Chapter 3 – Flowered Flags (1/2)

Chapter 3 – Flowered Flags

Part 1

April 16. Afternoon.

For Song Changsheng, the day started like any other day. But after lunch, something happened that would never again happen in his lifetime.

Song Changsheng owned the only coffin shop in Liu Village. [1]

Perhaps because the residents of Liu Village lived simple lives, and had relatively long life expectancies, business wasn’t very good. Sometimes income wasn’t even enough to cover expenses. Who would have ever thought that he would get some business after lunch?

He sat drowsily behind the counter. The april wind blew in through the window and across his old, languid frame. It seemed as if it were not content.

Even more annoying, just when he fell asleep, he got woken up by a young beggar.

Usually, when beggars came calling, he would at least give them a couple copper coins. But today he didn’t give anything.

Who could have imagined that the beggar would pull out a bunch of silver pieces and hand them over.

It turned out the young beggar hadn’t come to ask for alms.

“I want to buy some coffins. Five of them. Is this enough silver?”

Song Changsheng stared in shock.

To be wrapped in a straw mat after death was usually good enough for a beggar, yet this young beggar wanted, not just a coffin, but five coffins.

Song Changsheng had been in the coffin business for thirty years, and had never encountered a situation as strange as this.

Even more strange, after loading the coffins onto the cart, he traveled with the young beggar outside of the village to a mulberry forest to collect the corpses, except there were no corpses to be seen.

“No corpses? Why did you buy the coffins?”

He wanted to ask this of the young beggar, but he’d already disappeared. And he’d left behind the over twenty pieces of silver he’d paid for the coffins.

You might think the young beggar was playing some kind of practical joke, but the pieces of silver were no joke.

The more Song Changsheng thought about it, the less it made sense.

Even more unimaginable, just when he returned to his shop with the five coffins, another person came looking to buy.

This time, the buyer was another beggar. And he also bought five coffins!

This beggar had a face covered with pockmarks, and looked much fiercer than the earlier young beggar.

Song Changsheng didn’t dare to ask any questions other than, “The deceased you intend to place in the coffins, where are they? Where shall I send coffins to?”

With an expressionless face, the pockmarked beggar said, “That’s a secret. A secret worth your life.” His manner of speaking solemn, he continued, “If you knew who the deceased are, I’m afraid you wouldn’t live another day.”

With that, he procured his own cart to take the coffins away. Song Changsheng was so scared he couldn’t speak.

***

He couldn’t sleep the whole night.

Part 2

The young beggar was as confused as Song Changsheng as to why the corpses by the mulberry forest suddenly disappeared.

When he’d left, they were there. And they were definitely dead.

Goiter-man had put every last drop of power into his fist, apparently expecting to die together with the young beggar. So when his attack hit the tree, he’d dropped dead.

The other four corpses were already growing cold.

Before leaving, the young beggar examined the bodies closely.

He didn’t really want to buy coffins for them.

They’d tried to steal his money and kill him, and it wasn’t easy to get silver. He’d prefer to spend silver on sweets, bread, alcohol and meat. Or maybe put into the the gong of the girl with the braids and long legs.

But he still went to buy the coffins.

If one wants to live, it’s hard to avoid situations where you have to do something you don’t really want to.

***

It was impossible for the young beggar to guess who had taken away the corpses. And even more impossible for him to know that the pockmarked beggar went to Song Changsheng to buy five coffins.

He just wanted to get away from this place as quickly as possible.

By dusk, he’d reached Jinan. After wandering around for a while, he caught sight of Wu Tao.

It seemed these two had some sort of predestined connection.

***

Part 3

The corpses in the mulberry forest had been taken away by the man in the bluish-green clothing.

That happened when the young beggar went to buy the coffins.

The man in bluish-green had of course not truly let the young beggar go free. He had continued to follow him, just hadn’t made any move on him.

When the young beggar returned and found the bodies missing, he didn’t go looking for them.

By purchasing coffins for them, he’d done all that he could. He didn’t care who took the bodies away; it didn’t have anything to do with him, and he’d lost interest in the matter.

But the man in bluish-green found the five bodies extremely interesting. He called his subordinate to go purchase the five coffins and place the bodies inside. And then he let the young beggar go.

What did these five people have to do with him? Why would he take care of their bodies? Why did he suddenly let the young beggar go?

His subordinates didn’t dare to ask any questions, and he didn’t plan to explain anything to them. He just gave a simple order.

“No matter where you see that kid in the future, don’t do anything to him.” He had a very serious expression on his pale face. “Now get these coffins to Jinan, immediately.”

***

By the time the young beggar saw Wu Tao, the coffins had already entered the city.

Part 4

Night. For most people, it was quite different than most other nights. The business situation in Jinan was desolate. Many big shops that normally were quite successful, had long since closed their doors. Even customers that had made appointments days in advance were turned away.

Even two families who had reserved rooms for weddings at the “Great Three Yuan” restaurant had to find different locations.

No one knew why this was happening. The managers and clerks kept their lips sealed.

The only clue available was that all of the businesses were owned by the famous multi-millionaire Sun Jicheng. That, and strapping men on fine horses were constantly speeding in and out of his tightly guarded mansion.

***

When the young beggar caught sight of Wu Tao, he sat in an average sized eatery, looking a little depressed. Two dishes of fine food sat in front of him, as well as a cup of alcohol, none of which had he touched.

The young beggar stood in the street across from him, just looking at him, for quite some time. After a while, he decided to join him, try to cheer him up, and of course at the same time help himself to some of the food and alcohol.

Unfortunately, the sharp-faced man didn’t seem to appreciate his intentions, and in fact completely ignored him. It was as if he didn’t even see him standing there.

The young beggar laughed, showing off his dimples.

He was not the type of person to give up easily on the chance to have some good food and alcohol.

Even though this old fellow was stingy to death, the young beggar was confident he had a way to deal with him.

So he sat down in front of the man and said, “Did you lose your coin purse?”

He’d thought for a while about what to say, and knew that with this sentence, Wu Tao wouldn’t be able to ignore him any longer.

And of course Wu Tao fell right into his trap. He suddenly looked up and asked, “How do you know I lost my coin purse?”

“Of course I know.” Then he retorted, “Do you want me to get it back for you?”

As he spoke, he grabbed some chopsticks from the bamboo tube on the table and helped himself to the platter of pig ears and offal. [2]

Wu Tao watched him eat.

The money in the coin purse was enough to buy a whole pig.

“You can really get it back for me?”

“Absolutely. No joke.“

“When can you get it back?”

“Right now,” he said. “I can get it back immediately.”

By this time, he had already half finished the platter of Mushu pork and fried bread.

“Okay, where is it?” asked Wu Tao eagerly.

“Right here.” The young beggar continued to eat with his right hand, and pulled out the coin purse with his left. “Is this it?”

“That’s right, it’s mine.”

The coin purse was his, but sadly, it had no money in it.

“It used to have twenty three silver and change in it.”

“I know,” said the young beggar, eating even more quickly. “I promised to get the coin purse back, I never said anything about the money inside.”

“What happened to it?”

“I spent it all.” Before Wu Tao could get angry, the young beggar continued, “I’ll make a bet with you that you can’t guess what I spent it on.”

With the silver gone, there was no point in getting angry. Wu Tao just shook his head and sighed. “You could live for a month on twenty three silver. How did you possibly spend it all at once?”

“I bought something.”

“What did you buy?”

“I bought five coffins.”

Wu Tao couldn’t even heave a sigh if he wanted to. He stared at the young beggar in shock, wearing the same expression on his face that he might wear if he suddenly stepped into a pile of dog poop.

“Why did you buy coffins?” he blurted.

“I wanted to help you do something good with your silver,” replied the young beggar. “I just happened to see five dead people on the road. So I bought coffins for them and at the same time helped you build up some good karma.”

The young beggar sighed. “These kinds of opportunities don’t come along very often. You’re really lucky to have suddenly have such a chance.”

Wu Tao stared at him, gaping, not sure whether to laugh, or cry, or bite the kid.

After a while, he laughed bitterly. “When you put it that way,” he said, “it seems I’m actually really f*cking lucky.”

It turned out the man could curse.

The young beggar laughed.

“I knew you were the kind of person who can tell the difference between good and bad.” The young beggar was purposely trying to get under his skin. “If another opportunity like that comes along, I’ll do the same thing again.”

It seemed like he was trying to drive the man crazy.

Wu Tao stared at him for a while, then suddenly slapped his palm down onto the table. “Bring alcohol,” he called loudly to the waiter. “I want twenty pounds of your finest cabbage and five appetizer dishes, the finest type, nothing cheap.”

The young beggar was shocked.

The stingy old man must have gone crazy, otherwise why would he suddenly become so generous and extravagant?

When the alcohol came, Wu Tao, drank three cups in a row, then put the cup down and let out three laughs. He slapped himself on the chest and called out, “I’m happy! It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to drink so happily!”

He poured a cup for the young beggar. “Come, drink with me,” he said. “Whatever you feel like eating, just order it. Today we’re going to eat to our hearts’ content.”

The little beggar picked up the cup and poured the alcohol into his mouth.

When crazy people say crazy things, it is best to just go along with the, lest you earn yourself a beating.

After drinking three more cups, Wu Tao asked, “Do you know why I’m so happy today?”

“I don’t know.”

“Because of you.” Wu Tao laughed heartily. “You’ve made me happy. I’ve never before met a little bastard like you.”

The young beggar also laughed heartily. “There aren’t many little bastards like me.”

At this point, he could see that the old man wasn’t crazy. No, his everyday life was just too restrictive, disciplined and rigid. Now that he had the opportunity, he wanted to relax and enjoy a bit of happiness.

Wu Tao drank another cup, and then suddenly slapped the table again. “Those bastards really are good-for-nothing,” he said. “If it weren’t for you, I would have been so pissed off by them I wouldn’t have been able to sleep tonight.”

“What bastards are you talking about?”

“Those sons of b*tches from the old Xiang Tai Chou Silk factory,” said Wu Tao angrily. “I made an order of Shandong silk from them a long time ago, and the delivery date was today. I even paid for it already. But they weren’t open today. Not even a single person was there. I called out until my throat was sore, but nobody showed up.”

The young beggar slapped the table. “Those bastards really are bastards. Forget about them. Come on, let’s drink.”

“Right!” said Wu Tao, looking happy again. “Forget them. Let’s drink.”

Unfortunately, his alcohol tolerance wasn’t very good. After drinking two more cups, his tongue began to swell, and his face looked redder than a monkey’s ass. When he spoke, it sounded like he had an egg in his mouth.

But it seemed his head was still quite clear. “My surname is Wu,” he said to the young beggar. “I’m called Wu Tao. What’s your name?”

“I’m called Ingot,” said the young beggar. “You know, everyone likes ingots.” [3]

“Ingot.” Wu Tao laughed. “That’s a really f*cking good name!”

Part 5

By this time, the man in the bluish-green garment had arrived in Jinan.

The two coffins were being pulled along on two flat carts, not by pack animals, but by people.

Disciples of the Beggar Sect did not use horses or carts or sedan chairs. No matter what the endeavor, they relied only on themselves. They sweated their own sweat, used their own energy.

The pockmarked beggar and the crippled beggar pushed the carts, and the man in bluish-green walked slowly behind them, his hollow eyes staring off into the distance. Though he walked behind them, it seemed as if his heart were in another world, a world no one had ever entered except he himself.

They walked down a gloomy, remote road.

Even though the moon was full this night, it’s light did not shine on this place. The rickety carts creaked under the weight of the coffins. Soot along with the stench of garbage filled the air, and the face of the man in bluish green appeared even more frightening.

Where was he taking the coffins? And what did he plan to do with them?

No one knew, and no one dared to ask.

The cart wheels rolled along in the ash, and the beggars pushing the carts dripped with sweat in the cold wind.

Suddenly, seven or eight spears stabbed out from the darkness, jamming the wheels of the carts. Several large men in fancy costumes leaped out, surrounding them. Each and every one of them appeared to be extremely quick and agile, and their drawn swords glittered dazzlingly.

Because of his slow pace, the man in bluish-green was now cut off from the carts. Pockmark’s face changed; it seemed almost as if the pock marks on his face had begun to glow.

But he remained motionless.

He could see that what was truly frightening was not these men. As far as he was concerned, even combined, the sharp swords in the hands of these nine or ten men could not compare to the cup of alcohol in the hands of another man.

This man sat in a red sandalwood chair, and was being pushed forward by another man.

The wood chair had two wheels; the man held a cup of alcohol in his hand.

Arriving in this fashion, it looked almost like he had made a special trip here just to drink. He didn’t seem interested in anything at all other than the alcohol.

Someone else stood next to him, a person who seemed to be his diametric opposite.

Wearing resplendent garments and a smiling, indolent expression, he looked like a javelin, ready at any moment to shoot forth and stab you through the heart.

He stopped in front of the cart. “I’m surnamed Lian,” he said coldly. “Lian Gen. These are my men, and they are ready to die for me at a moment’s notice.”

He spoke in a direct and succinct manner, somewhat aggressive: “Therefore, you, too, can die for me at a moment’s notice.”

Pockmarks laughed. “Fortunately, we neither wish others to die, nor ourselves. We’re just two poor beggars.”

“I can see that.”

“We don’t have any money, and there’s nothing valuable on our carts, just five coffins. There are no treasures inside the coffins, just some corpses.”

“I just want to borrow some things for a while, to look at.”

“What do we have that we could lend you?”

“Coffins,” said Lian Gen. “Those five coffins you have there on your carts.”

“You think these coffins are good-looking?”

“No, they aren’t. And neither are the corpses. But I don’t need to look at anything good-looking. Things that don’t look good, however, I must examine.”

“You must?”

“Absolutely!”