“Ah, thank goodness we labeled Fusheng Three as ‘Volume One and Volume Two’ instead of ‘Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter editions’! The seasons are completely off!”
“Right, right — what a brilliantly wise decision!”
“And just who was so brilliantly wise, hmm?!”
“Hey, hey — isn’t it a little strange for an editor and an author to be having this kind of conversation?”
“……”
Ahem. Allow me to put on my Iron Man armor before I say another word. To all of you readers who waited so long for Volume Two that you’ve grown as tall as giraffes in the meantime — please take a breath and calm down. Yes, Volume Three Part Two is ever so slightly… slightly… late. But late is better than never, right? So put away all those weapons you were getting ready to hurl at me. After all, we’ve weathered so many years together through thick and thin — for an author who secretly runs on the energy-saving mode of a lazy koala, surely you should be moved by your own vast generosity and boundless love to forgive her… yes?!
The truth is, ever since Volume Three Part One was finished, my schedule has been absolutely packed to the brim. As you may know, I also found a wife for our perpetual bachelor Jiu Jue along the way, and let the proprietress and Bu Ting and the two male leads make another trip up to the peak of Fulong Mountain — all to prepare a deeply meaningful birth-gift for a certain little someone who hadn’t yet come into the world at the time. Don’t ask me for the details — just go read the Fusheng prequel, Fulong! As a prequel written in the span between Part One and Part Two of Volume Three, it fills in everything about the proprietress and the others’ unknown past lives, present circumstances, origins, and entanglements. (Shaluo: Hey hey, don’t change the subject! Don’t think that bringing up Jiu Jue will make everyone forget their disdain for you! Hurry up and beg forgiveness for your chronic lateness, you scoundrel!)
Fine. The honest truth is that I have always been a slow writer. I call it, rather grandly, “spending the bulk of my time in contemplation.” But however much time I spent contemplating, at least in the end we arrived at a result worth smiling about — watching our proprietress grow from a young girl all the way through falling in love, getting married, and having children, walking hand in hand with Ao Chi through one twist and upheaval after another. I imagine that this feeling of fullness and happiness will make everyone too warmhearted to hold a grudge over my delays? (Shaluo: How are you still whitewashing yourself…)
But let me return to the point.
In Fusheng Three, I used twelve stones as the central thread running through the entire story. Though it speaks of the former celestial gods and their various affairs, anyone who read all the way to the end should be able to see my true intention. Twelve stones that “suppress” or “assist” twelve celestial gods — they have peculiar names, circuitous origins, and they don’t even exist in the real world. Yet in my heart, these “stones” are very much real. Regardless of age, gender, or circumstance — if we each quiet ourselves and have an honest, level-headed conversation with our own hearts, I think most of us will find these “stones” somewhere within ourselves, or perhaps find that “shadow” the stones sought to “hold down” — what one might call the “weaknesses” of human nature. And so it is.
Strip away all the strange and fantastical elements of Fusheng Three, and what it tells, at its core, is twelve stories about human weakness. By virtue of being born human, we are fated to a certain kind of imperfection. In our not-so-long, not-so-short lives, we will inevitably encounter the emotional “fissures” of anger, jealousy, sorrow, and despair. If we never learn to patch those fissures in time and instead let them widen and expand, there is every chance that the malevolent “shadow” spoken of in the book will find its way in — and like those fallen celestial gods, we may become something that even we ourselves find troubling, or even frightening. For ordinary people, having negative emotions is the most natural thing in the world. The real question is how to manage and ease them, and ultimately dissolve them entirely. That is perhaps the skill that requires the most cultivation of all. I have always believed that inside every person’s heart there is a “divine stone,” fully capable of dissolving all the “weaknesses” that harass or even harm us. The only difference is that some stones are buried deeper and some shallower — but to dig them up, one needs a measure of courage that is not afraid of pain, a persistence that does not give up, and the determination to actually want to defeat one’s own weaknesses. To be defeated by one’s own “weakness” is the worst bargain of all. So I wrote these twelve stones as a reminder and an encouragement to every one of us. Each stone carries my greatest and most sincere blessing — the blessing of an ordinary person and the original author. But whether you choose to dig them up — that is entirely up to you.
The final story I named “To Love” — and I felt there could be no more fitting title. The Fusheng series has always grown from the root of “love,” branching into dozens of stories. Whether comedic, absurd, tragic, grave, or soaked in blood and tears, every story conceals a different kind of love. You all understand this, so I won’t say more. “Love” is a double-edged sword: wielded rightly, it warms like the first breath of spring; taken to extremes, it draws blood. Whether it is the love between a man and a woman, the bond of blood and family, or the sworn kinship of deep friendship — “love” in its many forms has threaded through each of our lives. We ought to learn how to temper this “arrow of feeling” — whose alignment between good and evil is yet undecided — into something warm and nurturing, rather than using it to wound others and ourselves, and, all in the name of “love,” turning both our own lives and the lives of others into a complete mess. That is neither right, nor worth it.
The subject of love has been debated by countless people for thousands upon thousands of years. It is too vast and too complex; too narrow and too simple. I cannot offer it any precise definition.
But, as Ding Yan once said — excess and deficiency are equally harmful.
And the proprietress said — We give each other the most genuine respect and freedom, but we have never let go of one another.
Perhaps that is the best love I am capable of imagining.
Finally, I wish to sincerely thank every reader who has walked alongside the proprietress all the way to this point. Because of you, Bu Ting’s business will only continue to thrive and flourish (don’t mention to me that the proprietress didn’t sell many tins of tea this year — didn’t she go and win a hundred and twenty million at the end of the year?!), and the world of the monsters will only grow more beautiful with each passing day. Likewise, Bu Ting’s monsters will always bless you, love you, and call you out of bed in the middle of the night to soak in the moonlight… (Shaluo roars: Quickly pull the microphone away from her! The more she talks the worse it gets!!)
And finally, finally — heartfelt thanks to all the wonderful staff members who poured their hearts and souls into the publication of Fusheng. Everyone worked so hard; please be sure to eat several big bowls of rice to restore your strength! (Shaluo: Someone drag her out of here!!)
Don’t drag me away, I still have things to say!!!
Although the twelve stones in the story are fictional, I myself am something of a stone enthusiast — I take great pleasure in collecting all kinds of stones I like. So the “divine stones” do each have a real-world counterpart. I’ve listed them one by one, for the enjoyment of any fellow enthusiasts:
Jue Li Hua — Gobi Agate Xiao Hu Yan — Clear Quartz Zhi Shang Que — Amber Tao Yuan Jian — Jade Po Tian Fu — Lapis Lazuli Yue Yin Niang — Moonstone Jin Wu Ling — Rutilated Quartz Yu Wang Shi — Aquamarine Qian Zhong Shu — Amethyst Ming Wang Guan — Obsidian Tian Fei Dun — Rhodochrosite Qing Qi Jian — Tourmaline
And lastly: love life, love Fusheng, love all of you. May those of us who have come to know one another through Fusheng always be safe and full of joy! Oh yeah!
P.S. I won’t hide it — there is indeed a Fusheng Four, because ever since Fusheng Two I have planted many landmines — no, I mean foreshadowing. But let’s set Fusheng Four aside for now and raise a glass to celebrate Ao Chi and the proprietress, who have just been promoted to parenthood, as well as to our little prize-packet and our unknown little friend! Wahahahaha!
Shaluo Shuangshu March 28, 2014, Chengdu