For a while after that, Hao Shuai went to Baozhilin every day. He practiced martial arts in the morning, studied medicine in the afternoon, and found time to ride bicycles and take photos with Thirteenth Aunt. At night, he trained in Golden Bell Shield Iron Cloth Shirt in his room. Sometimes he returned to the Night Shift World to collect medicinal herbs and let Nanase Koi and the other girls help him relieve his pent-up lust. After all, with a beautiful woman around him every day whom he could look at but not touch, it was only natural for his urges to build up. His days were quite fulfilling.
After studying for a while, Hao Shuai had learned Wong Fei Hung's Tiger-Shaped Tiger Subduing Fist, Iron Wire Fist, Four Symbols Dragon Staff, and other techniques. He had even begun studying Tiger Crane Style Fist. His progress in medicine was also rapid, and he could now diagnose some simple ailments.
Wong Fei Hung was very pleased with Hao Shuai's progress. He encouraged him not to get conceited and to keep working hard.
One day, after Hao Shuai finished practicing martial arts, Thirteenth Aunt invited him to take photos at an opera troupe. Her good friend Joanna would be coming along, too.
Hao Shuai knew this was when Leung Kwan first met Thirteenth Aunt in the story. Worried she might come to harm, he agreed.
The three of them soon rode their bicycles to the stage. It had been built over a river, supported by bamboo poles in the water. The spacious location could accommodate plenty of spectators, and there was only one simple pier leading to it, making it easy to collect admission fees. Its distance from the shore also kept people from sneaking in to watch for free.
The opera troupe's owner was very welcoming when he saw the three of them. Once he learned what Thirteenth Aunt was there for, he readily cooperated. Foshan was full of foreigners, so its people were quite open to new things.
The owner was a man who had seen the world. He knew cameras were valuable, but usually had no way of finding someone to take his picture. Now Thirteenth Aunt had come of her own accord and wasn't even charging him, so of course he did everything he could to help.
While Thirteenth Aunt was setting up her equipment, Hao Shuai heard some noises coming from the roof of the opera shed. He looked up and saw Leung Kwan up there.
Leung Kwan was practically Thirteenth Aunt's number-one simp. Too bad he didn't know that simps ended up with nothing in the end.
Leung Kwan was repairing the roof. When he saw Thirteenth Aunt's heavenly beauty as she set up her equipment, he stared at her in a daze. His foot slipped, and he fell onto the roof, sliding toward the edge.
"Ah!"
With a piglike squeal, Leung Kwan came "crashing down from the sky," heading straight for Thirteenth Aunt and the camera. He was about to hit them!
In the blink of an eye—
Bam!
Hao Shuai, standing beside Thirteenth Aunt, wrapped an arm around her waist and stepped back. Then he launched a flying kick, sending Leung Kwan tumbling onto the stage.
As Leung Kwan fell, a wooden bucket full of mud slid off the roof after him. Hao Shuai had already pulled Thirteenth Aunt out of the way, so the mud missed her—but it splashed all over Joanna, who had come with them.
"Oh dear! Are you all right? Leung Kwan! What were you thinking? You can't even repair a roof properly. Do you still want to keep your job?"
Seeing the mess Leung Kwan had caused, the owner immediately gave him an earful as he lay on the ground.
Now that Leung Kwan had seen Thirteenth Aunt up close, he stared at her blankly, no longer caring about the owner's scolding.
"Shao Jun, are you all right?" Hao Shuai asked. Though she hadn't been directly hit, she must have been startled.
"Oh, I'm fine. I was just frightened. Thank you, A-Shuai."
Thirteenth Aunt had calmed down. Seeing Joanna covered in mud, she was glad Hao Shuai had saved her; otherwise, she'd have ended up just like Anna.
The owner saw Joanna's sorry state too, so he took her to change. Whether Leung Kwan would, as in the story, sneak off to watch her change was none of Hao Shuai's concern.
While Joanna went to wash and change, Thirteenth Aunt continued taking photos of the opera troupe. With Hao Shuai there, everything went smoothly.
One day, Hao Shuai went to Baozhilin as usual. As soon as he stepped inside, he saw that the place was in an uproar. He found Wong Fei Hung treating an old man, who was bleeding from a bullet hole in his right chest. It was obvious that he had been shot by a foreigner's gun.
"Master, what happened to him?"
After washing his hands, Hao Shuai asked as he helped Wong Fei Hung.
"He delivered vegetables to the wrong ship, and the foreigners mistook him for an intruder and shot him. There are so many foreign ships in the harbor now, flying all kinds of flags. This vegetable seller couldn't tell the Rice Country flag from the British one, so he boarded the wrong ship and was shot because of the misunderstanding. The Capital City is pushing its Westernization movement, but it's us Chinese who end up paying the price."
Hearing Wong Fei Hung explain how the vegetable seller had been injured, Hao Shuai knew the story was about to begin.
Just as in the story, the next day Wong Fei Hung arranged a meeting at a Western restaurant with the newly appointed Admiral Zheng, General Wiggins of Britain, and the American merchant Jackson, hoping to demand compensation from the foreigners for the vegetable seller's injury.
Wong Fei Hung had planned to take Hao Shuai along, since he spoke a foreign language and was well-groomed. But Hao Shuai flatly refused. He said he was afraid that seeing the foreigners swaggering around would make him fly into a rage like his senior brother, Chiu Pork Wing, and beat them up on the spot.
Hearing that, Wong Fei Hung worried Hao Shuai might cause trouble, so he told him to stay at Baozhilin and practice martial arts. Then he set off for the Western restaurant with Yat Che So and Ling Wan Kai.
After lunch, Hao Shuai was alone in Baozhilin, reading a medical text. Just then, a member of the militia came by and told him that Chiu Pork Wing had gotten into a fight with some militia members. By the time Hao Shuai reached the Western restaurant, it was already over.
The admiral, who had long been unhappy with Wong Fei Hung for sheltering the militia, used the incident as an excuse to take advantage of the situation and planned to absorb the militia into his forces. The militia had been ordered to report to the government office by a set deadline, and Wong Fei Hung was also expected to pay for all the damage at the restaurant.
After totaling the losses, the restaurant demanded more than two hundred silver dollars from Wong Fei Hung. For someone already struggling financially, that was a huge sum. Though Wong Fei Hung owned Baozhilin, he often treated patients without charging them, and he had been supporting the whole militia group. Ever since he took them in, he had been spending more than he earned.
In the end, Hao Shuai paid the two hundred silver dollars to compensate the restaurant on Wong Fei Hung's behalf.
Dong, dong, dong! Clang, clang, clang!
"Beware of fire, beware of thieves..."
The night watchman's cries came from outside. The dining hall at Baozhilin was brightly lit. Wong Fei Hung sat at the head of the long table, with Thirteenth Aunt, Chiu Pork Wing, Hao Shuai, and the other disciples seated below him. Two lines of militia members stood along the sides.
The atmosphere in the dining hall was heavy. Hao Shuai and the others, along with the militia, sat with their heads bowed, holding their bowls but not eating. The militia members in particular didn't dare make a sound.
They knew they had caused Wong Fei Hung a lot of trouble, so none of them dared look at him.
"Master, I can't eat. The Shahe Gang were the ones who started this. The government office wants the militia to report in now. Could they use this chance to detain all of them?" Ling Wan Kai slapped the table, then sat down, seething with anger.
"Master..." The trouble had started because of Chiu Pork Wing, and after hearing Ling Wan Kai, he couldn't sit still either. He stood up and said—
"Master..." Seeing Chiu Pork Wing and Ling Wan Kai rise, everyone who had been seated at the table stood up too, except Hao Shuai.
"Junior Brother!" Seeing everyone else on their feet while Hao Shuai kept eating as if nothing had happened, Yat Che So tugged at him in displeasure.
Hao Shuai ignored Yat Che So's tugging. He finished the last few bites of his meal, set down his bowl, and shook his head. "Senior Brothers, what are you planning to do? Attack the government office, or go beat up the foreigners? Haven't you caused Master enough trouble already?"
"Junior Brother, how can you say that? It was clearly the Shahe Gang who started this..." Chiu Pork Wing said angrily.
"There's a culprit for every crime. Go after whoever caused the trouble! Since you all know the Shahe Gang were responsible, just arrest them and hand them over to the government office," Hao Shuai reminded them.
Chiu Pork Wing and the others immediately thought Hao Shuai made sense. They started clamoring to go after the Shahe Gang right away.
"Stop. If all of you go out together, are you planning to start a fight in the street? Smash another restaurant? Make Master pay another two or three hundred silver dollars?" Hao Shuai looked helplessly at Chiu Pork Wing, who was as explosive as a firecracker, and rolled his eyes.
Hearing the mention of two or three hundred silver dollars, Wong Fei Hung's face darkened. He glared at Chiu Pork Wing and the others.
At a glance from Wong Fei Hung, Chiu Pork Wing and the others immediately fell silent, like quails.
"Master, I think we should send someone out tomorrow morning to find out where the Shahe Gang are. Once we get word, you can go catch them in the act. Then the government office won't have anything to say." Hao Shuai finished speaking and clasped his fists toward Wong Fei Hung.
"Good. We'll do as A-Shuai says. No more arguing. Eat, then go back to bed!" Wong Fei Hung nodded, then spoke to those who were standing.
"Yes, Master!"
"Yes, Master!"
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