Back at the table, Secretary Tang was noticeably warmer toward Qin An. Everyone present knew how to read the room, and naturally joined in with compliments...
Qin Xiaotian drank his beer, clearly somewhat resentful, but he really had nothing left to show off in front of Qin An. He brooded in silence, thinking he would have to find a chance to even the score...
Qin Xiangshan saw it all. Although he did not understand why Secretary Tang was acting this way, he was happy to see a child of the Qin family gain some recognition and make something of himself on an occasion like this...
After the banquet, Qin Xiangshan declined Secretary Tang's offer of a ride home. Taking Qin Xiaotian and Qin An with him, he first visited the eldest uncle's home, then went to Qin An's...
The dormitory building was small, and word that Qin Huai's family had visitors soon spread. Every so often, someone came over to have a look and remark, "Oh, so this is that brother of yours who went to Taiwan... Made a fortune, have you..."
Normally, the teachers in the dormitory building were rather reserved. After all, they considered themselves people of some social standing, and felt they should not crowd around anything novel like country folk who had never seen the world. It was beneath them...
But in recent years, more and more people had gone into business, and more and more had struck it rich. The teachers' modest salaries were no longer the envy of Qingshan Town, and teaching was no longer a coveted profession. Who would not envy those they regarded as uncouth oafs, feasting on delicacies, keeping mistresses, driving luxury cars, and living in Western-style houses?
Now everyone wanted to see what sort of style a big businessman from Taiwan had...
Qin Xiangshan did not disappoint them. The cigarettes he handed out were all Soft Zhonghua. Those who knew a thing or two knew that a single cigarette cost over ten yuan. When children came, each received a bar of chocolate called "DOVE," which also cost ten yuan or so apiece...
Nor did Qin Xiangshan look anything like an uncouth oaf. Like the rest of the Qin family, he had a scholar's refined bearing. Tall and slender, with lean cheeks, he stood beside Qin Huai, and no one could have doubted they were brothers. That helped the visiting teachers feel a little better: these days, not everyone who got rich was an oaf. Educated people had ways to make a fortune too...
"How many years has it been? Back then, we were only about Qin An and Xiaotian's age..." Qin Huai smoked, rather overcome with emotion...
"I'd wanted to come back for a look for so long... Your youngest uncle just didn't live to see it. In a while, I'll bring his ashes over. He said he had to be buried in the ancestral graveyard..." Qin Xiangshan wiped his eyes, his lips trembling slightly...
"Of course he must, of course... Dad was always worrying about how frail our youngest uncle was. He kept saying he wanted to see him again. Ah..." Qin Huai rose and fetched an old photo album from the bedroom...
The two huddled together, leafing through those faded memories. Once they had been young; now they had wives and children. How could they not sigh over it?
Li Qin asked Qin Xiangshan and his son to stay for dinner. Qin Xiaotian played his Game Boy glumly, wondering how Qin An had practiced his skills at Contra and Super Mario when his family did not even own an NES...
Qin An went out to find Sun Pao. Right by the courtyard gate, Sun Pao was playing with four or five "buzzers" he had caught and tied to strings, along with a longhorn beetle missing a leg...
"Buzzers" were flying beetles named for the buzzing sound they made in flight. They fed on the sap of a kind of locust tree and often sat motionless on the trees, making them easy to catch. Then you tied a string to a leg and let them fly. Qin An and Sun Pao had once caught dozens, intending to raise them and sell them for money...
Longhorn beetles were bigger, the large ones a full finger in length, with two long black-and-white antennae on their heads that looked very imposing. One longhorn beetle could be traded for ten "buzzers," and they were the children's favorite quarry...
Sun Pao held a slingshot, aiming at the poor beetles. But they were so small, and living, moving creatures at that. He aimed and aimed without landing a single hit...
"Watch me!" Qin An almost always carried his slingshot. This was something where practice made perfect, and he practiced whenever he had nothing else to do...
Snap!
He raised his hand and fired. The rubber bands gave a sharp, ringing snap, and a string fluttered down from midair...
The beetle at the end of the string had vanished, leaving only one leg still tied to it...
"Is even that Heavenly Cripple and Earthly Deficiency sharpshooter as good as you?" Sun Pao stared blankly at Qin An's slingshot. He had always thought Qin An was good at making slingshots, but had never imagined his aim was so impressive too...
The Good Old Days, released in 1993, starred Wan Qiwen and Lui Song-hsien. Its protagonist, Yin Ping'an, had mastered Heavenly Cripple and Earthly Deficiency Marksmanship. In this television series, hitting the target every time was nothing special anymore. In shooting duels between the protagonist and his opponents, their aim was so precise that their bullets collided. Such miraculous marksmanship inspired boundless yearning in teenage boys, but who had a gun to practice with like Yin Ping'an? Slingshots became the only substitute. It was then that Qin An and Sun Pao had begun practicing with slingshots and making them, though in this respect, Qin An's talent came closer to the show's protagonist...
"The school placement test is tomorrow. How's your preparation going?" Qin An had shown off a little, leaving Sun Pao utterly awestruck...
At the mention of exams, Sun Pao became rather downcast. His ranking in their grade was not low, but his English was terrible and dragged him down badly...
Qin An and Sun Pao stood chatting nonsense at the courtyard gate, one on either side with slingshots in hand, like guards. Before long, they saw Li Xinlan riding back on her bicycle from extra classes...
"Xinlan..." Qin An greeted her with a grin...
Li Xinlan seemed preoccupied, her brows tightly furrowed. She gave a hurried nod in response to Qin An, then jogged upstairs...
Qin An turned to look outside the courtyard. Not far away, Tu Gang was riding around on a mountain bike...
"These past few mornings, Tu Gang's been following Li Xinlan on his bike, saying he wants to escort her to class..." Sun Pao had spotted him too. After Qin An had bluffed Tu Gang into backing down that day, Sun Pao had decided Tu Gang was nothing special. These past two mornings, when he ran into Tu Gang, he had even dared to greet him casually. The students around here normally took a detour whenever they saw Tu Gang...
Qin An nodded thoughtfully and raised his slingshot to aim at Tu Gang. Sun Pao watched expectantly, waiting for Qin An to shoot him, but unfortunately, Qin An lowered the slingshot in the end...
On Monday, instead of leaving for school at the last possible moment as usual, Qin An got up early, washed, ate a little, and waited to walk out of the courtyard with Li Xinlan...
"Xinlan, I'll give you a ride..." Qin An took the handlebars of Li Xinlan's bicycle...
"Can you handle it?" Li Xinlan looked at Qin An doubtfully...
"Don't say that to a man again... Once you do, he'll force himself to try even if he can't..." Qin An chuckled and swung himself onto the bicycle...
Li Xinlan watched Qin An ride for a while. He did not wobble and seemed very practiced. Only then did she relax and run after him. "Qin An, wait..."
A short distance away, she saw that Qin An had stopped the bicycle, with Tu Gang blocking his way. She hurried over, beginning to understand why Qin An had offered to give her a ride...
Li Xinlan felt a vague unease. From Qin An's stance, he seemed ready to pick a fight with Tu Gang!
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