Chapter 97 Yin Shave (2/2)

Fuck off.

I grabbed the quilt and covered my head.

I fell asleep again. I didn’t sleep long until my cell phone rang.

I did not want to answer. I thought it was Feng Chunsheng calling me from the toilet to mess with me.

”Brother Chun, you’re such an ass. Be careful your hemorrhoids don’t grow in your throat!” I screamed.

The phone still rang.

I really couldn't stand it anymore. I grabbed the phone and looked, but it was not Feng Chunsheng's phone number; it was Cang Shu's.

I sat up and answered the phone, ”Cang Shu, what's the matter?”

”There is an old man in the tattoo shop asking for a Yin and Yang Tattoo.”

It was a big job, worth tens of thousands of Yuan.

I hastened to say to her, ”No problem, no problem, I'll go there now.”

When Feng Chunsheng came out from the toilet, I dragged him out the door.

Because he drank yesterday, he did not drive the car back home. We first took the bus to get the car, and then drove to the tattoo shop.

When I got to the tattoo shop with him, I found that Cang Shu was massaging an old man.

The old man shook his cattail leaf fan and slept, not knowing how comfortable he was.

I thought Cang Shu was good at serving the guests.

When I entered the tattoo room, I looked at the old man. He looked familiar… After a long time, I shouted, ”Uncle Ma, is that you?”

The old man opened his eyes upon hearing me, laughed, and said, ”Shui, you are doing well. You must have made a lot of money to open a shop in the city.”

Then, Uncle Ma waved his hands again and said, ”Thank you little girl, I am very comfortable. You are even better than I am.”

Cang Shu smiled and went to the front desk.

I asked Uncle Ma, ”Uncle, why are you here today?”

”I'm here for my son. Come on, sit down. Sit first.” Uncle Ma had me sit on the sofa. Then, he said, ”Shui, as a Yin and Yang Tattoo master, you are definitely a person in the ghost business. We are in the same business.”

While Uncle Ma was speaking with me, he suddenly noticed Feng Chunsheng. He stood up abruptly and said, ”Yo, Mr. Feng?”

”It is me, Brother Ma. I have not seen you for many years. Have you lost your craft?” Feng Chunsheng smiled at Uncle Ma.

Uncle Ma was also in the ghost business. he said that this year, his business couldn't make much money. Hidden away in a small village, it was inconvenient for ordinary people.

Feng Chunsheng also nodded and said, “You were not born at the right time for your craft. It is a pity.”

What kind of craft did Uncle Ma have? What kind of a Yin person was he?

In fact, Uncle Ma was a barber.

A barber in the old style.

In the olden days, barbers did not just shave hair massage and so on.

Uncle Ma had a skill called a Yin Shave. He was a simple barber normally, but he did a bit of Yin shaving every now and then.

What was a Yin shave? Evil ghosts lay on a person's back. His Yin shave could shave away the evil ghost.

But to be honest, Uncle Ma did not often do the Yin Shave, because there was little demand for it.

Twenty years ago, barber shops were state-owned enterprises. Uncle Ma shaved well and earned high wages. He was envied by other people very much.

But eventually, his traditional shaving craft was replaced by more fashionable barbers. These days, people followed the latest fashion. They wanted disorderly cuts, which looked chic, cold, cool.

Uncle Ma could only do crew cuts and buzz cuts, and his craft was not all about hairstyle. He still had other matching craft skills.

Although Uncle Ma still had a lot of loyal customers, he disliked the trendy hair salons and barbershops, and said those people were bad at cutting hair but asked for more than ten Yuan only to barely cut anything away. He was very unhappy, and moved his practice back to his hometown.

He went there for five days a week and returned to the city on Saturdays and Sundays. There were a lot of loyal customers who still came to him to shave.

My master was a big fan of his, too.

Once, my master said, ”Is a shave just a shave? It’s enjoyment.”

My master told me a traditional haircut required shave, apply, drill, press, hammer, hit the fire. If one of these steps was missing, it wasn't called a true shave.

I remember that when my master was dying, he had me take him to Uncle Ma to shave his head for the last time.

Shave, steam, to clean the eyes, press, hammer, hit the fire. What did they mean?

These were the six great skills of a Yin shave.