Chapter 09
“I am so sorry, so sorry… Because they were framed, they looked like they had a bit of a Western feel to them, though I couldn’t tell what was painted on them… I just thought I shouldn’t appear too insincere, so I…”
“That’s fucking me in the paintings!”
“Ah, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I couldn’t tell… That’s not what I meant… Zhao Gongzi, please don’t hit me, don’t hit me…”
Hmm? Could they be talking about the paintings I did back when I was in school? At the time, my Western art teacher highly appreciated my work and held a small art exhibition for me.
My classmates all said they couldn’t understand them.
Which was actually quite excellent. Art that can be understood by the vast majority of people can only bring me money while I am alive; it cannot bring me fame after I die.
Later, the paintings were all bought by a wealthy merchant. This merchant was a business associate of Fourth Master Zhao who had struck it rich through speculation. He claimed that the more he couldn’t understand a piece of artwork, the more determined he was to buy it. He truly possessed remarkable insightāhe thoroughly deserved to become a wealthy merchant through speculation.
Jin Xian’er actually happened to be here too. “Zhao Gongzi, please calm your anger. It’s fine as long as the items can be retrieved. Will Qiu Xiansheng be joining us tonight as well?”
Zhao Gongzi barked at him, “None of your fucking business! And you are not allowed to wear that red outfit!”
Jin Xian’er asked, “Which outfit do you mean?”
Zhao Gongzi snapped, “Just don’t wear red!”
Jin Xian’er replied, “But I don’t have the money to buy new clothes.”
Zhao Gongzi snarled, “Damn it! I have money! Take it! But if you dare use my money to buy things for him as gifts again, I will skin you alive!”
Jin Xian’er said, “Oh, I’ll remember that. Does Qiu Xiansheng still like that set of teacups I gave him?”
I liked it very much. It was handmade by Jin Xian’er himself. His hands were just as incredibly skilled as his voice; the things he crafted were good enough to be sold in department stores.
Zhao Gongzi let out a cold laugh and spoke to the warehouse worker. “Fine, give the paintings back to me. I’ll donate this set of teacups instead. Datou, bring the things out.”
“Zhao Gongzi, my name is Hao Da…”
“Cut the crap, are you looking for a beating again?”
Jin Xian’er protested, “That was a gift I gave to Qiu Xiansheng.”
Zhao Gongzi said high-and-mighty, “Heās the one who told me to throw it out anyway. What a piece of junk. Do you even know how much the cups he uses for drinking water cost? Even the cup he uses to rinse his mouth has a gold rim.”
For me, rinsing my mouth every day is a highly grueling ordeal. I always keep my eyes shut tightly while rinsing.
Jin Xian’er said good-naturedly, “Then I will buy it back right now.”
Zhao Gongzi declared, “I am donating it right this instant!”
Just then, the person in charge from earlier returned. “Where is Qiu Xiansheng? Qiu Xiansheng!”
Zhao Gongzi barked, “Fuck your mother! That’s my coat!”
The person in charge explained, “No, Zhao Gongzi, Qiu Xiansheng donated this to our charity auction ball. But he just came over a moment ago saying he wanted to trade this pocket watch back for it… Has Qiu Xiansheng left?”
Could you perhaps have gone into a bit more detail? Why not just recite the recipe for stewing a dog while you were at it?
Zhao Gongzi roared, “Fuck your mother! That’s my pocket watch!”
A wristwatch looks much better than a pocket watch. For young peopleāand especially for Zhao Gongziāhe really ought to stop copying Old Mr. Zhao’s style of dress. If he truly wants to emulate him, he should copy Fourth Master Zhaoās vegetarianism instead. In his youth, Fourth Master Zhao had his life saved by a dog, and he has never eaten dog meat since.
Zhao Gongzi bellowed, “Qiu Yixin, get the fuck out here! I knew you didn’t just step out to buy roasted sweet potatoes!”
Appeasing an angry Zhao Gongzi is actually a very simple matter.
If I ever claimed it wasn’t easy before, I was probably just bargaining for a higher price with someone else.
I stepped out in front of them and slowly cast my gaze over the paintings and the teacups on the table.
However, Zhao Gongzi had also gained a bit of experience by now, so he immediately struck first to shift the blame. “How did my clothes and pocket watch end up here?”
I said, “Perhaps they came looking for those paintings of mine.”
Zhao Gongzi grumbled, “Datou caused this. I said long ago that we should fire him!”
I pointed out, “When my paintings were bought by Boss Sun, Hao Da was still back in his hometown.”
All Hao Da wanted was for his boss to call him by his actual name instead of his nickname. I had achieved that for him, and so Hao Da traded his loyalty and Zhao Gongziās daily schedule over to me.
Zhao Gongzi complained, “Damn it, whenever there’s a fortune to be made, you always give it away to outsiders. You said these pieces of junk would sell for big money in the future. The paints were all bought by me, and the person painted on them is me too! Did you ask me when you sold them? You didn’t even share a single dime with me!”
If I remembered correctly, all that money went toward paying back Second Brother for his paperweight. When Zhao Gongzi was a child, he smashed one of his second brother’s antique paperweights. He had been paying him back off and on for years, and to this day the debt remained unpaid. Every month, the absolute first thing I did upon receiving my salary was to wire money to Second Brother to pay off the debt.
It wasn’t that Zhao Gongzi didn’t have the money to pay it back; he was simply stingy. He would rather spend five hundred silver dollars custom-ordering a hideous trench coat than pay back his debt. Everyone only knows that I work so many different jobs, but who could possibly know the bitterness in my heart?
Last time, when he clutched a newly purchased vase belonging to Second Brother, my heart nearly leapt straight out of my chest. He actually went so far as to suspect that I had fallen in love with Second Brother.
If I had fallen in love with Second Brother, I would have sold myself to pay off the debt long ago.
The one I love is Fifth Brother; I will not allow anyone to misunderstand my love.
Zhao Gongzi is truly loathsome.
Zhao Gongzi ordered, “Datou, take the clothes, pocket watch, and paintings. We’re leaving.”
I placed the teacups made by Jin Xian’er back into their box and scooped it up into my arms.
Jin Xian’er offered a smile. “If Qiu Xiansheng doesn’t like them, it’s just as well to donate them. Doing a good deed counts as accumulating virtue on my behalf too. Perhaps it might grant me a bit more blessings in my next life.”
Jin Xian’er genuinely does not have it easy. He and I both come from bitter, impoverished backgrounds, and I feel a deep sense of empathy for him. Sigh, he even has to endure the temperamental and volatile Zhao Gongzi just to make a living; he sounds more and more like me.
Yet Zhao Gongzi was still cursing. “Fuck your mother! That’s not what you were saying just a second ago!”
I set the teacups back onto the table and said to the person in charge, “I am donating this set of teacups. They were handmade by Jin Xiansheng, so I believe they will fetch a high price at the auction.”
Zhao Gongzi barked, “Datou!”
