Chapter 11 10

The sky in Peking is high again!Eight one three!The sound of artillery in Shanghai lifted the black clouds that had been pressing down on the people of Peking for a long time! Qi Ruixuan's brows were untied, with wavy lines of laughter forming on his fat face, unconsciously humming Yue Wumu's "Man Jianghong" in a low voice. Ruiquan grabbed Xiao Shun'er, danced in a circle in the yard, then lifted up the little girl, threw it out, and caught it again, which made the girl tremble and screamed, which frightened Xiao Shun'er's mother. . "Third child! What if you break her tender arms and legs!" Xiao Shun'er's mother protested loudly.

Old man Qi only knew that Shanghai was a place name, and he was not interested in the Shanghai Anti-Japanese War at all. He just sighed and said: "Doom! Doom! How many people will die here!" Tianyou was emotionally happy that China dared to fight Japan to the death, but intellectually worried about his own business: "It's over now, the goods are all from Shanghai!" Think for the country!" Ruiquan scolded his old man with a smile. "I didn't say it was bad to fight Japan!" Tianyou argued apologetically.Xiao Shun'er's mother was baffled, and it was inconvenient to inquire about it. Seeing that everyone was happy, she worked harder, and suggested a meal of dumplings stuffed with fennel.In the wrong way, Ruiquan thought that the sister-in-law was commemorating this day by eating dumplings, and praised her greatly. "Sister-in-law, I will help you pack!"

"You? Take a break! Hands that are used to playing ball can make dumplings? Don't put gold on your face!" When Mrs. Tianyou heard everyone's clamor, she also said, "What's the matter?" Ruiquan ran to the south room, opened the windows first, and then told his mother: "Mom! Shanghai is also fighting!" "Okay! Chairman Jiang will be Generalissimo?" "Yes! Mom, do you think we can win?" Ruiquan liked it so much that he forgot that his mother didn't understand military affairs. "Then who knows! Anyway, let's kill tens of thousands of little Japanese first!" "Yes! Mom, you are so insightful!"

"You want to eat dumplings, don't you?" "Sister-in-law's idea! She really knows everything!" "Help me up, I'll help her mix stuffing; she is too salty to mix stuffing!" "Mom, don't move, we have plenty of people! Even I will do it Woolen cloth!" "You?" Mom smiled.She slowly sat up by herself.Ruiquan hurried over to help, but didn't know where to put his hands. "Forget it! Leave me alone, I'll go to the ground! I've been much better in the past two days!" In fact, her illness is like summer rain, which comes and goes as soon as it is said.When she was in good spirits, she was almost a good person; but a sudden fit of discomfort made her have to hurry to sleep.

Slowly, she put on her shoes and stood up.Standing up, she was so short and thin, Ruiquan seemed to have never noticed; he was a little surprised.He loves his mother very much, but he never thought that his mother is such a little old lady.Look again, mother, grandfather, and father all look different.She is not from the Qi family, but she is his mother. He finds it strange, and somehow loves her even more.Looking again, her face was so yellow, and her ears were so thin that they were almost transparent, he suddenly felt sad.Shanghai is at war, and sooner or later he must run away from home; Shanghai is calling for him!After he's gone, who knows when he'll see his mother again?Is it possible to see her again?

"Mom!" he called out, wanting to tell her the secret in his heart. "what?" "Ah—it's nothing!" He ran to the courtyard, looked up at the high and blue sky, and exhaled. He went to the east room to have a look, and saw that the sister-in-law did not tolerate his gesture of helping to make dumplings, so she kept quiet and went to find the elder brother. "Brother! Should I go? Think about it, how many people will be needed when a war starts in Shanghai. I can't just sit at home and wait for the good news!" "Going to Shanghai?" "Yes! Before, I couldn't find my destination if I wanted to go; now that I have a place to go, why don't I go? If I don't go, I'm going to explode!"

"How do you get there? The Japanese are guarding Tianjin. You are young and strong, and you look like a student. The Japanese can easily let you pass? I don't worry!" "You are always such a mother-in-law, brother! This is an adventure at all. There is no way to think carefully about the matter! Slip out of Beiping and talk about it, take one step before planning the second step!" "Let's think about it carefully!" Ruixuan said apologetically. "How to go? How to make up? What to bring? You have to think about it!" "If that's the case, don't leave!" Ruiquan didn't get angry, but walked out impatiently.

Ruifeng sees the wind and steers a little bit.Seeing that most of the people liked the news of the war in Shanghai, he felt that he should also echo it.In his heart, he didn't think carefully about whether to fight well or not.He just wants his attitude not to be annoying to others. Ruifeng was about to praise the War of Resistance, but quickly changed his mind because his wife's tone was "different". Mrs. Ruifeng, at best, looks very rich; at worst, she is just a piece of meat.She is not tall and has no neck. At first glance, she looks like a beer barrel.As for the face, it was already stupid, but it was painted with color as much as possible, and the hair was permed like a chicken coop, which made it look even more stupid and scary.Ruifeng is dry and his wife is plump, so when Ruiquan is in a hurry, he calls them "the combination of hardness and softness".She is not just such a piece of meat, but a very selfish piece of meat.Her brain is perhaps a lump of fat, and her heart is at best an elephant's hoof.

"What can I drink in Shanghai?" Her thick lips moved lazily, her voice was not loud, as if her throat and eyes were covered with fat. "I haven't been to Shanghai yet! It's leveled by shelling, what should I do?" "It's not flat!" Ruifeng said with an apologetic smile on his face, "The war was fought in China, and the big foreign houses were all in the foreign concession. How could it be flattened? Even if it is unfortunately flattened, it doesn't matter; when we have money to go shopping , It has been repaired a long time ago; foreigners are so rich, they can repair it as soon as they say it, and tear it down as soon as they say it, very fast!"

"Anyway, I don't like to hear about wars being fought in Shanghai! Can't we fight wars after I've gone shopping?" Ruifeng was in a dilemma. He didn't have the power to stop the war, and he didn't want to offend his wife, so he dared not talk about the war in Shanghai. "If you have money, go shopping in Shanghai," the wife was not discouraged by Ruifeng's silence: "How can we be rich if you have a lot of money? You are unlucky if you marry! Look at this family, young and old, men and women are all stingy Ghost, even watching a movie is like committing some kind of crime! All day long, no talking, no laughing, no fun, always pouting like a funeral!" "Don't be so busy!" Ruifeng's clerk The smile on his face seemed to crack, and he said sincerely: "You wait for my things to get better, enough for us to spend, and then separate and move out!"

"Wait! Wait! Wait! Keep waiting! Wait until when?" Mrs. Ruifeng's fat face flushed, and oil came out of her nose. Chinese planes are dispatched!How high are the hearts of the people of Peking beating!Xiao Cui always heard the sound of an airplane, and raised his head to look for the sky.He saw an enemy plane, but he insisted that it was from China, arguing with Sun Qi with a blushing face: "I have nothing to say when it comes to shaving your head and face; you have been a teacher and an apprentice! When it comes to eyes, you have nothing to say." It's time for you to shut up; your family's eyes are a little nearsighted! I can see very clearly! The blue sky and white sun are painted on the wings of the plane; there's nothing wrong with that! Our plane can bomb Shanghai as well as Peking!" In Sun Qi's heart, he also liked that our plane could come to Peiping, but when Xiao Cui said it, he had to make a few excuses.When Xiao Cui attacked his short-sighted eyes, he gave up and went to work in the shop with a small white cloth bag in his hands.When he arrived at the shop, he expanded Xiao Cui's words and told the small merchants.He pressed his face with one hand, and shaved the face and under the chin with the other hand, and said in a low voice and earnestly: "I just saw seven of our bombers, they are so big! The blue sky and white sun are painted on the wings, very clear." It's gone!" Under the threat of his razor, no one dared to argue. Xiao Cui hummed a ditty and pulled the car out.At the entrance of the car, he still announced that he saw a Chinese plane.On the road, when he saw Japanese soldiers, he raised his face and ran away; after running quite a distance, he announced loudly: "Kill all of you who have forgotten for eight days!" Then, the matter of flying our plane over the sky , Tell the person in the car. For a long time, Fourth Master Li didn't respond to work—there were always gunshots outside the city, and even the patrolmen stopped their posts for a few days, so who would dare to move?Today, he should have the next job, not moving, but a funeral.His profession is "wobo'er", and in his later years, he also has to deal with funerals; he can not only tie up and move boxes, tables and chairs steadily, but of course he can also move coffins without any mishaps.At the entrance of Huguosi Street, the coffin was put on the bars.A handful of paper money flew into the air like a big white butterfly, and Fourth Master Li's sharp and clear voice shouted: "My family rewards you with eighty hanging money!" In a robe, he is full of energy, playing a ruler in his hand, as if he has forgotten all his worries and complaints. Fourth Mother Li stood close to the side of the road at the entrance of Xiaoyangpen, in order to see her husband's funeral—a matter of heavy responsibility—majestic.After wiping her eyes several times, she saw Fourth Master Li, and said with a smile: "Look at this old thing!" Master Liu, a shed craftsman, also has work to do.The police notified the houses with ceilings to remove the mats as soon as possible.The police did not tell everyone the reason for the demolition, but everyone guessed that the Japanese devils were afraid of bombing by the central government's planes; mat sheds are prone to fire.Master Liu was busy going out to dismantle the shed.Standing tall on the roof, he hoped to see our plane. Xiaowen and his wife actually came to the courtyard to adjust their voices today, it seems that there is no need to be ashamed to do it anymore. Even the old widow Ma of No. 4 came to the door to have a look.She is the most timid, since the fire of the Marco Polo Bridge, she has not stepped over the threshold of the street gate.She also forbade her grandson—nineteen-year-old Cheng Changshun—to go into business, lest he might make a mistake.Her hair was completely white, and her whole body was neatly tidied up. On her finger, she still wore a heavy, large, silver ring that was the same as forty years ago.Her appearance is more kind than Li Sima's; her heart is also very kind, similar to Li Sima's.However, in terms of actions, she is not as active and active as Li Sima, because she has been a widow since she was thirty-five years old, so she has to be calm and cautious. She has a little savings in her hand, but she never shows it.She lived very frugally, and taught her grandson to run a small business.Grandson Cheng Changshun's parents died when he was eight years old, so he followed his grandmother.He had a big head, and he spoke with a bit of a muffled nose, as if he had been suffering from a long-term cold.Because of his big head and his murmur when he speaks, he looks a little silly; in fact, he is not stupid.Grandma is very kind to him, she will make some oil and water for him every meal, and she herself will always be a vegetarian.Grandma thought a lot about choosing a career for him; in the end she bought him an old gramophone and a dozen or two old records, and taught him to go out and about in the last half of the day.Changshun likes this business very much, because he himself likes to sing operas.His business was his pastime.He can sing all the words and accents on all his records.When the film was broken and there was a break in the middle, he would fill it up with his own mouth.Sometimes, after half a dozen or a dozen films have been sung to others, they would bother him to sing a few lines loudly.Although he grumbles when he speaks, he does not sing like this; on the contrary, because of his nose, the end of his singing is often collected in the nasal cavity, which sounds very deep and powerful.His business was good, and there were several streets of people who waited for him and did not take care of others.His sniff became his trademark.His wish is to be able to sing blackheads on stage in the future, because he has a big head and a nasal voice.During this process, Changshun was extremely bored!Grandma neither allowed him to go out to the street, nor allowed him to play the gramophone at home.Whenever he was about to turn on the machine, his grandma would say, "Don't make a sound, Changshun, teach the little Japanese, it's good to hear!" Today, Changshun told his grandma: "It doesn't matter, I can go out and do business. Lah! Shanghai is also on the way. Our planes, a thousand, go out to bomb the Japanese devils! We must win! Once Shanghai wins, we will be safe in Peking!" Grandma didn't really believe Chang Shun's words, so she boldly went outside the door to investigate in person; it seemed as if Shanghai could be seen from outside the door. The old lady's white hair, under the sun, had a circle of silver light.The green color of the big locust tree shone on her face, which subtracted some of the yellow light from the skin, and painted some dark fine lines on the wrinkled places.There were no pedestrians and no movement in the alley. She stood alone for a while, then walked slowly back to the house. "How? Grandma!" Changshun asked eagerly. "It's nothing, maybe it's all right!" "As soon as the war starts in Shanghai, we will definitely win! Grandma, if you believe me, you will be right!" Changshun began to pack his tools and prepare to go out for business in the afternoon. In the whole alley, everyone was happy and ready to welcome the victory, only Guan Xiaohe was not very happy.His affairs have not yet come to light.If the matter has been decided, he can go to fish in troubled waters immediately, regardless of whether Shanghai will start a war or not.However, the matter has not been decided, and Shanghai is already fighting a war of resistance. If China wins, wouldn't he be ashamed for not hitting the fox?Unhappily, he decided to temporarily suspend activities for the past two days, and let's see what the situation looks like. Da Chi Bao didn't take it seriously: "What's the matter with you? Why did you slacken your energy at the beginning of the matter? The war in Shanghai? It's none of our business? With just a few soldiers in Nanjing, we can beat Japan? A joke! Another six Not even Nanjing!" The big red bag almost seemed to be possessed by an evil spirit.She thought that the property and enjoyment of the rest of her life depended on this, and she absolutely couldn't give up halfway. Coincidentally, John Ding, who lived on the 6th, came back.John Ding's father was a Christian who was killed by the Boxers in the year of Gengzi.The father was martyred, and the son was protected by foreigners; John entered the "British Mansion" as a handyman from the age of thirteen.Gradually, he was promoted to a stage setter, and he is now in his forties.Although it is not a very noble profession to set up a stage, in the eyes of the people in Xiaoyangpen, John Ding is different.He himself is also very good at bragging. When it comes to wealth, he tells people that he is a hereditary Christian. When it comes to occupation, he declares that he is doing foreign affairs in the British government-he always calls the embassy "the government" , because "Fu" is only inferior to "Gong".He lived in three main rooms at No. 6 Xiaoyangquan, unlike Sun Qi and Xiao Cui who only lived in one small house.His three rooms are all very clean, and they have some foreign decorations: there are many foreign books with the same content but different covers on the desk - the four Gospels and hymns; there are many dilapidated but usable beers in the cupboard glasses, champagne flutes, and various styles of glass bottles and coffee boxes.When it comes to clothing, he also has his peculiarities. He often puts the upper body of an old suit on a large shirt as a mandarin jacket—of course a foreign mandarin jacket. In Quan Hutong, he only had contacts with the Guan family.This is because: first, he looks down on other families, and everyone doesn't respect him very much, so there is no need to interact with each other; second, he thinks highly of the Guan family, and the Guan family can also appreciate his foreign style, which is already Lay the foundation of friendship, plus, a little butter, coffee, or real Oxford orange jam from the "fu", only the Guan family likes to ask for it, and understands how authentic they are, so the two sides are more Some relationship - he will always sell this kind of foreign goods to the Guan family fairly. This time, he only brought half a bottle of Scotch gray wine, intending to give it to Mr. Guan for free. If John Ding was setting up a table in a random western restaurant, the big red bag would definitely ignore him, even if he delivered butter and canned food every day.John Ding set up the stage in the British government, so there is a lot to say.If the eunuchs in the palace were originally disabled slaves and were treated differently because of their relationship in the palace, then Da Chibao should treat John Ding differently.She felt that John Ding himself and the things brought by John Ding were not surprising, but the three powerful words "British House" were worth noting.John Ding came from the British government, and those things came from the British government. This made Da Chibao feel that the Guan family had a connection with the British embassy, ​​a proud connection!Whenever she brings out coffee or jam to guests, she has to explain again and again: "This is brought out by the British House!" The word "British House" seems to stick in her mouth, like chewing gum sweet. Seeing John Ding come in with a wine bottle, she immediately stopped scolding her husband, and put all the smiles on her face that she could convey at that time: "Yo! John Ding!" She also likes the word "John" very much .Although they are not as grand and majestic as the "British Mansion", at least they can keep pace with "sardines" and "grey wine" and contain foreign flavors. Ding Yuehan, in his forties, has a clean-shaven face and a straight back. He never dares to look at people's eyes, but always pays attention to people's hands, as if they are always holding knives and forks in their hands.Hearing Da Chi Bao call him affectionately, he only smiled a little from his eyes - he was used to living in the British mansion, and he would never dare to laugh loudly. "What are you holding?" asked the big red bag. "Grey Qi! For you, Mrs. Crown!" "Send?" Her heart trembled.She likes cheap things very much.Taking it, she hugged the bottle to her breast like a nursing baby. "Thank you, John! What kind of tea do you drink? Fragrant tea? You often drink black tea in England. It's time for a change!" "Sit down, John!" Mr. Guan was also quite polite. "Any news? What does the British government think of the war in Shanghai?" "Can China beat Japan? Foreigners say that in about three months, at most half a year, the matter will be over!" John Ding said objectively, as if he was not Chinese but a British diplomat stationed in China . "How is it over?" "The Chinese army teaches others to defeat them!" When Da Chibao heard this, he was so excited that he almost dropped the wine bottle on the ground. "Guan Xiaohe! Did you hear that? Even though I'm an old woman, my knowledge is no lower than your men! Be brave and don't miss the opportunity!" Guan Xiaohe was stunned for a while, then smiled: "You are right! You are a thinking tank!"