? Are you trying to show off how rich your family is?
Do you know that since the Samsung camera was installed in your house, wow! Our house is illuminated and we don’t even need to turn on the lights at night. My father and mother couldn't sleep every night and suffered from severe neurasthenia. The chickens I raised stopped laying eggs, the cabbages planted in the yard turned yellow, and the eggplants and peppers didn't bear fruit. If you ask me, you definitely have no good intentions in coming back to China. I heard from my clansmen that you came to my hometown deliberately to set up a feng shui formation to absorb the luck of your clansmen and relatives so as to bring you more blessings and longevity, so that you can live a hundred years and make your superiors rich. ”
Yu Mingyun and Yu Mingyu couldn't stop Xiaona. They just sat aside with a wry smile and kept silent, obviously agreeing with everything she said.
Yu Mingtang was so frightened that his face turned pale and his lips turned blue. He murmured, "Wrong, wrong..." Yu Chengze hurriedly supported his father and fed him a pill to relieve his heart disease.
Yu Haonan was so angry that he was shaking all over. "You are talking nonsense! It is our custom to set up Feng Shui formations. Chinese people in Country T and Hong Kong all believe in this. Before building a house, they will ask a master to look at the terrain, ask about the horoscope, and determine the Feng Shui. We have never thought of sucking the luck of our people to increase our own fortune and longevity. Who doesn't know that kindness is the best Feng Shui? If you do such a shameless evil, no matter how good the house is, it will be useless!"
Is kindness the best feng shui?
After saying this, everyone present fell silent.
Yu Mingtang took a breath and suddenly laughed: "Yes, Haonan is right, people who do good deeds will have more than enough to celebrate. Although the three stars are shining brightly, my heart is blind."
Seeing that the old man had understood, Tao Nanfeng smiled and said, "Your three headlights have become a light curse, and the places they shine on will be affected. The people across the street couldn't bear it, so they bought a row of Zhuge Bagua mirrors and hung them under the eaves. At night, the reflected light flickered, and that was why Mr. Yu was frightened and fell in the middle of the night.
In addition, the living environment is not harmonious and there is a lot of gossip from neighbors. Mr. Yu and his wife are already in menopause, and with the mental stress, it is normal for them to have trouble sleeping. As for Yu Haonan being soul-locked by Yi Zhenghao... we have to ask Master Yi Tiancheng why he taught such a sinister trick to outer disciples. ”
Yi Tiancheng didn't expect Tao Nanfeng to be so angry with him, so he stood up and explained: "Yi Zhenghao is only my outer disciple, and I didn't do the formal kowtow. At the beginning, I saw him begging on the street and felt sorry for him, so I accepted him as my disciple and taught him some skills to make a living. This time he didn't abide by the rules of the sect, and he has been severely punished. Please don't mind it anymore."
Yu Mingtang looked at his childhood friend and burst into tears.
"Mingtong, it's my fault. I only thought about adding years to my life, but didn't do any good deeds. I deserve it, I deserve it!"
The young man who used to follow him around and call him "brother" finally returned to his hometown after more than 50 years of ups and downs. He wanted to do something for his people, but was hated because of the construction of a villa. Yu Mingtong's heart softened as he looked at his childhood friend's repentant and sad expression.
He stretched out a pair of tired, skinny hands and held Yu Mingtang's hands tightly. His eyes were slightly red and his voice was choked with sobs: "It's good that you are back. It's good that you can come back alive! You have been away from home for many years. Your parents and brother miss you every day. Now you are finally back, and everyone is very happy.
Feng Shui is a feudal superstition and is not popular in our village now. Although I have not been educated, I know that a harmonious family is the key to success. From now on, you should stop believing in feng shui formations and stop lighting three-star high-rise lamps. When you have free time, walk around the town. I will take you to my son’s newly opened teahouse to sit and drink tea, get to know the family and make friends. If everyone gets along well and smiles every day, happiness and longevity will come naturally. ”
The author has something to say:
I have a report due this week, so please don't be surprised if it's a little less. I will work hard to update twice a week starting next week. I solemnly promise!
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