Chapter 2 Chapter 1 Registered Mail

Not long after the incident at the Inca Temple, under the thoughtfulness of Mr. Xue, we managed to find some clues from China. After Shirley Yang recovers, we will immediately go to Yunnan to find the expert who collects voodoo. people. On the eve of Shirley Yang's discharge from the hospital, the second master sent a group of guys to pick her up.I have repeatedly emphasized in advance that we must not adopt formalism and do not put on a bureaucratic style.In the end, he twirled his two goatee and said, "Why? Whose new daughter-in-law enters the door, it's not decent. Shopkeeper, you want to wrong the girl before you pass the door?"

The fat man followed suit, bragging that he was a great hero behind the scenes, and asked the second master to match him with a car, so that he could show his prestige when the time comes.Fortunately, Shirley Yang is a sensible person. She said that all the big and small things are on hand. Let's get the business done first, and it won't be too late to catch the real culprit behind the scenes and turn around to have a good time.Only then did Xue Erye dispel the idea of ​​making a big fuss. Qin Siyan has not been idle these days, and is in charge of arranging for us to return home. On the day Shirley Yang was discharged from the hospital, he drove a car to pick her up.It means to go back to Chinatown to have a reunion dinner first, and wait until everyone in the store has placed incense and prayed for their lives before leaving.

"Why, you Americans also pay attention to the practice of inserting incense sticks?" The fat man has recently become obsessed with a kind of foreign roast chicken, and he feels uncomfortable if he doesn't eat two bites a day.Holding the chicken leg in his hand, he asked Qin Siyan, "Then what shall we have for dinner, Lin Fang, is she coming?" Siyan replied while driving: "Tonight is a rare big day for Yiyuanzhai in a hundred years. Shopkeeper Hu wants to nod incense. Those who should come and those who shouldn't come should come. Fatty, just open it up." Belly, one word: eat!"

Shirley Yang and I were sitting in the back row. I heard that there was a big battle tonight, and my forehead was squeezed.I hurried to the front row and asked him: "Didn't you agree to keep things simple and leave after cooking a table of home-cooked meals? How can you change your mind on the spur of the moment?" "It's not my fault." Siyan has been with the fat man for a long time, and his Chinese is good. He always likes to jump up and down a few Beijing movies, "That kid Wang Qingzheng was so full that he uttered a word on the road. Now most of New York City knows that Yiyuanzhai has changed." The new head of the family, if we don't give him a big hit, old man Sang's spirit in heaven will not agree."

As soon as I heard the four-eyed fat man talking, my waist hurt, so I hurriedly took over the conversation and said, "Although they are far away, I don't want to see those capitalist bosses. If I see the grandparents of the Wang family again, don't blame the two brothers for turning their faces." .” The drama that Wang Qing was making in the Inca temple was really shameless.Not only me, even a scholar like Siyan couldn't help but want to greet his ancestral grave. "Naturally," Four Eyes pushed the lens, and firmly braked the car under the new gold plaque of Yiyuanzhai, "Tonight is a running water banquet, three hundred and thirty-six seats. The Wang family, Arrange it at the last table, out of sight and out of sight."

When the fat man heard that a flowing water banquet was about to be held, he immediately became energetic.As soon as I got out of the car, the foreign chicken legs didn't bother to eat, so I patted my shoulder with a greasy hand: "Old Hu, do you still remember that when we jumped in the queue in Laoniu Village, there was a flowing water banquet, I can’t forget it to this day, and I still wake up hungry at night.” In the old days, the custom of holding water banquets was very prosperous.Especially for those big families, they always like to put on such a long running water banquet at the end of the year every wedding and ceremonies to show the prosperity of the family and the prosperity of the house.We once went to Lao Niu Village to give a work report on behalf of the production team. We happened to meet an old Confucian student in the village celebrating his birthday.Unexpectedly, the head office of Yiyuanzhai, which is far away in the United States, still retains the old customs, and I can't help but yearn for it. Shirley Yang grew up in the United States and had never seen a water banquet, so she was very curious and kept asking me for relevant details along the way.

As soon as we arrived at the gate of Yiyuanzhai, we were warmed by the warm popularity.I saw a new huge gold plaque hanging high above the door, with a red background and a black border hanging on the plaque with a hundred large pompoms wrapped in gold. Looking down, Second Master Xue raised his goatee and looked joyfully from the door. Stepping out from the red lacquered sill between the two stone lions. The old man was wearing a navy blue padded robe, with a piece of crystal clear ancient jade hanging around his waist, his silver hair was very docile, his whole face was radiant, and he arched his hands: "Master, I am looking forward to you. .”

"Second Master Xue, look at your vigor, you are almost catching up with the old chief on Jinggangshan. Come on, old Hu..." The fat man hugged Second Master, turned around and teased me, "You young couple, you have to toast Second Master properly later." I made a gesture to kick him, but the brat patted his butt and hid in the gate first. While we were talking, the courtyard of the inner hall was already full of people, and some well-known guys secretly waved to us behind the guests.To be honest, I have seen many bloody scenes, but rarely have the opportunity to experience such a warm family dinner.For some reason, there was a little soreness in my heart for no reason, a bit like when I was discharged from the army.Qin Siyan raised his eyebrows, leaned close to me and whispered: "The head of the house has guests."

When he said that, I noticed a few familiar faces in the crowd. At the beginning, I didn’t remember who those foreign devils were. Anyway, in my impression, foreigners all look the same. A local plutocrat.On the contrary, Shirley Yang has a wider network of people in the local area than I do. She reminded me: "Old Hu, pay attention to your image. Lin Fang's boss, Colonel Smith, is also in there." Shirley Yang graduated from the U.S. Army Academy in his early years and spent some time in the Navy SEALs. He is naturally very familiar with military personnel.Since she specifically mentioned it, I knew in my heart that this Colonel Smith must be an unusual character.Sure enough, the American old man didn't get up to greet us like the other guests. When he saw me, he turned his head and went into the interior instead.

At this time, Second Master Xue suddenly raised his hand: "Everyone, since the master's house has arrived, let's start the banquet. Please, please move to the big square of the Lion Tower. Our main banquet will be held there." After finishing speaking, he found a few more guys to guide the guests. In the territory of New York, as long as you dare to mention Chinese food to others, then the master Shu Yuchun of the Lion House is the number one person you have to talk about.According to Xue Erye, as early as the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties, the signature dish of the Lion House, the popular lion head, had won half of the world in Beijing and Tianjin.Later, the Qing soldiers entered the customs and there were many wars, and the head office of the Lion House was moved to Jiangnan. This partiality has been partial to the Republic of China.According to legend, when Chairman Jiang was inspecting Zhejiang in the blue sky, he visited the Lion House three times to taste the red-flavored lion head.Later, when the world was in chaos, the Shu family left their hometowns and took root in Chinatown.Today, the Lion House is already the first building in China that is well-known in the Chinese community in New York.

Xue Erye can invite Master Shu Yuchun, who has been in the mountains for many years, to go out and present this running water banquet in person, that is really a great honor.As soon as the guests here heard Mr. Shu's cooking, the crowd immediately rushed towards the Lion Tower Square. Lin Fang walked to my side unhurriedly and said with a smile, "This kind of scene is rare in Chinatown. Boss Hu It's really a good face." "I'm most afraid of others using an official tone. Ms. Lin may speak up if she has something to say." "I heard that you are leaving tomorrow, and the colonel would like to treat you to a cup of tea, right now." While speaking, she glanced at Shirley Yang again.God knows how women are born, as long as they are put together, they can chew their ears from morning to night without stopping.When they were in the hospital, they always liked to talk nonsense behind our backs.According to the gossip that the fat man scraped from the bottom of the wall, Shirley Yang and Lin Fang had formed a handkerchief friendship. Shirley Yang asked Lin Fang: "Since the colonel wants to see Lao Hu, why should we make an appointment in the tea room? It's the same when we chat at the banquet." Lin Fang waved her hand: "Sister, don't deliberately make things difficult for me. Why should we change places if we can talk outside?" As soon as she said this, I knew that the matter was not simple, and this military leader must not have come forward in person for a simple acquaintance.The fat man had already rushed to the front with the flow of people, but now he turned back.He squeezed into the crowd, sweating profusely: "Hey! I said I saw a flower from a long distance. How long has it been since the sister of the Lin family? You are so handsome!" Seeing the fat man, Lin Fang's expression darkened. Shirley Yang immediately pulled the fat man up and said, "Let's go to reserve a seat first. I heard that there are quite a few people here today, and the lion head will definitely be a hot commodity later." The fat man let out a "hmm" and didn't seem to move his feet.Lin Fang turned to him and said, "I don't have a seat yet, why don't you, Brother Wang, help me?" Fatty burst into laughter when she called out "Brother Wang", patted his chest and said, "Small, with my brother's body, ten benches are also taken up by you. Do you like lion heads? How about a pot?" "Okay, okay, you treat Miss Lin just like you." Shirley Yang dragged him towards the main square.This kid still didn't forget to turn his head every ten steps, and winked at Lin Fang all the time. I gave him a thumbs up and asked Lin Fang as I walked towards the inner hall: "We are all sensible people, tell me the truth, do you think fat people are suitable?" Lin Fang's face was flushed red, and I saw that there was something going on, and I continued to work hard: "I know Comrade Wang Kaixuan well. Absolutely sincere when it comes to dealing with lesbians." "You still worry about yourself." Lin Fang frowned, and pushed open the carved wooden door of the tea room.I thought to myself, why is it all about me again, and I glanced inside the wooden door and saw two old men, one middle and one west, sitting upright, holding a small cup in their hands. I was wondering why Erye Xue didn't go to host the flowing water banquet, he took a sip of tea slowly, and then waved his hand to invite me to sit with him. I said Second Master, you really have leisure time, hiding in the elegant room to drink tea with the old American, while the guests outside are waiting for us.This elegant room was the old man Sang's study in the past, and the forty to fifty square meters of blue brick Wuwa are filled with solitary masterpieces that the old man collected during his lifetime.The fat man came in once, and his eyes were straightened after seeing it.After Mr. Sang left, the door of the study withered, and no one cared about it.I don't know what kind of evil wind is blowing today, but I am entertaining guests inside.As soon as I sat down, Colonel Smith put down the cup in his hand and nodded slightly to Lin Fang who was at the door.Lin Fang saluted, and then lifted the wooden door from the outside. Why, should the content of the conversation be kept secret?Second Master Xue saw that I was puzzled, so he said, "It doesn't matter, let's chat with each other. Colonel's time is limited, and he will go back after sitting for a while." I thought to myself, who's baby is being coaxed to breastfeed? This is, the size of the family is also a regiment-level cadre, and they are too busy to find you, a bad old man, for tea.There must be something tricky here, and I don't know why I came here, but don't plan to instigate me to become a lackey of the US emperor! Just as he was about to speak, Qin Siyan came out from behind the bookcase holding a stack of tomes.He said to Xue Erye: "The relevant information is all here, but they will have to spend some time to find out the clues." Colonel Smith didn't seem to understand Chinese, Er Ye took the scroll and translated Si Yan's words again.The colonel smiled generously, and quickly said that it would be all right.It means that there are not many others in their army, only people left. I was confused by them, I don't know what all the people are fussing about here, but fortunately, four eyes are more interesting, he took two books from the materials and asked me to figure it out by myself.I walked over to take a look, and saw that it was full of Xiaozhuan.I said, aren't you sincerely squeezing me? No one can understand something like a ghostly talisman.Colonel Smith seemed to see that I was not very happy, so he made a gesture of please to Second Master Xue.The old man poured me a cup of tea: "Don't be annoyed, shopkeeper, the colonel is here to borrow two books and meet you by the way." I said, second master, don't be a fool, the banquet is waiting outside, if you don't say anything else, I can leave.The old man Xue took a sip of tea, smiled and said, "What am I talking about? You don't need to beat around the bush when talking to Lao Hu. That's the thing. The colonel has a military project that involves deep-sea operations. He heard that the shopkeeper You have experience in pearl fishing in the South China Sea, so I wanted to ask if you are interested in joining." Speaking of pearl picking is naturally a polite word, Lin Fang has known us for so long, how could she not know my old profession?Now I know old man Xue's wishful thinking. On the one hand, he doesn't want to be a lobbyist for foreigners, because he is afraid that I will do things against my own preferences for the sake of face;To put it bluntly, I just want to get it right.But this time he was really overthinking. As a person, I never care about my face but only my conscience. What's more, there is no clue about the mysterious old man and the bamboo pole. How can I care about the American submarine plan.The four eyes conveyed my meaning to Colonel Smith tactfully.The colonel did not show the slightest disappointment, as if he had expected to be rejected by me in advance.It seems that Lin Fang often vaccinated him. After the colonel took the materials, he and Lin Fang left Yiyuanzhai.Second Master Xue saw them leave, so he stood up and clasped his fists at me: "Shopkeeper, Mr. Xue is relying on the old to sell the old, so please forgive me." I said you are so obvious, Yiyuanzhai is the life-long painstaking effort of you and Mr. Sang, and my shopkeeper is just a show for outsiders.The business here in the United States depends more on your thoroughness. You are more experienced than me in dealing with them. The old man Xue was coaxed into a smile. I asked the four-eyed Yankee what project he was doing, and he wanted a set of materials. He also wanted to ask Captain Jin to help out. "What he wants are mostly Qin Dynasty historical materials, as well as ancient maritime anecdotes. We also lack many of the things mentioned, and he hasn't missed a single word of the details. I don't think he is in a hurry. It is estimated that there are a lot of back-ups in hand, and we just want to add another help to the icing on the cake." Second Master Xue called his servants to come in to clean up the tea table, and then explained to me and Siyan: "That's the end of this matter, don't make too much noise. The running water banquet is still going on, and it is important for us to entertain guests, especially you, the shopkeeper," the old man said. There was a pause between the words, and the problem of loving tears fell again, "You are going back tomorrow, I can't bear it, good boy..." I hastened to hold him by the arm, fearing that there would be another farewell meeting of reminiscing bitterness and sweetness.The three of them left the study, and as soon as they reached the gate, Uncle Zhang, the concierge, suddenly jumped out.Holding a crumpled registered letter in his hand, he said to me, "It just arrived this morning, and I'm looking for the shopkeeper." Looking at the dozen or so postmarks on it, I knew that the letter had been delayed on the road for some time.Looking at the sender again, it turned out to be Da Jinya who is far away in Nanjing.Second Master Xue heard me mention this little man in the capital, so he asked if there was any important matter in Nanjing.I tore open the envelope, and a fluffy piece of paper came out, with two caterpillar-like characters twisted on it: Do not return. "What? Something went wrong in the main store?" Seeing me in a daze, Second Master Xue leaned over and took a look.I showed the letter paper to him and Siyan, and said, "Although Da Jinya is always open-minded, he dare not make such a joke for me. I'm afraid the head office is really in trouble." .” Although I said so, I couldn't figure it out in my heart. It is reasonable to say that Yiyuanzhai is a big place, and it can be regarded as a famous brand in Jinling City.Da Jinya is slick and sophisticated, which hornet's nest he stabbed in order to send out a transnational email like fleeing for his life.In an instant, I made up my mind. First, I entrusted Erye Xue and Siyan to take care of the guests, and then asked Uncle Zhang, the concierge, to make a long-distance overseas call for me.At that time, telephones were not widely used in China, so my call was naturally not to Confucius Temple, but to Secretary Sun of the Qinhuai Landscape Office to get some information.This Secretary Sun is the legacy of Sang Yuji's old department. His ancestors had done red and green business, and he personally approved the land occupied by Yiyuanzhai.Therefore, the relationship between this person and Yiyuanzhai can be said to be close but not distant.I counted the time difference, guessing that Nanjing was still at work, the operator made several dials and finally reached Secretary Sun's office. Because I don't know how big a mistake happened to the big gold tooth, I said on the phone that my surname was Sang, and that I was a distant relative of the Sun family in the United States.Secretary Sun's voice changed suddenly. He coughed a few times, and then said: "Little brother, we were looking for your whereabouts everywhere, but you came here by yourself. The motherland has changed a lot these years. I heard that the Sang family Doing big business in the United States, I think you don’t have the time to come back. But it’s not a bad idea to stay there to develop, you don’t have to worry about us here, and you can live in the United States with peace of mind. We will always meet again in the future..." After that, we chatted nonsense before hanging up the long-distance call.Secretary Sun made it clear on the phone that he told me not to return to China for the time being, which was exactly the same as Da Jinya's letter.I was thinking about countermeasures when Fatty and Shirley Yang retreated from the banquet ahead of schedule. As soon as the fat man entered my room, he first took out a lion's head wrapped in sesame oil paper from his arms and handed it over. Shirley Yang asked me if there was any prospect in Nanjing.I said that it looks very tricky, and there is no news for the time being.The two of them took Da Jinya's letter and glanced at it.The fat man said, "Why don't we go to Nanjing first to clarify things?" When I asked Shirley Yang what she meant, she clutched the letter, pondered for a while, and said, "I don't agree with going to Nanjing. Since Secretary Sun's persuasive advice shows that the development of the situation has greatly exceeded our expectations, it would be irrational to go back hastily. " "You women are full of gossips," the fat man argued with her, slapping the table, "We don't even know what we're hiding from, so why the hell are we hiding! Say it yourself, old Hu! Brother, have you ever done anything wrong with your conscience, hide! Avoid his mother!" "We've actually done a lot of things like this." I was afraid that they would argue, so I had to act as a mediator. No one has a clue. I understand Staff Officer Yang's concerns, but Brother Jinya can't let him carry it alone. Nanjing must go back, but let's enter the village quietly, and don't shoot guns. Wait until we find out What happened in the end, we will take countermeasures. Now, in line with the principle of democratic and fair voting, let's vote with a show of hands." "Hu Bayi, you are playing a jerk," Shirley Yang glared at me, "It's just the three of us, what's there to vote for!" The fat man raised his hands high: "If you don't vote, you will be considered as abstaining voluntarily. Don't blame us Chinese people for not talking about democracy." Seeing that she couldn't hold back the two of us, she stepped back and agreed to make Nanjing the first stop after returning to China.But she made an agreement with us three chapters in advance, asking us to swear to Chairman Mao's portrait that all actions will be under command and we will never act recklessly.I agreed wholeheartedly, and said in my heart that Nanjing is at least half of Lao Tzu's land, and it would not be too late to seize power when I get there.