It is unknown when it started, but news of special abilities spread across China, appearing in both official newspapers and the thick, informal publications sold at train stations. Phenomena such as moving objects without touching them, recognizing words with one's ears, and telling time by looking at the sun, which seemed to appear "suddenly like pear blossoms blooming overnight," were scattered around everyone.
More astonishingly, the government even established a "China Human Body Science Research Association," most of whose members were old cadres from the military. The spiritual leader of the "special abilities" research was the then most famous scientist, Qian Xueshen.
This scientist, surnamed Qian, was more interested in political movements than in scientific research. He even provided theoretical support for a certain leap forward, claiming that producing ten thousand kilograms of grain per mu was possible. Under the dazzling halo, what was hidden was truly unknown.
In fact, "special abilities" had already emerged in the 1970s. At that time, a child named Tang Yu in Sichuan Province claimed to be able to "distinguish colors and recognize words with his ears." The Sichuan Medical College conducted 25 experiments on Tang Yu, during which he peeked at the paper 19 times, failed to peek 6 times, and refused to recognize the words. He was determined to be fraudulent.
Thus, under the instructions of the higher-ups, the "China Daily" wrote an article to cool down the "special abilities" craze. However, this move caused a major uproar. Some high-level supporters of "special abilities" wrote counter-articles in Hong Kong newspapers, which quickly turned the tide. After all, these articles were published in Hong Kong newspapers and had "international influence," so Tang Yu's case was re-recognized as genuine.
From then on, a 20-year battle began.
At that time, the reform and opening-up had just started, and people were still discussing the criteria for truth. It was impossible to suppress such pseudoscience immediately, especially with the support of many old generals.
As time passed, the "special abilities" craze gradually turned into a "qigong" craze, giving birth to a large number of "masters." Even in Hong Kong movies, there were references to the qigong craze on the mainland. In the classic movie "God of Gamblers" series, there was a character named Zhang Baocheng, a master with special abilities from the mainland, whose prototype was the then famous Zhang Baosheng.
In a certain place in western Jiangxi, there was also a qigong master who was said to have excellent medical skills. As long as there was still a breath of life, he could save anyone. This master's name was Wang Lin.
One day, while Zhong Shi was playing at home, he heard a commotion outside the wall. The voices were low but filled with barely suppressed excitement. After each sentence, a low gasp of amazement could be heard, and the sound, though small, was multiplied by the number of people.
Zhong Shi was very curious and couldn't help but climb up the wall to look outside. He saw his neighbor, Zhang Ge, animatedly telling a large group of villagers: "That Master Wang Lin cut off the head of a snake with one stroke. The snake wriggled a few times and then stopped moving, dead. At this point, Master Wang Lin picked up a basin, covered the dead snake, and then used his powers. After a while, guess what happened? The snake's head was reattached, and it came back to life, hissing and sticking out its tongue at people!"
"Really? Did you see it with your own eyes?" A villager's eyes were full of disbelief.
"How could it be fake? There's still blood on the ground! I saw it with my own eyes. The decapitated snake came back to life, just like before. It's truly amazing!" Zhang Xiaowu said, spitting out saliva. In fact, he hadn't seen it with his own eyes; he had just heard about it and then passed it off as his own experience.
"Also, Master Wang Lin will be staying in our county for a while. If anyone in your family is sick, go to the county to see him. Who knows, he might cure all your illnesses with just one try!"
At the end, Zhang Xiaowu stopped boasting and passed on the most important information.
The people around him looked at each other and quickly left, as if they were afraid of being late. Zhong Shi, who was watching from the wall, shook his head helplessly and then climbed down to continue playing with his little yellow dog.
After three years of living together, the little yellow dog had completely accepted Zhong Shi as a member of the family. With the improvement in living conditions, the little yellow dog had grown much taller and stronger than ordinary dogs, which amazed many people in the village.
In the evening, after a day of hard work, Zhong Jianjun returned home, exhausted. Liu Lan, who had been waiting at home, quickly served the food, and the family began to eat and chat in the courtyard.
"After this summer, you'll go to school, right?" Zhong Jianjun wiped the sweat from his face and asked Zhong Shi uncertainly.
For this son, who seemed to have some special abilities, he sometimes wondered if he was really his own. Zhong Shi had not gone to school before because he was a bit confused, but how could he suddenly become so smart now?
Although Zhong Jianjun didn't know what Zhong Shi did each time he went to Hong Kong, the changes in the family's living conditions clearly showed that Zhong Shi was not doing it aimlessly.
As for how much money Zhong Shi had, he had no idea. He only knew that whenever he was about to go out to work, Zhong Shi would whisper in his ear, "We have money now, you can rest at home!" At such times, he would always laugh it off, thinking that if a person didn't do something, they might go crazy. Besides, how much money could this kid have?
What Zhong Jianjun didn't know was that Zhong Shi's wealth was already more than he could earn in a lifetime.
Regarding the matter of sending Zhong Shi to school, Zhong Jianjun had already thought it through and had discussed it several times with Liu Lan in private. They both believed that it wasn't good for Zhong Shi to stay at home and play all the time. However, due to Zhong Yi's bad advice, they hadn't brought it up earlier. But now it was 1987, and it wasn't a good idea for such a big child to not go to school.
"Sure!" To Zhong Jianjun's surprise, Zhong Shi immediately agreed.
In fact, Zhong Shi had also considered whether he should go to school again. China's basic education system was very comprehensive and more difficult than that of other countries, but for someone who had been reborn, it wasn't a challenge.
However, going to school would take up a lot of his time, and he needed to think carefully about how to balance making money and going to school.
"..." Zhong Jianjun didn't expect Zhong Shi to agree so readily, and the words he had prepared were suddenly useless.
"Have you heard that a qigong master has come to the county? We should go see him when we have time," Zhong Jianjun said after a long silence, in a tone of discussion. "They say this qigong master is very powerful and can even reattach the head of a decapitated snake."
"So powerful? Could he even bring the dead back to life?" Liu Lan's hand trembled, and the porridge in her bowl almost spilled.
"Dad, Mom, do you really believe this?" Zhong Shi sneered, tossing a piece of fatty meat into the air. The little yellow dog, which had been waiting for a long time, leaped up and swallowed the meat.
Zhong Shi and the little yellow dog had played this trick countless times. At first, Liu Lan would scold him, calling him a wastrel, but later, the family got tired of eating fatty meat, and Liu Lan let him do as he pleased.
"The pork vendor in town is really clever. No matter how he cuts the meat, he always includes a large piece of fat. Isn't that a waste of money?" Although Liu Lan didn't say it out loud, she secretly cursed the pork vendor, naturally protecting her son.
"Hey, don't you believe it? I heard that many people have gone to see him. If it wasn't real, how could so many people believe it?" Zhong Jianjun glared and lectured Zhong Shi, maintaining his dignity as a father.
"Alright, Dad, Mom, I'll show you a magic trick!"
Seeing that his persuasion was ineffective, Zhong Shi put down his bowl and chopsticks, took out a coin, and made a series of quick movements with his hands. Then he closed his hands and asked, "Dad, Mom, guess which hand the coin is in?"
"Trick." Zhong Jianjun and Liu Lan exchanged a smile, both guessing the other's thoughts. Zhong Jianjun pointed to the left hand, and Liu Lan pointed to the right hand. They had watched for a long time, and the coin had been moving between Zhong Shi's hands, so it must be in one of them.
"Is that so?" Zhong Shi opened both hands simultaneously, and both were empty, with no sign of the coin. He showed them the back of his hands, which were also empty.
"Huh, where did the coin go?" Zhong Jianjun stared at Zhong Shi's hands, looking back and forth, but couldn't figure out where the coin was hidden.
"Hehe, I'll show you another magic trick!" Zhong Shi smiled and took out a newspaper, which was a copy of the "China Daily" from two days ago.
Zhong Shi folded the newspaper a few times and then, under the watchful eyes of Zhong Jianjun and Liu Lan, tore it apart. Then he shook his hands, and a perfectly intact newspaper appeared before them.
"Oh, this... this..."
This truly stunned Zhong Jianjun and Liu Lan. They took the newspaper and examined it for a long time, not sure what to think.
"What do you think? Isn't it a bit like the snake coming back to life?" Zhong Shi looked at the puzzled pair and said with a hint of pride.
"It does look similar, but isn't this newspaper not the one you tore earlier?" Zhong Jianjun looked at the date on the front page and said thoughtfully.
"Dad, you're really smart. Actually, these were two different newspapers. I folded this one in a special way and hid it inside the other one. After tearing the other one, I shook my hands, and this intact newspaper appeared!" Zhong Shi gave a thumbs up.
"Do you mean that the master hid the dead snake and then found a similar live snake to replace it?" After a long silence, Liu Lan spoke.
"Mom, you're much smarter than Dad!" Zhong Shi extended a white, tender hand and waved it in the air, and a shiny coin appeared in his hand. (Sorry for the late update today. I'll make sure to update on time next time. Thank you for your support. I hope you can recommend and collect more.)