Chapter 84: My Boss Is a Crazy Fellow
Translator: BeetleBarker Editor: Tennesh
Zuo Yu knew that the chubby kid was not talking about his own boss. Given his boss's age and status, how could he have a member of the Su family paying him respects every year?
The chubby kid was still trying to cover up what he had just said. But anyone who had half a brain could guess what he was talking about. A "Fang Zhao" that would make a member of the Su family travel to pay their respects every year would most probably be the one lying in the Yanzhou Cemetery for Martyrs.
"You mean the one in the Cemetery for Martyrs?" Zuo Yu glanced at Fang Zhao as he was asking Su Hou. He really wanted to know what it felt like when people with a martyr's namesake were discussing that particular martyr.
Fang Zhao's face was smiling but he did not say anything. He just listened to the conversation between Zuo Yu and Su Hou.
"That's him! Do you know what sort of person he was?" Su Hou asked curiously. Before being sent to Yanzhou, he had done some research online on "Fang Zhao." There were too many Fang Zhaos, as it was a common name, but there was only one who was an important martyr. Unfortunately, the internet had too little information on him and much of it was incomplete. Therefore, he had gotten to know a little from his brothers and sisters who'd told him that Fang Zhao had been a good friend of the Su family's Su Mu. His gravestone in Yanzhou was second only to Yanzhou's great general Wu Yan.
"Oh, him. I know. Back in history classes, they talked about him."
Zuo Yu scanned his surroundings, and there was no immediate danger. The cemetery guard was still watching them. This made Zuo Yu feel more at ease to tell his story. As the guards were watching the area here, should there be any danger, the guards would surely detect it first. As long as they moved out, Zuo Yu would have time to promptly react and protect Fang Zhao.
Actually, Zuo Yu knew little regarding the Yanzhou martyr "Fang Zhao." Most of his knowledge was from his secondary school classes, and after that, through other's hearsay. However, he could still manage bragging a little in front of Su Hou.
All the stories that people knew were apparently good stories that sang the praises of the martyrs and their glorious achievements. As Zuo Yu narrated the stories in Yanzhou's history books, Su Hou sat in front of the gravestone.
Fang Zhao stood aside and listened quietly. The stories were somewhat unfamiliar and exaggerated. However, this was not the first time he had experienced such stories. Back when he had visited the Yanzhou Cemetery for Martyrs before Memorial Day, there were people in the memorial hall telling stories that mentioned him. Those stories had been way more exaggerated.
He silently laughed and shook his head as his eyes looked up toward Su Mu's gravestone.
Su Mu's gravestone was similar to Wu Yan's. Two lines of a brief biography, followed by his contributions toward Muzhou.
Compared to Wu Yan, who was a generation younger, Fang Zhao had been closer to Su Mu and the others of the same generation who had experienced the peaceful era and struggled together during the end of days.
Visiting the tombs of his old friends left Fang Zhao feeling complicated. This was a feeling that he did not know how to describe. When he was reborn and saw the New Era that his old friends had helped found, Fang Zhao had felt a little envy. But if those own friends of his knew that he had been reborn 500 years later, they would probably be jealous, right?
Zuo Yu talked nonstop for half an hour. The face of the cemetery guard who was watching had begun to twitch, probably thinking of a plan to remove him from the place.
When Zuo Yu finally stopped, Su Hou still could not get enough of it.
"What's next? Could you tell me how Fang Zhao, Great General Mu Su, Great General Lu Xi, Great General Wu Yan, and the other martyrs met during the apocalypse?" Su Hou asked, anticipating the story that was to come.
"There is too much to finish in a day," Zuo Yu replied. In reality, he himself did not know. The knowledge he had stored on this matter was nearly all used up. Fabricate a story? That would be disrespectful to the martyrs, so he did not say any more. "Anyway, all you need to remember is that all the martyrs buried in cemeteries on every continent, whether they were well known or nameless, each and every one deserves our respect and admiration. Especially those who have gravestones near the front, they are all great people," Zuo Yu concluded.
Su Hou felt a little disappointed that there would be no more stories. Rubbing the wound on his forehead, he smiled and said, "I guess."
He had heard plenty of stories of how his ancestor Su Mu had reclaimed Muzhou. He had also watched many films and shows of that period. Every youth in their secondary school days would have a superhero dream, and his idol had been Su Mu. When he had been given the task of going to Yanzhou to pay respects, he had been more than happy to do so. After all, he had grown up hearing stories of Muzhou and other related stories. As for the other leaders during the end of days, he had not known much at all. If things were as Zuo Yu had said, Su Hou felt that all his kowtowing was worth it. Originally, he had been misled by his elder siblings, but after listening to Zuo Yu, he was no longer as pissed.
Once his anger had subsided, Su Hou realized his forehead was hurting quite a bit. He also knew that continuing to stay here was not a good idea. If he happened to run into a media company looking for news, it would be troublesome.
As Su Hou got up to leave, he turned to Zuo Yu and told him, "Your stories were not bad, let's be friends. When I'm free, I'll pay a visit to Yanzhou and hang out with you guys."
Su Hou felt that the two he had just met were decent people. Although he was not smart, he could still feel the kindness or malice coming from people. As for these two, they did not ask about the matters of his family or seem to have any purpose of wanting benefits. By making friends with them, it would be easy to find them when he got bored and wanted to listen to more stories.
"This is my contact number, I am... Su Hou." After he gave out his own name, he watched for Fang Zhao and Zuo Yu's reaction.
"I know. Your photographs appear periodically in entertainment news. Try not to wander around recklessly, it would be better if you bring along a bodyguard. I have seen many of you rich kids from rich families get kidnapped because they run around without a care," Zuo Yu advised while adding him as a friend.
Su Hou glanced at the person beside Zuo Yu. "What about you? Let's be friends too!"
"My name is Fang Zhao."
Su Hou: "..."
Su Hou walked a few steps toward the exit with a blank face before he turned back and faced Fang Zhao. "Fang Zhao?!"
Zuo Yu explained, "This is my boss, Fang Zhao. He shares the same name as the 'Fang Zhao' that you kowtowed to."
"Oh." Su Hou scratched his head, feeling a little embarrassed. He knew that there were many people who shared the same name as the martyrs. It was just that, meeting under these sort of circumstances, there was bound to be a little awkwardness.
"What you just mentioned, about other continents, do they send someone over to pay respects every year?" Fang Zhao asked.
A while back, when Zuo Yu had been telling his story, Su Hou had mentioned that. Just that he had not elaborated and Zuo Yu had not taken note of anything special. Every year, when people from other continents traveled to Yanzhou's Cemetery for Martyrs, they would pay respects to the martyrs. This was very normal.
"Did I mention it?" Su Hou scratched his head and thought for a moment. "Oh, right. Actually, I am not too sure myself. I only heard about it before. Just like our Su family assigns someone to pay respects, other continents have families who do the same. The timing might not necessarily be the same, but they usually visit within a month before or after Memorial Day. As for which families, I'm not too sure. Yesterday, when I was there, I ran into someone from Xizhou."
Fang Zhao laughed and did not ask anything further. He told Su Hou, "Hurry up and go home, those people seem to be looking for you. Get the wound on your forehead treated as soon as possible. Even if you are angry, don't take it out on yourself. Head injuries that don't get treated in time make one stupid."
Zuo Yu thought to himself, Boss, you know that you are lying to a kid, right?
However, Su Hou believed it. He already did not consider himself to be smart. If he became more stupid...
"Save me!" Su Hou shouted as he ran toward a squad that had just entered the core cemetery area, making the squad members assume that Fang Zhao and Zuo Yu were trying to kidnap Su Hou. Some even drew their guns.
However, the leader of the team was frowning, probably from hearing Su Hou's account and realizing that it was totally different from what that had assumed was happening. Thus, he instructed his team members to put away their guns and then flashed Fang Zhao a courteous smile. With that, the entire team surrounded Su Hou as they left.
A faint sound of someone being berated came from outside the cemetery's core area. The scoldings were not meant for Su Hou. It was probably some paparazzi or some nosy bystanders who were being reprimanded by the cemetery staff.
"The young masters of rich and powerful families." Zuo Yu sighed, although he did feel a little glad. "Our luck this time round isn't too bad. We got to meet a young master. Speaking of all these families of great generals who founded the New Era, they are all publically known as aristocratic families. Boss, imagine how awesome it would be to be descendants of such great people."
Fang Zhao only smiled but did not say much.
He stood silently before Su Mu's gravestone before moving on to the next gravestone as he had done before at Yanzhou's Cemetery of Martyrs.
This was not Fang Zhou's main battlefield, but some names were very familiar to him. Even if they were not that familiar, he still had some impression of the names.
There might not have been a grave for "Fang Zhao" here, but there were still people here that remembered him.
To still assign someone to pay respects after 500 years, even if it was a formality and the people went with the mentality of completing a task, Fang Zhao had nothing bad to say. Even for people related by blood, feelings would fade over time, more so after many generations and without any blood relation. For someone like Su Hou to really kowtow, and kowtow over ten times at that, was a rare sight indeed.
After leaving the cemetery, they arrived at the plaza in front of the giant tombstone. Standing in the plaza, they could see the front of the core area's magnificent monument.
As Memorial Day had already passed some time ago, there were not many people here. After Memorial Day, the working class had gone back to work and students had gone back to school. The paparazzi that were following Su Hou had left as well.
People in the cemetery were quietly walking through the plaza, probably having paid their respects to somebody. There was no longer any Memorial Day buzz and the plaza seemed spacious and empty, occasionally with other sounds. A gust of wind blew through, causing the falling leaves to creating a light scraping sound as they hit the stone floor.
This was really the most common scene in the cemetery.
Fang Zhao's footsteps slowed and he inclined his head slightly, as if to resolve something.
"What's wrong?" Zuo Yu thought that Fang Zhao had discovered something abnormal and immediately became alert. However, looking all around him, he found nothing amiss.
"Listen," Fang Zhao said.
"What?" Zuo Yu still did not understand.
"Listen to the sounds."
Zuo Yu listened carefully but still did not find anything worth his attention. "Boss, what did you hear?"
"The sound of gravestones."
Zuo Yu: "..."
Zuo Yu scratched the goosebumps that appeared on his arm and asked, "Do gravestones have sounds?"
"Yes. Every single gravestone, whether big or small, near or far, will have their own sound. So do the trees, people, and even the stone floor of the plaza. The entire cemetery has its own voice." Fang Zhao stopped in his tracks, closed his eyes, and let his arms hang down, not moving at all.
Zuo Yu: "..." My boss is a crazy fellow!
A gust of wind blew across. Even though the wind brought about a gentle warmth, Zuo Yu shivered, cold sweat dripping down his back as all the hairs on his body stood up.
"Boss, we have to respect science!"
Translator's Thoughts
BeetleBarker BeetleBarker
It's Sunday once more :). Three chapters coming right up. Anyway, if you guys don't know already, Su Mu appeared in a flashback in one of the earlier chapters.