20 years ago, Old Master Qin took Qin Sheng to the Zhongnan Mountains, which was acknowledged as the place where luck was gathered. He also chose this place as his graveyard, believing that his spirit would gain luck for Qin Sheng. Qin Sheng had led a life continuously drifting from here to there, during which time he lost a lot.
Today, Qin Changan took Qin Sheng back to the Zhongnan Mountains to visit Old Master Qin’s grave, officially declaring that Qin Sheng started an unpredictable new life.
The 20 years of suffering were preparation for Qin Sheng’s later success, which, however, was still unknown.
They burned incense, kowtowed, and bowed. They didn’t do too much of the tomb-visiting rites.
Qin Changan stood up and looked at Qin Sheng and Qin Ran. “You’ll stay in Xi’an for another day. I’m going back to Beijing now. I’ll ask Gongsun to pick you up at the airport tomorrow afternoon.”
Qin Ran nodded and said, “Dad, take care of yourself. Don’t drink too much wine at the party. Remember to take the supplementary pills I bought for you. They’re good for your health.”
“OK,” Qin Changan said, smiling happily.
Qin Changan nodded to Qin Changan and saw him and Gongsun off, saying goodbye to his father in a silent way. He wanted to stay longer and clean the graveyard.
After Qin Changan and Gongsun left, there were only Qin Sheng and Qin Ran here. Qin Ran dusted off her clothes. Qin Sheng took off his coat and hung it on a tree nearby. He then squatted down on the ground and did the cleaning. He was good at doing these jobs. When he was a child, he often went to the neighboring village to help others do some farming so that the villagers would help him when he needed it. This place was well-known for its grape planting. Qin Sheng enjoyed the season when the grapes matured, during which time he could become the picker in the farm and eat a lot while working.
“Qin Sheng, what do you think of our grandfather’s life?” Qin Ran looked at the mound, feeling a sense of loneliness. She wondered more about her grandfather.
Qin Ran’s words made Qin Sheng drown into thinking. What did he think of his grandfather’s life? He didn’t even know who deserved to give an answer. He remembered that an old Taoist priest from the Louguantai Temple used to see his grandfather off and speak something to him. Qin Sheng recalled his words and tried to repeat it. “Priest Ren from the Louguantai Temple said that some people didn’t live for themselves, but for others; they were just passers-by in this world, leaving no traces and being remembered by nobody. In Taoist theory, this is Wuwo. It means ‘no ego’.”
“Wuwo?” Qin Ran thought about Qin Sheng’s words. It was true of their grandfather.
Qin Sheng was busy with his cleaning job for half an hour and finally finished. He thought about what he saw when they came here. There was a not fully burnt incense stick on the mound, meaning that somebody had come before them. Who? Auntie Wang, Xin Xin, or someone else?
Qin Sheng said to the grave mound, “Grandpa, we got to go. See you next time.”
After that, Qin Sheng and Qin Ran left. Their car was still waiting for them on the road. The driver was a staff member from the local branch of the Qin Family’s company.
They got in the car. Qin Sheng was taking Qin Ran to taste the local food of Xi’an. He was also eager to have something belonging to his childhood like pita bread soaked in lamb soup.
“Qin Sheng, where did you and Grandpa live in those days? Did you live in the Lins’ house?” Qin Ran asked, wondering more about Qin Sheng’s childhood.
Qin Sheng recalled something interesting and said, “In the beginning, we lived here. When I had to go to primary school, I lived in the Lins’ house on school days, and I went back to live with Grandpa on weekends and holidays. Since Grandpa took me to Xi’an, he had never left for the whole 20 years.”
“Aha?” Qin Ran was surprised. It was hard to imagine the life of staying in one single place for 20 years. She would be driven mad by this.
Qin Sheng giggled and said, “Sis, let’s go. I’m taking you to where I lived in my childhood. That’s the home of grandpa and me.”
Then, Qin Sheng asked the driver to take the front seat and he drove them to a village nearby. Qin Ran was expecting what she would see then.
A few minutes later, they arrived at the closest village. The old house that Qin Sheng and Old Master Qin used to live in was hundreds of meters away from the village. Old Master Qin had chosen this place because he didn’t like to be disturbed by others.
This yard was located in the south of the village, with its door opening toward the north. The Zhongnan Mountains were to its south and Xi’an city was to its north. Instead of having a wall for a fence, the yard was surrounded by a fence made from bushes. There were three old houses and a big tree, which was common in Xi’an, in the yard. This tree was more than a hundred years old, and it was extremely huge now.
This big tree was an important part of Qin Sheng’s childhood memories. The tree was still flourishing but it was not so lively in the winter. He remembered that when summer came, Grandpa would sit under the big tree, listening to the recording of Beijing operas or playing the traditional musical instrument Erhu, while little Qin Sheng just played around. That atmosphere was truly comfortable.
It had been several years since Old Master Qin had passed away. Qin Sheng hadn’t returned here since that time. The yard was run down and surrounded by weeds. There were piles of old things scattered around. Children in the village might play hide-and-seek here.
“Is this where you lived with Grandpa?” Qin Ran was surprised. She had presumed that they might live in a simple and crude place, but she didn’t expect that their life had been so hard. She had never lived in such a place.
Qin Sheng laughed and said, “Yeah, this is my childhood.”
Qin Ran gave Qin Sheng a hug and said, “My boy, you really led a hard life in those days. I’m sorry for that.”
Qin Sheng had mixed feelings and said, “Sis, come on. Never mind. I’m good now. This is a rather nice place, and at least I had such a yard to live in. You don’t know that some people in really remote places live under even worse conditions.”
“Well, I’ll make up for your past sufferings,” Qin Ran said firmly. Qin Sheng felt moved by his sister’s care and love.
“Let’s go. I’ll show you around.” Qin Sheng held Qin Ran’s hand and led her into the yard. The car was parked beside the gate and the driver waited for them in the car.
The fence was made of stumps and tree branches, while the two gates were made of pine. The front gate was locked. Qin Sheng’s key was left in his bedroom in the Lins’ house. But it was not difficult for Qin Sheng. He picked up a brick from the ground and smashed the lock with the brick. Qin Ran was shocked.
“Let’s go.” Qin Sheng shrugged. He seemed to walk on air for having done a great job.
They entered the yard. Qin Sheng grabbed a stick to clean the weeds around with Qin Ran following behind. Qin Sheng, who was in a good mood, introduced Qin Ran to every corner of the old house. The remaining things, however, were valueless. Grandpa’s valuable things, like his traditional musical instruments Erhu and Guqin, were stored at the Louguantai Temple and kept by the old priest.
They wandered for a while and then Qin Sheng decided to leave. At this time, a car passed by. The young man driving the car opened the window and shouted at them, “What are you doing?”
The young man then got out of the car and ran up to them angrily. He was surprised when he saw the Benz outside and thought that these rich people were doing strange things here.
“What are you doing here?” the young man, who looked fierce, asked them again. For the villagers, though the yard was run down, they still protected the old house due to their feelings toward the people who used to live here, especially the old man. He had done a couple of great jobs for the village, so the villagers were grateful to him. The old man had passed away. His grandson was alive but had never come back since then.
Qin Ran was worried, for she didn’t know what the young man was going to do.
Qin Sheng didn’t care about the man’s rude question. He smiled and said, “Huzi, did you forget me? It’s just been a few years.”
The young man was surprised. He stepped forward and then recognized Qin Sheng. He didn’t expect that Qin Sheng should come back.
Huzi was happy over this surprise. He rushed over to Qin Sheng and hugged his shoulders. “What the f*ck! Qin Sheng! I’m so f*cking surprised! Why the hell did you come back?”
Qin Ran was uncomfortable by Huzi’s rude language, but she felt his surprise and his friendship with Qin Sheng.
Qin Sheng patted Huzi with his fist softly. “This is my home. Damn! I must come back here.”
“Son of a b*tch, you know this is your home, but where the f*ck have you been? It had been several years since Grandpa Qin died. We thought you died, you son of a b*tch!” Huzi was excited.
Qin Sheng often played with them since his childhood, and was used to their manner of speaking. These people were born here and lived here for their whole life. Though their words were rude, their feelings were real.
Qin Sheng said, “F*cking hell! You must die before me.”
Huzi laughed at Qin Sheng’s words. Then he found the beautiful lady standing beside him and was too nervous to speak fluently. “Th…is beau…tiful young lady… Who is she? You… She… Is she your girlfriend?”
Qin Sheng hit Huzi with his fist. “Go to hell! This is my sister.”
Huzi felt sorry and said, “Hello, Qin Sheng’s sister. Sorry, I’m really sorry. I’m born to be rude. Please forgive me.”
“Hello.” Since this person was Qin Sheng’s friend, Qin Ran didn’t behave distant as usual, but answered politely.
Huzi said, “Let’s go. Don’t stand here. Come to my home and have a good chat. Nobody knows you’re back. We’ve all missed you so much.”
Qin Sheng exchanged a glance with Qin Ran and said apologetically, “Huzi, maybe next time. We have some other plans today.”
“F*cking next time! Let’s go now. It’s hard to say when we’ll meet next time. It’s the spring festival. Nobody has any big business now. Just give us a few hours. All the people will come back home for the festival, or it’s hard to see us all.” Huzi insisted.
Qin Ran smiled. “Qin Sheng, go and meet your old friends. It’s hard to say when you’ll come back next time.”
Qin Sheng thought it over and thought his sister was right. He didn’t know when he would come back and he also wondered about his childhood friends’ situation.
After that, they went to the village. Huzi drove at the front, leading the way, busy calling everybody to inform them of Qin Sheng’s return. If Qin Ran heard the phone call, she would have laughed out loud at his rude but real way of speaking. Qin Sheng got used to these soon because this was the place where he had grown up.
When they arrived at Huzi’s home, Qin Ran and Qin Sheng were shocked by the number of people waiting for them.