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墨書 Inktalez
When the evil spirit dissipated, the child's cries also came to an end. He shouted as he struggled free from me and ran towards his father. Even though he had just been lifted high by his father, nearly causing his own death, in his heart, that was still the closest person to him. Watching the child shake the unconscious young man vigorously, my feelings of injustice eased considerably.
Although the evil spirit was indeed worthy of sympathy, it was still not as important as this family before me.
Living people hold far more significance than those who have died.
This is a very realistic yet practical truth. When I came to understand this, I knew I had drawn one step closer to Second Uncle.
Ajan Dong checked on the condition of the people in the house and reported that aside from the middle-aged woman who was more seriously injured, everyone else was fine. The young woman in the bedroom had merely been choked into unconsciousness and would be fine after some rest. I nodded and glanced at the severed finger that the young man had unconsciously spat out, then walked over to Boss Wen and shook him awake.
When Boss Wen groggily awoke, he immediately shouted "No!" I reassured him that everything was fine now; the evil spirit had dissipated and would no longer disturb his family.
Boss Wen was overwhelmed with joy and couldn't help but cry. I felt no sympathy for him and said, "The ambulance should arrive soon; we need to leave. Eighty thousand in reward; I hope you can pay it off before you turn yourself in. Otherwise, don't blame me for being rude. One evil spirit has been dispelled, but there are still the spirits of that couple to deal with."
I truly did not understand how I could threaten him so harshly at that moment, and how natural it felt. Boss Wen looked tense and nodded repeatedly, promising to transfer the money first thing tomorrow morning when the bank opened. I left him my account details and reminded him to burn the note after making the transfer.
In reality, this was unnecessary because after Boss Wen turned himself in, he couldn't afford the high compensation demanded by the victims' families. When the police investigated his finances, they directly found my information from the bank. I told them this was money I had lent Boss Wen for purchasing a shop but didn't know why it had been returned.
They were suspicious because we didn't have much interaction. I explained that I bought a Passat from Boss Wen and thought he was a decent person; it was that simple. Perhaps my acting was too convincing or maybe because I had coordinated with Boss Wen beforehand, when he also admitted to borrowing eighty thousand from me, the police had no way to proceed.
Later one day, I passed by a vegetable market and instinctively glanced over. I noticed that the shop had already changed hands to one selling seafood. After asking around, I learned that Boss Wen's family had moved away without anyone knowing where they went.
Perhaps they were still in the ingredient business or maybe they moved to another city; it's hard to say and I wasn't too keen on digging deeper. All I knew was that in this matter, I played a rather unsavory role.
I killed a spirit seeking rightful revenge while allowing someone who should have paid with their life to live. The more I tried to be a good person, the more I felt like a villain in the end; it's quite ironic.
I gave half of that eighty thousand to Ajan Dong. He originally only needed thirty thousand but said an extra ten thousand would suffice; it didn't take much effort on his part either. However, I thought since these Ajans would be residing in the country for a while, it would be wise to build good relations in advance just in case they needed something later on. Ajan Dong expressed great satisfaction with this arrangement; later when Second Uncle called me, he mentioned that Ajan Dong praised me highly.
I chuckled as Second Uncle said, "Look at you; feeling proud?"
I certainly wouldn't say I'm proud; I just believe I've handled a few matters quite well. However, to Second Uncle, my approach seems utterly foolish. Especially when I instructed Boss Wen not to disclose anything; that was just plain stupid!
In the dealer business, what is the worst fear?
No connections! No reputation!
After saving a whole family and exhausting myself driving away evil spirits, I still thought about being an anonymous do-gooder? That's insane! Such things should be announced to the world; it would be great to get an advertisement on national television! These kinds of stories naturally attract people's attention and spread easily. The more people know, the better it is for business. Eventually, word will spread from one person to ten, then to a hundred, and the path will open up naturally.
So, Second Uncle was quite displeased with my insistence that Boss Wen keep it a secret.
This is purely a merchant's mindset, but it doesn't apply to me.
I never thought about getting rich from being a dealer; I just want to earn money without compromising my conscience, even if it's less.
Second Uncle was left speechless by me, saying that I was just being foolish and would have to suffer losses a few more times to learn my lesson. Earning money without compromising my conscience... If I wanted to do charity, I might as well open a nursing home and adopt stray cats and dogs from the streets.
I chuckled and said, "Sure, when you get old, come live with me for free. I'll personally take care of you 24/7."
"Get lost!"
Once Boss Wen's matter was settled, I finally made my way to school.
Hu Xiaoyi and Liang Xi immediately bombarded me with questions. I had planned to arrive early and feast at school, but since I came so late, they had been waiting long enough for the flowers to wilt.
I laughed heartily and said that I got delayed on the road because a beautiful woman insisted on getting my phone number. Hu Xiaoyi replied, "You’re just blowing smoke; even a toad wouldn’t look your way!"
I had no intention of telling them about Boss Wen's situation because deep down, I didn't want anyone to know. Looking back now, that thought seems childish. It was just a business deal; how does it concern anyone else? But at that time, I was stubborn about it.
Life in my junior year was much more relaxed than before. Having not studied well in the first two years, I knew that graduating through legitimate means was nearly impossible for me. Without Second Uncle's help, I'd probably be stuck with only a high school diploma for life. The only thing I felt good about was buying a second-hand Passat, which gave me a bit of status among my classmates. At that time, very few people around me owned cars; not just students but even middle-aged people who had been working for over ten or twenty years struggled to afford one.
Moreover, as the Financial Crisis loomed closer this year, many investors from the mainland were feeling a strong sense of danger.
In 2008, housing prices hit rock bottom, and many developers were desperate enough to consider jumping off buildings. However, the lower the prices fell, the fewer buyers there were. Most ordinary people wondered if prices would drop even further. After all, a house is at least several dozen square meters, and can be as much as a hundred square meters. Even a drop of one hundred per square meter would mean a total reduction of ten thousand.
In the first half of 2008, I sold a lot of amulets at school. Some were purchased by classmates, but more were bought by local businesspeople.
Second Uncle was right; school was indeed a great place to expand one's network. There were all kinds of people here, and you could never tell if the person walking towards you was a rich second generation or the child of an official, or perhaps the descendant of three generations of poor farmers or the grandson of a landlord.
Businesspeople tend to trust themselves when things are going well and rely on others when they are not. I don't know if this is a virtue or a flaw; I just remember a foreign philosopher saying that when you are lost, it is best to trust someone who can clearly point out the direction, even if what they say might be wrong.
Against this backdrop, my business began to expand beyond the school and gradually into society.
I remember in the second half of my junior year, a real estate developer came to see me. He was in a tight spot, with dozens of properties weighing him down and funds unable to flow back in. Creditors were waiting at his door every day. He was just a small developer; compared to those capital giants with billions at stake, his pressure was relatively lighter.
So when he came to see me, he appeared relatively relaxed.
He wanted to buy a fortune-attracting amulet from me—any kind would do, as long as it worked well. Ideally, it would help him sell all his properties overnight.
I couldn't help but laugh and said that if such an amulet existed, who would still be in business? They could just sit at home and wait for money to rain down.
The real estate developer's surname was Yin; he was in his fifties and was an old classmate of my senior Guo's uncle. This connection wasn't particularly close; he was just asking around to see if he could get a satisfactory answer. Seeing my uncertainty in response, he immediately showed signs of wanting to withdraw.
With Second Uncle's business thriving, I was also eager to expand mine and naturally wouldn't let this potential client slip away.
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