The clock was already showing ten when I got home that night, a drunk and groggy young man reeking of food and wine as I stumbled through the door. I saw my father relaxing, half-lying on the sofa with my mother’s head resting on his shoulders. The pair of couple was enjoying a frivolous moment of youthful entertainment watching cartoons. This sometimes begged the question, what age group was they for real? Despite their dignified and aloof presence outside, this particular pair of husband and wife could, in their most candid moments at home, behave as though they were still 5-year-olds still missing Christmas.

Due to the warm weather that night, I laid my sleeveless shirt over the sofa and said, “Do remember to remind Old Man Li that it’s our opening day tomorrow, Father. We need him to perform something for the guests.” My father grunted a “Yes”, his eyes still glued to the TV screen. Old Man Li was another of the senior counselors at the Institute, known for his skills with painting and calligraphy. I but knew little of these academic skills; hence there was little I could elaborate on. I entered the bathroom and took a shower. The days grew hotter by the hour that I would certainly welcome a dip into the cool waters of a bathtub and be rid of the uncomfortable swelter.

With most of the hangover and headache quashed with the shower, I strolled back to the living room and saw my father still sitting at the sofa, fiddling with a sword in his grip. A faint glance was sufficient to tell that the sword was hardly a common tool. A cold sparkle flashed off the shiny trims of the blade under the light of the fluorescent lamp, a warning to anyone who dared incur its wrath. Noticing that I was out, my father gestured me to sit down. My mother moved to the other end of the sofa, making space for me to sit between them both. Father threw an arm over my shoulder and said, “Your maiden voyage begins formally tomorrow! This is the opportunity where you sail into uncharted waters and see the world for yourself. I have something for you.” He took up the sword and handed it to me, saying, “This sword is hardly anything rare and unique. Yet it is hardly a common blade. Now it is yours, so is the responsibility to shoulder the name of my school.” I admitted, I could not help feeling a little down when I heard him. “Ah? This looks like a worthless trinket that you’d give away for charity! The sword seems ordinary!” Father scowled with displeasure and simply said, “This sword is enough to serve your current needs. Moreover, a person’s prowess comes not from the weapon you wield, but your own strength! With superior power of your own, even a branch can be wielded like a powerful sword!” I swore quietly to myself, hissing quietly to myself at my father’s remarks before I asked my father what order our family was part of. Instead, my father merely said, “Don’t ask questions that concerns you not!” My father snapped impatiently, “Just do as I say! No more nonsense from you!” And you thought that I had not realized, I thought quietly. Since the first time of broaching the subject when I was very young, my father had never been truthful to me about the order that he was once a member of. It was a secret that he had long since kept to himself, even though I could vaguely pick up a fleeting sorrow that flashed in his eyes everytime we reached this particular juncture.

My father spoke again, asking if I had come up with a name for my new shop. I patted my puffed out chest and said, “It’s long been thought out! It’ll be called the ‘De Chang Chamber of Mystics (Literally the Virtuous and Prosperous Chamber of Mystics)’!” My father stared at me before he shook his head, sighing, “What an insipid name for a shop! Change it!” I immediately retorted indignantly, “The name is enough to serve our current needs!” Father was instantly stunned by what I said while my mother was trying hard to stifle her giggles. This was one of the numerous times where our banters would seem rather akin to like-aged children bickering. “I have given it a thought! I’ll have Old Man Li help me with a sign that says ‘Cultural Classics of National Studies’, written in runic scripts. At the side, I’ll have him include the range of our trade, including ‘Fortune-telling, advice on nuptial arrangements and moving of premises, ritualistic assistance, remedies, and aid’!” Satisfied at last, Father nodded and said nothing more.

Just when I thought that the sword was the last order of business, he suddenly conjured a booklet out of nowhere. The cover of the booklet was empty, with nothing but complete blankness at the front. I riffled through the pages and found illustrations of sword techniques on each page with descriptions below. The entire booklet contained the full set of skills for a whole swordplay discipline. A full mastery of the complete set of skills would see me partially learned in the arcane crafts of the order my father was part of. I turned the pages of the booklet, scanning each of them briefly and asked, “Surely this is not some secret manuscript left to you by your teacher, Father?” Father scratched at the end of his toes lazily and muttered, “Oh, of course not. I drew the illustrations myself last night.” Shocked beyond words, I almost choked and yelled, “Surely this is not one of your parlor tricks, Father! I’d hope that this is not some art project you had done on a whim! I’m your son, you know!” But instead, Father said, “Give it back then, if you’re not interested in it.” His hand reached over to take the booklet from me when I quickly stowed the booklet into my back pocket. “How can you give something to others only to demand it back in the next minute!”

It was an eventful night that stretched into the wee hours and I was woken up by a phone call the following morning. A glimpse at the screen of my phone told me that it was Lin Feng. I pressed a button and lifted the phone to my ears, hearing Lin Feng’s frantic screams, “Come on, man! Look at the time!” I reached for my watch, Oh my God! It was already 7:40 and the opening ceremony was supposed to start at 8! I yelled into the phone, “I’m on my way!” Hanging up the phone, I lunged for the bathroom and washed up before grabbing at a shirt and rushed out the door even before wearing it. I reached at the shop to hear the loud thunderclap-like snappings of the firecrackers! God, I could hardly believe I had made it, I thought then. Seeing me coming, Lin Feng snatched up a microphone and tossed it to me with the dexterity only seen when he was throwing a dart. My arm stretched forth and caught the microphone as I emerged from the crowd. Lifting it to my lips I began speaking to everyone, “Welcome to our opening ceremony…”

This was in fact a very conventional opening ceremony without anything out of the ordinary. There would be a few customary performances and demonstration of skills and talents before the usual humdrum of the ribbon-cutting ceremony. My role was to provide background music during the shows and demonstrations by playing various songs using the zither. The first was Old Man Li who graced the stage with his live presentation of calligraphy writing followed by a show of wushu techniques and moves by Lin Feng. Lastly, we would have some of the junior instructors of the Institute who would be providing a performance of their classical dance. However, just when we were halfway through the show, a little girl, looking about eleven or twelve, appeared out of nowhere. Clad in fitting clothing meant for wushu practice, she strode up the stage and bowed to the audience. Surprised by the sudden events, I realized better than to stop and feed the sudden awkwardness stirred by the little girl’s untimely appearance. My fingers continued dancing over the strings of my zither as I began playing the tune of “Chinese Kungfu”. Recognizing the cue, the little girl was hardly nervous as she began performing wushu stances and kicks. Behind me, I heard Lin Feng’s astonished exclamation, “Oh my! This child is learned in the fundamentals of wushu!”

Cheers and whoops from the crowd began the rise and slowly culminated into a resounding crescendo of applause as the little girl executed move after move of wushu techniques onstage. The audience had mistaken her as part of our performance itinerary! Some of them began thinking that the little girl must be one of our most remarkable students, to be selected despite her young age to provide a show of her skills! But in fact, none of us knew the little girl! It was only when our performances ended when I discovered that the little girl had come with her grandmother. I did not know the little girl, but her grandmother was a face which I recognized. It was the youngest of the two sisters from the incident of Uncle Quan’s past; the woman who too knew wushu and was the disciple of the wife of Uncle Quan’s teacher! I hurried forward. “Oh my, you have come, dear aunt! Welcome welcome!” Lin Feng could not recognize her for he was not present when everyone met, even though he did hear about her when we related the incident to him. I dashed for Lin Feng and led him to her, hastily making introductions and informing him of her relations to his father. Lin Feng quickly paid his respects to her, bowing deeply in reverence. The woman reached down and lifted Lin Feng to his feet and smiled gently at him, saying, “You are Xiaofeng (Literally, Little Feng)? Dear me… You look exactly like your father when he was young during the demonstration of your wushu moves earlier!”

Apparently, news of us starting our new venture had reached her ears, and she had come to offer her congratulations. She said, “I’m afraid I have to trouble you with a request of mine, Xiao Feng.” Lin Feng, a person who paid strict attention in manners, bowed and replied, “Please tell me about your request, Aunt.” The woman nodded as she smiled, calling the little girl who had run upstage to her side. “This is my granddaughter, our youngest disciple. His teacher and my teacher each have their own strengths. But for so many years, your father’s skills far outstripped mine. I have seen you show your skills earlier. In some ways, you are senior to this child. I would like to leave her under your tutelage to study the discipline of Northern Kicks.” But without further consideration, Lin Feng agreed readily. Then again, there was no way he would say no. Lin Feng was beyond any doubt the senior of the little child, but the woman was also Lin Feng’s senior herself. “Can he not obey her wishes?” Therefore, most bizarrely, Lin Feng had found himself a young student.

After the performances, came the ribbon-cutting ceremony which was presided by my father and the fireworks ceremony was graced by both Messrs. Lee and Zhang. The two friends of my father had come at the break of dawn at the word of our opening and made well sure that they would be handling the fireworks ceremony! The two successful businessmen ended the ceremony with a flourish and the three of us young men immediately went forth to shake their hands, thanking them for their presence. But they were indeed two of the richest men in town. As we talked to them, they gave us each a large red packet! Although red packets were mostly for good fortune, the two red packets that I received from them were so thick that I could barely get a good grip on them! We put away the red packets that the two elders had so graciously given us, thanking them once again for their generosity.

In the midst of the crowd, we saw Yuanyuan and her friend who had indeed came to visit. They came bearing flowers and Yuanyuan began chatting with Lin Feng, indicating that they would come visiting us frequently. Most of the guests present were clients and patrons of the Institute, showing up today as a gesture of support and encouragement at the news of our new venture. Even Fearless Hao had come with Mr. Lee. He had resigned from his job as a construction worker and was now one of the staff of Mr. Lee’s company, looking quite well himself. Most importantly, the number of guests that came hardly dwindled the entire day, even to the night. If the ceremony during the day was bedecked by the former patrons and clients of the Institute, the ceremony in the night was attended by spirits and ghosts who had come flocking to offer their congratulations. These were supernatural entities who had once been helped or rescued by my father and I.

It was a busy day around the clock, and we were officially opened for business the following day. We did not expect to have clients knocking on our door so soon after a whole day of hustling back and forth attending to guests. When I had just opened the doors for business in the morning, I was surprised to see two familiar faces waiting for me outside. It was the man who was frightened by a plastic bag and his wife from the Yellow Earth Ridge!