Chapter 33

Xiao Yang and Xiao Yan returned from the township health center around 8 PM.

The hospital ward was very small, only about seven or eight square meters, and it contained three beds, leaving no room for many people to stay. Besides, the ward only had a ceiling fan, and with so many people crowded inside, it was unbearably hot. There was no need for that.

Therefore, their mother sent them both back.

Xiao Fei asked about his father's condition.

Xiao Yang said that his father was recovering quickly and was in good spirits. He had eaten a large bowl of noodles and an apple for dinner. However, his father was still in a bad mood and barely acknowledged Xiao Yang.

Clearly, his father was still angry.

This couldn't be changed immediately; they could only wait for his father to gradually come to terms with it and calm down.

Xiao Fei then returned to his room to continue writing.

Inspired by Liu Zelai's letter, he was now full of passion and enthusiasm. He wanted to write a few more columns for the Z City Evening News.

At 150 yuan per article, ten articles would be 1,500 yuan. With about 20 articles a month, he could earn around 3,000 yuan. This was the high salary that senior white-collar workers in coastal megacities could earn in 1996.

They were offering such a high price.

The quality of the articles, however, could not be faked.

The theme of "anti-soup" had been almost exhausted by Xiao Fei's previous articles, so he needed to think of a new series of themes.

There were two types of columns: one was casual and spontaneous, with no specific theme, writing about whatever came to mind.

The other revolved around a specific theme: food, love, work, travel, reading, etc. Each could be elaborated on extensively.

Due to the limited space, each article could only focus on a small point, using concise and profound language to convey deeper meanings, which was sufficient.

What should he write about?

Xiao Fei thought of the Xinjiang writer Liu Liangcheng, who was hailed as "the last essayist of 20th century China" and a "philosopher of the countryside." Liu Liangcheng's essays focused on small, everyday aspects of his life, but he used meticulous and richly philosophical language to create deeply moving and classic works.

Hmm! Xiao Fei felt that he could learn from Liu Liangcheng's writing style and use his pen to describe the hardships, joys, happiness, crises, and all the meaningful aspects of life in this small village on the plain.

He had no intention of plagiarizing.

He believed that with his current abilities, he could write in the same style as Liu Liangcheng.

Saying this, he got to work.

He began to write, quickly filling the manuscript paper with lines of text.

Just as he finished a thousand-word short article, he heard loud noises outside. He frowned, not wanting to get involved, but the noise grew louder.

Xiao Fei put down his pen and went out to the yard.

His brother, who was cooling off in the yard, said, "It's that Xiao Dacheng kid causing trouble with his father again. That bastard never stops. He doesn't do any work, just loafs around all day, going from house to house, asking his father for this and that. If he doesn't get what he wants, he starts arguing with his father like a child. I really don't understand how such a capable and strong man like Old Xiong can be so indulgent with Xiao Dacheng. If I were Old Xiong, I would have beaten that kid's ass long ago."

This triggered Xiao Fei's memories.

The Old Xiong his brother mentioned was fully named Xiao Jianxiong, who was over eighty but still in good health.

Xiao Dacheng was Xiao Jianxiong's son, but Xiao Fei knew that Xiao Dacheng had no blood relation to Xiao Jianxiong. He was just a "stepfather" in modern internet slang.

Of course, the truth didn't come out until 2006.

Now, most villagers firmly believed that Xiao Dacheng was Xiao Jianxiong's biological son.

The whole story was as follows: Before liberation, Xiao Jianxiong had been a monk at Shaolin Temple on Mount Song. Later, during the chaotic times, he offended a powerful official and fled back home.

Even after returning home, Xiao Jianxiong continued to live as a monk for a long time, residing in a small mud house, self-sufficient, reciting scriptures, and practicing martial arts.

His neighbor was a fellow clansman, whose name Xiao Fei did not know.

This man suffered from severe rheumatism and had been bedridden for years.

His wife, surnamed Cao, had to work like a slave, taking care of him at home and working in the fields.

In 1967, the woman's belly suddenly swelled, and by autumn, she gave birth to a big, healthy baby boy.

After the baby was born, her bedridden husband, who had been immobile for years, suddenly died.

This caused a stir in the village.

Everyone knew that the woman's husband was impotent and had been unable to turn over for years, let alone father a child.

There was definitely something wrong.

People said that the woman's husband had been literally "scared to death"!

Everyone looked at Xiao Jianxiong with suspicion.

It was a particularly turbulent time, with daily struggles in the village.

One winter day, led by Liu Laoshuan, the father of the then village chief Liu Zhenhai, people stormed into the Cao woman's house and dragged her out, still holding the baby. At the same time, a group of people also dragged Xiao Jianxiong out, hanging a pair of old shoes around each of their necks and parading them through the streets.

They paraded them through the streets for a whole day.

That night, the Cao woman hanged herself. Before she died, she entrusted the nursing baby to Xiao Jianxiong, and from then on, Xiao Jianxiong took on the responsibility of raising the child.

This child was Xiao Dacheng.

Xiao Jianxiong raised Xiao Dacheng with great hardship and indulgence. However, as Xiao Dacheng grew older, he became more and more unruly, turning into a ruffian.

Xiao Jianxiong and Xiao Fei's family belonged to the same clan, still within the fifth generation.

When Xiao Fei was young, he was obsessed with martial arts and often visited Xiao Jianxiong's house. The villagers all said that Xiao Jianxiong was a Shaolin monk with high martial arts skills, capable of leaping over eaves and breaking hard stones with his fists.

At that time, many children in the village had practiced martial arts with Xiao Jianxiong for a few days.

However, after Xiao Fei started school, he no longer continued.

As a reborn person, Xiao Fei knew that Xiao Jianxiong lived a long life. In 2010, a journalist discovered that he was a master of the Shaolin Xin Yi Ba, a secret Shaolin technique, and his reputation soared for a time.

That was the Shaolin Xin Yi Ba!

It was called the true secret of Shaolin, known only to a few.

Xiao Fei's heart raced. He thought, if he could build a good relationship with Xiao Jianxiong and formally become his disciple, would Xiao Jianxiong pass on the Xin Yi Ba to him?