Chapter 7 seven

A few opera lovers rented three rooms above the bookstore, and came here twice a week to gather and learn Peking Opera.They used to learn a few operas in Peking, and now they come to Chongqing to organize a box office. They only meet for a few hours a week, and the rest of the time, the room is empty. There are not many plays they can sing, and if they are all added together, they can't make up a play.After several gatherings, their interest in Peking Opera gradually faded, and many of them no longer wanted to sing.Even if they come to the box office, they are just playing mahjong.But they still pay the rent on time every month and occupy these three rooms, which means that they are all fanciers.

Baoqing had to find a place to live, he couldn't stay in a small hotel all the time.Chongqing is becoming more and more crowded every day, with boatloads of people arriving every day, and finding a place to live is almost impossible.There are three empty rooms on the upper floor of the bookstore, which is really the best.These three houses have to be brought over.But what about those fanciers? He went to see the box office manager.He was quick-witted and did not say a word about the empty house.It's just talking about how long the history of Peking Opera is, and how deep the master's skills in Peking Opera are.When he ran the docks in Beiping, Shanghai, and Nanjing, wasn't he already famous for being in charge, and famous all over the country?Didn't the newspapers in Nanjing make a sensation when the tickets were sold that time? (The fact is that the person in charge has never played tickets, but he is not willing to deny it.) From Beijing opera to drums.Baoqing was so eloquent, he brought the conversation to the point bit by bit, and the manager had no choice but to agree, saying that the big drum was second only to Beijing opera, but in fact, he had never heard a big drum in his life. Woolen cloth.Baoqing was a cultured person from Beiping, a city of culture, so he had to welcome Baoqing like an old friend.People who really understand art are always connected with each other.Half an hour later, the three boxes at the box office belonged to Baoqing.Another hour later, Baoqing moved in with his whole family—upstairs in Gushuchang.

Xiulian and Dafeng lived in one room, and Baoqing and his wife lived in one room, with the main room in the middle.The wimp doesn't like to temporarily set up a bed in the main room every night, and would rather live in a small shop and suffer.He was willing to suffer there, but fortunately, he was alone in a room, free and undisturbed. Baoqing is very satisfied with the new house.The rent is low, and the house is above the bookstore.What else is there to say?He doesn't need to run back and forth every day, and he can spare some time to do housework. He was only happy for a few days.He already knew that the Tang family couldn't let him go.The Tang family wanted to give Qin Zhu more money, but Fei Sang suddenly came up with another way to torture him.Of course, the Tang family also has difficulties with the Tang family. The most important thing is to earn money to support the family.They can't let Qinzhu break up with Baoqing, otherwise they won't get any money.They made up their minds to trouble Baoqing.The fat and big fourth grandma, her forte is to make people angry.Her man followed her example, and she also kept a close eye on her man, and she must not let him fail.

She sent men to find Bao Qing every three days to borrow money for Qin Zhu.The child always has two clothes to wear, and there is no food.Or maybe Qin Zhu was sick and couldn't play, so she had to ask for a day off. Baoqing endured all this helplessly.He understands that these bottomless pits cannot be filled.But he felt bad for them, the people of the Tang family don't know what contentment is!They wanted to pay in advance for the silver package of the piano beads, but he didn't agree.It didn't make them feel better either. The day the Fang family moved upstairs to the bookstore, they almost had a quarrel.Fourth Master Tang was like a weasel who came to pay New Year's greetings to the chicken. He came to the bookstore at dawn, his face was full of anger, and the corners of his mouth drooped listlessly.

He told Bao Qing bluntly that everyone in the Tang family felt that he was no joke and only wanted to settle his family comfortably.The Tang family was his old friend and had always been loyal to him, so he felt ashamed to leave it alone. "Old brothers," he reprimanded Baoqing, "you have to help us. You have connections! You have to find us a place to live. No, you have found a place for yourself first. .” Baoqing promised to find a house for him, but it was uncertain whether he could find one.It was not difficult to ask him to make a wish, but he was unwilling to make a wish.If he promises to someone and doesn't intend to keep it, it makes him feel against his will.The Tang family complained endlessly about him, so he had no choice but to nod.Fourth Master Tang kept on nagging, but he listened calmly, nodding and laughing with him.

The fourth grandma also participated in social activities.Every day, she waddled up to the upstairs of the bookstore to see her good friend, Second Grandma.She looks the same every time she comes back.First, he walked into the main room with a smile on his face, panting and said: "It can be counted. I came all the way to see you. I thought to myself, no matter what you say, we are all foreigners in this poor place, and we have to communicate with each other. Close and close. I only have you few friends. If I don’t see you every day, I will be in trouble. When I think that I haven’t seen you today, I feel depressed and flustered.”

After finishing speaking, she found the widest chair, stuffed her big butt in it, and started nagging. "Has your capable shopkeeper found us a place to live?" She asked Second Mistress, "Did you find it? You have to hurry him. Our lives are dying, and we are still living in a hotel, and the rent is so expensive." Scared of people. We just can't live." She sat for hours at a time, drinking tea and eating whatever she saw. She wasn't the only one who came to visit.There are also inspectors, secret agents, gangsters and a few rich young masters.They came to see Xiulian and sat longer than Fourth Grandma.Of course Baoqing had to entertain them.Take tea, take melon seeds, and have to talk with you.They often came before Xiulian woke up.Sitting in the main room, my eyes kept glancing at the calico curtain of Xiulian's room.Baoqing knew what they wanted to do, but he didn't dare to drive them out.If he gave them a little more power, when they performed in the venue, a gang would come and make a big fuss.Smash a few teapots and teacups, and fire a few shots at the light bulb, and you're all set.After making such a fuss, his business would be over.

To make matters worse, among the young people who came early in the morning, there was a security chief.He looks good, he smiles smugly, and he is very good at playing with women.When he came, he sat down with a toothpick in his mouth and stared at the door of the inner room.Another day, the most unrestrained young man stood up and walked into Xiulian's bedroom without saying a word. Xiulian was still sleeping.Others followed suit. Seeing that they were all staring at her daughter, Baoqing bowed and said a lot of good things.Xiulian was too tired.Sing a book at night and sleep well during the day.They came out reluctantly and sat in the outhouse to wait.Baoqing's heart was on fire, but he suppressed the fire with all his strength and kept smiling.This is life, this is art.

If his wife could help to say a few words, the situation would be different.She could at least tell these local hooligans that Xiulian was only performing arts.If only she could say so--but she doesn't.She has her own plans for Xiulian. Everyone looked at Xiulian, and Xiulian felt very awkward.She knew that these people had no good intentions, and she didn't want to ignore them.As soon as she stepped out of the inner door, she would meet these guys.She always begged Dafeng to accompany her, but Dafeng refused.She doesn't want to be with her pretty sister.She knew that those men in the main room came to see her sister, and they didn't even look at her.So she always told Xiulian to go out alone.Her attitude was very clear: the younger sister she brought was just a man's plaything, but she was a daughter of status.

In the end, Xiulian had no choice but to come out alone, just like going on stage when performing arts.She always kept her eyes straight, walked straight through the main room, and walked into her mother's room.She didn't dare to look at those men, knowing that if she did so, they would all surround her. It was very painful for Xiulian to get up early and go out through the outhouse.She understood that she was just a child without parents, a drummer.At best, her adoptive mother could be kind to her, if it hurts, that's out of the question.She is grown up now, she needs someone to love her, and she hopes someone can give her advice.

As she grew older, her breasts began to swell, and the cheongsam could no longer conceal the soft curves of her body.She desperately needs someone to protect her and comfort her.She needs guidance.She wanted to talk to Second Mistress about some things, but she didn't dare.So who else could tell her? Every morning, as she went through the crowded outhouse to her mother's room, she always hoped to meet her mother's good temper.But Second Mistress never had a good face. "Go out and entertain your poor people, bitch," she always said gruffly.Xiulian smiled dully, and had no choice but to go back to her room, thinking in her heart that it would be great if she was an ignorant teenager in her teens, and she hoped that all the signs of maturity on her body would disappear. She had seen men pester girls who sang books—touched their cheeks, twisted their thighs.She knew girls who ran away with men without their parents' permission.She also knew that there were secret tricks that could make money, but she didn't know exactly how.She naturally relied on Dad for protection.For her, Baoqing is both father and mother, class leader and master.If someone mentioned that the girl from some family ran away with someone or slept with some man, she would feel very mysterious; if the words were whispered, she would want to hear more clearly. She also noticed that in every church meeting, some girls who sang books let men get close and even accepted valuable things from them.She asked Dafeng why the man would touch them and give them something.Xiulian thought, Dafeng is a person of status, she should know.But Dafeng just blushed and didn't speak.She asked Qinzhu again, Qinzhu earned money by fooling around with men, but Qinzhu just laughed and said: "You are too young, children shouldn't ask everything." Then I had to ask Baoqing.However, it is not that simple to ask Dad such a question.When she finally worked up the courage to ask the question, Baoqing blushed.She had never seen her father so embarrassed.She will never forget that her father frowned in distress and rubbed his bald forehead with his hands preoccupied.After a long silence, he said, "Son, don't inquire about such things. These things are too low, you shouldn't think about them." Xiulian was not satisfied.She heard Baoqing's tone of reproach.She also blushed from embarrassment.She was very discouraged, but she refused to accept it. "Dad," she blurted out, "if these things are cheap, then our business is also cheap? I know a lot of girls do that." "That was in the past," Baoqing said. "In the past, people looked down on opera singers and drummers, but they were better than slaves and beggars. But now it's changed. As long as we walk upright and sit upright, people will respect us." Don't underestimate us." Xiulian thought for a while.Dad never told her when the status of an artist changed. He only often told her that the books they sang were passed down from generation to generation for thousands of years. "Dad, why don't we do some other business?" she asked.Baoqing didn't answer. Xiulian wholeheartedly believed that what she did was a lowly thing, and she would never get ahead.This time, when she went into the outhouse full of men, she made up her mind to be easy and see what happened.But when she looked up and saw her father standing at the door, she was so frightened that she immediately changed her mind and sneaked into her bedroom like a mouse.She fiddled with dominoes by herself in the room until it was time to go to the bookstore.When she went downstairs, there were two other people sitting at home who were supporting her. The fourth grandma still came as usual.She understood why those men had to wait in the main room, and found it interesting to socialize with these people.She made up her mind to take revenge on Fang's family. Although they were friends, they swore to be at odds.Fang's family is all robbers, who defrauded her whole family.She told the men that if she wanted to get Xiulian, she had to be willing to spend money. First, she had to be patient, and second, she had to be rich. She had made a mistake in her wishful thinking, and Baoqing would not accept her tricks.As long as it was something that hindered Xiulian, he had to say nothing.One day, he got angry at Grandma Fourth.His face turned red with anger, and his voice trembled. "Please," said he, "if you come to me, please sit in my concubine's room. I don't need you to entertain guests." The fourth grandma smiled.She snapped her fingers and giggled like an old hen that has laid two yolk eggs, "Ho, ho, I've received these distinguished guests for you, and I didn't deserve it." She said loudly, "Forget me!" No, but they played well." Bao Qing stared at her fiercely, his eyes straightened with anger. "I don't like it," he said, "but I beg you to remember that this is not a brothel. This is a bookstore—a place for entertainers." Fourth Grandma said with a vicious look on her face, "Hmph, just wait and see, I want to see who is in our line of business, who can be innocent." Qing, go back to those men. She didn't come for a few days.She told Qin Zhu not to go backstage during the intermission.If she wanted to rest for a while, she would go to Xiulian's room.She knew that Baoqing was tired of this. As a result, Baoqing has another worry on his mind.What he hates the most is that Qinzhu wants to make friends with Xiulian.Qin Zhu was lazily leaning on Xiulian's bed, with a strong smell of perfume, and an arrogant and lazy look. Qinzhu uses Xiulian's house as a dressing room.She came early in the afternoon, put on lipstick, painted nails, painted eyebrows, and was very busy.She used Xiulian's cosmetics as soon as she picked them up, which made Xiulian feel distressed.If Dafeng wants to use it, just use it, but with a secret door like Qinzhu, you can't use her casually.She will make money, why not buy it with her own money.She complained to her father about her troubles, but he didn't answer.He didn't want to make a fuss over such a trivial matter. "Don't worry," he said, "I'll buy it for you when it runs out." Xiulian knew that he would buy it again, but she didn't understand why he had to pay for Qin Zhu's makeup. "Look," she said to Qin Zhu one day, "my powder is quite expensive." Qinzhu grinned happily. "Of course, that's why I like it. I can't afford it myself." She got more and more excited, and threw the powder on her armpits and body, and shook the powder puff vigorously, making the room full of powder .Xiulian turned pale with anger.One day, Qinzhu brought a man, and they walked into Xiulian's room and sat down on the bed.Xiulian blushed and stood up to leave.But Qin Zhu cannot be allowed to stay in her room.She will steal everything.Besides, where was she going?If she went through the outhouse to her mother's room, she might get angry.Why don't you go, she doesn't want to watch Qin Zhu entertain men.She also wanted to see what it was like for a girl to entertain a man.Is it really that mean?Someday she'll have to know.So she just sat and watched. Qinzhu and her guests talked and laughed, just like ordinary people.Can't see anything wrong.Then they held hands, but that wasn't a bad thing either.After they left, Xiulian wondered, did the man pay for it just to sit on the bed for a while and have a few words with Qin Zhu?Finally one day, she came back to the house and saw Qin Zhu kissing a man lying on the bed. Xiulian was furious.She really wanted to drive them all out, but she didn't dare to offend Qinzhu because of her father's business.She ran into mother's room.Mom knew how to handle this situation. Second Mistress was already half drunk, but she still felt what had happened.She muttered something.This girl is such a stupid little girl.Of course, a girl with yellow flowers is worth more than a secret door, but a girl is also a godsend.What's the point of letting Qin Zhu earn some extra money!Does she have to find a bed? If Xiulian does the same, it will be a good thing, and it can enlighten Baoqing.He's really into this girl.Who has ever heard of pampering a carried girl like a concubine?When Second Mistress squinted at the frightened Xiulian, all she could think about was some shameful and dirty things. "Get out!" she yelled, "you're a singer just like her. Who do you think you are?" She raised her wine glass, her hands resting in the air, as if she was pondering.Suddenly, she threw the cup towards Xiulian.It missed, but Xiulian's clothes were splashed with brown wine marks. Xiulian was dumbfounded, her mind was numb, and she couldn't move.It turned out that her mother wanted her to learn piano beads!Mom doesn't care, doesn't hurt her.Xiulian was very angry.She wanted to beat this woman, scratch her flesh with her nails, and curse her to death! She turned around and ran downstairs to look for Baoqing in the bookstore.he is not here.She went to the door again, where did he go?Then back to the darkened stage.She stood on the stage, stomping and cursing.Only her curses echoed in the empty room. She walked blindly toward the door—there was only one person left in the world who cared about her, and that was a wimp. Xiulian ran all the way, walked through many streets, and came to the hotel where she lived. "Talk to me right from the beginning," he said, with the seriousness of a judge ordering witnesses to recount what they saw.After listening to Xiulian's words, he scolded Qinzhu and her parents in one breath. His idea is not very bright.He wanted to go to the bookstore and beat Qinzhu to see if she dared to twist her ass in front of men again.He wanted to fight the Tang family desperately, and he had to teach that fat old woman, Fourth Grandma, a lesson.Xiulian just shook her head.None of these methods will work. I can't ruin my father's business for her. Sitting on the edge of the bed, the wimp scratched his head with his long, dirty nails.then what should we do?It's not a problem if it goes on like this! After Xiulian complained about her grievances, she felt better.She knew that being a wimp hurt her.It was a comfort to have such a person willing to listen to her complaints.His curse words are awe-inspiring to listen to, and he uses words used by learned people. The wimp had a ready-made idea, if Xiulian had money on hand, he would go to a small shop and have a meal first.Or go buy a few oranges.He knew a place where, for fifty cents, he could buy a heap of oranges that would feed the whole family with stomachaches.He also knew that there was a good place on the side of the mountain, where he could sit and eat oranges after a while. Xiulian said that it would be even better if the uncle was willing to take her home. Dad should not be at ease at home. "Let them worry about it," said the wimpy, "don't go back to that bad place before you go on stage. If they dare to scold you, I will tear down that place with my own hands. Let's go and buy oranges. There are oranges in my belly." After eating, go out for a stroll, take a look at the scenery, and the idea will come out."