Tianzhu: The Record of Foreign Stories in the Republic of China

Chapter 42: Life-saving stone (1)
My uncle and grandpa are my grandma's cousin. It's embarrassing to say, my uncle and grandpa is a thief.

One morning in the autumn of the 25th year of the Republic of China, my uncle was "working" on the tram.He stared at a middle-aged woman in the car.The woman's right pocket was slightly bulging, and she made a sound of rubbing silver coins that was difficult for ordinary people to detect when she walked.Uncle and grandpa concluded that there would be at least ten silver dollars in her purse.The woman had been covering her pocket with her right hand since she got in the car, and she never let go.But this can't help my uncle and grandpa.

The uncle approached the woman, and gently spit out a small ball of paper that he had been chewing for a long time on the woman's right cheek.The woman raised her right hand and touched her face subconsciously.Just in the blink of an eye, my uncle and grandpa brushed past the woman and got a bag of silver dollars.The woman's hand went back to her pocket, only to find that the money was lost, she beat her chest and cried, "Oh, my money was stolen. My man is still lying in the hospital. This is the life-saving money I borrowed..."

Uncle Grandpa didn't care about this, just as the tram stopped at a stop, he wanted to get out of the car and run away, when suddenly a thin old man squeezed out of the car, blocked the car door with a stride, pointed at him and shouted loudly: "Thief, don't try to run away! The uncle was startled, and pretended to be calm and shouted: "Who is the thief? Don't be bloody." The old man said: "I saw with my own eyes that you stole her purse. If you don't believe me, you can Search his pockets on the spot." The uncle looked at the surrounding passengers, pretended to be innocent and shouted loudly: "You are not the police, what right do you have to search? Let's go to the police station if we have the ability." "Okay!" Not to be outdone, the old man pulled the skirt of his clothes with his hands, led the woman who had lost her purse out of the car, and went straight to the police station across the street.

Uncle and grandpa knew that he was in trouble today, but he was not afraid at all.There was a reason why he clamored to go to the police station.If the person is searched in the car, the money bag is on him, and the stolen goods must be obtained at the same time, and the truth must be revealed on the spot.But if he went to the police station, with the buffer time along the way, he could return the money bag back to the woman's pocket without a trace on the way, so that even if he got to the police station, it would be just a misunderstanding.

But my uncle was very angry today, and he was determined to get rid of this nosy little old man, so while the two were arguing, he put the money bag into the old man's pocket without anyone noticing it.In this way, the old man becomes a thief shouting "stop thief".The old man didn't realize it, and dragged all the way to the police station, and complained to the police that he had caught a thief.The uncle suddenly bit back, saying that the old man was the thief, and he stole the woman's money and put it in his pocket over there.

The policeman was also confused, and shouted: "Don't make noise, both of you are suspected, you have to search." The policeman searched the old man first, but there was nothing.Uncle and grandpa didn't believe it, he obviously stuffed the money bag into his pocket, why didn't it?I went up and searched it myself, and the old man's pockets were all empty, not even a dime.

While he was in a daze, the policeman looked at him suspiciously, staring at his coat pocket.He touched his pocket subconsciously, hey, his pocket was bulging.But he clearly remembered that he didn't have anything in his pocket!Seeing the old man's triumphant look, he suddenly realized that the damn old man actually returned the money bag back to his pocket.He suddenly turned pale.

When the policeman put his hand into his pocket, he felt his eyes go dark, his legs trembled, and he almost collapsed to the ground.Unexpectedly, the policeman fumbled in his pocket for a long time, but what he took out was a ball of yellow toilet paper.My uncle opened his mouth wide, but he couldn't make a sound, and his body was already covered in cold sweat.At this moment, the woman suddenly yelled: "Hey, I didn't lose my money, but I put it in my right pocket, why did it go to the left..." The police thought that the three of them were teasing themselves, and cursed at him. The three of them burst out.

Granduncle knew that he met a master today, after the woman left, he quickly caught up with the skinny old man, cupped his hands and said, "Thank you, senior, for putting your hands on this junior today."

The old man chuckled and said, "It's easy to say."

Uncle said: "Haven't you asked your senior's name?"

The old man said: "The little old man's surname is Man, and his name is Man Tianxing."

The uncle was stunned. It turned out that this unattractive little old man was Man Tianxing, the famous "King of Thieves" who specialized in stealing from the rich and helping the poor.

"The younger generation has eyes that don't know Mount Tai, so I have offended you so much, senior, please forgive me." Grandpa uncle said, suddenly knelt down in front of the old man with a "plop", bowed and bowed, "The younger generation wants to worship you as a teacher, please agree. "

"King of Thieves" Man Tianxing said seriously: "In my life, I hate those people who bully others with their skills and bully the poor. If you want to worship me as a teacher, you must first agree to one condition, that is, in the future, you can only treat those who are rich and unkind." Do not bully the weak."

"Okay, I promise you!" The uncle nodded, called "Master", and kowtowed three times to him respectfully.

In this way, my uncle and grandpa became the direct disciple of the thief king Man Tianxing.

When teaching skills, the thief king said to my uncle with his hands behind his back: "I only teach you three moves as a teacher. If you learn these three moves well, it is enough for you to use for a lifetime."

The first trick that the king of thieves imparted to his uncle was technique, that is, to teach him how to steal quickly and accurately.In the first practice, grab a handful of beans and scatter them on the ground, and teach uncle and grandpa to pick them up as quickly as possible.Uncle and grandpa had been pickpockets on the street for many years, so this trivial matter naturally did not bother him. In the blink of an eye, he picked up a handful of beans without leaving any.Then the king of thieves put several copper coins in the rice vat and asked the uncle to pick it up with two fingers. The movement must be quick and accurate.Finally, let the uncle and grandpa pick up objects in the boiling oil pan. It is not an easy task to be quick and accurate without hurting your fingers.After three months, my uncle and grandpa have mastered the skills, and the money and things are as fast as the wind and lightning.

The second trick taught by the Thief King is body skills.The thief king said: "In our line of work, you must practice lightness." He first rolled up a mat, which was only big enough for a half-grown child to pass through, and asked his uncle and grandpa to curl up and get into the mat. out.Then the mat was rolled up gradually, and the caliber became smaller and smaller until it became the size of a tea tray. Uncle and grandpa stood far away and sprinted lightly, like a clever swallow, and slipped through in one fell swoop.It is not enough to drill through, but also to be able to retreat backwards.The thief king said: "After practicing this skill, it is easy to enter the house through the window and chimney."

After practicing the technique and body skills, the Thief King took my uncle and grandpa to an empty space and said: "The third trick I will teach you as a master is to throw stones."

The uncle thought he heard it wrong, and asked, "Throwing stones?"

The thief king nodded and said, "That's right, it's just throwing stones. Don't underestimate the skill of throwing stones. This is the last trick to save your life that my teacher taught you. You must learn it well." After speaking, he squatted down, The left and right hands each picked up two stones from the ground, and with a light wave of the right hand, the two stones flew three feet away, and fell to the ground with two "beeps", one after the other, followed by the stone in the left hand. He went out, and landed in front of the two stones on the right hand one after the other.

The uncle said: "Isn't it just throwing stones? What's so difficult about it?" He also picked up two stones and threw them with a wave. The stones flew two or three feet away, and fell to the ground at the same time.

The thief king shook his head and said: "Throwing stones seems simple, but in fact it is quite particular. The stones in each hand should not land at the same time, nor should they be too long apart. The distance between the two hands and the four stones should be more than one foot. In a line, not only the distance between the landing points is roughly equal, but also the "ba ba" sounds made when they land are also at equal intervals, full of rhythm, echoing back and forth. It is not easy to throw the four stones in your hand well than to practice good hand and body skills."

The uncle curled his lips and said, "You have to be so particular about throwing stones, but what does this have to do with us going out to work? Are you throwing stones at dogs?"

The king of thieves smiled slightly, and said: "Don't reveal the secrets of the sky, just practice well, and you will know that what the teacher says is true when you use it."

Although the uncle was unwilling, he couldn't disobey the master's wishes. He picked up a lot of stones and put them under his feet, and began to practice throwing stones with a "bah-bah-bah".But when the two stones thrown at the same time are thrown from the palm of one hand, it is really not easy to distinguish which ones will come first when they hit the ground.Uncle and grandpa practiced hard for another three months, and both arms were swollen from practice, and finally met the master's requirements. The four stones in both hands were thrown out, "ba ba ba ba" sounded very rhythmically.

The thief king nodded with a smile, and said: "You have already learned the three tricks. I will pass on another treasure to you today as a master, and you will be able to become a teacher." He took out a small cloth bag and solemnly handed it to his uncle. .Uncle grandpa opened the cloth bag and found that it contained twelve stones that he usually used for practice.

(End of this chapter)