Chapter 2
In just one day, Tu Tze-chun became the only richest person in Luoyang.
True to the old man's words, he saw a shadow in the setting sun, and dug at the head of the shadow in the middle of the night.
He found a mountain of gold which was more than enough for a large car.
After becoming very rich, Tu Tze-chun immediately bought a magnificent house and began to live as lavishly as Emperor Xuanzong.
He bought Lanling wine, longan from Guizhou, planted peonies that changed color four times a day in the garden, let a number of white peacocks roam free, collected jade, sewed brocade, built a fragrant wood carriage, and made an ivory chair.
If I wrote about all those extravagances, I wouldn't be able to finish this story any time soon.
Then his friends heard rumors like this, who had never greeted each other on the street before, they came to visit him morning and evening.
In a half year, among many talented and beautiful people in Luoyang, there was not a single one who didn't come to Tu Tze-chun's house.
Tu Tze-chun held daily drinking sessions for these guests.
It was difficult to talk about the sprees of their drinking party.
The following is one part of the story.
Tu Tze-chun was pouring wine from the West into a gold cup and watching a India-born wizard swallow his sword.
Around him were twenty women, ten adorned with jade lotus flowers and ten with agate peonies in their hair.
They were playing flutes and harps in a joyful manner.
However, even for the richest person, there is a limit to how much money they can spend.
So Tu Tze-chun who loved extravagance, became poorer and poorer after a year or two.
The friends who used to come every day until yesterday, but today, they didn't even say hello when they passed by his gate.
And finally, in the spring of the third year, when Tu Tze-chun was broke again, there was not a single house in Luoyang that offered him a place to stay.
There was no one who gave even a bowl of water to him now.
So one evening, he went once again to the west gate of Luoyang, and stood at a loss, looking at the sky blankly.
Then, just as in the past, the old man with a strabismus in one eye stopped wherever he came from and said.
"What are you thinking about?"
When Tu Tze-chun looked at the old man's face, he looked down shyly and didn't reply for a while.
However, the old man seemed to be kind and repeated the same words that day, so he said.
"I don't have a place to sleep tonight, so I'm trying to figure out what to do." He replied fearfully.
"I see. That's pitiful. Then I'll tell you a good thing. Stand in this sunset and see your shadow on the ground.
Then dig up the spot of the chest of your shadow on the ground in the middle of the night. You'll find enough gold to fill a car."
The old man said, and again he hid in the crowd.
The next day, Tu Tze-chun immediately became the richest man in the world.
At the same time, he began to indulge in the same extravagant lifestyle.
Peonies blooming in the garden, white peacocks sleeping there, and a wizard from India swallowed his sword――Everything was just as it used to be.
So the gold in the car, which was in abundance, had been completely gone for another three years.
- To return to table of contents of Tu Tze-chun
True to the old man's words, he saw a shadow in the setting sun, and dug at the head of the shadow in the middle of the night.
He found a mountain of gold which was more than enough for a large car.
After becoming very rich, Tu Tze-chun immediately bought a magnificent house and began to live as lavishly as Emperor Xuanzong.
He bought Lanling wine, longan from Guizhou, planted peonies that changed color four times a day in the garden, let a number of white peacocks roam free, collected jade, sewed brocade, built a fragrant wood carriage, and made an ivory chair.
If I wrote about all those extravagances, I wouldn't be able to finish this story any time soon.
Then his friends heard rumors like this, who had never greeted each other on the street before, they came to visit him morning and evening.
In a half year, among many talented and beautiful people in Luoyang, there was not a single one who didn't come to Tu Tze-chun's house.
Tu Tze-chun held daily drinking sessions for these guests.
It was difficult to talk about the sprees of their drinking party.
The following is one part of the story.
Tu Tze-chun was pouring wine from the West into a gold cup and watching a India-born wizard swallow his sword.
Around him were twenty women, ten adorned with jade lotus flowers and ten with agate peonies in their hair.
They were playing flutes and harps in a joyful manner.
However, even for the richest person, there is a limit to how much money they can spend.
So Tu Tze-chun who loved extravagance, became poorer and poorer after a year or two.
The friends who used to come every day until yesterday, but today, they didn't even say hello when they passed by his gate.
And finally, in the spring of the third year, when Tu Tze-chun was broke again, there was not a single house in Luoyang that offered him a place to stay.
There was no one who gave even a bowl of water to him now.
So one evening, he went once again to the west gate of Luoyang, and stood at a loss, looking at the sky blankly.
Then, just as in the past, the old man with a strabismus in one eye stopped wherever he came from and said.
"What are you thinking about?"
When Tu Tze-chun looked at the old man's face, he looked down shyly and didn't reply for a while.
However, the old man seemed to be kind and repeated the same words that day, so he said.
"I don't have a place to sleep tonight, so I'm trying to figure out what to do." He replied fearfully.
"I see. That's pitiful. Then I'll tell you a good thing. Stand in this sunset and see your shadow on the ground.
Then dig up the spot of the chest of your shadow on the ground in the middle of the night. You'll find enough gold to fill a car."
The old man said, and again he hid in the crowd.
The next day, Tu Tze-chun immediately became the richest man in the world.
At the same time, he began to indulge in the same extravagant lifestyle.
Peonies blooming in the garden, white peacocks sleeping there, and a wizard from India swallowed his sword――Everything was just as it used to be.
So the gold in the car, which was in abundance, had been completely gone for another three years.
- To return to table of contents of Tu Tze-chun