Translator: Lonelytree Editor: Millman97
Master Eight and Master Five’s reputation had been at its height about thirty years ago. At the time, Master Five had not taken his disciples into hiding yet, and Master Eight had not purposely allowed himself to get caught every few days to go to jail to teach his own disciple.
Theoretically speaking, the two of them back then had been from the same line of work, running in the same circles, and they had been able to get anything they wanted. Thus, there should have been plenty of chance for them to interact with each other, but the reality was that there had not even been one chance for them to meet up officially.
Other than the great factor of the inconvenience of the traffic situation in China back then, the other key reason was due to them not being of the same discipline.
Master Eight was called Master Eight because, when he was young, his skills with thievery had been famed across the industry, and he had lost two fingers during his only failed attempt. Master Five was called Master Five because he was an expert at five different skills—scamming, fooling, kidnapping, lying, and fortune telling.
The difference in the nature of their work was clear. Master Eight was a big thief; his work was cracking locks or stealing purses, and his focus was the technical jobs. Master Five was kind of like the leader of a cult; he took a bunch of disciples around conducting scams, and his focus was intellectual jobs.
There was no interaction in their careers, and they were based in different cities. They had no real relationship and common language. The two’s understanding of each other came from only what they had heard, and they had never really met each other in person.
Later, it was the new generation surfacing to eliminate the older generation. Even a prostitute decide to go clean after being in the business for a long time. Those who had been in the business for a long time—when they reached a certain age, saw the rise of newer generation, and compared that to their own failing health and ability—would naturally think of retiring.
Therefore, after Master Five failed in one of the attempts and had his business stolen by a younger fellow, he had been angry and troubled. After giving it some thought, considering the fact that his own son was already married, he realized, why should he waste time fighting for territory with the youngsters anymore? In the end, he had decided to retire and fade into obsoleteness.
For Master Eight, after Su Zheng learned everything from him and could take care of herself, he had also started to fade into the background. He would do the occasional job until he claimed a stepson, and then he too announced his retirement.
If not for the betrayal of his unfilial disciple, people would probably have forgotten about Master Eight’s name already.
When Master Eight arrived in San Lin City, it was Ye Shuang who fetched him. This was to keep their movement a secret, and at the same time, it was about the time for Ye Shuang to meet up with Han Chu. When Ye Shuang and Su Zheng showed up, the slightly rotund old man first smiled kindly and warmly. He ignored his disciple for now and turned to flash a bright smile at Ye Shuang, “I see, this must be Xiao Shuang, whom Xiao Su has been telling me about! I’m impressed. I hear you’re quite a fast learner and very clever…”
The compliment for a quick learner was meant literally, but there was a second meaning to the second phrase, where he said that Ye Shuang was very clever. He was hinting at the fact that it was Ye Shuang who taught Su Zheng to misuse his name. After all, before Su Zheng met Ye Shuang, she had been an obedient child, but after their meeting, Su Zheng had misused his name every few days.
“Master Eight, you flatter me.” Ye Shuang smiled endearingly. “The industry is hard to get into, so we have no choice but to use your name to open some doors.”
Master Eight smiled good naturedly and nodded. “Actually, I don’t mind it that much. It’s just that I now have a grandson, so I do not wish for outsiders to come every so often. It might scare the poor child.”
“I’m sorry,” Ye Shuang apologized sincerely. To have people from such a background come visit every so often when there was a child at home was not a good thing. It looked like they could not do that anymore in the future. After all, they could figure out some other methods. To disturb a child’s growth just to save some trouble was not something moral and worthwhile.
Master Eight was stunned, but he quickly smiled. “It’s not that serious. Actually, everyone knows where the line is. If they hadn’t run out of ideas, they wouldn’t have come directly to me… Never mind, let’s go take a look.”
Master Five had retired earlier than Master Eight, and unlike Master Eight, who still had a disciple in the industry, Master Five had retired alongside with his whole clan of people. Yet, even in that state, he had been forced into the open by someone, which went to prove the severity of the situation.
Even though the two seniors had not really met, they had the same position in the industry, and they both wished to have a peaceful retirement. Since Master Eight knew about this, even though he would not go the distance to help, at least he would not sit idle and allow his peer to get hurt. Be it for their history or for the future, he could not act like he had not heard anything.
With the vehicle arranged by Ye Shuang, Master Eight reached Master Five’s home around dinner time. Master Eight even changed into a Tang outfit. With his slightly overweight body, when Ye Shuang held his arm, she felt like she was accompanying a normal senior at some kind of cultural event.
Master Five still had Xiao San and the girl who steeped tea next to him. The girl studied Master Eight curiously and then pulled on Master Five’s clothes to ask with a smile, “Grandpa, is this your friend?”
Master Five smiled. “I actually don’t know him. How about we have little brother Han make the introduction?”
Han Chu had not updated his information, so he was at a loss. It was a secret that Master Five had sent people to go ask for help from Master Eight. Naturally, Han Chu did not know about that. He had been kept as a hostage, so he had not been informed of certain things. How would he know why Master Eight had suddenly decided to show up?
Master Eight studied the expression of the old man opposite from him. He pressed lightly on Xiao Shuang’s hand to stop her from making the introduction. He smiled kindly at the girl next to Master Five. “I’m this girl’s grandfather, not a friend of your grandfather.”
Ye Shuang shook. Su Zheng laughed chokingly like she had just swallowed a fly. She knew that her teacher was up to something, and she had a bad feeling about it. Ye Shuang had no choice but to make the introduction with an awkward smile. “Master Five, this is my grand… grandfather.”
Han Chu turned his head around. Su Zheng was levelled a harsh but silent glare by Master Eight, and she hurriedly lowered her eyes to look at her feet.
The girl next to Master Five asked, “Are you also here for business?”
Xiao San was a bit annoyed by the incessant questions from the girl, but since Master Five did not say anything, he kept his thoughts to himself.
“Business? No, I’m here to visit my grandson in law,” Master Eight replied calmly. “I have no business to do here.”
Han Chu drank half a cup of water in the ensuing silence when he realized that something was wrong. He lifted his head and saw that everyone’s eyes had gathered on him. “…Me‽”
Then again, other than him, the males in the room included two other older men and a younger man. Master Eight did not know the young man, and he would not be talking about the old men, so naturally, the only candidate for the supposed grandson in law had to be him!
Master Eight smiled at this other culprit who dared to misuse his name to trick others. He pulled Ye Shuang to sit next to him and demanded, “Why haven’t you come to greet your grandfather‽”
F*ck me! Han Chu cried internally.