Before dawn the next day, master and disciple set off down the mountain together. By the time they reached the market town, the sky had just begun to lighten. They ate a bowl of noodles at a small stall and then hurried to the stop where the bus to the county seat waited.
Not long after they boarded, the bus started moving. As he watched the scenery slide past the roadside, Zhu Siqi felt a sense of novelty. The last time he had been here he was only a little over three years old, and those memories were already blurred. Thinking that his master was about to leave, he wondered whether he himself should also go home. A decision quietly formed in his heart: he would earn more money, strive to go to Shaolin before the New Year to fulfill his master's wish, and then hurry back home to celebrate the Spring Festival.
Nearly two hours later, the bus finally arrived at the county bus station. After getting off, Zhu Siqi accompanied his master to the ticket hall and bought him a long-distance ticket to the provincial capital. Knowing that his master was about to leave, Zhu Siqi felt miserable. Suddenly remembering something, he kept thirty yuan for himself and handed the rest of his earnings to his master.
"Master, you're traveling far. Keep more money on you. This is what I've earned recently. I bought a few things myself, and this is all that's left."
"Silly child," Liaofan said with a smile. "Your master has earned money before too. And you only make money once every five days—keep it for yourself to spend nearby. I was thinking of leaving you some money, but seeing that you can already earn on your own, I don't want you to get something for nothing. Don't worry, I have enough money. Otherwise, how could I have raised you for more than ten years?"
"Alright then… but Master, if I miss you in the future, how can I find you?"
"If fate allows, we'll meet again naturally. I've always drifted around on my own—I won't have a fixed address."
His words sounded vague, but in truth he was helpless. His nature was to roam freely; meeting again in the future would probably be difficult.
Liaofan felt a trace of sadness as well. After all, they had been together for more than ten years, and parting was not easy. Still, he hardened his heart. "Disciple, go now. Don't see me off any farther."
Zhu Siqi didn't want to make his master sad at the moment of departure. He nodded silently, tears glistening in his eyes, and turned away. Yet he didn't go far—he stopped in a small alley across from the bus station. He was determined to watch his master leave.
Soon, the bus bound for the provincial capital drove out of the station. Zhu Siqi stared at it but couldn't see his master, so he quickly used his perception. He sensed that his master was seated on the side facing away from the street, eyes closed, lost in thought. Only when the bus passed beyond the range of his perception did he withdraw his skill. He watched as the bus grew smaller and smaller, turning into a tiny black dot before disappearing around a bend. At that moment, tears finally streamed down his face.
"Master, please take good care of yourself. When your disciple grows up, I will come back to repay your kindness," he murmured, setting a goal for himself.
Turning around, he wiped away his tears. His mood remained low, and he had no desire to take in the far livelier sights of the county town. He went straight to the Xinhua Bookstore and hastily bought all the high school textbooks, along with a pair of table tennis paddles, badminton rackets, a volleyball, and some table tennis balls and shuttlecocks. Then he returned to the bus station to wait for the afternoon bus back.
By the time he returned to the mountain, it was already evening. He hurriedly cooked dinner, but when he sat at the table, he suddenly realized his master was gone. With a sigh, he ate alone in silence.
When his master had been there, the mountain had always been quiet, yet it hadn't felt like this. Now that his master was gone, the silence felt especially heavy and lonely. He took out the recorder and tuned in to the radio. To keep himself from constantly thinking about his master, he also pulled out the high school textbooks he had bought that day and began to read.
The high school curriculum was much like junior high, with eight subjects in total: Chinese, mathematics, English, physics, chemistry, history, geography, and political economy. Aside from math, physics, and chemistry, the rest relied mainly on memorization. He had no mood for books that required logical reasoning, so he set aside math, physics, and chemistry and read the others instead, forcing himself not to dwell on his master.
Before he realized it, daylight had arrived. He had almost finished reading, and he didn't feel like meditating. Pulling himself together, he grabbed the rackets and volleyball he had bought and headed to school.
As soon as he entered the classroom, Zhu Aiguo was already there. Seeing the rackets and ball in his hands, Zhu Aiguo's eyes lit up. He immediately took a table tennis paddle, weighed it in his hand, and exclaimed, "Not bad! Better than the school's. This one has rubber on both sides—the school's only has it on one!"
He commented like a professional.
The students in the front row, Wang Yu and Zhang Bo, turned around eagerly. "Let's play after class!"
"Sure, we'll play together after class," Zhu Siqi replied.
Since morning self-study hadn't started yet, other students also gathered around his desk. Two of them even pushed two desks together, used books as a makeshift net, and started playing. The whole class became lively, with a large crowd surrounding the desks.
"Three points per game—the first to lose steps out!" someone suggested.
No one objected. Whoever played well could stay longer; those with poor skills were replaced after a few points. Zhu Siqi joined in too, but at first he couldn't control his strength well. Either he missed the ball or failed to get it over the book-net, and he was eliminated quickly at zero to three.
Only when the class bell rang did everyone finally disperse.
As soon as the bell for the end of morning self-study rang, Zhu Aiguo, Wang Yu, Zhang Bo, and several others pulled Zhu Siqi toward the field. Wang Yu and Zhu Siqi took the table tennis paddles; Zhu Aiguo and Zhang Yu took the badminton rackets, while the rest grabbed the volleyball.
Since the equipment belonged to Zhu Siqi, he played a little longer this time. His control of strength quickly improved. Combining what he had read in the sports book about table tennis techniques, his level rose rapidly. Soon, Wang Yu was no longer a match for him. Still, Zhu Siqi didn't want to monopolize the paddles and主动 handed them over to others.
That day, Zhu Siqi had a great time. His relationships with his classmates grew closer, and the shadow left by his master's departure gradually faded.
After school in the afternoon, many students didn't want to go home. Zhu Siqi, not wanting to stay alone on the mountain, returned to the field to play again. This time, he rotated through all the sports. Badminton was easy to pick up, though it required strong wrist power to play well. Zhu Siqi's control over his body was superb—though he didn't use his true energy, his skill improved astonishingly fast. Apart from volleyball, which required teamwork to play well, he was already excellent at table tennis and badminton. If a coach from a sports school had been there, they would have tried every means to recruit him.
Eventually, it was only when Teacher Tan came to the field and reminded them to head home early that they wrapped up. Zhu Siqi didn't want to carry the rackets back and forth every day, so he left them in Teacher Tan's office.
Over the next few days, Zhu Siqi lived happily and got along very well with his classmates. He even raised his hand to answer questions in class from time to time, and the teachers treated him kindly. Only when he returned to the mountain did he feel lonely. To occupy himself, he stayed busy: he finished reading all the high school textbooks, including math, physics, and chemistry; he gathered plenty of medicinal herbs to make pills, reducing the dosage of the health pills slightly, but still saving portions for Teacher Liu and Principal Du.
One afternoon after school, he went to Teacher Tan's office again, since the next day was market day and he needed to inform him.
When he arrived, he noticed another person inside—a young and beautiful woman. Later he learned she was Teacher Tan's fiancée and also his high school classmate. There were tear stains on her face, and Teacher Tan wore a grim expression.
Seeing that Teacher Tan looked upset, Zhu Siqi said little. He simply explained that he wouldn't be coming to school the next day. Teacher Tan said nothing, only nodded and waved him away.
Zhu Siqi went to the field and saw Wang Yu and the others playing table tennis. He stood nearby watching. Since the table tennis area was dozens of meters away from Teacher Tan's office, he quietly circulated the Yi Jin One-Origin Technique to sense what was happening inside. He was curious—Teacher Tan was usually optimistic and cheerful. Why had he lost his temper today?
Inside the office:
Tan Tian said, "Zhang Ling, go home first. This Sunday I'll come back with you to talk to your family. I won't agree to breaking off the engagement. We're in a free relationship—they have no right to interfere."
Zhang Ling replied tearfully, "My family is pressuring me hard. My dad even brought my grandmother into it. She's old, and I don't know why, but once she heard I'd be marrying into your family, she insisted I'd suffer and work myself to exhaustion. She used to like you very much."
"The biggest reason your family opposes our marriage," Tan Tian said, "is that my mother is bedridden. They're afraid you'll have to take care of her after marriage and suffer for it. But my mother raised me—how could I abandon her and live separately just because I got married? Your family is being too harsh."
"What should we do then?" Zhang Ling said. "Your mother treats me well, and I'm willing to take care of her for life. But I really can't get through to my family. You have to think of a solution quickly."
"Alright," Tan Tian said. "This Sunday I'll go to your home and try to persuade your father and grandmother. They have children too; they'll grow old someday. They should understand the hope of being cared for by one's children."
"Okay then… I… I'll stay here tonight. I don't want to go back," she said, blushing slightly.
"Alright. I'll squeeze in with another teacher tonight. You go back tomorrow."
At that point, Zhu Siqi stopped sensing. He understood what was going on and thought to himself: Teacher Tan knows I treat illnesses—why hasn't he come to me? Does he not trust me?
In fact, he had misunderstood. Tan Tian had heard both Teacher Liu and Principal Du praise Zhu Siqi's medical skills, but his mother's condition was severe. They had already gone to hospitals in the provincial capital, where doctors said there was no hope of a cure. That was why he hadn't mentioned it to Zhu Siqi.
Thinking this through, Zhu Siqi decided to secretly treat Tan Tian's mother.
That evening, after returning to the mountain, he deliberately gathered more herbs to soothe the meridians and invigorate the blood, and worked through the night to make medicinal pills. Then he realized he didn't know exactly where Tan Tian's home was. It seemed he would have to wait until Sunday and secretly follow him back to take a look.
The next day was market day. With his master gone and nothing else to do, Zhu Siqi spent his time reading and gathering herbs. This time he prepared even more pills than before, and there were still many buyers. His pills were effective and worked quickly. As more people used them, his reputation spread further. After all, everyone had aches and ailments, and the pills were only available on market days. Though he had made more this time, they still sold out by noon. He earned nearly four hundred yuan, a figure that shocked him when he counted it.
Then he nearly jumped with joy. Four hundred yuan was a huge sum at the time—some families spent only a few dozen yuan a month. Now things were good. If he earned a bit more, he could leave here for Shaolin, and then return to his hometown.