Chapter 9 The Golden Lock (9)

Qiqiao asked Changbai to burn the pot for her for two nights one after another.Zhishou lay upright on the bed, her hands resting on her ribs curled up like the feet of a dead chicken.She knew that her mother-in-law was questioning her husband again, and she knew that her husband was narrating something again, but God knew what else he had to say!Tomorrow he should come to her with a salivating face.Maybe he had expected that she would put all her hatred on him, even if she didn't have the ability to fight him hard, at the very least she would have to question him and make a scene.Most likely he was going to steal the show, covered his face with wine, found something wrong, and fell on two things.She knows his temper.In the end he would sit on the edge of the bed, shrug his shoulders, reach into his white silk jacket to scratch the itch, and smile unexpectedly.he

A little light flickered on his gold-rimmed glasses, and a little light flickered in his mouth, whether it was spittle or gold teeth.He took off his glasses. ...Zhishou sat up suddenly, and opened the curtain with a clatter.It's a crazy world where a husband doesn't act like a husband and a mother-in-law doesn't act like a mother-in-law.Either they were crazy, or she was.The moon is better tonight than any other day, a high full moon, cloudless, like a white sun in a dark sky.There were blue shadows all over the place, and there were also blue shadows on the roof of the tent, and her pair of feet were also in the dead shadows.

Zhishou was about to hang up the curtain, so he reached out to feel for the curtain, one arm was hanging on the copper pole, his face was pressed against his shoulder, and he couldn't help sobbing.The tent was automatically lowered.There was no one else in the dim tent except her, but she was still taken aback, and hastily hung up the tent again.Outside the window is still the abnormally bright moon that makes people's hairs stand on end—a small, white sun burning in the dark sky.In the room, it can be clearly seen that the rose and purple embroidered chairs are covered with tablecloths, the big red flat gold screen with five phoenixes flying together, the water red soft satin couplets, and the embroidered seal characters.On the dressing table, there are silver powder jars, silver gargle bowls, and silver vases netted with red and green silk, which are full of happiness. From the eaves of the tent, there are colorful velvet flower balls, flower pots, ruyi, and rice dumplings hanging from the eaves, and fingers are dripping from the bottom. Big colored glass beads and peach red tassels that are as long as a foot.The huge room was filled with cages, quilts, and furniture, so she couldn't find a sweat towel to hang herself, and she fell back on the bed.In the moonlight, her feet lacked any color—blue, green, purple, the color of a cold corpse.She wants to die, she wants to die.She was afraid of the moonlight, and she dared not turn on the light.Tomorrow her mother-in-law will say: "Brother Bai burned me two extra mouthfuls, which made our young mistress stay up all night, and waited for him to come back with the light on in the middle of the night—he is indispensable!" Zhishou's tears flowed down the pillow. stop flow.She didn't use a handkerchief to wipe her eyes, and when they were swollen, it was time for her mother-in-law to say: "Brother Bai didn't go to bed all night, and the young mistress cried her eyes like peaches!"

Although Qiqiao portrays his son and daughter-in-law as such a passionate couple, Changbai doesn't like Zhishou very much, and Zhishou also hates Changbai so much.The husband and wife were at odds, and Changbai gradually walked around the Flower Street and Willow Alley again.Qiqiao gave him a girl named Juan'er to be his child, but she still couldn't keep him in prison.Qiqiao changed her formula again to coax him to eat.Changbai has always liked to play two mouthfuls, but he was not addicted to it. Now that he smoked a lot, he calmed down and ran away, only staying at home with his mother and his new aunt.

His sister Chang'an fell ill with dysentery when she was twenty-four years old, Qiqiao didn't take her to the doctor to take medicine, but only advised her to smoke two tubes of opium, which really relieved a lot of pain.After recovering from the illness, he became addicted.Chang'an is even different from Changbai. The young lady who has not left the court has no other entertainment, and she only smokes more than Changbai.Some people dissuaded her, Qiqiao said: "What are you afraid of! Don't say that our Jiang family can still afford it. Even if I sold two hectares of land today to smoke for their sister and son, who would dare to fart? Girl, hurry up tomorrow." If you hire someone, you must have her as a dowry. She eats and drinks her own food, but I can't bear it, so I can only look at her!"

Having said that, Chang'an's marriage was affected a little after all.Those who came to be matchmakers were not very enthusiastic, but now they have disappeared.When Chang'an was nearly thirty, Qiqiao saw that her daughter was destined to be an old maid, so she changed her tone and said, "I'm not good-looking, I can't get married, and I blame me for being a mother." Abandon her! I put on a face all day long, as if I should pay her back the two hundred dollars. I left her at home to eat a bowl of tea and food, but I didn't intend to leave her at home to make me angry!"

Jiang Jize's daughter Chang Xin celebrated her twentieth birthday, and Chang An went to pay her respects to her cousin.Although Jiang Jize is poor, fortunately he has a lot of friends and he can still get around.Chang Xin said to her mother behind her back: "Mom, try to introduce a friend to Sister An, she is so pitiful. Before she mentioned the situation at home, her eye circles turned red." Lan Xian waved her hands hurriedly and said: "Go! Come on! I don't dare to be a matchmaker! Is your second mother's temper easy to provoke?" Changxin's youth is a good thing, how can I care about it?After resting for a while, I happened to talk about this matter with my classmates. It happened that the classmate had a cousin who had just returned from studying in Germany, and he was also from the north. After careful identification, he had some old relatives with the Jiang family.The man's name was Tong Shifang, and he was a few years older than Chang'an.Changxin actually decided on her own, arranged everything, and let the classmate's mother come forward to treat the guests.Chang'an kept it from the iron bucket at home.

Qiqiao's body has always been strong, but because her daughter-in-law Zhishou has tuberculosis, Qiqiao thinks she's Qiao Zhang, eating this and that makes her tired and exhausted, she seems to enjoy more blessings than usual, and she gets sick when she gets angry up.At first, it was just Qi deficiency and blood loss, but it also sent the whole family around, how could Zhishou be taken care of?Later, Qiqiao got seriously ill and became bedridden, becoming more and more restless.Chang An walked away in the chaos, and called the tailor to her third uncle's house, where Chang Xin made a new dress for her with an idea.On the night of the banquet, Chang Xin accompanied her to the barber shop to perm her hair with tongs. From the heavens to the temples, the tiny hair rings were tightly attached to her hair. On her ears, she wore glass emerald pagoda pendants about two inches long. I changed into an apple green georgette cheongsam again, with a high collar, ruffled sleeves, and a semi-Western pleated skirt below the waist.A young lady squatted on the ground to button her. Chang An looked at himself in the full-length mirror, couldn't help stretching his arms weakly, kicked his skirt, and posed like a grape fairy. He turned his head and laughed: "Dress me up like a goddess!" Changxin raised eyebrows at the young lady in the mirror, and both of them laughed at the same time.After Chang'an put on his makeup, he sat upright on the high chair.Chang Xin said: "I'll call for a taxi." Chang An said: "It's still early!" Chang Xin looked at his watch and said, "The appointment is at eight o'clock, and it's already five minutes past eight." Chang An said: " Half an hour late, it's probably not going to be a problem." Changxin guessed that she was trying to put on airs, and she was annoyed and amused, so she opened the silver silk handbag to check it out, excused that she had forgotten to bring her powder mirror, and walked away Came to her mother's room, told her so and so, and said: "Today is not a treat for Tong, who is she putting on this air for? I don't bother to persuade her, let her stay until tomorrow." Go in the morning, and don't do my business." Lan Xian said: "Look at you, you are so stupid! You made the appointment and the matchmaker, how can you let go of this? How many times have I complained to you-you should have Got it, Sister An is as petty as her mother, and doesn't get on the table. She will be ugly later, and it's your sister, and you deserve the embarrassment. Who told you to embrace these right and wrong, Are you crazy?" Chang Xin pouted and sat in her mother's room for a while.Lan Xian said with a smile: "Look at the situation, your sister is waiting for someone to urge her." Chang Xin said: "I won't urge her!" Lan Xian said: "Silly girl, what's the use of urging her? She is waiting for a call from there!" Changxin laughed and said: "It's not the bride, she has to be invited and urged to get into the sedan chair!" Lan Xian said: "Anyway, you call and go to the restaurant and call If they make a phone call, it's over? It's almost nine o'clock, if you continue, the matter will really collapse!" Changxin had to follow the advice, and then moved here.