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Chapter 3: Hit by a Car
No matter how much Xiao Yun pressed, the Beggar Old Man refused to reveal who he was, where he came from, or who else was in his family.
He said, "Young man, I can't tell you everything about myself just yet!"
Xiao Yun could only smile bitterly and shake his head; it seemed this old man was quite good at putting on airs!
"Hmph, if you won't say, then you won't say. Let's see what tricks you can pull later!" Xiao Yun grumbled to himself.
What troubled Xiao Yun was that the Beggar Old Man had decided to latch onto him. After hearing that Xiao Yun could earn money by drawing portraits, he stopped begging and had Xiao Yun buy him three meals a day.
Xiao Yun thought in horror, "Looking at this old man's appearance, he wouldn't really want to be my grandfather, would he?" Just thinking about this made him shiver involuntarily.
"Alas, considering his age and that he's out begging for food, he probably has no one at home," Xiao Yun thought again. "If he really wants to stick around as my grandfather, I guess I'll have to let him!"
Thus, during the day, Xiao Yun busied himself drawing portraits in the park, and at night, he hurried back to serve the Beggar Old Man. However, the old man was very difficult; if the food wasn't to his liking even slightly, he would explode in anger at Xiao Yun and nearly smashed his drawing board several times.
"Could you please not smash my drawing board? It's my livelihood!" Finally, unable to endure any longer, Xiao Yun issued a warning.
"Wow, since you want to make a living through painting, let me test you. Do you know the six principles of painting? What are they?"
Xiao Yun was taken aback and shook his head to indicate he didn't know.
"You don't even understand this simple thing? What can you possibly paint?" the old man retorted angrily. "The six principles are: First, vitality and spirit; second, bone structure and brushwork; third, responding to objects and capturing their forms; fourth, coloring according to types; fifth, managing composition; sixth, transferring and copying models..."
Xiao Yun was astonished upon hearing this and began to seriously scrutinize the old man before him. In truth, he had pretended not to know the answer on purpose. He hadn't expected that this old man would recite phrases from Xie He’s "Ancient Painting Classification." Who exactly is this guy?
"You... you understand painting too?" Xiao Yun asked in surprise.
The old man scoffed and said, "Hah! Back in my day as a painter, I was famous throughout China. I can't tell you how many young ladies fell for me and cried out wanting to marry me—at that time, I didn't even know where you were crawling around!"
"You keep boasting," Xiao Yun laughed. "Aren't you afraid of the wind cutting your tongue? If you're so capable, how did you end up as a beggar?"
The old man shot him a glare. "Isn't this all for you?"
"For me?" Xiao Yun felt both amused and exasperated.
"Yes, let me tell you, kid," the old man suddenly leaned in with a mysterious look, "it's a blessing for you to know me. In the future, you'll have a whole crowd of beautiful women vying to be your wife. You're going to have endless romantic fortune..."
Xiao Yun almost burst out laughing; did this old man think he was some kind of deity?
However, Xiao Yun could never have imagined that the old man was not lying...
...
In the blink of an eye, this mysterious old man had been here for nearly half a month.
One early morning, Xiao Yun woke up and opened his eyes to find the hut empty; the old man was nowhere to be seen. He couldn't help but feel a surge of joy and thought, "Could it be that this old man finally had a change of heart and left quietly?"
Then he thought, "No, since I've treated him like a grandfather, I need to take responsibility for him. I have to see where he went!"
Xiao Yun quickly got up and ran out from under the bridge, searching everywhere for the Beggar Old Man.
"Old man, uh—grandpa..." Xiao Yun called out aimlessly.
After shouting for a while with no response, he wondered where the old man had gone so early in the morning.
"Have you seen an old man? He looks like..." Xiao Yun stopped a passerby and gestured as he asked.
The person shook their head and walked away.
Xiao Yun then approached a girl. "Excuse me, beautiful, have you seen an old beggar..."
"Not seen him!" The girl shot him a glance and quickly moved aside.
Xiao Yun lost all interest in going to the park to paint and continued searching for the Beggar Old Man everywhere.
Not far ahead, he discovered a crowd gathered, gesturing and talking about something. Xiao Yun rushed over, pushed through the crowd, and saw an old man lying on the ground—it was the Beggar Old Man.
Xiao Yun exclaimed in shock, "What... what happened?" He touched the old man's nostrils; his breathing was steady, but he was unconscious and unable to speak.
"This old man was hit by a car, and the driver ran away. Young man, don't touch him; be careful not to get into trouble. People can be unpredictable!" someone kindly warned Xiao Yun.
Xiao Yun replied, "He is my grandfather!"
"Your grandfather? I can't believe it. You look so dapper, yet you let an old man beg on the streets. What kind of thing is that?"
"Young man, one day you will grow old too. How can you treat your grandfather like this?"
"Truly a disgrace!"
Xiao Yun could no longer care about what others were saying; he picked up the old man and ran towards the hospital.
Upon arriving at the hospital, they registered for emergency care. A doctor named Huang immediately took an X-ray of the old man. After reviewing the results, Dr. Huang called Xiao Yun over and suddenly asked him a strange question: "Do you know how many bones are in the human body?"
Xiao Yun couldn't understand why he would ask such a question at a time like this. After thinking for a moment, he replied, "An average adult has 206 bones, including the skull, trunk bones, and limb bones. Children have slightly more bones than adults—generally 217 or 218—because they are still growing. Some bones like the sacrum and coccyx are not fully formed and often fuse together as they grow into adulthood."
"Mm," Dr. Huang nodded and said, "But do you know how many bones this elderly man has? A total of 412 bones, which means he has double the usual amount."
"That can't be possible; how could he have so many bones?" Xiao Yun looked incredulous.
Dr. Huang explained, "He didn't grow them; they were shattered by the car crash into 412 pieces. This accident is truly bizarre; how could someone be hit like this?" As he spoke, he slid the X-ray in front of Xiao Yun.
The X-ray displayed a complete human skeleton, but all the bones were shattered into fragments.
Dr. Huang said, "This old man cannot be saved; you should prepare for his funeral."
Why did it come to this? Xiao Yun was utterly shocked, nearly collapsing to the ground!
"Doctor, you have to find a way to save him! He is a poor old man..." Xiao Yun grasped Dr. Huang's hand, pleading desperately.
Dr. Huang asked, "Who is he to you?"
"He is an old man I picked up..." Xiao Yun briefly recounted the situation.
After listening, Dr. Huang looked at the young man with a strange expression and said after a moment, "A modern-day Lei Feng. Alright, we can take him in, give him some IV drips, and try to alleviate his suffering!"
Xiao Yun took out all the money he had, a thousand in total, and handed it all over to the hospital. He knew that this small amount wouldn't last two days in the hospital. What should he do next?
After settling the old man into a hospital bed and seeing that he remained unconscious, Xiao Yun walked out of the hospital in a daze. He wanted to continue to the park to draw portraits; he had to earn some money somehow.
The old man really couldn't hold on much longer; just sending him to the crematorium would cost a significant amount. Up until now, he didn't even know who the old man was or if he had any relatives.
Xiao Yun felt a pang in his heart and shed tears for this pitiful old man.
"You old fool," Xiao Yun muttered to himself, "What luck it is for me to encounter you! You're simply my nemesis; meeting you feels like I've run into bad luck for eight lifetimes!"
Just as he walked a short distance away, Xiao Yun suddenly heard a strong voice coming from behind him: "Hey kid, who are you cursing under your breath? When did I become your nemesis?"
Xiao Yun turned around and nearly dropped his eyes in shock—the old man had miraculously appeared right in front of him!
"You..." Xiao Yun was stunned into silence.
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