Chapter 288 The Survival Wisdom of the Weak
I invited Nanxi to dinner at my house. My parents fell in love with her the moment they saw her. My mom said she was honest. No wonder Nanxi said everyone can tell fortunes.
After dinner, I took him to the hotel. He made a pot of tea, and we sat down and chatted slowly.
I said, "Brother, Jiao Ye doesn't have the third eye, and he can't count."
Nanxi nodded thoughtfully.
I took a sip of tea. "Let me reason this out. The Lu family are outsiders who moved to a place where the Liu family settled. They were originally a single family, and since they didn't send anyone out, their family lineage has been passed down through generations. They are an absolutely disadvantaged group."
Nanxi said: "I have considered this."
"Now that you've considered it, everything is easily solved. As a vulnerable group, to survive, the first thing we have to do is fight to the death. Take a life and kill a Liu. Kill him, and you'll scare him and gain the right to survive.
But the Lu family didn't have the conditions, and they only had one son. If they gave up, the family line would be cut off."
"I understand what you mean. The Lu family is just pretending to fight so their son can learn hunting. The threat is greater than the actual effect. They really don't want to fight unless it's absolutely necessary. This hunting rifle serves as a deterrent."
I laughed and said, "Yes, this is the Lu family's first line of defense. Even if the first line is not strong enough, we need to build a second line. The second line of defense is called playing tricks."
Nanxi said, "I know this too. Claiming to have the Plum Blossom Palm or the opening of the Third Eye, or deliberately spreading rumors that one can see wandering ghosts, etc., is a form of tactics.
There are always elderly, weak, sick, and disabled people in a village. I predict that someone will die within a month or six months. The probability of this happening is very high.”
I slapped my thigh and said, “Yes, in order to make people believe that he really has opened his third eye, he starts to show off his real skills. He sits at home and says that he can harvest a few wild animals today. Those who don’t believe him go to see, and he will only catch a few animals according to his words.
The second line of defense is firmly established. Others are afraid of him, this is a technique used by the weak to protect themselves. In fact, he has neither the third eye nor the ability to count.
Nanxi suddenly realized: "You mean, he trained his own dog?"
Hahahahahaha…I burst into laughter.
"What is your basis?" Nanxi looked at me seriously.
I counted on my fingers and explained the reasons: "First, he only fed one dog. Usually, a hunter would feed several dogs, both to boost his courage and as helpers. But if he fed two dogs, it would be a mess.
Second, dogs can be trained to count. I read a story about two counting puppies outside the Shenyang Imperial Palace. Each dog had a small mechanism made of a wooden board in front of them. When the dog stepped on the board, a cymbal attached to the other end would ring.
They will tap the number their owner calculates. In fact, dogs don’t really know how to do arithmetic, but they have formed a memory after repeated training and stimulation.
Nanxi said: "I still don't quite believe it."
"Go back and do an experiment. Put two bowls of food in them, one with more and one with less. See which bowl the dog will choose."
"No need for experimentation, it will definitely choose the bowl with more food."
"Right. It proves that dogs can distinguish between numbers. Also, if a hunter kills three pheasants and a dog brings back two, its next step is to immediately search for the remaining one, right?"
Nanxi nodded.
I said, "A dog's sense of smell is 10,000 times stronger than a human's. A TV show did an experiment where they diluted a drop of a person's blood with 10 tons of water. They then sprinkled that drop of water on one of 10 cars. The dog accurately found the car with the blood. My God, that's a dilution of tens of millions of times."
Nanxi began to believe it.
I continued, "Third, I noticed a detail. When we first arrived at Sister Yu's house, the yellow dog was lying in the yard, its hooves and body clean. When we came out again, ready to follow Master Jiao into the mountains, the yellow dog was covered in grass scraps and mud on its hooves.
"This means that Lord Jiao has sent the yellow dog for a round. I estimate that when the yellow dog returns, it will knock its front hooves three times, and Lord Jiao will know what's going on."
Nanxi asked, "What if after the yellow dog comes back, we catch another wild animal before we go?"
"It's possible, but when he made a bet with someone, he said at least three or more, which was equally intimidating. First, he ruled out the possibility of no one, one or two. He predicted at least three. Can you, sitting at home, predict at least three?"
Nanxi then nodded.
I sighed and said, "This is the survival wisdom of the weak."
Nanxi said, "With your analysis, I've found the basis for President Lu's manly character. Her aggressive style is an acquired trait.
When I met her, I felt that although she looked rather rough, her facial features suggested that she was a quiet, unassuming woman, perhaps even a bit shy.
Because of this environment, in order to avoid being bullied, they have to become aggressive, learn to curse at others, and learn to fight. This kind of personality is called a pseudo-character, which is just a hard shell covering themselves.
"Brother, your analysis is correct. Why does Sister Yu like to call on friends and make friends widely? It's actually a manifestation of her inner fragility. She hopes to have more friends around her."
Nanxi burst out laughing: "We are practicing on others."
I laughed back and said, "That's called regular practice. Then you'll be able to see through others' true nature. There are countless examples of people in ancient times using others for practice."
"Give me an example."
"For example, Zeng Guofan was very good at writing couplets, which he learned from practicing this way. Zeng Guofan entered the capital and wanted to make a name for himself in the circle.
Writing elegiac couplets was a popular activity in that era. When someone died, did they die a painful death or a natural death? These talented scholars didn't care; they only looked at which elegiac couplet was the best.
Zeng Guofan wanted to be one step ahead of others, so he practiced at home. His practice couldn't be too superficial; he had to imagine someone had died and write about their relationship with the deceased in order to express his emotions.
One day, he was going to practice on his good friend Tang Peng. What would he write if Tang Peng died? After thinking for a long time, he finally came up with an idea. So he picked up his pen and wrote: Haiqiu (Tang Peng's pen name) Master, live forever. But Tang Peng caught him right in the act.
Tang Peng, also from Hunan, had a very good relationship with Zeng Guofan. He barged in without announcing anything. He saw Zeng Guofan writing on a piece of white paper, something Zeng Guofan couldn't hide. Tang Peng saw him. The two had a huge argument over this, and their friendship ended.
Nanxi laughed and said, "We are just calculating her true character. It is completely different from Zeng's practice."
I said, "Call Sister Yu and I'll get some advice."
I called her and said, "Sister Yu, thank you for your thoughtful arrangements these past two days. It was a great pleasure. After I came back, Nanxi said that judging from your face, you were very shy as a child. I argued with him and said it was impossible."
Sister Yu smiled and said, "Nanxi is absolutely right. When I was four or five years old, I was afraid of meeting strangers."
"Nothing else, see you next time."
After hanging up the phone, I said, "Traditional Chinese culture is all about illusion and reality, reality and illusion. The Art of War has 36 strategies, and we need to add one more: playing tricks."
Nanxi said: "The situation of Mr. Lu's family has changed. In the past, the countryside only recognized fists and clan members. Now, money has torn them apart. No longer recognizing clan members or relatives, fists are useless. Only money matters."
I said, "Looking forward, the Ninth Cycle of Lihuo is about to arrive, and the Chinese nation will surely reach another peak of civilization. The development of science and technology and the advancement of culture will surely present a new spiritual outlook."
Nanxi was worried: "But family affection will become more indifferent and people's hearts will become more impetuous."
Three days later, Nanxi left Shangzhou. I officially started working. On my first day, I received a call from Nanxi in the morning and another call from Director Shen in the evening...
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