Da Huang really could fix appliances; that was once his livelihood. Later, after we met, we started a fake magazine company. My brothers began with the Yellow Pages and now have transitioned to a thriving portal website. Recently, they've been exploring group buying. Beijing's food industry is a massive market, and the established old brands are the ones making money. For chain restaurants to outperform these long-standing businesses, they can't surpass them in quality, so they must resort to price wars. Da Huang, Fatty Brother, and the others have already started strategizing in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, intending to use the website as a catalyst for this price war.
Times change, but Da Huang seems to have remained the same. Life hasn't been filled with too many ups and downs, twists and turns. He’s still like this, occasionally showing off his past achievements.
Life these past few years hasn't been as smooth as imagined, and Da Huang has gone through quite a bit with me. But my Da Huang brother is fundamentally good-natured. I think his progress is all in the exaggerations, each one bigger than the last.
Recently, his daily bragging involves run-ins with Red Spade Q, where they trade barbs.
...
"Brother is an expert, rest assured, completely at ease. You and Lin Han... forget it, I won't say. Let's talk about Mr. Ke. Those scoundrels wasted our time. They call themselves criminals, but they wouldn't dare do anything. Even if they stole candy from a child, we could say our efforts weren't in vain. But them... they even use crosswalks when crossing the street. You see!"
...
Speaking of these "Mr. Ke," it's truly strange. They appeared out of nowhere, claiming to have targeted people from the Olympic Committee, yet they were essentially nobodies, with no plans, no actions, no objectives...
Why is Teacher Wang Ren tracking them?
They have nothing to do with "Mr. Ke" Ke Yingying. The only connection is an archer named Ping Fan. That Ping Fan is not simple, though he's in prison now, reportedly accused of murder by his wife.
Everyone has their own life, and others have no right to interfere. I believe Ping Fan wasn't defeated by schemes and tricks. I believe even more in the love he spoke of. He told me the person targeting me is someone who loves me. Who is it? What kind of love is this? Romantic love, platonic love, or familial love? At first, I thought it was Chen Ling, but that was wishful thinking. Regardless of its truth, Chen Ling has never shown me any affection. Shi Ying? Not her either. Shi Ying's understanding is more like Zhang Si's quote, "Having one true friend is a lifetime of no regrets."
...
"What happened to those Mr. Ke in the end?"
"They were arrested."
"Didn't they not commit any crimes?"
"The TF people said they had criminal intent, so they were arrested and are being interrogated."
"Arrested without evidence?"
"There's always some."
"What evidence?"
Seeing my question, Da Huang glared at me. I thought he was going to say something important, but he said, "Doing a job, whether it's right or wrong, look, what do we do about this?"
Amazing. The main body is almost assembled, but a part isn't installed.
"Where does this go?"
"There shouldn't be such a part!"
Da Huang stared at the part, confused.
"Brother, are you really an appliance repairman?"
"Yes, before I knew you, I made a living doing this. My reputation was excellent."
"Then what's with this part?"
Da Huang scratched his head anxiously. "There really shouldn't be this part. I'm not mistaken; I'm an expert."
"But you just installed it backward earlier?"
"Aren't those two different things? Installing it backward was carelessness. It shouldn't be impossible to install. Brother, trust me, this part shouldn't be in here."
I felt incredibly awkward hearing this. "Brother, but you took it off from the top."
"Oh, right!"
"Do you really know how to fix appliances? I feel like you're just cleaning it by taking it apart."
"I couldn't find anything broken. Brother, you still don't believe me. I really know how to fix appliances. In my repair career, there's only one thing I couldn't fix."
"What was it?"
"A phonograph. That phonograph was too old."
"Brother, the appliance we're fixing today is also called a phonograph."
"If you break one, you gain experience, right? This one shouldn't be broken. This part truly shouldn't be inside. If it's in here, it's wrong. Let's try turning it on."
I looked at Da Huang with a wry smile. "Brother, how about we go for a drink?"
"That's fine. Don't worry about the phonograph issue either. You just want to listen to records, right? We can just buy one!"
...
Da Huang and I drank and chatted, listening to his boasts. He left well past midnight. I suggested he stay the night, but he insisted on going home, saying his wife would be uneasy if he stayed out, and that a few drinks were fine. Women, he said, feared men straying the most.
Since that was the case, I had to let him go.
Back in my room, I intended to read but my gaze unconsciously fell on the phonograph. My vision blurred from the alcohol, and it seemed like the device was brand new. Perhaps it was the drinks clouding my memory. I had forgotten that one part wasn't installed. I managed to power it up, put on a black record, and start the phonograph.
Da Huang's confidence was well-placed. Perhaps the part truly shouldn't have been in the phonograph. Without it, the phonograph "came alive." The sound was distinctive, with that vintage Shanghai charm from thirty years ago, a gentle humming and warbling... As I listened, I felt drowsy. In my stupor, I thought I heard the sound of firecrackers, like New Year's.
Perhaps it was the music that stirred my imagination. A vivid scene unfolded in my mind: colorful sparks bursting in the sky, a coin appearing and spinning before my eyes, plummeting like a meteor.
*Bang!* The coin landed amidst a crowd. The bright flames caused cries of alarm. A person walked over from a distance, bumped into me, offered an apologetic smile, nodded courteously, and then disappeared from my sight.
I saw his face and couldn't hide my astonishment. Yes, I recognized him. He was Zhang Si, the foremost of the Five Ghosts. From the very beginning, I never knew the true names of Wen De's disciples. I only knew that Zhang Si was indeed Zhang Si, and Zhu Guang was also Zhu Guang. However, starting from Wang Ren, and then Li Jiu and Cao Shi, these were stage names.
Their names, combined with the original Zhang Si and Zhu Guang, formed the "Five Ghosts."
In essence, considering Zhang Si's persona, the five of them likely represented the "Five Ghosts of the East" and the "Seven Deadly Sins of the West."
Of the Seven Deadly Sins, Zhang Si personified three. Afterward, Pride, Lust, Gluttony, and Envy were respectively associated with Wang Ren, Zhu Guang, Cao Shi, and Li Jiu.
...
Was I dreaming?
Why was I recalling such distant memories? "Five Little Ghosts of the East," "Seven Deadly Sins of the West"—this truly sounded like the naming style of old Master Wen De.
"Zhang Si!"
I called out, but Zhang Si seemed not to hear me. His body split into three identical figures, laughing and chatting as they vanished into the darkness.
Looking into the darkness, I saw a flicker of candlelight in the distance. As the candlelight wavered, I saw Zhang Si again. Zhang Si was wearing a hat and had a youthful face. He was on a couch in a room. Another person was on the couch, dressed in trousers and a shirt, sitting by the bed. I had seen this attire before; it was typical for women around my mother's age in their youth—dark braided hair, a light shirt, and trousers. This woman was playing with Zhang Si's hair with slender fingers. Zhang Si tilted his head back, gazing at the ceiling, seemingly lost in thought.
"Failed again?"
"Mmm!"
"Is that old guy that hard to deal with?"
"Who knows?"
Zhang Si replied with a sigh.
"Why not just bribe a few people and get it done directly!"
"No, that's a last resort."
Hearing Zhang Si say this, the woman pouted, displeased. "Last resort, last resort. You can't fight them, and you don't want to use dirty tactics. But look, it's been over ten years. His disciple Zhu Guang has gained influence, and I'm getting old. The gold hidden at home before the liberation is almost all spent. Are you going to make me be an actress my whole life?"
"This time, I will kill him..."