Chapter 9: Huo Xiangu

Chapter 9: Huo Xiangu

The lower three clans.

The lower three clans had fewer stories because they were all business people, and didnt personally rob graves. Since the middle three clans and the lower three clans had close business relationships with each other, people from these two clans were often related by marriage as well. For example, my grandmother was from the Xie family.

As the only woman in the Mystic Nine, Huo Xiangu from Baishajing definitely wasnt inferior to men. Granny Huo had a son who joined the revolution led by Mao Zedong. During the Cultural Revolution, the Huo familys background was discovered, which resulted in their disappearance. Rumor had it that they went behind the scenes and were protected by powerful people.

Speaking of Huao Xiangu, my grandpa always had to see whether my grandma was nearby when he talked about her, since he and Hua Xiangu had history. It was a sensitive topic in our family, so we had to prevent my grandma from overhearing our conversations; otherwise, she would pinch my grandpas ears and scold, Old man, its been decades, and you still havent forgotten about that temptress.

Thats right. Huo Xiangu and my grandpa had an ambiguous relationship in the past.

Since this topic couldnt be discussed in detail, I didn't know whether their relationship happened before or after my grandparents got together, but it would be a big problem if it was the latter. I couldnt ask my grandma about it, because she would hit me on the head with a knitting needle and shoo me away.

Of course, it may not be what I think. Maybe grandpa just had some business relationships with Huo Xiangu, but grandma got jealous because Huo Xiangu was so beautiful.

Grandpa said that Huo Xiangu was indeed beautiful, as evidenced by her nickname Xiangu, which means fairy. Her beauty was acknowledged by people, and my grandpa said that she was really like a fairy. This woman had a temperament that made people unable to look at her directly, or think dirty about her. It was the kind of temperament that was innate and couldnt be cultivated. Men who looked at her had no way of producing any evil thoughts.

When I asked my grandpa if he meant that Huo Xiangus boobs were as flat as a washboard, he replied, Of course not.

Huo Xiangu was 1.7 meters tall, and liked to wear cheongsams. Her skin was very white and she had short hair. Her temperament came from her gaze, which was something out of this world. Her eyes were so clear that it was as if she had never been polluted by the world. Once you looked into them, you would be willing to do anything she asked of you.

That sounds a little like Poker-Face. Does that mean that Huo Xiangu was a female version of Poker-Face? Then I started to imagine what Poker-Face would look like in a cheongsam.

No one in the Huo family wanted to work with Chen Pi Ah Si since he was too unpredictable. It was very risky to work with him, and he might even steal your business away. But Chen Pi Ah Si wanted to have a stake in it, and tried to take advantage of the situation, which made things even more complicated. People in the Huo family were afraid to work with him, but they were also afraid that he would work with their opponents.

Black Back the Sixth was a mad man, so no one wanted to work with him.

Qi Tiezui had a small business, and it was impossible for him to talk other people into stepping down, so they found it useless to work with him.

My grandpa turned out to be the only one who was the most reliable. He was loyal and had a relatively high appeal in the underworld. There were several excellent apprentices who were on his side, his underlings were very obedient, and his workers had brilliant abilities. Not to mention the fact that my grandpa had a successful business.

The most important thing was that my grandpa got along with everyone. He could work with several leaders in the Mystic Nine and had a particularly good relationship with the Xie family. Xie Jiuye was very fond of him, so several sisters in the Huo family sent people to invite my grandpa over for a cup of tea.

As for why my grandpa chose Hua Xiangu in the end, its actually very intriguing. It was said that she sacrificed something in order to gain my grandpas support, but they were the only ones who knew what exactly happened between them.

In that era, women always had to pay a bleak price when they had to bargain with men. Even for Huo Xiangu, her beauty was only one type of leverage. This was still the case for women nowadays, although we as a society had improved a lot. At least when women in this era took a step back, there was no longer an abyss behind them.

I don't know whether we should be glad or sad about it.

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TN Notes:

(1) Ruan Lingyu was a Chinese silent film actress. One of the most prominent Chinese film stars of the 1930s. Wiki link