Baozi said cautiously, "It's not a dream, right?"
I sighed and could only nod.
Baozi immediately dressed excitedly and ran out of the bedroom. I shouted, "Where are you going?"
Baozi's voice echoed in the corridor: "I'm going to have a good chat with my cousin about what happened during the war back then—"
I shouted, "You can talk about these things with Liu Ji and Lao Wu too."
After Baozi ran out, I sighed. I'd told her everything I needed to, except for one thing: these people could only stay with me for a year. Regardless of Xiang Yu's and the others' identities—whether they were her ancestors, emperors, generals, prostitutes, or traitors—Baozi didn't really care. She was a simple, sentimental person. If she didn't know, I could lie and say they'd gone back. It would be a separation of life and death anyway, but saying it that way would at least make her feel less sad. Now, on that day, I really didn't know how to tell Baozi.
In the following days, we frequently spoke with Fatty Ying, and I used every resource at my disposal to search for Xiang Yu's whereabouts. The once inseparable group of five felt incomplete without two members. I thought a man over two meters tall riding a horse shouldn't be hard to find, but after several days, there was still no news of Xiang Yu. It seemed he had ridden a rabbit into the desolate mountains.
As for the others at Yucai School, they were largely the same as before. Besides teaching the children, these guys spent their free time playing like crazy. After participating in a competition in Singapore, they were all millionaires. What's remarkable is that they still had the awareness to educate the next generation and hadn't neglected their teaching duties. This was largely due to Yan Jingsheng's persistent persuasion. Once he learned that these people didn't have much time, he kept a close eye on them every day. Anyone who didn't attend class properly would definitely receive a thorough moral education lesson. It's estimated that even if you threw these bandits back to Liangshan, they wouldn't be able to rebel now.
Moreover, Yan Jingsheng also managed to relocate my clients to a more concentrated area by changing their dormitories, so that things wouldn't be too chaotic if something happened in the future.
The artists were busy creating, and Li Bai even started an interest group to teach children who were interested in writing classical Chinese poetry. Interestingly, the four emperors, since their arrival, often chatted and joked together. I thought they weren't fond of crowds, especially among emperors, but it turns out the four brothers were very close. Perhaps they were afraid of the loneliness of being at the top and were finally getting a chance to hang out together. Liu Bang sometimes joined in the conversation, but he couldn't really get a word in edgewise; the four had been emperors for generations, and there was a generation gap between them and him—it's like how today's 90s generation wouldn't welcome a 50s-born old man eavesdropping on their conversation.
Erpang often came to talk to Guan Yu about the past. With Cao Cao's elephant around Erpang's neck, and Zhou Yu and Lu Su among them, it would be the Three Kingdoms period.
A small portion of the 300 Yue Fei soldiers returned to their former homes to handle their affairs, while the majority remained at Yucai. Since Yue Fei's visit, the Yue Fei Army seemed to be undergoing some downsizing. While individuals maintained excellent military skills and a professional image, they no longer appeared as a unified unit. However, this was different from the perception that "the army was disorganized and difficult to manage." These 300 men remained as close as 300 twins.
Today is the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month, and tomorrow is New Year's Eve. The campus of Yucai School is already decorated with lanterns and colorful decorations, and we are getting ready to celebrate the New Year.
Chapter Seventy-Seven: Never Getting Drunk
February 6, 2008, was Lunar New Year's Eve. Take Ersha, one of my earliest clients, as an example; he had already been here for more than 10 months. Others arrived a day or two later, or a month or two later, but most of the clients at Yucai had already lived more than half of their lives.
So, I consulted with many people about how to celebrate the New Year, and the consensus was: make it as lively as possible. Even the usually low-key Yan Jingsheng thought so. One thing he said unintentionally left a deep impression on me: he said this was the first New Year that group of people would spend here, but it would be their last, so it had to be a grand affair.
Early in the morning, I brought Baozi, Li Shishi, Liu Bang, and the others to Yucai School. Red lanterns and Spring Festival couplets were hung everywhere on campus. Children, with firecrackers in their pockets, chased and played excitedly. No matter how outstanding they become in the future, they are still children, the oldest no more than fourteen or fifteen years old. Moreover, besides the local students, the vast majority of them come from impoverished families and cannot go home for the New Year. However, this is their first New Year with new clothes and firecrackers.
Xu Delong led a team of soldiers on patrol around the campus, mainly to prevent fires. Everyone was present today; some of the soldiers, who had already made a fortune, had donated all their assets to Yucai School, making them, strictly speaking, shareholders of the school.
Duan Tianlang and Cheng Fengshou originally planned to take their apprentices back to their hometowns for the New Year, but ultimately decided to stay. Cheng Fengshou wanted to stay with the hundreds of students who had come with him. Duan Tianlang and Duan Tianbao discussed it and decided that since they had no relatives back home anyway, it would be better to stay at the school for the atmosphere. Tong Yuan, needless to say, upheld the Chinese virtue of "marrying a chicken, following the chicken; marrying a dog, following the dog," and had already made Yucai her home. This New Year, she planned to bring her parents over to meet Fang Zhenjiang's parents. I truly didn't expect that even our tiger-slaying hero couldn't escape this fate. The thought of the hero Wu Song carrying a few bottles of wine and humbly visiting his father-in-law makes me laugh. To paraphrase Wu Sangui, it's tragic, truly tragic…
However, it's said that Grandpa Tong is also a martial arts fanatic, so Fang Zhenjiang is really lucky. Unlike me, who's bad at math and has an accountant father-in-law. My neighbor's second brother is even more unlucky. When he first started dating his wife, he was a huge fan of Shanghai Shenhua, but his father-in-law was a die-hard Bayi fan. Whenever there was a domestic league match, his wife would get incredibly nervous, and the two almost broke up because of it. In the past two years, neither of them watched football anymore. The old man started listening to Peking Opera, and my brother became obsessed with opera, going at least twice a week, and always with his wife. I thought things were finally harmonious, but less than six months later, his wife developed a heart condition.
Those teachers whose families live locally, including the "Four Heavenly Kings" and "Fang La," all said they'd rather spend the New Year at school. With such a large school and so many staff, I was initially worried about who to invite and how to group them. Then I suddenly realized that these days, trying to pick clients from ordinary people or vice versa is incredibly difficult. Fortunately, those not going home for New Year's Eve are either clients or people I already know, so I stopped worrying about it. Overall, however, this gathering was still essentially an internal client get-together.
Then came the question of where to hold the gathering. A small space wouldn't do; the cafeteria would lack atmosphere, since we also had a cultural performance, and the auditorium was too formal. Finally, Genghis Khan suggested a bonfire party on the grass. His idea immediately piqued everyone's interest, and many people promptly set about preparing the grill and firewood. So, I decided on the lawn in the old campus, setting up a large 10-meter square stage in front. I bought 50 sheep from the locals to prepare, and truckloads of liquor were brought over from Du Xing's workshop. Song Qing and Xiao Liuzi were also helping out.
The New Year is the most important festival for Chinese people, and these past few days, New Year's greetings have been flying around on everyone's phones like headless flies. I've been especially busy, receiving a ton of New Year's greetings from all sorts of friends, including Yucai employees and some clients, as well as Tiger, Erpang, Jiang Menshen, and others.
Many people sent gifts. Chen Kejiao sent an eternal… vase; this girl seems to have a penchant for giving vases as gifts. Master Gu gave every employee at Yucai a large red envelope—but that was just for show; he actually prepared generous gifts for my clients as well. Ever since the old man learned the inside story, he's been frequently strolling around Yucai. Despite his imposing presence in front of most people, he's still quite traditional in his thinking, always feeling like a junior in front of these people, almost to the point of being obsequious.
Jin Shaoyan was even more straightforward. Whether they were employees or students, everyone at Yucai received real money!
As for the candy and firecrackers for the children, that was Baozi's idea. After all, I can't compare to that spendthrift Jin family brat and Old Gu when it comes to money; this is all I can do. But the children seem more interested in these things. Now they especially like Baozi, affectionately calling her "Teacher Bao's Wife." Liu Bang keeps saying that Baozi is better at winning people's hearts than his descendant Liu Bei, who is countless generations removed. Actually, this isn't about winning people's hearts; it's a childhood trauma. When Baozi was little, she was always envious of the little boys who had firecrackers to set off during the New Year, but the old accountant wouldn't buy her any. Now that she earns her own money, she buys firecrackers in huge quantities every year, and even the ones I bought for the children this time, she set off quite a few…
As soon as it was past 7 p.m., people began to slowly gather, and within half an hour, dozens of grills were all surrounded by people. The heroes, the 300, the calligraphers, the painters, the doctors—all had arrived, along with the emperors. Li Shimin and his group, using the excuse that Zhu Yuanzhang was the youngest, had already squeezed him out to occupy a grill closest to the stage.
Several tables were set up below the stage for Yan Jingsheng and me to sit at. I saw that the mutton and wine were ready, and the timing was perfect, so I signaled to the host, Xiuxiu, that we could begin tonight.
Xiuxiu glanced down at the ground and asked me in a low voice, "What should we say about names and stuff later?"
I followed her gaze and saw that it was Cheng Fengshou, Duan Tianlang, and their gang of rascal chefs, including Xiao Liuzi. This wasn't like a meeting. With a meeting, you could find an excuse to send these non-clients away, but if you're having a get-together and don't bring them, it just doesn't make sense. Besides, these people have attended plenty of meetings they shouldn't have. Last time, Lao Si even went with them to the Lei incident. What could I say?
I told Xiuxiu, "It's okay, just say what you need to say."
Xiuxiu pulled another host, Maosui, onto the stage. Maosui looked ahead, full of energy, and said loudly, "Friends, on this joyous occasion of the Spring Festival, our colleagues at Yucai are gathered here..." Xiuxiu seemed a little nervous, after all, the audience consisted of famous figures from all dynasties, and she wasn't a professional host. In her haste, she blurted out in English, "Ladies and Gentlemen, this time..." I called out, "No need for translation, we don't plan to broadcast this gala on CCTV-4 for the time being."
Xiuxiu blushed, but relaxed considerably. Just then, Mao Sui began, "Among us, there is..." Xiuxiu quickly pulled him back, and Mao Sui, understanding, quickly changed the subject, "Next, let's invite Principal Xiao to speak to everyone." Yan Jingsheng, sitting next to me, laughed heartily, "Just call him Xiaoqiang, why call him Principal Xiao?"
I stood up with a long face and said, "Why are you talking again? Can't you just shut up?"
Everyone laughed and said, "Say a few words."
I spread my hands and said, "What should I say to make you all feel better? Most of you here aren't expecting a raise or wanting to get promoted. Besides, you're all richer than me. Several of you have already reached the end of your promotions... Anyway, today's a good day—everyone knows it's Chinese New Year, right?"
Everyone laughed: "No."
As I sat down, I said, "Alright, let's celebrate the New Year then." I had originally wanted Yan Jingsheng to say a few words, but that kid was dragged downstairs by Xu Delong and the others to eat roast lamb leg. I looked around and saw that Baozi and the others had also sat in the nearest group of people, drinking and eating meat, glancing back at me with wicked smiles. I kicked the table and grumbled, "Who the hell came up with this idea, leaving me all hanging?" I turned to Li Shimin and his group and said ingratiatingly, "Your Majesties, why don't you come and sit here? This is the leaders' seat."
Li Shimin laughed and said, "No, we won't go. We can't get a fire there."
I didn't care about anything else and squeezed myself into the middle of them, saying, "Then I'll join the crowd too."
The four emperors asked in unison: "Who are the masses?"
I quickly corrected myself: "Yes, yes, I'm one of the emperors."
On stage, Mao Sui said, "Xiao Qiang's speech was truly concise and to the point. Hey, Xiu Xiu, let me ask you, do you know the origin of the Spring Festival?"
Xiuxiu: "Then tell everyone..."
Zhang Qing shouted from below, "Stop doing that kind of thing on TV, if you have a show, hurry up and get on."
Mao Sui glared at him and then said, "Now, please welcome the first program: a grand chorus, 'The Song of the Heroes.' Performed by the heroes of Liangshan."
The heroes, who had just finished roasting the meat, wondered, "Hey, why are we the first ones here?"
Zhang Qing sighed, "It's my fault for being so talkative. Mao Sui is just settling a personal score."
The heroes had no choice but to put down their wine and meat and go on stage. I had given prior notice about this cultural performance; the program was indeed pre-arranged, and I stated that it would be best if it were cross-dressing performances. Those skilled in martial arts couldn't just perform simple boxing routines, and those skilled in literature weren't allowed to fool the audience with things like writing seal script with both hands. The heroes' chorus performance was barely considered to be within the rules.
As soon as they joined the line, Hua Rong and Fang Zhenjiang naturally did too. Tong Yuan looked at them with a puzzled expression and said, "When did they become heroes of Liangshan?"