Chapter 3 02

The Qi family's house is located in the "Xiaoyangquan" near the Huguo Temple in Xicheng.Perhaps, this place was really a sheepfold in the beginning, because it is not as straight as the general alleys in Beiping, or has a slight bend or two, but rather resembles a gourd.The mouth and neck of the gourd leading to West Street are very thin, long and dirty.The mouth of the gourd is so narrow that people can easily overlook it if they don't look for it carefully or ask the postman.When you enter the neck of the gourd and see the rubbish piled up at the base of the wall, you dare to go in boldly, just like Columbus dared to move forward when he saw something floating in the sea.After walking for dozens of steps, you suddenly saw the chest of the gourd: a circle with forty steps from east to west, and thirty steps from north to south, with two big pagoda trees in the middle, and six or seven families around it.Going forward, there is another alley - the waist of the gourd.Passing through the "waist", there is another open space, two or three times larger than the "chest", which is the gourd belly. The "chest" and "belly" are probably sheep pens, right?This has yet to be investigated by historians before they can be determined.

The house of the Qi family is in the chest of the gourd.The street gate faces west, diagonally facing a big locust tree.Back then, when Elder Qi was buying a house, the status of the house determined his choice.He loves this place.The entrance of the alley is so narrow and unobtrusive, which makes him feel safe; and there are six or seven families in the gourd chest, which makes him feel warm.Outside the door, there are two big locust trees for children to play with. There are no carriages and horses, and locust beans, locust flowers and locust worms can be used as toys for children.At the same time, although the location is a back alley, and Xitong Street is behind the Huguo Temple—there is a temple fair every July and August—it is not inconvenient to buy things.So, he decided to buy that house.

The house itself is not very smart.First, it has no pattern.The courtyard is a long strip that is long from east to west and short from north to south, so the north and south houses cannot face each other; if they are facing each other, the courtyard will be squeezed into a slit, rather like the aisle between cabins on a ship.There are two rooms in the south, so they are close to the street gate, while five rooms in the north face the wall of the south courtyard.The two east rooms are the east end of the yard; there is a small open space to the north of the east room, which is a toilet.Outside the wall of the south courtyard is an old incense and candle shop's yard where Buddhist incense is dried, and there are several willow trees.Fortunately, there are these few trees, otherwise there would be nothing outside the south wall of Qi's house, it would be like a house on a train station, with the wilderness just outside the door.Second, the house is not well built.Except for the wood in the north house which is passable, there is nothing to praise about the rest.In the hands of Old Man Qi, the gable wall of the south house and the back wall of the east house collapsed more than twice, and the boundary wall—all made of broken bricks—is inevitable during the rainy season every year.The courtyard is a patch of land with no pathways; during the rainy season, the water in the courtyard can be more than a foot deep, and you have to wear bare feet when you go in and out.

Old man Qi liked this house very much.The main reason is that this is a property he bought himself, no matter how bad the layout and architecture are, it is something to be proud of.Secondly, since he owned this house, his population has increased unabated, and today there are four generations living under one roof!The feng shui here must be very good!When the eldest Sun Ruixuan got married, the entire house was completely overturned.This time it was Qi Tianyou's effort - he wanted to turn the property purchased by his father into a fortress that could be handed down from generation to generation, good enough to be worthy of the elderly and worthy of his children and grandchildren.All the bad wood was replaced, all the broken bricks were replaced with whole bricks, and all the places where the wood was seen were painted.After this modification, although the layout of the house is still not decent, it has actually become one of the best houses in the Lambsfold.Old man Qi looked at the new house and sighed with satisfaction.After he passed his sixtieth full life and decided to retire, all his work was devoted to beautifying the yard.At the bottom of the south wall, he gradually planted begonias, hostas, hydrangeas, and saxifrage.In the middle of the courtyard, he kept four large pots of pomegranates, two pots of oleander, and many small plants that bloomed without any effort.In front of the south house, he also planted two jujube trees, one bearing big white dates and the other bearing sweet and sour "lotus seeds".

Looking at his house, his children and grandchildren, and the flowers and plants he planted by hand, Old Man Qi felt that his hard work all his life was not in vain.Beiping City is an immortal city, and his house is also an eternal house. Now, God Bless the old couple is living in the south room with Xiao Shun'er.The five north rooms are the living room in the middle; there is a small door in the east and west of the living room, leading to the bedrooms of Ruixuan and Ruifeng; Ruiquan's, the west end is Mrs. Qi's bedroom.The east room is used as a kitchen, and stores grain, rice, briquettes, and firewood; in winter, pomegranate trees and oleanders are also stored.At the beginning, when he bought this house, he had to rent out both the east house and the south house so that the courtyard would not be too empty; today, his own children and grandchildren almost can't live there.The house is full of people from his own family, and the old man's heart is full of joy.He is like an old tree, full of branches in the yard, and the flowers and leaves on each branch are born from him!

In the alley, he also felt proud.For forty or fifty years, he has always lived here, while his neighbors always move in today and move out tomorrow, and few of them can live for ten or twenty years at a time.They live, they die, they prosper, they decline, only old man Qi took root here alone.He will not curry favor with those who leave this back alley because of their prosperity; he is powerless to help those who can’t even live in this back alley because of their family’s decline; The old man in the alley.Newly moved people must come to him first to pay homage to the neighbors; neighbors have weddings and funerals, and he must sit at the head; he is the old man in this area, representing a prosperous population and a prosperous family!

In his pride, he didn't dare to dream about it.He only hopes to set up a wedding shed in his long yard to celebrate his eightieth birthday.He doesn't want to think about things after the age of eighty; if God teaches him to live, that's fine; if God takes him back, he closes his eyes and leaves, and teaches his children and grandchildren to send him out of the city gate in white mourning go!In the chest of the gourd, Lucy has a door, which has been blocked.There are two gates in the south of the road, both of which are Qingshui Ridge Gate Towers, and the houses are quite neat.There are two gates in the north of the road, and the yards are not big, but there are three or four families living in each.If the south of the road is a noble area, the north of the road is a poor area.There are three gates on the east side of the road, and the south end is Qi's house.The yard separated from the Qi family by a wall is also a long strip, where three families live.In the past, there was another family with two yards inside and outside, and more than twenty rooms. There were at least seven or eight families living there, and their personalities were very uneven.This can be regarded as a large courtyard.Mrs. Qi doesn't think highly of this yard, so he doesn't treat the people in that yard as neighbors; to cover up the real reason, he always says that only half of that yard is in the "chest" and more than half is in the waist of the gourd, so we can't Counted as close neighbors, it seems that the "chest" and "waist" are separated by more than ten miles.

Except for the Dazayuan, Elder Qi also has different levels of treatment for the other five courtyards.The most important thing he pays attention to is the first one in Western Digital - house No. 1 - the door of Lunan.A family surnamed Qian lived in this gate. They moved once, but they moved back soon. They have lived here for fifteen or sixteen years.Old Qian and his wife were of the same age as Tianyou, and his two young masters had studied with Ruixuan.Now, the eldest young master is married, and the second young master is also engaged but not yet married.In the eyes of ordinary people, the members of the Qian family are a bit strange.They are extremely polite to people, no matter who they are, but they also keep a considerable distance, as if they look up to everyone and look down on everyone.The clothing of their family is always ten or twenty years behind. Even now, Mr. Qian still wears a red woolen hood in winter.The women of his family never seem to go out of the door; when necessary, they have to buy some needles, thread or vegetables at the door, and they only open the door a little, as if they are afraid of revealing some secrets in the door.Although their men also came out and in like other families, they acted as if they were paying attention, so as to make others unpredictable.Mr. Qian didn't do anything, and rarely went out; only when his face was a little drunk, he would stand by the door in old clothes for a while, looking up at the Sophora japonica flowers, or smiling at the children.How are their families?What joy do they have in life?What are the pains in life?No one knows.There is almost never any sound in their yard.When there were people getting married, people going to a funeral, or people coming to run a dry boat or play monkeys in the alley, everyone came out to watch the excitement, only the door of Qian's house was still tightly closed.They don't seem to be living, but they seem to be hiding from debts or taking refuge all year round.

In the whole alley, only old man Qi and Ruixuan often come to the Qian family and know some "secrets" of the Qian family.In fact, the Qian family has no secrets.Old man Qi knew this very well, but he didn't want to tell others.In this way, he seemed to have a responsibility to keep secrets for the Qian family, and thus increased his status. The yard of the Qian family is not big, but it is full of flowers.Many of Old Man Qi's flower seedlings and seeds come from here.In Mr. Qian's room, apart from fresh flowers, there are old books, broken calligraphy and paintings.His daily work is watering flowers, reading books, painting, and reciting poems.When he was particularly happy, he only drank two cups of Yinchen wine made by himself.Mr. Qian is a poet.His poems are not for others to read, but only for himself to chant.His life is arranged according to his ideals, regardless of whether it works or not.Sometimes he was hungry, but he didn't make a sound when he was hungry.His elder and young master taught a few hours in middle school, and he was quite paternal in his taste.The second young master is the least poetic among them, he drives a car.Mr. Qian never objected to his son driving a car, but he just didn't like the smell of gasoline on his body; therefore, the second young master didn't come home very often, although he didn't have any disagreements with his father because of the smell of gasoline.As for the women of the Qian family, they didn't stay out of the house because the men were authoritarian, but because their clothes were too old and they felt ashamed of themselves.Mr. Qian and his son are definitely not willing to oppress anyone, but their money ability and interest in life make them pay no attention to clothing, so the women in the family have no choice but to hide their flaws and not go out to expose their defects. .

During the relationship between old man Qi and Mr. Qian, old man Qi always came to see Mr. Qian, but Mr. Qian never went to Qi's house.If old man Qi brought a bottle of wine and gave it to Mr. Qian, Mr. Qian would immediately send his son some gift that was two or three times more expensive than a bottle of wine; he would never receive anything in vain.His hands are never free, because he never keeps accounts, does not keep accounts.If he has money, he will spend it, if he has no money, he will think about poetry in a daze.His young master also has such a temper.He would rather spend more hours practicing painting at home than teaching more hours to increase his income.

In terms of personality, knowledge, and taste, Old Man Qi has no possibility of becoming friends with Mr. Qian.However, they actually became good friends.As for Old Man Qi, he, firstly, needs an old friend so that he has a place to play his old millet and rotten sesame seeds.Second, he admired old man Qian's knowledge and character.As for Mr. Qian, he has never been willing to curry favor with anyone in his life, but it is inconvenient for him to refuse anyone who is willing to associate with him.He is very noble, but he has no bad habit of looking down on people.If anyone would come and see him, he was a most amiable fellow. Although he is fifty-seven or eighteen years old, Mr. Qian Moyin's hair is not very gray.Short, quite fat, with a mouth full of glossy black teeth, he looks so thick and cute.With a round face and big eyes, it is easy to close your eyes and think about things.His voice is always low, but his tone is always so humble and kind, which makes people feel comfortable.He talked about poetry, calligraphy and painting with old man Qi, but old man Qi didn't understand.Old man Qi told him how his great-grandson got measles again, and how his second-grandson-in-law burned the nose of the plane again, Mr. Qian was not interested.However, the two seem to have a tacit understanding: if you speak, I will listen; if I speak, you will listen.Qian Moyin taught Old Man Qi how to read paintings, and Old Man Qi nodded in praise.Mr. Qi reported the trivial matters at home, and Mr. Mo Yin would answer with simple sentences such as "How is it?" "Really?" "Yes!" and so on.If he really had no words to answer, he would close his eyes and nod again and again.In the end, the conversation between the two people inevitably shifted to planting flowers and plants, and both of them could talk endlessly, and both felt rare happiness.Although the old man Qi's interest in the pomegranate tree is to grow a few more large pomegranates, and Mr. Qian is interested in the redness of the flowers and the beauty of the pomegranates, but the cultivation methods need to learn from each other. After talking about the flowers and plants, Mr. Qian often invites the old man to have a simple meal, and the women of the Qian family can also take the opportunity to talk to the old man about the family's family problems. When writing poems and paintings, there are also problems such as oil, salt, sauce and vinegar. Sometimes Ruixuan accompanied his grandfather to visit Qian's house, and sometimes he came alone.When he came by himself, nine times out of ten he had lost his temper with his wife or someone else.He is a person who can control himself with reason, so even though he gets angry occasionally, he doesn't want to yell and make nonsense.He would sneak to Qian's house without saying a word, talk with Qian's father and son about things that are far from family affairs and state affairs, and then dispel the bad breath in his chest. Apart from the Qian family, Elder Qi also likes the Li family with the number two house number opposite the Qian family.In the whole alley, only the old man of the Li family is of the same generation as the old man Qi, and his stature is only less than an inch shorter than the old man Qi - it is not that the fourth master Li is so shorter than the old man Qi, but his back. A little more curved.The emblem of his profession is a large meat bun around his neck.Twenty or thirty years ago, there were quite a few people in Peking with meat buns on their necks.They are in a class of their own, specializing in moving people.If people want valuable things, such as large magnetic bottles, clocks, and wooden utensils of nanmu or rosewood, they will bundle them up, put a narrow wooden plank on their necks, and carry them away.They have to walk very steadily, and they have to have a lot of strength in their necks, so that they can bear the weight without damaging things.People in this line of work are called "wobo's". Since the existence of scooter, people in this industry have gradually changed "wo" to "pull". Although young people still eat in this industry, they don't have the meat bun around their necks anymore.Fourth Master Li must have been very respectable when he was young, even though he had a meaty neck and his back was bent a little long ago.Now, his age is about the same as that of old man Qi, but his long face has not many wrinkles, his eyes are still not blurry, when he smiles, his eyes and teeth are shining, so that people can still see a little bit of him when he was young beautiful. There are three families living in the courtyard of No. 2, and the house belongs to Fourth Master Li.Old man Qi likes Fourth Master Li not because Fourth Master Li is not a homeless vagrant, but because Fourth Master Li is a good person.In his career, he is always dedicated, and he is very restrained in his money; sometimes when he moves poor neighbors, he only needs a meal instead of a salary.Outside of work, especially in times of disaster, he will always serve everyone automatically.For example: when there is a mutiny or a military disaster in a local area, he always takes a risk and goes to the street to inquire about the news, and then returns to report to everyone how to prepare.The city gate was about to be closed, so he shouted twice under the big locust tree: "The city is going to be closed! Prepare some food quickly!" When the disaster was over and the city gate opened again, he went to shout again: "It's all right in peace!" Don't worry!" Although Old Man Qi regards himself as an old man in this area, in terms of serving everyone, he is ashamed to be inferior to Fourth Master Li.Therefore, in terms of age and moral character, he couldn't help but respect Fourth Master Li.Although the young master of the Li family is also "woe-neck", although the Li family's yard is a dirty and messy small yard.If two old people meet under the big locust tree and settle down, the younger generations of the two families must quickly take out the stools, because they know that most of the conversations between the two old people started fifty or sixty years ago, and it takes at least some time to spend money. A couple of hours.Fourth Master Li's next door to No. 4, and Old Man Qi's next to No. 6 are also small courtyards.No. 4 lived with Mr. and Mrs. Sun Qi, a barber; Widow Ma and her grandson, who made a living by going down the street called "Turntable Chatterbox"; .No. 6 is also a miscellaneous courtyard, and people's occupations are slightly higher than those of No. 4: Ding Yuehan lived in the north room, believed in Christianity, and worked as a stage setter in the "British Mansion" in Dongjiaomin Lane.In the north ear room lived Mr. and Mrs. Liu, a shed builder. While building sheds for others, Mr. Liu also practiced boxing and "lion".In the east room lived Xiaowen and his wife, both of whom could sing opera. On the surface, they were playing for tickets, but secretly they used the "black pestle"①. For people on the 4th and 6th, Old Man Qi always maintains an attitude of not leaving each other, helping each other as much as possible when there is something to do, and not disturbing each other when there is nothing to do.This is not the case for Li Siye, he is willing to help everyone, not only the people on the 4th and the 6th are his friends, even the 7th - the big courtyard that old man Qi doesn't like - is often favored by him. assist.However, even in this way, Fourth Master Li was often accused and scolded by Fourth Mother Li.Li Sima, with white hair and a pair of nearsighted eyes, hardly ever goes a day without scolding that "old thing".Most of her scolding was because she thought that Fourth Master Li hadn't done his best to help his friends, and this kind of scolding became a kind of supervision for Fourth Master Li to act bravely.All the children in the alley, no matter how ugly they are or how dirty they are, are all Li Sima's "babes".For adults, although Li Sima was embarrassed to call out, she thought they and they should be her "big babies".Her eyes couldn't tell who was ugly and who was handsome, and her heart couldn't distinguish between rich and poor, old and young; she thought that all poor people were pitiful and lovely, and they all needed the help of their old couple.Therefore, sometimes the people in the alley have to stay away from old man Qi without respect, but always sincerely love old man Li and his wife; if they have any grievances, they go to Li Sima to report, and Li Sima immediately urges Li Siye to help, and Li Sima's sympathetic tears are both sincere and rich. No. 3, sandwiched between the Qian family and the Qi family, is the thorn in Qi's side.Before Qi's house was renovated, No. 3 was the most respectable house in the sheep pen.Even after the renovation of Qi's courtyard, the layout is still not as decent as No. 3's style.First, outside Gate No. 3, there is a screen wall under the old pagoda tree, which is painted black and white, with a two-foot-square big red blessing character painted in the middle.Outside the Qi family gate, there is no shadow wall, and no one in the whole alley has a screen wall!Second, on the gate tower, No. 3 is Qingshuiji, while Qi’s is Huaqiangzi.No. 3 and No. 3 are neat quadrangle houses with square bricks in the yard.Fourth, every summer on No. 3, Mr. Liu from No. 6 will build a pergola with new mats in the courtyard, and the shade of the Qi family is only provided by two jujube trees with little shadow.Old Man Qi couldn't help being jealous! When it comes to the way of life, Old Man Qi feels even more spiritually oppressed and disgusted.The owner of No. 3, Guan Xiaohe, has two wives, and the second wife is a Fengtian Dagu singer, You Tongfang, who was once popular for a while.Mr. Guan is already in his fifties, and he is about the same age as Qi Tianyou, but he still looks like a man in his thirties, and he is even prettier than a man in his thirties.Mr. Guan must shave every day and have his hair cut once every ten days. He pulls out one gray hair one at a time.His clothes, whether it is a Chinese suit or a suit, use the best materials as possible; even if the materials are not the best, they must be made in the most fashionable and suitable way.He is small, has a long face, small hands and feet, and every part of his body is not small, but all of them are well-proportioned.With well-proportioned features and limbs, a wonderful figure, and the most stylish clothing, he is quite like a gorgeous and smooth glass bead.Although he is small, he is very imposing, and he usually makes friends with celebrities and nobles.There was a cook, a well-behaved footman, and a little mother who always wore satin shoes.When visitors come, he always sends people to Bianyifang to order Hanging Roast Duck, and to Laobaofeng to order Yuannian Zhuyeqing.When playing cards, at least forty-eight rounds should be paid attention to, and drum books and Erhuang should be sung before and after meals.He is quite polite to the neighbors who have some status, but apart from the usual weddings and funerals, he has no close contacts.As for Fourth Master Li, Master Liu, Sun Qi who shaved his head, and Xiao Cui, he only saw their occupations, and never regarded them as human beings. "Old Liu, come to dismantle the ceiling tomorrow!" "Fourth Master, come to Dongcheng in the second half of the day to pick up something for me, don't miss it!" "Xiao Cui, if you run so slowly, I won't take your car ! Do you hear?" To them, he always gave simple and authoritative orders like this. Mrs. Guan is a tall woman, almost fifty years old, and she likes to wear red clothes, so she is nicknamed Da Chibaoer.Chibaoer is a kind of small melon. After it became popular, children in Peiping played with it.This nickname is quite appropriate, because after the red bag is rubbed by children, the skin will wrinkle, revealing the black seeds inside.Mrs. Guan also has a lot of wrinkles on her face, and there are many freckles on her nose. Although she still wears powder and red, she can't hide the creases and black spots on her face.She is more imposing than her husband, and she resembles the Empress Dowager in every move.She likes and communicates better than Mr. Guan; she can play mahjong for two days and nights in one go, while still maintaining the arrogance of the Queen Mother. Mrs. Guan only gave birth to two daughters for Mr. Guan, so Mr. Guan married You Tongfang again, hoping to have a fat son.You Tongfang has not yet given birth to a son.But when she quarreled with the eldest wife, she acted as if she had ten sons as backup.She is not beautiful, but her eyebrows are very charming; her eyebrows run around her face all day long.The two ladies, Gaodi and Zhaodi, are both good in nature, but under the guidance of the two mothers, they can not only groom, but also have eyebrows all over their faces. Old Man Qi is jealous of No. 3's house, but also despises all the men and women of No. 3.What made him particularly unhappy was that the second granddaughter-in-law's costumes were in competition with the Guan family's women, and the third son Ruiquan often had some contacts with Miss Zhaodi.Therefore, when he loses his temper, he always points to the southwest and says to his children and grandchildren: "Don't imitate them! You won't learn well!" will kick him out.