Chapter 85

Uncle Two gave me a blank look, “Experts?”

“The old man’s a treasure hunter here,” I whispered to him. “His goods in the sea were intercepted tonight.”

“Why are you so interested in other people’s business? Did you do it?” Uncle Two asked me.

I gave a wry smile, “I’m not in the mood.”

Uncle Two patted me, “Come to my room.”

I looked back at Fatty and Poker-Face and said to them, “You guys can go to sleep first.”

I followed Uncle Two back to his room, which had two twin beds in it. He stayed with one of his old buddies all year round. This guy’s name was Er Jing and he had a speech impediment. Although he could talk, it was a very laborious process for him. He was a native of Gansu. Even though he was over forty years old, his whole body still looked very capable of giving out a beating.

No one knew why Uncle Two always brought Er Jing with him. Many people said that Er Jing had studied martial arts. Although he wasn’t good at talking, he was good at fighting. Others said that Er Jing’s tongue got injured while he was helping my Uncle Two, and Uncle Two had taken care of him ever since.

There weren’t any legends about Er Jing. In other words, no one had seen Er Jing fight and no one had heard Uncle Two mention him. All anyone knew was that Er Jing always stayed in the same room as Uncle Two.

Uncle Two was an extremely cautious person, so I could only think that he trusted Er Jing a lot. When I entered Uncle Two’s room, Er Jing was dividing lots (1). This was Uncle Two’s unique rule. He wasn’t directly involved in any of these businesses. Uncle Two was a serious person who worked in both the light and the dark. The only thing he would get involved in was mediating between people. In fact, Uncle Two was one of the Nine Gates who still had actual power to hold mediations. If there was any dispute, Uncle Two would participate as a neutral third party. As a result, his prestige was very high among the so-called “thorns” in the business. Many people would find Uncle Two first for many particularly controversial issues. If Uncle Two already said something, then the others wouldn’t dare challenge him. At the beginning of every year, Uncle Two would prepare thirty-two lots soaked in tung oil and let those in the Nine Gates buy them. These lots indicated that he would only come out thirty-two times a year.

As a result, Uncle Two’s lots were a special commodity. If all thirty-two were sold and you still wanted Uncle Two to come out, you had to see if he wanted anything from you. Many people were willing to work for Uncle Two in order to get a lot.

Er Jing pulled out seven or eight lots, which were probably for the people who went down to the South Sea King’s tomb this time. I touched my chin and wondered if I could turn my personal abilities into a currency-like equivalent that could be cashed out directly. Uncle Two’s brain was really amazing. Since Uncle Two may not actually have to go out thirty-two times a year and the signatures became invalid at the New Year, my dad said Uncle Two was actually an insurance salesman.

We sat down and Uncle Two brought out a tea set. The tea had already been steeped several times, so when I took a sip of the proffered cup, I found that the taste was no longer strong.

“What happened just now?” He asked me. “Tell me in detail.”

I knew Uncle Two had other things to tell me and was just using this method to ease us into the topic. I didn’t dare push him directly and recounted everything that had happened in the afternoon. Er Jing had been listening in and raised his head. Uncle Two glanced at him. The both of them suddenly smiled, as if they had found it very interesting. Uncle Two took out a small notebook and wrote the incident down in it.

It was all in a code Uncle Two had invented himself and no one could understand it. It was said the characters were based on “engraved mother coins” (2).

When he was done, he closed the notebook and casually asked me, “You already know about the shop, don’t you?”

I nodded and sighed, “I wanted to discuss it with you. I’ll listen to you, but can I at least have the shop back? After all those years, I also have feelings for it.”

“If I let you keep the shop, that means you get to keep your foundation. Your temperament is just like Third Brother’s. You go back there to sleep for three days and then come up with another hairbrained idea. Your parents are getting older. You didn’t get yourself killed when you were young, so now that you’re older, you’re being willful if you’re still trying to get yourself killed.” Uncle Two looked at me, “You weren’t born to me, so I honestly don’t care what happens to you. But before my father died, he told me to take care of my brothers. I can’t control Third Brother, but I can at least take care of your father. Little Xie, those who live to a certain age and worry their parents don’t do it out of lack of conscience, but out of incompetence.”

I knew what Uncle Two meant. He was closing the shop to reassure my parents.

When I didn’t say anything, Uncle Two continued, “No matter what lengths you go to, how many people call you Little Master Three, or how far you travel, it’s me and your grandmother who take care of your parents. Now that your shop is gone, consider it your retribution. Do you understand?”

I looked at Uncle Two and found that his eyes were very cold. I felt for my pack of cigarettes, took one out, and lit it. Even though more than a dozen years had passed, my parents didn’t interfere with my life very much. I always did whatever I wanted and my parents didn’t stop me. But they must’ve been worried. Things had slowly accumulated to this point and I knew I wouldn’t be able to get through Uncle Two and my grandma.

I nodded, “I think so. Just do what you want.”

Uncle Two’s eyes softened a little, “I know you don’t want to open a restaurant. What do you want to do?”

“Write something. Take pictures,” I said casually. “If things don’t work out, I’ll become a Didi driver. I hear it’s not bad.”

<Chapter 84><Table of Contents><Chapter 86>

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TN Notes:

(1) Think along the lines of inscribed bamboo sticks

(2) Also known as ancestor coins. They were hand-carved mother coins, which were used as a model to print money after they got approved. More info here.

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Damn, Wu Xie. You need some ointment for that burn? lol. Uncle Two is straight up savage.