Chapter 29 29

In the Gao family, in this large mansion, Mingfeng's death and Wan'er's marriage were quickly forgotten, and these two simultaneous events did not have any impact on the life of the Gao family.Everyone only knew that two maidservants were missing, and the masters immediately bought new ones to replace them. Qixia replaced Mingfeng, and Cuihuan replaced Wan'er. In terms of the number of people, there was no change. (Qixia is a girl who sends meals. Her family is in the countryside. Cuihuan is the same age as her young lady Shuying, and her only family member died—her father was later sold out.) In a short period of time No one mentioned Mingfeng's name.Only in the hearts of Xi'er, Qian'er, Huang Ma and a few others, this name often evokes a painful memory.

Juehui never mentioned Mingfeng's name again. He seemed to have completely forgotten her, but she still left him an intractable scar in his heart.Yet he had no time to mourn her, because another incident had happened outside. Earlier, after the sixth issue of "Dawn Weekly" was published, there were rumors that the government would ban the weekly newspaper.This news naturally excited the general Juehui, but they did not pay much attention to it, because they had not yet had such experience, and they did not believe that Commander Zhang would let his men do so.The seventh issue of the weekly newspaper was published safely.There has been a new increase in the number of subscribers.The office of the weekly newspaper has also been rented.They rented a shop on the upper floor of the commercial complex, and members of the community gathered there freely every night. go there.

The main business of the mall is downstairs, there are only twenty or thirty shops upstairs, and most of the houses are empty.The weekly newspaper stood alone among the empty houses.Every day, in the evening, two or three young students would come to remove the planks one by one, turn on the lights, and tidy up the furniture. Ten minutes later, the lively party began.There are not many people who come here every night, usually there are only six or seven, and occasionally there are women, for example Xu Qianru also came twice.They don't have meetings here, but they just talk casually, and the topics are not limited, they can talk about everything, and they talk freely here without any scruples about anything that is inconvenient to talk at home.They talked and laughed, it seemed like this was their club.

Juehui sometimes came with Juemin.But he didn't come every night, Juemin came even less frequently.Every Tuesday night, Juehui would always go to the weekly newspaper office, because the weekly newspaper was due to be published on Wednesday morning, and they had to edit the manuscript here on Tuesday night.Both Zhang Huiru and Huang Cunren are going to read the manuscript. On the night of collecting drafts for the eighth weekly newspaper, the night after Mingfeng's death, Juehui went to the weekly newspaper office as usual.He saw Xu Qianru took a newspaper and read it to some friends.She was reading a notice from the Police Agency prohibiting women from cutting their hair.He has seen this notice before, and it is said that it was drafted by a former Qingxiu.However, as far as the content is concerned, not only is the thought very shallow, but even the writing is not smooth.So when Xu Qianru read a sentence, everyone laughed.

"It's unreasonable, I don't know what you're talking about!" Qianru said, angrily throwing the newspaper on the floor, and then sat down on a wicker chair. "It's better to publish it in the 'What Talk' of the eighth weekly report," Huang Cunren suggested with a smile. "Okay!" Xu Qianru was the first to shout. Everyone agrees.However, Zhang Huiru also said that an article should be written to refute this announcement.Everyone agreed with this opinion.Everyone pushed Huang Cunren to write this article, but Huang Cunren pushed it to Juehui.Juehui sat down at the desk without any excuses because she was full of complaints in her heart and wanted to find a chance to vent.He took a piece of manuscript paper, picked up a pen and wrote.

He first wrote a topic entitled "Reading the Notice of the Police Department Prohibiting Women's Hair Cutting", and then continued to write, sometimes holding the pen in his mouth while flipping through the notice.Everyone stood around the table watching him write.He finished it quickly.The article was not long, so he read it by himself, and everyone said it was still usable. Huang Cunren changed a few words and decided to compile it on the first page of the eighth weekly report.Only Wu Jingshi, an older and more cautious member of the commune, said a word: "I'm afraid this time the drum will be sounded."

"Don't be afraid of it, the louder the better!" Zhang Huiru said excitedly. The eighth issue of the Weekly Dawn came out on Sunday morning.In the afternoon, Juehui and Juemin went to Juexin's office as usual.After they sat there for a while, Juehui sneaked into the weekly newspaper office alone.Zhang Huiru, Zhang Huanru, Huang Cunren and two or three others were there. He asked them about the sales of this weekly newspaper. When it arrived, many people went to buy it. "Your monthly contribution should be paid," Huang Cunren, an accountant, suddenly smiled and said to Juehui.

"I'll send it to you tomorrow, I don't have any money with me today," Juehui touched her pocket and replied with a sorry smile. "It won't do if we don't deliver it tomorrow," Huang Cunren said with a smile. "He's so good at asking for money! I'm also forced by him to have no choice," Zhang Huiru interjected, with a smile on his triangular face, pointing at Huang Cunren. "I did an interesting thing today. When I came out this morning, I found a thin cotton gown that was newly made last year in the box to wear on my body. Wearing a cotton gown at this time! What a joke! My sister might suspect me I'm insane. I said I was cold, so I had to wear it outside, and my sister couldn't do anything about it. Haha..." He made everyone laugh.He smiled and continued, "I walked out of the house in a cotton robe. It was so hot! ... It was unbearably hot. Fortunately, the pawn shop was not far from my house, so I went in and left the cotton robe there. When I came out, I was very relaxed and comfortable, and I had enough money to pay the monthly donation. As if I didn’t go home today, I just met him on the road and told him, and he couldn’t help laughing,” he said and followed the crowd Laughed for a while.

"Then how do you tell your sister when you go back?" Juehui asked suddenly. "I thought about it a long time ago. I said that I felt hot afterwards and took it off at a friend's house. She won't be suspicious. If you really can't hide it from her, it doesn't matter if you tell the truth. Maybe she will pay to get it back for me. ,” Zhang Huiru replied proudly. "I really..." Juehui was about to say "I really admire you", but stopped after saying two words, because he saw two policemen walking in. "Is there any more of this issue?" asked the bearded policeman.

Huang Cunren took a newspaper and handed it to them, saying, "Yes, three copper coins for one piece." "We don't buy newspapers, we came here under the orders of our superiors," the young policeman hurriedly said, "We will take the rest of the newspapers with us." He took all the remaining two bundles of newspapers here. "You still have to go to the hall with us, don't bother, just two people is enough," the bearded policeman said gently. Everyone looked at each other in surprise for a moment, and then they all stepped forward, saying they would go with them.

"Too many, I said as long as two people are enough," said the bearded policeman, shaking his hand with a look of embarrassment.Later he pointed out Zhang Huiru and Juehui and asked them to follow him to the hall.They did follow the two policemen, and the rest followed. They had just turned a corner and were about to go down the stairs when the bearded policeman suddenly turned around and said to Juehui, "Forget it, you don't want to go. You should go back." "What is the reason for this? What reason do you have to confiscate our newspaper?" Zhang Huiru asked angrily. "We have followed the orders from above," the young policeman had already taken the newspaper downstairs, and the bearded policeman walking behind still replied in a gentle voice.He was about to go downstairs when he stopped suddenly, turned around and said to them: "You young people are ignorant, I advise you to study hard, don't run newspapers, and meddle in your own business." He walked away slowly after finishing speaking go downstairs.They also went back to the newspaper office to discuss how to deal with it. Everyone talked angrily, and everyone put forward different opinions.They talked for a long time without any result.Another policeman came, and he sent an official letter.Zhang Huiru opened the letter and read it aloud in public.The words in the letter are very clear: "Your newspaper's remarks are too extreme and have greatly hindered the peace and order of the country and society. Please stop publishing immediately..." The wording was harsh but polite.Such a banned newspaper is quite unique. The life of "Weekly Dawn" was cut off in this way. Then came a mournful silence.For those who treat and cherish the weekly newspaper as a newborn, this letter is not a small blow.They have a sincere heart and a spirit of sacrifice, and they are eager to do something useful.With their naive experience and short-sightedness, they saw a ray of light ahead, and they used their weak strength to point out the direction of that ray of light to ordinary people.Through the weekly newspaper they have known the hearts of many equally ardent young people.In friendship, in trust, they also find comfort.But now it's all over.The short period of eight or nine weeks seemed like a strange dream.What a dream to cherish! "I just realized now that everything new is fake! Commander Zhang, it's not the same!" Zhang Huiru scolded angrily. "Don't you see that the old forces are still so deeply rooted in this society?" Huang Cunren stood up, scratching his short hair and said in distress. "Don't talk about one Commander Zhang, even ten Commanders Zhang are useless!" "Anyway, I say his news is fake!" Zhang Huiru went on to say, "His so-called new is just hiring a few foreign students as secretarial consultants and asking a few female students to be concubines." "However, when he was stationed in Waizhou County last year, he also invited some new people to give speeches in Shanghai and Nanjing," Huang Cunren said smoothly. "That's enough," Zhang Huiru sneered, "Have you forgotten again? His speech at the welcome meeting!... The secretary drew up the draft for him, but somehow he reversed the meaning when he recited it Yes. The welcome is not a welcome, and the so-called new characters are not laughing or angry. I think there must be a lot of jokes like this!" Huang Cunren fell silent.There are bigger issues on his mind waiting for him to consider.As for Zhang Huiru, he said these words, not only did not help the current big problem, even his own anger could not be relieved by it.His heart and mind were still hot, and he felt that there were still many, many things to say, so he spoke angrily again: "I said to change the name immediately and start doing it without changing the content at all. Let's see how they deal with it?" "Okay, I agree!" Juehui, who was silent these days, echoed. "But we have to discuss a proper solution first," Huang Cunren, who was immersed in thinking, raised his head and said thoughtfully.Thus protracted discussions arose among them, and finally a final decision was reached. The final decision was to suspend publication of "Dawn Weekly", and a notice was issued to all subscribers, while preparations were made for a new weekly newspaper.They also decided to turn the current weekly newspaper office into a newspaper reading office, and display all the new books and newspapers of the members here for free reading.It's also a great way to spread new cultures. After making such a decision, everyone was no longer as depressed and angry as before.They've figured out how to cope, and they're about to start a new job. What a beautiful thing zeal is!It enabled a few young people to overcome all difficulties in a short period of time.A day later they set up the Liqun Newspaper Reading Office.In two days' time, the publication of "Liqun Weekly" is also ready. There are no classes on Tuesday, because the big exam is about to start.Juehui and Juemin went to the opening of the Liqun Newspaper Office together, and just returned home in time for lunch.This day's life gave Juehui a good impression. He had never been moved like this before.Talking and laughing, friendship, sincerity, trust,... have never been so beautiful.This time, the tea party of more than a dozen young people was like a gathering of a friendly family.But the people of this family are not bound together by blood and property; they are united by the same good heart and the same ideal.In this environment, he only felt the contact of heart and heart, all of which were sincere hearts, completely free from the shackles of interests.He felt that here he was not a stranger, a lonely man.He loves those around him, and he is loved by those around him.He knows them and they know him.He trusted them, and they trusted him.At first he arranged everything with the same enthusiasm as the others, and when the arrangement was ready, he ate the tea like everyone else, and shared the joy of the party with all his heart.They chatted about all sorts of pleasant things.Everything that was dark and miserable seemed to no longer exist at this time. "It would be great if there were such gatherings often!" Juehui said excitedly to Juemin, who almost cried with joy.Juemin nodded movedly. However, the tea party finally came to an end.On the way home, Juehui talked with Juemin about various things, but Juehui's heart was still warm.But as soon as he got home and entered the hall, loneliness came unexpectedly.He seems to have fallen again in a cold abyss, or on an uninhabited desert.Before his eyes were shadows, shadows of the old times, and he could hardly find a modern person, a person with whom he could talk. "Loneliness! Embarrassing loneliness!" Juehui sighed as if complaining.His distress increased.At lunch, he saw traces of distress on the faces of every tablemate.The stepmother is telling the strategy of the fourth and fifth aunts.Fourth Aunt scolding Qian'er sounded from behind, and soon Fifth Aunt and Aunt Chen began to scold each other in the courtyard.He ate in a hurry, and as soon as he put his chopsticks down, he ran outside, as if something terrible was chasing him. Then Juemin also came out.The two brothers went out for a walk together again. "How about we go to 'Jinling Gaoyu' again?" Juemin suggested with a smile. "Alright," Juehui replied briefly. They walked silently on the street, and soon came to the secluded alley. It was a nice sunny day, clear and clear without a cloud in the sky.The moon rose from the treetops, gradually casting a silvery color on the evening street.No vocals.On the branch of the tree inside the wall, Cicada was calling intermittently.They followed their own faint shadows, moved lightly on the cobblestone road, and walked to the door of "Jinling High Apartment".The two black-painted doors remained tightly shut.They pushed, but nothing happened.They walked through here and walked forward, and turned back when they reached the alley.This time they walked under the locust tree and heard the cries of small birds, so they stopped and looked up. It turned out that there was a crow's nest on a big branch of the locust tree. Yelling outside. This very ordinary scene moved the two young people greatly.The two of them moved closer unconsciously.The elder brother stretched out his slightly trembling hand to hold the younger brother's hand tightly, and said in a lamenting voice: "We are just like this pair of crows who have lost their mother." His tears fell.The younger brother didn't answer, but just squeezed his elder brother's hand tightly. Suddenly a crow's cry was heard above their heads, followed by the sound of flapping wings, and a black shadow flashed in front of their tearful eyes.The crow quickly flew into the nest.Two little crows cuddled up to it affectionately, and it also cared for them lovingly, biting their beaks.The nest was filled with joyful, harmonious calls. "They have a mother now," Juemin said in a bitter voice, then lowered his head to look at his younger brother standing beside him.Juehui also had tears in her eyes. "Let's go back," Juemin said. "No, let me stand for a while," Juehui replied, and raised her head to look at the crow's nest. Suddenly, a flute sounded from the courtyard, playing a lovesickness tune.The voice was melodious and sad, and it seemed to contain a sadness that had nowhere to confide.There seemed to be a scene in front of their eyes: a woman leaning on the window sill looking at the half-circle moon, thinking of her lover who had traveled far away, and pinning her nostalgia in this slender bamboo tube, she uttered such a moving cry, There is a sad love story in it, and the sorrow of a lonely existence is rippling in it.They are very familiar with this popular folk tune.Because in their mansion, someone often called a blind singer to come in and sing this kind of ditties with his falsetto.Words are vulgar, but they are the voice of life after all, and now it is in such an environment. "Someone is coming!" Juemin suddenly said alertly, pulling Juehui to leave.He knew who it was. Juehui turned her head and saw that it was Keding's bearer who had just turned the corner with the sedan chair and was walking towards them from a distance, and Gao Zhong was also running beside him angrily. "I'm afraid he will do something! Let's stand with our backs to him and pretend we don't see it!" Juehui said. He stood still and refused to leave, so Juemin had to stay there. Soon the sedan chair passed beside them.They heard Gao Zhong running to call the door, and the door opened, and the footsteps of the bearers disappeared into the courtyard.The door was closed again immediately, and the sound of the flute suddenly stopped. "Go back now," Juehui said, turning around. The two walked slowly, and before they got out of the alley, they saw a sedan chair coming towards them.They watched the sedan chair pass by with surprised expressions.Zhao Sheng, Ke'an's servant, followed behind the sedan chair, also running furiously. "Strange, could it be that the fourth father went there too?" Juemin said in surprise as they walked out of the alley. "Why didn't he go?" Juehui sneered. "Don't you think he can write well, and he can act serious. Didn't he make a lot of jokes at home?" So various stories about Ke'an appeared in his mind, starting with the incident with the maid. From the improper relationship, until Zhang Bixiu, the danjiao, was brought to the house to dress up and take pictures. "They are all the same. I say they are all the same! Yet they still want to put on airs of elders in front of us, saying that we don't have the manners of our children and nephews!" He said angrily. "Only the eldest brother is afraid of them, and only the eldest brother is perfunctory with them. I am not afraid." "But brother also has his own difficulties," Juemin explained lightly. When they returned home, Juemin began to review his homework and prepare for the big exam.Juemin's temperament is like this: he is often optimistic, and sometimes forgetful. Although there have been unsatisfactory things, he quickly forgets them. He can put his heart on the book when he opens the book.But Juehui is not.He is more enthusiastic than his brother, and his temper is more irritable.He also planned to review his homework, but when he spread the book, he became more irritable.An embarrassing loneliness began to torment his heart.Nameless distress also came to surround him.The chair seemed to be on fire, and he couldn't sit on it for a moment, so he closed his book with a long sigh and stood up. "Where are you going?" Juemin asked with concern. "Going out for a walk, I'm very upset." "Okay, come back soon, the big exam is coming up the day after tomorrow, and you should study hard," Juemin said gently. Juehui agreed and walked out of the room, and went into the garden alone. Entering the garden seemed to have changed his realm, and he felt a little calmer in his heart.He walked slowly. The silvery moonlight shone on the ground, and there were mournful cries of crickets everywhere.The aroma of the night permeates the air, weaving into a soft net, covering all the scenery in it.What the eyes touch is covered with this soft net. Every plant and tree is not as realistic as in the daytime. They all have fuzzy and illusory colors, and each of them hides its true nature. Every detail keeps its secrets, making people feel like a dream. Juehui was gradually attracted by these scenes.He calmly admired everything around him, he was interested in them.He walked at a leisurely pace.He walked the old road they took when they toured the lake on the night of the Lantern Festival.But he didn't recall the scene at that time and the playmates at that time. He walked onto the round arch bridge, stood leaning on the railing on the bridge for a moment, then lowered his head to look at the water.A black shadow of his own head appeared on the water.He opened his eyes to look, and there was a blue sky in the water, and the half moon moved slowly there.Suddenly and unexpectedly a beautiful face emerged from the water, a face he had once held dear.His heart began to ache, and he was thinking of her again. He turned his head, not daring to look at the water again, and hurried across the bridge. He crossed the bridge, went to the grass, and accidentally saw the boat tied to the willow tree again.It also reminded him of the past.He quickly avoided it, and walked back to the opposite bank from the round arch bridge. He walked slowly along the path by the lake, walked through the pine forest, and turned to the front of the water pavilion.He wanted to open the door of the water pavilion and go in to rest for a while, when suddenly he saw a fire behind the rockery in front of him.He was startled and almost cried out.He stood under the magnolia tree for a while, looking quietly at the rockery.The fire still burst out one by one, but not very big.How could there be fire in this place at this time?No sound was heard!He still couldn't answer this question, so he boldly walked over there lightly. Juehui turned around the rockery and saw nothing.The flames were still behind a rockery diagonally opposite.He walked towards the rockery again, and when he turned a corner, he saw a woman squatting on the ground burning paper money. "What are you doing here?" he asked aloud in surprise. The tall girl stood up in surprise, raised her head to look at him, and called out "Third Young Master". He recognized that it was Qian'er, the girl from the fourth room, and said, "So it's you! It almost shocked me! Who are you burning money paper for? Why did you come here to burn it?" "Third young master, please don't go out and tell others. Our wife will scold me again when she knows it," the girl put down the paper money in her hand, came over and begged. "Tell me which money burning paper you gave." Qian'er lowered her head and said: "Today is Mingfeng's first seven days.... I thought of her pitiful death, so I secretly bought some money papers to burn for her, and it was not in vain to have a good relationship with her before my death....I just want to be here No one will meet you, how do you know that the third young master came here!" Then he said: "Third young master, Mingfeng is also your girl, she has served you for eight or nine years, you should take pity on her, let me treat her well She burns some money paper, lest she suffer from cold and starvation in the underworld..." Her last words were almost uttered in tears. "Okay, just keep burning, I won't tell others," he said gently, pressing his chest with one hand, he felt something pricking his heart.He silently watched her burn the paper money without blinking.She would never guess his mood at this moment. "Why do you divide it into two piles?" He asked in a mournful voice. "This pile is for Wan'er to burn," she pointed out. "Wan'er? She's not dead yet!" He said in surprise. "She asked me to burn it for her. When she got on the sedan chair, she said to me: 'I will die sooner or later. If I don't die, I will not have a good life in the future. Even if I live, I would rather die. You should be Tsukuru, I am already dead. When you burn paper for Mingfeng, please burn some paper for me too. Just treat me as a dead person...'I really burned paper for her today." Juehui heard this miserable voice and thought of those two sad stories. Can he still laugh at this girl's stupid behavior?He couldn't laugh anyway, and he didn't want to laugh anymore.After struggling for a while, he said with difficulty: "You burn it, it burns well!" Then he staggered away.He dared not look back at her again. "Why is there so much trouble in the world?" he murmured half-consciously, and he walked out of the garden stroking his wounded heart. He walked under Juexin's window, saw the bright light, heard the gentle human voice, he felt as if he had escaped from another world.He suddenly remembered what the French teacher Deng Mengde said in the lecture hall a few days ago: "French youths don't know how to mourn at your age." However, he, a Chinese youth, was overwhelmed by sorrow at such a young age. .