A Large Pile of Money Part I

The Nightfall Antique Shop

Bai Zhe walked in and greeted the owner of the shop, Uncle Fu. The man looked kind and generous; however, the original Bai Zhe’s memory told him otherwise. When he scolded his employees, Uncle Fu was as scary as the mother of this body’s owner when she was mad at the father.

“Hello, Uncle Fu. I am here,” he greeted the old man.

“Oh, Xiao Zhe (1). School’s just ended. You came quick,” said Uncle Fu.

“I ran over. Well, where do you want me to make the delivery?” Bai Zhe asked.

“At the Xi Lua Real Estate Company. Our customer is Chairman Xi Lua. Inside this bamboo tube is an ancient calligraphy painting. It is quite expensive. Do not lose it or damage it. Understand?” answered Uncle Fu before handing Bai Zhe the bamboo tube which had a wooden lid on one end of it.

“Certainly. Deliver it to the Xi Lua Real Estate Company. The customer is Chairman Xi Lua,” he repeated, taking the tube from Uncle Fu’s hands.

“Correct. This is the map and our customer’s number. If you have any difficulty, call the customer.” He then handed him a piece of paper with the map and the number on it.

“All right. Then, I'll get going.” Bai Zhe took the paper and put it in his shirt pocket before leaving with the bamboo tube, which was the product.

“Take good care of it!” Uncle Fu told the boy who was leaving the shop.

Bai Zhe walked to an empty alley after he left. He jumped up to a nearby roof and then headed toward the customer’s company.

Xi Lua Real Estate Company’s Building

The boy entered the building and went straight to the information counter. A woman at the counter noticed him coming her way as well.

“Hello. I’m from the Nightfall Antique Shop. I'm here to deliver Chairman Xi Lua’s package,” he introduced himself and gave Uncle Fu’s business card to the woman.

“A…A moment, sir. She took the card and immediately contacted the chairman’s secretary.

‘It’s the uniform of a junior high student, yet why is my heart beating so fast? Am I a cradle snatcher or is he just that attractive?’ the young female employee thought.

In just a few short moments, the young female employee received a confirmation from the chairman’s secretary that the delivery boy from the shop was to come up and hand-deliver the package to him, using the VIP lift reserved for the company’s chairman. He was also given the single-use password, or OTP, in order to go to his office on the uppermost floor.

“This way, please.” The woman got up and then led him to the VIP lift. She called the lift and put in the OTP to operate it.

Ding!

Bai Zhe entered the lift after the doors opened. It seemed like the lift was programmed to go to the topmost floor, which was likely the floor where the management worked.

Ding!

The lift stopped with a ding. The lift doors opened, revealing a room that resembled a living room. Bai Zhe could see that there was a door, which was probably the door to the company chairman’s office, as well as a table, a little to the right across from the lift. A sophisticated older woman was sitting at a desk. She was in an outfit of a white shirt covered by a light cream suit jacket. She was wearing glasses with classic lenses, and yet, they made her look younger than her age.

“Are you Bai Zhe?” She raised her head to look at Bai Zhe standing in front of the lift before she asked him this.

“Yes, ma’am. I am here to deliver the package to Chairman Xi Lua, from the Nightfall Antique Shop,” answered the boy.

“You can go inside. I already told the chairman,” said the older woman.

“Thank you, ma’am,” the boy said. As it was still his habit, Bai Zhe folded his hands in front and bowed to her, like he used to do when he was in Da Xian, before he opened the door to go inside the office.

‘Jao Yi (2), the traditional bow? I did not think any parents still taught their children the traditional bow. Oddly, it suits this child, though.’ She thought.

Inside Chairman Xi Lua’s office

Bai Zhe froze for a second when he went inside. The room was decorated particularly for displaying the chairman’s collections: from various kinds of antiques to ancient paintings and calligraphy paintings that appeared old. He could even sense the consciousnesses of the original owners of some of the pieces as well.

‘This doesn’t look like an office at all,’ he thought.

“Excuse me, sir. I am Bai Zhe from Mr. Fu’s Nightfall Antique shop. I am here to deliver your package,” the boy said when he saw an older man at a desk.

Instead of a floor-to-ceiling glass window showing the view of the city outside behind the chairman’s desk, there was a wall that was decorated with numerous paintings. Their number made the wall look like it was covered in ceramic wall tiles.

Bai Zhe did not have to know this man previously to see that this elderly man was definitely crazy about collecting antique art pieces.

“Aha! Finally, it has reached me! Hand it over for me to check its condition.” Xi Lua rubbed his hands together as if he could not wait to see what he had purchased.

“Here, sir,” Bai Zhe walked toward the desk and handed over the tube that contained the calligraphy painting with both hands.

Xi Lua carefully opened the lid. He slowly took a very old-looking paper scroll out before unfurling it to have a look. Not long after that, a smile filled his face.

“This is great. This is truly a magnificent work. He really is Elder Fu, who is able to find this rare piece. He is truly skilled.” Xi Lua could not help but praise the calligraphy painting that he had just brought.

“Oh, I completely forgot. Give me the proof of delivery receipt. I’ll sign it for you and then you can leave,” Xi Lua said. At the moment, he was bursting at the seams to find a place to hang his purchase, so he tried to get the delivery boy out of the office as fast as possible.

“Here, sir.” Bai Zhe gave the proof of delivery receipt to him.

“Here. You’re done. Hurry off now.” Xi Lua grabbed a pen and quickly signed it before telling the boy to leave.

‘In Bai Zhe's memories, this man is the real estate king of this country. He has money and power. I better befriend him,’ Bai Zhe thought.

“Some of the calligraphy paintings in this room look new. Are they your work, sir?” asked Bai Zhe.

“They belong to someone I know. Are you interested in calligraphy painting?” Xi Lua’s attention shifted instantly from the painting to Bai Zhe when he heard the question about his collection.

Then, the two started to talk and exchange their thoughts and began to analyse the calligraphy paintings in the room. The more Xi Lua heard, the more he felt interested in the boy. This was because he had never seen a young boy with this much knowledge of calligraphy painting; it might be even more than him.

“What’s your name?” asked Xi Lua, who had started to like the boy in front of him.

“Bai Zhe, sir,” he answered.

“Well, Bai Zhe. You know good knowledge of calligraphy paintings. I want to see your calligraphy skills. Are you free to show me?” asked the old man.

“I can show you, sir. But it will be quite embarrassing.” He spoke humbly, but in fact, he was pretty confident that he was definitely second to none. This was because calligraphy was one of the hobbies he had picked up to kill time during his nearly immortal life.

Xi Lua prepared four priceless things in his study room for Bai Zhe: Chuan Zhi paper, Hui Mo ink, a Hu Bi brush, and a Tuan En inkstone.

He observed that everything Bai Zhe did was elegant, from the way the boy held a brush to how he touched it to the ink. It was as though Xi Lua saw a scholar dressed in traditional garb superimposed over Bai Zhe. He had to cover his mouth when he saw the letters forming the poem because he was afraid he would let out a sound that interrupted the boy.

Bai Zhe was not just doing calligraphy. He put purpose into every character he wrote. Each of them appropriately expressed their purpose. This was what he had developed from normal calligraphy. And it was the reason why scholars in Da Xian had called him the ‘God of Calligraphy.’

“Done.” He put the brush down and stepped back so Xi Lua could clearly see the art piece.

“This…This is…” Xi Lua was at a loss for words. His lips, hands, and body were all shaking as he read the poem. It was like he could see the picture that the poem had been narrating in his mind. He had never met someone who was able to create an art piece with such power.

“How is it, sir?” asked Bai Zhe.

“This is superb. Elegant gestures. Unique handwriting. And each character has a strong sentiment flowing from it. The poem was composed beautifully. The rhythm, the rhyme, and the diction are excellent. If this was discovered among an ancient king's treasures that had been dug up, it would surely be a national treasure,” said Xi Lua.

“You compliment me too much. My skills are still quite poor,” said Bai Zhe.

“Poor? If the old men at the calligraphy painting enthusiast club saw this, some might have a heart attack or even a stroke,” Xi Lua said.

“Oh, is it that good? Erm. Anyway, if there is nothing else, I will excuse myself,” Bai Zhe said.

“Wait a moment.”

…………..

(1) Xiao means little, it is normally used to address young people by older people, in this case, Xiao Zhe means ‘Little Zhe’.

(2) Chinese respect paying gestures or Bowing in Chinese history is a tradition that has been passed down since before the Song dynasty in which there are many types of bowing.

Bowing for normal people is called ‘Gong Shao’ in which men will put their left hand over their right fist and women will put their right hand over their left fist. If that person is a martial artist or a soldier, they will stretch out their palm over the fist rigorously which is called ‘Bao Quan’. For scholars, they would have their thumbs inside their fists and then have their arms at the level of their chest to make them look polite. It’s called ‘Cha Shao’. If they fold their hands and bend their upper body down a little, it will be called ‘Jao Yi’. There are levels of bending depending on the status of people. For example, a person who has a lower status or is younger has to bend their body lower than a person who has a higher status and is older.

For the bowing of noble people like the emperor or the high-status loyal family member, it will be swinging the arms before bowing. This pattern belongs to the Manju. It’s called ‘Da Chian’. The person has to bend down their right knee, letting their right hand touch the ground. The reason why they have to swing their arms first is for the sake of the emperor’s safety and the important people from the assassin who comes to assassinate them, who usually hide the weapon in their sleeves.