2003年夏，我在Mavis Rd and Steels Rd工地工作。這是一個很大的工程，開發區里在開發學校，商場和七八百棟房子。工程前期施工承包商是TACC，是加拿大一個很大的私人施工企業。

In the summer of 2003, I worked at the Mavis Rd and Steels Rd site. It was a very large project, with a school, shopping mall and 700 to 800 houses being developed in the development. The pre-construction contractor was TACC, a large private construction company in Canada.

一天下午，快要下班的時間，幾個50左右歲，自稱是工會的，有白頭髮的意大利人來到工地，還故意露出他們的手槍，說：“你們這個工地的人有種族歧視，對盧岩沒禮貌。下班後，除了盧岩，別人誰也不准離開。” 當晚，那幾個意大利人就跟工地上所有其他人一個一個地談話，了解情況。

One afternoon, near the end of the shift, several Italians in their 50s, claiming to be from the union, with gray hair, came to the site and deliberately showed their pistols, saying, "You people at this site are racist and rude to Yan Lu. After work, no one else is allowed to leave except Yan Lu." That evening, those Italians talked to all the other people on the construction site one by one to find out what was going on.

第二天，工地的人們問我：“怎麼回事啊？你有什麼意見不能直接說？你找那幫人！他們就是電影電視裡拿機關槍的那幫人。這可不是在開玩笑，會出人命的。” 當然，我是真不知道發生了什麼事。

The next day, people at the site asked me, "What's going on? What's your opinion? You can say it directly, shouldn’t look for those guys. They're the ones with the machine guns in the movies and TV. It's not a joke, people can get killed." Of course, I really didn't know what was going on.

兩個星期後，那群帶着槍的意大利人又來了，說：我們警告過你們，你們對盧岩沒禮貌，你們不聽。” 他們和一個工人吵起來了，推倒了那個工人，用槍把打了幾下，還說：“把他送醫院去，住院三天。” 事後，工地經理Bob和一些人找到我，問是怎麼回事，讓我好好想想是不是跟誰抱怨過他們的不是。我真的從來沒抱怨過。Bob說：“你再好好想想，什麼時候想起了什麼，就告訴我。這次那幫人是給我們個警告，沒真打人。那個工人傷得不重，但是我們已經跟醫院的人說好了，讓他住院一個星期。那幫人是靠面子吃飯的，若是他們的面子在咱這兒丟了，咱們可賠不起！”

Two weeks later, the group of Italians with guns came back and said, "We warned you that you were rude to Luyan, and you didn't listen." They got into a fight with one of the workers, pushed the worker down, hit him a few times with the gun handle, and said, "Take him to the hospital and hospitalize him for three days." Afterward, Bob, the site manager, and some of the guys approached me and asked what was going on and asked me to think about whether I had complained to anyone about what they weren't doing. I never complained, and Bob said, "Think about it again, and let me know when you remember anything. They gave us a warning this time, they didn't really hit anyone. The worker wasn't badly hurt, but we've talked to the hospital people to keep him in for a week. Those guys eat by face, if they lose face here, we can't afford to pay for it!"

(2)

工地中有很多不同的工種，人員的流動很大，許多人我都分不清誰是幹什麼的，誰是新來的。有人在談這件奇怪的事，我就去聽了。

There were a lot of different types of work on the site, and there was a lot of turnovers of people, many of whom I couldn't tell who was doing what and who was new. Someone was talking about this strange thing, and I went to listen.

他們問我：“是你老闆干的？”

我回答：“不可能！我們公司的實力不如你們公司的百分之一。你們老闆還有許多親戚有自己的大企業；誰敢惹你們公司！”

They asked me, "Did your boss do it?"

I replied, "No way! Our company is not as strong as one percent of your company. Your boss has many other relatives with big businesses of their own, who would dare mess with your company!"

他們當中有人說：“是這麼回事！那幫人是誰給他們錢就給誰幹活。這事肯定是人幹的，而且那個人肯定和你有關係，是你爸爸？”

我回答：“我連個房子都買不起。我爸爸哪裡有錢，幹這種事。”

One of them said, "That's how it is! Those guys work for whoever pays them. Someone must have done this, and that someone must be related to you, is it your father?"

I replied, "I can't even afford a house. Where would my father get the money to do such a thing."

他們當中有人說：“有人認為人生幸福不幸福不在於有多少錢，而在於性格。有錢人跟咱窮人想的不一樣，就有人認為找人幫着打架對改善性格有幫助（注2）。你再想想，是不是你的哪個親戚干的？現在咱這裡還沒出什麼事，沒什麼關係。”

他們幫我回憶了所有親戚，我都回答：“他們既沒錢，又沒這知識，也沒這能力。”

One of them said, "Some people think that happiness in life does not depend on how much money you have, but on your personality. Rich people don't think the same way as we poor people do, so there are people who think that getting help in a fight will help improve personality (Annotation 2). Think again. Is it one of your relatives who did it? Nothing has happened to us here yet; it doesn’t matter yet!"

They helped me recall all my relatives, and I replied, "They have neither the money, nor the knowledge, nor the ability."

注9.3-2，這說法，前文5.2節《在集市打架》中的那個前女友她爸爸說過。

Annotation 9.3-2, this same statement was made by her father, the ex-girlfriend in the previous section 5.2, "Fighting at the Fair".

（第3部分 Part 3）

過了幾天，工地經理Bob找我談話。他說，前些日子他從外面找來兩伙兒明白人，對前些天發生的奇怪事進行了調查，都跟我盧岩談過幾次。前天下雨的時候，我盧岩不在工地，他們全體員工和外來的兩伙兒明白人一起開了個會。會議中，全體員工一起對那件奇怪的事舉手表決，全數通過決議。我盧岩也是工地的一員，應該服從決議，合作：

After a few days, Bob, the site manager, approached me to talk. He said that some days ago he got two groups of wise people from outside to investigate the strange things that happened some days ago, and all of them talked to me, Luyan, several times. When it was raining the day before yesterday, I, Luyan, was not at the construction site, and all their employees and the two groups of wise people from outside had a meeting together. In the meeting, all the employees together on that strange thing by a show of hands, all through the resolution. I, Luyan, am also a member of the construction site and should obey the resolution and cooperate:

（1） 他們決定不報警，自己處理。原因是，如果報警，這個工地肯定就被關閉，調查耗時至少兩個月，結果什麼也查不出來。這兩個月所有工人就沒活干，待在家裡。但是，黑社會那幫人的事兒沒辦成，還把面子丟了，那我們這裡就有可能有人被打死。

(1) They decided not to call the police and deal with it themselves. The reason was that if the police were called, the site would surely be closed, the investigation would take at least two months, and nothing would be found out as a result. During these two months, all the workers would have no work to do and would stay at home. However, if the Italian mafia fails to get anything done and loses face, then there is a possibility that some of us may be killed.

（2） 黑社會那幫人想辦什麼事呢？你們新移民的境況，我們都很清楚，以前在自己國家都混得不錯，結果來這裡幹這些沒人願意干，辛苦還不掙多少錢的工作。你們生活得不開心，滿腹牢騷。就有一個你的有錢親戚知道了你的情況，難受了，所以咱們的工地就出現這件怪事了。前幾天，那兩伙明白人在調查你的時候，跟你說過：有人認為，人生的前途和幸福取決於性格，而找黑社會幫着打架能改善性格。雖然這作法也有很多不好的影響，但就有人認為利大於弊，就有人迷信這事。這種說法雖然是我們意大利人的，而你那個有錢的親戚是中國人，在會上，我們全體100多人一致認同：你們中國人也應該是這麼認為的，全世界的人都一樣。

(2) What did those Italian mafia want to accomplish? We know very well the situation of you new immigrants. You used to be doing well in your own country, but now you come here to do these jobs that no one wants to do, and you work hard and don't earn much money. You are unhappy and full of complaints. Just one of your rich relatives knows about your situation and has a hard time with it, so we have this weird thing going on at our construction site. A few days ago, when those two groups of wise people who were investigating you, they told you that some people believe that the future and happiness of life depends on personality, and that finding triads to help fight can improve personality. Although this practice has many bad effects, there are those who believe that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, and there are those who are superstitious about it. Although we Italians have this belief, and your rich relative is a Chinese, at the meeting, all of us agreed: you Chinese should think the same way, and so should the rest of the world.

（3） 那因為這事，我們可不能跟你打架呀！這事說大就大，早就已經觸犯刑法了，還可能出人命；說是小事，就是小事，人家還真沒讓我們做多為難的事。我們決定就按他們的意思做，那兩伙兒明白人都告訴我們怎麼做了。我跟你商量，要求你配合我們。從現在起，你就是這個工地的老大 ，你走路時要挺直身體，說話辦事要硬，要橫，說一不二。我們所有人都已經安排好了，都配合你。

(3) We can't fight with you because of this! This is a big matter, it has already violated the criminal law, and people may be killed; but saying it is a small matter, then it is a small matter, and they have not really asked us to do anything difficult. We decided to do what they wanted; the two groups of wise people have told us how to do. I'm talking to you and asking you to cooperate with us. From now on, you are the boss of this construction site, you must walk with a straight body, talk, and act hard, be cross, and say one thing but not another. All of us have decided to cooperate with you.

和Bob談話後，工地里的人們都開始訓練我。早上見面一定要站直了，相互打招呼，而且聲音要大，要霸氣，等。有時候，我沒注意，就可能被對方提醒說，“站直了，大點兒聲，有人在看，你別看（他們）！” 開始時，我還向工地外看，說，“那不是個中東人麼！” “哎呀，還中東人！我們在這裡土生土長几十年了，都分別不出誰是幹什麼的；你來加拿大兩年半，就能看出誰是黑社會的！在多倫多誰都不知道誰是幹什麼的。人家要是發現我們在演戲，那再教訓教訓我們，會死人的！”

After talking to Bob, people in the construction site started to train me. When we meet in the morning, we must stand up straight, greet each other, and be loud, bossy, etc. Sometimes, when I wasn't paying attention, I could be reminded by the other person, "Stand up straight, speak up, someone's watching, don't look at (them)!" At first, I would look out at the construction site and say, "Isn't that a Middle Eastern guy!" "Oh, a Middle Easterner! We've been here for decades, and we can't tell who's doing what; you come to Canada for two and a half years and you can tell who's in the triads! In Toronto nobody knows who does what. If they find out we're acting, then teach us another lesson, it'll kill us!"

工地的人都很認真，很害怕，我也隨着害怕了，變得認真起來了。

The people at the construction site were serious and scared, and I became serious with the fear.

（4）

幾天之後，我想出來了，這事是劉健君她爸劉團長干的，很感動，心想，“老頭子老了，終於後悔他對我做過的事了，要彌補。可是你要幫我，就幫我買座房子唄！整點兒錢都捐給黑社會了！”

這件黑手黨幫我打架的事持續了一個多月。

A few days later, I figured out that this is done by Eve Liu’s father, Troup Leader Liu, very moved, thinking, "The old man is old, finally regret what he did to me to make amends. But if you want to help me, just buy me a house! The whole bit of money goes to the mafia!"

This mafia helped me fight for over a month.

注9.4, 這兩伙兒明白人給出的對策正確嗎？答：正確！劉團長就喜歡這個；這行為代表着最勝真如，參見16.2節《離垢地》和5.3節《威儀路》。

Annotation 9.4, Is the response given by the two group of wise people, correct? Answer: Correct! Troupe Leader Liu likes this; this behavior represents the Most Victorious True suchness, see Section 16.2 “Heartland of Leave Filth”, and Section 5.3 “Majesty Path”.

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