Chapter 46: "Three Blind Men" Come Together to Provoke
The Chinese New Year is almost here. My sister sent me as her plenipotentiary representative to bring my parents to Wuxiang City to celebrate the Spring Festival.
That morning, I arrived at Youran Ju early, swept the floor, wiped the table, and made tea, waiting for my master to get up so that I could ask him for leave.
About an hour later, the master came into the living room. I offered him a cup of tea and said:
"Master, I want to go back to my hometown early and bring my parents to the city to celebrate the New Year."
The master glanced at me and said, "It's time to bring your parents over to stay with us. Just drive the car back."
I hesitated for a long time: "That's not a good idea. After all, you need a car. It would be more convenient to ask Brother Shi to drive for you."
"Brother Shi has a car. If I need it, I can just call him."
I was worried that the master was just talking casually and didn't expect him to really lend me the car. So I smiled and said:
“It’s also very convenient to take the high-speed rail.”
Unexpectedly, the master frowned and said, "Is the Land Rover too low-end?"
I said, "Then I'd rather obey than be respectful," but I was actually very happy in my heart.
I went home to make some preparations and set off the next morning.
When Dongzi heard that I was going to drive back, he asked for leave from work and said he wanted to take my car home.
It was great to have company in the car, so I wasn't lonely. We took turns driving, chatting and laughing all the way, and arrived home in eight hours.
Land Rover cars were considered high-end in our mountain village, and many people thought some wealthy businessman had returned to the village. It wasn't until the car drove onto our patio and Dongzi and I got out that their eyes were blinded.
The villagers absolutely thought it was impossible for me to drive a Land Rover.
The old men and women in the village gather together all year round. Their task is to spread various news and talk about the shortcomings of each family.
I, Wan Shanhong, have already been positioned by them.
A person who can no longer make it in the outside world.
Unable to make ends meet, he had no choice but to learn fortune-telling from others.
In their minds, fortune-telling is a profession for the blind. Unless a person is reduced to begging, he will not learn this craft.
Even though I drove a Land Rover, they still deliberately asked me again and again in public: "Are you a fortune teller?"
I corrected them: "Learn fortune-telling."
The other person curled his lips and said, "Character reading and fortune telling are not the same thing?"
I was too lazy to explain and just nodded vaguely.
They finally understood my background and asked in a disdainful tone:
"You're still an apprentice, how much do you charge?"
I deliberately said, "Ten dollars."
They immediately felt confident enough to look down on me: "It's easy, sure. Ten a day, thirty days without a break is only three thousand yuan?"
I sneered, "You're really good at math."
When this got out, they accused me of being disrespectful. They also suggested I borrowed the Land Rover, or perhaps bought it and refurbished it. Everyone discussed it, saying it was impossible to borrow it. Who would lend him such a high-end car? The only option left was a refurbished used car.
Some even suspected I was stealing. They whispered that people who did this were similar to the Four Pickpockets, who were from our village and were known for their thieves, robbers, and con men.
My mother listened to the rumors from the villagers and asked me with a puzzled look:
"How do you make money? Your sister said you're rich. People's lives in the city are worth more, but a fortune telling costs five times more than in the village, and it's only fifty yuan."
I laughed and said, "Sometimes I make three hundred a day, sometimes five hundred a day."
My father looked disdainful and said, "You're not the only fortune teller in town. Sometimes business is good, sometimes it's bad. Can you make three or five hundred?"
I said seriously, "Business is good. When a dog dies in the city, people always choose a date to bury it."
My parents slid off the sofa and sat on the floor.
My mother sighed and said, "No wonder the fourth pickpocket said he would rather go to the city and turn into a dog than go back to his hometown."
My mother is a person who never gives up. The next day, she released a true news about me in the village - I could earn five or six hundred yuan a day.
The villagers started to hate me again.
Just by talking, I can earn five or six hundred a day? I'm still an apprentice. Once I become a master, wouldn't that be thousands a day? So, all kinds of rumors about me, Wan Shanhong, spread all over the village.
The rumors spread like wildfire: They said I looked down on the three masters of fortune-telling in our town; they said I was going to open a shop in town after the New Year to read faces, tell fortunes, analyze characters, and consult feng shui, and that I was going to destroy the jobs of the three fortune-tellers.
The town's three fortune-telling masters were named Zhang Xia, Li Xia, and Wang Ermazi. Zhang Xia and Li Xia were good at fortune-telling and reading characters, while Wang Ermazi was not blind and had good eyesight and feet, so he had the additional task of reading feng shui.
The three of them were usually at odds with each other, and when they heard that I was going to open a shop in town and destroy their jobs, they decided to give me a head start before I even started.
I also heard the news and called Master to ask, if these three people came, should we be polite and submit to them, or should we compete with them?
My master warned me: "Be polite before you use force." Be courteous. If you're exchanging ideas, that's a joyous occasion. But if you're nitpicking, don't be overly timid. That would tarnish the reputation of Master Hongyuan for establishing this new fortune-telling method.
The next day, these three celebrities gathered in the town. The news spread very quickly. Not only were the villagers in my village waiting at my house, but some ruffians in the town also gathered and came.
Thus, a picture of "Three Elders Visiting the Sage" came out:
The first was Wang Er, followed by Zhang Xia's pimp, San Tai Bao. San Tai Bao had a dragon tattooed on his arm. Zhang Xia held a crutch in one hand and rested the other on San Tai Bao's shoulder. Third was Jiu Tai Bao, Li Xia held a crutch in one hand and rested the other on Jiu Tai Bao's shoulder.
Following behind was a group of thugs.
This formation is like a small train heading towards my house.
My father went to visit relatives, so it was just my mother and I at home.
There were so many people that we simply met them on the ground floor. Some sat, some stood.
My mother had never seen such a scene before, so she was busy boiling water and making tea.
Wang Ermazi bowed, his face uncertain, and said, "Master Shanhong, I heard that you traveled far away to seek a famous teacher. The three of us have come here today to learn from you. Would you be willing to teach me?"
I said indifferently, "Three seniors have come personally to offer their care and guidance. How could Xiao Wan not welcome them? It's just that the room is too small, so we can only sit on the ground floor."
Wang Ermazi asked gravely, "Master Shanhong, I heard you studied under a great master in the city. What did you learn?"
I slowly uttered two words: "Divination."
He suddenly shouted, "Divining by characters is not as good as fortune-telling. There are four pillars in numerology. If you sort out the four pillars, you can clearly know life and death, poverty and wealth. Divining by characters is just a matter of reading the words literally. It all depends on observing the facial expressions. I don't know if what I said is right."
I chuckled. "Is that right? Of course, Chinese characters can be interpreted literally, unlike English, where you look at them like a dumb person looking at his mother—wanting to speak but unable to."
Xia Zhang and Xia Li hummed twice.
Wang Er heard the sarcasm in my words and said with a stern face: "Who is Master Shanhong's teacher?"
I know fortune-telling is all about seniority, and Wang Er is playing another trick on me, so I replied coldly, "Just call me Xiao Wan. Calling me Master is like wearing a hat, not a Ding. As for who I learned from, it was Master Hongyi."
Wang Er was about to ask more, but I interrupted him and said:
"Senior, there's no need to delve into the details. My master is the descendant of Taoist Master Hongyuan. There's no one else who can do this from Taoist Master Hongyuan's perspective. This character divination technique was created by my master."
"Hahaha, it turns out to be water without a source and a tree without roots." Wang Er felt that he had won this time and laughed out loud.
At this time, Zhang Xia, who had been silent all this time, sneered and said, "I will say a word, and Master Shanhong will test it."
I said coldly, "Don't say it."
Zhang Xia's expression changed, and he said sternly, "Are you so arrogant? You won't even let me say a word."
I laughed out loud, leaving everyone present baffled.
After laughing, I said softly but firmly: "I'm not a master, I'm a listening master. Write something on a piece of paper, I'll listen and help you analyze it."
The onlookers were in an uproar.
Everyone was whispering to each other - "Listen to the words"?
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
