Chapter 9 08

Qi Ruixuan was very troubled.Mid-August was my grandfather's seventy-fifth birthday.In previous years, he would order three or four tables with sea cucumber, whole chicken, and whole fish to entertain relatives and friends for a lively day.What about this year?You can't discuss this matter with the old man, because once you discuss it, you have the intention of not entertaining relatives and friends, and the old man may agree on the surface, but he is very unhappy in his heart-the old man's age is like a month card at the end of the year. One is short, and it seems that there are only a few left; therefore, old people pay special attention to their birthdays, because the distance between birthdays and funerals is not very far.

"I see," Xiao Shun'er's mother thought a lot before suggesting to her husband, "we should do as in previous years. You don't know, if this year passes by without a sound, the old man will definitely be ill! Do you believe me? Do not believe!" "As for that serious?" Ruixuan smiled bitterly. "Didn't you hear the old man blowing the wind?" Xiao Shun'er's mother's Peking dialect, when it comes to being confident and confident, has a rich vocabulary and a light and crisp tone, just like Qing Ye's little clapper. "For the past two days, I have been saying that as long as the shops on the street are closed, nothing will happen. Isn't this telling us? The old man can live for a few more years if he lets go of his work (as much as possible) Besides, if we don't plan to order some wine and meat, if relatives and friends come, won't we catch them blind?"

"They will come here on their own initiative without waiting to be invited, in this year?" "That's hard to say! No matter how chaotic the world is, we people in Peiping must never forget etiquette!" Rui Xuan said nothing more.On weekdays, he is very proud that he was born in Beiping, that he can speak the national language that complies with the whole country, that he can use the Royal Garden Altar built by the emperor as a park, that he can read rare books, and that he can hear the most insightful speeches. , can also gain a lot of insight.Even the pawns and hawkers have a different style!Today, after hearing Yunmei's words, he hated the people of Peiping a little bit, no matter how chaotic the world is... oh, I have to celebrate my birthday after being a subjugated slave!

"Don't worry about it, leave it all to me! Even if it's eating fried noodles, anyway, relatives and friends are here, so you won't be dumbfounded! What the old man cares about is the person. If you give him delicacies from mountains and seas, he will eat too. Not a few mouthfuls!" After Xiao Shun'er's mother finished speaking, she felt very satisfied, and shot around with her big watery eyes, as if heaven, earth, and hell were all under her understanding and management. Qi Tianyou went home to take a look.His face was a little thinner, with an unnatural smile on his face. "Almost all the shops are open, but we can pick out a cover to go. If there is business or not, it always feels better to open the door!" He reported to Old Man Qi apologetically.

"Just open the door! Once the shop is opened, there will be a market, and it will be obviously peaceful!" Elder Qi also had a smile on his face. After striking up a few words with the old father, Tianyou went to see his wife in his room.Although she was still ill, but she was very delicate in her heart, she asked about state affairs, and then asked about the situation of the shop.Tianyou is not very clear about state affairs, but only trusts the chamber of commerce. As soon as the chamber of commerce persuades everyone to donate, he knows that a war is about to happen. As soon as someone from the chamber of commerce comes forward to maintain law and order, he knows that the ground is about to stop.This time, apart from some private activities of several important figures in the chamber of commerce, the chamber of commerce itself did not express anything, and the opening of the shops was notified by the police.Therefore, Tianyou can't say exactly what the overall situation is.

As for whether the business is good or bad, it depends entirely on the chaos. The difficulty for Tianyou is that because he doesn't know what the current situation is, he dare not decide whether to buy some goods right away. "When the Japanese devils enter the city, there won't be any business for a while. If the business is slow, the price of the goods must be low. It stands to reason that I should buy some goods. When the situation calms down a little bit and the goods are bullish, we will make a profit! But, I I don’t dare to be the master, and my employers may not be willing to pay, so I can only stare blankly! I don’t need to mention how unhappy I am! The trouble this time is different from any other time. This time, the Japanese devils beat us, not us. Hit yourself, who knows what shit they're going to do?"

"Let's take it day by day, don't worry!" "Don't worry? The shop makes money, so I can get more points!" "What can we do if the sky falls on everyone?" Speaking of this, Ruixuan came in and mentioned the matter of celebrating his grandfather's birthday.Father frowned.In his heart, celebrating his old father's birthday is almost the same as offering sacrifices to the God of Wealth on the 26th day of the Lunar New Year, and he must not pass it carelessly.However, when the Japanese soldiers had just entered the city, he really couldn't cheer up.After thinking for a long time, he said in a low voice: "You can figure it out, what to do!" Rui Xuan lost his mind.

Everyone was stunned and had nothing to say, although there were thousands of words in their hearts.At this time, Xiaowen next door played the huqin, and Mrs. Xiaowen yelled a few times, with sound but no words, as if shouting at the root of the city. "Still thinking about doing this!" Ruixuan said with a frown. "He pointed at this to eat!" Tianyou also hated singing, but he couldn't help but tell the truth.Unintentionally, he has grasped the root of people's emotions-teaching that anyone who is under control has to eat! Ruixuan slipped out.He felt suffocated in the room.This sentence from his father taught him to see Dante's hell, even though it is hell, those ghosts can still make it very lively!He himself has to live, so he has to squeeze around with ghosts!

"Ruixuan!" Tianyou called out, rushing to the door of the house. "Go to school and have a look!" Xiao Shun'er was beating the half-red dates on the tree with a small brick.Ruixuan stopped, and first said to Xiao Shun'er: "You can't beat Zao'er, and if you accidentally break the glass of grandma's house, you'll be happy!" "There is no one at the door, there is no candy seller, and why don't you teach them to eat two jujubes?" Xiao Shun'er said aggrievedly. Grandma answered the call in the house: "Teach him to call! The child can't eat anything these days!"

Xiao Shun'er was very proud, and boldly threw the brick higher. Ruixuan asked his father, "Which school?" "The one in the church. I was passing there just now, and when I heard the bell ring, it means that classes have already started." "Okay! I'll go and have a look!" Ruixuan was about to go out for a walk, to let go of the stuffiness in his chest. "I'll go too!" Xiao Shun'er planted a lot of leaves but not a single jujube, so he changed his plan and wanted to go shopping with his father. Grandma replied again: "You can't go! There are Japanese devils on the street! Teach grandpa to beat you two jujubes! Be good!"

Ruixuan didn't bother to put on his hat, and hurried out. He is teaching at two places.One is a municipal middle school, with eighteen hours, all in English.The other is a cram school established by the Catholic Church, where he only teaches Chinese for four hours.In addition to the four-hour class, he is not for the meager remuneration, but is willing to learn a little Latin and French with priests of Italian and other nationalities in the school.He was a man who would not teach his brain to rust. The street hasn't changed.He very much hoped that there would be shocking changes in the street, so that he could grit his teeth, care about his parents and children, and go to the national calamity.However, the street was still the same, except that there were few pedestrians, cars and horses, which made him feel lonely, empty, and restless.As his father said, almost all the shops were open, but there was no business.Those honest and well-behaved shop assistants sat quietly at the counter, some dozed off, and some stared out the door.There are foreign cars at the entrance of the alley, and the drivers are not as playful and joking as usual, some are leaning against the wall, and some are sitting on the dustpan of the car.The cloak of shame is silence. At the intersection of Huguosi Street, he saw two armed Japanese soldiers standing in the middle of the street like a pair of short and wide bears.His head was sweating.Lowering his head, he walked over from the sidewalk, closely brushing the door of the shop.He felt like he was stepping on cotton.After walking a long way, he dared to raise his head.As if someone had called him, he bowed his head again; he felt ashamed of his name. When I arrived at the school, the class had already started, but the students were not all there.There is no homework for him today, so he went to see Father Dou in Italy.Normally, Father Dou is a very kind person; today, in Qi Ruixuan's eyes, he seems very cold and arrogant.Ruixuan didn't know if this was the truth, or if he was nervous because of his bad mood.After saying a few words, the priest pointed out Ruixuan's absence from class with a straight face.Ruixuan held back his breath and said, "Under such circumstances, I think the class must be suspended!" "Ouch!" The priest's air was very haughty. "Usually you are very patriotic, but when the cannon fires, you all hide!" Ruixuan swallowed, and was stunned for a while.He held back his breath again.He felt that the priest's accusation was more or less reasonable, and the people of Peiping really lacked the adventurous spirit and heroism of the Westerners.The priest, since he represents God, should tell the truth.Thinking of this, he smiled, and then asked sincerely: "Father Dou! How do you think the Sino-Japanese war will develop?" The priest also wanted to laugh, but was stopped by a wave of contemptuous nerves. "I don't know! All I know is that changing dynasties is a common occurrence in Chinese history!" Ruixuan's face was burning hot.From the face of the priest, he saw the evil nature of human beings-worshiping victory (no matter what vicious means was used to achieve victory), while despising and slandering the loser.He walked out without saying a word. After walking more than half a mile, he turned back and wrote a note in the teachers' lounge, asking someone to give it to Father Dou—he would no longer come to teach. Walking out of the school again, he felt a little more relaxed in his heart.But after a while, he felt that there was really nothing to be proud of; a bird caught in a cage, although it is determined not to sing, what good is it?He has a headache.Frightened and wandering, he walked to the entrance of the small sheep pen, and there was a sudden commotion on the street. The cart pullers hurriedly pulled their carts into the alley, and the shopkeepers were busy putting up boards. A few patrolmen were chasing away pedestrians: "Don't Let's go! Go back! Go to the entrance of the alley!" The sound of the boards being lifted by the shopkeeper always gives people an unpleasant feeling no matter what time it is.Ruixuan was stunned.At a glance, he saw Inspector Bai.After rushing over, he asked, "Is it an air raid?" This was something he suddenly remembered, and it didn't have any special meaning.When he had asked, his heart suddenly brightened: "We have an air force, let's blow up Peking! We are willing to blow up with the Japanese!" He prayed secretly. Inspector Bai's smile is a mixture of shame, resignation, and many unspeakable grievances: "What air raid? Clean the street! Here--" His eyes quickly swept around, and then lowered his voice, "Here The Japanese master cleans the streets!" Ruixuan's heart darkened again, and he walked into the alley with his head down. Under the big locust tree, Xiao Cui's car was lying crookedly.Xiao Cui's face was blue and red with anger, and he was pointing fingers at Fourth Master Li, "Did you see that? I just pulled the car out and cleaned the street again! How can I teach people how to mess around? Kill me with a single knife, and then I'll go to hell!" Simply! I can't stand being so stupid!" Fourth Master Li got the news late today, so he greeted Ruixuan apologetically, "What's the matter on the street? Uncle Qi!" "Have you eaten yet? Fourth Grandpa?" Ruixuan stood still, forced a smile and said, "Probably important people from Japan passed by here, clean the street!" "Didn't the city gate be closed?" In Li Siye's mind, as long as the city gate was not closed, the matter would not be very serious. "No way!" "I haven't seen this formation in almost thirty years!" Fourth Master Li sighed. "Back when there was an emperor, the emperor came out to clean the streets! Do the Japanese want to be our emperor?" Ruixuan had nothing to answer, so he gave a wry smile. "Mr. Qi!" Xiao Cui pulled Ruixuan with his black hands, and printed two finger prints on the coat. "Look, what's going on? I'm going to be a soldier if I'm going to grind people like this all the time!" Ruixuan liked the relationship between Fourth Master Li and Cui, but he couldn't answer their questions. The four mothers came out from the door, dragging their broken shoes and squinting their big short-sighted eyes. "Who said to be a soldier? Is it Xiao Cui again? You boy, let go of your wife and go to be a soldier? You really have it! Leave your wife to me to watch? Go home and sleep, and wait for the shop to open." door, and then go pull the cart properly!" "Fourth Mom, who knows when the shop will be closed! As soon as the sun goes down, it's time for martial law again, who should I drag?" "It doesn't matter whether you borrow salt or vinegar, I don't allow you to talk nonsense here!" Xiao Cui knew that it would not be cheap to resist the four mothers, so he pulled the car into the yard angrily. "Look at you old thing!" The four mothers shifted the target of the attack. "The shops are all closed, why don't you call out to teach everyone to know?" It was only here that she saw Ruixuan: "Yo! Uncle Qi, look at me who is blind! Uncle Qi , shutting down the city for a while, cleaning the streets for a while, what's going on?" Rui Xuan had nothing to say.He hates those who are in power in North China. They usually put the people in jars. Once they are in danger, they walk away and leave the tightly sealed jars to the enemy!With thousands of years of culture and history, people's hearts are absolutely usable, but... "I can't tell! I hope it will be better in a few days!" He could only be perfunctory like this, so that he could strike up a conversation and walk away. After entering the house, he saw old man Qi, Tianyou, Ruifeng and his wife chatting around the jujube tree.Ruifeng held several half-red dates in his hand, and while eating, he said: "That's all right! It doesn't matter whether it's Japanese or Chinese, as long as someone is in charge, everything can be solved. Once there is a solution , the hearts of the Japanese and ours will be at peace!" As he spoke, he pushed the date stone with his tongue and spat it on the ground; he also deftly threw the other date high up and caught it with his mouth. Ruifeng looks dry, and there seems to be no oily water anywhere.Therefore, he pays special attention to modification, and he spares no effort to repair and repair the natural things that can be artificially repaired.His hair was permanently parted down the middle, pomade and pomade got to the point where it was going to run down.His little dry face is always extremely clean-shaven, like a freshly peeled water chestnut; his face is smeared with jade oil.The nails on his dry hands are always neatly polished and oiled.His clothes are all well-made and bright, and if you hang out on the bridge, people will always think that he is playing strings for some red girl. Or because his head is small, his brain is not big. What he pays attention to is always the most practical things and problems, and the path he takes is always the shortcut that saves the most footsteps.He has no ideals. Now, he is the school director of a middle school. Both Rui Xuan and Rui Quan look down on the second child.But old man Qi, Tianyou, and Mrs. Tianyou all liked him very much, because his realism made the old people feel that he was safe and reliable, and would not cause trouble outside.If he hadn't married that modern lady out of love, the old people would definitely send him to live in the family. He is so good at shopping, sociable, and so good at talking about mother-in-law and seven aunts and eight old aunts.Unfortunately, he married such a wife.He is practical and she is selfish; when the two are combined into one, the old people see something wrong, and the second child loses the most important position in the family.In order to retaliate for this failure, he deliberately didn't care about family affairs, and waited until his elder brother and sister-in-law bought expensive things, or handled things wrongly, then he criticized and even attacked in a straightforward manner. "Brother!" Ruifeng called very kindly, showing the joy in his heart: "Our school has decided to use the savings to maintain the current situation. Everyone—regardless of the principal, teachers, and staff—will take 20 yuan a month to maintain for the time being. Fee. Probably you do the same. Twenty yuan is not enough for me to smoke in a car! But, after all, this is a solution; isn’t it? I heard that Japanese military and political dignitaries are meeting at the Japanese embassy today. The person in charge of China and Japan will be announced soon. Once someone is in charge, I think the funds will be settled, and the maintenance fee may not be paid for a long time. Come on, I finally have a clue; who cares who organizes the government? , anyway, we can earn money to eat!" Ruixuan smiled generously, not daring to express his opinion.Between father and son and brother, he knows that silence is sometimes the safest. Old man Qi nodded again and again, completely agreeing with what the second grandson said.But he didn't say anything, because the second granddaughter-in-law was also on the sidelines, and it was inconvenient for him to praise his grandson in public, and increase the pride of their young couple. "Did you go to church? How was it?" Tianyou asked Ruixuan. Ruifeng hastily inserted his mouth: "Brother, that school is your base! No one dares to say what the future of public schools—or should be said, schools run by Chinese people—is. Hardcore crops! You should exercise immediately, and you will get a few more hours! Foreigners will never teach you to get maintenance fees!" Originally, Ruixuan wanted not to tell his family about his behavior at school just now, and he would tell everyone later when he found something else to make up for the loss.After the second child made such a pass, he lost his temper.He was still smiling, but the smile was ugly, and he said in a very low voice, "I've already quit those four hours!" "Before he could say anything, he shut his mouth again.On weekdays, he and the third child often quarreled; the third child was not afraid of him, and he was not afraid of the third child; the quarrel always ended without result.For the boss, he only dared to attack secretly, but did not dare to make noise in the open; he was a little afraid of the boss.Today, seeing that Ruixuan's expression was not quite right, he quickly shut up. Old man Qi was very dissatisfied with the method of his eldest grandson pushing the steamed buns out, but it was inconvenient to say anything, so he pretended not to hear. Tianyou knew that the eldest son had a sense of proportion in every move, and also knew that a person must have advances and retreats when doing things in society, and advances and retreats are determined by the blink of an eye, and he does not want others to ask why.Therefore, he was very afraid that others would question Ruixuan, so he hurriedly said: "Anyway, it's only four o'clock, it's okay! Boss, take a rest!" Xiao Shun'er's mother was working in the east room, her hands were wet and red, she wiped the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand, and poked her probe out of the door.She couldn't hear everyone's conversation in the courtyard clearly, but she felt something was wrong intuitively.Seeing her husband walking towards the north room, she asked, "Is there mung bean soup that has cooled down, do you want it?" Her tone was full of apology, as if she had done something to make everyone unhappy.Ruixuan shook his head, and went into the third child's room.The third child was lying on the bed, reading a thread-bound book -- the foreign books were all burned by the elder brother. First, he came because he was bored, and second, he wanted to find out why the thread-bound book was safe, so he picked up a book.After reading it for a long time, he realized that it was a copy of "University Yanyi".Holding his breath, he slowly read those large characters.The words are clearly printed, but they seem to be like some old supporting actors on the stage, wearing dilapidated clothes, pretending to twist square steps there, not at all energetic.When he read science books in foreign languages ​​or Chinese, the tight, small characters on the books were black and bright like little fleas.He frowned, caught them with his eyes, and caught them one by one in his mind.He needs to spend a lot of energy and eyesight, but after reading a paragraph, he will get a whole piece of knowledge, which makes his heart happy, and his brain seems to be getting more and more powerful.Those small words and clear diagrams, after he understood them, not only eased his heart, but also taught his imagination-from those small words and diagrams, he thought of the order, greatness, subtlety, and beauty of the universe.If when playing basketball, he feels that his body is full of strength and muscles, but his heart is empty; when it comes to reading, he forgets about his body, and only feels that all parts of the universe are full of subtle knowledge.Now, this old book with big characters makes him feel confused and doesn't know what it is talking about.He began to understand why the enemy was not afraid of thread-bound books. "Brother! Are you out?" He threw the book aside and sat up suddenly. Ruixuan told his younger brother what happened when he met Father Dou, and then added: "It's boring! But please feel better!" "I like you, brother, you still have such energy!" Ruiquan said excitedly. "Who knows what's the use of this kind of strength? How long can it last?" It's been a long time, it's hard to say; brother, you have suffered the loss of this family; even I, I am your burden!" "When I think of Father Dou's look, I really want to stamp my feet and go to China. Let's get angry! Even the priest looks down on us like this, and others can't imagine it! If we keep our heads down and pretend to be useless, I'm afraid no one in the world will sympathize with us and think highly of us!" "Even though you say that, brother, you keep stopping me!" "No, I won't stop you from leaving! Let me see if the time has come, I will let you go!" "Keep it a secret, don't even tell my sister-in-law." The third child said in a low voice. "certainly!" "I'm worried about Mom! Her body is so bad, I'm going to leave secretly, and she won't cry to death?" Ruixuan was stunned for a while before saying: "Then what can be done! If the country is destroyed, the family will be destroyed!"