Chapter 5 The Golden Lock (5)

The wind came in through the window, and the palindrome-carved lacquer mirror hanging on the opposite side was shaken and knocked against the wall.Qiqiao pressed the mirror with both hands.The green bamboo curtains and a pair of golden and green landscape screens reflected in the mirror are still rippling back and forth in the wind. If you look at it for a long time, you will feel seasick.When I looked again, the green bamboo curtain had faded, and the golden and green landscape had been replaced by a portrait of her husband, and the person in the mirror had aged ten years. Last year she wore her husband's filial piety, and this year her mother-in-law passed away again.Now I have officially taken my uncle, the old master Nine, out to separate the family for them.

Well, today is the focus of all her fantasies after marrying into the Jiang family.For these years, she has been wearing golden shackles, but she can't even chew on the edge of the gold, and it will be different from now on.Qiqiao was wearing a white fragrant cloud gauze shirt and a black skirt, but her face seemed to have been rouged, from the red eye circles to the burning cheekbones.She raised her hand to touch her face, her face was hot, but her body was shivering with cold.She asked Xiangyun to pour a cup of tea, (Xiao Shuang was married long ago, and Xiangyun also married a servant.) After she drank the tea, it poured heavily into her chest, and her heart was thumping in the hot tea.She sat down with her back to the mirror, and asked Xiangyun, "Master Nine is here this afternoon, and is he checking accounts with Mr. Ma in the main room?" Xiangyun replied yes.Qiqiao said again: "Aren't the grandpa, grandma, grandpa and mistress here?" Xiangyun answered yes again.Qiqiao said: "Whose house have you been to?" Xiangyun said: "I just went to my buddies' study for a while." Qiqiao said: "Fortunately, our brother Bai's books are not afraid of him to check... This year, the child suffers because his father and grandma have accidents one after another, if he still has the heart to study, he is not raised by human beings!" She finished her tea and ordered Xiangyun to go down to see if the people in the first house and the third house were in the main room. It's all ready, lest I go early, appear impatient, and be ridiculed by others.It just so happened that a girl was sent from the big room to come out to visit and meet Xiangyun face to face.

Qiqiao finally came downstairs slowly.A large ebony dining table with a mirror surface was arranged temporarily in the main room, and the Nine Elders sat alone, with green cloth noodles, account books signed by plum and red, and a melon tea bowl placed in front of them.In addition to Mr. Ma, there are specially invited "father-in-laws" around, who are close to the nature of jurors.Each house only sent a man as a representative, the first house was the uncle, the second house and the second master were gone, it was the second grandmother, and the third house was the third master.Ji Ze knew very well that this day of reckoning would not do him any good, so he arrived at the latest.But now that he has come, he is absolutely unwilling to show an anxious and frustrated look.On the cheeks is still his plump, red smile.There was still that little bit of impatience in his eyes.

The old man Nine coughed, briefly reported the Jiang family's financial situation, and flipped through the account books to read out the location of important fields and real estate and their annual income.Qiqiao clasped her hands tightly on her stomach, leaned forward, trying to explain to herself every word he said, corroborating everything she had learned from previous investigations.The house in Qingdao, the house in Tianjin, the land outside Beijing, the house in Shanghai... The third master owed a huge amount in his public accounts. Erfang had no choice but to let it go, because he was a penniless person.His only garden house, which he bought for an aunt, has also been mortgaged.The rest are only the jewelry brought by the wife as a dowry, which will be divided equally between the three brothers, and it is inconvenient to confiscate Ji Ze's share, because it is a souvenir left by his mother.Qiqiao suddenly yelled, "Old Master Nine, then we are at a disadvantage!"

The main room was originally silent, but now the silence is rustling, sawing into the ears, like the rust of a movie dubbing machine after it is damaged.Nine old masters opened their eyes and looked at her, and said: "Why? You are not even willing to give him the few pieces of jewelry that his mother left behind?" Qiqiao said: "Brother, I will settle the account, elder brother and sister-in-law don't speak, I have to grow old I can't compare to my eldest brother and sister-in-law—if the one we died had the ability to go out to serve as an official for two terms, the work at hand would be easier, and I would be happy to be generous, even if the old debts of the past should be written off? Pity us A sick person has been humming for a lifetime, but has he ever earned a penny, left us orphans and widows, and lived on these two dead money. I am a crab without feet, Changbai is not yet fourteen years old, and I will have a hard life in the future It's over!" He said, crying.The Nine Old Master said: "Whatever you want?" Qiqiao whimpered, "How can I make up my own mind? I just ask the Ninth Old Master to make the decision for us!" Ji Ze kept a cold face and just kept silent, and everyone in the room felt It is inconvenient to speak.The old man Nine couldn't hold back his anger, snorted and said, "I'd like to advise you, but I'm afraid you don't like to hear it! There is a field in the second room and no one is looking after it, and there are people in the third room who don't have land. If you want the third master to take care of you, you should stick to him more or less, and I'm afraid you won't want him!" Qiqiao sneered, "I want to follow you, but I'm afraid the dead one won't! Come on! Xiangyun, take Bai Brother, find me! Changbai, your father is so miserable! He was sick all over the body, he was a human being, and he didn't live a comfortable life. When he left your little flesh and blood, people would still look down on you and try everything Plotting your things! Changbai, who told your father to be sick all over the body, he was bullied by others when he was alive, and his orphans and widows were bullied by others when he was dead! I don’t care, can I live for decades? At most, I can reach the old lady’s soul I made it clear before, and put this life on the line. Changbai, you are young, and you have to live even if you drink the northwest wind!" Nine old masters were so angry that they slapped the table and said, "I don't care! Yes! You begged daddy and grandma to invite me here, do you think I like to ask for trouble?" Standing up, I kicked over the chair, without waiting for anyone to help, a gust of wind left without a trace, everyone looked at each other, one by one quietly He slipped away without a sound.Only Mr. Ma was busy tidying up the account books, and took a step behind. Seeing that all the people in the room had left, only Second Mistress was left there beating her chest and crying loudly. , bowing and bowing, shouting: "Second Wife! Second Wife!...Second Wife!" Qiqiao just covered her face with her sleeves, but it was inconvenient for Master Ma to take her hands away, so he took off his melon skin hat and fanned himself sweating anxiously.

After a few days of stalemate, the families were separated silently and according to the original plan.Orphans and widows are still being bullied. Qiqiao took her son Changbai with her, and her daughter Changan rented another house to live in, and had little contact with the Jiang family.After a few months, Jiang Jize suddenly came to the door.The old lady reported that Qiqiao was pregnant with a ghost, thinking that he would offend him on the day the family was separated, and he didn't know how he could deal with it.But the soldiers came to block him, why should she be afraid of him?She often wears a Buddha-green solid gauze jacket, and specially tied a black wire gauze skirt, and came downstairs.But Ji Ze stood up with a happy face and said hello to his second sister-in-law, and then asked Brother Bai, but in the study, sister An's humidity is getting better.Qiqiao wondered in her heart that he was here to borrow money, so she put on precautions, sat down and said with a smile, "Third Brother, you have gained weight recently." Ji Ze smiled and said, "I look like someone who doesn't care at all." Qiqiao He smiled and said: "Aren't the blessed people busy! You have always been carefree." Ji Ze laughed and said, "When I sell the house, I will still be carefree!" Qiqiao said: "That's right. Do you want to sell the house you made the deposit for?" Ji Ze said: "When I first built it, I spent a lot of thought. There are many devices that I love, so of course I don't want to sell them. You know later, that piece The land is valuable, and the year before last, I rebuilt it into an alley house, collecting rent from family to family, and dealing with those who live in small houses, I really find it troublesome, so I simply plan to sell it, to make it clean." Qiqiao said secretly: "The tone is good. Great! I know your background, what kind of rich man are you in front of me!"

Although he doesn't cry poorly to her, when it comes to money transactions, she always feels a little dangerous, so she turned away and said, "How is the third sister? Have you had kidney disease recently?" Ji Ze smiled and said, "It's been a long time since I I've met her face to face." Qiqiao said: "What is this talking about? Have you quarreled?" Ji Ze laughed and said, "We haven't had any quarrels these days. It's okay if we have to say a few words together. It's rare, and there is no such leisurely quarrel." Qiqiao said: "Why is this? I don't believe it!" Ji Ze leaned his elbows on the armrest of the rattan chair, crossed his fingers, and built a shade with his hands, the shadow fell on his eyes, He let out a deep sigh.Qiqiao smiled and said: "It's nothing else, or you played too much outside. You did something wrong, and you sighed as if someone hurt you. There is no good person in your Jiang family!" , holding up the white round fan, as if to hit.Ji Ze moved his crossed fingers down, pressed his two thumbs on his lips, and slowly stroked the bridge of his nose with his two index fingers, revealing a pair of watery eyes.Those eyeballs are black stones at the bottom of the daffodil vat, the top is watery, and the bottom is cold and expressionless.Can't tell what he's thinking.Qiqiao said: "I must hit you!" Ji Ze's eyes suddenly burst into laughter, and he said, "You hit, you hit!" Qiqiao was about to hit, then pulled her hand back, and said vigorously again : "I really hit!" Raising his hand, a fan came down and stopped in mid-air, giggling, Ji Ze shrugged his shoulders with a smile, leaned forward and said, "You hit me instead!" One hit! It made my whole body itchy and I couldn't get any energy!" Qiqiao hid her fan behind her back, laughing even harder.