The next day, at the hospital.
Qiao Sheng sat beside the bed with his junior brother and junior sister, looking at Qiao Xiang lying there with a haggard face.
His junior brother frowned.
"Senior Brother, didn't we agree to take Master's keys away? He didn't even have the keys, so how did he get into the teahouse?"
"I'm wondering the same thing. With my dad's condition, he shouldn't have been able to climb over a wall. So how did he get in? And he even turned on the lights. If I hadn't insisted on going to look for him at the teahouse, I might not have found him at all!"
Qiao Sheng looked equally troubled as he spoke in confusion.
His junior sister hurriedly said from the side.
"It was my fault. My grandson's school called last night and said he was vomiting and crying, insisting that I go over right away. I was about to close up the teahouse and check on him when Master happened to arrive. He said he'd watch the place for a while, and that if I didn't come back, he'd close up himself. I was in such a rush that I didn't have time to call you. I just let Master watch the teahouse for a bit. At his age, I really never thought he'd go onstage to perform storytelling!"
"Sigh, luckily I found him quickly. Otherwise, who knew what might have happened!"
Qiao Sheng sighed upon hearing that.
His junior sister sank into deep self-blame, and tears immediately spilled from her eyes.
"It's all my fault!"
"Senior Sister, don't blame yourself. You usually have to raise your grandson by yourself while looking after the teahouse. That's already hard enough. No one wanted something like this to happen!"
His junior brother hurriedly comforted her.
Normally, Senior Sister managed the teahouse alone. Her child worked out of town and had left his school-aged son in her care. She had it hard enough already and was busy every day.
Qiao Sheng understood that too.
At that moment, Qiao Xiang, who had been lying on the hospital bed, opened his eyes and looked around in confusion.
"How did I end up in the hospital?"
"Master is awake!"
"You fainted last night. Senior Brother brought you to the hospital!"
"Dad, do you feel any better?"
The three of them hurried forward and asked after him with concern.
After a moment, Qiao Xiang finally came back to himself and nodded with difficulty.
"I'm fine, I'm fine!"
"You don't need to come see me. You're all busy. I'm all right!"
As he spoke, tears began to flow from Qiao Xiang's eyes.
Seeing Qiao Xiang suddenly cry, the three of them were at a loss. Qiao Sheng quickly wiped away his tears.
"Dad, why are you crying all of a sudden?"
"Back then, our teahouse was such a lively place. Whether it was opera or storytelling, the place was always packed! So many people came begging to be accepted as apprentices, yet they had no way in. I was lucky enough to follow Master. There were over a hundred of us fellow apprentices, gathered in the teahouse courtyard for more than ten years, desperately drilling the basics. We were beaten until our skin split open, frozen until our bodies shook. In winter, we stood on the roadside and shouted ourselves hoarse, our mouths full of blood, yet we still didn't dare stop. All for the day we could step onstage and sing, all to see ten thousand people waiting for a performance once we became stars, all so that we could pass down these skills of storytelling and opera. Look at things now—when I go down there, how can I face Master? How can I face the forefathers who passed down this national treasure!?"
Qiao Xiang's tears would not stop. The vast seas of the past had turned into mulberry fields; after seeing the sea, no other water could compare.
The glory of those days had reached his hands, only to fade away?
Hearing this, the three of them fell silent as well.
There was nothing they could do about it. Fewer and fewer people entered the teahouse now. Even though it stood on a bustling commercial street, hardly anyone paid it any attention.
The splendor of the past could only remain in the past.
"Master, are you all right?"
At that moment, a plump middle-aged man walked in with his belly thrust forward.
His hair was slicked back, his face shiny with oil, and a black leather briefcase was tucked beneath his arm.
He had the air of a nouveau riche boss.
This was their eldest senior brother, Mei Liangxin.
His face was full of anxiety as he hurried straight to the bedside and asked nervously.
Yet Qiao Xiang only looked coldly at his eldest disciple.
"What are you here for? Get out!"
"Listen to you. Aren't I just concerned about you? Besides, doesn't the matter of demolishing the teahouse need to be discussed properly with you?"
Mei Liangxin paid no mind to Qiao Xiang's attitude and continued with a smile.
He glanced at the other three.
"My junior brothers and sister are all here."
Qiao Sheng looked at him coldly without saying a word.
His junior brother and junior sister merely responded with a nod.
Their eldest senior brother had long since left the teahouse. Recently, for some reason, he had gone into business. They had heard he had found an investor and wanted to tear down the teahouse to build a large shopping mall. It could bring everyone a considerable sum of money, but the teahouse would disappear for good. Master naturally disagreed, and the two had been at odds ever since.
"Demolition!?"
Qiao Xiang glared at him fiercely and gritted his teeth from the hospital bed.
"Mei Liangxin, do you still know what a national treasure is? After more than ten years at the teahouse, learning how to conduct yourself and learning the craft, is this what I taught you? Give up on that idea. Unless I die right here, I will never let you tear down the teahouse!"
"Master, since we've reached this point, I won't hide anything anymore. I'd like to ask you something too. We've all studied like mad for over ten years, but what has it gotten us now? Back then, you always used becoming a star to pressure and motivate me. You made me train like I'd gone insane, and you even stripped away my dignity!
"I'll never forget it. Back then, just because I sang one word wrong, you pulled off my pants in public and beat me half to death!
"It made me too ashamed to show my face for an entire month! My junior brothers and sister laughed at me, people on the street looked down on me, and you were very satisfied, weren't you?
"Now that things have come to this, doesn't the decline of the teahouse prove everything? Storytelling and opera aren't the only choices. We can barely afford to eat. Are we supposed to hang ourselves from this one tree? Look at the cinema next door. Isn't that art too? It makes money and people love it. Go out on the street and ask around—who doesn't know DC and Marvel these days? If you won't let me demolish it or buy it out, other companies will come sooner or later. And when that happens, their terms won't be as good as mine!"
Mei Liangxin grew angry as well and said it outright.
Listening to him, Qiao Xiang was utterly enraged. He glared at him in fury.
"Get out! Get out of here!!"
"Heh heh, fine! Take care of yourself, old man. I'm leaving. I won't even demolish this teahouse anymore. I'd like to see how much longer you can keep it open!"
Mei Liangxin sneered, his voice carrying mockery, anger, and jealousy.
He could not understand his master's passion and persistence in clinging to storytelling and opera. At the same time, he was somewhat jealous that his master had spent his entire life persisting in this one thing.
Back then, he had loved it just as much.
But now, that love would never return.
Mei Liangxin left.
The old man was furious, and the three of them comforted him for a while longer.
Just then, the doctor's diagnosis came back and called Qiao Sheng over.
I can't hold on anymore. Here's the third update.
My head is splitting apart.