Chapter 15: Recognition
In the afternoon, Mr. Lan said goodbye.
I asked the Taoist priest, "Can the word 'smoke' really indicate that one is ill?"
"Any character with more vertical strokes than horizontal strokes, or with more dots, strokes, and hooks, indicates that the person asking for fortune-telling has a physical illness."
The Taoist priest spoke each word with an unmistakable tone.
I remembered the woman who lost her dog some time ago. She had chosen the character for "test" (test). It had almost no horizontal strokes. It suddenly made sense. No wonder the teacher said she was ill.
As he was speaking, a woman came and asked about the character "柏" (cypress) and whether it was possible to open a clothing store.
The Taoist priest shook his head and said, "Don't do it. There's no money to be made."
The woman admired the Taoist priest very much. When the Taoist priest said that it could not be done, she felt relieved and counted the money and left.
After a while, another man came in, drew a fortune with the character "Hao", and asked if it was possible to go to the north to work.
The Taoist priest also shook his head and said, "It's a wasted trip, don't go."
The man also admired the Taoist priest very much. After asking for his advice, he counted the money and left.
I figured, with the Taoist priest's high prestige, anyone with a problem could just ask for his advice and leave. This was easy money, much easier than haggling over the price my sister had to pay for a few pounds of bean sprouts.
After the two men left, I couldn't help but ask, "How can you define someone so quickly?
The Taoist priest smiled and said, "Today I will teach you a method of induction."
After that, he wrote a line on the paper:
All, return, spring, emperor, uncle, ship, fear, soul, cypress, hao...
Then he asked me, “What do these words have in common?”
I glanced at them and said, "They all contain the word 'white'."
The Taoist priest was very pleased with me. He said, "The word 'white' has four meanings: blank, nothingness, nothingness, and beginning. The characters above all contain one or more of these four meanings."
I have some doubts.
The Taoist priest explained: "The white character under the character 皆 (all) represents 无 (nothing). 皆 (all) means 无 (no comparison), and 无 (no comparison) means 无 (all the same)."
I nodded.
The Taoist priest further explained: "The white character on the left of the word gui represents nothingness. Returning to nothingness is called guigui."
I understood immediately and said, "Teacher, let me do it."
So, I unleashed the remaining words:
The "bai" on top of the word "quan" represents the beginning. Quan is the place where water begins to emerge.
The "white" above the character "皇" represents "nothing". There is no king above the king, only the emperor.
The character "Bo" stands for the eldest, second, third, and fourth oldest children. There are no male fathers older than the one who has the character "Bo".
The “白” on the right of the Chinese character “船” stands for “not having”. It refers to imported goods that are not available locally and are brought in by ship.
The “白” on the right side of the Chinese character “吓” (afraid) represents a blank space. Fear means a blank mind.
The character “魄” (bai) on the left represents “nothing”. “魄” means no ghosts, indicating fearlessness, hence the name “courage”.
…
I explained all the words in one breath.
The Taoist priest nodded with satisfaction. "Well done! This is called the inductive method. Once someone writes down these words and asks you to calculate them, you should develop and explain them from the perspectives of 'blank, nothingness, emptiness, and beginning.'"
Oh my God, it turns out the teacher was not giving random tests.
With such a good teacher, and my love of research, the more I delve, the more I find interesting. Consequently, my fortune-telling skills are improving day by day.
In a few days, I will summarize a group of rules and present them to the Taoist priest.
A few days later, I summarized another batch of Chinese character rules and presented them to the Taoist priest.
One day half a month later, the Taoist priest stared at me blankly and said seriously:
"Shanhong, you can call me Master now."
I was overjoyed, yet also nervous, and asked, "Didn't you say that I can only call you Master after I've completed my apprenticeship? Does that mean I can complete my apprenticeship now?"
The Taoist priest looked at me with kind eyes and said, "I can't be called a disciple, but you can call me Master. You have a good understanding, are spiritual, and are cautious. You can be my disciple."
I immediately knelt down and bowed, saying, "Thank you, Master, for your great kindness and virtue."
At noon that day, Master invited me to have lunch. Shi Ge came over to cook, and soon all the neighbors came over. I then realized that it was Master's birthday.
Some of the guests were helping Brother Shi in the kitchen, while others were sitting in the living room chatting. The master, however, was not in a hurry. He spread out a piece of rice paper in the study and began to write.
When I went to refill his water, he had already finished writing and was looking at the calligraphy on the table.
"Come and take a look." The master waved to me.
I walked over and said, "Great calligraphy! Your calligraphy captures the essence of Yan style."
He smiled and said, "I'm not asking about the calligraphy, I'm asking about this poem."
I read:
"The sun is high in October, but the heat is still strong. The wind is far away in the morning, and the cicadas are silent at sunset. I just feel the coolness of the night is just right. The withered lotus leaves are a dream, and Mid-Autumn Festival has arrived. The little girls fight for cakes with their naive faces. The fragrant osmanthus leaves fall, and in the blink of an eye, the yellow flowers bloom. The frost-stained hair makes me grow old, and my parents have long passed away, and my hometown is far away."
After reading it, I asked, "Forgive my lack of knowledge, but who is the author of this poem?"
The master burst out laughing: "I am your teacher."
I was so shocked that I almost fainted. Good handwriting is the result of practice. And writing lyrics so well is not something that can be achieved in a day or two. I can only admire it from the bottom of my heart:
"Master, you truly... make your disciple bow down in admiration."
The master took out a cigarette, gave me one, and then sat down, ready to take out his lighter. I quickly lit it and leaned over to let him smoke.
He took a deep breath, his voice a little hoarse. "It's not easy for me either. I haven't read much. But I'm diligent. I hope you can be like me in the future. Don't be a street fortune teller. If you want to do this, at least be a refined and elegant person."
I noticed his voice was hoarse, probably because he was moved, so I said loudly, "I will definitely try my best."
"You go and do your work, I'll sit for a while." The master waved to me.
I walked out of the yard and immediately called the "Hua Zhi Qiao" flower shop and asked them to send a bouquet of the best flowers immediately.
The other party asked: "What is it for?"
I said, "Sixty-second birthday."
After a while, the florist drove over and unloaded bouquets of flowers and a pair of large bonsai from the car.
I was now half the housekeeper in Master's household, registering the flowers one by one. But when it came to the pair of large bonsai, I was momentarily confused. They said, "Happy Birthday to Master Hongyi," and signed, "Gift from a Disciple: Auspicious Celebration."
I asked the neighbors sitting in the living room, "Who is Fengqing?"
No one knows.
After completing the registration and entering the study, I asked Master, "A man named Fengqing gave me a pair of large bonsai trees."
The master nodded: "I understand."
I didn't dare to ask any more questions. At this moment, Aunt Chen came in and said, "The meal can begin."
There were two tables in the living room, mostly occupied by neighbors, with a few relatives. One of them was Master's wife's younger brother. After everyone was seated, Master raised his glass and said:
"I am an orphan. Even my adoptive parents didn't know when my birthday was. When I grew up, I simply chose the Mid-Autumn Festival as my birthday. Although I don't know when I was born, I can choose the day when families reunite as my birthday, which is also a kind of happiness.
I rarely make wine in my life, but today I officially accept Shan Hong as my apprentice, so I invited the neighbors to have a meal together. Come, I'll toast everyone."
Everyone finished it in one gulp.
I couldn't believe my master suddenly announced he was officially accepting me as his disciple. I quickly called my sister and brother-in-law and told them to come over quickly.
Then, I raised my glass, tears welling in my eyes. After a long pause, I said, "Dear relatives and neighbors, I, Wan Shanhong, am fortunate to be able to follow my master as his apprentice. This is a blessing earned in my previous life. Once a teacher, always a father. Here, I would like to toast my master and his wife first, and then to all the witnesses."
After paying my respects to my master and his wife, I passed the level.
My brother-in-law rushed over. Fortunately, he was an intellectual. Although he was late, he spoke politely, saying only that he received the news too late. He kept toasting Master, Master's wife, and everyone present. Everyone felt that his behavior was excusable.
That day, my brother-in-law and I were both drunk.
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