We had a look at each other, and Uncle Old Chen first said, “Yes, you can invite a master to do fortune-telling for you.” I thought in my mind that you could do that. But now do your words mean that you don’t want to do and push it to others?

The grandmother didn’t know his real meaning. Hearing what the old blind man said, she turned to other people sitting around the table and said, “Sorry to trouble you. Which master can fortune-tell for me? I’m so worried.” Uncle Chen, an old blind man, was obviously reluctant to do it. Except for him, only my father, Chongxi and I could do, among us only my father was a master. At this time, however, my dad pointed to Yuan Chongxi and said, “He is the master. He can fortune-tell for you.”

What dad said astonished us all including Yuan Chongxi.The child’s grandmother seemed didn’t know how to react, and could only smiled. At this time, she must have thought in her mind, “He doesn’t look like a master at all, but is quite short…” (In fact, Yuan Zhongxi is 160cm tall, typical short of stature). Yuan Chongxi was stunned for a while before he responded, “Ah, oh. Well, let’s go to your house and have a look?”

Originally, this child’s grandmother graduated in the late 1980s. Different from our diplomas which had a red hard shell, at that time her diploma just was a piece of paper, looking like a paper commendation. So this lady used a square box to hold all her certificates, including her diploma. However, this time when she wanted to take it out to use, she opened the box and found that all certifications except for her diploma were in the box. Because of the urgency, she rushed back to the store to ask her husband. But her husband went out with her granddaughter to have a barbecue. So he came to the food stall in a hurry.

The chain store of his family was opened in the commercial district of a housing estate where this couple lived and that was not far from the food stall.

We, led by the old couple, entered the house. Chongxi walked around in this house turning, and then took out the compass. Uncle Chen scolded him at one side, “Does this easy work need a compass? I feel shame on you.” Hearing teacher scolding him, Chongxi took back the compass quickly. After turning around the room for several times, he sat on the sofa and asked the old woman about her graduation time and storage time and so on. Then he raised his right thumb and began rubbing it on the other four fingers. After a while, Chongxi felt a little confused and glanced the old woman, and then stared at his right hand rubbing. Obviously he had rubbed for the second time before he looked at the old woman with a puzzled face and said, “Auntie, the Fortune shows that your things haven’t been lost. It’s still in the box.” The old woman was also stunned when she heard that, and then she took out the box from the cabinet. The box was made of two parts, the upper cover and the body. The old woman opened the box and said, “That’s impossible. You see, my diploma isn’t in it.”

Chongxi was also confused. At this time, his teacher, Old Chen, said impatiently, “You are silly! Take a good look at the Fortune! What’s different from the general Fortune! ” Yuan Chongxi looked at his right hand with a dull face and said hesitantly, “Er… This Fortune is reverse…” “So?” Uncle Chen was still enlightening Chongxi. However, Chongxi still said with a blank face, “No more.”

Uncle Chen sighed and said to my father, “Brother Old Hai, do you know how to teach my silly apprentice?” My dad also felt interesting. I saw that holding his shoulder, dad pointed to Yuan Chongxi’s right hand with chin and said, “Chongxi, you see, what does the reverse Fortune mean?” But Yuan Chongxi looked at my father with a bemused face. “… ah?” My dad also smiled bitterly. “Chongxi, the reverse Fortune means the reverse of Yin and Yang, right?” Yuan Chongxi nodded. “… Yes.” Dad then enlightened him. “Then you tell me where should this thing be according since Yin and Yang are reversed.” Yuan Chongxi still looked at my father with a dull face. “… er.” Dad and Uncle Chen shook their heads at the same time, and Uncle Quan already laughed.

Finally, dad patted Yuan Chongxi on the shoulder and beckoned us to leave. As he walked out, dad said to the couple behind him, “Reverse the cover of the box and see it.” When dad was saying that, we all came out of the corridor. At this time, Yuan Chongxi understood and patted his thigh and said, “Oh, I see! The diploma is still in the box, but its position is reversed. So the Fortune showed that the Yin and Yang are reversed! The diploma is a piece of paper and wider than the box. So it’s stuck right on the lid of the box! ” Uncle Chen was a bit angry and he knocked on Chongxi’s head with his crutches. “You understand too late. I won’t bother others when I see you!” Chongxi rubbed his head and murmured in a low voice, “You have no chance to see others!” Finishing that, he ran away quickly. And we burst into laughter. If one asked whether Yuan Chongxi’s Fortune was accurate, we only could answer Yes. We could say that he was a genius in this field. But the problem was that he couldn’t figure out the Fortune although he could accurately fortune-tell.

Time flew. And I had been interning for one year in my father’s Sinology Office. It was the graduation season again. I thought I might get my diploma soon.

After returning home from the food stall, I thought about what I had experienced in the past few years and considered I had experienced a lot. So I said to my parents, “Mom and Dad, I have an idea.” My dad asked me with a cigarette in his mouth and comforting his foot, “Well, just say it. What do you want this time? New cell phone or new computer? But if you want a new car, you needn’t speak out. Just go to bed.” I thought in my mind that what kind of dad he was. I hadn’t said yet. So I sat down and said, “None of those. mom and dad, listen to me. I’m serious this time!” Dad glanced at me and said, “It’s impossible that you have a serious thing to talk.” But then dad thought for a second and sat up at once. “Were you going to have a baby?” he asked. I almost spit out blood because of anger. “Dad, I said it’s a serious thing. Can you be serious now?” Dad took a breath of relief and said, “Well. Fine, fine.”

“Dad, Mom. I want to open a studio about Yin and Yang by myself…” Before I finished my words, dad had burst into laughter. “Only you?” I immediately answered, “Not only me. I want to invite Brother Lin and Chongxi. We three together will succeed!” Touching his chin, dad looked at me. After a while, he said, “Are you sure you have the ability to deal with those things?” I shook my head and said, “I’m not alone. Brother Lin and Chongxi will help me.” Dad sighed and said, “Okay, let me think about it.” I thought dad didn’t oppose me just now. And he might agree as long as I continue to persuade him. So I added hurriedly, “I have already chosen the location of the studio. The commercial place of a building’s area newly opened in the north of the town is very good.” Dad waved his hand and said, “You should have a plan first. I consider the specific matters, and we talk about it the next time.”

Dad’s words slightly showed his agreement, so I had more motivation. And school called me the next morning to tell me to go back to school and get my diploma. Good things came to me one by one. I told that to my family, and then drove straight to the city. However, I didn’t expect that I would encounter difficulties when I went back to school this time.

At 10 o’clock this morning, I drove to the gate of the campus. The old guard waved to me and said, “Shiyan is back. Come and get your diploma?” I hurried up and handed over a cigarette and said, “Yes. I feel that we all graduate in a second.” The old man smiled and lit his cigarette, saying, “Yeah. I still remember that every night you jumped out of the wall to go to the Internet bars. And I had to wait until the latter half of the night to open the door for you. In a flash, you all grow up.” I laughed and said, “Forget that. We were still immature when we were freshmen. Every day, you were bothered to open the door in the middle of the night.” The old man laughed and scolded, “Little jerk, you were immature in the first year, were you mature in the second year? Yeah, you went back at night in the first year but went out for the whole night in your sophomore year. And I didn’t need to open the door for you.” Hearing that, I smiled and said, “Hey, forget that. We troubled you for a long time. You worked hard.” The old man waved his hand to me and then said, “You’re so lucky that graduated early. If you graduated a year later, you would be in trouble.” I said with a smile, “Oh? Are there any new policies in school recently?” Unexpectedly, the old man shook his head and said, “I remember that you learned the zither, didn’t you?” I nodded. The old man continues, “I don’t know what happened these days. All the students and teachers who play zither in our school are sick one by one, and they all have the same disease! It’s strange that this only happened to those who play the zither. Everyone else is okay.”

Hearing his words, I felt worried and asked quickly, “Oh? What’s the disease?” The old man shook his head and said, “Strange disease!”