Chapter 78: Four Years Later

There is little snow in Sichuan. Some people who live their entire lives in Sichuan may only see snowfall four or five times, and even that is considered fortunate.

That winter, however, light snow began falling in the small village where I lived.

It did not accumulate on the ground, only resting on the bamboo, trees, and grass. Especially in the bamboo grove, the white snow pressed against the emerald bamboo, creating a uniquely beautiful scene.

I picked up the porcelain cup on the table, lifted the lid, and gently blew on it before taking a sip of the fragrant, mellow tea. Looking at the snowy scenery outside, I felt an unusual sense of leisure.

“San Wa Er, I want to ask you, have you finished your homework?”

Here we go again.

I put down the teacup, glared, and said, “Hui Jue, are you trying to cheat me again?”

“Shoo, shoo, shoo, how am I cheating? I am kindly asking you! And call me Second Uncle, don’t call me Hui Uncle.”

Sitting across from me was Master Hui Jue. Ever since my family moved to the county seat that year, he would come to our bamboo lodge every year and stay for a month or two. No one knew why.

This old monk, after I got familiar with him, turned out to have the same temperament as my master, lazy, shameless, and fond of good food. If he were not a monk, he would probably be as lecherous as my master too.

The two old men basically argued every time they met, yet their relationship was strangely good. I summed it up as birds of a feather.

This winter he had come again to freeload food, drink, and lodging. When bored, he even dragged me to play chess. His chess skills were as terrible as my master’s, and just as shameless.

“I say, Hui Jue, what do you mean making my disciple call you Second Uncle? Are you taking advantage of me?” Old Man Jiang next to us was not having it.

“You are stupid, we are on the same side. We have to psychologically suppress him.” Hui Jue quickly replied.

Old Man Jiang thought about it for a moment and found it reasonable, so he said nothing more.

I put down my teacup and looked at these two old men speechlessly. One alone could not beat me at chess, so they came up with a joint strategy. But sometimes one plus one is not two. When they played together, their combined strength was negative one.

I said, “Master, Hui Uncle, have you decided yet? What is your next move? I have been waiting for more than ten minutes.”

I lazily stood up and stretched. It was Sunday. I needed to finish this game quickly so I could head down the mountain before ten in the morning and catch the midday bus to the county.

“Oh right, I just remembered. I set a trap yesterday. I need to go check it now and see if I caught anything. If I am late, whatever got caught will escape.”

After saying that, Old Man Jiang stood up and shamelessly abandoned Hui Jue, slipping away.

Seeing Old Man Jiang run off, Hui Jue stood up in anger and panic, about to chase after him. I said with amusement, “Hui Uncle, are you trying to run too?”

Compared to Old Man Jiang, Hui Jue was always slower to react. When it came to cheating and running away, he was never as fast.

Hui Jue froze for a moment, stopped, and said with a red face, “Little brat, what chess are you playing? Go study. How unreasonable.”

After saying that, he put on an angry expression, clasped his hands behind his back, and walked off.

I smiled helplessly, too lazy to argue with these two old men. I went back into the house to pack up, put on a jacket, and prepared to head to the county.

Just as I reached the bamboo grove, Old Man Jiang, who had disappeared in a flash earlier, suddenly popped out and shouted, “San Wa Er, when are you coming back?”

“Not coming back today. I will go straight to school tomorrow morning and return only after class tomorrow afternoon.”

I replied, stepping lightly down the mountain. Fortunately, there was a bus at five in the morning to the market town, mainly used by locals to sell vegetables.

The snowy scenery along the way was beautiful, but the road underfoot was muddy. Still, to me it was all the same. I had long since gotten used to it.

It had been over seven years since I came up the mountain.

After walking a bit faster, I could faintly see the shadow of my family’s old house at the foot of the mountain. Even from afar, I could tell it had become somewhat dilapidated.

Thinking carefully, my parents had taken my two sisters to the county over four years ago. It was only natural that the place had fallen into disrepair.

Now it was the winter of 1982. After this winter, I would turn fifteen. According to the agreement, after this winter, Old Man Jiang would take me away from the place that had raised me.

When I arrived in the county, it was already past two in the afternoon. From a distance, I saw my father waiting at the station.

In those days, communication was not convenient. My father could not be sure which weekend I would come, so he would come to the station around two every weekend to check. I usually took the noon bus.

After I got off, my father grinned and quickly ran over, pulling me into a hug. “San Wa Er, hungry? You have not been back for two weeks. I guessed you would come today. Your mother made vegetable hotpot at home. It is nice and hot.”

“Mm, I am hungry.”

I nodded. Hearing vegetable hotpot made me swallow.

After eating too much meat on the mountain, it felt greasy. I liked lighter food when I came home. In winter, I liked hot dishes, so my mother created her own vegetable hotpot recipe.

“You little brat, you sure can eat. You are almost as tall as me now.”

My father held me and laughed happily, instinctively trying to ruffle my hair, only to realize it was no longer so easy.

From last year onward, I had shot up in height. At fifteen, when Old Man Jiang measured me on the mountain, I was already 1.74 meters (5 ft 8 in).

As soon as I got home, my second sister came out from the balcony in the distance. She looked at me and smiled with joy. She wanted to hug me but held back because she was older now, instead patting the dust off my clothes.

My mother had no such hesitation. She came out and rubbed my face hard. “My son is home today.”

“Mom, why is the little shop not open today?”

From afar, I noticed our small shop was closed and asked in confusion.

“We are doing well in business now! Your father is thinking of opening a clothing store in the busiest part of the county. He needs to go to Chengdu to buy goods, so I am just staying home to watch the shop. What is one day of closure? I knew you would come back today.”

My mother smiled and pulled me inside, pressing me down at the table.

On the table, a pot of red, spicy broth was bubbling. Around it were many plates of sliced vegetables. The broth was my mother’s special hotpot recipe, spicy and fragrant but not irritating.

I sat down and did not stand on ceremony. I picked up chopsticks and threw potato slices and lotus root slices into the pot. My second sister immediately brought over a large bowl of steaming rice. I ate with my mother’s pickled vegetables.

The three of them sat smiling beside me while I ate alone. I was already used to it.

While picking up a perfectly cooked potato slice, I asked, “Mom, will my eldest sister come back for New Year this year?”

My eldest sister had taken the Gaokao the previous year and was admitted to Beijing Medical University. Her grades were excellent. She could have gone to Peking University, but she insisted on Beijing Medical University, her childhood dream.

“Of course she will. We received her letter the day before yesterday. She said she will come back early this Spring Festival and told you to wait for her before leaving after the holiday.”

My mother smiled as she spoke, but I noticed her eyes were red.

Whether I could stay past Spring Festival, I did not know. But I could clearly feel the atmosphere in the house change instantly. As the fifteenth birthday agreement drew closer, this had become the topic no one dared to mention.

I did not want to talk about it, so I quickly buried my head in rice and mumbled, “Second sister, you will take the Gaokao in two years. What school are you planning to apply for?”

My second sister’s grades were also excellent, not much worse than my eldest sister. I was curious where she would go. Preferably Beijing, so the three siblings could be closer. Old Man Jiang also intended to take me to Beijing first.

“I have not decided. I like liberal arts. I will probably apply to a university in Beijing.”

Clearly, she had the same thoughts as me. Everyone in my family knew I would go to Beijing after I turned fifteen.

What would happen after that, and what I would do, no one knew. But having both sisters in Beijing at least gave my parents some peace of mind.

“Enough of that. Do not talk about those things. That is our San Wa Er’s fate! He is meant to do big things.”

My father lit a cigarette and scolded my mother lightly.

“That is true. Life at home is much better now, even compared to the county. We owe it all to Master Jiang. It is a blessing that San Wa Er follows him.”

My mother was sentimental, tearing up as she spoke while still trying to encourage me.

I kept my head down eating. I could not quite describe how I felt. That sunset from four and a half years ago when we moved away surfaced in my mind again, and I forced myself not to think about it.

I chatted randomly for a while to distract myself.

Before I knew it, I had already eaten three big bowls of rice.

My second sister sighed. “Little brother, you really can eat. You finish almost a whole pot every time.”

“Second sister, you do not understand. Cultivators consume a lot of energy and need a lot of food. If I do not eat this much, how do I replenish it?”

In truth, the explanation was more complicated, but in short, anything related to cultivation and martial practice required a lot of money for food, like water flowing out.

I often suspected that Old Man Jiang liked living in the mountains because he could hunt wild game and save on food expenses.

“Yes, yes, my little brother is now a cultivator, not like us mortals. In two more years you will probably achieve enlightenment.”

My second sister smiled, revealing deep dimples.

I modestly replied, “Enlightenment is still far away. I would not dare think about it.”

“So you are going to become enlightened into a true rice bucket then. Hahaha…”

My second sister burst into laughter. I put down my chopsticks and went to pinch her cheeks, and the siblings started fooling around.

My father watched with a smile, while my mother suddenly slapped her thigh and said loudly, “If that is the case, there is definitely someone in the market town who is also cultivating.”