Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 783 What about you?

There are several types of visiting cards: those for formally becoming an apprentice, those for inviting guests to a meal, and those for a meeting.

However, when we talk about invitation cards alone, we are usually referring to invitation cards that request a meeting.

The rule for this type of invitation is that the person visiting first sends an invitation to the person being visited, saying that they want to see you and asking for your consent and when you are available.

If the visitor disagrees, the visiting card will be returned untouched. This usually happens when someone of lower status visits someone of higher status.

For example, the "toutie" that was common during the Tang and Song dynasties involved submitting one's own works and name cards to well-known scholars or high-ranking officials during the imperial examinations, hoping to gain their appreciation.

However, most of the time they returned disappointed.

If the person being visited agrees to meet, they will send a visiting card with the time specified, and then sit at home waiting for the guest to arrive.

Throughout history, this has always been the most formal way of visiting someone. In ancient times, there was a period when even very close friends, brothers, or relatives had to send a visiting card first, otherwise it would be considered impolite and could even lead to a falling out and the end of the friendship.

The reason for using this method of visiting cards was that communication was inconvenient back then. If an appointment wasn't made in advance, it would be awkward for both the guest and the host to arrive at the door when the host wasn't home.

So this method was used to set a time and to give the owner the right to choose whether to meet or not, as well as the opportunity to refuse.

It was only later that it evolved into the formal social etiquette of ancient times.

It's roughly equivalent to making an appointment in modern society.

Later, many of the old rules disappeared, and only some elderly people still remembered them.

This is especially true for people in traditional industries, including martial arts practitioners.

Don't assume that martial arts practitioners don't care about these things. On the contrary, the more martial arts practitioners are, the more they care about these things. If you don't follow the rules and rashly go to their door, they will immediately think that you are coming to provoke them, and the consequences will definitely not be pleasant.

Warriors are more straightforward and concerned with face than scholars. I dare not say anything else, but once this set of visiting cards is sent out, Chen Fan is certain that the secondment is half done. The other half depends on how well the talks go when we visit each other another day.

This afternoon, we sent some young Taoist priests from the temple out to deliver visiting cards. By the time they returned with the cards, the sun had already set.

After the worshippers dispersed and the temple gates were closed, Liu Juan and Ma Lan, along with Liu Yinyue, busied themselves in the kitchen for quite some time before it was finally time to eat.

Normally, they don't have many rules about eating, but they insist on having a Taoist banquet. They just sit around a table in the canteen, have a few bowls of vegetables, a pot of braised pork, and a plate of fish, and that's their meal.

The meat and fish were specially ordered by Chen Fan and were indispensable at every meal. In any case, the Taoist temple had a good income, and believers even put donation tickets into the donation box, so there was no shortage of supplies.

Chaoyang Temple is positioned as a "martial arts sect," so the young Taoists are currently learning martial arts from Zhang Xuansong. However, Zhang Xuansong is not a very good teacher, and these young Taoists are still in the basic stage, having just mastered a set of dynamic health-preserving exercises called "Ten Pieces of Brocade."

The Ten-Section Brocade has a few more moves than the Eight-Section Brocade, making it more suitable for martial arts practitioners to build a foundation. It is also used by many Taoist martial arts schools as a foundational skill, equivalent to the first "Five-Step Fist" learned by those who practice routines, but it is more complex.

Once you've mastered the Ten Pieces of Brocade, you can then practice the next step: boxing.

Zhang Xuansong initially thought he had a talent for teaching because he saw that Chen Fan learned so quickly. However, after training these young Taoists for three days, he decisively gave them the assessment that they were "hopeless" and handed them over to Lin Yuanxiang.

Lin Yuanxiang had experience as an instructor in the army, so he patiently taught them for a few more days. A week later, seeing that they had all memorized the Ten-Section Brocade, he decisively withdrew and left, claiming that passing on the skills was the abbot's duty and that they should go to Chen Fan later.

Chen Fan had no patience to train them here. After telling them to practice until they were proficient, he only instructed the kitchen to prepare meat and fish for every meal, and then he left to enjoy himself. He didn't return until almost four months later.

Today, Lei Kongyun and his group of nine still only know one set of Ten Pieces of Brocade, which they are fairly proficient in. They don't know any other martial arts skills. However, they eat fish and meat at every meal, and they have all gained weight compared to before.

The nine young Taoist priests, along with Liu Juan, Ma Lan, and the two sisters, were eating in the kitchen.

Chen Fan accompanied his three masters to a private tea room in the Sutra Repository.

Even the four dishes and one soup he ate were prepared by his own hands.

He may be mischievous in front of his masters, but he'll definitely bring out the good stuff. Whenever he has the chance, he'll personally cook for his masters.

This is one of the reasons why Lin Yuanxiang and his two companions liked this apprentice; his filial piety was rare.

Taking a bite of meat and a sip of wine, Lin Yuanxiang glanced at Zhang Xuansong, who was still lost in his thoughts, shook his head, and looked at Chen Fan, asking, "Are those people you hired to make a movie really any good? They've never acted before."

Chen Fan swallowed the food in his mouth, shook his head and said, "Don't worry, Second Master, what I want are those who haven't acted before. I don't want those who have acted."

He paused for a moment, looked at Zhang Xuansong who was intermittently waking up, and said, "Third Master also said that all fourteen people in Chaoyang Temple knew kung fu. The old abbot at the time was skilled in swordsmanship, wielding a steel sword with ease, and was fearless against foreign guns within seven steps. Eldest Brother's knife skills were fierce, and he once killed the Japanese devils who were terrified. Third Brother wielded two short knives, could climb mountains and wade through rivers to gather herbs, and also had excellent medical skills. Fourth Brother..."

He recounted the names of his master, uncles, and brothers that Zhang Xuansong had mentioned countless times, and finally said, "At that time, the third master was still the junior brother in the temple. He had not been working on his foundation for long, but he could still handle three or five strong men."

This kind of person—ordinary people couldn't portray their kung fu; only true masters could do it. Putting aside everything else, just a single glance is something an ordinary actor couldn't pull off.

Zhang Xuansong nodded repeatedly, "Yes, yes, that's it."

Then he coughed lightly, "Just film it the way you want. If you encounter any difficulties, just tell me and I'll find someone to solve them!"

Now that Chaoyang Temple has been rebuilt, he was already quite satisfied, but since his good disciple wants to help Chaoyang Temple make a name for itself, he must support him.

Putting everything else aside, if anyone dares to block the way to Chaoyang Temple, don't blame him for causing trouble next door... But forget about next door, the old political commissar is there, he might get a beating. But he could go to his old comrades, the General Logistics Department still has some influence.

Chen Fan nodded without speaking, and picked up the visiting cards that the young Taoist priests had brought back.

More than twenty were sent out, but only a dozen or so were brought back. The remaining half was because the head of the household was not there, but it was agreed that someone would deliver the reply to the temple tomorrow.

Those who replied to the invitations gave a general timeframe; all that's needed is to confirm the specific time.

The main reason was that Chen Fan sent out too many invitations, which could easily clash with the schedules. That's why people specifically replied with which times would be convenient for them, so that Chen Fan could make arrangements first and then finalize the specific time.

Chen Fan flipped through the visiting cards one by one. After reading them for a while, he got up and went to the bookshelf, picked up paper and pen to take notes, and soon arranged the specific times for visiting each family.

These replies show that the other party was very polite, and even on weekdays, he could choose whatever he wanted.

Chen Fan didn't waste any time. He set aside tomorrow and arranged to visit three people a day, one in the morning, one in the afternoon, and one in the evening. It would take about a week to visit everyone.

Today is August 4th. Once the actors are selected, it will be mid-August. We'll have more than half a month to take Jiang Tiantian and Jiang Lili on a trip, which should be enough time.

Just as Chen Fan was thinking about where to go, a figure turned into the corridor and shouted loudly as soon as she reached the backyard, "Is anyone there?"

Almost everyone turned to look at the sound. Jiang Tiantian and Jiang Lili were the quickest to react; they exchanged a glance upon hearing the noise, then quickly put down their chopsticks and ran outside. Chen Fan slapped his forehead, exclaiming, "Why is this old lady so persistent?"

Zhang Xuansong turned to look out the window, and when he saw who it was, he immediately laughed and said, "Xiao Fan, your cousin is here! Hurry up and go out to greet her."

Chen Fan sighed and shook his head, then took the schedule he had just written down and turned to leave.

Inside the courtyard, Jiang Tiantian and Jiang Lili were holding Zhou Yali's hands, one on each side, laughing and talking.

At this moment, apart from the three masters who remained still, everyone else in the restaurant across the street also put down their chopsticks and followed them into the courtyard.

Chen Fan waved to Lei Kongyun, then handed him the note and said, "Reply according to this time. Write a formal message on red paper."

The earliest visit will begin the day after tomorrow morning. We can't rush things; we need to give both sides some time to prepare.

When performing a ritual, it must be done in its entirety, not just halfway. It's just a matter of using a few more sheets of paper, and it doesn't require Master Chen to write them himself, so why would he find it troublesome?

After Lei Kongyun left, Chen Fan waved his hand, "Go eat, everyone, it's alright now."

The young Taoist priests then entered the restaurant one after another, but Liu Juan stayed behind. She leaned close to Chen Fan and whispered, "Brother Chen, shall I add two more dishes?"

Chen Fan thought for a moment, "Make a Tai Chi soup, a carp leaping over the dragon gate, and a Taixu dumpling, that will be enough."

Liu Juan nodded and pulled Ma Lan to the kitchen to add more dishes, but in her heart she was complaining. On the surface she was very disgusted with her cousin, but in reality she added three dishes. Was she cold on the outside but warm on the inside?

Chen Fan wasn't cold on the outside but warm on the inside. Zhou Yali had been pestering him to eat Taoist cuisine, but he had been too lazy to cook it. This time, he let Liu Juan and the others cook it for him, saving himself the trouble.

When he got to Zhou Yali, his first words were, "Why are you here again?"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yali pouted and glared at him angrily, "You seem to dislike me, huh?"

Chen Fan's expression turned serious. "No, absolutely not. I just see you flying around so frequently, crossing the Pacific Ocean all the time, spending more than ten hours on a plane. It's not good for your health, is it?"

Zhou Yali frowned slightly, her eyes showing a mixture of belief and doubt. "Really?"

Chen Fan pointed to the two sisters, "It's true, they can testify."

Zhou Yali scoffed, "Forget it, you'd be better off getting Little Monkey to testify. Those two will only side with you."

The two sisters chuckled to themselves, remaining silent even after Zhou Yali's words.

Because it's the truth.

Zhou Yali looked around. "You're just going to let me talk here?"

Chen Fan clicked his tongue and pointed to the canteen, saying, "This is the Taoist temple canteen; everyone eats here."

Then he pointed to the opposite side, "That's the Sutra Repository, but there's a tea room inside. I'm having drinks with three masters there right now. Which side would you like to choose?"

Without hesitation, Zhou Yali said, "I'll choose the cafeteria."

He then put down his suitcase and walked towards the library, saying, "I'll go and greet the three masters first."

Chen Fan waved to the two sisters and then followed Zhou Yali.

The drinking session ended abruptly due to someone's sudden appearance.

Leaving the young Taoist priests to clean up the mess, Chen Fan drove first to take the three masters home, and then took the five girls back to his own home by Houhai Lake.

Uh, there were nine people in one truck just now, it was overloaded.

Back home, Liu Juan and Ma Lan immediately got busy, boiling water and making tea.

The two sisters helped Zhou Yali carry her luggage upstairs to the second floor and settled her in.

After changing her clothes, Zhou Yali sat directly in front of the electric fan, let out a long breath, and finally relaxed.

Chen Fan took a sip of tea, looked at her and said, "Don't stand directly in front of the fan, or you'll catch a cold."

Zhou Yali waved her hand dismissively, "It's okay, I'm in great shape right now. Besides, you know medicine, so if I get sick, you can treat me."

Since learning Baguazhang from Chen Fan, she felt incredibly strong. When she was in the United States, she often sparred with Aunt Lan because none of the younger generation could match her!
What's so special about a mere electric fan?

At this moment, Jiang Tiantian strolled over, sat down next to her, and said with a smile, "It's better not to get sick if you can avoid it, otherwise you'll be the one who suffers."

Jiang Lili smiled without saying anything and sat down next to Chen Fan.

No matter what she does behind closed doors, to the outside world she is Chen Fan's fiancée. If Chen Fan weren't a government official and had to be mindful of his image, they would have already held a wedding ceremony and gotten married, and could have registered their marriage when they reached the appropriate age.

So no matter who comes to the house, she can sit next to Chen Fan without any reservations.

Zhou Yali smiled and nodded to the two sisters as a greeting, and then did not argue with them. Instead, she continued to complain about Chen Fan, "What were you thinking back then? Leaving the whole first floor empty, it's hard to install air conditioning."

It's not that it can't be installed, it's just that the space is too big, and installing an air conditioner wouldn't be very effective.

Chen Fan looked at her with disdain and said, "Who was it that came in shouting that they liked it?"

Zhou Yali's face stiffened slightly, but the next second, she casually took out a photo from her pocket and handed it to Chen Fan, "Look, this is your little cousin."

When Chen Fan took a look, he saw Zhou Zhengdong holding his wife in his arms, while Zhao Wanru was holding a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes. All three of them were smiling very happily.

She nodded slightly and said, "It's very beautiful."

Then, with a slight frown, Chen Fan turned to Zhou Yali and asked, "This family photo is indeed quite nice, but what about you?"

Zhou Yali's face froze instantly. "Oh right, what about me?"
She thought for a moment before quickly saying, "I'm taking pictures."

(End of this chapter)