Chapter 0015 Red and Green
During dinner, my mother cooked a few extra dishes to reward me for my week of carefree indulgence. I went downstairs to Uncle Qian's convenience store to buy beer. Oddly, his store only sold Harbin Ice Pure, Tsingtao Gold Standard Pure Draft, and Snow Beer's "Brave the World" brands; no other beers were available. Since the store was right downstairs, I didn't bother going elsewhere and asked for a few bottles of Snow Beer.
While getting the beer, Uncle Qian said, "Tien Chi, why don't you help Uncle Qian get an amulet for luck, preferably one that can transfer stock market luck? I'm trapped in the stock market with nearly 80,000 RMB. If I cut my losses now, it would be less than 35,000 RMB. It's too much of a loss!" I readily agreed, saying I had a few Positive-energy Amulets at home. They weren't expensive, around eight hundred to a thousand RMB, and were guaranteed to be consecrated by a Luang Por at a proper Thai temple.
Uncle Qian said, "I heard Negative-energy Amulets are more effective?"
"How do you know that?" I asked.
Uncle Qian chuckled. "My daughter is always buying things on Taobao. She told me." I thought, The all-powerful Taobao is truly amazing; even convenience store uncles know the difference between Positive and Negative-energy Thai Amulets. I briefly explained the difference between the two. He was visibly frightened by the words "Yin Spirit" and "ghost" and seemed somewhat intimidated.
Just then, a young man came in to buy cigarettes and asked for a soft pack of Marlboro. Uncle Qian grabbed a red box, but the young man refused it. Uncle Qian replaced it with a white box. The young man said, "I want the green soft pack of Marlboro."
Uncle Qian glared at him and shouted, "We don't have it!"
The young man was stunned for a few seconds before backing out of the store. I was also startled and asked him what was going on. Uncle Qian said angrily, "My stocks are plummeting every day, the market is completely green, and he comes in asking for a green soft pack of Marlboro! Do you think the stocks can still rise?"
I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "You can't blame him! Don't you sell green boxes of cigarettes in this store?"
"Forget green boxes of cigarettes; nothing green at all!" Uncle Qian said huffily. "Don't believe me, look for yourself." I didn't quite believe him, but after looking around, I was surprised to find that his store truly lacked any products predominantly packaged in green. No wonder he only sold Harbin Ice Pure, Tsingtao Gold Standard Pure Draft, and Snow Beer's "Brave the World," as the packaging for all three beers is gold-colored. Furthermore, he didn't stock Sprite, Wrigley's Spearmint Gum, or Niulanshan Erguotou liquor, as they are also green. Meanwhile, items like Red Bull, Coca-Cola, and Hongshuangxi cigarettes were placed in the most prominent positions.
I was truly speechless, smiling as I grabbed the beer and headed home.
A few days later, I went out to meet an online friend. On the way back, I passed a university. The name sounded familiar, and I suddenly remembered what Ms. Ma had told me—this was the university where she had worked. A strong curiosity suddenly compelled me to visit the campus and inquire about Ms. Ma's situation.
The university gate did not allow outsiders to enter easily. Just as I was about to call a customer who was a reporter in Shenyang, I saw many male and female students exiting the campus. Some were laughing and walking into a fast-food restaurant across the street. I quickly followed and entered the store. A few girls were chatting excitedly. To look the part, I pulled out a notebook and pen from my bag and sat near them.
The girls were puzzled. I quickly explained my purpose, claiming to be an author preparing to create a rather odd character, and asked if they knew anyone like that. The girls were very excited. "You're an author? What kind of novel are you writing? Pure romance?" "Can you make me the female lead?"
I just said "maybe." One girl thought for a moment and said, "If you're talking about eccentrics at our school, besides the principal, there's only Teacher Ma."
I quickly asked, "Is that Teacher Ma XX?"
"Yes, yes, how do you know her too?" another girl chimed in.
I smiled. "A guy from my neighborhood goes to this school. He told me about her, but he wasn't very detailed."
The girls burst into laughter. One girl said, "Teacher Ma is hilarious! Her departure is a huge loss for our school!" I quickly pressed for details. She said, "Teacher Ma is practically the Queen of Golden Quotations! Every sentence she says could either make you furious or make you laugh until you die. We had to attend her classes; she was more entertaining than Zhao Benshan (a famous comedian)."
I was puzzled. "Is she really that much?"
Another girl laughed and said, "You bet! Once in her class, the topic somehow drifted to cars. A student asked what kind of car she owned, and she said an electric bike. Then she dropped this famous quote: 'People who drive cars are poor people who desperately want to be rich; truly wealthy people who know how to enjoy life ride electric bikes.' The whole class erupted."
Another girl said, "She had a habit of never going to the hospital when she was sick, saying hospitals are too corrupt. She'd look up information online and buy medicine herself. Once, she got pelvic inflammatory disease. She was in so much pain she couldn't stand straight but still refused to go to the hospital. She just relied on medicine and took a full month to recover. When someone asked why she wouldn't go to the hospital, she said if she had gone, she would have died inside already."
I was laughing uncontrollably. The third girl jumped in, saying, "That's nothing! Have you forgotten her most classic class? She was teaching about success, and Teacher Ma said, 'Look at me, and you've seen success. I've been successful since childhood. I will tell you my life trajectory later, and I hope you can be like me.'"
The girls chatted and laughed. I pretended to take notes, but inside, I felt indescribable. I asked, "Is Teacher Ma still at the school? I'd like to interview her."
The girl said, "She was dismissed a while ago. She submitted a blank test paper for her assessment. She must have been set up by Teacher Bai."
"Who is Teacher Bai?" I quickly asked.
The girl said, "She shared an office with Teacher Ma. They sat across from each other. Apparently, once a few teachers were chatting about trying to conceive. The teachers who hadn't gotten pregnant yet were sharing tips on how to succeed, and then Teacher Ma chimed in with something like, 'If it's not in your destiny to have children, don't force it. Some people try artificial insemination and IVF; what's the use? Fate is predetermined. If you're not meant to have children, trying to force it will result in a miscarriage even if you succeed.'"
I smiled. "That Teacher Bai must have been trying to conceive unsuccessfully for years, right?"
The girl was surprised. "How did you know? Teacher Bai tried to conceive for three years, had two rounds of artificial insemination, and the fetus stopped developing after two months each time. She was preparing for IVF, and the whole school knew."
Another girl said, "She definitely offended Teacher Bai. Otherwise, how could her test paper have been blank? Although Teacher Ma is annoying, she's definitely a straight-A student. She's excellent at exams."
Having learned all I needed to know, I left the fast-food restaurant. Lying in bed at home, I thought that someone like Ms. Ma was truly rare. She claimed to be popular and that everyone wanted to talk to her, but it wasn't because she was outstanding; it was because everyone treated her as entertainment and a joke. It's like having a simpleton in your alley who calls everyone "Dad"—everyone is willing to talk to him, including you, essentially just for a laugh.
While people like this are annoying, the couple is also somewhat pitiful. Yet, pity often stems from detestable traits. Ms. Ma's tragedy was self-inflicted. She lived in a world of her own imagination and thought everything was fine.
I don't know why, but I suddenly felt the urge to help Ms. Ma. I genuinely couldn't bear to see her continue living as a joke in everyone's eyes. But I couldn't immediately think of a way to help her escape this situation. I called Frank Fang and explained the situation. That guy started lecturing me. "Are you spending all your time on trivial crap like this in China? You're not making money, and you're wasting time! No matter what you sell a person like this, she will ultimately be dissatisfied and cause trouble for you. Drop this kind of business. Did you fall for that female customer named Ma? Is she pretty?"
I smiled bitterly. "She's not bad-looking, but she's definitely not my type. I just pity people like her. She can't spend her whole life being everyone's punchline."
Frank Fang scoffed. "I didn't know you had become so compassionate. Why didn't you think like that when you were making money before? Hurry up and find more profitable business! It's not as easy to make money now as it was a few years ago. There are more and more amulet dealers. The important thing is to make as much money as possible before quitting! Customers like Ms. Ma don't trust anyone but themselves and their husbands. They're definitely going to cause trouble in the future. Get back to Thailand quickly. I twisted my ankle these past few days and can't go out. You need to go to Bangkok for me and pre-order a Red-Eyed Prai Thong from a White Robe Arjan master."