Proofread by Fu Tianying
There are five blessings. The first one is longevity, the second good fortune, the third health and peacefulness, the fourth kindness, and the fifth serene death. Longevity ranks first among the five blessings. It is a convention that all relatives and friends get together to pray for longevity of the elderly in celebration of the elderly"s birthday.
Ma Tian"en was sent to Tian family in celebration of the birthday of Mrs. Tian. As the only son of Ma Chaosheng, Ma Tian"en will be the man on behalf of Ma family no matter how unreliable he is. Moreover, he has made progress under the guidance of Wu Zhong, relieving Ma Chaosheng to some extent.
Considering Ma Tian"en tends to be a trouble maker, he was exhorted repeatedly to be submissive and courteous before leaving. After all, he is going to Tian family, the rich and influential clan at local. Having not seen Tian Fugui for a long time, Ma Tian"en wants to know what happened to him. That"s the reason why he is willing to go here.
There has been a party atmosphere all through the Tian house. A troupe of performers of Chinese opera were invited to perform. All players are well-prepared, waiting for the starting time. The gate is busy with people streaming in. Some are intimate friends, some merchants in business and some are compet.i.tors like Ma family. At the gate are some servants distributing some snacks and cakes to pa.s.sers-by in change of auspicious greetings.
After his birthday presents were received by the steward of Tian family, Ma Tian"en was led into the hall. Walking into the hall, he found it full of red scrolls with auspicious inscriptions. Right in the center of hall stands a golden folding screen with various calligraphic styles of "longevity" whose number adds up to one hundred. Apart from any achievements in business, Mrs. Tian, the elderly lady is luckier than his father in terms of having sons, Ma Tian"en thinks. At that moment, Ma made up his mind to please his father at his father"s birthday with a gorgeous party and suitable presents. However, a pang of shame strikes him for he actually knows nothing concerning his father"s liking. He has to consult his mother about this when he is back home.
Sitting on the fine chair in the middle of the hall, Mrs. Tian, the elderly lady, receives the auspicious greetings and kowtows of junior generations. Though living in different Zha of Datong River, they are all related to each other to some extent. As one of the younger generation, Ma Tian"en kowtowed to the elderly lady for three times in respect and wished her good health and a long life. After he was bowed back by Tian Ronghua and Tian Fugui, Ma Tian"en received a red packet from the elderly lady. Then Ma Tian"en waited for other guests by the side.
Afraid to make any sound audible to his brother, Tian Fugui winked at Ma Tian"en as a sign for meeting afterwards. At that time, as soon as his brother went out, Tian Ronghua ran to Ma Tian"en immediately. "Boss, finally you came!I have been waiting for you all this morning." He said cheerfully, beaming with joy.
"Why not come to me recently? You are locked up by your brother?" Ma Tian"en asked with concern.
"Right. I have been locked in the study for a long time. If it were not my mother"s birthday, I would still be in the tiny and depressing place," Tian Fugui said fast and looked around with a guilty look on his face, afraid that his brother may appear suddenly.
"It seems that your brother gets quite well with Hu Chunqiu. I wonder what gifts he brought this time."
"Whatever. Who cares?"
Hearing the name of Hu Chunqiu, Tian Fugui revealed a look of complete disdain. Ma grew up with Tian so he could tell at a glance that Hu Chunqiu must have p.i.s.sed off Tian. As an elderly brother he should give him a hand.
At that time, Hu Chunqiu came in, accompanied by Tian Ronghua. He bowed casually when he saw the elderly lady right in the center of hall. But Tian Ronghua bowed back in a hurry. Hu did not think it necessary to respect Tian family. Though a powerful family in Datong River, Tian family became rich by means of merchandise, which is inferior to officials. It is already a great favor for him to come here. What he thought in his mind is clear to Tian Ronghua. However, Tian Ronghua could not afford to offend Hu. By contrast, having had a bad impression of Hu previously, Tian Fugui hates Hu even more when he saw Hu"s arrogance.
Soon it was time for a feast. Accompanied by Tian Ronghua, Hu Chunqiu and other guests walked into the hall of the birthday party with Tian Fugui and Ma Tian"en following behind. Ma Tian"en whispered to Tian Fugui, "Well, I found your face gloomy when I mentioned Hu Chunqiu. Has he irritated you?"
On second thought, Tian Fugui said in an undertone, "No, but he is not a good guy. He always incites my brother to be at strife with others. Moreover, he urged my brother to lock me up and prevented me from meeting you. And I heard that he spoke ill of your teacher. "
"Teacher Wu? He knows Teacher Wu?" Ma Tian"en asked in curiosity.
The banquet is divided into VIP banquet and ordinary banquet. As a representative of the Second Zha, Ma Tian"en was arranged to sit on the VIP banquet naturally. Tian Fugui talks with him while leading him to the banquet, "Hu Chunqiu is full of sourness. Not having much talent himself, he is jealous of Wu Zhong. Once I heard what he talked about with my brother. He said he would be the Number One in the examination if Wu Zhong were not in the way. Stay away from him for some members of his family serve as officials in the imperial court."
Ma Tian"en listened while thinking about tricks. "Beyond doubt, Hu Chunqiu is the formidable enemy of my teacher. Why not give him a lesson? And let that be a gift for my beloved teacher." He thought secretly.
"How about giving him a lesson?" Ma Tian"en suggested.
"I am afraid it is not right. After all, it is right in my house. What if it is revealed? I would be beaten to death!"
"Well, we would not let them know you do it. I will do it. Whoever they are, I am not scared. Just follow me and I would take the consequences." Ma Tian"en said stoutly.
They walked, discussing and soon they came to the VIP banquet.
The VIP banquet is the most popular banquet---"Five blessings banquet" which contains various hot and cold dishes that add up to fifty dishes. Five blessings are related to fortune, power, longevity, happiness and wealth. Among those dishes, five of them are famous----bird"s nest in mild broth, braised bear"s paw with soy sauce, roasted duck, steamed scallops and lotus seeds in honeydews. Many ordinary households have never seen those costly dishes, let alone eat them.
However, Ma Tian"en does not care about what to eat because all he wants is how to give Hu Chunqiua a big lesson. He originally planned to poison Hu, but in that case Tian Fugui would probably get involved. So he had to make a careful planning to get Hu suffer in silence.