Chapter Seventy-Nine: Uncle Ma’s Birthday Party

Seeing that it was Uncle Ma calling, I pressed the answer button and spoke into the phone, “Hello, Uncle Ma, what’s up?”
There was a burst of laughter from the other end; Uncle Ma seemed to be laughing uproariously, and it sounded like he wasn’t alone.
After a moment, Uncle Ma’s voice finally came through, and he sounded absolutely delighted.
“Hello, Xiaodong, today’s your Uncle Ma’s birthday! Hurry over, it’s too noisy here—I can’t hear what you’re saying. Let’s leave it at that, just come quickly! We’re cutting the cake at eight tonight!” Uncle Ma had barely finished speaking when the sound of the call ending echoed from the receiver.
I was speechless; I hadn’t even had a chance to reply before he hung up.
I raised my arm and glanced at my thirty-percent replica gold Rolex, only to find it was already past six. I had slept away the entire day here.
Good grief, where has the time gone? It’s passing so quickly, as if it costs nothing. (Apparently, time really does cost nothing o(╯□╰)o)
There were two hours left before the cake-cutting, and I needed to buy Uncle Ma a decent gift within that time and get to his apartment as quickly as possible. Two hours would be quite the challenge for me.
Without bothering to inform the director, I changed clothes and rushed out of the hospital, flagged down a taxi, and told the driver I needed to go to Lishang Mall—and quickly. As I spoke, I pulled three crisp hundred-yuan bills from my wallet and handed them to the driver.
The fare from here to Lishang Mall was only fifty, but I gave him three hundred, which could be considered a speed incentive.
The driver, seeing my generosity, cheerfully replied, “Got it!” He promptly spun the car around and sped off toward the mall.
On the way, the cab driver floored it, clearly a seasoned pro, and as he drove, he bragged about his skills behind the wheel. In just over ten minutes, we arrived at Lishang Mall—half the usual time.

When I got out, the driver hurried to open the door for me and, with a hearty tone, said, “Brother, you can trust my driving. If you ever need a fast ride, just call me!” With that, he handed me a brand-new business card.
Pressed for time, I didn’t bother to scrutinize the driver’s face; I simply took the card and replied, “Alright, brother, thank you!” Then I got out of the car, jogged into the five-story mall, and began searching for a birthday gift for Uncle Ma.
The process was swift, and in the blink of an eye, half an hour had passed. Glancing at the clock as the hour hand edged toward seven, I felt an urge to pull it back to six—but I restrained myself, knowing it would do no good. I wasn’t that foolish.
With an hour left before Uncle Ma’s birthday cake ceremony, I’d already bought the gift: a cute, life-sized panda. I felt pretty good about it.
As I paid, a young saleswoman, perhaps just over twenty, asked out of curiosity, “Is it for your girlfriend?”
Without thinking, I smiled and replied, “No, it’s for my teacher. It’s his birthday today.” I left a pile of change, cradled the panda, and exited the mall.
But I vaguely heard the saleswoman whisper to her colleague, “He must be crazy, giving a panda to his teacher. People usually buy pandas for their girlfriends. Have you ever seen anyone give a panda to a teacher? So childish.”
I wasn’t in the mood to listen to the rest. Hearing her say that made me want to throttle her. I thought, “What I give is my business, not yours. It’s not like I’m giving it to you.”
By then, I’d already left Lishang Mall. Without hesitation, I flagged another cab and headed straight to Uncle Ma’s apartment. As soon as I got out, I grabbed the panda and dashed upstairs to Uncle Ma’s floor—the speed was nothing short of miraculous!
At Uncle Ma’s door, I knocked. The door opened, and a young girl, about eighteen, stood there. She was breathtaking, like a flower in full bloom, and I nearly lost my composure, but I managed to keep myself in check. After all, I wasn’t one of those old men chasing after young girls.
I smiled at her, then walked past her, enveloped in the fragrance of youth that was almost intoxicating.
Inside, I discovered the source of the earlier phone commotion: the place was packed, mostly with young people around eighteen or nineteen. Clearly, they were Uncle Ma’s students, and most were girls—hardly any guys, since few boys would attend a teacher’s birthday, and I was one of that majority.

At that moment, Uncle Ma, wearing a birthday hat, was chatting with his students. He’d shed his teacherly demeanor and was just another old man at a class reunion, completely immersed in the festivities. Truly, Uncle Ma deserved applause.
Scanning Uncle Ma’s surroundings, I saw he was surrounded entirely by girls, each more beautiful than the last—pure and playful, yet full of charm when they acted coy. The sound of their teasing voices sent chills down my spine, and an inexplicable fire rose within me.
Uncle Ma had raised such a group of outstanding students; once they entered society, they’d surely be the backbone of any organization. Yet seeing these beauties act so coquettishly, I wondered how Uncle Ma could handle it all.
Uncle Ma’s home was like a karaoke bar, the luxurious subwoofer making the whole house vibrate. Several long-haired, long-legged, stunning and sexy girls were singing wildly into microphones, and to my surprise, their voices were like dolls—so sweet it made me melt.
Seriously, was this a nightclub? How were these girls so good at attracting attention? At that moment, I completely forgot I was still clutching the panda, standing there dazed. The black-and-white panda was eye-catching enough that Uncle Ma spotted me immediately in the crowd. (Of course, only Uncle Ma knew Xiaodong, so he’d be the first to recognize me—who else could?)
I watched Uncle Ma step out from the crowd of women, pull me over, hand the panda to one of his students, and then drag me into the throng of girls. He introduced me, saying, “Let me introduce your senior, Hu Xiaodong, my most accomplished student. You should all learn from him!”
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