Naturally, the person picking fruits would hardly be able to escape the senses of the tiger when it lunged for the wildfowl. The man would also end up as a game of the tiger’s conquest to quench its hunger. Then again, the director and the chief physician understand nothing of the underlying message behind Old Man Xie’s parable; their dazed expressions fully conveying their perplexity, as if waiting for the old man to give them the answer to his riddle. Old Man Xie scowled at the two men, sighing with his ire in full display and grumbled. “You still don’t understand, do you? You nerds… For all the books you’ve been poring over… The beefsteak plant is the wildfowl that I tossed in to trigger the patients’ immune system to kick in. Moreover, beefsteak plants have a poison of their own, although the amount of toxin they contain is hardly lethal. Villagers these days neither plant beefsteak plants for food nor for chicken food but as natural pesticides. They ward off bugs and insects. The immune systems of the patients will begin working towards protecting the patients against the poison of the plant. But once the poison has been eliminated from the body, the immune system will, in turn, be dealing with the ancient bacteria which had similar properties to the poison.”

The two men remained motionless as they finally understood the entire method, fossilized in their seats at the truth of the timeworn bacteria from the ancient past. Realizing his cue to slip away, Old Man Xie lowered his glass and gestured for Lin Feng and me to leave. But we were still halfway into the meal, I grimaced, could we not wait till we were full? But the old man remarked to the two men, “I have revealed to you what you want to know. I’ll take no more questions.” With that, he turned and left, leaving Lin Feng and me scurrying in his wake after tossing down our chopsticks in dismay. The two men were still awe-struck at the table, their eyes locked against each other, the mental gymnastics of them trying to juggle what Old Man Xie had just said and the reality of him leaving still left them frozen. This was why Old Man Xie chose to hardly meet anyone. He just loved being stylish and showy, riding into the sunset like a hero after slaying a monster. This was also why he barely had any friends.

As we were driving back, I asked Old Man Xie, “Why is it that these people want to learn so much from you, old man? Not that the things you said would be useful to them…” “That depends. I told them nothing but the crux of the truth in practicing medicine. It all depends on how much they’ll be able to glean,” said the old man, the whiff of pride evident on his face.

We returned with Lin Feng back to the university, where I went to the office and collected my graduation certificate before we continued our journey back to Wu Zhong County. When we got back, I pulled Lin Feng aside and spoke to him about my intentions to strike out on my own and how I wished for him to join me. I had long been aware of Lin Feng’s interest in the supernatural. Hearing my suggestion, he readily agreed, saying with his face beaming with fiery enthusiasm. “Let’s wait no more then! Let’s start now! Look, you’d even collected your graduation cert! Have you found a place? I know there are some good spots in the north of town…” Apparently, we share the same idea! Still, there was one more piece of the puzzle yet to be solved—my father! I hesitated. “In truth, I too was interested in the spot at the north of town. But my father has yet to give me his approval. We need to first persuade my father, otherwise we would not have the capital to get everything started! How about we try speaking to your dad. Maybe he can help us by speaking on our behalf to my father, and then all might be settled in no time.” Lin Feng agreed, and we each went on our ways home that night,

The following day, my mother came to the Institute during noon. Together with my father, we were having lunch in the reception room when I heard an outburst coming from outside. I rose and went to venture a look. To my astonishment, it was Aunt Quan, Uncle Quan’s wife, dragging him just behind her while Lin Feng trailed silently at the rear, his face wearing a crestfallen look. Aunt Quan was seething and her eyes so swollen that she was close to tears. What’s more, cars were skidding to a stop outside, and many people rush out of the vehicles carrying TV cameras and microphones! There was also this young lady who was cradling a baby in her arms, muttering something incomprehensibly as she too, was swept into the Institute with the rowdy crowd. What’s going on, I wondered, before I realized this was a live recording of a domestic quarrel! Once inside, Aunt Quan was the first to burst. “Please, Brother Hai! Please speak for me on my behalf!” Swiftly assessing the situation, my father motioned to my mother with a wave of his arm to intercept the recording crew from entering while my father and I separated both Uncle Quan and his wife and ushered them indoors. My mother skillfully herded the TV crew away and shut the doors behind her, making sure to keep it locked. Aunt Quan was still snarling loudly at her husband, her face flustered with anger and resentment. She was an accountant for a large state-owned enterprise a few years back and had retired. Being no stranger to adversity, she had had her fair share of dealing with unexpected incidents and episodes; her experiences of dealing with sticky situations had made her known to many of having a particularly sharp tongue. My father waved her down and steered her into a seat. “Let’s first sit down before you tell me your story!” I rushed to the refrigerator and retrieved a couple of bottles of Coke and laid them on the table for everyone. Father extracted a cigarette and handed one to Uncle Quan before lighting it for him. Aunt Quan, now unable to hold back her tears, sobbed as she screamed. “This old imbecile! I’d never know that he would be fooling around behind my back! He has, he has another family outside!

Apparently, even my father was taken by surprise. He stared inquiringly at Lin Feng, who could say nothing but nod heavily. Aunt Quan went on, “There is no denying this. The woman is already here with a child seven to eight years old!” She continued sobbing hard. Uncle Quan, not willing to yield, spoke to my father, “You know me, Brother Hai. For so many years together, surely you know what kind of person I am!” Father raised a hand and stopped them. He paused for a moment, gave a quick thought, and said, “Please, for my sake, the both of you lay off quarreling until I understand the full story. I will get to the bottom of this, for both of you!” He left the room promptly, not forgetting to keep the door locked when he slipped out. At a loss myself, I mumbled. “Have some drink, Uncle and Aunt. Just relax and cool down for a moment. The solution will surely show itself…” The family of three sat quietly without a word as the sounds of their heavy breaths threatened to snap the palpable tension that hung like a tinderbox waiting to erupt. There was nothing I could do except to watch and hope for the best. But just when everyone least expected it, we heard the loud laughter of my father coming from outside. He came in, pushing himself through the door and bid me to lock it as he walked past me. He spoke to Aunt Quan, “I’ve understood the whole story, good sister! Pray listen to me!”

“Good sister,” said my father, “You did not know, there was once when I sent one of our accounts clerk to Dong Shan County to settle some unfinished business. But I was worried about having to send the young lady alone on a journey so far; hence I asked Brother Quan to go with her. On the way back, they encountered a traffic jam. Brother Quan had intentionally avoided using the highway and had chosen the shortcut, knowing that there were rarely road users on this shortcut. It was impossible for a traffic jam to occur there! It turned out that there was an old and battered wooden bridge hanging over the river on the way which railings had long fallen off due to disrepair. For thirty years the region of Eastern Hebei had not suffered from floods. Hence the lack of maintenance for the wooden bridge. But unexpectedly a cloudburst had caused the river to overflow that year. A passing-by vehicle on the narrow bridge had accidentally hit a woman and the woman had fallen off into the river! The driver of the vehicle, in his panic, sped away and fled. But the events hardly went unnoticed: a sightseeing bus was just behind, and a university student had recorded the entire episode on his mobile phone. But none of the occupants of the bus knew how to swim. Hence everyone could only stand by the bridge looking in vain.

Seeing that there was a traffic jam in front, Brother Quan realized that something must be wrong on this usually-empty shortcut. He instructed the clerk to take over the driving while he walked to the front to find out what was wrong. But when he reached the bridge, he saw the crowd standing by the river. After some questions, he found out that a woman was in the water. Why are you people not in the water to rescue her, he asked hurriedly. But no one knew how to swim. Brother Quan immediately stripped off his shirt and dove into the river. In no time, he emerged from the river with the body of the woman with him. They tried all emergency first-aid and CPR, but nothing worked. The woman had been in the water for too long that she had drowned. Brother Quan could only shake his head helplessly. But his derring-do was also recorded by the university students. When he had finished putting on his clothing, a voice came from the crowd, asking everyone to make way for the hero! Brother Quan then continued his journey home. But little did he knew that the driver of the vehicle that had banged the woman into the river was an important person of the nearby village’s management. The footage of Brother Quan’s heroics was then posted on the internet under the headline of “Village Official Hits Innocent Woman Into River; Brave Hero Plunges Into River for Rescue But To No Avail” and the news became viral. Swiftly, the news of the incident spread like flashfire across the region and earned the attention of countless users of the Internet. A famous Internet icon even remarked ‘Injustice in Dong Shan; the rise of a Hero from Wu Zhong”. Apparently, the legions of Internet users had found out through the video footage that the vehicle Brother Quan was driving was from the Wu Zuhong County. Two online manhunts began in earnest: one to hunt down the village official who had committed the devilry of hitting the woman off the bridge to her death, while the other to find out and pay homage to the brave champion who had risked his life to recover the woman’s body. The endeavor to pursuit of Brother Quan had expanded to a magnitude so great that even local television broadcasters, prominent Internet sites and various other elements of the entire gamut of mass media took an interest in this matter that they began mobilizing their legions of reporters and newsperson to cover this issue quickly, and hence the TV crew here today! It’s just that they came at a bad time; therefore you have misunderstood their intent!” My father said, ending the first part of his tale.

Father laughed and continued, “The woman who had drowned was called Yang Lin, a fresh graduate from university who was not yet married. She has an older sister, Yang Nan, who was not only married, but she also has a six-year-old son. Their mother, when hearing of the story of her youngest daughter’s demise, realized that Brother Quan had clambered out of the river with a dead body. Being unmarried, the soul of her daughter would become what we normally call a lonely female ghost. Lonely female ghosts normally attached themselves to the first person who came in contact with their corpse and caused harm to them. Only relatives of the person who had died would be absolved from the harm and danger. She hurriedly contacted her eldest daughter and asked for her to help save the kind man who had helped recover her youngest daughter’s body. They discussed and came up with a plan to rescue Brother Quan: They would commission a Taoist priest to produce a talisman and Brother Quan would be christened as the surrogate husband of the eldest daughter and the surrogate father of her child. At their first sight of Brother Quan, they would immediately address him as such! Therefore, when they first met, the eldest daughter had immediately called Brother Quan ‘husband’ and her child ‘father’! The manner of address was in fact for the benefit of the ghost who had attached itself to Brother Quan. Only this way, they could lead her spirit home! The reporters and TV crew that came knew nothing of this and they too had misunderstood the entire fiasco! The eldest daughter is still outside, holding the clothes that her sister had worn before she died!” My father said again to Aunt Quan, “This is the truth, good sister. You’ll only have to acknowledge when the child addresses you as ‘Step-mother’! Everything is for Brother Quan’s sake! It’s their gesture of kindness to their benefactor, no?”

Aunt Quan, the tingle of doubt and skepticism still evident in her voice, turned to me and asked, “Is the female ghost still here?” Caught unawares, I was stunned briefly by her question, but I quickly replied, “Oh! Of course!” I slipped out of the door and muttered to myself, impossible! I called out loudly at the crowd, “May I know who’s the sister of the deceased lady?” A woman came forth with a small boy. “Go inside,” I said, “And light up the talisman!” She entered through the door and burned the yellow piece of talisman she brought with her. She ambled over to Uncle and Aunt Quan and knelt by their feet, bowing deeply once, before she rose to her feet and extracted the clothes of her deceased sister she had brought with her from a bundle. Softly, she called, “Let’s go home, Xiao Lin (Literally, Little Lin)!” The boy too began to cry. “Let us go home together, Aunt! Let’s go home!” I watched the boy, feeling a pang of nostalgia that reminded me of myself when I was young. The woman then left, tugging her son with her and the frenzied crowd of reporters and camera-toting TV crews rushed forward, their patience failing precipitously. I yelled at them. “Hey, this part is not for broadcast!” There were a few muffled “All rights” and “Okays” from the crowd as they shuffled after the leaving mother and son. Their echoing footfalls resounded through the stairwell as they left with the voices of inquisitive newspersons asking enthusiastically, “Your husband’s bravery is well noted and appreciated by the public! I trust your family has always had the habit of instilling moral values and virtues…”