PART TWO: THE NINE YEARS THAT HAVE VANISHED LIKE SMOKE
Chapter 1: Li Huai's Home
1
The distant mountains. A mountain town.
The morning of an unknown New Year's Day. Firecrackers crackled incessantly in the distance. The auspicious silvery-white snow on the ground symbolized the year's rich harvest. It was undoubtedly a year of joy for most people.
But for this boy, it was a year no different from many other years. He had nothing but humiliation, suffering, and hunger.
In this world, he had no kin. And never a single day of easy rest.
He had nothing in this world at all.
While everyone was feeling so happy and joyous, he was feeling utterly miserable and lonely.
He hid in that thatched hut by the foot of the mountain, all by himself. Those red flowers, fresh fruits, new clothes, firecrackers, dumplings, roast pork, and red packets belonged to the other children. He never once dreamed of having them.
A little girl in red brought him a chicken thigh, two chunks of roast pork, three fried pancakes, four marinated eggs, five or six rolls of sugar cakes—all wrapped up in a scarlet silk handkerchief. She gave them quietly to him. But he drove the girl away.
He didn't want any pity. He didn't want any alms.
The little girl cried and cried and went away, leaving the chicken thigh, roast pork, fried pancakes, marinated eggs, and sugar cakes scattered in the snow by the slope. He could easily walk out, pick them up, and eat. No one would know, no one would mock him.
But he didn't.
Although he was starving, he didn't pick them up. He would rather die of starvation than pick them up.
He was born with such a temperament.
A temperament that flowed in his blood. Never to compromise, never to give in, never to submit.
2
A tall, elderly, majestic man with a head of silvery hair suddenly appeared before the boy. The man had been observing him quietly from a distance for a long time.
The boy stared back at the old man. He asked fiercely,
"Why are you staring at me like that on New Year's Day? You should be celebrating with your children at home! What's on me to stare at?"
The old man sounded so solemn, the solemnity almost bordered on pain.
"What's your family name?" he asked the boy.
"I don't know."
"You don't know? You don't even know your family name?"
"Why must I?" The boy jerked his mouth, squinting and puffing out his chest. "I have no father, no mother, and I don't know my family name. This is my family affair and none of your damn business at all, so why are you asking me?"
The old man stared at him, with a sorrowful pain that intensified in his eyes.
"How do you know you have nothing to do with me? I came here especially to look for you."
"Came here for me? You don't even know me! What do you want from me?"
"But I do know you."
"You know me? Are you kidding?" The boy was surprised. "You mean you know who I am?"
"I know, of course I know." The old man's voice was full of pain and sorrow. "I also know your father. Without him, I would be worse off than even you alive."
The child stared at him in amazement for a long time.
"Who are you?" The boy asked him. "Give me your family name."
"My family name is Tie (Iron)."
"And you know mine?"
"Your family name is Li," the old man said. "Your name ought to be Li Shan (Li the Benevolent)."
The boy suddenly laughed.
"Li Shan? My name ought to be Li Shan? A boy like me, if my family name is Li, must be called Li Huai (Li the Bad)."
Chapter 2: Flesh and Blood
1
The old man took the boy away.
"Where are you taking me?"
"Home."
"Home? Do I have a home?"
"You do," said the old man. "I'm sure you'll be proud of your home, and your home will be proud of you."
"Proud of me? A kid like me who's been every inch bad, from head to toe?"
"You aren't bad."
"I'm not bad? So how bad would mean bad?"
"You can only be bad if you do mean, shameless, despicable things," the old man said. "But you won't do them."
"How do you know that?"
"Because you're a member of the Li family, your father's own flesh and blood." The old man sounded more serious. "As long as you can keep that bit of a backbone, I can guarantee that no one in this world will ever dare treat you with the slightest contempt."
2
And so Li Huai went home. It was the first time he went home, nine years ago.
Now, he was going home again.
With the passing of years, so many things and people had changed. After nine years, the boy was now a grown-up.
After nine years, he had mastered a peerless skill.
After nine years, he had unearthed a treasure that can rival a nation's wealth.
Nine years. How many things had changed in nine years?