National Tide 1980.

Chapter 635
The house the old editor lived in was no other place, but the house that was converted into a house with a door opening after the west gate of Ma's garden was sealed off.

This fully shows the degraded treatment of old editors who "made mistakes" in special years, as well as the shortage of housing in the capital.

Because there is no rear window, even the north room, which has the best orientation, is not so bright.

When the rusty padlock was taken off, the door was opened with a "squeak", and a musty and earthy smell came over the dark room.

Ning Weimin and Kang Shude stepped into the room, covering their mouths and noses.

Needless to say, the first thing the two of them did was to draw the curtains and open the windows to ventilate the room.

Under the sunlight, a cloud of dust was seen rising.

When the light cord was pulled down and the light bulb illuminated, the entire contents of the house were finally revealed.

Due to the limited space, there is not much furniture in the room.

A single bed, a large wardrobe, a bookcase, a chest of drawers, a writing desk, two chairs, a cupboard, that's all, there is not even a dining table.

The texture of these furniture is not good, nothing more than red pine and ash.

A wall clock on the wall is made of hardwood, but unfortunately it has flaws, the clock has obviously been smashed.

The glass cover outside was gone, and the pointer did not move, but it just stopped at around [-]:[-].

It made it look rather bleak, downright sad.

Judging from the traces of dust left on the chest of drawers, a TV should have been placed here.

The greasy and yellowed newspaper wall fence under the window, and a wire with old towels hanging across it.

It shows that this place was once occupied by coal stoves and washing racks.

These things are gone now.

Even after opening the big wardrobe and looking inside, there was nothing of the more valuable coats, coats, and trousers.

There are only a few dozen books left on the bookcase, leaving several floors empty.

Apparently, the hut had been raided by the editor's son like a Jap.

All the valuables were taken away, and almost all that could be sold were sold.

The rest are things he doesn't bother to touch, no wonder he is so generous.

But it is precisely because of this that the old photos and awards above the desk, on the wall and under the glass of the desk are particularly glaring.

The editor's son seems to have forgotten to take the most important thing!
Ning Weimin walked over and looked at them one by one, and found that those were indeed the life records of the good times, and they were the memories of the old man's life.

It can almost cover the most important moments in the old man's life and the life trajectory of the family.

There are not only group photos of the old editor and his wife when they were young, but also group photos of the couple with their friends and relatives, family portraits of the family of three taken in the photo studio, and travel photos of their family outings, children participating in art performances at school, and the couple Let's celebrate our son's birthday together.

Then there are the son's graduation photos, the graduation photo, the son's and daughter-in-law's wedding photos, the son's family photo...

Most importantly, there is also a portrait of the mistress of the family who took the first step on the wall.

Even if he hated his father because of the bitterness he had eaten, wouldn't he even want his own mother?
Ning Weimin couldn't understand at all, and couldn't agree with how the editor's son handled the old man's belongings in this way.

Perhaps it was because he was an orphan himself.

I have never had a real family relationship, so I attach great importance to family relationship.

Isn't that what people are like?

We often don't know how to cherish what we have, and always take it for granted.

This is like the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square in the capital, where people from the capital are rarely seen.

Perhaps because it is so close, it is too convenient to go there.

So not many people in the capital would have such interest...

As for the saddest looking of all things in the whole house.

I'm afraid it's the one hanging on the wall. I have to tear off a page of the month card every day.

The date above will always stay on September 1981, 9!
"Hey, Weimin, what are you looking at?"

Kang Shude saw Ning Weimin standing in front of the desk for a long time without moving, so he couldn't help coming over to ask.

"Ah? You ask me..."

Ning Weimin, who just woke up from a dream, pointed to something that made him stupefied.

"I... I see this, this... This is probably the day when the old editor passed away suddenly..."

A person who passes away suddenly is similar to a house that has been ransacked. Everything in front of him shows the desolation of death like a lamp being extinguished.

This feeling was too bad, and Ning Weimin's mood was inevitably negatively affected.

However, his gloomy expression and stuttering speech caused Kang Shuode to misunderstand.

"Hey! What's the matter, don't care about it. You have to think this way, which old house hasn't died yet. If you are taboo and afraid of this, how can you live in a courtyard house?"

"Especially in the past, when medical technology was backward, it was not easy to die. It was too common for women to suffer from dystocia and have blood collapse, and many of the children born had "four or six winds" and died young. It is even more difficult for children to grow up. It's easy, maybe when you get sick, you can be taken away by Lord Hades. What's more, it coincides with the troubled times, and human life is worthless. Where can we not bury people? Whoever can lay down a whole corpse is already good. .”

"It's not that I'm scaring you. In this Ma's garden, I saw with my own eyes that there must be thirty people. The Ma's family is a big family. There are wives, concubines, servants, and relatives in each house. Let's be more objective. Because of the age of your uncle's courtyard, coffins are sent out from there. Even if there are not a hundred, there must be eighty. This is a normal thing... ..."

After saying this, Ning Weimin couldn't help exclaiming - "Ah!"

"Old man, where is this going? I'm a little scared when you say it. It's just my yard, it's almost making you say "Liao Zhai".

Following him, he couldn't help shaking his head and smiling bitterly.

"You don't know. In fact, it's not why I feel awkward. The main reason is that people's life is really too short to be wiped out."

"It's like this old editor, who obviously existed, but no one remembers it now. Even his son doesn't want the things he left behind. This result is too tragic."

"Especially for people like us who randomly enter the house behind people, rummage through people's personal belongings, and touch the privacy of people's lives. Isn't it a bit inappropriate? I think it's a bit of a robbery..."

This made Kang Shude look serious.

After a moment of silence, the old man said, "It's good that you can think like this and know how to respect the dead. This is called empathy."

"But you have to be clear, there are people who live and die every second in this world. Life and death are really ordinary. No one can escape this day, and everyone's belongings in life have to be disposed of by others. Even me. what."

"At that time, I have no other relatives. Don't you pick and choose my things? Can you still leave all my things? You also want torn clothes and rotten socks? Impossible. As for the things I love and care about, I can rest assured only if you take them away. "

"As for this matter, it is actually the same reason. After all, the person who lived here was an educated person, and it is inevitable that he left some precious things that ordinary people don't know. It's better for us to restrain ourselves than those who don't care about it and treat it as a whole. Those who dispose of the rags are strong. We are doing a good deed. It can be said that we are mutually fulfilling with the original owner. Even if it is abrupt, the spirit in heaven will not mind it."

"What's more, let's talk to the end, in order to prevent crimes and take ill-gotten gains. The rules of the second-hand goods industry are nothing more than 'three don't buy'. Bronze Buddha statues are not bought, especially those with 'dirty' in their stomachs. That is called 'dumb' '. Don't buy clothes that passers-by have just stripped from their bodies. There are also medicines at home, and those who are lying sick. Besides, everything can be bought and sold. It doesn't harm the morality, and it is not a danger to take advantage of others. So I want to say , if you have obstacles in your heart, you don’t need to. On the other hand, this is the time to really see your ability, whether you can arrange these things properly.”

The old man's words were to the point, and Ning Weimin's awkwardness was relieved a lot.

After he thought about it, this was indeed the case. After all, packing is a technical job that requires vision and vision.

Even if there is no grievance between father and son in this family, the old editor's son carefully packs up his father's belongings.

That may not be able to really identify the true value of these things at home.

Now that he and the old man sieve it again, at least it can prevent the possibility of good things being spoiled, which should be regarded as good deeds.

In this way, he nodded and said yes, ready to get started.

Mr. Clinker has something to say.

"Hey, don't be too busy. I said apprentice, it's so boring to just start looking for things like this. Today, we might as well make a bet and compare our eyesight."

"As far as the things in this room are concerned, you pick them first. Every time you pick one, I'll pick another one. Let's take three as the maximum per person. Let's see who picks the most valuable thing today. How about it?"

"If you can win against me, not only will everything you pick out today belong to you, but I will also keep my word. The small courtyard in Fan'er Hutong will be yours after changing your name."

"But if you lose... hehe, I'm sorry. Even if you deserve to be unlucky, you can do nothing for me. I can only wait for you to get the rest of the yard back to me, and then I will fulfill my promise and reward you..."

Seeing Kang Shude looking at him with a half-smile, Ning Weimin clearly felt the encouragement from the old man.

So he didn't flinch anymore, he simply rolled up his arms, rolled up his sleeves, and stretched out his palm.

"Master, listen to you, let's do it like this."

After speaking, the master and apprentice clapped their hands heartily, and the bet was concluded.

It started a live fighting that had never been done before, a competition of eyesight between master and apprentice.

(End of this chapter)