Chapter 2 The Golden Lock (2)

Dai Zhenlanxian went upstairs together arm in arm, followed by her close-fitting maids, and came to a small sitting room next to the old lady's bedroom.The old lady's girl, Liuxi, came out to welcome her, and said in a low voice, "I haven't woken up yet." Taizhen looked up at the wall clock, and said with a smile, "The old lady is late today." Liuxi said, "I said two days ago It's because the noise of people on the road is too noisy, and I can't sleep well. I think I'm used to it now, and I made up for it today." The purple elm Bailing small round table was covered with red sticks, and the second lady, Jiang Yunze, was sitting on the side, cracking walnuts with small pliers.

Get off and stand up to meet.Daizhen put her hands on Yunze's shoulders, and said with a smile, "Sister Yun is still filial. The old lady was happy yesterday. It's called candied walnuts. Just remember." Lanxian Daizhen sat down around the table and helped Peel the walnuts.Yunze's hands were sore, he put down the pliers, and Lan Xian took it.Daizhen said: "Be careful of your watery nails. It's a pity to break them after they grow so long!" Yunze said: "Ask someone to get the gold nail covers." Lan Xian said with a smile: "There are these troubles Yes, it's better to tell them to take it to the kitchen and peel it!"

Everyone chatted and laughed in low voices, Liuxi opened the curtain and reported, "Second Grandma is here." Lanxian Yunze stood up and offered to sit down, but Cao Qiqiao didn't sit down, she held the door with one hand and her waist with the other, A snow-green crepe handkerchief hangs from the narrow cuffs, and the lower body is wearing a silver-red shirt, trimmed with black and white threads, with snow-green glittering blue Ruyi small feet, a thin bony face, red mouth and fine teeth, triangular eyes, and small mountain eyebrows. Seeing it, he smiled and said, "Everyone is here, I must be late again today! Why am I not late—touching the hair of the black comb! Who taught me that the window faces the back yard? Just sent so many people Give me the room, anyway, our one will not live long, we are just waiting to be orphans and widows──Don’t bully us, who are you bullying?” Daizhen didn’t answer indifferently, Lanxian said with a smile: “Second sister-in-law lives I'm used to the houses in Beijing, so no wonder I think it's so stuffy here." Yunze said: "Brother, when he was looking for a house, he should have found a spacious one, but Shanghai is like this, I'm afraid it's spacious." Lan Xian said "That's not it! There are so many people in the family, it's a bit crowded──" Qiqiao rolled up her cuffs, tucked her handkerchief into her jade bracelet, glanced at Lanxian, and said with a smile, "Third sister also thought she was too human. There are too many people. Even we think there are too many people, like you who are not full moon, naturally you think there are too many people!" After hearing this, Dai Zhen blushed and said: "Just playing, laughing It's a smile, but you have to have a sense of proportion. The third sister is new here, you make her think about what kind of family we are?" Qiqiao pulled up the corner of the handkerchief to cover her lips and said: "I know you are all clean. Miss, you have a clean house, try changing with me, I'm afraid you won't get used to it all night." Dai Zhen spat: "I won't tell you anymore, the more you talk about it, the more you'll get on your head." Seven Qiao simply stepped forward and grabbed Taizhen's sleeve and said, "I can bet my curse—I can bet my curse in the past five years! Do you dare to bet? Do you dare to bet?" Taizhen couldn't hold back her smile , Gulu said: "Why do you have two children?" Qiqiao said: "Really, even I don't know how this child was born! The more I think about it, the more I don't understand!" Daizhen shook her hand and said: " That's enough, that's enough, let's just say a few more words. Even if you treat the third sister as your own, and you have nothing to hide, and now that sister Yun is here, the old lady will tell you later that you won't be able to eat Let's go!"

Yunze walked away a long time ago, standing on the balcony with his hands behind his back, poking his beak to tease the hibiscus bird.Although the Jiang family lived in an early, latest-style bungalow, with majestic arches supported by piles of red brick pillars, the upstairs balcony was paved with wooden planks.Inside the boxwood railing, there is a row of bamboo baskets, where dried bamboo shoots are drying.The old sun permeated the air like golden dust, the slightly suffocating golden ash rubbed into the eyes, making one feel dizzy.Vendors on the street are shaking Bolang drums far away, and the ignorant "Bulendeng... Bulendeng" contains the memories of countless old children.Chartered cars dinged past, and occasionally a car honked twice.

Qiqiao herself knew that everyone in the room looked down on her, so she was extra affectionate with the newcomer, leaning on the back of Lanxian's chair to ask questions, holding Lanxian's hand to look left and right, and praised her for a while Her fingernails, and said: "Last year, the little finger on my little finger was half an inch longer than this one, and the flowers were broken when I pinched it." Lan Xian had already seen through Qiqiao's personality and her status in Jiang's family, and smiled Although he smiled, he didn't answer her much.Qiqiao felt bored, walked to the balcony, picked up the end of Yunze's braid, shook it, and said with a flirtatious smile: "Yo! Why is Miss's hair so thin and bright? Last year it was still black and good. It should be shed." Quite a lot?" Yunze turned around to protect her braid, and said with a smile, "I've lost two hairs, and I want you to take care of them!" Qiqiao only looked at her, and called, "Sister-in-law, come and see, Sister Yun." It’s true that she’s lost a lot of weight, doesn’t Miss have something on her mind?” Yun Ze snapped off her hand, and said angrily, “You’ve really gone crazy today! Isn’t it annoying enough on weekdays?” Seven Qiao put his muffs in his sleeves, and said with a smile: "Miss has such a temper!"

Dai Zhen poked her head out and said, "Sister Yun, the old lady is up." Everyone hurriedly pulled their skirts, touched their temples, opened the curtain and went into the next room, invited Ann, and served the old lady for breakfast.The women passed through the sitting room with trays, the girls inside took the dishes, and the women still retreated to the outside room to wait.It was very quiet inside, and it was rare for anyone to say a word, only the thin silver chains on the silver chopsticks trembled.The old lady believed in Buddhism, so she had to do homework for two hours after dinner as usual, everyone retreated, Yunze said to Daizhen secretly: "Second sister-in-law is not busy enjoying the fun, what are you doing here?" Daizhen said: " I think there are two private things to say." Yunze couldn't help laughing and said: "How can the old lady listen to her words?" Dai Zhen sneered: "That may not be the case. The minds of the elderly are always active. , nagging in my ears all day long, I don't know if I believe one or two out of ten sentences."

Lanxian sat and cracked walnuts, Daizhen and Yunze walked to the balcony. Although they didn't intend to eavesdrop on the conversation in the main room, the old lady was old and a little deaf, and her throat was particularly high. Inevitably, many words reached the ears of the people on the balcony.Yunze's face turned white with anger, he first clenched his fists, then threw both hands vigorously, then ran to the other end of the corridor.After running two steps, he stopped again, bent forward, and began to cry with his face in his hands.Dai Zhen rushed up to help her and persuaded: "Sister, don't do this! Don't do this! Don't make trouble with people like her! Who takes her words seriously!" Yun Ze threw her away and went straight to himself. ran to the house.Dai Zhen came back to the sitting room, clapped her hands and said, "This is a disaster!" Lan Xian hurriedly said, "What's the matter?" Dai Zhen said, "Your second sister-in-law went to tell the old lady that the female college If you don't want to stay, let the old lady write a letter to the Peng family, telling them to marry Sister Yun early. You see, what kind of talk is this?" Lan Xian was also stunned and said: "The woman said such a thing. Didn't you slap yourself?" Dai Zhen said: "The Jiang family loses face, it's a temporary thing, sister Yun will marry in the future, how can people look down on her? She still has to be a human being in her whole life!" Lan Xian said: "Old man The wife is a sensible person—not necessarily the same as that one." Dai Zhen said: "Of course the old lady didn't like to hear it at first, saying that our children would never have such a heart. She said: Oh! You don't know how the girls of today can compare with the girls you used to be when you were girls? The times have changed, or the world will be in chaos? You know, old people love to hear this. It made the old lady feel a little bit confused." Lan Xian sighed, "How did you come up with such a rumor!" Tai Zhen rested her elbows on the table, stretched out her little finger to pluck her eyebrows, and pondered for a while, He chuckled and said, "She thought she was very considerate of Sister Yun! I can't bear to ask her to be so considerate to me!" Lan Xian pulled her up and said, "Listen—couldn't it be Sister Yun? "It seems that someone in the back room was crying out loudly, kicking the pillars of the copper bed to make a noise, there was a lot of noise and there were people there to try to persuade them, but they couldn't persuade them.Dai Zhen stood up and said: "I'll go and see, don't look at this young lady's good nature, if you push her, it's not easy to provoke her."