Chapter 23 twenty three

After three or four days, the high mansion became lively again, and the people who had taken refuge had returned one after another.Although the situation outside is still a bit chaotic, order has been restored, and people's hearts are gradually calming down.There was only one thing that aroused people's doubts, and that was the sudden increase in the number of soldiers passing through the street. Brother Juemin went to school in the afternoon.The school has already started classes, but there are a few teachers who have asked for leave, and the number of students is one-third less than usual.They had no classes that day, stayed at school for a while, and then went home.They walked through the north gate and saw many troops entering the city. Every soldier ran away angrily. A military cap, or two guns.And most of the soldiers had tired expressions on their faces.

After they arrived home, rumors spread not long after that the troops that had just entered the city would no longer go elsewhere, but would be stationed in private houses around the North Gate.No one believed this news at first, but soon another news came, saying that several small mansions on the street had been patronized by soldiers.At this time, the masters of the Gao family panicked and were planning how to deal with it.Everyone gathered in the hall.Gao Zhong came in from the outside and reported with a frightened expression that the army was coming to station.So the female family members ran into the house and hid, as if the army was about to enter the hall.Before the old man came home, Keming went out to negotiate.His brothers and nephews followed behind.

Unexpectedly, they saw a sedan chair in the hall.A Ma Bian was talking to Yuan Cheng and Wen De at the side.This Ma Bian was from Waizhou County, a man of medium build, not neatly dressed, but with a very arrogant attitude.His face flushed, revealing two incomplete rows of dark yellow teeth, and he patted his chest and said something loudly.Seeing Keming approaching, he bluntly stated his intention for coming, saying that he was serving the company commander's wife to the provincial capital and planned to stay in this mansion for a while.After he finished speaking, he looked fiercely at Keming's face with his raised eyes.He spoke as if giving orders.

Keming was so angry that his eyes rolled up.His face suddenly turned blue.He remembered that except for the two years he studied in Japan, no one had ever spoken to him so rudely in his life.He has seen forty-two years, he has been a not-too-small official, he has held various prestigious positions, and now he is a well-known barrister in the provincial capital, and he is respected both at home and in society. Always others bow to him.But now in front of him, this disheveled Ma Bian spoke to him without any respect, and even violated his property rights without fear.The insult was too great.He just couldn't stand it.He really wanted to raise his hand and hit Ma Bian in the face, but he accidentally caught a glimpse of the box cannon on the man's waist.He, who was born as a scholar-bureaucrat, has his pride, but he also has his caution, and he also knows the ancient saying of "being wise and protecting one's life".So he immediately withdrew his hand, squeezed his eyes and looked at the horse for a while, then held back his anger, and said to the man that there is no room in this mansion, and it is not convenient for the eldest wife to live alone, so please find another one. better place.

"There is no place? Is the living room not good?" Ma Bian raised his sharp eyes, like a character "eight" written upside down. The white foam almost splashed on Keming's face. "We fought the war for you outside with all our might, and you are hiding at home to enjoy the blessings. Now you are not willing to borrow a house from you? We must live in the living room!" Please come out. It's useless to reason with people like them, let's leave that alone!" A woman in her thirties came out of the sedan chair, her face was flushed with rouge, she was wearing a thin-waisted blouse with light-colored piping, and piping pants with loose hems.She got out of the sedan chair, glanced at the men standing in the hall, then followed the horse to the outer living room with her head held high.

Keming was so angry that he couldn't say a word for a while.He wanted to chase after him, but just as he raised his foot, he remembered that in front of his nephew and servants, he was a gentleman, and it would be too indecent to chase after a woman like a prostitute.He stopped and watched the woman follow Ma Bian into his outer living room. A bigger insult overwhelmed him.The richly furnished drawing-room in which many dignitaries had passed some of their time, and where they had talked of politically important events.No matter how much he objected, the place where the upper class rested and chatted has now turned into the bedroom of a low-class prostitute!He could hardly believe this was the truth, but in the living room he could clearly see that red face, and he heard her talking to Ma Bian in an obscene tone.That pink face stung his eyes, those words stung his ears, and he couldn't stand it any longer.He cannot allow his legal property rights and residence rights to be infringed arbitrarily by others.He should stand up for the law.At the same time, he thought that letting this woman live in the living room would not only insult this dignified place, but also spread the poisonous gas of obscenity in the mansion and ruin the family tradition of the Gao family.At this time, he seemed to be inspired by the thoughts of "defending the Tao" and "protecting the Dharma". He walked to the door of the living room with big strides, opened the curtain and entered.He said sharply to the woman that she could not live here and had to move out immediately, this was a legitimate family with the best reputation in the city, and it was protected by law.Enthusiasm inspired him, and he said these words without timidity himself.Behind him stood his two brothers Ke'an and Keding.They sweated for him next to him.Ke'an was frightened in Xichong County during the Revolution of 1911, and he fled back to the provincial capital without the magistrate's seal and disguise, so he was very timid.He pulled Keming's sleeves several times to make Keming shut up, but seeing that this action was useless and afraid that something unusual would happen, he fled in panic and gave up his position to the Juemin brothers standing behind .

When Keming was speaking, the Ma Bian was about to make a move, but was stopped by the woman's speech.The woman remained still, still smiling, her frivolous eyes hovering over Keming's face, as if teasing his thin and upright face that still had traces of youth.Now and then she put her finger to her lips, as if paying attention to him, or smiled at him.Although these actions had no effect on Keming (he didn't seem to see it), the 33-year-old Keding behind him was interested in her.He even paid close attention to her every move, plump round face, curved eyebrows, charming flowing eyes, and small lips, all of which his wife did not have, especially lovely. It was her slim figure, which was much prettier than his wife Shen's short and fat body.There was something irresistible about her when she smiled or glanced at someone.Her gaze suddenly fell on Keding's long fair face with a slightly raised nose, and Keding blushed unconsciously.She looked away slowly and smiled slightly.At this moment, Keming finished speaking.He stood there annoyed.

"Have you said enough?" She tilted her head and asked teasingly, without being angry at all.Keming stared, unable to speak for a while. The woman suddenly made up her mind and said to Ma Bian: "Okay, let's go, so as not to be annoying here. We are not welcome here, but someone will always welcome us." She said and walked out the door, her steps were very slow, The body swayed slightly, as if deliberately making a charming and affectionate look.The Kemings quickly made way for her. Ma Bian was unwilling to leave at first, and wanted to have a fit, but his mistress stopped him.He had to follow her out, feeling very unhappy.

The bearer lifted up the sedan chair and left, and Ma Bian followed behind the sedan chair. He cast a hateful look at Keming, and at the same time cursed angrily: "One or two people come to live, you are not comfortable. Wait a while, I will call you A group of people are coming, let’s see what you do! I’m not easy to mess with.” So he followed the sedan chair out of the second gate and disappeared. Hearing Ma Bian's scolding, Keming was very unhappy, and at the same time he couldn't think of a way to deal with the first company, so he went in sullenly. Ke An came out from the inside, and Ke Ding told him how Ke Ming handled it improperly and offended the wife of the company commander. "If the company had been stationed here, it would have been a very bad place in the mansion. After all, it didn't matter if there was only one woman living here with the same horse, and she could be used as a talisman to keep the troops from entering and quartering. Now it is. I missed the good opportunity." Keding said, expressing his regret for this matter.

"I think the third brother's words are also reasonable. In any case, this trend cannot last long," Ke'an stroked his mustache and said thoughtfully, "but then again, we must not forget the old saying of 'being wise and protecting one's life'. We should play it by ear good." Keding and Ke'an went inside, talking about the company commander's wife all the way.Jueying, Juequn, and Jueshi also followed in.Juemin and Juehui also walked in slowly.As soon as they walked in, they found some female relatives gathered around Keding in the main room.Naturally, Ke'an was also present.They knew what these people were talking about, so they walked over slowly, and sure enough, Keding repeated what he said in the hall just now.They found it boring and were about to leave when Juexin just came back at this time.So Keding told Juexin about this matter again, and said that Keming's disposal was too hasty.Unexpectedly, Juexin replied, it doesn't matter, he has a way to deal with it.It turned out that he had a middle school classmate who worked as a secretary for Zhang Junchang, who was new to the city.Today he met that classmate in the commercial area, and the classmate told him about the fact that the new troops entering the city would be stationed in civilian houses, and promised to send a notice when they returned to the headquarters.However, everyone was still worried, and asked Juexin to write a letter immediately to ask for it.Juexin hurried to the room to write the letter and asked Yuan Cheng to send it.But this is not enough to make everyone feel at ease.Everyone still had their own hearts and minds, and Yuan Cheng, who was afraid of delivering the letter, hadn't returned yet, and a company of soldiers drove in.Moreover, the company of soldiers came for revenge, even if they got the notice from Commander Zhang afterwards, it was useless.The more people thought about it, the more frightened they became, and they all secretly complained that Keming shouldn't have driven that woman away.Yuan Cheng had been away for a long time and hadn't come back, and the people in the mansion were even more anxious.Sure enough, not long after, a soldier with a gun came to the gate of the mansion, and unceremoniously pasted a white note on the wooden couplet of "Life and Prosperity", which read "× Division × Brigade × Regiment × Battalion × Company × lined up here".Hearing this news, not to mention that Ke'an, Keding and others were too scared to do anything, even Keming was a little nervous.Fortunately, the platoon of soldiers hadn't arrived yet, and Yuan Chengcheng brought back the notice, so everyone was relieved.Ke'an and Keding went out in person to tear off the paper on the wooden couplets, and then pasted a notice on the gate, which read: "Commander Zhang Ling: This is a civilian house, and it is forbidden to garrison troops."

So everyone's mood was relaxed, and the day passed peacefully.Everyone went to bed early at night, and slept very peacefully.Only Keding couldn't sleep alone, he was thinking about what happened during the day.Although he slept next to his wife, Shen Shi, those charming eyes shone in front of his eyes.He never got rid of them, they were always present before his eyes, and gradually enlarged, the whole moving face was revealed.The sudden appearance of this face in his eyes was indeed a new discovery. He had never seen such a beautiful face and such a charming smile before.In fact, precisely because he had never seen it before, the face made such a deep impression on him that it became irresistible in his eyes.He suddenly remembered that it was shameful, that he shouldn't think of that kind of woman, but in fact he couldn't think of her.He has lost control of himself. "Why is this shameful? Doesn't dad still have Aunt Chen? Do you want me to spend my whole life with this big-mouthed, fat man?" He thought, then turned his face and gave Chen a disgusted look. Snoring very lightly. "It doesn't matter, Dad won't scold me," he said to himself, smiling with satisfaction.