The Lost Tomb Vol. 7

Chapter 7: Granny Huo

When the man said this, he made a gesture of invitation while bowing. His posture was very respectful and his expression was very positive, but I saw no signs of flattery. He held this position, leaving us with no time to discuss and plan, since we had to get up and go immediately.

Fatty and I looked at each other, and my heart said, shit. We had been looking at the door the entire time, but didn't see any old lady come in. It appeared she had been on the second floor before we came in and was waiting for us to come up. Maybe she could even see everything we were doing here.

I didn't know where I had heard it before, but I knew her purpose was to demoralize us. It was probably an old antique dealer trick and I couldn't help but feel even more nervous. Although I was only a little boss of the second generation, I was the eldest grandson of the Wu family, and the young master of Uncle Three's shop. I had never been treated so disrespectfully, and no one had dared do this kind of thing to me. As I thought about the man's straightened waist and back as he bowed, my heart was unconvinced.

Fatty was naturally upset, and immediately frowned. He shook out his small suit and winked at Poker-face. "Little Brother, get in line. Let's give Mr. Naïve's comrades a good thrashing." The three of us stood up and followed the man to the stair entrance with our heads held high.

Compared with the first floor, the second floor had some western decorations, which was also a characteristic of old Beijing. It was full of private rooms facing the central stage on one side, where there were tables for eating and watching the plays. There were automatic mahjong machines on the other side that faced the street.

We walked halfway down the circular corridor and came to the door of a huge private room. The entrance was a large screen door carved with flowers, and was much bigger than the hotel's door. Two young men in casual clothes were standing upright on either side of the door, looking like soldiers. There was a carved sign of elm wood on the lintel that read "Caihe Hall."

"Her bracelets are often wound by the lotus stems, the water may stain her makeup. Heedless of the wet sleeves, she sees only the fragrant green leaves. The name of this room comes from Liu Xiaochuo's 'Seeing a Beauty Picking Lotus from Afar'."

The waiter read the poem aloud like a tongue twister and had hardly finished when he said, "You three, this is it. Please go in." Then he immediately left.

I said to myself, this waiter is extremely meticulous. Just now, we were respectfully asked to come here, which made it difficult to refuse. Naturally, he did that to force us to keep the appointment, so he didn't have to explain why we were delayed even though we arrived on time. When we arrived, he left immediately because he didn't know what would happen next. If he left as quickly as possible, then he wouldn't see or hear anything, much less have to worry about right or wrong.

These were typical characteristics of people mixed up in a complex venue, and had become habit for them. It appeared the hierarchy here was very complex.

While I was thinking all this, the two men had already opened the door. There were three or four layers of coral bead curtains, so we lifted them to walk inside and immediately smelled the fragrance of Tibetan incense. Tibetan incense was a Buddhist product and also had the effect of keeping one in good health. It appeared the host had high taste.

There was a large space inside, with a high ceiling, crystal chandeliers, copper-colored ceiling fans, and carved copper-green lotus flowers on the pillars. Seven or eight people were eating around a large, round table. A screen was placed where the stage could normally be seen, temporarily blocking it.

As soon as we came in, the people at the table stopped eating and looked at us. We saw two middle-aged women, three children, and several middle-aged men. My attention was naturally focused on the two women, but as soon as I looked at them, I found that they weren't Granny Huo. Although they were middle-aged, they were too young.