"I was a young punk then."

Yesterday When I Was Young (2)

"Excellent! I've taught you well!" replied the graybeard proudly, sipping his tea. Subsequently I helped him light up another cigarette. He did not offer me one as he knew I do not smoke. "I've been keeping score - that is your 49th successful mission in a row," he said, looking at me. "And to think you were only nineteen years old when our paths crossed. Now you are twenty-seven. My, how time flies."

"Yes, Sifu, I was a young punk then," I said. "At that time, I had run away from the orphanage and joined a local street gang, supporting ourselves by pickpocketing and extortion. One day you caught me trying to steal your wallet but instead of handing me over to the police, you trained me to become a hit-man."

"And do you know, of all the thousands of punks in the street, why I chose you?"

"Of course I know! It's because I remind you so much of your youth: quick-witted, brave, and having fast reflexes," I teased him. "You have told me this so many times before that I lost count. Unlike you, I never keep score."

Lau Beng laughed. "Sometimes I am a bit of a long-winded old geezer, eh?"

I was about to correct him that he was always a long-winded old goat when I realized that courtesy would have been the better part of impudence. So I gave him a half smile and drank my tea.

After a pause, I said, "This guy whom I killed last night, this Song Jiao-ren; I am surprised to see his death making the headlines in all the newspapers today. He must have been a very high-ranking politician to receive such heavy media coverage."

"He was," replied my sifu. "When our country, after being under imperial rule for over two thousand years, became a republic recently, he led his party to win the parliamentary elections. He was in line to become the first democratically elected prime minister. When you shot him, he was on his way to Beijing to meet his chief adversary, President Yuan Shi-kai who wanted to restore the monarchy with him as the new emperor. So here you don't have to be a rocket scientist to guess who put a contract out on Song. When you play a game of thrones, you either win or you die."

"Wow, Song Jiao-ren was our future prime minister?" I said. There was a slight tinge of regret in my voice. "I have no idea."

The old goat saw right through me. "A hit-man should never develop a conscience," he admonished. "Otherwise he would fail in his task."

"I will remember that," I nodded.

After we had our lunch and the dishes washed - by me, who else - it was time to return to the city. Sensing that I was about to bid him farewell, Lau Beng darted to his room, emerging a minute later with two small packages in his hand. He then placed them on the table.

"There are for you," he said. "Please open the one on your left first."

To be continued tomorrow ...