As a famous remnant of the old dynasty, Chen Baochen's passing only became known to those acquainted with him after his obituary was published in the *Tianjin Daily*.

Most of the apartments in the Xinyuan Residential District, diagonally opposite the Wenlin Garden, were 140 square meters in size. In the living room on the fourth floor of Building 3, four people sat around a table. The man sitting on the east side flicked ash into the ashtray with his left hand, while his right hand felt a mahjong tile. Without even looking at it, he discarded it, saying simultaneously, "4 Dots."

The player to his right (downstream) did not possess such tactile skill. He picked up the tile, looked at it, and then discarded it. "East Wind. Do you gentlemen intend to offer incense before Elder Chen's spirit tablet?"

"Looking for trouble?" The man on the west side laughed, drawing a tile at the same time. He immediately smiled, swapped a tile from his hand, and hesitated for a moment before choosing one to discard. "Red Dragon."

"Pong!" The player on the east side immediately shouted. Taking the tile and displaying the set before him, he sighed, "If *that person* wasn't keeping vigil, I would actually like to go. 9 Dots."

"Chow." The player to the east's right took the discard. "I heard that person wants to emulate the Current High Official, having finished military academy in Japan. But I don't know if he will return to China. 1 Bamboo."

"Emulate the Current High Official? Hehe. Who said that? Elder Chen? Red Dragon."

"Anyway, that's what people say. This reminds me of something I heard Elder Zhang say recently. 2 Bamboo."

The other three stopped their hands and asked, "What did Elder Zhang say?"

"Elder Zhang said, if you don't have a diamond drill, don't take on porcelain work. The children of the Zhang family won't go into entrepreneurship; they just learn a trade. If they have ability, they can become scientists, engineers, doctors, or teachers. If they lack ability, they can drive a taxi or work as a chef. If they really can't do anything, delivering packages or sweeping streets is fine. If the family is fortunate enough to have someone who truly has no skill but also causes no trouble, letting them be a professional student for a lifetime, reading books every day—that is the family's good fortune."

Hearing this, the man on the east side sighed. "Sigh... hurry up and draw."

The interrupted cycle of tiles resumed. "East Wind. I say..."

"Don't say anything. You missed drawing a tile; if you play another, you'll be a *Xiang Gong* (ineligible to win due to wrong tile count)!" the man on the east warned.

"Oh..." The player who almost went ineligible drew a tile. "I feel Elder Zhang can now be described as having the air of an immortal sage."

"2 Dots. What does Elder Zhang lack in this life? Of course, he has an immortal air. Although they say wealth doesn't last three generations, if the Zhang family descendants can truly listen to his exhortations, I'm afraid their family's money couldn't be exhausted even in ten generations."

"Hehe. Ten generations of prominence? Concealed Kong! Come, come, come, pay up quickly." This player already had a smile on his face.

The other three each pinched two paper slips and threw them in front of him. The man on the east sighed, "Speaking of which, Chief Duan's son is quite disappointing to no one; he's already a National Master. Although playing Go is useless, staying in the Go Academy every day means he isn't squandering the family fortune. Look at how he spent money like water in the early years; the money he's spent in these past few years is probably less than what he used to spend in a single month."

"6 Characters. In the early years, only people in Tianjin Wei knew of Young Master Duan, holding his stinking feet to curry favor with Chief Duan. Now the whole world knows him. A few days ago, Old Zhang from Yunnan wrote a letter asking if the person mentioned in the newspapers was Young Master Duan. Tsk tsk tsk. Looking at it this way, Elder Zhang's family instructions are the true path to preserving a family."

"Mm. That's what they say, but seeing those factory owners making money, it doesn't feel good in the heart. 1 Character."

"Kong!" shouted happily. He rubbed his hands together. "Wait a moment, let me get a 'Blossoming on the Kong'! Haha! 3 Dots! I'm waiting on 3, 6, 9! Mahjong!"

"Ha! Then why didn't you win on a discard?"

"How much is a discard worth? With 3, 6, 9, of course, I want to self-draw."

The other three paid up. Amidst the clattering sound of shuffling tiles, the man on the west sighed, "Which industry should we invest our money in now?"

"Leave it to fate. None of us understand business; it's better to just buy some shares and wait for the year-end dividends. Besides, investing in anything makes money now, so why think so much?"

"If only state-owned companies sold shares too."

"What are you thinking! You want to fish for money from the Current High Official's coin purse?"

As they spoke, music drifted in; the performance of the funeral band from the funeral home could be heard outside the window. As the men stacked their tiles, the topic returned to Chen Baochen.

"Do you say *that person* will stay in China?"

"Stay in China to do what? Who would dare use him?"

"For *that person* to send off Elder Chen can be considered fulfilling the sentiments of a master and disciple."

"...Hehe." Someone just chuckled. Some matters always gave rise to associations, but regarding Puyi, these former Qing officials were unwilling to say too much.

The previous round was won by the South player. He picked up two dice and threw them into the ring of mahjong tiles. The dice rolled around and stopped steady. "6, opposite."

The North player picked up one die and knocked it against the other. The two dice collided and flipped, resulting in two red 4s facing up.

"Oh, a Leopard (pair)," the East player laughed.

"Missing two dots." The North player's expression turned serious. "Now the government prohibits pornography, gambling, and drugs. It's fine for us to play a few rounds of mahjong with small stakes. But if anyone violates government regulations, don't come to my house, and definitely don't come looking for me."

The other three were stunned for a moment, then the East player laughed. "The Current High Official has written several masterpieces on psychology, and we have studied the books of sages for so many years. If we can't even achieve this, then we are seeking our own deaths. I haven't played those things for a long time either; I was just speaking casually."

In this round, South was the dealer. South cut the deck and took two stacks. The others took their tiles with crisp sounds. After each took three stacks, the dealer took the jump tile. After arranging his hand, a smile appeared. He discarded a tile, "North Wind."

"Pong!" The East player took the tile and continued, "Gentlemen, my family has opened a car rental company. I wonder if anyone is interested in buying a few cars to join in. 1 Dot."

"Pong!" The North dealer said, "You need shareholders for bicycles? 1 Bamboo."

"Pong!" The East player said, revealing his two 1 Bamboos. "Not bicycles, trucks."

The other three were stunned. The East player was leisurely and content. "3 Characters."

The player to his right asked while drawing a tile, "Isn't opening a trucking company good? Why go into rental? North Wind."

"Yes, who can afford to rent a truck?"

The East player shook his head. "Now the government is heavily promoting vocational training. There are many people who can drive, but few who can afford to buy a vehicle. Have you gentlemen not seen how many roads have been built now? National highways, provincial highways, even the townships have dirt roads. With roads, trucks can run."

"5 Characters. What if those people break the trucks? What if they crash? What if someone gets killed?"

The East player lit another cigarette. "Originally, I didn't know what to do about these things either. Now the government has promulgated the Contract Law; we handle things according to the contract. I have already hired some experts and asked them to help me work out the regulations for cost control and risk control."

The other three were quite interested upon hearing this and chatted while playing. After eight rounds of mahjong were finished, the four stopped and went with the East player to his company.

Walking out the door, they saw that Wenlin Garden was no different from usual. The number of people entering and exiting had not increased or decreased because of the mourning hall set up for Chen Baochen. Listening to the playing of the funeral band in the courtyard, someone sighed, "Speaking of which, the Great Qing has been gone for twenty-one years."

The other three also felt somewhat emotional. The East player said, "There are still this many remnants of the old era now. In a few more years, we probably won't see any of them."

Puyi was currently dressed in mourning sackcloth, greeting guests together with Chen Baochen's family. When visitors offered incense and kowtowed to Chen Baochen, Puyi would kowtow in return along with Chen Baochen's children who had rushed back. But there were few visitors, and Puyi spent most of the time waiting numbly. The initial remorse had already numbed Puyi; he had never imagined that he would be the one to personally send his teacher off. At this moment, only one thought remained in Puyi's mind: leave China as soon as possible and never return to this sad place.

After keeping the wake for three days, Puyi personally carried the coffin for his teacher's funeral. On the fourth day, Puyi bought a plane ticket back to Japan and returned there.

The Security Bureau was not very clear about the cause of Chen Baochen's death. According to the hospital's death report, Chen Baochen died from a sudden stroke. Although there was an impact to the head, this impact was not the cause of death.

Moreover, in the intelligence gathered by the Security Bureau, the relationship between Puyi and Chen Baochen was very good, with no animosity. Therefore, there was no plan to detain Puyi for investigation. Seeing Puyi board the plane with absolutely no intention of staying in China, the Tianjin Security Bureau felt much relieved. The Security Bureau's work was already strenuous enough; they truly did not want to spend more energy on Puyi.