Chapter 5 Chapter 1 (3)

Tianqiao Theater is located at the east entrance of Beiwei Road, Xuanwu District, Beijing, adjacent to the famous Tianqiao.The houses in this area are dilapidated and low-rise. Before 1949, it was the busiest place in Beiping, and it was also a place of entertainment for the lower-class people in the capital. After 1949, this area gradually declined, and the artists of the rivers and lakes changed their careers, the old and the dead, and the famous "Eight Bridge Monsters" in those days, only Bao San'er who fell down and Liu Banxian who juggled.The end of Tianqiao's life was in the "Red August" in 1966. The rise of the Red Guards made Bao San'er, Liu Banxian and other Tianqiao elders packed up in fright, and the Tianqiao, which had been busy for a hundred years, finally became deserted.

Although the bustle of Tianqiao no longer exists, the composition of the residents living in this area has not changed. It is far away from the factory area, there are few industrial workers, and most of the residents are traffickers. In the eyes of Zhong Yuemin and others, This is equivalent to the enemy-occupied area. If there is no large and mighty brigade, they will never come here.Beijing’s military compounds are mostly concentrated in Haidian District, and government compound compounds are mostly concentrated in the east and west cities. Xuanwu District and Chongwen District are the most dilapidated. Taking Xuanwu District as an example, to the west of the bridge is Nanheng Street, and to the north of Nanheng Street is Caishikou, Dazhi Bridge.The Guangnei and Guangwai streets to the west of Caishikou are almost invariably civilian residential areas.

In the eyes of Zhong Yuemin and others, those teenagers wandering around the dilapidated streets and alleys of Tianqiao and Dazhi Bridge are gangsters.These men are ill-bred, cruel, and glorify their ignorance. In the eyes of the civilian children, the children of cadres are arrogant all day long, relying on the influence of their parents to do things wrong, and the whole group of young masters lack the courage and skills to fight alone. They like to swarm up, preferably a big Help hit one, if you can't hit it with bare hands, just move the guy.They all called the children of cadres "veterans", which means old Red Guards, because the early Red Guards were almost all children of cadres.

If you stood on the streets of Beijing in 1968, you would have no trouble distinguishing these two types of teenagers from different backgrounds.The difference between them lies in their manners and temperament, as well as the tone of speech. The children who grew up in the alleys can speak pure Beijing dialect and like to have a baby accent, while the children who grew up in the compound can speak standard Mandarin. From the point of view of clothing, "veterans" like to wear military uniforms. The military uniforms issued by the People's Liberation Army in different periods are all fashionable clothing. Older children wear yellow military uniforms with herringbone cloth that has been washed whitish. The two small holes for wearing epaulets look simple and fashionable, without revealing mountains and dews.The younger children, who like to show off, dug out their father's woolen military uniform from the bottom of the box and put it on. When the army was awarded ranks in 1955, the uniforms distributed to officers above the colonel were very particular. There were woolen and breeches fabrics for winter suits, and tussah silk fabrics for summer suits.The military uniforms of the generals are even more particular. The same is the woolen military uniform, and the fabric of the general uniform is one grade higher than that of the school official uniform.They also issued otter hats and serge trench coats.As a result, military uniforms of various fabrics have become fashionable items, and even the calfskin elastic high-waist leather boots distributed with military uniforms have become top-notch items, commonly known as "general school boots".The children of cadres probably hope to express the level of their parents in this way.But I didn't expect that the common people also recognized this fashion. It doesn't matter if you don't have a military uniform. As long as you have the guts to rob, there is nothing you can't get.So, if you found a young man wearing an otter fur general cap on the streets of Beijing in 1968, you must not think that he was the son of a lieutenant general, maybe his father was a watchmaker.

Let’s put it this way, if you went out alone in a general’s military uniform one day in 1968, if you were not a martial arts master with unique skills, then the result would be obvious. The pants and vest are left. If this guy is not wearing pants, then you deserve to be unlucky and go home with bare buttocks. It should be pointed out that whether it is the children in the compound or the children in the alley, they are divided into two categories, one is to keep their own status, and the other is to like to make trouble on the street. For "player".Years later, a writer wrote a novella under this title, which was finally made into a movie.Regrettably, the popular stars who played the role of the player in the film only acted out the cynicism of the player, but did not show the viciousness and arrogance of the player when they fought.

In this way, Zhong Yuemin and his group were well-deserved game masters in 1968. On the steps of the ticket office of the Tianqiao Theater, some bricks are stacked randomly. The bricks are lined up next to each other in a long and winding line. These bricks represent the positions occupied by people in the line.Crowds and gangs of youths were everywhere near the ticket office, with military satchels hanging around their necks and their hands in their trouser pockets, sizing up every passerby wantonly.These young people all have a common feature. When they look at others, their eyes are full of provocation and disdain.

Seven or eight members of Zhong Yuemin's group were also standing by the side of the road. It was too cold, and some of them kept stomping their feet to keep warm, and steamed their hands. A stout young man of medium build came over. He had a fierce face, and he walked with his shoulders raised in a figure-eight gait, swaying every step. When Zhong Yuemin saw him, he rushed up to meet him, took off his leather gloves and shook hands with him politely. This is Zhong Yuemin's elementary school classmate Li Kuiyong. Zhong Yuemin turned his head and introduced Yuan Jun, Zheng Tong and others to Li Kuyong.

Yuan Jun arrogantly wore leather gloves and shook hands with Li Kuiyong, Li Kuiyong frowned slightly, his gaze met Yuan Jun's provocative gaze. "Your name is Li Kuiyong? I've heard Yuemin mention you, and my ears are getting callused." Yuan Jun said coldly. Li Kuiyong asked blankly, "Oh, what did he say about me?" "It is said that you have practiced wrestling and boxing since you were a child. How do you say that? Oh, you are so good at punching the world's heroes and kicking five-way heroes?" "It's not so evil, but... I can still deal with three or five people like you."

Yuan Jun sneered, "Can you handle a kitchen knife?" Li Kuiyong suddenly reached out and took off the woolen military cap on Yuan Jun's head, twisted it with his hands, and put it back on Yuan Jun's head: "Your general's woolen hat is too old, and it is almost worn out. I will replace it with a new one later." , I still have a dozen in there." Yuan Jun reached into his satchel furiously: "I chopped you off..." Li Kuiyong pressed his hand: "Boy, are you tired of working? If you dare to move, I will kill you." Zhong Yuemin stood aside and watched coldly: "Kui Yong, Yuan Jun, if you two don't like each other, make an appointment for a solo practice at another day, and whoever cripples the other counts as a skill, but today you are all at me It's for the sake of face, isn't it interesting to do it in front of me?"

Li Kuiyong let go of his hand with a gloomy face: "Okay, today I will give Yue Min some face, boy, you remember, you owe me two front teeth." Yuan Jun sneered unconvinced: "You also remember well, you owe me an arm, think about paying it back." There was a sound of bicycle bells spinning in the distance, and a group of young men in yellow woolen military coats came galloping on bicycles. He set up his bicycle as if no one else was there, walked up the steps of the ticket office with the spring lock, looked down at the bricks representing the people in line, and smiled contemptuously at each other.

A young man took out a kitchen knife from his satchel and threw it at the front with a "dang" and shouted: "Everyone is watching, my knife is ranked first, and anyone who refuses to accept it can talk to me about this knife." Another young man kicked a few bricks away: "Where are there so many broken bricks?" This was obviously a blatant provocation. Zhong Yuemin and his gang stood up all at once, and reached into their satchels at the same time.Li Kuiyong stopped Zhong Yuemin: "Yuemin, you don't need to do anything, I'll settle these boys." He walked slowly with his hands in the pockets of his short coat, and stood firmly in front of the group with his legs spread apart. The eyes of both sides are facing each other.Li Kuiyong said unhurriedly: "Listen well, I am in a good mood today, this is your blessing, you should cherish this opportunity, hurry up and code those bricks as they are, and tell my buddies Sorry, it's over." A young man flashed a kitchen knife and said disdainfully, "Who's crotch is opened to reveal such a thing? You are not timid, do you know who I am?" Li Kuiyong smiled: "Who are you?" "Xiao Ming, the planning committee compound, have you heard of it?" "I've never heard of it. Could it be that it also came out of the crotch?" Several young people were furious, and they all drew out their weapons and rushed forward, shouting: "Chop it up!" Li Kuiyong took a quick step forward, approached the young man like lightning, wrapped his arm around his neck, and at some point in the other hand, a sharp meat-cutting knife appeared, with the blade pressed against his carotid artery. The tip had cut through the skin, and blood flowed down the blade. Several young people turned pale with fright, and their whole bodies froze... The young man's legs were so weak that he slipped straight to the ground. He opened his mouth and couldn't speak for a while. It took a long time for him to utter a few words: " Big... big brother, I'm convinced, I... I'm convinced..." Li Kuiyong let go, and said contemptuously: "How dare you come here to claim your position with such a bear? Get out of here, and don't let me see you again." Several young people fled in desperation and panic. Zhong Yuemin gave Li Kuyong a thumbs up with a smile, and flicked a pack of "Peony" cigarettes to Li Kuyong. Li Kuiyong put away the knife, took the cigarette, lit one, and looked around gloomyly, and the crowd watching the excitement all turned their eyes away... It was late at night, and the north wind howled and swept towards the crowd waiting at the ticket office. Zhong Yuemin, Yuan Jun, Zheng Tong and others collected the wood piled up on the nearby construction site and lit a bonfire. The flames rose to a height of more than three meters, almost igniting the wires on it. The man on duty at the construction site was an old man. The old man was about to stop it tremblingly, but was scared back by Yuan Jun's stare. This is a time of lawlessness. As a night watchman, he can only play the role of a scarecrow. A single hooligan can't deal with it. What's more, tonight, the old man has a feeling that all the hooligan gangs in the city are here tonight. Can not afford to provoke. A group of soldiers in military overcoats came over to say hello to Zhong Yuemin: "Yuemin, excuse me, the cold is unbearable, let us also warm up." Zhong Yuemin said with a smile: "You really know how to enjoy what you have. You have to pay some taxes. You can't warm up for nothing." A young man wearing a shearling fur hat asked, "Yuemin, are you hungry? You all just sit down and don't move. Let us go find something to eat." Yuan Jun said, "Okay, let's get another bottle of wine." "Look, brothers." There is a very simple small restaurant across the street, the restaurant has already been boarded up at this time, and an old night watchman is sitting by the stove, flipping the steamed buns baked on the stove. He heard a knock on the door, and the old man cautiously opened the door a crack. Before he could ask a question, people from outside rushed in, and the old man was knocked down. A group of young men in military overcoats rushed in and spread out, rummaging around the room very skillfully.A basket of leftover steamed buns and steamed buns was taken away by these guys, and several boxes of "Erguotou" wine were also taken out of the restaurant... The old man panicked and said: "What are you going to do? Put it down quickly..." He lost his voice, and a wicker basket containing rice was already on the old man's head, and the rice was scattered all over the ground. Bonfires were lit everywhere on the construction site, and young people were baking buns and drinking around the fire. No one could tell which gang had participated in the robbery just now, because they were all about the same age, attire, and demeanor.It can be seen that although they belong to several gangs, they must know each other. Zhong Yuemin and Yuan Jun drank wine and kept nodding to their acquaintances who were greeting each other. Li Kuiyong held a bottle of wine in his hand, and took a sip from the bottle from time to time. He kept looking around with gloomy eyes, which were full of contempt and provocation. Zheng Tong leaned closer to Zhong Yuemin: "Yuemin, did you see that? People from Haidian, Dongxicheng, and Chaoyang are all here. There will be excitement tomorrow morning. Do you mean that Li Yuanchao will come tomorrow?" "Of course he has to come. How can he not come to show his face?" "Then why didn't Li Yuanchao come to line up today?" Yuan Jun interjected: "Based on Li Yuanchao's reputation, he can come and stand in line all night? If you don't believe me, just watch, he will arrive only when tickets start selling tomorrow morning, and he will never stand in line." Zhong Yuemin nodded: "That's right, he was the first to buy a ticket, and no one dared to say anything." Li Kuiyong snorted and said disdainfully, "Why should he?" "Just because he is Li Yuanchao." "Nonsense, I would like to see him, is he superhuman?" "If you fight one-on-one, the three Li Yuanchao are not your opponents, but you can't have such an opportunity. He has a lot of desperadoes, and it's not his turn to do it himself. You have already been dealt with." "Well, if he comes tomorrow, just point it out to me, and I will meet him." Zhong Yuemin patted him on the shoulder and said, "Kui Yong, I invited you here today, so you can do me a favor. If you need my help, you can just ask, I will return your favor at any time, but you can't make trouble for me this time, if you want to challenge Li Yuanchao, you can find opportunities by yourself in the future, it has nothing to do with me. " Li Kuiyong nodded: "Okay, I'll listen to you this time. Yuemin, to be honest, I used to annoy you kids in the compound the most. Man, we have only been classmates for one semester, right? But we became friends, I thought you, Zhong Yuemin, were a fearless master, but I just found out today, how can you have someone to be afraid of?" Zhong Yuemin shook his head: "You are wrong, I am not afraid of anyone, I tell you that you don't understand, you are not in our circle." Li Kuiyong sneered and remained silent. The northwest wind was howling, and beside the bonfires, young people wrapped their coats tightly and stretched out their hands to warm the fire.I don't know who hummed the song first, and then many people joined in, forming a chaotic chorus: Songs gently rippling on the evening water, The factories in the twilight have shone, The train runs fast, car window lights ... Zhong Yuemin felt a little bored when he was full, so he stretched his waist and said, "I'm going for a walk around, who's going?" Yuan Jun responded immediately: "I'll go." Zheng Tong didn't want to go, but he was afraid that someone would pick a fight when Zhong Yuemin was away, and he couldn't handle it by himself, so he also said he would go. Li Kuiyong said: "You go, I will guard here." Zhong Yuemin, Yuan Jun, and Zheng Tong wandered aimlessly along the empty Qianmen Street. Yuan Jun said fiercely: "Yuemin, let me make a deal with you first. I think Li Kuiyong is not pleasing to the eye. I will let him go today because of your face. I will fuck him sooner or later." This is also unique to the player. In Chinese language, a knife is called "chaozi", and "piercing him" is equivalent to "stabbing him". Zhong Yuemin replied indifferently: "That's your own business, don't tell me, but if you practice solo with Li Kuiyong, I'm afraid you won't be his opponent, this kid has a dark hand." Yuan Jun snorted disdainfully: "Let's see..." The three of them walked to the Dashilan business district. Yuan Jun and Zheng Tong stumbled and were too sleepy to keep their eyes open.Zhong Yuemin's eyes were piercing and he was not tired. Yuan Jun said in a daze, "Yuemin, you can't do it buddy, I have to find a place to squat for a while." Zheng Tong also muttered dissatisfiedly: "I can't bear it any longer, Yuemin, why are you keeping up like clockwork, without stopping at all?" Zhong Yuemin smiled and said: "You two are really useless, can't you survive the whole night? No, you can't sleep, and you won't be sleepy after walking." Yuan Jun and Zheng Tong stumbled up the steps of a store, wrapped tightly in their overcoats and curled up in the door opening, seemingly not planning to move anymore. Zhong Yuemin asked loudly: Are you two really planning to leave? Yuan Jun couldn't speak clearly: I won't go... I won't go, I won't leave even if you kill me... Zheng Tong vaguely echoed: Whoever leaves is the grandson... Zhong Yuemin looked around and found the glass window of this store, with a smirk on his face. Zhong Yuemin said threateningly: Okay, is this what you said?Whoever leaves is the grandson. He suddenly swung the spring lock in his hand and threw it at the glass display window. With a loud noise, the glass of the display window was smashed to pieces, and Zhong Yuemin turned his head and ran away. Yuan Jun and Zheng Tong who were awakened were stunned for a moment, and suddenly understood, they rushed out of the door like lightning, and chased Zhong Yuemin... Yuan Jun's exasperated voice came from the empty street: Zhong Yuemin, do you have a master?I fuck you uncle... Morning finally came, and the people who had been waiting all night automatically formed a long queue, and many of them were looking at their watches. At eight o'clock, the window of the ticket office opened, and a conductor stretched her head out to look out. When she saw the dense crowd outside the window, she opened her mouth wide in surprise and shrank her head back.The crowd became agitated, and everyone in the queue was sticking to the previous person, for fear that someone would get into the line. At this time, the bicycle bells sounded in the distance, and many bells merged into a huge sound wave.A dense stream of bicycles appeared at the end of the street, and groups of young people wearing cotton and woolen coats of various colors converged into a powerful crowd of yellow people rushing towards the Tianqiao Theater. Zhong Yuemin and the others immediately became excited: "Hey, it's quite spectacular. All the players from Forty-Nine City are here. This time it's fun to watch." "Let's fight, just kill a few." "It's time for the show to begin. It's more exciting than watching a ballet."