The Tale Never Ends Chapter 136 The Eld of Yuan Chongxi

The farmer would have thought this would have been a trivial case of just keeping his chickens safe from predators and the encounter with the weasel might discourage the beast from having second thoughts about his chickens ever again. But in the second morning when he woke up, his fields were covered with litters of bricks and roof tiles!

Still wearing his trademarked blank and dull expression as he listened intently, Chongxi merely responded with a blunt and short "oh" when the farmer's tale reached its end. He peered at his future mother-in-law and the farmer. "Which sort of fertilizers do you use at the farm?" he asked quietly. Puzzled by his question, the farmer blabbered, "Manure from horses and mules, of course!" Chongxi chuckled viciously. He whispered into the farmer's ears who nodded, taking in everything he said and gave the farmer a name card, telling him to place another call to us; we would accept the case. Chongxi then declined the offer of an upfront payment, citing that payment was only collected after our services were rendered.

Yuan Chongxi might look dumb and dull, but instead, he was no more a fool than any of us. As instructed by Chongxi, the farmer went back to his fields and bellowed as loudly as he could while laughing, "This is good! I was just thinking about how much money I'd need to build a pigsty! All the bricks and tiles would surely cost a bomb! But now they're here! I'll have a cart here to have all these free stuff brought away!" He paused and shouted even louder, "Luckily it's not some filthy horse or mule manure!"

"What a devious plan! You rotten one!" I exclaimed at Chongxi who sniggered, resembling his mentor. "But this does not explain how you were not at the Center the whole day?" I pointed out. "Heh heh heh, well... I've not seen Xiao Yu since coming back from Inner Mongolia. Seeing as I have nothing to do at the Center, her mother asked me to her house for a visit." He giggled, fishing out a large chunk of meat from the hot pot and into his bowl, much to all of our amazement. I almost glowered at him, "Did you not just say that you've eaten?!"

Halfway through the meal, my eyes met Lin Feng who was trying to wink at me. Remembering our plan, I nodded furtively and extracted a bank card from my wallet. I slid it across to Chongxi. "Well, since you're so close with Xiao Yu now. Perhaps it's really time for you to arrange a meeting between your teacher and her mother." Chongxi stopped munching and frowned. "Ahh... You've forgotten what I've told you, mate... It's difficult for me..." Lin Feng leaped to his feet and snatched up the bank card and stuffed it into his hand. "Fool! We'd never forget! Take this! This is the one million yuan that we've got from Zheng Shuang's uncle! Take this money and all your difficulties are solved!"

The entire table was instantly plagued by a sudden silence when everyone heard what Lin Feng said. Even the hubbub from the six Sisters, who had been having a fun and rowdy time at the other side of the table, immediately died down.

Chongxi clutched the card in his hand, and his stare was frozen like ice for seconds before two lines of tears rolled down his face. His lips quivered as he tried to say something, but I stopped him, placing a hand on his shoulders. "There's nothing that needs to be said. We're brothers; true brothers. Edelweiss and I don't need the money anyway." "Yeah," Lin Feng added, "I have enough in my family. Yuanyuan too does not need money! But we know you, on the other hand, are in great need of help!"

Chongxi took a deep breath, loss for words; although his expression fully illustrated the complex flurry of emotions swirling in him. He drank a lot, and so did we that night. With liquor to loosen our tongues, he began recounting of his past with his teacher and also his foster father, Old Man Chen.

His shoulders sank as his eyes began to wet; the memories of his childhood came back to him like it was yesterday, still vivid and fresh to him. He was still a baby wrapped in a bundle of cloth when Old Man Chen found him in a sewage pipe beneath a bridge. A thin and scrawny fella that was how Old Man Chen had once described the toddler Chongxi when he was found. In the folds of the blanket that he was clothed in was only a little note, saying that he came from a family with the surname Yuan. Seeing sorry to be abandoned at such a young age, Old Man Chen took the baby into his arms. It was dusk and the sky was painted with shades of darkening hues of red and orange as the sun slowly sank far away into the West. He peered at the sinking orb and reflected how it reminded him of himself, an old man slowly nearing the twilight of his years. Yet it was this very hour, the child had come into his life, restoring colors to the monotony of his dull and dreary life. Hence, the baby was named Yuan Chongxi, and the old man built a little shed under the bridge.

In the day, Old Man Chen would carry the boy in his arms to beg for food and swindle people of their money. They would return to the shed in the night and he would hug the baby close to him to keep him warm. This went on for years and the pair of father and son would sit on the pavements, relying on the sympathy and charity of others, although they would sometime try to exploit people's kindness by deceiving and cheating them. But the days had never been kind to them; even beggars and swindlers worked in groups or gangs and the father and son would often suffer being robbed or beaten by rival beggars. Even so, Old Man Chen had never allowed his foster son to starve. The old man had always used a pouch to carry what food or money he received and made sure that Chongxi had enough to eat, even if it meant that he would have to endure a cold night of biting pangs of hunger himself.

But Fate did not smile upon them; the father and son slowly realized that life was growing no kinder to them as days went by. Finally, they decided that it was time to leave the shed under the bridge. Chongxi was only two then.

The two-year-old boy never understood; it was never his wish nor his burden to bear so many hardships. But he could not understand the willingness of his father to endure their misfortune without as much as a grumble or complaint as if he was humbly accepting a penance for a sin he had committed. But what he would always remember, that it was the start of their lives wandering around.

But people might not believe that such grievous life of destitution would be possible. After all, this is the 20th century. I, for one, would never believe that a child would deserve to live so miserably in poverty and indigence, if this was not Chongxi's own story of his childhood. He sipped on his cigarette, grappling with the urge to shed tears. "I was four then, when Teacher showed me how to cheat others by feigning injury in a scam. It was hardly easy money for them nonetheless; even for a blind old man with a little boy! I could only watch as Teacher slowly meandered towards a car which was moving in reverse. I was so afraid that he might actually be injured! But his instructions echoed in my mind as he moved forward. I was to rush to him and scream for help while calling him Grandpa..." He paused, holding back a sob and breathed heavily. "The car reversed into Teacher, who crashed to the ground with a loud "arghhh" for everyone's benefit, and I scrambled to him, crying as loud as I could while saying, 'Grandpa, get up, are you all right?'. "The driver of the vehicle got out quickly and was devastated to see an old man being hit! An old man who was blind and there was even a young boy with him! Anxious and afraid, the man tossed a 1000-yuan note and promptly left. But it was that day, Teacher was actually injured. For the first time in my life, we ate at a restaurant and tasted food that was warm. But it was a pleasure that came at so heavy a price that I hardly enjoyed the experience. He ruffled my hair as we ate, like how a father would, asking me if I enjoyed the food... But all I could see was his bandaged arm..."

Chongxi's voice faltered. Finally, he could hold back no longer and he began sobbing hard.

By the time he was six, he was already skilled in deception, thievery, and simple magic of divination. They walked passed a school one day. Students were filing out of the gates of the school after classes. Chongxi tugged at the sleeves of his teacher, "Teacher, Teacher. Why are those children carrying a bag and standing in a line? They look almost my age." Old Man Chen understood what was going on and giggled. "They are students. It's the end of their lessons now and they are preparing to go home." The young and innocent Chongxi gazed longingly at them, looking at how happy the school children were. For the first time in his life, he made a request to his teacher, "Teacher, I would like to go to school like them too."

He could not remember what his teacher looked then. He was just too young to remember and understood the rueful expression of his teacher. But he would never forget the two gleaming lines trickling from under his teacher's dark sunglasses down the gnarly creases of his cheeks.

But like how all fathers loved their sons, Old Man Chen saved up a hundred yuan and they bought train tickets. The destination was the Wu Zhong County Train Station. Chongxi was six then, and I was seven. That was the first time we met.

With another glass of liquor, I felt more than tipsy, more like nauseous and tired. I slapped on Chongxi's shoulders, saying, "There, there, Brother! It's all in the past! Think no more about the past! You are an able man now! You can take care of your teacher now that he's old and he needs your help! It's time we go back! We'll deal with that weasel tomorrow!" Chongxi wiped his tears, nodding without a word.

Chapter end