Chapter 6 Section VI

As soon as he stepped out of the prison of the Ministry of Criminal Justice, Wu Shibao saw the width of the streets, the distance of the sky, the clean and bright people, and the bright and prosperous world, which made him have long hair, dark complexion, torn clothes, and difficult walking.The passers-by looked at him with blank eyes, and he softened eight points at first.Before anyone reprimanded him, he couldn't help slipping aside like a yellow croaker, bowing his head and walking quickly, for fear of being bumped into by acquaintances.During the reign of Emperor Kangxi, there was a decree that the Eight Banners Barracks had their own districts in Beijing. Over the centuries, the number of people has changed, and real estate transactions have undergone many changes. The Wu family still lives in Shaojiu Hutong.Can the ancestral home of several lifetimes be recognized?But Wu Shibao entered the alley and couldn't find his house.He walked back and forth along the alley several times, and finally stopped at the gate of Gu's house next door to him.The Gu family is the leader of Niu Luzuo in Zhengbai Banner, and they have lived with the Wu family as neighbors for several generations.Wu Shibao is also a classmate with the young master of the Gu family, which is a good one.He stepped forward and patted the door knocker a few times, and there was a sound inside, and the door opened a crack, it was Zhou Cheng, the concierge.Zhou Cheng glanced at it, immediately closed the door again, and said sharply: "Come on, hurry up, we never send beggars!"

Wu Shibao hurriedly shouted: "Old Zhou, it's me! Why don't you even know me?" "Who?" Zhou Cheng opened the door again, stared intently for a long time, and asked himself in a low voice, "Is this Mr. Bao?" Then he greeted him loudly, calling thousands of times, "Hello, sir! Your calamity is full?" "Oh, okay, okay, but why can't I find a home? Is this newly erected ceiling, new throttle post, and plastered and checked brick wall our home?..." Zhou Cheng was dumbfounded by the question and didn't know how to answer for a while.At this time, a middle-aged man wearing a foreign crepe bunt, loosely braided, and holding a folding fan came from behind, and asked, "Zhou Cheng, who are you talking to?"

Wu Shibao took a step forward and said, "Second Uncle, it's you! Good luck!" "It's Shibao! What's the matter with your outfit? I heard that you and the Mongolian prince went to Shandong to make a fortune. Why do you dress like a golden pine? Are you going to kneel and eat grass?" "Second uncle, you are joking, I am..." Gu Erye sternly sneered, "I have been a boxer, I have been in prison, you still have the face? You are not ashamed, but I am ashamed. How did you end up in such a neighborhood! Zhou Cheng, close the door!" The door slammed shut again.

Wu Shibao was so angry that he was trembling all over, he couldn't cry out, he couldn't move.Just as he was feeling dizzy, the door opened again. It was still Zhou Cheng, but he lowered his voice: "Master Wu, let's go. Your house has already been sold to the Huang family in Taipingcang!" "What about our family?" "Grandma passed away last winter. The young master asked Nanny Liu to take her away." "you……" At this time, Uncle Gu called Zhou Cheng inside.Zhou Cheng waved his hand, threw a big bag of money at Wu Shibao's feet, and closed the door again silently.

Wu Shibao only felt that his eyes were darkened, his chest felt congested, and he couldn't tell the direction, he just walked forward in general.As soon as I reached the north entrance of Nanxiao Street, a horse came from the east, guarded by two Goshhas, and a big blue wool sedan came over.As soon as people saw it, they shouted: "Get out of the way quickly, Mr. Ma in Bean Sprout Alley is back home!" Everyone couldn't hide, but Wu Shibao kept rushing forward with his eyes and ears silent.A security guard happened to pass by, fearing that he would commit a crime, out of kindness, he went up and slapped him twice, shoved him under the big front of a tobacco shop, and forced him to squat down.These two mouths woke him up.He burst into tears.After crying for a while, my heart became lighter, and then I thought of where to go now?

He looked down at his rags, thinking that he couldn't see anyone in such a disheveled state.It's getting dark, my legs are weak, and my stomach is empty. Why don't you find a place to stay and rest for a night before making plans tomorrow.It's not far from Chaoyangmen, there are many mules and horses inns, so it's better to go there nearby.With the string of money in his hand, it might be enough to eat a few noodles and spend a night on the kang. Wu Shibao staggered to a mule and horse shop, and was about to enter when a clerk came up to him and asked: "Who are you looking for?"

"Stay in the store." "Please come in." Just as the boy finished speaking, a middle-aged man with a hookah and shoes came up from the tent, stopped Wu Shibao and asked, "Where are we going?" Ushibo said, "Stay in a hotel." "Stay in a hotel?" The man looked him up and down, and said coldly, "There is no room!" "Don't live in a single room, let's live together." "The big kang is also full, before you close the city gate, go to the Guanxiang to have a look!" As soon as Wu Shibao turned around, he heard the man muttering: "Business requires good eyesight. If you recruit such a person, who would dare to come and live with him? He has a face full of smoke, and he hasn't had a tumor in a few days. This kind of person has hands and feet. Can it be cleaned?"

Wu Shibao shivered and retreated.Mu Mu followed the crowd out of the city and came to the edge of the moat.Looking inside and outside the city gate, there are people coming and going, but there is no one who relieves his worries; on both sides of the avenue, there are thousands of households, and they can't find a place to stay for themselves, so they believe that they are really lonely and destitute. At the point of death, I couldn't help but let out a long sigh, and said: "Oh my God! My God! For half my life, I have never thought about wrongdoing or taking ill-gotten gains. What is my crime? I want to suffer this kind of retribution? Where is the justice and where is the law of heaven? ah?"

The sound of the market, like the wind and the tide, came from the gate of the city, and it also fell down as he walked away step by step.It was getting dark, looking back at the city street, one or two lanterns had already been lit, and one or two window lattices were lit.He felt that his heart was heavy, his legs were weak, his mouth was dry, and his breath was weak, so he leaned on a willow tree with a crooked neck, and sat down on the bank of the moat. Looking at the dark and dead river, he asked himself: what is the current situation? I can't even find a place to live, so how will I make a living in the future?So all kinds of embarrassing scenes of those poor banner people who lost their homes, lost their nationality, and lived on the streets all appeared before his eyes.He asked himself: If he wants to survive, can he bear this kind of hardship?If you can eat it, can you bear it?Anger or tolerance, this person can afford to lose it?

After thinking about it, the more I think about it, the less love I have in this world, and the more I think about it, the less life I have.Involuntarily, he raised his head to look at the neck tree, touched the bag on his waist with both hands... You can hear me clearly, I just said that he felt that death was easier and better than life for a while, and he wanted to die a little, but I didn't say that he had made up his mind that he must die.There is still a long way to go between wanting to do this!When people are forced to be unbearable by bad luck, they always find various means to fight.There is no other way to find it, and death is already a unique move.But this trick can only be used once, and the price paid is too heavy, so people are not willing to use it easily. "Think about it" is common. "Think about it" means to say to yourself: "Don't be afraid, at worst, you will die. If you close your eyes, what am I going to do with all the hardships?"

Wu Shibao was thinking this way, and clasped his hands loosely to demonstrate against bad luck.As soon as I unbuttoned it, I felt a movement in my waist, and there was a crash, and something heavy hit my foot. "What, could it be that I have leftover silver taels on me?" He touched the package with his hand, oh, it turned out to be the pair of gold-covered bracelets that Nie Xiaoxuan gave him. "Oh, I'm so sad about my own affairs, but I completely forgot about what Master Nie entrusted me with." Wu Shibao picked up the bracelet and put it in his arms carefully, while talking to himself: "I don't trust you when you make friends. ? I haven’t been to Master Nie’s house yet, and I haven’t done this matter after I promised with bare teeth and white teeth. How can I die halfway? If I really want to go to Wangxiangtai, I should wait until this matter is settled before leaving. .” Thinking of this, Wu Shibao cheered up and stood up. ... Is Wu Shibao talking to himself from the bottom of his heart?Can he put his own life and death aside for other people's affairs? What Wu Shibao said was the truth.Although he is a idler, eating and drinking, he has always been loyal and affectionate.Still, that's half of what brought him back from the dead.The other half, as we have said just now, is that although he has the yearning for suicide, he has no determination to act, secretly trying to find another sufficient reason to suppress his desire to die and support himself to live.Seeing this bracelet, of course, he immediately changed his mind and went to find an inn. He thought to himself that this Chaoyang Gate is the avenue for grain carts, and the store is big to bully customers, so it is better to go north to Dongzhimen, where only brick carts are used, and the shop is small and small, so he dared not bully people, so he went to Dongzhimen.It was almost time to hold the lamp, only to find a remote and deserted small shop.The store has three halls facing the street, a red cloth hanging on the door, a few long high platforms built with adobe outside the door are used as tables, and a few tree stumps and bent shafts are placed as machines.Wu Shibao sat down, ordered four taels of glutinous rice to eat, and then asked the shopkeeper, "I'm going to the city, it's getting late, do you have a convenient place to stay?" He is vulgar, elegant in eating, and when he settled the accounts, he gave the clerk the tip of the two shops, and said with a smile on his face: "Yes, there is. There is a big kang in the east side room, and now there is a driver who drives a car. You two This is just a good companion." He ordered the assistant to lead him in, and specially instructed the assistant to make a pot of Gaomo and fetch a basin of water to wash his face. Sitting cross-legged on the kang in the handlebar style, drinking donkey meat and burning knives.Seeing a guest coming again, he hurriedly bowed and said, "Where are you coming? Have me this?" Wu Shibao had been out of prison for almost a whole day, and it was only then that he met someone who talked and handled human affairs, and took him away. It is also a place for personal viewing, and this place is one that he has not been to for decades.He slapped this stranger on the handlebar deeply and said, "Where are you!" The handlebar pose was originally an empty courtesy, but seeing Wu Shibao thanking him solemnly, he simply jumped off the kang to hold Wu Shibao and said, "There is no separation of cigarettes and alcohol. Since we live together in a shop, there is a predestined relationship in the previous life. You have to give me a face too." Wu Shibao smelled the wine, and was tempted at first, after such persuasion, he said, "Then respect is worse than obedience!" He sat down across the kang table.When the waiter saw that the guest was already seated, he passed the news to the shopkeeper when he went to the front to get the chopsticks.The shopkeeper is very lively, and this kind of semi-country shopkeeper still has a bit of an old style. He specially scraped two loofahs and stir-fried them, brought them to the room and said, "I heard that you two hit it off and brought happiness to the shop. Harmony makes money, I respect the two of you for one dish!" Pulling the owner into the table with a handlebar, the owner said a little politely, and sat down on the edge of the kang.As soon as Wu Shibao entered the door, he felt that this person was a little strange.After drinking a few cups, Wu Shibao's eyes became a little dull, so the shop owner asked about Wu Shibao's origin.Wu Shibao was holding back his stomach and had nothing to say, so he talked about how he was wronged, how he went to jail, how he couldn't find a home after he was released from prison, and why he went to Chengguan to put him in a store and refused to accept him.Beijingers have always referred to shochu as "Niu Pi San", and there is a saying that "after drinking Niu Pi San, the gods don't care." After Wu Shibao had finished his story with wine, the car handlebar scolded him, claiming that he wanted to see Xu Huanzhang If you dare to whip him, and meet Gu Zuoling, you must scold his ancestors.The shopkeeper waited until he patted the table to shake off his gall, and then interjected: "My lord, what are you going to do now?" Wu Shibao said: "The first thing I do at dawn is to find my friends." The shopkeeper shook his head and said: "The first thing you need to do is to shave your head, braid it, take a bath, and shave your face, and then you can borrow or rent it, change into a clean outfit, and go to the city with your current appearance. You can't find anyone, and if you can't clean the street, maybe they will arrest you as a homeless person. If you don't want to be afraid of your anger, the street people at the gate of the East Temple are even better dressed than you!" Wu Shibao said: "You are quite right, but I am bare-handed and ashamed." The shopkeeper said, "Are you worried that you won't be able to get money for something?" Wu Shibao said: "I have been in prison for more than a year, and I don't even have a food delivery person. Where did I get it?" The shopkeeper said: "Just now you paid for the meal outside, I saw you take out a cigarette bottle from your arms, the tea crystal back pot, vaguely looks like there are pictures and words hidden inside, is there such a thing?" Wu Shibao couldn't help covering his stomach with his hands, and said in a low voice: "Oh, I dare to show my feelings!" The owner said: "The owner of the shop, what are these eyes for? I have to be careful and take care of the valuables brought by serious customers; I have to check the licensed goods brought by friends in the underworld, otherwise I will be corrupted. .If you don’t have this sense of propriety, would you dare to live here? I’m an ordinary person, and I don’t know how to play with antiques. But after all, I live on the one-acre land of the Long Live God. Have I never eaten pork or seen a pig running? I know that this is not something to be taken lightly. With all due respect, according to the way you are dressed now, carrying this thing with you will surely cause you trouble. Whether it is for the sake of money, or for false accusation, what kind of people in this world There are all of them, weasels can only eat sick ducks. If nothing else, a few green-skinned rogues will come and find a reason to fight with you, so what can you do if you snatch it away! According to me, it’s better to sell it. Like you For the family, these playthings must be more than this one. Tomorrow I will find the young master, do you have anything to play with, why not use it as a rescue?" Hearing what he said was reasonable, Wu Shibao also wanted to take the opportunity to try his inner painting skills, so he nodded and said, "Then I'll take it to the antique shop tomorrow and ask them to have a look." The shopkeeper smiled and said: "You are bad again. The shop bullies the customers. With your attire, people will wait for the money when they see you. Can they not lower the price?" Wu Shibao asked: "What do you think should be done?" The shop owner said: "Let me find a few acquaintances for you to see. If they want it, we will save trouble. If they don't, I will accompany you to the ghost market. Breaking four, going to the ghost market is up to you to reward yourself!" The owner of the shop was originally an expert in running and negotiating business for others. Back then, the waterway to Liangjiang Fujian relied on canals.The official stone road from Tongxian County to Beijing is outside Chaoyangmen, and the Guanxiang of Dongzhimen is a deserted place.When opening a shop in this area, it is unavoidable to receive friends on the ligature, and sell their stolen goods for them, leaving the land wet.This kind of business is not allowed to enter high-level and big-name brands to do it openly.The customers contacted by the shop owner were only pawnbrokers Laoxi and Guishier playing drums, so he didn't persuade Wu Shibao to go to the antique shop.He already believed that Wu Shibao was not a thief, but he still had to treat him like a thief in terms of business, in order to earn two commissions to spend.Seeing that Wu Shibao agreed with his idea, he asked Wu Shibao to take out the smoking bottle for a look. "Good stuff!" Wu Shibao took out the snuff pot when the handlebar Shijian came out.He grabbed it first and glanced at it, and couldn't help calling out, "How do you draw the branches and leaves? Are you worried about not being able to change your outfit if you have this? I'm afraid I can't get out of such a cigarette after driving for half a year." Here comes the pot of money!" "Then you are careful to fall down, and even the car and the horse will be paid!" The shopkeeper joked, snatched the snuff pot, and tasted it carefully.The owner of the store is a rough person, and he has two or five eyes on this aspect.But in those days it was fashionable to use this kind of thing, not to mention that he often bought goods for others, so after seeing a lot, he naturally knew a little bit about it.The technique of inner painting has a history of 70 to 80 years from the end of Jiaqing to the beginning of Daoguang, and people are familiar with it.Gan Heng, Ma Tong, Gui Xianggu, Yong Shoutian and others are known to most people who play snuff pots; some of the recent inner painters are almost household names.For example, Ma Shaoxuan can write the whole story "Jiucheng Gong" in regular script in a pot with the size of a thumb; Ye Zhong's three paintings of the characters in the Red Chamber and the stories of Liaozhai are called unique.And if those who play snuff pots don't know Zhou Leyuan's name are like calligraphers who don't know Wang Xizhi, they will be laughed out of their teeth.This week, Leyuan used Gong Banqian's fan head by stick method on the inner painting pot. The paintings "fishing in the cold river", "boat returning to wind and rain" and "bamboo orchid picture" are called divine works.The shop owner once sold a "Three Autumn Picture" jug for others. Just now, he glanced at Wu Shibao's snuff pot and felt that it was very similar to that pot. It was Zhou Leyuan's work, so he held on tightly.After watching for a while, he let out an "ah" and shook his head. Wu Shibao asked: "Do you see why you are forgiving?" "Unsigned!" "The words 'Changbai Old Home' also count!" "No print!" Wu Shibao thought to himself: "It's good to get ink in the big prison, where can I get red?" Then he said: "Ma Shaoxuan's pots are often not printed." Finally, the owner said: "Other pots are frosted and dark tea, how is your pot so bright?" Wu Shibao couldn't help but let out an "oh".He always felt that the paintings he painted were somewhat different from the usual inner painting pots.Only then did the shopkeeper understand that the pot paintings painted by others are transparent, but the walls of the pot are not transparent; his works are all transparent, so the lines are dull and the colors are dull.He remembered that he had seen a pot painted by Gan Heng in the early years, which was also so transparent, but it was made of white crystal, so he could see it clearly.He said: "You don't understand this. Most of the pots painted in the Daoguang period are transparent. This proves that my pot is old enough!" The driver was sleepy and couldn't understand what they said, so he said: "You guys are fighting here for nothing, let's see the price in the market tomorrow. I will set up a car to go to Huangsi in the middle of the night. If you want to follow the car, you can go early." rest!"