Chapter 57 Greedy cat borrows a play

Ruan Dacheng was sitting in the study of Shichao Garden with a sad face, staring at the picture of "Baizishan Woodcutter Li and Clogs" on the wall in a daze.This painting was drawn ten years ago, shortly after he moved to Nanjing from his hometown in Huaining, and spent twenty taels of silver, hand-painted by a famous photographer in the central government.The bearded middle-aged man in the painting wearing a green hat and a green coir raincoat is Ruan Dacheng himself.After the painting was completed, many people saw it and said that it was exactly like Ruan Dacheng, not just like it, but "both form and spirit, vivid and vivid"!Ruan Dacheng was very happy when he heard this, and specially sent someone to have it carefully framed and hung it on the wall in the middle of the study.Whenever there are new guests visiting here, he will point them out specially, and at the same time chatter about how he "has less negativity and aspirations" and devoted himself to Mu Shanlin. My "original intention" is really a great blessing!Then, he squinted at the other party with his dark eyes, and asked in a low voice mysteriously: "I heard that the imperial court will soon lift the party ban and rehabilitate a group of people. I'm really worried that I won't be able to relax by then! Well, you Is there any news?" However, this was only the first few years, and later, year after year, the party ban was lifted but there was no sign, Ruan Dacheng couldn't help becoming anxious, and gradually doubted that he had hung up on such a policy in the first place. Is it wise to draw a picture; would it be better if I painted the self in the picture as wearing a black hat and a scarlet gown with a round neck from the beginning?However, he did not put away the painting immediately, but as a remedy, he hung a pair of couplets on both sides of the painting, and wrote the two sentences "An official is everything, but a child is light".It means: You can have no son, but you must be an official.I hope God can respect his choice when arranging his destiny in this life based on his performance in the previous life.However, a few years have passed, and although the son still cannot support him as usual, the campaign for reinstatement has been repeatedly frustrated and hopeless.This made Ruan Dacheng feel both anxious and frustrated.Although at the beginning of last month, Ma Shiying, his life-and-death friend, was finally appointed as the governor of Fengyang with his full help.But no matter how good a friend is, it's just a friend. Having an official for a friend is different from having an official for yourself.The meaning, function, and taste here are quite different.What's more, Ma Shiying left in such a hurry that he couldn't even meet him.What is he thinking now? Will he turn his face and deny anyone once he succeeds?These are not clear at the moment.Although Ruan Dacheng sent people to send two letters to ask questions one after another in the past month or so, in the end, if it wasn’t for the report that the Qianshan area was in turmoil and the roads were impassable, the letter could not be delivered, or that Ma Shiying was busy commanding the battle and his whereabouts were uncertain. I can't see him, so I haven't heard back.This made Ruan Dacheng even more suspicious, and also a little more depressed...

It was already evening, the sky began to darken, the Yonghuai hall was quiet, neither the sound of gongs and drums nor the sound of singing could be heard.On weekdays, Zang Yijia, the instructor of the opera troupe, often leads the troupe of actors in rehearsals at this moment.But today is the Mid-Autumn Festival, and there will be a performance at night, so I called for a break early.Originally, when melancholy came up, Ruan Dacheng's mood would gradually become excited again by listening to the songs and watching the rehearsal, and he couldn't help but immerse himself in it, temporarily forgetting everything around him.But it happens that this inexplicable Mid-Autumn Festival happens, how can I teach Ruan Dacheng how to deal with the desertedness and depression in his heart at this moment?

"Ah, it's all caused by those villains from Fushe! It's them, it's all of them!" Ruan Dacheng jumped up suddenly, "Bah! Bastard! Pig! Bastard!" He clenched his fists and cursed viciously Come.After scolding, I felt that I still couldn't understand the hatred, so I cursed loudly and vigorously again, only then did I feel that the stuffiness in my chest was slightly relieved, and I was no longer as tight as before.Then, he returned to the desk and sat down, drew a pen and spread out the paper, and began to write the third letter to Ma Shiying. In the letter, like the previous two times, he first complimented Ma Shiying greatly, saying that he was a "talent of Wang Zuo", and he was also familiar with military tactics and dispatched like a god. Pointing to the west, it will surely destroy the thief with one blow and achieve great honor.Then, they used a full two pages of letter paper to review each other's friendship one by one, and in a humble but understanding tone, reminded each other not to forget the two great help they gave.In the last paragraph of the letter, he wrote:

After finishing writing, Ruan Dacheng recited it aloud again, shaking his head, and felt that the syllables were sonorous and the words were deep and affectionate.In the end, he himself was moved first, with tears in his eyes, "Ah, such writing, such talent! If Ma Yaocao still has a conscience, he should try to give me a hand no matter what! He thought with a sigh, slowly wiped away his tears, folded the letter again, and put it in the already written envelope.When all this was done, he stood up and turned his face away as he considered who to send the letter to.At this moment, he saw Yuangong standing at the door.

"My lord, there is a Mr. Zhang who came to worship." The courtyard said with a salute. "Oh?" Ruan Dacheng was a little surprised that there were still people visiting at this time.Moreover, he couldn't remember any acquaintances whose surname was Zhang.However, he still took the post and saw that it read: "Huh, Zhang Dai? I seem to have heard the name before. Who is he?" Ruan Dacheng tilted his head and tried his best to recall, but he couldn't recall.In the end, he had no choice but to shake his head, and told the gatekeeper: "The outer hall is here to welcome you." After speaking, he walked into the inner room, changed his clothes, and followed slowly.

Ruan Dacheng walked lightly when he came to the outer hall.Before entering the door, he leaned on the window sill and took a peek, and saw a middle-aged Confucian scholar in a square scarf and Taoist robe standing inside, with one hand behind his back, teasing the white-haired black-beaked parrot on the shelf.Since Fushe published "Liudu Fangchao Public Exposure", there have been very few scholars who have interacted with Ruan Dacheng. Now that he is not familiar with this Confucian scholar's back, Ruan Dacheng is even more suspicious.He wanted to see more clearly, but he was afraid of being discovered by the other party, so he coughed lightly and stepped into the lobby.

Zhang Dai heard the noise, looked back, and immediately smiled: "Old Yuan, you are very interesting, parrot!" He said happily. "Ah, so it's Brother Zhang!" Ruan Dacheng greeted affectionately.After seeing Zhang Dai's face clearly, he felt that he had a kind face, but he couldn't remember where he had seen it before.But the other party was not polite and restrained at all, Ruan Dacheng was embarrassed to show his forgetfulness, so he could only pretend to be familiar, and socialized "ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh"" of origin.

"Ah, Mr. Yuan, seeing you, parrot, I think of my family's 'Ning Lai' in my late life!" Zhang Dai said enthusiastically as he took the tea served by the servant, "'Ning Lai'—— Mr. Yuan must have never heard of it? No wonder. This is a strange bird that my family cherished twenty years ago. It is as small as a pigeon, with black feathers like a starling, and can speak human words. When the grandmother called her concubine, it called out: "A certain girl, my wife is calling!" When a guest came, she called again: "Madam, the guest is here, let's have a cup of tea!" Its voice was clear and unambiguous. Later, a The bride likes to sleep late. The bird calls every morning: "Bride, it's dawn, get up! The wife calls, get up!" No, it scolds: "Bride, stinky whore, rascal!" The bride hates this bird to the bone, and once secretly mixed medicine in the food, poisoning the bird to death!"

As Zhang Dai spoke, his tone became low and his expression was full of regret.Ruan Dacheng was puzzled, he didn't know what he was talking about these irrelevant things.I only heard Zhang Dai say again: "There are quite a few foreign objects in the world. For example, the white mule named 'Xue Jing' in Wansheng's ancestral home is also wonderful. This mule has white hooves and travels two hundred miles a day, but only one person was born late. Drive. When others want to ride it, they must kick and bite. The most amazing thing is that the urine of this mule can cure the disease of choking and hiccups, and it is more effective than the elixir..."

Just as he was talking, the young servant brought out a tray with three plates of dim sum: one plate of moon cakes, one plate of hawthorn candies, and one plate of abalone with bones.Zhang Dai's eyes lit up immediately, he forgot to speak, and stared straight at it, his throat moved, clearly swallowing.As soon as the snacks were placed on the square table, he honestly grabbed the chopsticks, took a piece of mooncake and put it into his mouth, chewed it a few times, and swallowed it with a "goo".He nodded, and went to carry the bone abalone again. Ruan Dacheng watched with cold eyes.Now he has concluded that even if he met this person, it was just an acquaintance.According to his experience, this kind of uninvited guest, the more he talks nonsense as soon as he sits down, the more he comes with a plan.Like cheating for a few taels of money, cheating on a meal, and so on, because I was too embarrassed to raise it immediately, I had nothing to say.Don't look at this guy surnamed Zhang, who is dressed quite nicely, but now his stomach is rumbling with hunger, and there are still plenty of poor people in silk and satin outside!Thinking of this, Ruan Dacheng's original sense of awe suddenly diminished, and a feeling of contempt arose in his heart.However, he didn't intend to drive Zhang Dai away, because this person is considered a scholar after all, and now that he is extremely poor to vote, he might as well take advantage of it for his own use.But what Zhang Dai said next made Ruan Dacheng angry again.

At this moment, Zhang Dai had already eaten two abalone whelks with bones.He frowned, shook his head and sighed, "After all, it didn't come from Gusu Guo Xiaozhuo's hands, the taste is too far away!" Ruan Dacheng squinted at Zhang Dai's greedy cat-like appearance, and thought: "Humph, I treat you with kindness, and it's not worth it if you eat for nothing, and you're still pretending to be ungrateful, but you want to scare someone!" Rolling his eyes, he said sarcastically, "My students also tasted the bone-in abalone from Xiaozhuo's house in Gusu. It's also made of cheese, but it's rare to be so delicious. I don't know how to make it so good? My dear brother Since you are a gourmet, you must know the secret, can you tell me?" Zhang Dai shook his head and said solemnly: "This point is also a big question in Wansheng. Because Wansheng has a dairy cow in his home, he also likes to make homemade cheese. He has tried various methods, but he has never succeeded. He also asked Xiao Zhuo about it. , but he hesitated and only took some empty papers to support him. Later, when he got anxious, he took out ten taels of silver and threw it on the table. Tried, but still failed. I heard that when he made cheese, he was very secretive, locked in a secret room, and sealed the door with paper, although father and son did not pass it on lightly." Ruan Dacheng was a little surprised when he saw that he was serious about what he said, so he said casually: "It turns out that my dear friend is proficient in the way of easy teeth, no wonder such an ordinary thing as a humble house is difficult to get into the eyes of the eye!" "Ah, don't dare!" Zhang Dai seemed to be scratched, and his eyebrows became bright immediately, "I have no other hobbies in my life, but I spare no effort to search for specialties from all over the world. Such as Beijing's Pingpo fruit, ground squirrel and horse tooth pine, Shandong's Morel vegetables, Qiubai pear, mandarin fruit, sweet fruit, Fujian Fuju, Fuju cake, brown sugar, red fermented bean curd, Jiangxi green root, Fengcheng preserved, Shanxi Tianhua, Suzhou with bone abalone, hawthorn Ding, haw jelly, pine nut candy, white balls, preserved olives, preserved majiao fish from Jiaxing, oriole from Taozhuang, cherries from Nanjing, Taomen dates, ground chestnut balls, lettuce balls, hawthorn candies, Hangzhou..." He counted them down in one breath, and Ruan Dacheng was stunned. Many of them had not only never seen Ruan Dacheng, but he had never even heard of them.He suddenly remembered: I once heard people say that there is Zhang Zongzi in Fushe, who is the number one glutton in Tianzi, could it be this person? "Ah, please forgive my forgetfulness, student." Ruan Dacheng hurriedly interrupted Zhang Dai, and asked, "I don't know my friend's elegant script, but is it called the eldest son?" Zhang Dai was taken aback for a moment, and said, "Don't dare, it's a late birth." His voice is not loud, and his manner is very gentle.But Ruan Dacheng's expression changed immediately.He quickly glanced outside the door, and when he saw that there were no other strangers, his face darkened. "What are you—what are you here for?" he asked viciously. "Old Yuan, don't be surprised!" Zhang Dai said hastily, "Wan Sheng has no other intentions here. He just came to borrow plays from Elder Yuan at the orders of Wu Ciwei and Chen Dingsheng." "what?" "Borrowing a show! It's just..." Seeing that the other party still didn't understand, Zhang Dai raised his sleeves, turned his waist, and made a stage move, "Hey, this!" "Ah, borrowing a play?" Ruan Dacheng suddenly opened his black eyes wide, "You - to me?" "Yes! Yes! Just because the autumn test is over now, and it coincides with the Mid-Autumn Festival, all colleagues from our company gathered in the Taoyehe room for a banquet. They talked about Yuan Laojin's new play "Swallow's Notes", and they all wanted to see it quickly. Because I ordered Wansheng to come and meet with Mr. Yuan, and I want to take your class to perform for one night..." Zhang Dai cupped his hands respectfully.Seeing Ruan Dacheng shaking his head and slowly rubbing his beard, without saying a word, he showed an anxious and pleading expression, repeated what he just said word for word, and then bowed deeply: "I'm so sorry, I'm still praying!"