Chapter 2 2. Debunking street scams

In the 1980s, the land of China was full of vitality.Our town has become a prefecture-level city, the father-in-law has retired with honor, and the second sister-in-law has become the director of the local cultural bureau. My wife has studied for several years and then worked in the education committee.And I officially picked up the Book of Changes, and my father-in-law introduced me to a senior Chinese scholar and asked me to study with him.The wife said: "Since you love this thing so much, learn it with confidence." My wife understands my heart, and she knows that I can't forget the past. Over the years, every time I woke up from a dream, she hugged me tightly and told me: "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid."

I know that I have sinned deeply. I used to deceive people under the banner of fortune-telling. Now I want to sit down and study what Zhouyi is.If Yi Li can really change life, I am willing to use it to benefit the people all my life. One afternoon, I was wandering alone in the book market, trying to find a few books on Zhouyi, when I was flipping through the pages, I heard someone call out: "Five Lord!" My heart skipped a beat. For decades, no one has called me "Five Lords" again. I looked back and saw a man in his forties standing in front of me. "You are?" I asked in a daze.

"Fifth Master, you don't know me anymore, I'm a thief cat!" "Thieves cat?" My brain was running rapidly, and I slapped my head, oh, I remembered, it was the brother who used to be a cousin!He is the little foot of Erbatou's subordinates. Because of his flexibility, he does all the work of climbing trees and houses, so everyone calls him a thief cat. I punched him and said with a smile: "Boy, he has grown up so much! It's been so many years since I've seen him, he's changed!" He scratched his head, smiled and said, "That's right, I was only a teenager when I was at Tangkou."

I have mixed feelings: "Yeah, it's been decades in a flash, how have you lived these years? What are you doing now?" Thieving cat blushed and said: "After grandpa died, all of you batou went in. I was released after a period of labor reform, and then I went back to the countryside to farm with my father. And you, fifth master, what are you doing now? " I sighed and said, "Oh, I've devoted myself to studying the Book of Changes. Listen carefully, it's the Book of Changes, not a trick." Thieving Cat smiled and said, "It's all the same, it's all the same."

My face sank: "Everything is the same! Different!" Thieving Cat hurriedly said: "It's not the same, it's not the same, it's different if you say it's different." I said, "What are you doing now?" Thieving Cat smiled slyly: "Fifth Master, I can send it now." "Sent?" I don't understand. Thieving Cat said: "You know there is a Taoist temple on Yuejialing, right? I asked in surprise, "Are you a monk?" Thieving Cat said: "No! I just work there. I wear Taoist robes during the day and I look like a Taoist priest. When I go home at night, my wife and children are still warming up on the kang. Just put on makeup. There are quite a lot of people who ask for incense and fortune-telling. Even thousands of people beat them, and they are all done."

I understood: "Are you still lying?" Thieving Cat said: "Then what can I do? There is also a buddy who is also a colleague. We are the ones who have the final say in this Taoist temple. Once a big boss came to tell a fortune, and we encircled him 2,000 yuan at a time. I kept saying thank you Taoist priest. Another time, a woman came to ask for a lottery, saying that she often had nightmares, so I took the opportunity to prick her once. How could she understand Zhafei? It was not clean, there was something wrong with it, it came and went, and finally slept with me, and she said afterwards that she borrowed the power of the mage, and she really didn't have nightmares anymore."

I was silent, thinking: This kid is hopeless. I remembered that the senior of Chinese studies said: "If you commit adultery in Jialan, you will fall into the endless hell." The thief cat cheats money and sex with the identity of a monk, and it will not end well. Seeing that I didn't speak, Thief Cat turned his eyes and said, "How about it, Fifth Master, are you excited? You can join too. If you come to sit in the manor, I will still listen to you. Times have changed, and seniority cannot be changed." I smiled: "I quit the arena." Thieving Cat said: "Forget it, fifth master, if you have anything to tell me, I will definitely do it."

I said, "Okay, I hope all is well guys." I knew he didn't understand what I meant, he hadn't woken up yet. Sure enough, in the second year, a news was published in the newspaper, saying that a criminal case had occurred in that Taoist temple.Because of the uneven distribution of spoils, the two false priests killed the other one, dismembered the body, and threw the head into the toilet.It was summer, and the cesspit was full of maggots. When the police found out, the maggots had eaten away all the flesh on the head, leaving only a white skeleton with a few strands of hair on it.

I think, regardless of whether Thieves is the victim or the murderer, his life is over. On July 15 Ghost Festival, I specially went to that Taoist temple to burn a stick of incense.For Thieving Cat, after all, he has always been respectful to me. Thieving cat's death, let me feel very bad.Once a person falls into an evil path, it is difficult to find himself again.I remembered the saying that my grandfather often said: "The greedy will be poor, and the gentleman thinks it is a great warning." This is true for ordinary people, especially for Ah Bao. I know there are many big and small Abaos in this world who are still cheating and greedy.I don't know if I can save some people by myself, at least my brothers.

In 1984, my father-in-law was hospitalized due to a cerebral hemorrhage. Later, his condition worsened and he fell into a coma.I remember that there was no head cooling equipment at that time. My wife and I went to the ice cream factory, made a big bag of ice cream, and piled it on the old man’s head. He was in a coma for a week, and one day he suddenly woke up.I know that there is a flashback before death. That day my father-in-law held my wife's hand tightly and said: "Dawn, I have to go, you have to treat Yingying well, you are a good uncle, I didn't see wrong." Looking at the white-haired old man, I felt a sharp pain in my heart.I had no father since I was a child. The word "dad" was just a fantasy in my mind. I never tasted the feeling of fatherly love until I married Yingying.For more than ten years, my father-in-law took good care of me and made up for my lack of fatherly love. At this time, he was leaving, and I said to my father-in-law through tears, "Dad, don't worry, I will definitely take good care of Yingying."

Many people will see this or that kind of strange phenomenon before they die. According to Buddhist theory, it is called karmic creditor.If a person commits too many crimes, he will be punished before he dies, but my father-in-law walked in a smooth manner. He didn't show his teeth and claws like others, and he didn't breathe three times like others. He walked peacefully. Teachers, preaching, teaching, and solving doubts.My father-in-law did it. He has been a teacher all his life. He is ordinary, ordinary and great. After the father-in-law left, I loved my wife even more. I often thought of the years of the "Cultural Revolution", the anxiety of the father-in-law and the freedom of my wife.People, thanks to the memory, those old things can always make your heart flutter, and make you feel happy. A rooster crow brought me back to reality from my memories. It was dawn, and I didn't close my eyes all night.My wife also got up, looking at her, I couldn't help but hug her in my arms, "Yingying, you are so kind." The white-haired wife laughed loudly: "Where is it? This is, I'll make breakfast, and you can go to sleep." My wife made breakfast, and I ate a few bites, and then wandered into the street with my hands behind my back, full of worries.Grandpa's figure began to sway in my mind again, and a gust of cool wind hit me, and I tightened my collar. When I was approaching the People's Park, I saw a group of people surrounded by the street. When I got closer, I saw two young men who looked like monks setting up a fortune-telling booth. Looking at the eagerness of the people around me, I couldn't help but be dumbfounded: This kind of thing is a liar at first glance!Always remember a law: a real monk, no matter if he is a monk or a Taoist, is disillusioned and pure-hearted, he will never run all over the street to tell people's fortunes.If those people dressed in Buddhist and Taoist costumes appear in the streets and alleys to tell fortunes, it is just a low-level trick of Ah Baos. Although the "Jiangxiang School" as a whole has perished, and it is impossible to cause great disturbances in Chinese history, it was once very prosperous, with disciples spread all over the country, and even today there are still some remnants of it. Let me get closer and listen carefully, amazing!This group of people used the "Shuang Jinkou" of the Northern School of the "Jiang Xiang School".Back in the day, the four halls in the southeast, north, and west each had their own specialties: the eastern school was good at "Zhafei", the southern school was good at "yingyao", the western school was good at "feng shui bureau", and the northern school was good at "double golden mouth". Shuangjinkou, also known as "two-headed block", is a hundred-year-old fortune-telling assertion summed up by Abao of the northern school for hundreds of years. These assertions are full of sophistry, no matter who you tell them, the other party will definitely answer: "Yes!" Let's take a look at the following formulas. "You are such a person, you worry about your life, and you are always troubled and thankless!" Life is already very tiring.Whether it is a dignitary or an ordinary person, they are all racking their brains and racking their brains for life, who doesn't worry?Moreover, there are seven or eight out of ten unsatisfactory things in life, and almost everyone thinks that they are troubled and thankless.But the roe deer who came to tell the fortune didn't think so, because they didn't think about the tricks in it at all. Ah Bao looked at your palmistry, and when you suddenly said such a sentence, 80% of people would secretly praise: "It's true!" "You man, you will have great luck after middle age, good luck!" Few people in their 70s and 80s like fortune-telling people. Old people never tell their fortunes, because most of their lives are over, and they know their fates best. Even if they do, they are for their sons or grandchildren.With this age difference, it will be easy for Baos. When young or middle-aged people come, they will first tell you that you have not been doing well recently, and that you have suffered disasters, and then tell you that you will be lucky when you are 35 or 40 years old. When you are old, your life is very good. This is actually "thousands of dragons and blessings".The person who came to tell the fortune must think that it is very accurate, but has he ever thought about what kind of person would be able to tell the fortune?Only those who feel that their fate is bad, have many disasters, or encounter big troubles, or those who have done bad things will tell their fortunes. If a person is rich and expensive, has a harmonious family, is healthy, and has no ghosts in his heart, Will he be full to play fortune-telling?Since you come to fortune-telling, you must have encountered troubles, so the treasures will blurt out-"You have not been doing well recently, you have suffered a disaster" and so on. Look at the second half of the sentence again - "Old fate is good", people live a lifetime, and the picture is a good destination, no matter how much hardship they suffered when they were young, they will not live in vain if they have a good ending in the end. Good", can you not be happy?Little do you know that Abao’s words need time to verify, when you think back on these words when you are old, you will find that they are all nonsense, but where did you go to find this fortune teller to judge?Even if you are lucky enough to find him, he is dying and dying, why don't you still beat him? "You're a life-saver, and you're constantly having sex with men and women!" This is the tactic Ah Bao often uses against handsome men and beautiful women.People are divided into three classes, some are ugly and some are handsome, regardless of men and women, as long as they are beautiful, they will attract the opposite sex. This is an eternal truth!Those worried young women who come to tell fortunes, as soon as they enter the door, Abao will ask: "What is it?" Tell you: "From the shape of the incense you burn, it can be seen that this is the image of two men competing for one woman! You have fallen into emotional disputes!" The young woman will be shocked: "It works!" Actually, I don't think about it myself. She is so beautiful, she must attract wolves, and when she enters the door and tells others to count as a relationship, even a fool can figure it out! "Your child is the boy next to the Queen Mother." This sentence is even more out of line, but the "credibility" of this sentence is the highest.When parents tell their children fortune-telling, if it is because the child is not in good health, this sentence is the most "effective", because parents think that their children are different.As the saying goes: "Daughters-in-law look good at other people's homes, and children look good at their own homes." Since you are a child in heaven, you must have been reincarnated as a human being for some unexpected reason, and your fate must be different from that of ordinary children. Disasters are also normal.In fact, this is the "thousand" envoy of Abao, which invisibly improves the status of your children. When your psychological defense line is lowered, he will immediately issue "thousand": "This disaster must be solved, otherwise it will be taken back by heaven." !" Parents will be shocked when they hear it, "Tell me, how to solve it!" At this time, they are already at the mercy of Abao. ... For decades, I have been following my grandfather's idea of ​​"being a good person". Whenever I see anyone cheating people's money under the guise of fortune telling, I will expose them and drive them away. So for so many years, our small prefecture-level There haven't been any liars in the city yet.Today I heard that these two people speak with foreign accents, and I am going to teach these two late students a lesson. I observed carefully for a while, and found that besides the two pseudo-monks, there were two nurses, two women.One of the women played red face, and the other played white face.One insisted on counting, and the other pulled her and said: "Why do you count this? It's all feudal superstition!" Finally, the woman said: "I'll try it, if I don't allow it, I will leave!" As you can imagine, the result is extremely accurate!And forget about the other woman, she is also very accurate.After the two finished the calculation, they said, "Master, how much is it?" The man said: "Almsgiver, we are from the monastery of XX Mountain. We came here for alms. It's useless for monks to ask for money. You can donate some incense money. The money will be used for the repair of the temple in the future, and it can be regarded as an accumulation merit." The two women said: "Master is really a kind person. How much should you donate?" Another man said: "Donate as much as you want, donate as much as you want, this thing is not too much or too little, come from your heart." He took out a notebook, opened it, and handed it to the two women, "You two benefactors write it yourself. , Write down how much you donate, and also write down your names, which will be engraved in the merit book in the future." I couldn't help hiding my face, thinking that this technique was used decades ago, and you are still using it.This is a trick. The names and donations on the notebooks are all written by themselves, using different fonts to imitate different people. Basically, there are 100 yuan, 200 yuan, and 50 yuan written behind each name.It seems that you are asked to write it yourself, but the amount they wrote earlier is already very large. If you take this book, you will never write fifty cents anyway.Because everyone has a face, and they all have a good face. The front is 50 yuan, 100 yuan, and 200 yuan, so I have to write 10 yuan or 20 yuan no matter what.At that time, the money was still very real, and you couldn’t spend ten or twenty yuan on the street. Leek was 20 cents a catty, Chinese cabbage was 10 cents a catty, and the most expensive tomato was 50 cents a catty. I saw an old woman tremblingly took out a handkerchief from her pocket after finishing the calculation, turned around, and opened it tremblingly. Inside were all ten-ten-cent change notes, and she counted about one yuan. Handed it all to the man.She said she couldn't write and asked the man to write for her. Good people are always blinded by the tricks of liars.I can't hold back anymore, there is a way to steal, and there are rules in Ah Bao's circle. You can't kill the poor unless you have to. These grandchildren of Ah Bao in front of me have made me unbearable. "Foretell me." I squeezed forward. One of the men looked up at me: "Old man, do you count for yourself or for your family?" I said, "To myself." He said, "Where do you count?" I said, "Count the body." He said, "Then tell me your birthday." I just reported a horoscope. The kid pretended to mutter for a while, and said, "Old man, you have been overwhelmed for the past two years, and your health is not very good." I laughed in my heart. After so many years, the technology has not improved at all.Seeing that I was speechless, he said again: "Master, do you always feel powerless?" I said, "No, my body has been quite strong in the past two years." He was taken aback and said, "Then you still let me see the body?" I said, "Yeah, being tough now doesn't mean you'll be tough in the future. I want to know when will I die?" Everyone around laughed.The kid couldn't hold back anymore, and said sullenly: "Old man, fortune-telling must be pious, this is not a joke." I said, "I'm very religious. I want to figure out when I will die so I can prepare for it." Hearing this, he thought it was the unfilial situation of his family members, so he hurriedly said: "Old man, judging from your appearance, the children's palace is gloomy. I think your children are a bit unfilial, and they often make you feel wronged. " I sighed: "Oh." He thought he was right, and said, "Old man, don't be too sad, we can break it for you." I said, "What the hell. I want to know when to die because my children are too filial. I don't want to drag them down." The kid's nose was crooked, and he winked at the man next to him, who said, "Old man, your situation is quite special, let's take a step to talk." He pulled me to a corner where no one was around, and said coldly, "You're not here to tell fortunes." I said, "You are not fortune tellers either." He said: "We two brothers and sisters came here for alms, just looking for some money, I don't know where I offended sir?" I said, "Not two, but four." He was stunned: "What on earth are you doing?" As he spoke, he stretched his right hand to his lower back. I know they all bring their guys with them, like Ah Bao who is on the run and committing crimes.I said: "The 'strike hard' wind has just passed, don't you want to go in? Just cheating is enough for a few years in prison, plus intentional harm, you really want to die." He froze again, motionless, and I stared at him.After confronting each other for a while, he smiled and clasped his fists together: "Senior! I'm new to your land, so please take care of me if you don't do well. We will split all the money. Senior, please don't be offended!" I laughed too: "It's only now that I realize it's senior, you punched your eyes too hard!" He hastily bowed and said, "Fengzi floated on the river, and Xunzui opened his head and got a knife. I'm a 85-year-old boy, dare to ask the master dad?" When I heard it, it was all nonsense. "Fengzi" means horse, and "Xianzui" means dog. Juren and Dashiba are both in the same rank and seniority as Abao.What he meant was that these people are Ah Bao who committed crimes on the go. Today is the first time he has cheated in this place. He was promoted to the title of Juren in 1985. He asked me what happened. I said: "Bowed mouths don't lay eggs, flat mouths always lie down, and they will be the second best in the next 50 years." This is slang again, a bowed beak is a goose, and a flat beak is a duck.What I meant was to tell him that I had quit the arena long ago, and I was the second in 1950 when I was promoted by leapfrogging. The registration number was serious, and the boy knelt down: "Master's father is on top, and I will pay homage to the younger one." Later he called those three people over again and said, "We won't play games today, there are seniors here." Then they cleaned up and the five of us went to a small restaurant. After the meeting ceremony, three rounds of wine, and five flavors of food, everyone began to chat.They are actually two couples who have been in this industry for some years. They said that the crackdown has been severe in the past two years, and it is difficult to do business. I said, "Don't do it if it's difficult to do. It's not good to do something." A woman said: "Why did Master Daddy say that? Didn't you come here in the same way?" I said, "Yes, it was even more difficult at that time. It is precisely because I have walked this road that I advise you not to go any further." The woman said: "Master Dad, don't take offense when I say something disrespectful." I said, "Family, just talk." The woman looked at the few people and said, "You have accumulated savings over the years, and you have everything you should have, so you can stop. When we are like master dad, we will stop." I took a sip of wine, sighed, and said, "I expected you to say that. I might as well tell you about my history." So I started talking about how to cheat, how to How to make a game, how to miss a game, talk about the death of the grandfather, everyone's death, talk about the death of the thief cat... When it comes to the sad part, I can't help but shed tears. In the end I said: "You have only seen the happiness of Po's making money and the joy of spending money, but no one wants to face Po's final ending, sad, sad." The four of them stopped talking, and the room was silent.I believe that at the beginning of human beings, people are inherently good. No one wants to be a bad person when they are born. Suddenly, the leading man said: "Master Dad, is the grandfather you mentioned just now the head of the Eastern School who unified the 'Jiang Xiang School'?" I said, "Yes. He was sentenced to death in 1952." He looked at the three people around him and gave each other a wink, as if hesitating. I didn't know what he meant, it seemed that he wanted to say something, but he didn't dare to say it. I chuckled: "If you have anything to say, just say it, I will tell you everything I know." He looked at the three people again, bowed his head in thought for a while, and said in a low voice, "Grandfather is not dead!" "Huh?!" My blood pressure shot up. Seeing me shocked like this, he turned around and took out a photo from his cloth bag and handed it to me. I took it and took a closer look. It was a scene of an octogenarian walking among autumn leaves with his hands behind his back. After a closer look, he said, "Oh my God. !" My heart seemed to be pierced by a knife, and my whole body trembled. Although this was a profile photo, I could clearly distinguish: it was Grandpa! I was dizzy all over. My grandfather has been gone for so many years, and the grievances and grievances of "Jiang Xiangpai" are gradually blurring in my memory.Now that I am old, I just want to die quietly with peaceful thoughts and occasional sadness. Unexpectedly, at the end of the 20th century, Sibatou first said that Huang Farong was not dead, and then my grandfather who was closely related to my life appeared again Ah, my "Jiang Xiang faction" who keeps cutting, isn't your fate over yet? My left eye started twitching again. I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself down, "What's going on?" The leader looked around and said in a low voice: "Dragon Palace draws ten sons, grinds the head to find the old man. Bean sprouts come out, Laokong Laokuanwu." My heart skipped a beat, I understand all these slang words, "Dragon Palace" means water; "Dragon Palace" means chopsticks, here refers to paddling and boating; Motou means mother, alluding to the female head People; Lao Kwan, the meaning of father, alluding to the male leader; Douer, female Abao, Yaer, male Abao; Laokong Laokuan refers to opponents and hostile forces.These few words mean that there is a female head who came back by boat from overseas, looking for the male head, and organized the scattered A Baos to gather together and come back out of the rivers and lakes. The man went on to say, "Master, I don't know something. The real purpose of our hunting roe deer is not to make money, but to find and gather brothers who are scattered in every corner..." I was stunned! Grandpa said: "A Bao must be steady at all times." I began to think carefully about this series of things.There will always be a thread behind the complicated appearances, but I haven't touched it yet. I vaguely feel that all this is probably related to Sibatou's death, but anyway, if grandpa is really still alive, for me, then It's a great thing.Over the decades, I have dreamed of him countless times, dreaming of his fatherly smile.I suddenly thought of Huang Farong. The image of this ex-wife of Sibatou has always been vague in my mind. I entered Taoism late, and when she joined Tangkou, she had been "dead" for a long time. Her stories are all about Erba narrated by the head.Just as I was thinking about it, my left eye jumped up again, making my heart flutter.I raised my hand and pressed my eyelids, but it still kept beating. At this time, a figure flashed outside the house, and a woman came in. She was tall and slender, wearing a gorgeous windbreaker, wearing sunglasses, about forty years old. In the 1990s, this kind of dress was still very rare in our prefecture-level city. When the four Ah Bao saw this woman, their faces turned yellow with fright, and they all fell to their knees plopping on the ground: "I don't know if Master is here..." The woman glanced at them and said in a low voice, "Go back!" The four immediately packed their bags and ran away. The woman turned to me and said, "Is it Fifth Lord?" I shivered all over, the title "Fifth Master" is too heavy. "Are you..." I asked suspiciously, my eyelids twitched even more. The woman took off her sunglasses, looked at me, was silent for a moment, then stared into my eyes, and said indifferently: "Can I go to Fifth Master's house to have a chat..." "Uh... well..." I was dizzy again. The room was surprisingly quiet. His wife made a cup of tea for the woman, and she took it slowly.The three were silent, no one spoke, and the air froze. After a long time, the woman finally spoke, and with her deep wailing, I knew who she was and what relationship she had with the "Jiang Xiang faction". My thoughts flew back to the distant Jiang Xiang years involuntarily.The splendor of the 1930s, the turbulent Shanghai Bund, the young grandfather, the passionate Jiang Feiyan, the genius Sibatou, the unlucky Huang Farong, between heaven and earth, how many heroes at one time... When it comes to emotions, the three of us all With tears in her eyes, grandfather, Sibatou and Huang Farong, the grievances and resentments of the three were fully and clearly presented for the first time...