What did they mean?
To shave, was simply cutting the hair, which included the moustache, beard, sideburns and even the nose hairs.
To steam, in the old days, the barber would always prepare a big pan of hot water. After shaving, he would dip a towel in it and then put the towel on the customer's face. It felt very nice… The warm steam would open the pores, and make you feel like you were flying in paradise.
To clean the eyes meant using the razor to clean the inside of the eyelids in order to remove things like trachoma and dirt.
Not many people mastered this skill, since it was easy to accidentally blind someone when using the knife incorrectly… It was rather dangerous to do this. However, Uncle Ma's loyal fans insisted on it; firstly, because they believed in his skills, and secondly, it would make them feel rather comfortable afterwards.
To press meant to massage, and there's no need to talk about this too much since Uncle Ma was a master of this skill. He could hit just the right spot right away, and made you feel very comfortable without feeling any pain at all.
To hammer meant to use the handle of the razor to strike the acupuncture points with heavier force than a massage. However, it was generally used for softer points such as the shoulders and the face.
To hit the fire was a little terrible, and Uncle Ma didn't suggest his customers to do it.
Only his oldest and most loyal regulars would insist on it, and my master was one of them.
What was the fire hit?
Uncle Ma lit one incense candle and heated the bottom of the razor until it was red hot.
When the temperature reached the correct degree, Uncle Ma would take the razor and press it over the customer's heart without hesitation.
There was one special acupuncture point on the heart. It was as small as a ten cent coin in size, and hitting it hard enough could cause one to fall into an almost death-like state.
Uncle Ma used the razor's handle and sent the customer into the shocked state. After they reached that stage, Uncle Ma would apply greater force and the heat of the handle would wake up the customer.
It took three or four seconds, and in that time the customer would experience the process from life to quasi-death, and then be reborn.
The fire hit would absolutely refresh your mind and inspire your soul.
And for my master, he would always turn to Uncle Ma for the fire hit whenever there were tattoos that he couldn't handle or when he felt there was something missing on the tattoo.
My master had made a few truly magnificent tattoos because of this fire hit.
On the other hand, it was rather scary… and quite risky.
That near-death point on the heart was as small as a coin. Pressing the wrong point could actually kill you, but Uncle Ma was brave and highly skilled, and his customers who enjoyed this were also very brave.
What's more, getting this fire hit would spike up blood pressure, so those with high blood pressure would never try this.
And those were Uncle Ma's six unique techniques.
Last time I went back home, Uncle Ma told me the whole treatment cost 15 Yuan.
You would never spend fifteen for a shave in a barbershop, but you could enjoy yourself for one hour at the hands of my Uncle Ma.
These days, Uncle Ma worked not for money, but for the interactions with his loyal customers.
Well, Uncle Ma was a good person, and I had to help him.
I asked him: "So, what happened to your son?"
Uncle Ma rubbed his almost entirely bald head and said: "I get so worried about my son… Do you know Ma Xiaoguo? He only cares about money and doesn't care about his relatives at all."
"He will hit his wife, his daughter, and even me for the sake of money. Why is he such a bad man?" Uncle Ma got more and more excited, sending spit flying all over.
I quickly gave him a cigarette and smiled apologetically: "Well… Uncle Ma, if your son loves money so much, I don't know what I can do."
He said: "I found the solution because I remember talking with your master about a meditation tattoo from the Yin and Yang Tattoos."
This was a Yang tattoo; it could be used to calm down.
Uncle Ma said that his son was just unsettled and short-tempered; he needed that Yin and Yang tattoo so that he might calm down.
I thought for a while. "Well, there is exactly this kind of tattoo that can make people calmer, however…"
I asked him: "Will your son agree to have this tattoo?"
"He must agree with me." Uncle Ma said: "You see, I am a barber and my son is also a barber. How can he be a respectable barber when he's just a big talker?"
A big talker?
I agreed with him. Nowadays, most barbers were not real barbers, but salesmen. They would keeping on talking about how bad your hair was and what you should buy to fix it. They were not like those senior barbers ten years ago, who would talk with you about how to make a good hair style for you rather than spewing out nonsense.
Last time, I had my hair long and the barber kept on talking - "It's such a pity! Why didn't you get a perm? Your hair would fall out within two years if you don't use my hair conditioner..."
There was also a popular story on the net about a man who entered a barbershop and said only one sentence: "No dye, nor perm, cut it short, no more talking from now on."
Uncle Ma was still rambling: "He charges really high prices as a barber, and he's a cheater! It's hopeless."
I told him it was not like that; everybody now wanted to earn money. He didn't need the Yin and Yang Tattoo, and it was only a matter of perspective.
"Go and see and you will know whether it's a matter of perspective or not." Uncle Ma took my hands and started dragging me away to see his son.
Well, might as well follow him. I had to do so for the sake of an elder.
Feng Chunsheng drove the car to Ma Xiaoguo's barber shop.
On the way, I called Chen Sanli and asked him whether there were other methods besides giving his own life to the weasel in that ghost house.
But… Chen Sanli just hung up on me.
That pissed me off. Maybe he ran off because he was afraid to die?
If Chen Sanli left, wouldn't Brother Yu and I be killed in that ghost house?
I became nervous, but I didn't have any solutions at all just then. I had to send a message to Da Niu, asking him to check for me whether Chen Sanli booked any plane or train tickets.
I could understand if Chen Sanli feared death; we could find other ways together… But it was such bullshit when he just left without notice.
I tried my best to keep calm and wanted to concentrate on helping Uncle Ma with his matters.
However, even though I tried to keep calm, I still felt very impatient and I could feel my skin tingling all the time. My god, Chen Sanli, how could you leave without a word?
…
When we arrived at Ma Xiaoguo's barber shop, I suppressed my negative emotions about Chen Sanli and followed Feng Chunsheng and Uncle Ma to the shop.
It was a big barber shop with an area of at least one hundred and fifty square meters. There were eight barbers working in turns, and Ma Xiaoguo was also there, shaving a customer.
"Ma Xiaoguo!" Uncle Ma called out.
Ma Xiaoguo turned his face, cast his eyes on him, and said coldly: "Don't call me Ma Xiaoguo, it's not fashionable at all… Just call me Teacher Seven."
"Se Wen?" Uncle Ma didn't understand English at all.
Ma Xiaoguo made an exasperated sound and repeated three times: "Teacher Seven, Seven, Seven."
Uncle Ma didn't want to speak to him too much. He pointed at me and said: "This is the Yin and Yang Tattoo master. He will give you a tattoo that will make you feel calm. You always want money… Well, hurry up."
"How can I be quick right now? I'm with a customer." Ma Xiaoguo ignored Uncle Ma and continued with his shaving.
Even an upright official would find it hard to settle a family dispute. Well, Feng Chunsheng and I got bored and wandered around in the shop.
While I was wandering, I felt something unusual. It seemed there was a great evil in this shop.
Feng Chunsheng and I have been going to the ghost house often lately and we became very sensitive to this.
Feng Chunsheng also told me: "You're right, there is indeed a great evil in here."
He said a lot of Yang gathered on the head; it was the place where Yang was most abundant. However, there was also Yin, and the hair was the place where a lot of Yin gathered.
He also said that there were many evil magic tools made of hairs.
It was normal to feel a strong sense of Yin in a barbershop.
"I see." I got inspired when Feng Chunsheng explained it like that. Then we walked around some more. Inside the barbershop, I saw a door with a bronze lock on it.
It was a very old lock, seemingly from ancient times.
Then I heard a baby crying.
"Wah… Wah!"
I grabbed Feng Chunsheng and said covertly: "There is a baby crying inside."
"A crying baby? Are you crazy? Why can't I hear it?" Feng Chunsheng shrugged.
I thought I had misheard, so I listened carefully again, but there really was a baby crying in there.
It was indistinct, but I could really hear it.
Feng Chunsheng listened again, then he shook his head and said he couldn't hear it at all.
Then he said to me: "I know the reason… You have a fully Yin soul and were born sensitive to Yin. That's why you can hear what we cannot."
When he said thia, he looked at Uncle Ma's son, Ma Xiaoguo, carefully, then said to me: "Well… there is indeed something wrong with Ma Xiaoguo."