Chapter 3: A 20-Year Reunion

This weekend, the April sun was already quite bright, but my mood was not. After leaving the barber shop, my beloved long hair was gone, and I had short hair with bangs no longer than my eyebrows.

Master was crouching at the foot of the wall of the barber shop, basking in the sun and waiting for me outside. People who passed by would mistake him for an old farmer going into town. An old lady even warmly greeted him and asked if he had any authentic local honey from his hometown.

I walked out of the barber shop and happened to see this. The master came over to me like he had been saved and said to the old lady, “Look, I’m here to see my grandson. I don’t sell vegetables or honey.”

After the old lady left, my master looked at me and nodded, saying, “Well, you look much better.”

Then we walked back. After a few steps, my master said to me, “Well, today is quite important. Go and tidy up.”

I don’t know why, but my master dragged me back to the barber shop, sat me down in the chair, and told the other barber, “Give him some hair wax and a more stable haircut.”

Without waiting for me to object, he lay down on the chair again and said, “First, give me a shave, then take good care of my hair.

I was speechless, and even began to suspect that the party that evening was a blind date.

Yang Jingtong, that kid, always finds an excuse to throw a party at home. These lives are far from the lives of ordinary people, and they belong to another class, a unique life.

What is popular in that circle is something that ordinary people will never be able to experience in their lives until five years later.

After a good haircut at the barber shop, we went back. When we got back, the master solemnly put on a set of Zhongshan suits. Although at that time, more fashionable suits had already become popular, the master refused to accept them.

However, Master rarely wore them properly, so the two suits he had were both custom-made. The person who made them for him also made suits for many leaders.

When he was wearing clothes, I was having a headache picking out clothes. I didn’t go out with my master to buy clothes a few times. I bought my own clothes, so… it was not easy to choose, because in my master’s eyes, they were all improper clothes.

Since the occasion I am attending today is so formal, although I have been somewhat rebellious in recent years, I don’t want to lose my master’s face.

While I was still looking for clothes, my master had already come to my room, put down a bag and said, “Wear this. Today you have to behave yourself.”

When I opened the bag, I saw a light gray suit and a white shirt with a sharp collar.

I said that my master had measured my size a few days ago, and this set of Zhongshan suits looked nothing out of the ordinary. When I put it on, I realized that it fit perfectly. Looking in the mirror, I had a 4:6 part haircut, and with this set of Zhongshan suits, I looked very stable, and at least five years older.

“Put these on,” my master took out something and handed it to me.

I almost fainted when I saw it. Wasn’t this the pair of glasses that Yang Jingtong had given me? Why did Master want me to wear them?

“Master, I’m not nearsighted,” I thought I’d better tell the truth.

“I know, you just put them on when I tell you to. You’re a member of the Shan family, so you have to make me look good,” my master said.

What is going on? I reluctantly put on the glasses, and I was very curious about why my master was so serious.

“Well, my apprentice is not bad, he can hold up the shop.” Seeing me put on the glasses, the master was finally satisfied and took me on a trip.

Sitting in the red car, I was a little uncomfortable. It wasn’t that I was uncomfortable with the car, because all my friends have cars. I also ride in cars all the time. What I was uncomfortable with was that my master was riding in the car.

Master has the authority to mobilize a Hongqi as a special car, but we have been in Beijing for so many years, and he has never used it once. What is going on today? Even the car is so solemn.

Master was sitting next to me, leaning back in his seat and closing his eyes to rest. I finally couldn’t help but say, “Master, if you don’t tell me clearly, I’m definitely getting out of the car and not going.”

The master opened his eyes and looked at me. After a long silence, he finally said, “Today I’m going to meet your uncles and your junior brothers. I haven’t let you meet them for so many years because I haven’t met them myself, but today I have to meet them.”

I was stunned. I had only heard about my uncles when my master talked about my ancestors when I was a child. I hadn’t seen them for so many years that I thought they were just legends. I never thought I would meet them today, and from what my master said, they were in Beijing?

“Master, they are in Beijing? Why didn’t you tell me? Do I have younger brothers?” I couldn’t tell what I felt. They were also part of the lineage of the Grand Master, and I felt a natural affinity for them, but I had never met them before, and I felt very strange. I was looking forward to it, but I also felt a very scared feeling, afraid that I would not be able to make it, and that I would lose my master’s face.

I now understand why my master made such a big deal of it.

“Your fellow disciples all entered the school earlier than you, so they should be your senior. But the Grand Master said that the Mountain School is the oldest, so in terms of seniority, you are the senior, the most senior! So, do you understand?” The Master said this in a light tone, and I suddenly felt the pressure double.

I couldn’t help but say, “Master, we haven’t seen each other for so many years, why do we have to meet today?”

“Because it is a rule set by your master that we meet every twenty years. This rule, your master once said, is unchangeable!” The master said solemnly, but a trace of loneliness flashed in his eyes.

“Master, in normal times, did the master say that we couldn’t meet?” I asked curiously.

“No, you don’t need to ask. I won’t tell you.” The master leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes again. He’s been like this lately, looking very tired.

I shut up. I knew that if the old man didn’t want to talk, it would be futile for me to ask any more.

The car drove towards the outskirts of Beijing. Along the way, Master was relatively silent. When the car reached a certain place, Master finally spoke, saying, “Sanwa, we’re almost there.”

I don’t know why, but I suddenly became nervous and sat up straight in the car.

The master smiled and said, “You don’t need to be so nervous. I just want to tell you that our generation is our generation’s business, but your generation has also grown up. After all, we are from the same family. Get along well. You are the eldest brother. I hope to see you and your brothers get along well. That kind of affection is very precious, you know?

“Mmm, mmm…” I was a little nervous, but I kept nodding. Could I not be nervous?

The car finally stopped. It was a quiet place, surrounded by sparse two-story buildings.

The driver got out of the car and opened the door for me and my master. I got out first, and then my master. After looking around, my master suddenly sighed and then said to me, “Let’s go.”

I followed my master in silence and with a nervous heart. Finally, we arrived in front of a two-story building that was not very eye-catching. My master stopped and I became even more nervous. Is this the place?

My master turned to look at me, and suddenly a large hand gently patted my stiff back, his eyes full of gentle encouragement.

I looked at my master gratefully. I understood his meaning, which was to show me that he had confidence in me.

“You are the eldest brother, the eldest, so don’t be nervous.” As he spoke, he already pressed the doorbell.

I was puzzled. If that was the case, then Master was also the eldest brother. Why did he never mention it? When he talked about the past, he still referred to the other brother. Or maybe he didn’t say it, and I just understood it that way.

Could it be that this is the reason why they never meet?

While I was thinking, the large iron gate to the small courtyard outside the two-story building opened. A middle-aged woman opened it. She looked at me with some confusion, but when she saw the master, she said nothing, only, “Uncle Li has been waiting for you for a long time. I’ll take you in.”