Chapter 98 The Baby Cried in the Barbershop (1/2)

Chapter 98 The Baby Cried in the Barbershop

First, shaving; second, steaming; third, eye cleaning; fourth, pressing; fifth, hammering; sixth, hitting the fire. These were the six unique techniques of the Yin Shave.

What did they mean?

To shave, was simply cutting the hair, which included the moustache, beard, sideburns and even the nose hairs.

To steam, in the old days, the barber would always prepare a big pan of hot water. After shaving, he would dip a towel in it and then put the towel on the customer’s face. It felt very nice… The warm steam would open the pores, and make you feel like you were flying in paradise.

To clean the eyes meant using the razor to clean the inside of the eyelids in order to remove things like trachoma and dirt.

Not many people mastered this skill, since it was easy to accidentally blind someone when using the knife incorrectly… It was rather dangerous to do this. However, Uncle Ma’s loyal fans insisted on it; firstly, because they believed in his skills, and secondly, it would make them feel rather comfortable afterwards.

To press meant to massage, and there’s no need to talk about this too much since Uncle Ma was a master of this skill. He could hit just the right spot right away, and made you feel very comfortable without feeling any pain at all.

To hammer meant to use the handle of the razor to strike the acupuncture points with heavier force than a massage. However, it was generally used for softer points such as the shoulders and the face.

To hit the fire was a little terrible, and Uncle Ma didn’t suggest his customers to do it.

Only his oldest and most loyal regulars would insist on it, and my master was one of them.

What was the fire hit?

Uncle Ma lit one incense candle and heated the bottom of the razor until it was red hot.

When the temperature reached the correct degree, Uncle Ma would take the razor and press it over the customer’s heart without hesitation.

There was one special acupuncture point on the heart. It was as small as a ten cent coin in size, and hitting it hard enough could cause one to fall into an almost death-like state.

Uncle Ma used the razor’s handle and sent the customer into the shocked state. After they reached that stage, Uncle Ma would apply greater force and the heat of the handle would wake up the customer.

It took three or four seconds, and in that time the customer would experience the process from life to quasi-death, and then be reborn.

The fire hit would absolutely refresh your mind and inspire your soul.

And for my master, he would always turn to Uncle Ma for the fire hit whenever there were tattoos that he couldn’t handle or when he felt there was something missing on the tattoo.

My master had made a few truly magnificent tattoos because of this fire hit.

On the other hand, it was rather scary… and quite risky.

That near-death point on the heart was as small as a coin. Pressing the wrong point could actually kill you, but Uncle Ma was brave and highly skilled, and his customers who enjoyed this were also very brave.

What’s more, getting this fire hit would spike up blood pressure, so those with high blood pressure would never try this.

And those were Uncle Ma’s six unique techniques.

Last time I went back home, Uncle Ma told me the whole treatment cost 15 Yuan.

You would never spend fifteen for a shave in a barbershop, but you could enjoy yourself for one hour at the hands of my Uncle Ma.

These days, Uncle Ma worked not for money, but for the interactions with his loyal customers.

Well, Uncle Ma was a good person, and I had to help him.

I asked him: “So, what happened to your son?”

Uncle Ma rubbed his almost entirely bald head and said: “I get so worried about my son… Do you know Ma Xiaoguo? He only cares about money and doesn’t care about his relatives at all.”

“He will hit his wife, his daughter, and even me for the sake of money. Why is he such a bad man?” Uncle Ma got more and more excited, sending spit flying all over.

I quickly gave him a cigarette and smiled apologetically: “Well… Uncle Ma, if your son loves money so much, I don’t know what I can do.”

He said: “I found the solution because I remember talking with your master about a meditation tattoo from the Yin and Yang Tattoos.”

This was a Yang tattoo; it could be used to calm down.

Uncle Ma said that his son was just unsettled and short-tempered; he needed that Yin and Yang tattoo so that he might calm down.

I thought for a while. “Well, there is exactly this kind of tattoo that can make people calmer, however…”

I asked him: “Will your son agree to have this tattoo?”

“He must agree with me.” Uncle Ma said: “You see, I am a barber and my son is also a barber. How can he be a respectable barber when he’s just a big talker?”

A big talker?

I agreed with him. Nowadays, most barbers were not real barbers, but salesmen. They would keeping on talking about how bad your hair was and what you should buy to fix it. They were not like those senior barbers ten years ago, who would talk with you about how to make a good hair style for you rather than spewing out nonsense.

Last time, I had my hair long and the barber kept on talking – “It’s such a pity! Why didn’t you get a perm? Your hair would fall out within two years if you don’t use my hair conditioner...”