Chapter 51: Meeting the Master Chang Nanxi
The training location was set on a beautiful island in Qiandao Lake. As the training course recruitment advertisement said: "The scenery is picturesque, soothing and invigorating. Walking on the island is like being in a fairyland."
As for this island, I won't describe it in detail. They didn't count the advertising money I received.
I arrived at two in the afternoon, looked at the sign at the door, went to the bar, and asked:
"Miss, I'm here to attend a Feng Shui training class. How do I register?"
She looked at me again and again with her eyes wide open.
Based on my experience of seeing countless people, although her vision was moderately modified, there was no doubt that she was full of doubts about me.
I changed my tone and said, "Miss, I am indeed here to report."
She asked unhappily, "Where's your registration notice?"
I took out the notice and placed it on the bar. She read it carefully, her eyes fixed on the ceiling. "Pay thirty thousand."
I took out my phone and scanned it.
She handed me the room card and a bag: "Room 2208. Dinner will be in the lobby on the first floor."
The room was furnished in an antique style, with a spacious bed and a clean white quilt. After a thorough wash, I went to the balcony and gazed out over the lake and mountains.
In addition to a table with a table and two chairs, there is Indian incense on the table and a meditation couch next to the bed. It seems that this is a small hotel that holds training courses on Chinese studies and feng shui all year round.
I took out a stick of Indian incense and lit it. The sandalwood scent was wafting in the air, and it felt so comfortable.
Sitting in an exquisitely carved chair, I opened the information bag. The training course instructions listed: daily schedule, dining location, morning classes, afternoon study sessions. The course materials for each class were neatly organized. The ten-day training session was packed.
After reading the information, I understood: the lecturers and professors invited from various universities in the past seven days mainly lectured on the drawing of topographic maps and astronomical constellation maps.
In the next two days, we will invite experts who are knowledgeable in feng shui, astronomy and geography to teach the correspondence between heaven, earth and man.
On the morning of the last day, the country’s top master of Yi studies was invited to give lectures to the students.
This is great for me. It goes from simple to complex and is linked together.
Tired from the journey, I took a nap until the phone rang and the barista urged me to go to dinner.
Dinner was served in a large private room. When I walked in, I was shocked:
The restaurant was like a large-scale religious ceremony. Everyone was dressed in Taoist robes and wearing a crown on their heads. Occasionally there were a few outliers, also wearing Tang suits, with long beards, and looking like immortals.
I was stunned for a moment. I really stood out from the crowd in my suit and tie.
I immediately understood why the bartender was suspicious of me, because I didn't look like a "master". I saw an empty table to the east and walked over to sit down.
On my left was a man in his forties, and on my right was an old Taoist priest in his sixties. After I sat down, I said awkwardly, "Hello everyone, I'm late."
No one treated me as a dish, no one paid any attention to me. Those who drank soup drank soup, and those who ate meat ate meat.
The man on the right glanced at me with a shrewd look, and said to me with a look of dissatisfaction on his face:
"You should report this to your supervisor. We paid so much money, so the dishes should be better. There are too many soup dishes. We need to serve more main dishes."
It turns out they thought I was a staff member.
I blushed and corrected myself, "I'm here to learn, too."
The old Taoist looked at me coldly, as if I was just there to eat for free.
No matter if they didn’t know me on the first day, on the second day, still no one paid any attention to me.
These thirty-odd people were actually quite the gang. Some of them already knew each other and would gather after class to chat and smoke. Some were already quite famous and ignored the others.
Moreover, there is not a single White Bone Demon, not even an old, ugly, or fat one like a pig...
I wanted to chat with them, but they ignored me. After a few words, the conversation died down.
The scene in class surprised me: I was sitting in the second to last row, and when I looked forward, few people were listening to the class. Most of them were playing with their mobile phones. Some people even walked out of the classroom to answer the phone, and some did not come back for the entire class.
What’s even weirder is that the teacher just lectures and doesn’t care whether you listen or not.
I am the only one who is an exception. I like to ask questions in class. The money is paid by my master. If I go back and fail to deliver the job, how can I be worthy of my master?
As soon as I asked a question, many eyes were directed at me. Almost every question I asked was stared at from the front, behind, and side - to be honest, it was like watching a monster.
The mocking, scornful and disdainful looks came at me like fireballs, burning my whole body.
But I still have to ask, because if I don't, I won't understand. So, every time I ask a question, the classroom erupts in all sorts of strange laughter. Some sound like a ghost suddenly crying in the middle of the night, others like a pig howling before being executed during the Lunar New Year.
I wish I could dig a hole and crawl into it. How come they have such a good foundation? Don't even bother asking, I understand immediately. Am I really that stupid?
On the afternoon of the third day, I sat alone in the room in a daze. After staying there for a long time, my heart felt like it was being weighed down by something, so I walked out of the room and the hotel alone, ready to go outside and get some fresh air.
At this moment, I noticed that the man who had sat to my left during dinner on the first day was sitting on a wooden chair by the flowerbed, smoking. This gave me the courage to walk over.
From my observation, this person is also an outlier.
"Hello. Didn't you go for a walk?" I said with a smile.
"Yeah. It seems like you don't like going out either, right?"
Hearing this, I was delighted, as it meant he had been paying attention to my every word and action. So I said, "I have a weak foundation, I just want to learn something, not play around."
He pointed to the stone bench opposite him and said, "Sit down. Your name is Wan Shanhong?"
I was a little touched that they even remembered my name, and nodded quickly:
"Yeah, what about you?"
"My name is Chang Nanxi."
"Is it from Liu Changqing's poem 'Searching for Taoist Chang of Nanxi'?"
He looked me over carefully and said, "You've read quite a bit of Tang poetry."
The two of them sat there and started talking. It turned out he'd attended many training courses before. He said that as long as you studied diligently, you'd always learn something valuable. However, most people were just there to gild their knowledge. As for this particular training course, we were probably the only two people actually attending.
I hurriedly asked, "What do you mean?"
He laughed and said, "The world of numerology, divination, and feng shui is no longer a pure land. How many people are truly engaged in learning? The world is bustling with people, all for profit; the world is bustling with people, all for profit. They come here just to take a final photo with Master Chen."
Master Chen is the master who gave a lecture on the last day of this training. He is a disciple of Shao Weihua and is also considered one of the top Zhouyi masters in the country.
Even though I noticed it, I couldn't help but let out an "ah".
Chang Nanxi said: "I also added a few people's WeChat, I'll show you."
When I looked at it, I saw that several people’s WeChat circles were all written with “Invited to attend Feng Shui Master Seminar”, and below were photos with the various lecturers.
I asked, "You clearly paid for it yourself, so why is it an invitation?"
Chang Nanxi thought I was still a novice in this area, and explained to me: "By invitation" is correct, the registration notice simply says "you are invited to participate."
I asked in return: Even if the organizer is polite, why is "study class" written as "seminar"?
Chang Nanxi's face showed disdain: "You are deceiving the world and stealing your reputation."
It suddenly dawned on me: “So that’s how it is.”
Chang Nanxi asked, "Didn't you notice the details of the photos they took with the teachers?"
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