Chapter 12 twelve

Listening to Baoqing's words, the wimp didn't say a word.As soon as Baoqing finished speaking, he walked away. "Where are you going, brother?" Bao Qing asked, pulling his brother's sleeve.The wimp turned to look at him, his eyes were firm and powerful, and his lips were trembling.After holding back for a long time, I said: "This is my job. I don't ask about trivial matters. If you can't handle major matters, I will take care of them. I will go to see Commander Wang and teach him a lesson. What kind of thing is he? I want to Tell him that it is the Republic of China now, and there is no business in buying and selling people." The wimpy fingers clenched and rattled. "Huh, you still call yourself the commander! What a fart the commander is!" He paused, his thin face turned red. "Selling such a loving girl like Xiulian to an old man in his fifties is disgusting!"

Bao Qing put his hand on his brother's shoulder. "Keep your voice down," he said, "don't let Commander Wang's people hear you. Sit down and discuss it." The wimp sat down. "She earns so much money to support her family," he resented. "We can't sell her. No, no!" “I didn’t say I would do this,” Baoqing retorted. "I'm just telling you the truth." The wimp didn't seem to hear. "Go on. Talk, say what you want. I can't beat my younger siblings, but I'm your big brother, so I can beat you. Don't listen to your wife, you have to think twice."

"If I have one heart with her, can I still discuss it with you?" Bao Qing was very indignant. "I will never agree." "That's right. This is like my brother, who cares about me. Remember, our parents are all *sucked and imitated*. We have to learn from them. It is not shameful to make money in art, but to trade people. No one did it." Both of them were silent, each thinking about their own thoughts.Baoqing immediately said what he was afraid of. "Brother," he said, "Have you ever thought that even if we move back to Chongqing, we won't be able to get away with the surname Wang. With a car, more than forty miles is nothing."

"How do you know he has a car?" "I don't know if there is, but he is a warlord. Even if we go back to Chongqing, he will get some local hooligans to mess with us. Even though there is a government, he will never do anything to warlords. It's not that officials and officials protect each other. The surname Wang You can do whatever you want. Who will protect us?" "Then you gave Xiulian to him?" The wimpy eyes almost popped out. "How can it be!" Baoqing replied, "I'm just saying that we can't escape from his grasp, and we can't offend him. This matter, it's better." "How can such a person be better?" Law?"

"I think so. I'll go to pay him respects. Take Xiulian and kowtow to him. If he's a smart person, he should understand, say a few words of comfort, and let us go. If he turns his back on us, I also turned my face. If he insists, I will fight. How about it, big brother?" The wimp scratched his head.It is better for Baoqing to fight with others than he is to fight with others, but he is not convinced by his brother's method. "Tell me," he asked suspiciously, "you're going to kowtow, what's the reason?" It is not shameful for people to kowtow. In our line of work, how can we not kowtow to the Bodhisattva or the king of Zhouzhuang? Kowtow to a warlord, isn't it the same?" He smiled, thinking of the past. "That time in Qingdao, the warlord's concubine saw me and told me to go to her own residence to sing. If I really went, I would die. What should I do? I kowtowed to the adjutant she sent. He was very happy. Sorry, listen to me carefully. I told him that I am a poor boy, and my whole family counts on me to support me. If I don’t earn money for a day, the whole family will starve, so I can’t go with him. He believed me and was very moved, so he let him go Me. As long as kowtowing can solve the problem, I don't feel ashamed. Maybe I can meet good luck. If kowtow doesn't work, I can do it. Go out and do it with them." "Why don't you go alone? Why do you want to bring Xiulian? "

"I took her to show them, she was a child, no adult - too young to be a concubine." "The old man still likes young and ignorant girls. Women who have seen the world are hard to deal with." To this, Baoqing didn't answer. "I'll go with you," said the wimpy, not very energetic. "No. You just stay at home and take care of your siblings." "Take care of her?" "She's got to be looked after, brother!" Early the next morning, Xiulian and Baoqing followed Adjutant Tao to the Wang mansion.The wimp came over to take care of his younger siblings. "Okay," he quarreled in a serious and sarcastic tone, "it's not enough for you to ask this ignorant child to come out to perform, and you want her to sell herself. Where is your conscience? Do you still have a heart?"

Second Mistress wanted to take a sip before she spoke.Seeing her reaching for the wine bottle, the wimp took a step ahead.He threw the bottle on the floor, and it shattered into pieces.Second Grandma was shocked.She froze there, staring at the wimp with wide eyes.Want to say something, but can't say it.She collected herself and said, "I raised her with my own hands, just like my own. She has nothing to say. But I understand that the girl who sells singing has to sell her early so that we can get a sum of money." Well, she'll be satisfied with a master. Time to find her a man. If so--for everyone. You say I'm wrong, well--then from now on, I'll let it go .I don't have anything to do with her, well water does not offend river water."

Her flabby fat fingers tremblingly pointed at the wimp. "You will regret it. You and your brothers have spoiled her. She will poke a hole and goug out my eyeballs. I have seen the world. She is destined to be a performer and a prostitute. She has bones I'm mean in every crevice. You think I'm heartless. Well, I tell you, my heart is as fleshy as yours, but my eyes are sharper than yours. I know she won't escape— ——All girls who sing are the same. I will say what I say first. From now on, I will not say a word." The wimpy persuasion: "Be patient, we can train her." He said, "She learned how to sing. Hurry up. Other things can be learned as well."

"It's fate, no one can escape," said the second grandmother in a daze. "Look at how she walks—twisting her buttocks for men to see. Maybe it's not on purpose, but it's just such a virtue—it's what she was born to do." "That's because she's used to acting , she has been like this since elementary school, not on purpose. I must know." Second Grandma laughed. "Have a drink," she held up the glass, "drink your sorrows with wine. If you have wine today, you're drunk today, so why bother with other people's business." She was muttering to herself, and the wimp had already left.

Baoqing, Xiulian and Adjutant Tao set out on the road, sitting on the slider sent by Commander Wang.Xiulian was thinking all the way.She felt that the situation was not good, but she was not very clear about the danger in front of her.She knew that this trip would be bad or bad, and she was terrified, as if encountering an air raid.Hearing the roar of bombs, but don't know where it's going to fall; seeing dead people, but don't understand how they died.Hanging a heart, tired, very tired.She was weak and felt as dry as a dried bean.She stretched her legs from time to time, feeling that she had grown up.She kept thinking in her heart that someone wanted her to be a concubine.The little wife...that's a grown woman.

Maybe that's not as bad as people say?No, she immediately dismissed the idea.It's always a lowly thing to be someone's concubine.What a shame to be an old man's game!To be honest, it's nothing more than a Qiang father bream and a fat weapon.She is still very young, but she has to sleep with an old man in his fifties!She is so weak, he must be very stupid, he must bully her.She felt his hands already groping all over her body, his bristly whiskers piercing her muscles. The more she thought about it, the more frightened she became.If this is really the case, it would be better to die. There is a boundless forest in front, tall trees are close together, blocking everything in the distance.When the Wang Mansion arrives, she will be sold here like a chicken.That ugly old man with the bewitching eyes and the bushy beard lives here.How nice it would be to flap your wings and fly away like a bird!There was nothing she could do.There are no tears in my eyes, but I am crying in my heart. The slider slowed down, she would rather go faster.If you can't hide, just get over it quickly!She tried her best to hold back her tears, not wanting her father to see her cry. Baoqing had already told her how to dress up - like a little girl.She wore a plain old blue cloth gown, old satin shoes, and there was no ribbon on the pigtail, only a piece of blue wool.There is no powder on the face.She took out the mirror in her small wallet and looked at herself.Her lips were thin and tight, and she looked plain, unremarkable.What does a man want her for?She is small and normal.Or Mom was right. "Only your stinky x is worth two dollars." Thinking of this sentence, she blushed, and threw the small mirror back into her small leather bag. The slider stopped suddenly.They came to a clearing in front of a large mansion.Xiulian quickly got off the pole.She stood there, looking at the sky.A little bird is singing somewhere, and the tree is so lovely green.The cool air caressed her face.Everything is beautiful, and she's about to start a horrible nightmare and sell it to a bad old man. She looked at Papa's pale face.He has changed.She felt that he was very nervous, and also noticed that his thick eyebrows had been raised high.That is to say, Dad is going to fight someone.As long as Dad's eyebrows are raised like this, she knows that he is ready to win.She is a little happier. They walked through a large garden and at the foot of a rockery with a small pavilion on top of it.The grass is neatly manicured, and there are rows of flowers.Butterflies are flying on the flower beds.On the flower beds, some are tall big red flowers, and some are densely covered with snow-white flowers.In the warm wind, the fragrance of flowers and plants is blowing head-on.She loves flowers, but she doesn't like to look at these flowers.Flowers and ravages can't be blended together.When she walked to the most beautiful flower bed, her heart stopped beating.The flowers laughed at her, especially the red ones, which reminded her of blood.She leaned against her father, begging him for protection.Her fist was tightly clenched into a small white ball, and her fingers were so stiff that they seemed to be broken at any moment. Adjutant Tao took them to a very ornately furnished living room.Neither of them sat down, they were too nervous.Baoqing had a dull smile on his face, his eyebrows were erect, a muscle on his cheek twitched uncontrollably, and his body was straight and stiff.Xiulian stood beside him, with her head down, her upper teeth biting her trembling lower lip. Time was hard to bear, and it seemed that they had to wait forever.Baoqing wanted to scratch his head, but couldn't, because he was afraid that a warlord master would come in by chance, and he would look embarrassed.He murmured silently in his heart, repeating what he wanted to say.He planned to kneel down as soon as Commander Wang entered the door and state everything.What he was going to say, he had already memorized it thoroughly.There was a commotion outside, with the rustling of clothes.Xiulian let out a low cry, and leaned closer to her father again. "Shh," he reminded her, "don't be afraid." The muscles in his face twitched faster. Adjutant Tao came in.The one who came with him was not the domineering Commander Wang, but an old lady in a black silk shirt.Adjutant Tao supported her.She was holding a hookah in her hand.Bao Qing saw her shriveled face, wide mouth and flat head at a glance.It was clear at a glance that she was from Sichuan. Adjutant Tao simply said: "This is Mrs. Commander—this is Boss Fang." Bao Qing didn't know what to do for a while.He thought a man would come out, but a woman came instead.If he had thought about it long ago, he forgot it all at once.The Commander's wife took a good look at Xiulian.She blew on the paper twist and snorted on her hookah. How to do it?Baoqing had no idea at all.He can't kowtow to a woman.No matter how high her status was, even if it was to save Xiulian, it would not work.He suddenly came up with an idea.He tugged on La Xiulian's sleeve.She understood his hint, and slowly knelt down in front of the old lady and kowtowed. The Commander's wife snorted three bags of hookah again, and blew the ash onto the ground in front of Xiulian three times.Xiulian still lowered her head.Through her tears, she saw the soot on the ground. Baoqing stared blankly, feeling very worried.How to speak?He watched the old lady stroke the hookah with her hands.At this moment, Xiulian sobbed. The Commander's wife looked at Bao Qing coldly, with a pair of small black eyes piercing directly into Bao Qing's. "What's the name?" She asked in Sichuan dialect, "Lang?" Baoqing couldn't tell.Adjutant Tao shook his head slowly, with a look of disgust on his face. "I said, why didn't anyone agree?" Mrs. Commander said, "I said, what a mess, I'll say it again, how can such a young girl want to be a concubine? Tell me!" She rushed to Bao Qing frowned, his face turned red all of a sudden. Baoqing finally opened his mouth: "It's Commander Wang who wants to..." She interrupted him with a high-pitched voice: "What does Commander Wang want?" She paused, pursed her lips, and yelled like a whip: "If you don't seduce him, the Commander won't even look at you. " Xiulian suddenly jumped up.With tears all over her face, she screamed at the old woman, "Seduce him? I never do such a thing!" "Xiulian," Bao Qing reprimanded her tactfully, "be polite." Strangely enough, the Commander's wife laughed. "Commander Wang is a good man." She looked at Adjutant Tao, "Okay, Adjutant." The adjutant grinned. "We are a clean family, madam." Bao Qing added politely. The Commander's wife is staring at the hookah in a daze.She took a stick of fire paper from Adjutant Tao's hand, and smoked it again with a snort.She said to Baoqing: "Well said! Well, if you don't despise yourself, people can't despise you." After she finished, she said loudly: "Adjutant Tao, send them back." Another bag of cigarettes was smoked , she blew on the paper twist, and smoked the hookah again. For a moment, she seemed to have forgotten them.Baoqing was at a loss.This old woman has a little heart.She is a sensible person.Not easy, obviously she was going to let them go. Adjutant Tao said, "Mrs. Commander, they want to thank you." The Mrs. Commander didn't answer, but just drew a circle in the air with a burning paper twister—this meant to ask them to go, and she didn't want anyone to thank you. . Baoqing bowed to the ground, and Xiulian also bowed deeply. So they went out again into the garden.This time, they seemed to have entered the fairy cave.so comfortable.The flowers have never been so lovely as they are now, and they are as colorful as a festival.Xiulian was so happy that she wanted to sing and dance.A little yellow butterfly flapped its wings and flew past her face, and she squealed with joy. Adjutant Tao also laughed.When he reached the gate, Baoqing asked, "Fellow, what's going on? I don't understand at all." Adjutant Tao grinned. "Every time the commander marries a young girl, he needs the permission of the commander's wife. She can't stop him from having a woman, but she has to choose someone she likes. She doesn't want him to marry a big girl at all, especially someone who will steal her position She is smart. She understands that she is old and can no longer sleep with men, but as the head of the family, she still deserves to be." He burst out laughing. "Your daughter jumped up to argue with her, and she saw it. Mrs. Commander doesn't like a girl who has ideas in the family. Now you two can go home and don't have to worry about it anymore. However, if you can be more filial It would be even better to honor the commander and please him." "What is good about honoring him?" Adjutant Tao's thumb and index finger formed a circle. "A little meaning." "How much?" Bao Qing wanted to get to the bottom of it. "The more the better. Less is fine." The adjutant made another circle with his thumb and index finger. "When the commander saw this, he forgot about women." Baoqing thanked Adjutant Tao. "When you come to town, please give me a cup of tea," said he. "You have done me this favor, and I will repay your kindness." Adjutant Tao was happy, he bowed, and then warmly held Bao Qing's hand: "I will definitely obey, folks, brothers should serve you." Xiulian looked at the lovely scenery with joy.Dense forests, rice fields and buffaloes form a fascinating picture.Surrounded by a piece of green, everything is satisfactory, she is free. She also thanked the adjutant, with a radiant face and a sincere and childish smile.She and Dad walked slowly down the hill and out of the big woods.Baoqing sighed. "Now that he doesn't buy you, we have to buy him. We have to give him gifts." "Money doesn't come easily," Xiulian said. "He didn't do us any favors. Why give him money?" "That's what we have to do. If we don't buy his likes, and he doesn't get you, he should have a hard time with us. As long as we can get it, we will give it to him. I am very happy that the matter is resolved. I didn't expect to It's so smooth." He put his hand on her shoulder. "You've done well. I know you've been wronged by that old woman's kneeling. What did she say? 'If you don't despise yourself, they won't despise you'. That's a good thing to say, remember it, This is also a wise saying.” Xiulian was thinking about something on her mind, and didn't answer for a long time.When it was over, she said, "Dad, don't worry about me. It's okay to kneel. Now, I feel like I've grown up. I'm growing fast now, and I can fight for myself. You know Well, if that old man does make me his concubine, I'll bite off his ear. I can do that." Baoqing was taken aback. "Don't be so self-willed, girl, don't be so aggressive!" he advised, "Life is not easy, and there are dangers everywhere. Remember this: if you don't despise yourself, people won't despise you. This sentence can be compiled into Go to the big drum." They sat on the sliders that followed them.Just halfway down the mountain, the wimp came in front of him, and he was waiting for them.They got off the sliding pole again, and told him the whole story as they walked. After Baoqing finished speaking, the wimp stopped in the middle of the road. "Little Lian," he called out, "stop, let me take a good look at you." Xiu Lian followed him, thinking that her uncle must be crazy.He looked at her for a long time, looking her up and down lovingly.Finally said with a smile. "Xiao Lian, you are right. You look like a child, but you have grown up. You have to be like today, and you have to be stubborn. Then you will never go downhill; although you only It's just a drummer." Xiulian wanted to cry again for no reason.