Chapter 2 brother

The Public Welfare Bureau has always had nothing to do, and a few clerks talk about housework in the office as usual.Qin Yitang was holding the hookah and was coughing so hard that everyone had to shut up.After a while, he raised his purple face, still out of breath, and said: "As of yesterday, they fought again, from the main room to the door. I couldn't drink it no matter what." His lips with a few gray beards were still trembling. "The third one said that the 50% discount on the government bonds cannot be opened in the public account, and you should pay it yourself..."

"Look, it's still for money," Zhang Peijun stood up generously from the broken recliner, his eyes twinkling lovingly in the deep eye sockets. "I really don't understand why my brothers are so fussy, isn't everything the same?..." "Brothers like you, where are they?" Yitang said. "We just don't care about it, we are all the same. We just don't care about money and wealth. In this way, nothing will happen. If someone argues about dividing up, I always tell him our situation, Advise them not to worry about it. Yi Weng only needs to enlighten his son..."

"Then..." Yitang shook his head and said. "I'm probably not afraid of it." Wang Yuesheng said, looking into Peijun's eyes respectfully, "Brothers like you are really rare; I have never met them. No one of you has any selfish thoughts. , it's not easy..." "They have been fighting from the main room to the gate..." Yitang said. "Your brother is still busy?..." Yuesheng asked. "I still have homework at 18 o'clock a week, plus 93 essays. I can't handle it. I have asked for leave for the past few days. I feel hot, probably because I have caught a little cold..."

"I think we should be more careful," Yuesheng said solemnly. "Today's newspaper said that the current epidemic..." "When is it?" Pei Jun was surprised and asked hastily. "Then I can't tell. Remember what the heat is." Pei Jun took a step and ran to the newspaper reading room. "It's really rare," Yuesheng admired Qin Yitang after watching him run away. "The two of them are like one. If all the brothers were like that, there'd be trouble in the house. I can't learn to..." "It is said that the money folded on the public bonds cannot be opened to the public account..." Yitang inserted the paper coal into the paper coal pipe, and said bitterly.

The temporary silence in the office was soon broken by Peijun's footsteps and the voice of a servant.He seemed to be in some catastrophe, he stuttered and his voice trembled.He asked the servant to call Dr. Puti Sipu and asked him to go to Zhang Peijun in the Tongxing apartment to see a doctor immediately. Yuesheng knew that he was in a hurry, because he always knew that although he believed in Western medicine, his income was not much, and he usually saved money, but now he hired the first famous and expensive doctor here.So he went out to greet him, only to see him standing outside with a blue face, listening to the servant's call.

"What's wrong?" "It was said in the newspaper...that scarlet fever was prevalent. When I came to the game in the afternoon, Jingfu was blushing...has he gone out? Please...please call them and ask him to come immediately , Tongxing apartment, Tongxing apartment..." After hearing the valet's call, he ran into the office and took his hat.Wang Yuesheng was also anxious on his behalf, and followed in. "When the director comes, please ask me to leave, saying that there is a sick person at home and I need to see a doctor..." He nodded his head carelessly and said.

"You can go. The director may not come." Yuesheng said. But he didn't seem to hear it, and had already rushed out. When he was on the road, he stopped haggling over the price of the car as usual. When he saw a slightly bigger driver who seemed to be able to walk, he asked the price and stepped into the car, saying, "Okay. Just let me go!" The apartment was as usual, peaceful and silent; a young man was still sitting outside the door playing the huqin.He went into his brother's bedroom and felt his heart beating more violently, for he seemed to be more flushed and panting.He reached out to touch his head, and it was hot again.

"I don't know what it is? It's okay?" Jingfu asked, with a worried look in his eyes, which showed that he himself felt something unusual. "It's okay, it's just a cold." He replied supportively. He usually likes to dispel superstitions, but now he feels that Jingfu's appearance and speech are a bit ominous, as if the patient himself has some premonition.This thought made him even more uneasy, so he walked out immediately, called the assistant softly, and made him call the hospital to ask: Have you ever found Dr. Pu? "That's it, that's it. I haven't found it yet." The guy said on the phone.

Not only was Pei Jun unable to sit still, he could not even stand still; but in his anxiety, he suddenly encountered a way out: maybe it wasn't scarlet fever.However, Dr. Pu couldn't find it...Although Bai Wenshan, who lives with me, is a Chinese medicine doctor, or the name of the disease can be determined, but he has said to him several times to attack Chinese medicine: Besides, if you ask for Dr. Pu's phone number, he may Already heard... However, he finally went to ask Bai Wenshan. But Bai Wenshan didn't mind at all, immediately put on the tortoiseshell-rimmed dark crystal glasses, and came to Jingfu's room together.He checked the pulse, looked at his face once, opened his clothes and looked at his chest, and left calmly.Pei Jun followed and went all the way to his room.

He asked Pei Jun to sit down, but he didn't speak. "Ask Brother Shan, who is Brother She...?" He couldn't help asking. "Red spots. Look, he's already seen a little bit." "So, it's not scarlet fever?" Pei Jun was a little happy. "They call it scarlet fever in Western medicine, but we call it erythema sha in Chinese medicine." This immediately gave him chills in his extremities. "Can it be cured?" He asked sadly. "Yes. But it also depends on the luck of your family." He was so confused that he didn't even know how to ask Bai Wenshan for a prescription, and walked out of his room; but when he passed by the telephone, he remembered Dr. Pu again.He still went to ask the hospital, and replied that he had found it, but he was very busy, and he was afraid that he would be late, and he might have to wait until tomorrow morning.However, he also told him that he must come today.

He went into the room and lit the lamp to see that Jingfu's face was even more reddened, indeed there were spots of redder, and his eyelids were also swollen.He is sitting, but it seems that what he is sitting on is pins and needles; in the growing silence of the night, as he looks forward, the whistle of every car whistle makes him hear it more clearly, and sometimes it is unreasonable to suspect that it is Doctor Pu. car, jumped up to meet.But before he reached the door, the car had already passed by; he turned around in a daze, and when he passed the courtyard, he saw that the bright moon had already risen in the west, and an ancient locust tree next door was projected on the ground, and the gloom became thicker. His gloomy heart. Suddenly a crow called.This is what he often hears; there are three or four crows' nests on the ancient locust tree.But now he was so frightened that he almost stood still, and when he walked into Jingfu's room lightly, he saw him lying with his eyes closed, his face seemed swollen; but he didn't sleep, probably because he heard footsteps , suddenly opened his eyes, and those two eyes shone strangely and sadly in the light. "Do you believe it?" Jingfu asked. "No, no. It's me." He was startled, a little confused, and stammered, "It's me. I think it's better to ask a western doctor to come and get better soon. He hasn't come yet..." Jingfu closed his eyes without answering.He was sitting by the desk in front of the window, everything was silent, only the rapid breathing of the patient and the rattling of the alarm clock could be heard.Suddenly, a car whistle blew in the distance, which made his heart tense immediately. He heard it approaching, approaching, probably just at the door, and was about to stop, but he immediately heard that it was passing by.Many times like this, he knew the different sounds of the whistle: like whistlers, drummers, farts, dogs barking, ducks barking, bulls roaring, hens crowing, Like whimpering...He suddenly resented himself: Why didn't he pay attention to know what the sound of Dr. Pu's siren sounded? The tenant on the opposite side hasn't come back yet, as usual, he went to watch a play or play tea circle[2].But the night was already very deep, and even the number of cars gradually decreased.The strong silvery moonlight made the paper windows white. In the boredom of waiting, his physical and mental tension gradually relaxed, and he no longer paid attention to those sirens.But the messy thoughts took advantage of the opportunity; he seemed to know that Jing Fu must have scarlet fever, and it was incurable.So, how to support the family budget, rely on yourself?Although I live in a small town, everything is expensive....His own three children and his two are difficult to support, so can they still go to school?If you only teach one or two, then of course your own Kanger is the smartest——but everyone must criticize it, saying that he has treated his brother's children poorly... . What to do with the funeral? I don’t even have enough money to buy the coffin. How can I transport it home? Suddenly there was a sound of footsteps coming in from a distance, which immediately made him jump up and go out of the room, but he knew it was the tenant on the opposite side. "The late emperor, in Baidi City..." [4] As soon as he heard this low and happy groan, he was disappointed and angry, and almost ran up to scold him.But then he saw the clerk holding a wind and rain lamp, and the leather shoes behind him were reflected in the light, and in the twilight above was a tall man with a white face and black beard.This is exactly Putis. Like a baby, he ran up and led him into the patient's room.Both of them stood in front of the bed, and he lit up the foreign lamp to shine on it. "Sir, he has a fever..." Pei Jun panted. "When did you wake up?" Puttis put his hands in the side pockets of his trousers, staring at the patient's face, and asked slowly. "The day before yesterday. No, big... the day before yesterday." Dr. Pu kept silent, pressed his pulse briefly, and asked Pei Jun to raise the foreign lamp, so that he could look at the patient's face according to the light;After reading it, I stretched out my fingers and rubbed it on my stomach. "Measles..." Putys said in a low voice as if talking to himself. "Rash?" He was so surprised that his voice seemed to tremble. "rash." "It's just a rash?..." "rash." "You never had a rash?..." When he was happily asking Jingfu, Dr. Pu had already gone to the desk, so he had no choice but to follow.He put one foot on the chair, pulled a piece of letter paper on the table, took out a short pencil from his pocket, and wrote a few unreadable words on the table with a swish. prescription. "Are you afraid that the pharmacy is closed?" Pei Jun took Fang and asked. "Tomorrow doesn't matter. Eat tomorrow." "See you tomorrow?..." "Don't look at it again. Sour, spicy, too salty, don't eat it. After the fever subsides, take the urine and send it to my hospital. Check it out. Put it in clean glass. Inside the bottle; on the outside, write your name." Dr. Pu said he would go, and took a five-yuan bill, stuffed it into his pocket, and went out.He sent it out, and saw that he got into the car, started it, then turned around, and just entered the store, only to hear two go-go sounds behind him, and he realized that the sound of Putis's car was like a bull roaring.But it's useless to know now, he thought. Even the lights in the house seemed cheerful; Pei Jun seemed to have done everything, and everything around him was peaceful, but his heart seemed empty.He handed over the money and the prescription to the clerk who came in, and told him to go to the Meiya Pharmacy early tomorrow morning to buy medicine, because this pharmacy was designated by Dr. Pu, who said that only this one's medicines are the most reliable. "Meiya Pharmacy in the East City! You must go there. Remember: Meiya Pharmacy!" He said, following the fellow who was going out. The courtyard is full of moonlight, as white as silver; the neighbors "in Baidi City" are already asleep, and everything is quiet.Only the alarm clock on the table beeped happily and evenly; although the patient's breathing could be heard, it was very harmonious.Not long after he sat down, he suddenly became happy again. "So you are so old, but you haven't had a rash yet?" He asked in amazement as if he had encountered some miracle. "..." "You don't remember it yourself. You'll have to ask your mother." "..." "Mum isn't here. She never had a rash. Hahaha!" When Pei Jun woke up on the bed, the morning sun had already shot in through the paper window, piercing his hazy eyes.But he couldn't move immediately, only felt his limbs were weak, and there was a lot of sweat on his back, and he saw a child standing in front of the bed with blood all over his face, and he was about to beat her. But this scene disappeared in an instant, and he was still sleeping alone in his room without anyone else.He took off the pillowcase to wipe off the cold sweat on his chest and back, put on his clothes, and when he walked to Jingfu's room, he saw his neighbor "in Baidi City" rinsing his mouth in the yard, which showed that it was already very late. It's late. Jingfu was also awake, lying on the bed helplessly. "How is today?" he asked immediately. "Better...." "Has the medicine come yet?" "No." He sat down at the desk, facing the bed; Jingfu's face was no longer as red as it was yesterday.But my head still felt dizzy, fragments of the dream also floated out flickeringly at the same time: ——Jingfu was also lying down like this, but it was a dead body.He was busy collecting the coffin, so he carried a coffin by himself, and carried it from outside the gate to the main room.The place seems to be at home, and I see many acquaintances talking about it... ——He ordered Kang'er and his two siblings to go to school; but there were two other children crying to follow.He was already annoyed by the crying voice, but at the same time he felt that he had the highest authority and great strength.He saw that his palm was three or four times bigger than usual, like cast iron, and he slapped He Sheng's face... Because of the attack of these dreams, he was so frightened that he wanted to stand up and go out of the room, but finally he did not move.I also want to suppress and forget these dreams, but these are like goose feathers stirred in the water, after a few rounds, they finally have to float up: ——He Sheng came in crying with blood all over his face.He jumped on the hall (5)....The child was followed by a group of acquaintances and strangers.He knew they were all coming to attack him.... —"I will never lose my conscience. Don't be deceived by children's lies..." he heard himself say. ——He Sheng was beside him, and he raised his palm again... He suddenly woke up, feeling very tired, and his back seemed to be a little cold.Jingfu lay quietly on the opposite side, although his breathing was rapid, he was very even.The alarm clock on the table seemed to be beeping louder. He turned around and faced the desk, only to see a layer of dust, and then turned his face to look at the paper window. On the hanging calendar, there were two black official scripts: Twenty Seven. The buddy came in with medicine and a pack of books. "What?" Jingfu opened his eyes and asked. "Medicine." He also woke up from the trance and replied. "No, that pack." "Leave it alone. Just take the medicine." He took the medicine for Jingfu, then picked up the package of books to read, and said, "It's from Suo Shi. It must be the one you borrowed from him: " "Sesame and Lilies" [6]." Jingfu stretched out his hand to pass the book, but he only read the book, rubbed the gold letters on the spine of the book, put it beside his pillow, and silently closed his eyes.After a while, he whispered happily: "When I get better, I will translate a little and send it to the cultural library to sell for a few dollars. I don't know if they want..." On this day, Pei Jun arrived at the Public Welfare Bureau much later than usual, and it was almost afternoon; the office was already filled with the smoke of Qin Yitang's hookah.Wang Yuesheng saw it from a distance and came out to meet him. "Hey! It's here. Is your brother healed? I think it's nothing to worry about. It's nothing to worry about because it happens every year. Yiweng and I are thinking about it. We both said: Why haven't you come yet? Now it's here." , Alright! But, look, the complexion on your face is more or less... yes, it is more or less the same as yesterday." Pei Jun also seemed to feel that the office and colleagues were a little different from yesterday, unfamiliar.Although everything is still what he used to see: broken clothes hooks, chipped spit pots, messy and dusty files, broken recliners with broken feet, Qin Yitang who is sitting on the recliner, holding a hookah, coughing and shaking his head and sighing... . "They still fight from the main room to the gate..." "So," Yuesheng answered him, "I said you should tell them about Brother Pei and teach them to learn from him. Otherwise, you will really drive your old man to death..." "The third one said that the money that the old one put on the government bond is not considered public, it should...should be..." Yitang coughed so much that he bent over. "It's really different people's hearts..." Yuesheng said, then turned to Peijun, "So, brother, what do you have?" "Nothing. The doctor said it was a rash." "Rash? Yes, the children outside are having rashes now. The three children living in the same hospital as me have also developed rashes. It's nothing to worry about. But look, you were so anxious yesterday that you called Others can't help but be moved when they see it, this is really the so-called brother Yiyi." 〔7〕 "Did the director come to the bureau yesterday?" "It's still like a yellow crane. You just go to the notebook and make up one more." "You should pay for it yourself," Yitang said to himself. "This public bond is really harmful. I don't understand it at all. You will be fooled as soon as you touch it. Until yesterday and at night, it was still issued from the main room to the gate. The third child has two more children to go to school, and the fifth child also said he I spent too much money from the public, and I can't be angry..." "This is getting more and more confusing!" Yuesheng said disappointedly. "So seeing you brothers, Pei Jun, I'm overwhelmed. Yes, I dare say, it's not a flattery." Pei Jun didn't open his mouth, but when he saw an official document brought in by the servant, he went up to him and took it in his hand.Yuesheng also followed, looked at it in his hand, and read: "Citizen Hao Shangshan and others submitted: An unknown male corpse fell in the eastern suburbs, please order the branch office to quickly remove the coffin and bury it for the sake of hygiene and public welfare. I will handle it. You should go back early, you must be thinking about your brother's illness. You are really [ridge bird] [ling bird] in the original [8]......." "No!" He didn't let go, "I'll do it." Yuesheng no longer rushed to do it.Pei Jun walked to his desk quietly as if very relieved, looked at the report, and stretched out his hand to uncover the green and rusty ink cartridge cover. November 3, 1925.selected from [1] This article was originally published in the third issue of the semi-monthly "Mang Yuan" in Beijing on February 10, 1926. 〔2〕Dachawei is a common name for behaviors such as going to a brothel to drink tea and make fun of in the old days. 〔3〕Yizhuang is a place where coffins are stored for people in the name of charity and public welfare. 〔4〕A libretto by Zhuge Liang in the Peking opera "Lost Street Pavilion", "The First Emperor, in Baidi City".The first emperor refers to Liu Bei, who was defeated by Lu Xun of Wu in the Battle of Yiling and died in Baidi City (in the east of Fengjie County, Sichuan Province today). 〔5〕The shrine is the place where ancestor tablets or portraits are enshrined, also known as shrines, which are generally located on the front of the hall. [6] "Sesame and Lilies", "Sesame and Lilies", a collection of speeches by British political commentator and art critic Ruskin (.J Ruskin.1819-1900). 〔7〕 "Brother Yiyi" see "The Analects of Confucius Zilu".Yiyi, kind and friendly. 〔8〕 "[Chi Bird] [Ling Bird] is in the original" see "The Book of Songs · Xiaoya · Changdi": "The spine order is in the original place, and brothers are in distress." [Spine Bird] [Ling Bird], the original spine order, according to " "Mao Shi Zheng Zheng", this is a small bird that lives by the water, when it is trapped on the plateau, it will fly to seek the same kind