I was stunned in place as if struck by lightning and didn’t come back to my senses for a long time.
"Why four years later just tomorrow, and not today?"
"You'll know tomorrow!"
Grandfather’s words resounded in my ears, and I finally understood what he meant. It turned out that he had known all along that he would die today!
Or was it that he had planned to commit suicide from the start?
Today was August 24, 2010, the fifteenth day of the lunar July.
"The fifteenth day of the lunar July!"
Suddenly, I woke up abruptly: wasn't this my birthday according to the lunar calendar?
...
Sometimes I often think, am I really the "disaster star" my grandfather spoke of? Otherwise, why did my grandmother die soon after I was born? And my grandfather coincidentally died on my 20th birthday...
That day, I cried very sadly. It was on this day of grief that my university career began.
Grandfather's words were quickly fulfilled.
From the day I entered school, it seemed that misfortune had been with me all along.
On the second day of school, my girlfriend of nearly two years broke up with me over the phone; the living expenses that my dad transferred to me in advance were also fraudulently used by someone else; when I went to the water room to get water, I was scalded with second-degree burns by an exploding hot water pot...
If I hadn't experienced it myself, I wouldn't even believe that there could be such an unlucky person in the world.
Not only was I unlucky, but my close classmates and friends also often suffered inexplicable misfortunes with me, as if whoever treated me well, would suffer retribution.
Soon, my misfortune became known throughout the school, making people downright "dismayed" upon hearing about it.
Whenever classmates saw me, they all avoided me as if they had seen a jinx. Teachers also dared not to manage me; every time I went to the classroom, there would be a large empty space around me, and no one dared to sit near me. Even the assignments I handed in were not touched by the teachers.
Later, my roommates in the dormitory also refused to live with me; I became a complete "loner," even the dog found me unbearable.
After half a semester, the school sent leader after leader to persuade me to drop out voluntarily. Of course, I refused, and finally even the leaders who came to persuade me also suffered misfortunes.
If it wasn't a scratched car, it was a theft at home, or being reported by a former female student I had a relationship with.
In the end, the school had no choice but to allocate a separate living space for me in the school's storage room.
So, I moved out of the student dormitory and became the first student in the history of the school to live in the school's storage room. I accepted the school's arrangement quite calmly, and for self-deprecation, I even gave the storage room a nickname: "Humble Abode!"
However, it was strange that after I moved into the storage room, a gray-haired old man would come to my residence from time to time, and remarkably, he wasn't affected by my misfortune!
With others, even if they came to my place from time to time, they would have to worry about being hit by a car when they went out, but he was completely unaffected?
He has a strong character and resolute personality!
The old man's last name is Zhang, and he is the dormitory supervisor. I don't know his first name, so like everyone else, I call him Old Zhang.
Because he was the only person in the entire school who dared to communicate with me, and didn't have to worry about being influenced by my misfortune. So, Old Zhang and I soon became good friends who could talk about anything, more precisely, we were close friends who bridged a generation gap.
Old Zhang is almost sixty years old this year, and he told me that his granddaughter is almost my age.
The presence of Old Zhang seemed like a lighthouse in the vast sea.
Because of him, I finally had the courage to continue staying in school. No longer fearing the cold and scornful eyes of others, sometimes, I even deliberately provoked them.
At first, some people didn't believe it. But when a tall, strong guy, who was said to be the main player in the school's basketball team, beat me up, and the next day inexplicably fell from a height and landed in the hospital, everyone started to fear me.
I became a bully in the school before long! Of course, this so-called "bully" requires quotation marks.
But one undeniable fact is that no one dared to provoke me, and my misfortune even brought me another advantage: I didn't have to queue for anything.
Because as soon as I appeared at the end of the line, the people in front immediately scattered.
I didn't have to reserve a seat in class or compete for a spot in the library.
The only trouble was with my food and clothing. Since the two times I went to the cafeterias resulted in boiler explosions, a "Wang Lin is not allowed to enter" warning was posted at the entrance of the cafeteria.
Doing laundry was also very difficult, because any washing machine I used would definitely not work the next day. They were just that willful, even without money.
Helpless, I had to learn to cook and do my own laundry.
Luckily, Old Zhang didn't eat at the cafeteria, not because they wouldn't sell to him, but because he thought the food there was too expensive. So, we shared our meals, and sometimes, he even helped me with the laundry.
The two of us lived "co-dependent" like that, our relationship even better than that of a grandfather and his grandson. In the vast campus, Old Zhang was my only confidant, and the affection that was missing from my grandfather seemed to have been found in Old Zhang.
I believed that he was sent by heaven to make up for what I lacked. Sometimes, I even really considered him as my own grandfather.
Old Zhang had an old problem with arthritis, which flared up in windy and rainy weather. For this reason, I specially took a course in traditional Chinese medicine to be able to help him relieve the pain during critical moments.
Some of Old Zhang's daily behavior was also very much like my grandfather. When my grandfather was alive, he would always be absorbed in studying the "Book of Changes," and sometimes, fortune-telling through metaphysical books like "Four Pillars of Destiny" and "Liu Yao."
Old Zhang seemed to have a great interest in these subjects as well. Not only did he like to read these books, but he also liked to draw on some yellow paper. The drawings were very strange, like talismans, and I couldn't understand them at all.
Sometimes I would ask him why he was interested in these things, and Old Zhang would solemnly tell me, "It's good for robbing tombs! After being poor all my life, this will be my ticket to getting rich!"
Naturally, I took it as a joke, tomb-robbing, just because I read "The Grave Robbers' Chronicles" so much?
In his spare time, Old Zhang would also teach me metaphysical subjects, saying that it's not easy to find work for college students nowadays, and having a skill would prevent starvation in the future. I wasn't very interested in these ghostly and supernatural themes; I've never believed in them.
But Old Zhang was after all the only friend I had in school, and sometimes, I couldn't bear to disregard his good intentions. So, I reluctantly went along with him.
As a result, I actually learned a lot of metaphysical knowledge from him.
I remember once when I was out on the street, an old man who told fortunes under the school's overpass stopped me and said: "Young man, your bone structure is extraordinary, and your forehead is bright. You must be a fortunate person."
At that time, I laughed and thought to myself, "With my bad luck, how can you say that I'm fortunate?"
Looking at the old man's solemn appearance, I couldn't help but play along and patiently wait for him to use the metaphysical knowledge I had learned from Old Zhang to refute his claims.
The old man was amazed and said that he had met a master. In the end, not only did he refuse to take my money, but when I left, he even secretly handed me a hundred yuan.
Before I could say anything, I heard a loud crash, and an electric scooter hit him straight in the back…
"Alas…"
I could only express my deep sympathy for him because I was worried that he might be hit by another vehicle, and I didn't dare to return the hundred yuan to him, and I didn't even dare to show any concern for him - it was for his own good.
At the time when I leave, I keep a low profile, hiding my achievements and fame. I am just such a low-key person. I am who I am, a firework of a different color.
"Ugh! You're just a jinx!"
I seemed to hear another voice deep inside me.
"Oh well, if being a jinx is my fate, so be it. After all, grandpa said that as long as I can persevere until I graduate from college, my luck will turn around. When things are at their worst, they will begin to improve!"
I firmly believe in grandpa’s words, and that’s the reason why I've always been intrigued by the thing he left me, but have never opened it!
I am convinced that grandpa wouldn’t lie to me!