To be honest, Mr. Yan now finds himself in quite a predicamentâwhy, after finishing work at the teahouse and heading home to enjoy one of his few moments of leisure, would he find an unknown child at his doorstep!
Yan Zheng, styled "Bu Qu" (meaning "Unyielding"), is 35 years old and still unmarried (which is considered quite old for marriage in ancient times). This has led his colleagues to tease him as a "lifelong bachelor."
If one were to ask whether he feels any regret, the answer is undoubtedly yes. People around him always inquire, "Why, at over fifty years old, are you not married?"
He would always retort: "Nonsense, if I had been born into a wealthy family with both parents alive, how could I not be married? If I were a charming and debonair man, why would I have spent half my life in teahouses and taverns without a single romantic interest? Is it because you don't have three wives and four concubines that you are a paragon of virtue, not tempted by women, rather than the fact that the 'tiger mother' in your house is too fierce?"
After such exchanges, people no longer mention it to his face, and they all have an unspoken understanding, only joking about it behind his back. Mr. Yan would pretend not to notice, turning a blind eye and sighing softly to himself.
Today, however, fate has dropped a major problem right in his lap: what to do with this abandoned child?
Mr. Yan has thought of a few solutions. Report to the authorities? The child would be sent to an official orphanage, and as for the future, it would be none of his concern; abandon the child elsewhere? After all, it's not his child, and leaving it with him, an old bachelor, might be better than trying one's luck elsewhere; adopt the child himself? That's a joke! How could a single man living alone support a crying, helpless child? Both emotionally and logically, the child should be sent away, and as for where, after some thought, Mr. Yan decides to report to the authorities. After all, it's a life, and he cannot bear to abandon it.
Having made up his mind, Mr. Yan straightened up, no longer troubled by the sight of the child. He pounded his back, then suddenly clapped his forehead and muttered to himself, "Why don't I pick the child up and take a look?" So, he bent down again and picked up the child.
He saw the person who would influence not only his life but also the entire world.