Chapter 30 first quarter

At the beginning of February, Ma Kuo accompanied the envoys of the Jin Dynasty, Yelu and Dadiwu, to Dengzhou to board a Shanghai ship.After the accompanying mission was temporarily over, he rushed to his hometown in Baozhou non-stop, and brought his mother Tian to Tokyo. He temporarily rented a house next to Liu Kai's apartment, and started preparing for the wedding with Mrs. Liu Kai. ceremony. Except for Feng Le's hasty meeting downstairs, Yan Niang had not formally met Ma Kuo yet, but Mrs. Liu Qi had already told her everything she had heard about him directly and indirectly.She knew what he had done and what he was doing.And the most important conversation material in their boudoir is guessing what he is going to do, will it please him, will it make him unhappy, will it be safe for him, or will it be a big risk like past missions?

After their mother and son came to Tokyo, although Erniang was still not allowed to meet him directly, his mother often came to Liu's house to discuss this and that with Mrs. Liu Qi.Mother Ma didn't let Erniang avoid her, but treated Erniang more kindly.All at once the estrangement that had developed between them after not seeing each other for several years disappeared completely.If the path of life has arranged such a fate for Qiniang, she must go to that family to be a daughter-in-law and wife, what better choice does she have?The two of them were originally so close, and she was born to be his spouse. This seemed to have been established when they first met, and all subsequent developments were to further facilitate this matter.Now that his mother saw her in this way, it not only brought back her old dreams, but also further ensured the harmony of her future life. No one doubted that.

Only one thing disturbed her greatly. Recently, my father's mood has become more and more bad, and his temper has become more and more irritable.All the time, all the time, I wanted to drink. If Liu Kai and Ma Kuo didn't have time, I would accompany him to the restaurant, staggering from drinking, sometimes unconscious, and being dragged home.Otherwise drink it at home.As soon as I sat down, I drank until midnight, getting very drunk.As a result, Mrs. Liu Kai had to play tricks in secret to quietly control the quantity and concentration of the wine. In the process of drinking, he always loses his temper, throws tantrums and curses.All suspects who support, participate in and sponsor this war will be scolded.The range of suspects is expanding day by day.One day, he scolded a young military officer who had been drinking in a hotel all his life. This small military officer came all the way from other places to Tokyo to take part in the war.The strange thing is that Dr. Liquor, who measured wine and delivered food to him, was also scolded, because the wine doctor currying favor with the junior officer, and serving him wine and food, was obviously also a main fighter.He has forgotten Dr. Wine's impartial and neutral position. As long as you pay for the wine, he will also flatter and fawn on you, a staunch anti-war faction, and will measure wine and deliver food for you.

Although Dad used to be called Hongliang, he was not considered a real alcoholic in the Western Army (there were a few real alcoholics there, who soaked in wine tanks all day, turning their noses and faces red from the mess).Alcoholism is a new habit now.Sometimes, when the mother focused her attention on her father, she was horrified to find that he seemed to be drowning, drunk, and poisoning herself to death with cups of wine. He seemed to be in such pain and anxiety, and seemed to be moving forward bravely without hesitation. Drive yourself into a dead end.It's best for Qiniang to pretend not to see it, but she has to see it.Thinking of the current situation, how could she leave her father to marry him, and how could she rest assured that she would let him go to the front to fight alone after she got married?To fight a battle that he was very unwilling to fight.

Of course, Zhao Long's indignation was not without reason.Although the officials promised him to go to Jingfu's room to discuss Liao affairs with Wang Fu, Tong Guan and others, Wu Nai went several times, but was blocked.Apparently they adopted the method of delay, and they didn't want to pay attention to him at present, and when everything became a fait accompli, it would no longer have any effect if he went.He was doubly irritated by state indignation and personal humiliation.Besides, his old friends in Tokyo had grown estranged from him, either shutting his mouth with an excessive caution upon meeting him, or avoiding him on pretexts, as if he were a white-headed crow who would give them What a disaster it brings.

Zhao Long believes that his friends agree with him, and they are also opposed to this war in their hearts. However, out of consideration of personal interests, they not only dare not blatantly state their views, but are too cowardly to listen to him. Views.Their tongues and ears are all useless.He despises a person who hides his thoughts because of the oppression of the environment, especially when they dare not even admit it. After hearing his presumptuous remarks, they will turn pale and confess in a hurry: "This But my younger brother dare not disagree with Qianji's own words, nor dare to agree with elder brother." This aroused his resentment even more.

He had heard of a story in "Yanzi Chunqiu": Citrus aurantii crossed the Huai River and changed.He discovered that these old colleagues of the Western Army who were also hard gangs.Once moved to Tokyo, after a long period of time, it gradually turned into bitter trifoliate fruit, which is not very tasty.But in his angry mood, his reaction to his old friends was neither to put himself in their place to defend them, nor to criticize a few words politely, but to scold them unceremoniously, and sometimes he was so rude that he laughed and asked his friends : Your courage has been castrated like a child's bird?

Of course, such an attack is likely to cause him to lose some friends, and his limited friends in Tokyo cannot withstand several attacks. He doesn't care about state affairs, and he doesn't care about his children's private affairs. Therefore, he really feels that he has no other way to go except to drive himself into a dead end. Regarding the preparations for the wedding, there are now two opinions.Both Ma Mu and Ma Kuo hoped to make it easier, and Zhao Long was even more so in his heart.But he had long since turned his back on it—his ears and his tongue hadn't cared about it.However, the marriage of a man and a woman is a top priority in Tokyo's social life. There is a large set of red tape, which can only be enhanced and not shortened. It must not be hasty.Mrs. Liu Kai, an authentic Tokyo native, insisted on her own opinion, and believed that this wedding, which was held in Tokyo and especially arranged by her hand, could not be regarded as a complete and legal wedding if it lacked a certain necessary procedure. married.With such gallantry and enthusiasm, she undertook all the tedious preparations, including everything in terms of materials and etiquette, and domineeringly did not allow others to have a little objection, so that it was difficult for Ma Mu and Ma Kuo to resist her kindness.

Only the mother who has been with her for more than a month and has gradually liberated from her influence and gained a relatively independent position can express some different views on this issue that is closely related to her.She didn't silently approve of everything her sister did. She told her sister honestly that she didn't like complicated rituals and extravagant scenes, and she really didn't like it.This is a contest of will and will. Mrs. Liu Kai finally won the victory from others, and she unknowingly succumbed to the willpower of her stronger mother.She couldn't bear to defy Erniang's personal opinion too much (in fact, she couldn't persuade Erniang to give up her opinion), but she was so stubbornly attached to the Tokyo way of life that she couldn't change it easily.After fierce ideological struggles and repeated compromises, a compromise plan was finally reached that both parties could reluctantly accept. The result was a mixed marriage that was both a grand Tokyo style and a simple Northwest style. tie.

Compromise is a temporary compromise that can be reluctantly accepted by both parties in form but unsatisfactory in substance.Since neither side could win overwhelmingly, they had to settle for this compromise. One procedure that Mrs. Liu Qi insisted on was that seven days before the marriage, the man would send a load of fine wine in a large mouth bottle, put it in the network, and decorate it with big red silk flowers.There is a name for this, called "Pay Dan Red".The woman will fill the emptied wine bottle with water, fill it with river fish, and add a pair of bamboo tendons to return to the man, which is called "returning fish tendons".Of course, the bright red silk flowers are auspicious, and the fish and water symbolize "the joy of fish and water". As for what does a pair of bamboo tendons symbolize?The chopsticks are also tendons, maybe it is because they are afraid that there will be some repetitions in the wedding, and they want to urge it to be held quickly. This lady Liu Qi, who is very knowledgeable, is not famous.But this procedure is indispensable in the weddings of generations and every family, so she insists that it cannot be omitted.Fortunately, this is an affordable and inexpensive ceremony, and even my mother did not object.And whether the wine or the fish was sent, in the final analysis, they all came back to Zhao Long's dining table.He can't eat or drink for a day now, or drink or drink for a meal. In this vast sea of ​​people, if there is no one drunk to help him, where else can he live and live?

On the eve of the wedding, Mrs. Liu Kai went to the new house on behalf of the woman, hung up the tents and laid the quilts with her own hands.This is also known as "making the bed", and it should be presided over by the woman's family members.After the bed was made, she inspected carefully again to see if all the preparations for tomorrow's ceremony had been done properly, then returned to her own home, walked into the mother's room, and performed a solemn ceremony. She neither told Erniang that the bed had been made, nor that all the preparations had been made, but she held her hand and shed tears relative to each other.There was no reason for these tears, because before that, neither party had the mental preparation or need to cry.But now the crying was timely and free, and they shed so many tears.Is this because they have established such a deep friendship and are reluctant to leave each other?Is it sad because Erniang will bid farewell to her 20-year teenage life starting tomorrow?Yes, but not quite.Mainly because it is an ancient ritual that accompanies the birth of the institution of marriage.On the eve of the daughter's departure from home, she must shed some tears, and her relatives must also accompany her to shed some tears to complete the ceremony.This kind of forced tears can regulate and stabilize the emotions of the girl who feels panic because of tomorrow's wedding.After crying for a while, they feel much more relaxed and at ease in their hearts, and they can face the reality and go out to do big things. But Qiniang's heart is not so easy to relax.She suddenly heard restless footsteps in her father's room.She could hear the sound as a sign that Pa was in great trouble.She gently pulled her hand from Mrs. Liu Kai's palm, slipped into her father's room lightly, and bent half of her body on him like a kitten. Pa was now fully awake from his cynical drunkenness.He even became very mild and understanding when he saw his daughter come in.He stroked his daughter's temples lovingly, treating her like a little girl.He murmured: "Go! It's a good family. They will treat you like a father and will not treat you badly." It was hard for him to say these words, and it really took some ideological struggle to overcome his aversion to the Ma family and his son who recently advocated the campaign against the Liao Dynasty.Although it is said that political opinions can be different, relatives are still relatives, and friends are still friends.However, it is not a good feeling when close relatives and friends disagree on this fundamental issue!Qiniang could hear that father said this mainly to comfort her, and not let her marry into Ma's house with father's resentment.There were still traces of painful struggle in his voice. Erniang tried her best to appear strong, but she felt pain from Dad's pain, especially from his rare caress.Her body lying in her father's arms twitched involuntarily.Dad immediately stopped her, pushed her away from his arms, patted her on the shoulder and said: "Be strong, be strong! My Zhao Zijian's daughter is not as girlish as other people's daughters." Then, fearing that he would lose the last chance, he told his daughter: "I want your third brother to be an upright hero. There are many good examples in their Ma family." He said this twice in a row, so forcefully and firmly, as if he wanted to use a knife and an awl to engrave it on her. in the heart. Having said this, he seemed to have done his duty as a father and urged his daughter to go back to his room to rest. The auspicious day is here. Mrs. Liu Qi, who knew and was very happy that she would play a leading role in today's wedding, came to her room early in the morning.She herself was radiant, but she was surprised to find that Qiniang was sitting on the edge of the bed in a daze, as if she was stuck in the sadness of last night.She understands her feelings, but she thinks that it must be corrected and changed. She must cheer her up and cheer her up so that she can adapt to today's festive atmosphere, just as she had to make her sad and cry last night in order to Fitting in with the tragic atmosphere on the eve of the wedding. In every activity of a person in society, there is a solidified formula restricting him, allowing him to move freely within the scope of the formula is very limited.Mrs. Liu Qi is a supporter of these formulas, although she also has personal likes and dislikes and opinions; Niang is a skeptic of these formulas. She doesn't understand where these formulas come from, why must she do this?But she also had to.They are all people of that society, and it is impossible to go far beyond the level of that society-society is the creator of those formulas. Now Mrs. Liu Qi dresses up her mother seriously and meticulously according to that formula.Yanniang couldn't help but follow that formula, and was dressed up by Mrs. Liu Qi. Since she was a girl, Mrs. Liu Qi has imagined a perfect model of a newlywed in her mind.But in her own wedding it failed to materialize.Because at that time, she was also at the mercy of others without freedom.Others dress her up according to their own understanding of the formula, which is completely inconsistent with her own wishes.Besides, during the wedding, she couldn't help sneaking a sneak peek at the groom, who hadn't met yet!His handsome appearance and outstanding demeanor made her panic, and she even lost the reserve that a newlywed should have. She took wrong steps and disrupted the rhythm of the wedding.This is the biggest, worst mistake a Tokyo bride-to-be can make.This mistake made her feel infinitely ashamed to think about it, and it was an irreparable lifelong regret. Since then, she has seen countless brides, her vision has been further expanded, and her typical has new developments, additions and modifications, making it more perfect.But it can never be realized in itself.Ever since she undertook Erniang's wedding, she wholeheartedly wanted to make it perfect, and told her all her experiences and lessons so that she would not make the same mistakes again.More importantly, she wants to realize her ideal in Erniang.This is for my mother, for Ma Kuo, for everyone, and for myself.The greatest joy of a married young woman is to relive the old dreams of her girlhood in a girl, and marry herself a second time in her to make up for her shortcomings in the first wedding. She worked with the concentration and dedication of a plastic artist trying to complete a masterpiece.Before starting to create, she had already considered and researched thousands of times in her mind, and now she just reproduced the results of that thinking in concrete images.But in the process of creation, there will be thousands of unforeseen difficulties in her abstract ideas.As long as there is a little negligence or a little mistake, it will destroy the overall effect.She worked meticulously and never allowed a little interference. Ren Niang, who has already had sufficient experience in this area, knows that she can only obey 100% and be at her mercy.She committed herself to her and handed over her hair, cheeks, eyebrows, lips and all parts that can be processed and made up.Mrs. Liu Kai combed, painted, washed, and smeared. Sometimes she sat, stood, watched, meditated, and frowned until she was completely absorbed in her mind.The concepts of time and space have disappeared, and she forgot that she was doing makeup for Erniang's wedding, in the room where Erniang was about to leave, before the wedding was about to take place, and even occupied the time of the wedding.Suddenly, I heard drums outside, and a woman broke into the room without thinking and reported: "The groom is here to welcome the bride, please dress up and go out quickly!" "Let him wait outside for a while, it's still early!" Mrs. Liu Qi sent the woman out without even putting down the comb in her hand. The drum for the third urge to make up sounded again, a woman carefully stretched her neck into the room, and tentatively said with a smile: "It's getting late. Sixiang and the officials are waiting outside anxiously!" "It's not ready here yet!" Mrs. Liu Qi replied simply, "They couldn't wait, so they asked him to marry the two of them." Waiting, waiting, she finally finished the last stroke - the thrush pen, and she had to set aside time for herself to appreciate it, and then she came to a conclusion: "This is a perfect newlywed, I have no regrets!" At this very moment, she suddenly found out in a panic that a flower arrangement on the side of her temple had moved two or three points from its original position.The movement of two or three points is no small matter, and it seems that there is a danger of land sinking in the city of Tokyo.Fortunately, she discovered it in time and corrected it in time, which saved this famous city and its millions of residents from a catastrophe! After her review, appraisal and acceptance again, she handed over the mother to Ma Kuo who came to welcome her.Qiniang herself didn't see anything clearly, she was immediately surrounded by people and sat on a sedan chair, and then got off the sedan chair at the door of the man's house. There were only a few steps in total, and the time spent getting on and off the sedan chair was shorter than walking in the sedan chair. There is still more time!Then she was helped to step onto a corridor covered with strips of green cloth.She clearly remembered her sister's warning beforehand: she must walk straight on the strips of green cloth.If you take a wrong step, it is a great faux pas to step on the sole of your shoe on the ground.She didn't understand why, as a newlywed, she didn't have the right to step on the ground of her own home?But she was still careful not to let herself take a wrong step. Then there was a woman who had never met before, holding a bronze mirror, facing her, leading her backwards.This woman's footwork is so skillful, she walks backwards, every step is firmly on the narrow strip of cloth, without taking a wrong step.A pair of saddles and a scale were placed in the middle of the aisle striped with blue cloth behind her.The backward woman seemed to have eyes on the vest, and stepped over them without looking back.For a moment, Erniang hesitated, not knowing what to do, she raised her begging eyes to look for her sister.My sister is beside her!Know what she's asking for from a glance.My sister gestured for her to step over with a small movement.She gently lifted up the too long skirt she was not used to.Obediently and bravely step over the saddle symbolizing "immediate safety" and the weighing stem and weighing hammer symbolizing "satisfaction".All the people watching the ceremony cheered.Because she has obtained the right to enter the new house and sit on the new bed, it seems that she has obtained the "final right" of the married party. In the new house, red candles are shining brightly, and in the gradually deepening night, the same color of curtains, quilts, table surrounds, chairs, and silk hanging on the roof beams are integrated into a festive scene. atmosphere.Many unknown women followed the new house.They are a group of professional ceremonial spectators. As long as any family in the close class holds a festive event, they will come to watch the ceremony with the excitement of going to a temple fair and the mood of being one step behind.If it weren't for them waving flags and shouting five and six, the wedding would not be possible to go on with such joy and laughter.If there is no their finger pointing and commenting.The grooming of the bride and the arrangement of the new house will also become meaningless.Although their comments were often harsh, unkind, and fond of finding scars on ivory, they also played a role in making the wedding lively.They are the embellishments of any auditorium and the "magpies" of the human world.Presumably, in the bird world, magpies must also like to attend weddings of the same kind. They croak, chirp, and chatter endlessly, which makes the married people like it and hate it at the same time. But the ignorant mother didn't understand the significance of their presence in her wedding, she felt that they were completely irrelevant to her, and put her alone between them.Made her feel utterly alone. She didn't know how long she had waited in this absolute solitude (someone cut off the candles attached to the red candle twice, it must have been a long wait) before she saw Mrs. Liu Qi and him one after the other. Come into the room.Erniang has seen him twice today, the first time when she was welcoming the bride, she only saw a cloud.This time, he walked closer to the distance allowed by the corner of her lowered eyes, and saw him wearing a scarlet auspicious suit with water ripples on the hem, and then saw him wearing an unusual hairpin on the left side of the Fu head. Big red flowers, burning hot, seemed to be burning his head.But the restrained vision, the shadow of the candlelight, and the distraction of this group of spectators still prevented her from seeing him clearly.This is him, this is the him that she has known, is familiar with, and is unfamiliar with, and cannot be mistaken.But all she could see now was his outline and shadow. At this time, Mrs. Liu Kai made a decisive and joyful gesture, signaling the crowd in the new house to go out.They still didn't want to leave, but Mrs. Liu Kai politely issued an order ordering them to go out without allowing them to protest.They had no choice but to leave the new house, chattering and chirping to decorate other places. When there were only the three of them left in the new house, Mrs. Liu Qi carefully tied the two ends of the red brocade spread on the pillow quilt—one for each of the men and women—to form an exquisite, beautiful, generous, ingenious wishful concentric knot.Then with a smile on his face, he gave one end of the concentric knot to him and the other end to her, so that they were also tied together by the concentric knot, and wished them good luck forever and never separated.Then he did the routine in front, and she walked along behind, holding the concentric knots one after the other until they walked into the steaming hall.At this time, the drums and music were loud, and amidst the cheers and celebrations, the two of them bowed to each other, and also to their elders, relatives and friends, Liu Qi and his wife, and many strangers. Up to this moment, Erniang has always felt that she was "married" by others, not "married" by herself. She felt that she was not the protagonist of this wedding, nor was he, but her sister was the one!Without her hosting, directing, and actively running around the front and back courts to take care of them (if you count the preparation process, she has traveled at least two hundred miles for them), this wedding would not have been possible at all. . But the time has finally come for them to be the protagonists themselves.When all the miscellaneous personnel, even my sister, were locked up in the hall outside the new house to hold a feast.She and he went back to the new house for the second time.On the table with red candles burning, a wine jug and a pair of wine glasses tied together with colored silk have already been placed.She graciously drank the "cup of wine" he poured for her from his hand, and he drank the other from her hand.After this decisive procedure, they belonged to each other. At this time, the red candles were burning more jubilantly, illuminating the new house that seemed a bit empty because there were no outsiders inside very brightly. She stole a glance at him again, completely forgetting what her sister had warned beforehand—how much she had paid for that glance.How close they were this time, and how boldly she peeped, only the remaining shyness of the girl made her gaze slightly reserved.She not only saw his appearance and stature clearly, but also penetrated into his heart.She seemed to make up for the ten years of separation between them with this affectionate glance. What a wonderful arrangement of fate!He left her for a full ten years, and then they came to a city, many times in a house, she heard his voice several times, saw his back, the voice and back were so familiar and seemed strange .Then, on this fateful day, no, just between these two hours, she saw him three times in a row, and what an important glimpse this last glimpse was.She seemed to have put glue on her sight.Stick the impression in the glimpse firmly in the heart.She tried to use her childhood memories to compare with him now.She found that he has changed, his stature has grown taller than then, his physique has become stronger, and his dark face has been engraved with the marks of years of hard work, wind, frost, rain and snow. .This, before today, my elder sister had told her long ago, and she herself was constantly guessing and pondering. He was indeed as tall, strong, and dark as she had imagined, and she even felt him. A bit "old".However, this is a kind of youthful oldness, a kind of "oldness" stemming from the excessive expectations of young girls who mistake maturity for old age. It is precisely because of this youthful strength that although she feels that he is old, she feels that he is full of vigor and radiance that cannot be concealed. It was precisely because of this level of maturity that she felt that in his solemn and serious expression, there was an inner world that she could not understand and explore that was not open to her. But at the same time she found that he had hardly changed.To her he was still a familiar and strange person, and he hardly spoke to her, not a word.After ten years of separation, doesn't he have anything to say to himself?There's no one else around here!He neither called her by her childhood nickname (she was looking forward to this so much), nor by the new relationship she concluded today (she deserves this, that's how Liu Qi's elder brother called his sister).The former sums up their past, the latter creates their future, and both can erase the distance between them.But no matter what kind of name.She got neither.He only smiled slightly at her, and she was afraid that this smile was nothing more than a thin layer of sugar coating on his deep expression. But she found that he was indeed gentle, and there was no doubt about that.When she drank a full glass of "hand-over wine" in the crook of his arm, because she drank in a hurry and was afraid of choking, she paused in the middle.He mistakenly thought that she had drunk too much, and was afraid that she would be drunk, so he bent his arm lightly and drank it himself.She knew him so well, and in this small action, she could see that he was still taking care of and protecting her interests as he did when he was a child. A feeling of gratitude compelled her to wish to speak to him a few words, and also hoped that he would speak to herself for twenty years, but she didn't know how to speak, how to entice him to speak.She suddenly remembered what her father told her last night, "make him a hero who stands up to the sky and the earth".She had no doubt that this was what he was, and she must be able to make him even more so.His upright behavior in the past, the deep friendship between them in the past, especially when he was only fifteen years old, he once said that a good man can only be made through hard work like a gun knife. All these are because he must become a father. The kind of person expected to provide a solid guarantee.But how could she fully express such strong and complicated thoughts and feelings in a simple and general sentence? She can't, she can't!