Chapter 0013 The Strange Ms. Ma
The television began broadcasting other news. I was deeply shocked; I never expected Sister Gao to be strangled by her own husband. I suffered from insomnia that night. Was this Sister Gao's fault, or mine? Their marriage was already a tragedy that should have ended in divorce long ago, but I sold her the Negative-energy Amulet, which caused a perversion of human nature, making her husband's mind possessed. He couldn't leave her, yet he couldn't endure the domestic violence. If they had just been able to live like that forever, perhaps it would have been acceptable, but in the end, the Yin spirit could not triumph over human nature. Not only did Sister Gao fail to secure her husband's heart, but she ended up playing with fire and killing herself.
I was extremely self-reproachful. This incident was undeniably connected to me. When I returned to Thailand and had just gotten off the plane in Bangkok, I called Frank Fang and glumly told him I didn't want to be in the amulet business anymore. Frank Fang asked me why, and I relayed the unfortunate story of Sister Gao and her husband.
Frank Fang burst into laughter. "Everyone who sells amulets goes through this process. In truth, the destruction of the female client Sister Gao's family was not caused by the amulet, nor by you, but by herself. Greed isn't just about money; it's about relationships too—it's all desire. If you didn't earn this money, someone else would have. Sister Gao was bound to have an accident sooner or later. Just let it go!"
His advice made me feel a little better. From then on, I decided to formally join the ranks of amulet dealers. I printed business cards in both Chinese and Thai, handed them out to everyone, and spread information widely online. Since Taobao stores were just starting to emerge, I opened a shop to sell amulets. Although sales were initially modest, most of my business came from customer referrals and friends.
Time flew quickly. Over a year passed, and my amulet business grew larger, and my network expanded. I went from closing only a few deals a month to selling over a dozen items every month. Taobao's growth was even faster than mine, expanding from a few hundred thousand products to nearly ten million items. I was acquiring more and more customers from Taobao.
My collaboration with Frank Fang became closer. This guy seemed incredibly greedy, charging for every little thing, but he was actually extremely principled. He always made his profit openly and never resorted to sneaky tactics, which I admired the most. He often chastised me, especially when I was soft-hearted and wanted to help customers clean up their messes, which exasperated him, but he would usually still help me in the end.
Besides amulets, I also helped clients acquire Guman Thong statues. Positive-energy Amulets have little to comment on. All the strange experiences are basically linked to Negative-energy Amulets and Guman Thong, such as the following story about Ms. Ma.
After returning to Thailand, my cousin took me on a trip to Koh Samet. While we were sunbathing on the beach, I received a call from a Ms. Ma in China. Ms. Ma, thirty years old and a university lecturer, said she got my contact information from a female student who wore an amulet purchased from me, claiming it was very effective. She talked to me for about ten minutes, and in that short time, I felt very uncomfortable. If it weren't for the money, I would have blacklisted her long ago.
I remember she told me she wanted to "buy" something to improve her popularity/interpersonal relationships ($rén\ yuán$). Generally, people who use the word "invite" (as in, "invite a Buddha image") are more familiar with Buddhist objects, while those who use "buy" are laypeople and easier to deceive. This was one of my basic criteria for gauging a customer's level of understanding. I asked her what her requirements were. Was her popularity very bad?
Ms. Ma said, "My popularity is not bad at all. I just have bad luck and always run into people who like to find fault and exclude others." I thought this was possible, so I asked her for more details.
Ms. Ma came from an educational family; both her parents worked at a university, and her education and discipline were strictly conventional, like textbooks issued by the Chinese Ministry of Education. Ms. Ma happened to be an academically successful, obedient daughter. She was always at the top of her class from childhood until she graduated from normal university and eventually taught at a certain university. Then, her parents arranged her blind date and marriage. Everything went smoothly, and she seemed never to have had to worry.
After teaching at the university for several years, Ms. Ma seemed to have good relationships with all her colleagues. When she taught, students were always highly engaged, and her elective courses had the highest enrollment in the entire university, which made Ms. Ma quite proud. I was confused. "Since your life and career are so successful, and you're good at dealing with people, why are you buying an amulet for popularity now?"
Ms. Ma sighed. "People in today's society are too insidious. They see your success and popularity, and some people get jealous and try to sabotage you. I was targeted. During a professional assessment exam, my test paper was swapped and replaced with a blank one—twice in a row! According to regulations, I have to be laid off and find a new job in the wider society. Isn't that infuriating?"
I was also angry. There are too many people who like to play dirty in society today, so I believed Ms. Ma's story. I asked, "Then what use is improving your popularity now? Are you hoping to use it to get the principal to reinstate you?"
Ms. Ma said, "Yes, otherwise people will laugh at me! In China, all capable people work in state institutions or public enterprises. Do you expect me to work at a private company? If I have to go to a place like that, I might as well kill myself."
Her words sounded quite awkward, but I ignored it, knowing people sometimes say emotional things when they're angry. I told Ms. Ma that there were many items to help with popularity, ranging from 1,000 to tens of thousands of RMB. What price point was she looking for? You get what you pay for. Ms. Ma said, "My family is quite well-off. I can accept around 3,000 to 5,000 RMB. Do you have anything that is especially effective?"
I laughed. "For 3,000 to 5,000 RMB, you can only 'invite' an ordinary amulet. If you want something with a powerful wish-granting effect, it needs to cost over 10,000 RMB." Ms. Ma complained it was too expensive and asked me how these things were used and why everyone was buying them. Her accent sounded like someone from the Northeast, and when I asked, it turned out she was a Shenyang native like me. My family was in Dadong, and she was in Tiexi—one east, one west. Since we were fellow locals, I decided not to beat around the bush. I told her I would be returning to Shenyang to see my parents in a few days and arranged to meet her there to discuss it in detail.
During the conversation, Ms. Ma casually mentioned treating "us" to dinner in Shenyang. I told her I was single and unmarried. She asked my age. I said I was thirty. Ms. Ma said, "You're thirty and not married yet? That's not normal." I asked why it wasn't normal; many people marry late in modern society. I asked when she got married. Ms. Ma said she was twenty-eight. I retorted, "Twenty-eight is no longer young for a woman. Based on age, it's definitely harder for a woman at thirty than a man at thirty to find a partner."
Ms. Ma said, "Who says so? Twenty-eight is the perfect age for a woman to marry. Marrying younger than twenty-eight means you're unfocused on your career, and marrying older than twenty-eight means you're a spinster nobody wanted, and you won't be happy even if you do marry." What kind of logic was that? I was annoyed and asked her if her marriage was happy. Ms. Ma said proudly, "Of course, it's happy. My husband cooks for me every day."
I smiled. "So what? My brother-in-law cooks for my sister often. That's nothing special."
Ms. Ma said, "Does your brother-in-law cook and then coaxes your sister to eat?"
I paused. "No, he doesn't. She's not a three-year-old child who needs coaxing to eat. It's good enough that he cooks."
Ms. Ma scoffed. "Then your sister and brother-in-law definitely don't have true love. Just cooking isn't enough; he has to coax her."
I was so exasperated I almost laughed. "If a husband doesn't coax his wife to eat, it's not true love? Your logic is truly amusing." She didn't respond to that but asked if my sister's child was already grown up. I said she didn't have children yet; she had been trying to conceive for two years without success and was taking traditional Chinese medicine for conditioning. Ms. Ma said, "My child is several years old already. Having children is predestined. If you can't have one, you have to accept fate. Conditioning is pointless. If it doesn't work, just get a kitten or puppy; isn't it the same?"
I was very disgusted by that comment and said that cats and dogs couldn't be compared to children; it wasn't the same. Ms. Ma delivered a classic line: "How is it different? If your sister had a child and they got sick and died, you'd be heartbroken, right? You'd be just as heartbroken if a cat or dog died!"
I was completely speechless and didn't want to communicate with her anymore. I found her conversation completely unhinged. I didn't want to ask anything else. She asked to treat me to dinner when I returned to Shenyang. I couldn't refuse, so I agreed.
After returning to Shenyang, my parents, as usual, immediately arranged for me to meet several girls introduced by relatives, friends, and neighbors. I strongly disliked these arranged meetings, especially when both sets of parents were present. I felt extremely awkward and would quickly make my escape after a brief chat.
When I spoke with Ms. Ma on the phone, her husband took the phone and asked a barrage of questions. When I expressed my impatience, he invited me to their home for dinner, mentioning we could discuss his wife's amulet in the meantime. I really didn't want to go and suggested we find a place to eat outside, offering to pay. Strangely, Ms. Ma's husband strongly disagreed but wouldn't state a reason. There was a faint tone of command in his voice.
I really wanted to hang up the phone, but Frank Fang's mantra always echoed in my mind: "No matter what customer you face, as long as there's profit, don't turn away money." I had no choice but to agree.