Chapter 19 nineteen

In the room on the right side of the water pavilion, the sound of mahjong tiles and people's laughter can be heard.The Ke'an were there unaware that time was passing by gradually.But it was dark outside.The kitchen has already sent people to arrange the food and drinks in the small room next to the water pavilion, and they can serve the dishes on the table only after Ke'an's order to serve the meal.Qin Song and Gao Zhong set up the dining table and bowls and chopsticks in the room on the left of the water pavilion.Qin Song saw that the sky was getting dark and the lights were not on, so he quickly lit two kerosene lamps and sent them to the card table.

When Xiao Huifang saw Qin Song bringing the lamp, she asked for tea.The water in the teapot is already cold.Qin Song came out to boil the kettle to make tea, and just stepped out of the threshold when he heard someone calling him.He looked up and saw that Jue Qun and Jue Shi were standing under the magnolia tree, throwing small stones at the parrot on the shelf from a distance.He was just about to speak to them when he heard the parrot scream.The parrot flapped its wings and flew off the shelf.But one of its feet was chained, and it couldn't get free, so it had to fly back to the frame.

"Qin Song, what's the matter? How's Brother Parrot?" Ke An asked loudly in the room. "Yes, back to the fourth master, there is nothing wrong, Brother Parrot is on the shelf," Qin Song respectfully replied on the steps. Brother Juequn heard their father talking loudly in the water pavilion, and hurriedly hid behind the magnolia tree. After hearing Qin Song's answer, they boldly ran out again, calling Qin Song in a low voice. Qin Song strode up to Brother Juequn and warned, "You two, be careful. The master has already given away the parrot. If you hurt it, you must eat boiled meat with bamboo shoots."

"I'm not afraid, father won't beat me," Juequn said triumphantly, showing the gaps in his teeth. "But this time it's different. Brother Parrot has already given it to his beloved, so he can't decide," Qin Song said with malicious sarcasm. "To whom? Is it Zhang Bixiu?" Jue Qun asked anxiously. "You can ask the fourth master," Qin Song deliberately joked with them, and refused to give them a definite answer. "Are you going to tell me?" Jue Qun grabbed Qin Song's sleeve and asked forcefully.Jue Shi also grabbed his other sleeve.

"Let me go quickly. The guests want tea, so I'll come out and get some water." Qin Song deliberately teased them, refusing to answer them. Jue Shi let go of his hand when he heard it.But Juequn ordered: "Sixth brother, don't let him go." Juequn showed a cunning smile, and proudly said to Qin Song: "How could you fool me? You are so cunning. You can tell by your name that you are not a Good thing. The fourth brother said long ago that you are Qin Hui's Qin and Yan Song's Song, the names of two treacherous ministers put together. If you don't tell me, you won't want to leave today."He still grabbed Qin Song's sleeve and refused to let go.Jueshi heard his brother's words and pulled Qin Song's other sleeve.

Qin Song felt annoyed and funny when he heard Juequn's words.He knew that he couldn't deal with the two of them, so he could only say conciliatoryly: "I said, I really gave it to Zhang Bixiu. Fifth young master, can you let me go? I'll tell you the truth. I really can't entangle you." "Okay, go ahead, see how pitiful you are," Juequn relaxed his hand, and pushed Qin Song's body.Jue Shi naturally imitated his brother's movements.Qin Song walked away as if pardoned.Juequn was very satisfied when he saw that he had won.He didn't think about the parrot anymore.

"Let's go up and have a look," Juequn said to Jueshi, and the two walked gently towards the stone steps. They went up the stone steps to the railing on the right, and through the glass windows they could see everything in the room. "Fifth Brother, who is Zhang Bixiu? Tell me," Jue Shila asked Jue Qun's sleeve in a low voice.He tiptoed, one forehead and two eyes pressed against the glass. "The thinner one is Zhang Bixiu, with powder on her face like a monkey's butt. The round one is Xiao Huifang. I've seen them sing," Jue Qun replied ostentatiously.

"It's weird, men are not men, women are not women, what's the difference! Father and fifth father like them so much," Jueshi saw Brother Ke'an playing cards with the two danjiao with a smile on his face. He felt that it was not interesting, so he pouted Mouth said. Jue Qun lightly tapped Jue Shi on the shoulder, and reprimanded him, "Don't talk nonsense, dad will hear you." "Let's go out. It's getting dark, and I'm hungry." Jue Shi just wanted to go back to his room to eat, and he didn't want to stand here and peek at this ordinary scene all the time.

"You want to go? You forgot what Mom ordered? We haven't seen anything yet, how can we go back and tell Mom! Mom will lose her temper," Jue Qun turned to look at Jue Shi and said threateningly to him. Jue Shi did not dare to make a sound.He pursed his lips and looked into it unhappily, his eyes wandering around. "Look!" Jue Qun suddenly and anxiously called his younger brother's attention. Jue Shi had already seen that the four people inside were shuffling the cards when Zhang Bixiu suddenly raised his hand and hit the back of Ke An's hand.Kean laughed instead.

"Did you see that? He hit Dad!" Jue Qun asked Jue Shi in surprise. "I see," Jue Shi nodded with interest. Inside the water pavilion, Xiao Huifang was talking with her lips pouted, but Keding suddenly put her cheeks to Xiao Huifang's hand with a playful smile, and said loudly, "Okay, hit! Hit!" Xiao Huifang really raised her hand and hit it down with a slap.He was the first to giggle.Then Ke An and Zhang Bixiu also laughed.Keding was not angry.He saw Xiao Huifang pursed her lips and smiled, and while he (Xiao Huifang) was not on guard, he grabbed the hand that hit the face, put it near his mouth and smelled it, and said triumphantly, "It smells so good!" Laughing, as if he had never encountered such a proud thing.

"Sixth brother, did you see that? It's really interesting, but it's a pity that fourth brother is not here," Juequn said with satisfaction. "I don't want to watch it!" Jue Shi said in disgust.He thought it was right for Keding to slap Xiao Huifang on the mouth, but now Keding is willing to be slapped, it's so boring. "I won't let you go, you dare to go!" Juequn said angrily, without taking his eyes off the card table. Jue Shi looked at his brother timidly, and stopped talking about leaving.He murmured to himself, "I'm going to see the parrot," and he took his eyes off the glass window. Brother Juequn went back to his room to have lunch. Naturally, their mother Wang asked a lot of questions.Juequn told what he saw.Mrs. Wang was upset, but she kept her face to herself and kept her two sons from knowing. As soon as Mrs. Wang left the dinner table, Mrs. Shen came.She had already had dinner, so she came to invite Mrs. Wang to the garden to see the two famous dan roles. Mrs. Wang wiped her face, told Qian'er to eat in a hurry, lit a wind and rain lantern, and sent her and Mrs. Shen to the garden. The garden in the evening is like a beautiful dream.But the hearts of these two middle-aged women were full of practical things, and their noses could not discern the fragrance of flowers and plants.The beautiful petals also lose their color in their eyes.They are the ones who would rather stay in a small room or at a card table. When they arrived in front of the water pavilion, several bearers and maids were standing under the magnolia tree talking. When they saw the two masters approaching, they greeted them respectfully.Just at this time, a burst of laughter came from the water pavilion. Wang's face suddenly changed, and she felt a burst of anger rising up, and she quickly suppressed it. When Shen heard the laughter, she felt interested instead, and said happily, "Fourth Sister-in-law, let's go up the steps and have a look." Qian'er put the wind and rain lamp behind the magnolia tree after she made the light car small.Wang Shi and Shen Shi walked up the steps.They stepped lightly so as not to make a sound.They went to the window and put their faces up to have a look.The scene in the room completely entered their eyes. The dining table is placed under the lamp, and four people sit on the four sides of the square table.Qin Song stood behind Ke'an with an embarrassed face.Zhang Bixiu stood up and poured wine for Ke An with a flagon. Ke An blushed and looked at him sideways.He urged Ke'an with a crisp voice: "Eat quickly! After you finish three cups, I'll sing!" Keding leaned half of his body towards Xiao Huifang, his upper body was about to lean against Xiao Huifang's body.He grabbed Xiao Huifang's arm and kept shaking it, making Xiao Huifang laugh from time to time. "You really can do it, shameless! Let Wu Wazi and the others see it!" Wang's face was red, and she cursed in a low voice, gnashing her teeth. "Fourth sister-in-law, did you see that Zhang Bixiu looks good even when she's off her clothes, with an oval face and delicate features," Shen thought it was funny, and whispered with a smile.She didn't notice Wang's expression. "I'll eat, I'll eat," Ke'an said with a smile and squinted his eyes. He picked up the cup and drank it all in one gulp. "There is one more glass, and this is the only one left." Zhang Bixiu filled another glass of wine for him, and then put the jug on the table. Ke An just picked up the glass, took a sip of the wine, and immediately put it down again.He shook his head and said, "I won't eat it like this. I will only eat it if you bring it to my mouth." "Fourth Master, you have played so many scenes today!" Zhang Bixiu complained with a smile: "Okay, please eat, the wine is brought to you." He brought the wine glass to Ke'an's mouth. "Your 'horizontal mustache' needs to be trimmed to look good," he added, looking at Ke'an's mustache. Ke'an was already drunk.He didn't drink down the wine, but said with a smile: "Okay, I'll wait for you to fix it for me." He grabbed Zhang Bixiu's hand and squeezed it tightly.Zhang Bixiu accidentally let go of her hand, and the wine glass fell down, pouring all the wine on Ke An.Ke'an yelled in a fuss, and quickly stood up.A chunk of his lake crepe gown was wet. "Fourth brother is drunk, fourth brother is drunk!" Keding suddenly sat upright, clapped his hands and laughed loudly.Xiao Huifang also giggled. "Second Master Qin, it's hard for you to wring a veil for Fourth Master," Zhang Bixiu turned to Qin Song.Qin Song agreed and walked out.Zhang Bixiu bent down and took a handkerchief to wipe the wine stains on Ke'an's gown.He wiped and smiled. Ke An was very proud. Hearing Keding's words, he said unconvinced: "Which brother-in-law is drunk! Fifth brother, if you have the ability, let's have three bowls against each other." "Ah, fifth master, you can't eat anymore, you smell like alcohol," Xiao Huifang hurriedly stopped her.He was discussing with Keding about making additional costumes at this time, and he didn't want others to interrupt them, and he was afraid that Keding's words would not count when he was drunk. "Fourth Master, please sit down and stop drinking. You haven't finished your three glasses of wine, yet you still talk about three bowls of wine?" Zhang Bixiu wiped Ke'an's gown clean, and helped him to sit down again. "I'll eat, I'll eat! I can eat as much wine as you pour me!" Ke'an said brazenly.His head kept shaking, and his face was as red as a pig's liver. "I can't see that the fourth brother would be troublesome like this. He is an old-fashioned person when you look at him at home on weekdays," Shen said to Wang with satisfaction as if watching an interesting performance. Standing next to Shen, Mrs. Wang looked amused and annoyed, and she felt ashamed.She secretly cursed Ke'an for doing such shameful acts in front of the servants.She heard Shen's words and replied: "You don't know yet. It's not that he is rigid, but his appearance is rigid. He is very capable of making trouble. But he shouldn't be messing around like this in front of the people below." "I think it doesn't matter if you make trouble at home. As long as you don't make trouble outside," Shen said her opinion frankly. "Fifth brother and sister, you have such a good temper. So you have to be angry with the fifth brother. I am not like this!" Hearing Shen's words, Wang sneered and felt uncomfortable. "Listen, Zhang Bixiu is singing "Jiangxiao Tower"," Shen not only did not notice Wang's words, but also stopped her from continuing.All her attention was on Zhang Bixiu. Long live king, born with these words clearly ringing in Shen's ears. Zhang Bixiu's singing voice also entered Wang's ears melodiously.She stopped talking.If she didn't see her husband, Ke'an, beating Zhang Bixiu's time with his ivory chopsticks on the table, she would be very satisfied. Shen Shi also saw Keding beating time with his chopsticks in the same way.She is different from Wang Shi, she thinks this is a very natural thing. Zhang Bixiu's singing attracted everyone from the lower steps to the upper steps.Shuhua and Juexin were also inside, they had just arrived not long ago.Juemin came later, his mind was still filled with some words from his graduation thesis, and he was still thinking about how to end his thesis.In two days he has to take it to school. Juexin, Juemin and Shuhua all went to the glass window to see the scene inside.When Juexin saw Wang and Shen, he greeted them politely.They also nodded in return, but Mrs. Wang had an unhappy look on her face.Juemin also reluctantly greeted them.Only Shuhua kept silent, pretending to say hello or not, and got away with it. "Why don't you greet Fourth Aunt and Fifth Aunt well? They will be upset again," Juexin whispered in Shuhua's ear. "I don't admire them," Shuhua whispered nonchalantly. Juexin was taken aback, and quickly turned to look at Wang Shi and Shen Shi, who were still looking inside attentively.In fact, Shuhua's voice was low, and they didn't pay attention, so naturally they wouldn't hear it.Juexin was afraid of causing more unscrupulous words from Shuhua, so he kept silent. Zhang Bixiu's "Jiangxiao Tower" in the water pavilion is over.Ke An clapped his hands in satisfaction and laughed.Keding also praised endlessly.Gao Zhong walked in with a pot of porridge.Qin Song helped Gao Zhong serve four bowls of porridge and brought them to the table.The bowl was steaming hot.As soon as Xiao Huifang picked up the chopsticks, Ke'an yelled for Xiao Huifang to sing.Keding was naturally happy to hear Xiao Huifang sing.He forced Xiao Huifang to sing "Love Detective" with him, and Ke'an was at the side to encourage him.Xiao Huifang naturally agreed.Keding took a big sip of tea complacently, then let go of his throat and sang loudly: The night is quiet, the night is mournful, the moon is as bright as water soaking the tower, revealing a desolate faction... "I didn't expect that he could sing a few lines, and he sang very well," Shen praised proudly when she heard her husband sing.She turned her head and looked at the people next to her. "That's right, he and Xiao Huifang are a perfect match," Mrs. Wang also praised, but the meaning of her sarcasm was never understood by Mrs. Chen. Seeing Keding and Xiao Huifang looking at each other with smiles, Shen Shi was very happy in her heart when she saw Keding and Xiao Huifang sang those beautiful lines as if they were having a conversation.She felt that they were indeed a couple, and Wang's words were not bad.She is not jealous.She knew it was an opera, and Xiao Huifang was a man, so she found it more interesting. "Fifth brother and sister, let's go back," Mrs. Wang said to Mrs. Shen.Seeing Ke'an and Zhang Bixiu whispering, she felt very unhappy and didn't want to watch it any longer. "Leave after they finish singing, it's very nice," Shen said, listening intently to Keding and Xiao Huifang's singing, unwilling to leave. Wang glared at Juexin and Juemin angrily.She thought of her husband's ugliness being watched by them, and she felt even more unhappy.She couldn't stand here any longer, so she said to Shen Shi: "If you don't leave, I will leave first." "Then it's fine if you go back first, I'll wait a while before leaving," Shen replied, fearing that Wang would pull her back, and hearing this sentence was exactly what she wished for, so she replied like this. Mrs. Wang walked down the steps alone.Qian'er had no choice but to follow.Qian'er took out the wind and rain lamp behind the magnolia tree and turned the light up.Mrs. Wang looked back at the water pavilion: there were several heads stuck on the glass windows, and Xiao Huifang's false voice singing from the room.She felt that her anger was rising, so she suddenly turned her head and followed Qian'er away.But as soon as she turned the corner, she saw Mrs. Qian lighting a lantern and accompanying Aunt Chen walking towards her.She wanted to escape, but it was too late, she had already smelled the fragrance of Aunt Chen's body. "Fourth wife, I heard that the fourth master is treating guests, why did you go back?" Aunt Chen said loudly with an affectionate tone on purpose.Mrs. Wang saw Aunt Chen's pink face with a smile on her face, and knew that Aunt Chen was making fun of her.She had nothing to answer, so she had to pretend not to care, tilted her head with a smile on purpose, looked at Aunt Chen, and said: "Aunt Chen, you are such a rare visitor. I haven't seen you for a long time. Why do you want to come to the garden tonight?" "Ah, Mrs. Fourth, you are so noble and forgetful. I lost a few punches to you on the Dragon Boat Festival, so you don't remember!" Aunt Chen said with a sharp smile.She didn't wait for Mrs. Wang to speak, and continued: "I know your fourth wife has a lot of things to do, so I don't dare to disturb you often. I didn't expect to meet you here. Fourth wife, you are in a good mood. I heard that your fourth master invited Xiaodan to come Let me eat here, and I'll come and join in the fun." She always had a smile on her face.But after talking about it, she couldn't help showing a slight sneer, and added two sentences: "Fourth wife, don't you like to listen to operas? Why are you leaving again? Listen, they sing so beautifully." "That's the fifth brother singing," said Wang angrily, biting her lip.She suddenly had an idea, and said proudly: "I have something in the house, I have to take care of it myself. I can't compare to your Aunt Chen, who spends so much time outside socializing all day long." She raised her head, sneered, and turned around . Aunt Chen knew that Mrs. Wang was teasing her that she spent less time in the mansion and more time in her mother's house, so she immediately changed her face and asked seriously: "Fourth wife, what do you mean by this sentence? I don't understand. " "Let's talk about it another day. I'm leaving." Wang seemed to have won the victory, and walked forward without turning her head.On the way, she even cursed: "Who doesn't know about you? You have to pretend to be crazy!" But Aunt Chen couldn't hear her anymore. Aunt Chen barely held back her sulking.She couldn't see Mrs. Wang's back, so she gritted her teeth and said to Mrs. Qian who was standing beside her: "Look at this rotten-mouthed shrew, one day I will take care of her properly!" Aunt Chen walked up the steps.Juexin greeted her.Others didn't seem to see her.She doesn't care about this, she should use her eyes and ears on the four people in the water pavilion at the same time.She came not too late, Keding and Xiao Huifang hadn't finished singing "Love Detective" duet.She stood beside Shen Shi.She suddenly said to herself: "Fifth Master can really take the stage." This sentence contained both praise and sarcasm. "He can sing well, and he is worthy of Xiao Huifang," Shen thought that Aunt Chen was praising her husband, so she quickly replied, and gave Aunt Chen a look with a smile. Aunt Chen smiled smugly, and cursed in her heart: "There are such stupid people!" But she didn't have time to challenge Chen.Her eyes were completely occupied by those two faces: one was Zhang Bixiu's oval face with a small mouth and thin eyebrows, and the other was Xiao Huifang's round face with two laughing holes.She felt that everything they did was beautiful and moved her heart.She found it a great joy to sit and talk with them.They were more agreeable than the cousin she had often seen at her mother's house. After singing "Love Detective", Ke'an was the first to clap his hands and shouted.When he had laughed enough, he shouted again: "Eat, eat." The porridge had lost its heat, but it was just right for them.Ke'an frequently took vegetables and delivered them to Zhang Bixiu's bowl.Keding also followed his brother's example.Before finishing the bowl of porridge, Su Fu suddenly came in and reported: Someone came to urge Zhang Bixiu and Xiao Huifang to go to the theater. "No, no! My high five master wants to keep them today, they are not allowed to leave!" Keding put down his chopsticks drunkenly, stood up and patted the table and shouted.He immediately sat down again, not careful, and touched his buttocks to the corner of the chair called "horse frame", slipped, and even the chair fell to the floor. Xiao Huifang and Gao Zhong quickly helped him up.Ke An held Zhang Bixiu's hand beside him and laughed loudly.Gao Zhong fixed the chair, Xiao Huifang sat down with Keding supported.Keding pursed his lips and said one after another: "Don't go!" Xiao Huifang put her mouth to Keding's ear and whispered a few words.Keding listened and nodded.Just as Xiao Huifang opened her mouth, Keding suddenly put her left hand on Xiao Huifang's slightly bent shoulder, wrapped it around the back of Xiao Huifang's neck, and stood up unsteadily, humming a Beijing opera: "Gu Wang Drunk in Peach Blossom Palace, Han Sumei is born with good looks..." He immediately retracted his hand, stood upright, and said loudly: "I am not drunk, I am not drunk. I promise, I will let you go after eating the porridge !" Outside, Shuhua saw Keding fall to the ground funny, she was the first to laugh.Even Shen couldn't help laughing.Only Juexin didn't laugh.He felt as if someone was slapping him on the mouth, and as if he was standing in front of a mirror and saw his own ugliness. His face suddenly turned red and hot in the darkness, as if he had been humiliated himself.He felt very sad.He couldn't look any longer, so he turned around silently.But the laughter still chased after him.He went down the stone steps as if to escape, and came to a magnolia tree, and stood there.His mind was occupied by worrying thoughts, and he couldn't figure out a clue. The sky seems to be painted with thick ink, only a few stars are dotted on it.A pile of leaves of magnolia trees above his head pressed Juexin like an umbrella.There are lights and shadows on the ground.The weather was not cold, but Juexin shivered.He thought of the present and the future, and suddenly became afraid.He inadvertently raised his head to look ahead, his eyes were a little dazzled.He seemed to see a figure turning from behind the gray rockery.He opened his eyes wide, he tried to catch the shadow, but there was nothing in front of him.He remembered the man he had forgotten.His memory suddenly became very clear.It was in this place, under the magnolia tree, that two years ago he saw the man turning out from behind the rockery.That's his plum.He wanted to get her, but finally lost her forever.It was the unfortunate girl who had left such an influence in his life, so many sweet and painful memories.Without her, that part of his sweet childhood was diminished.Likewise, her whole life reflects his entire history of being damaged.Perhaps he had killed her indirectly.He saw the horror of her death.He saw her buried in the earth.He said he would always remember her.But for the past two years, he had almost completely forgotten her.Another person occupied his mind, another unhappy girl. However, at this moment, in this strange environment, there is darkness and silence in front, and light and weird laughter and voices in the back. Her face came into his mind again, and at the same time brought him his own damaged. A half-life history of pain.These are all old dreams that cannot be relived.There was a lot of remorse gnawing and stabbing at his brain!All waste, all mistakes.It seems that there are ambushes hiding in all directions of him, and now they are all coming out to attack him.He has lost the strength to resist.He was only prepared to endure all the pain.He struggled in despair and murmured: "I can't do this anymore, I can't do this anymore, it should be by myself" There was a commotion behind, a burst of voices, a burst of footsteps, and some people came down the stone steps.Juemin suddenly walked up to Juexin and asked with concern, "Brother, what are you thinking standing here alone?" Juexin raised his head in surprise.He breathed a sigh of relief, and replied shortly, "I didn't think about anything." "Then let's go back," Juemin said sympathetically.He knew that Juexin was hiding something from him, but he didn't pursue it.He was not wasting his time.He had already thought out the last part of the paper, and now he was going back to the house to finish it. A burst of laughter came from behind, followed by Brother Ke'an's slightly drunken voice, and the crisp voices of the two danjiao.People came out of the water pavilion: Gao Zhong walked in front with a wind and rain lamp, Ke'an and Keding each pulled a dan horn, and followed the light unsteadily.Su Fu held a bright corner lamp.Qin Song was carrying the parrot stand, and the two of them walked last.The group walked past Juexin triumphantly and turned around.Those people who had been hiding in the dark or behind the tree had already seen the faces of the two danjiao clearly, and dispersed separately. Since Mrs. Shen wanted to borrow a lantern made by Mrs. Qian, she went with Aunt Chen.Aunt Chen couldn't stop praising the "beauty" of the two "Xiao Dan", so she also needed a companion with similar views.They talked very intimately and left. "Look, what's the point of this? Grandpa can't rest in peace even in Jiuquan," Juexin said to Juemin, pointing in the direction where the group disappeared. "I've seen too much, it's very interesting," Juemin replied as if gloating. "You still say it's interesting! Our Gao family is about to end," Juexin said angrily. "It's over, what's the point? It's not my fault," Juemin deliberately put on an air of indifference to provoke his brother. He felt that Juexin should not worry about those things. "It doesn't matter? We will all be hungry in the future," Juexin said angrily when he heard Juemin's reply, a little annoyed at Juemin's stubbornness. "You said hungry? You really think too much," Juemin said with a smile.He continued confidently: "I don't believe that I can't live if I leave this mansion! Could it be that I can't learn from my third brother? What does their nonsense have to do with me? It's not my fault. I don't want to live by my ancestors. I believe in being a useful person. People never go hungry." Juexin looked at Juemin suspiciously, unable to answer for a while. Seeing Juexin's silence, Juemin thought that Juexin didn't believe his words, so he said to Juexin intentionally: "Brother, don't you want to go to Grandma Zhou's house tomorrow? You should know that you and I are not cousins." People like that." "No, no, you're not," Juexin said painfully, shaking his head.He thought to himself: Am I not that kind of person?