Chapter 111 Who is the Eighth Master?
After a two-hour drive, we arrived at a picturesque village surrounded by verdant hills and clear waters. Another mile and we were there. After getting off the car, Director Ming introduced me to his friends as President Wan of the Prose Society. Everyone shook my hand politely.
When I walked into his house, his mother was standing in the living room, smiling and saying, "Dear guest, dear guest."
Director Ming said, "Only Brother Wan is the honored guest; everyone else has been here before. He also told me, 'My father went to my sister's house in Nanning.'"
Director Ming's friends were not interested in anything else. They went into the house to have a cup of tea, and then came out to look for fishing rods in the trunk of the car. Their only interest was fishing.
Director Ming said, "Let's go hiking tomorrow and go fishing in the afternoon. I've prepared a fishing rod for you."
The fish pond was just above the corner of his house. It wasn't very large, but people were fishing all around. Director Ming helped me put my line in and left. I saw a child nearby and said to him, "Hold the rod for me while I go see how others are fishing."
The child asked playfully, "Are you good at fishing?"
I asked, “Why do you care?”
He tilted his head and said, "Send me a small fish and I will help you guard it."
I smiled and said, "I'll give you two big fish."
He said seriously, "Can you guarantee that? The fish in this pond are all spirits, very sneaky."
I patted his head and said, "It has ghosts to sell, and I also have ghosts to spread."
He shook his head. "I don't believe you."
I laughed even harder: "I promise to give you a big fish."
He whispered, "I just want a small fish, otherwise my grandfather will beat me."
I asked, "What do you want the fish for?"
He looked down on me and said, "You don't even know this. Just keep it for fun."
I ignored the children and went to watch others fishing. I looked at Zhang San's fishing spot, then Li Si's fishing spot. Everyone started joking, saying the fish in this pond were even more cunning than Director Ming's. It took a lot of wits and courage to catch a single fish.
I asked, "Why don't you return empty-handed if you can't catch any fish?"
Some people say that in the end they always use a net, pick up a few fish, and go back and say they were caught.
I laughed and said, "It's like going abroad for a few years and coming back to be called a returnee."
Others joked, "You are what you raise. Director Ming is very slippery, and his fish have learned his tricks."
Another person said: "This fish is like a flirtatious woman, saying, 'Come on, come on,' but she won't take off her pants."
Everyone laughed. I said, "You guys are bad at technology, so you're collectively slandering Director Ming."
After looking around, I returned to my fishing spot. The child said, "No one is biting you."
I asked, "What's your name?"
"Du Xinyue." He gestured with his fingers.
I teased him: "Du Yuesheng? He was a gang leader."
He didn't understand the underworld, but he felt it was not a good word. In a hurry, he wrote the three words "Du Xinyue" on the ground with a branch and said, "Look carefully, these are the three words."
"Who got it for you?"
"My grandpa. Hey, you keep talking to me, but I'm not a fish."
"My new fishing method is that as long as I talk to you, the fish will take the bait."
"You're a big liar."
"Wait a minute, I want you to know if I'm a liar or a god."
He listened and smiled innocently, but with a missing tooth.
I said, "Your grandfather must have read a lot of books."
He asked, "Why?"
"What a wonderful name for you."
“He gave many people their names.”
"Where do you live?"
He pointed and said, "Over there, my grandfather is sitting on the ground."
Following his finger, I found myself only twenty meters away, on the ground floor in front of a house, sitting an elderly man with flowing white beard. I was startled. How could someone in this mountain village be dressed like this?
I thought to myself, this might be a strange person. So I took out some medicine powder and threw it into the water. I immediately caught a fish and sent the children to tell the others to come over to my side to fish.
When they heard I was catching fish, they all came running. My grandparents. It was a lively scene, not because the fish weren't biting, but because there were too few rods. The shouting and yelling attracted everyone around to come and watch the fun.
Only the old man remained motionless, reading a book in the yard.
I caught two smaller fish for Du Xinyue, who went back happily to share the good news.
Everyone caught a lot, but it felt awkward to fish any more, so they called it a day. Director Ming selected two large ones, and his mother began to fillet them.
I called Director Ming to the ground floor, pointed at the old man, and asked, "Who is that?"
Director Ming said, "A strange man."
I asked, "How is it so strange?"
He said, “It’s a long story.”
I said: Find a place and talk to him.
Director Ming asked: "Now?"
I nodded.
Director Ming took me upstairs to a small reception room. He brought me a cup of tea and said, "We have a saying here, 'Nothing surprising happens in Phoenix Mountain, only a long line of officials.' My ancestor was a general, and so was his. His surname was Du, and his name was Du Chaofu."
I interrupted with laughter and said: There are people in the world who name things like this.
Director Ming said seriously, "But now we all call him Eighth Master. He is the eighth among his cousins. From the general down, every generation of Eighth Master's ancestors has been scholars. Eighth Master has two sons, one is a farmer, and the other is a doctor in a large hospital in Guangzhou."
When I heard this, I immediately asked, "Does Mr. Ba know any medical skills?"
Director Ming said, "I understand. When he was young, he studied medicine in Germany and later learned Chinese medicine. He retired from a hospital in Shanghai, but he didn't like the city, so he returned to his hometown. His wife, on the other hand, often lives with his son."
I asked happily, "Then his medical skills must be good."
Director Ming smiled and said, "His medical skills are definitely good, but..."
I looked dissatisfied: "Why are you hesitating?"
Director Ming then revealed the true story: "He looked down on other doctors. Colds and fevers are common among children in the village. Most doctors prescribe Banlangen or Jinyinhua granules. If they never work, they'll go to Master Ba again."
The Eighth Master scolded, "You all believe in quack doctors. If a child has a fever, it's most likely due to wind-cold and food accumulation. You should treat the cold with heat to relieve the symptoms and soothe the muscles. If you can't cure it, come to me..."
I was shocked, then laughed and said, "You can recite all these sentences?"
Director Ming smiled. "He often scolds me like this. I'm used to hearing it. He also scolds me, saying, 'Is Li Shizhen right? You replenish what you lack. Even excrement and urine are eaten by others.'"
I love to meet strange people, so I quickly said, "After dinner, you must take me to meet him so I can have a chat with him."
Director Ming smiled and said, "I can introduce you to each other, but I can't guarantee whether we can have a successful chat."
"Is the shelf so big?"
"He's not arrogant, but if the conversation doesn't go smoothly, you can clearly feel the contempt in his bones."
I said, "It's okay, let's give it a try. As long as he doesn't hit me, that's fine. The contempt in his bones is just a hollow thing."
At this time, Director Ming's mother called downstairs: "It's time for dinner."
Everyone tasted the boiled fish together, praising Director Ming's mother's cooking skills. His mother said, "If you boil the fish in boiling water, 80% of it will be ugly."
After hearing this, I felt a little relieved. It turns out this technique isn't unique to my future mother-in-law, but an open secret in this area.
After dinner, Director Ming's friends all returned home with their purchases. Director Ming led me to Mr. Ba's house.
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