Hero

The next morning, in a small quiet cafe next to the park where Ah Tong exercises daily, Xiao Wu was already there waiting. Now Xiao Wu is in a dilemma as being a prudent man, he was worry that he might says the wrong thing and made Ah Tong back out of the wedding at the last minute. To be frank, he had met Miss Han once and had found her likeable as she speaks her mind outright with no hidden agenda. He was thinking of how to assure Ah Tong's worry when the latter arrived.

Ah Tong: 'Sorry to keep you waiting as Miss Han had called me regarding the appointment to collect the wedding gown.'

Xiao Wu: 'Not a problem, I am on leave today as I had arranged to meet a relative from overseas this afternoon.'

Ah Tong then blurted out: 'What do you think I should do now, postpone the wedding to a later date until I get another opinion from your uncle?'

Xiao Wu: 'No, no. My uncle would not advise on a marriage that is going to take place and I cannot lie to him.'

Ah Tong: 'Then what should I do?'

Xiao Wu: 'I do not know why you are so worried about the word Fen which is different from the one that is mentioned in the divination. Anyway, as long as she is not born in the year of the rat 1948, it should be all-right. Sometimes I do think that we should not take fortune telling to the extreme of letting it dictates our life or it shows that your love for her is not strong enough.' Xiao Wu had used the play of words intentionally to make Ah Tong think more about his own feelings more than what the divination says.


Ah Tong: 'Yes, I do feel guilty thinking about this but there is this uncomfortable feeling that I have. I was thinking why it is so coincidental for me to find out about it before the wedding. She had never mentioned this to me though the father thought she had.'

Xiao Wu: 'Simple, as she had accepted the name her father gave and it is always used in her documents right? This shows that it is just the mother only who uses this name. Further in destiny analysis, what is predicted had happens as you have already met a Xiao Fen would means that it won't be repeated again.'


Ah Tong: 'You are correct, I did hear about this before. Yeah, I should not think further about it as my wedding is only a few weeks away as I don't think anyone can else that can replaces her.'

He also had enough of those lonely days with strangers before meeting Miss Han.

With that, Xiao Wu heaved a sigh of relief instead of Ah Tong as he was thinking that he should have actually told Ah Tong that it is already pre-ordained in his destiny when a  鐵板 Tie Ban Iron Plate reading is used. But then, it might have affected and change his destiny for the worse if he decided to stay unmarried. After all, Ah Tong had already avoid girls born in the year of the rat and that should be good enough to avoid this prediction. At the same time, he was wondering whether the father or somebody had got the birth year mixed up as 1949 was a few years after World War 2 and the British administration was still undergoing changes however he thinks it was unlikely. He had remembered Ah Tong is going through good luck cycle from the bazi chart that he saw on that day of the fortune telling. This should be a favorable event though both destiny analysis are different methods but they should tally.

Soon the wedding day came and Xiao Wu was given preferential treatment at the dinner. Ah Tong had felt that after meeting Xiao Wu, he had managed to avoid marrying a girl born in the year of the Rat. He had been amazed about the accuracy of the fortune telling that Master Tie Pan did for him and believed in it strongly.

Well, as what Xiao Wu had analysed on the bazi chart was correct, Ah Tong, a weak fire Fire Day master was undergoing a Bing Zi (Fire and Water) luck pillar and further got married in a Ding Si year. It was not surprisingly that even before the marriage, Ah Tong had closed a major property deal and had made a substantial commission from it. Ah Tong had then decided to set up his own property company and in fact, had already found an office which was undergoing renovations. He had told Miss Han that he wants to postpone their honeymoon to a later date in that year because of new company. He also had wanted to clear some of the matters at his previous company and therefore would be very busy in between. Miss Han was very supportive and in fact, resigned from her job to help Ah Tong to oversee his company at times when Ah Tong had to go back to his previous company to settle some documentation for those previous property deals that he had closed.

One interesting thing about the office that Ah Tong rent is an Age 6 building facing South, the main entrance  however is at the South East sector where there is a combination of Star 1 and Star 2. In the Xuan Kong script, :'一加二五伤及壮丁，坎流坤位，买臣常妇贱之羞 . Kan flow at Kun trigram bad for man and women.' as  '腹多水而膨胀.' which is a clash between water and earth when one of the elements turn strong (Anyway, this interpretation I will leave it to readers to research). For commercial uses, it is still good as it brings prosperity for Age 6.

It was another good news for the couple when a few months later, Miss Han got pregnant. Soon she gave birth to a baby boy and Ah Tong was overjoyed and in fact, held a celebration dinner to share his joys. His company is also doing well as it had clinched several new projects in the booming Hong Kong property market. It was indeed, a double joy.

Another year passed and they have another new addition with the birth of a baby girl to the family. Soon Miss Han was bored with staying at home and taking care of the children and voices it out to Ah Tong. Ah Tong immediately suggested that she can help out at his company as certain projects that he have to personally handle can be assigned to her as in his line of business, he don't trust anybody because of the competiveness.

One fine day, Ah Tong came to hear about an old bungalow put up for sale after being unsold in an auction. Apparently, there were rumours about it being haunted and nobody wanted to buy it. Ah Tong had then thought: 'Well, I can just buy it and sell it at a good price as it is cheap. Afterall, I am not going to live there.' He had not thought of calling Xiao Wu as they have not kept in contact as Ah Tong have shifted to another property and did not go to the same park to jog anymore. Further, his company had also kept him busy and with entertaining clients more for his benefits, he had less time to socialize as well as being married. It is strange that most people when they are in good luck, they don't bother much about spiritual or metaphysical stuffs. It is only when they meet with a mishap or problem that can't be solved by coventional method, they then resort to unorthodox means.

After contacting the lawyer who is acting for the trustees, he asked Miss Han to inspect the property with an assistant as he was busy that day. It was about evening time when Miss Han and the administration assistant by the name of John Khoo went to look at the property. It was an old decrepit house with musky smell and an overgrown garden. Apparently it was vacant for several years, and while in the house, Miss Han noticed that John tried to stay around areas where there are windows and sunlight. She thought that then he might have been influenced by the rumours of it being haunted. She personally felt that there is nothing to worry about, not that she don't believed it but she thinks that as long as she don't provoke anything if there are any, there should not be any problems. She then went up to the second floor of the house alone as she do not want to force John to go along. After looking around and feeling satisfied, she then proceed to go back to the ground floor. As she was going down the stairs halfway, she thought she heard somebody called her and instinctively look up. At that moment, one of her foots was halfway in the air onto a step and she miscued and fell headlong down the remainder of the staircase to the ground floor. John heard her shouts and rushed immediately to the staircase as he was already being wary of the place. By then, she was lying unconsciously on the ground and he immediately carried her to the car and rushed to the hospital as the house was in a too remote area to get to a telephone. At the hospital, he immediately called Ah Tong to tell him about the mishap.

To be continued........

Dear friends, my apologies as I had wanted to complete translating the story by this year but as it needs to take another two parts of a page like this, I can only finished it by next year. A Facebook friend Lucy had requested me not to kill the story so I will try to give a more complete translation which I had actually not wanted to, Haiz. Anyway, I would LIKE to thank everybody here for the support given to my blog and I would like to wish everyone :

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2012!!!

And no, the world is not going to end yet.....

The Way I Feel Tonight

Ah Tong :'For wife avoid Rat, do you think that I would be able to avoid marrying one born in the year of the Rat.'

They were having supper at one of the roadside stall as Ah Tong wanted to know more about the last prose of '配妻忌鼠, 哭笑不得'  Anyway, it was a Friday night and both of them do not have to work the next day.

Xiao Wu: 'Yes, it is true that females born in the year of the Rat will not be suitable as a match for you in marriage.'

Ah Tong: 'From the conversation that both of you had during tea, can I assume that the Master is a relative of yours? And more or less you should know this art.'

Xiao Wu: 'Yes, he is my uncle but I am not supposed to acknowledge him which is why I did not tell you beforehand. Just if you want to ask further, I also do not know why too as I have been instructed by my mother, his sister on this. I do not know Tie Ban Shen Shu, just that I saw your bazi chart which he had plot out. You are a Weak Fire element and water is not ideal for you and the Rat is an Water element which have an affinity with the Shen Monkey, your birth year.'

Ah Tong: 'Mmm, your uncle took quite a while to work it out while you have already seen it from my birth chart. Does it means that the Bazi analysis is better as it is faster.'

Xiao Wu: 'You are wrong and I can't blame you for thinking that as it was the same when I first started in Destiny analysis. His art is the most difficult to master as we have to first learn most of the destiny analysis arts such as Zi Wei Astrology, Mei Hua Yi Shu, Yi Jing Six Yao intrepretations, Heluo Lishu numerology and so forth before we can start learning Tie Ban Shen Shu. Lets instead talk about how you can go about looking for your life partner.'

Xiao Wu had not added that the reason it is called Tie Ban or Iron Plate is because once the destiny is worked out as in the words the Iron plate casted, it is fixed and cannot be changed. Further, he had not wanted to elaborate further on the '配妻忌鼠' as it could means that it is Ah Tong's affinity to have a wife that he would be unable to laugh or cry.

Ah Tong: 'Do you have any suggestions on how I can find out if the girl I like is not born in the year of the Rat?'

Xiao Wu: 'You are born in the year of the Shen Monkey and women older than you would be at least 8 years onwards. Therefore, your concern should be those that are about 3 or 4 years younger than you. Should be those born in the year 1948.'


Ah Tong: 'Yes, in this case, I had better avoid getting involved with one born in that year. Anyway, if there is anything that I am not sure of, I would seek your advice again. By the way, I really want you to know that I appreciated what you have done for me. If in the future, there is anything you need, just let me know. I cannot promise you much as we won't know about the future but I will do my best for you.'

Xiao Wu: 'Thanks for the offer too but don't think too much about it for as friends, we ought to help each other when we can. Anyway, I had also not visited my uncle since the last Chinese New Year and it is affinity from helping you that I get to see him again.'

Both of them then spend another hour chatting on current affairs and enjoying themselves watching the boisterous crowds on that busy Friday night. They then parted ways separately as both of them did not drive that night.

Time passes fast and soon it was four years since Ah Tong had went for that Tie Ban Shen Shu readings. For the last four years, he was very careful on any girl that he was interested in as he would first try to find out the birth year. However, surprisingly he also did not have much opportunities as he also did not meet anyone that he really liked and therefore had no need for that.

It was during the festive christmas season 1974 Jia Yin the Wood Tiger year that his company had then send him on a trip to Macau to negotiate a property deal. The senior executive who is in charge of this case had taken annual leave and the boss was at a dilemma on who to send as a representative and had then decided on him.  His company was trying to buy over a piece of land but there was a problematic landlord who had stood in the way. Ah Tong was actually glad that he was being asked to go so that he have something to do on that day. Can't blame him as Lonely is not a friend and as he is still single and had envied those love couples celebrating the Christmas mood.



At the meeting between the buyer and the group of house owners, he saw a strikingly good-looking woman. Everyone called her Miss Han and she must have been representing one of the owners. However, the meeting was then absolved in an hour as that odd owner out refused to budge on his selling price which was twice the market rate. There was no way to accept it as the rest of the owners would follow suit. In disgust, the buyer went off, telling Ah Tong that the deal is cancelled. Ah Tong then called the company boss to report the situation and was told that he is given the rest of the day off.

He then went to the ferry pier and was surprised that it was fully booked though Christmas was still two days away.  He got a ticket for the 2.00 pm ferry and decided to go for lunch.

He then went to a nearby cafe which sells Wan Ton noodles (meat dumpling with noodles) and found that it was much better than he thought. He was then surprised to see Miss Han walked in while he was eating  as she nodded at him. He smiled back and was disappointed when she went to another table to sit. In those small cafe as with now, normally the customers would share tables as it is a still a Chinese fast food concept that time. After he had finished eating his noodles, he then went for a walk by the sea as it was still early.

Soon it was time to board the ferry and after taking his seat, he had then thought of taking a short nap after the walk. Suddenly, he then saw the lady Miss Han again walking in the aisle and heading towards his direction. He started wondering where would she be seated when this time with surprise, she took the allocated seat next to him. Sensing an opportunity to get to know her better as there is a kind of feeling that she gave him that no woman had before, he started:

'Oh, we must have affinity as I just saw you at the Cafe earlier and now you are seated next to me.'

She just stared at him and then proceed to take a book out of her bag to read. Ah Tong thought : 'Good, she is different and not the type who would just make friends with anyone.' as most of the girls he hd met were from clubs while entertaining clients. Further, his colleague were all married and even then the only one left not married was the Boss's daughter which he had thought that it is better to leave alone.

He then saw that the book was about pottery and quickly used it as a topic to get her attention. He then said: 'Oh, your hobby must be pottery making and I happened to know the writer of the book you are reading.'

It was really coincidental that Ah Tong had met the writer and got to know her well while helping to sell her land 2 years ago. Apparently she is a fan of the writer as she immediately reply: 'You are also into pottery making as a pastime?'

Ah Tong: 'Nope, I just like appreciating pottery wares and Miss Mei (the writer) had given me one of her best works. If you want, I can show it to you when you have the time.'

Ah Tong then took out his name card and gave it to her: 'You can call me at my office if you would like to take a look at her work.'

She nodded and in return, gave him her name card obviously wanting him to call her instead. He was surprised when he saw the Chinese name was of male character 世勳 Si Xun and blurted out: 'Why is it a male name?'

She must have been angered by the question: 'Why do you have to know? Is it the rule that females cannot have male names.' She then turned to the book she was having to read, obviously wanting to put a stop to their conversation.

Ah Tong realised his mistake and quickly says: 'No, just that I was curious and I am sorry if I sound too Ba Gua (Being a Busybody).'

As he saw her still looking at her book and not replying to him, he then prepared to pretend to take a nap when she said: 'Are you tired?'

He quickly reply: 'No, no, not at all.'

She then said: 'My father had given me this name as I was the last to be born and he had hoped that I would be a son. And as the name was picked before I was born, he had then decided to stay to this name for me.'

Ah Tong: 'Oh I see, and by the way, are you from Macau as you are representing one of the sellers?'

Miss Han answered bluntly: 'No, why does it means that I have to be from Macau because I am representing a Macau owner. I am born in Hong Kong and I am representing my aunt who is from Macau for the property.'

Again Ah Tong is cowered by her uncaring, sharp and blunt reply but he still do not give up as he felt a closeness with her that he do not have with other women he knows.

By then, the ferry had reached Hongkong and as they disembarked, Ah Tong offered to give her a lift from the taxi which she agreed. Ah Tong was glad as this shows that she had accepted him as a friend. He was also impressed by her outright character with no hidden agenda unlike those club girls he met. The next day while at work, Ah Tong quickly called Xiao Wu and told him about this girl.

Ah Tong: 'Is there any way I can get the girl to reveal her birth year as I am really keen on her?'

Xiao Wu: 'Sure, you can go and buy a copy of the Yearly Forecast for Zodiac and use it as a conversation topic.'

Ah Tong: 'Pardon me, I don't really understand what you means by that?'

Xiao Wu: 'Simple, you just pretend to read the book when you are with her and says that for the coming year, people born in the year of the Rat might meet with a mishap. If she is born in that year, she would be curious to find out more whereas if she is not, she would just ignore your remarks.'

Ah Tong: 'That is a good idea and yes, thanks a lot, I would have to buy you Afternoon Tim Sum one of this days. See you then.'

With that, Ah Tong then call Miss Han as he had still kept thinking of the day before where she had sat next to him. He had never felt like this with any woman before in his whole lifetime with the closeness and the warmth of her body next to him. He was delighted when she agreed to meet him for dinner on the coming weekend on Saturday before going to his house to take a look at the pottery work. Ah Tong thought that it also could be a positive sign that she is not attached to anyone as she is free for the weekend.

A day before the appointment with Miss Han, Ah Tong went to a bookstore to get the yearly forecast for zodiac signs as well as a few books on pottery art. He was filled with excitement about meeting Miss Han and hope that it will ended his search for a life partner. He had thought that it could be his destiny that he is not meant for marriage life.

On that day, they had dinner at a Western Restaurant as Ah Tong wanted to impress her. After all, he had a substantial amount of savings that had accumulated as he is single for the past almost 20 years. His parents and siblings are well-off and do not need him to contribute to their welfare. In fact, at times, his mother insisted on giving him money gifts as she feels that he need more financial security as he is alone compared to his other siblings who were all married.

However Miss Han is not a fussy eater he discovered as she had ordered a set dinner instead of A la carte and had no complains about the food. She told Ah Tong that actually they should go to one of those roadside stall to eat as she prefers local foods. She felt that a restaurant more or less inhibits her enjoyment of the food with its formality. Ah Tong was pleased to know about it as he loves local foods and also do not like to frequent restaurants as he felt that it creates an artificial feeling. They then discovered that they shared a common hobby for fishing apart for food (It is interesting that in Bazi analysis, people with the Eating God in the chart or from the luck pillar loves food).

After dinner, they went straight to Ah Tong's apartment to look at Master Mei' s work and Ah Tong can sense that she is excited. Ah Tong then told himself that he must contact Master Mei again so that he can use the relationship to support his courtship. On seeing the artwork, she was really impressed and spent time holding it and feeling the shape. Ah Tong could'nt really understand the abstract feeling as he had just thought that it would looks nice and lends an artistic touch to his apartment. The rest of the evening were spent on chatting about pottery and Ah Tong quickly took advantage to bring out the astrology book when she excused herself to go to the washroom. When she came back, Ah Tong immediately says:

'Oh, this is an interesting year for me as what this book I had just buy on our Chinese Zodiac Astrology said. It said that for romance, I would meet a girl of my dreams and she is born in 1948, the year of the Rat.'

Seeing no response for her, he then carried on:

'You have no interest in Chinese Astrology?'

Miss Han: 'Not really, just that I feel there is no need to know so much. If it is a good forecast, one would be glad but what if it is bad?'

Ah Tong was glad that she replied as he had hoped that she would not talk about pottery art again as it is going to drive him crazy sooner or later if they carried on the topic.

'I agreed but I read it for fun sometimes to pass time. I have a feeling that I might meet the girl of my dream for this year coincidentally too.'

Obviously Miss Han read his intentions differently thinking that he was referring to her: 'Too bad, I am born in the 1949 and is not your dream girl.' She said it with a laugh at which Ah Tong found infectious and he laughed along with her. He then made up his mind that he would be with her for the rest of his life if he could make it happens. For those who knows bazi analysis, Ah Tong have the Flower of Romance star for Angels and Demons in his month earth branch You pillar, a good star for marriage and the spouse.

Time passes fast and both of them spent a lot of time together, going fishing and eating at roadside stall as both of them also loves local foods. Soon, Miss Han accepted his feelings as she did not have many suitors in the past because of her cold demeanour and bluntness which discourages a number of them though she is good-looking and have a child like character. It was at the end of the year of the Bing Dragon in their courtship that Ah Tong proposes to her and she accepted. It was at Christmas that he proposes marriage and Ah Tong had prepared a bouquet of flowers and yes, a diamond ring though modest but at least still a carat piece to be a woman's best friend. For both of them, it was a Christmas that they will never forget together with the oath to be together for better or for worse when she says: "Yes".

They then agreed on the wedding date to be set in March the following year Ding Si Fire Snake, a Spring Month, a good month to signifies  the growth of all living things.




One fine day in February before his Big day in March, Ah Tong was at his future father-in-law house waiting for Miss Han as she was changing her clothes to go out for an evening date. Suddenly, the door bell rings and as his father-in law was in the study room, Ah Tong went to open the door. He then saw that it was a despatch guy who have a letter for the family.

'Anybody by the name of Miss Han Xiao Fen 翰銷棻 here?'

Seeing the surname is correct, Ah Tong accepted the mail by signing it while trying to recall which of the sisters goes by this name. Miss Han's father had also at that time came out on hearing the doorbell sound and asked: 'What is it about?'

Ah Tong: 'Oh, it is for the sister of Miss Han by the name of Xiao Fen.'

The Father-in law while looking at the letter: 'It is for your girlfriend, it must be from the mother about your wedding invitation.'

Ah Tong was flabbergasted by the reply as he recalled immediately the divination of  '一字記之日芬, 戀不得'

'I am surprised that Miss Han have another name.....'

The Father: 'Well, it is actually a long story and I think Si Xun would have told you about it by now. I had wanted to have a son and I was actually disappointed when she was born. The mother had then insisted on this name which I do not want. It then became an issue later on which leads us to separate but I suspect that she have another lover at that time and uses that as an excuse to leave me. For a living, I was then travelling most of the time as I was a seaman and she probably had got to know somebody. She obviously had not forgiven me as the letter is still addressed in the name that she chooses for Si Xun (Actually in the Chinese Cantonese dialect group which the father belongs to, the word 勳 also sounds as Fen). It is really so ironic about destiny that I had loved her mother so much. I wanted a son so much that I also think that she had longed for a son as she appeared disappointed each time when the sisters was born. Guess that it is problem of our Chinese mentality, Haiz....'.

And as you guess it, Ah Tong was sleepless the whole night after that when he went home after the dinner date. He felt uneasy as the sound of the word 'Fen'  keeps ringing in his ears and he decided then to call Xiao Wu for an opinion though the word 棻 is different from 芬 but had sounded and looked almost the same.

Well, would there be a Happy Ending for this odd couple?

To be continued in a Final episode on New Year's Eve.......

A Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year!!!
for my metaphysics friends here. Cheers.

Pieces Of April

COMING TO THE NEAREST LAPTOP OR COMPUTER AT YOUR ISP THIS XMAS EVE AT MIDNIGHT HERE, EPISODE 2 THE IRON ABACUS FOR CNY!!!

The Iron Abacus

An Introduction to Tie Ban Shen Shu, I would prefer to call it Iron Abacus Divination....

From wikipedia:

Tie Ban Shen Shu (in Simplified: 铁板神数; Traditional: 鐵板神數; Pinyin: Tiě Bǎn Shén Shù = iron plate spiritual numerology) is an ancient form of divination from China, which is still in use in China, Taiwan, Singapore and the Chinese diaspora in Southeast Asia. Tie ban shen shu is regarded as among the most accurate and most difficult methods of personal fortune divination. Tie Ban is as well regarded as the collective Three Arts or Three Styles (三式 sān shì), Qi Men Dun Jia, Da Liu Ren and Tai Yi Shen Shu , China's highest metaphysic arts.

[edit] History : Tie Ban Shen Shu is associated with Shao Yong , the metaphysician of the Northern Song dynasty, as he is often credited as author of the 12,000 lines of texts used in Tie Ban Shen Shu divination. Those texts were regarded highly enough by Qing Dynasty scholars as to have been included in the Qing Dynasty archive, the Four Treasures Siku Quanshu 四库全书 collection.

Chinese legend also holds that learning Tie Ban is problematic, as the literary sources are deliberately obscured to prevent novices from easily gaining this precious knowledge.

[edit] Technique : Tie Ban Shen Shu contains 12,000 individual lines (Some are blank which some later day masters would add in with their individual composed proses) compiled in 12 books (Some masters would compiled their own set), which are applied to each individual divination, through a series of twelve different procedures. The procedures for arriving at the correct texts are based on the Four Pillars (Ba Zi), which include the ten Heavenly Stems and twelve Earth Branches, numerology, the 64 hexagrams of the I Ching and the Six Familial Relationships of Chinese metaphysics. Tie Ban’s emphasis on the specific quarter hour (fifteen minute segment) of birth ensures the relatively high degree of accuracy, in comparison with other divination methods. This is because another 120 charts can be worked for that Shi Chen 時晨 or Chinese hour.

My comments:

However, this will involved a sort of interview with the client to work out the 15 minutes segment of birth but at times this part of the divination method got abused by commercial fortune tellers. After this is done, some masters would then asked the client to refer to the books while they work out the sequences of numbers for the proses to be compiled. At the end of the session, the client would then go off and come back again to collect the compiled proses from the master on another day. It has been said that some masters would not explain the proses to the client who have to figure it out. If that is the case, I would suggest that you look for one who will, this is because some of these proses refer to Bazi analysis, Zi Wei astrology and even ancient Chinese historical events with hidden meanings which a layman would not be able to figure out.

Looking for Love

One raining morning, in a park pavilon, two men were taking shelter from the rain. One was a young man called Ah Tong who is working in a property company and the other was a middle aged man called Xiao Wu who is a school teacher and a sociable person by nature. They each were jogging and because of the sudden downpour had then coincidentally met in the pavilon. They had known each other for a few years after they had met in the park. Xiao Wu is also a Chinese metaphysics ethusiast which Ah Tong had come to know when they chatted during breaks from their routine. While waiting for the rain to stop and to pass time, Ah Tong had then asked:

'Is it true that our destiny is fixed and we cannot change it?'

Now most of us who practised any Chinese metaphysics arts especially destiny analysis like Bazi, Zi Wei Astrology and so forth, are bound to meet with questions like this from friends.

Xiao Wu reply easily as this had become a familiar question to him: 'Yes, we can't change destiny however, we can take actions to improve part of it like through Feng Shui, Social work, Education as what has been always being quoted: First, Life; Second, Luck; Third, Feng Shui; Fourth: Merits; Fifth, Education.'

Ah Tong nodded and then asked out of curiosity: 'Which then do you think is the most accurate of all the destiny analysis arts?'

Xiao Wu: 'Mmm, China has many schools of metaphysic arts like Zi Wei Astrology, Iron Plate Divination and so forth. Each are different with the methods and therefore different in strength and weakness in certain parts. It would also depends on the profiency of the masters.'

While chatting, Xiao Wu had been observing Ah Tong face features and he then said with a smile: 'For example, if we talk about face reading, the fish tails by your eyes are slanted negatively downward. As it is the spouse palace, it indicate problems in marriage . I know you are not married, why don't you get a reading from a destiny analysis master so that you can take some preventive action to reduce any unfavorable influence.'

Ah Tong had not went for any fortune telling before and the only time in the past was during a social party, a friend had read his palm for fun. It was not a serious reading as it was more of a ice breaker by his friend to attract attentions from the opposite sex. He trusted Xiao Wu as he had observed him to be a prudent and careful person who do not make empty talks. As Xiao Wu looked serious, Ah Tong decided to ask him to recommend a destiny analysis master to him and he was also curious to find out about his marriage for the future.

Xiao Wu thought for a while and he then said: 'All-right, as we know each other well, let me call an Iron Plate Divination master who I am quite familiar with and see if he is agreeable or not. Give me a call tommorow at my office and I will let you know the time to meet that master then.'

Ah Tong: 'Thanks, I will call you and as the rain have stopped, we can go off now as I have to get changed for work. See you tommorow hopefully.'

And with that, both of them parted.

The next day, it was Xiao Wu instead who called Ah Tong first: 'I had got good news as that master is willing to do it for you. He had arranged the time in the evening at 8.00 pm, this Friday after our work for convenience and we do not have to take time off from work. You must have affinity with him as he is normally busy and some of his clients had waited months to meet him.'

The fees that Xiao Wu quoted sounds reasonable to Ah Tong and Ah Tong did not know that some famous Tie Ban masters charges as much as HK20,000 for a reading. They then arranged to meet for dinner first in the vicinity of that master's home before going for the reading.

On that day, they met at the Chinese seafood restaurant and Ah Tong had did the ordering of foods as he wanted to treat Xiao Wu for the trouble. Ah Tong had later found out from his colleague that he was lucky to be able to get an appointment with this Tie Ban master and was surprised of the exorbitant fees that it command by some masters for readings. Xiao Wu grudgingly agreed to the treat saying that they should have gone to a roadside stall if he knew as he said that it is affinity that the master agreed to see Ah Tong.

After dinner, they went up to the master' s flat which is on the second floor of an old building and were met at the door by a young man. They had then given him their names at which they were let into the flat and told to take a seat at the living room. That young man is probably a disciple as he shouted: 'Master, they are here!' . A old man in his seventies then came out, his hair had already turned completely white though still bountiful and he looked in his prime of health. Xiao Wu looks like he knew him for a long time as the master smiled and hold his two hands when Wu had put forward as a respect after greeting him. Ah Tong was then introduced to the master who is known as Master Tie Pan or Master Iron Abacus which Ah Tong thought sounds odd. The master then asked Xiao Wu if he mind sampling Chinese tea that a client had given to the master together. Xiao Wu readily agreed as he is a tea connoisseur too and he also know that Ah Tong like Chinese tea too.

They were then led into a spacious study room filled with Chinese paintings and furniture from the Qing dynasty. On the big table, there were several books and an Iron abacus with several blank paper and an ink set with Chinese writing brush. The master chatted with Xiao Wu while sipping the tea and Ah Tong then realised that the master was Xiao Wu' s uncle from the conversation.

After a while, the Master said: 'Okay, lets begin, Mr. Tan (Ah Tong). There are several books on the table, I would work out the number sequence and you refer to the book that I pointed to read the prose and tell me whether it is correct or not. This is required before I go further as I need to find out which 15 minutes segment of that hour you were born in.'

Ah Tong nodded his head as Xiao Wu had already brief him over dinner on what are the procedures and which Ah Tong was surprised as it was different from other fortune tellings that he had heard of.

The master then started working the abacus after he had written Ah Tong Bazi Chart and some drawings and numbers on the paper. After a while, the master gave him the numbers and Ah Tong was shocked on reading the prose from that book:

'自杀三次, 阎王不受'

'Commited suicide thrice, rejected by the Hell king.'

He replied: 'No, or do you meant that I might do that in the future?'

Master Tie Pan: 'These proses that I am checking will refer to past events only, all-right, let's redo again.'

'3578...'

Ah Dong: '一母, 一母, 又一母, 前有母后有母.'

'One mother after another, one infront and one behind.'

'No, from what I know is my father is not frivolous type and I am very sure that I have only mother and no other in name.'

Master Tie Pan then caculated on the abacus again and gave him another proses to check out.

'兄弟三人, 一入空门'

'Three brothers, one enters Monkhood.'

'Correct, but nobody is a Monk.'

Now the interesting thing about this part of the divination in this art is that by these two line of proses, we can know that Ah Dong is not an orphan and have three brothers. Some talkative clients would even elaborate more and gives away more details of their personal life without knowing. Some supposed masters who have high intelligence and deductions skill would then be able to record it in the mind without the client being aware of it. This would then later be used in the second part of the divination when the master had difficulty with analysing the chart. However, Master Tie Pan is an authentic master who have no needs to revert to this course as we can see from the later part.

The master then shook his head and redo the calculation again.

'花前会嚙臂, 月下早心盟'

'Before flowers bloom, broken branch despite pledge with still lingering thoughts.'

'This is completely true, I had a childhood sweetheart and we had separated later on. Until now, I could not get married as I still thinks of her.'

Master Tie Pan with a smile: 'Good, finally we can really started on the second part for the divination.'

Sometimes some masters might take a longer as much as two to three hours to work out this so called checking the quarter time segment 考时刻. This shows that Master Tie Pan is a competent master, he then started spouting a series of numbers. Ah Dong then read as he write out the numbers on a piece of blank paper that he was given. He was surprised as he read with amazement at the accuracy of the divination. These are some of the lines that is in the second part of the divination:

父属牛, 母属兔
Father born in the year of the Cow, Mother in the Rabbit year.

父无多妻, 家门之幸
Father not more than one wife, family with fortune.

兄弟三人, 数中预注
Brother three, predestined.

祖业不靠, 白手成家
Do not depend on ancestors, empty hands to built a home.

生平唯仗义, 素性本輕财
Born with justice, easy going with material gains.

Ah Dong gasped when he comes upon the last three lines of proses:

一字記之日四, 住不得
One word 4, cannot stay.

He had just shifted out from a property which have the address with number 4 and it is also on the fourth storey four months ago. He had bought it about a year ago and since then, met with a spate of bad lucks. A lucrative property deal that was almost closed had gone awry. He had then fall sick after catching a virus and was hospitalized for a few weeks. Feeling that there could be a problem with the property, he decided to sell and shift to another property temporary. His luck then started to improved and he had no more further health problems.

一字記之日芬, 戀不得
One word Fen (perfume), no longings.

A few months ago while he was in bad luck, he had met a nightclub hostess called Ah Fen and had become intimate with her. He had not mind her background and as he was already unattached for a number of years since his last break up. He had thought that maybe that they could be a couple in the near future. She had then once borrowed HK50,000 from him claiming that her family was in financial trouble. Ah Tong had then lent her HK30,000 instead as he was still not sure of her feelings for him. It was then later while in Macau on a company business trip, his client had bought him to a casino to look around after matters were settled and he saw her gambling on one of the table. It was completely a different person from the one that he thought with the demure, soft spoken character now shouting aggressively with a coarse look: 'Banker! Banker!' in a card game called Baccarat. After he went back to Hong Kong, he started avoiding going out with her. She also obviously had no intentions of returning the loan and in fact had asked for further financial help. Ah Tong had then treated it as a costly lesson learned and lucky that he did not got serious in the relationship further and finding out her true character before he were to get married with her. Further, he was'n t really in love with her as he was just feeling lonely with most of his peers already married.

It was the last line of proses that gave him a shock:

配妻忌鼠, 哭笑不得
For wife avoid Rat, unable to cry or laugh .

The master then told Xiao Wu to come back with Ah Tong another day to collect the compiled proses. Ah Tong had already prepared the stipulated fees in a red packet and gave it to the master while thanking him sincerely. He had then recall coincidentally that the nightclub hostess Ah Fen was also born in the year of the Rat.

To be continued.......

Cheers, and have a great weekend that is coming. 

A Chinese Love Story for Christmas

For my dear Friends here who have been patient waiting for the next story that I am translating, many thanks with appreciations. And in return for this festive season, I will again translate a love story by Zi Wei Master Yang again as I find it suitable for this Christmas and I leave it to you to decide whether it is a sad or Lovely story. This is a story that involved two more Chinese metaphysic arts, Da Liu Ren 大六壬and the mysterious Iron Plate Divination 铁板神数, both are considered the cream of the top in Destiny analysis. I will be putting up the story this coming Wednesday(Asia) and completed it in time for those in love celebrating Christmas Eve. Well, for those out of love in this festive period, never mind, stay happy and maybe you are going to get to meet the one meant for you this Christmas but keep in mind, the following chinese saying.

'舊的不去，新的不來....' 'If you keep holding onto the Old, you will miss the New, even right before you.'


A song to cheer up and energize you up by Christmas Eve.



Till-then, cheers.