Chapter 1 Four years later

There is little snow in Sichuan, and some people in Sichuan can only see snow 4 or 5 times in their lifetime.

But this winter, it snowed heavily in my small village.

The ground didn’t get any snow, but it did on the bamboo, trees, and grass. Especially in the bamboo forest, the snow-white snow pressed against the green bamboo, which was quite a sight.

I picked up the ceramic cup on the table, lifted the lid, gently blew on it, took a sip of the fragrant, sweet tea, and looked out at the snowy scenery.

“Sanwa, I want to ask, have you done your homework?”

Here we go again. I put down my teacup and said with a glare in my eyes, “Mr. Hui, you’re not going to try to weasel out of it again, are you?”

“No, no, no (go, go, go), how could I be a bad guy? I’m asking you out of goodwill! And, call me Uncle Er, not Hui.”

The monk sitting opposite me is Master Huijue. Since my family moved to the county seat that year, he has come to stay at our bamboo hut for a month or two every year. I don’t know why.

This old monk, since I got to know him well, I found that he is the same as my master, lazy, lazy, and good-eating. I guess if he weren’t a monk, he would be as lustful as my master.

The two old men basically bicker at every meeting, but their relationship is unusually good. I would summarize it as being like two peas in a pod.

This winter, he came to eat, drink and stay at my place again. When he was bored, he dragged me and him to play chess. His chess playing was as bad as my master’s, but he was as lazy as my master.

“I said Huijue, what do you mean by letting my apprentice call you second uncle? Are you taking advantage of me?” The old man Jiang next to him was not going to put up with it.

“Are you stupid? We are on the same side, so we should suppress him mentally.” Huijue quickly said.

After thinking for a while, the old man realized that he had a point and stopped talking.

I put down my teacup and looked at the two old men speechlessly. One person can’t beat me at chess, but two people can come up with a joint strategy. But sometimes 1 plus 1 doesn’t equal 2. If the two of them play chess, they add up to minus 1.

“I said, Master, Mr. Hui, have you discussed it? What are you going to do next? I’ve been waiting for more than ten minutes.” I lazily stood up and stretched. It was Sunday today, so I quickly finished the game and left the mountain before 10 a.m. to catch the bus to the county seat at noon.

“Oh, I remember, I set a trap yesterday, I have to go and check it out today, to see if anything has been caught. If I’m late, everything will have escaped.” After saying this, the old man Jiang stood up and left without a word, abandoning Huijue.

Seeing that Jiang Laoren had slipped away, Hui Jue stood up angrily and angrily, as if he was going to chase Jiang Laoren. I said with a smile, “Master Hui, are you trying to slip away too?”

Compared to the old man Jiang, Hui Jue is a bit slow in his reactions, and he is always the one who loses out in a fight.

Hui Jue froze for a moment, stood still, and blushed as he said to me, “Kid, what kind of chess are you playing? Go study! Why don’t you understand?” After that, he made an angry look and walked away with his hands on his back.

I smiled helplessly, too lazy to argue with these two old men. I turned around and went back to the house to tidy up. I put on a jacket and prepared to go to the county seat.

Just as I reached the bamboo forest, the old man who had just disappeared without a trace came out again, shouting, “Sanwa, when are you coming back?”

“I’m not coming back today. I’ll go straight to school tomorrow morning and come back after school is over tomorrow afternoon.” I said, and I walked lightly down the mountain. Fortunately, there is a bus that leaves the county seat at 5 a.m. to the countryside, which is convenient for local villagers to sell vegetables.

Although the snow scene along the way is beautiful, the road beneath my feet is very muddy, but for me, it’s all the same. I’m used to it.

It’s been more than seven years since I last climbed the mountain. After walking a few steps, I could vaguely see the shadow of my house at the foot of the mountain. Looking at it from afar, I could see that the house was already somewhat dilapidated. Thinking about it, my parents had been in the county seat for more than four years with my two older sisters.

It was already winter 1982, and after this winter, I would be 15 years old. According to the agreement we made that winter, after this winter, Old Jiang would take me away from the place where I was born and raised.

When we arrived in the county seat, it was already past 2:00 p.m. From a distance, I could see my father waiting for me at the bus station.

At that time, communication was not so convenient, and my father was not sure which weekend I would go to the county seat, so every weekend around 2 o’clock he would go to the station to see if I was there, because I usually took the 12 o’clock noon bus.

When I got off the bus, my father smiled at me and ran over to me, hugging me tightly. “Sanwa, you must be hungry. You haven’t been back for two weeks, so I guessed you would be back today. Your mother has made you a hot vegetarian pot at home.”

“Yes, I’m hungry.” I nodded, and my mouth watered at the thought of the vegetable pot. I ate too much meat in the mountains, and I was very tired of it. I could eat something lighter when I got home. I love hot dishes in winter, so my mother made me a vegetable pot that she invented herself.

“Damn kid, you can eat a lot. You’re almost as tall as me.” My father hugged me and was very happy. He was used to rubbing my head, but found that it was no longer that easy.

Since last year, my height has been soaring. I’m only 15, but when the old man measured me on the mountain, I was already 1.74 meters tall.

As soon as I arrived home, I saw our second sister on the balcony and she came out to greet me. She looked at me and smiled happily, wanting to hug me, but then thought that I was too old. In the end, she just patted the dust off my clothes.

My mother, however, didn’t care. As soon as she came out, she rubbed my cheeks and said, “Son is back today.”

“Mom, why isn’t the store open today?” I asked curiously as I saw that the store was not open today.

“We’re doing great business now! Your father is even thinking about opening a clothing store in the most popular place in the county, so he has to go to Chengdu to buy goods. I’m the only one guarding the store, so what’s the big deal if it’s not open for a day? I figured you’d be back today.” My mother was happy and already pulled me into the house and sat me down at the table.

On the table, a pot of spicy soup was simmering, and there were many kinds of cut vegetables around it. The soup base was my mother’s own hot pot recipe, spicy and delicious, but not at all irritating.

As soon as I sat down, I didn’t bother to be polite, I picked up the chopsticks and threw the potato slices and lotus root slices into the pot. My second sister got up and filled a bowl of steaming hot rice, and I took a big bite of my mother’s pickled vegetables.

In this way, the three of them sat smilingly by my side, watching me eat alone. I was used to this, and while I picked up a piece of potato that was just right for eating, I asked, “Mom, is my eldest sister coming back for the New Year this year?”

My eldest sister took the college entrance exam last year and got into Beijing Medical University. She did really well and was the top scorer in the exam last year. She could have gone to Peking University with her grades, but she insisted on going to Beijing Medical University, which had been her dream since she was little.

“Why not? I received a letter from her the day before yesterday, saying that she will come back early this year, and that you must wait for her to come back before you leave after the Spring Festival.” My mother said with a smile, but I noticed that her eyes were red.

I don’t know if she will leave after the Spring Festival, but I can feel that the atmosphere in the house has changed. As the 15-year-old promise draws closer, this matter has now become the most taboo thing in my family.

I didn’t want to talk about it, so I quickly shoveled a few mouthfuls of rice into my mouth and asked in a vague voice, “Second sister, you have two years before the college entrance exam. What school are you going to take?”

My second sister’s grades are also very good, not much worse than my eldest sister’s. I’m also quite concerned about where she can go to school. It would be best if she could go to Beijing, where the three of us could still get together. Old man Jiang’s intention was to take me to Beijing first.

“I haven’t decided yet. I like liberal arts, so I’ll probably apply to a school in Beijing.” It was clear that my second sister had the same idea as me. Everyone in my family knew that I would have to go to Beijing after I turned 15.

I have no idea what will happen after I go there or what I will have to do, but my parents will always feel more at ease if my two sisters can be in Beijing.

“Look at you, don’t talk about these things, that’s the fate of our third child! He’s got to do great things.” My father lit a cigarette and said something to my mother.

“Yes, now that the family is doing well, compared to the county, it is at a good level. We have to thank Master Jiang. It is actually a blessing for Sanwa to follow him.” My mother is easily sentimental. She shed tears on one side, reluctant on the other, but encouraging me at the same time.

I buried my head in my meal, and I couldn’t tell what I was feeling. That evening four and a half years ago, when my family moved, it came back to me. I desperately tried not to think about it, and after a few minutes of idle chatter, I was able to distract myself.

Before I knew it, I had already eaten three bowls of rice. My second sister sighed and said, “Brother, you really can eat. Every time you have to eat a small pot of rice.”

“Second sister, you don’t understand. People who practice consume a lot and need a lot. How can they not eat more to replenish it?” I simply said. In fact, this reason is complicated to explain. In short, once you start practicing martial arts, the money you spend on food is like running water.

I always suspected that the old man liked to live on the mountain to hunt wild game and save money on food.

“Yes, yes, my younger brother is a cultivator now, not a common mortal like us. I think in two years, he will be able to achieve enlightenment.” My second sister smiled, and a deep dimple appeared on her face.

I was quite modest and said, “The fruit of enlightenment is still far off. I dare not think about it, I dare not think about it.”

“If you really become a fruit, you’ll become a real good-for-nothing. Haha…” My second sister was so happy that I put down my chopsticks and pinched her face. The two of us were in a big mess.

My father looked on with a smile, but my mother slapped her thighs and said, “In that case, there must be someone in the countryside who is also practicing.”

When my mother said this, I was stunned.