siege

Chapter 7

When Fang Hung-chien returned the letter to Miss Tang, he did not feel dull.After a while, he woke up as if from a faint, and began to feel unstoppable heartaches, like limbs that were numb due to curling up, and felt tingling pain when they stretched out and the blood circulated.I didn't have time to discern the taste of the whole piece of pain that I had swallowed yesterday, but now, like a cow chewing its cud, it is sporadically chewing out a deep and bottomless aftertaste.The sofa and desk in the bedroom, the trees and grass outside the bedroom window, and the people I meet every day are all the same as before.The strange thing is that at the same time, he feels that the world is bleak, at least his own world has changed.His personal world is suddenly separated from the world of public life, like a lonely ghost isolated from the living people, watching the pleasures of the mortal world, but unable to penetrate himself, and gazing at the sun of the mortal world, he cannot bask in it himself.In other people's world, he can't get in, but in his world, anyone can come in, the first one who can't be stopped is Mrs. Zhou.No one who is an elder is willing for a junior to keep a secret from himself; coaxing out and forcing out this secret is the duty of the elders.After the Tang family's coachman left, Fang Hung-chien went upstairs to wash his face. Mrs. Zhou met him halfway up the stairs, and wanted to ask him what the maid had told him last night, but she couldn't help it. This proved that she was not only responsible, but also self-cultivated.She went to the dining room first and waited for him to come down.Xiaocheng eats very fast on weekdays, but today he also procrastinates slowly, listening to his mother ask Hung-chien what to say.It wasn't until Xiaocheng couldn't wait and went to school, and she hadn't seen Hung-chien come to eat breakfast, that she asked the servant to urge her, and then she knew that he had already sneaked out.Mrs. Zhou lost her temper even more because of wasting self-denial. She scolded Hung-chien for being an asshole, saying, "Even if you live in a hotel, you have to pay for the waiter when you go out. Now he eats my Zhou's food, lives in Zhou's house, and earns a lot of money." My Zhou family’s money was hidden from me and went out to mess around. I went out early in the morning and didn’t come to greet him. I have no respect for my elders. What a rule! He is still the son of a scholar! A gift, 'Hasn't he read it? He's bewildered by women, he has no conscience at all, and he doesn't want to think about it. Without the cultivation of our Zhou family, why would Miss Su and Miss Tang take a fancy to him!" Mrs. Zhou didn't know that Gradually getting to know Ms. Tang, because of the ready-made noun of "sesame crisp candy", she said "crispy" and said "sugar" along the way;

Fang Hongjian went out without eating breakfast, in order to avoid Mrs. Zhou.At this time, he was afraid of being interrogated, and even more afraid of being merciful or taught.The new wound on his heart hurts when it is exposed.When someone loses their love, they will immediately display their sadness like a beggar's rotten leg, bloody and public, to attract people's sympathy, or it will be like a soldier's golden sores and old spots, which will make people admirable.Hung-chien only hoped to hide in the darkness of his mind, as if his sick eyes were protected from light, and his broken flesh was afraid of the wind.So he originally wanted to act as if nothing had happened, so that no one would see through his secret, and if he could hide it from Mrs. Zhou, then no one would meddle in other people's affairs.However, it is difficult to keep the pain in your heart from showing on your face.Women have the aid of cosmetics. Apply thicker rouge and thicker powder, and the red and white will cover up the sadness in the heart.I am a man, and I am not disheveled on weekdays. Apart from combing my hair and shaving my face as usual, I can't use extraordinary makeup to show that I am as usual.If you can't deal with Mrs. Zhou in a hurry, it's better to slip away.When Hung-chien arrived at the bank, he worked mechanically, his mind too weak to think.The telegram from Sanlv University automatically popped up in his memory, he sighed, and answered the telegram without any willpower.He just assigned the courier to send a telegram, and the manager's office sent someone to invite him.When Manager Zhou saw him, he frowned and said, "What's the matter with you? My wife is losing her temper. When I went out, Wang Ma was calling for a doctor."

Hung-chien hurriedly argued that he hadn't met her since early in the morning.

Manager Zhou said with a mournful face: "I don't know what's going on with you either. But your mother-in-law has been in poor health since Shuying passed away. The doctor measured her blood pressure and told her not to move. It's dangerous, so I always Let her three points, you—don't force her to top her." After speaking, he let out a sigh of relief.When Manager Zhou met this famous uncle, the son of a squire, and a foreign student, he was a little apprehensive. Today's conversation is obligatory, but he doesn't like it.Ever since he and Mrs. Zhou were married, he has always let her.When his daughter died that year, he wanted to marry a concubine to comfort him in the grief of losing his middle-aged daughter. He told Mrs. Zhou that he was sick and begged to die, and he yelled, "Death is clean, so that others can fill in the gaps." No need anymore, I'm even less arrogant towards her.What he said "let her three points" is not the "three points" of "three points of water and seven points of dust", but the "three points" of "there are only three points of moonlight in the world".

Hung-chien reluctantly said, "I'll just keep it in mind. I don't know if she's all right now? Shall I call and ask?"

"Don't hit me! She's angry with you, don't make fun of yourself. Before I left, I asked my family to wait for the doctor to come and call me to report. Your mother-in-law is getting old! More than 20 years ago, we Before she came to Shanghai, she suffered from liver and stomach qi problems. When she had a fit, she didn’t ask the doctor for injections, and she didn’t take painkillers, and she didn’t even take them if she wanted to! Some people advised her to take two sips of opium, but your mother-in-law refused, because she was afraid of becoming addicted. The only way is to use our country method, lie on the bed, ask someone to take the door latch, and beat her all over. The one who beat her is always me, because this thing needs to be done by relatives, and others don’t know how to do it, and the hands are too heavy. But now she can't take it anymore. This method is really effective, maybe you people in the city don't believe it."

Hung-chien was wondering if the unmarried son-in-law was considered a "relative" and hurriedly said, "Believe it! Believe it! This is also a way to trick her nerves and distract her from the pain. It makes sense."

Manager Zhou admitted that he was right.Hung-chien returned to his desk, full of displeasure, thinking that Mrs. Zhou's attitude was getting worse day by day, that the Zhou family could not live any longer, and that he had to leave Shanghai as soon as possible.Manager Zhou went home after lunch and talked to Hung-chien again. The first thing he said was whether he had answered the telegram from Sanlv University.Hung-chien suddenly came to his senses, and a burst of anger woke up his mind from dullness. When he answered, he straightened his body so that there was no more height to add.Manager Zhou avoided Hung-chien's face, only saw the white shirt on Hung-chien's chest in front of the desk slowly expanding, and the tie and belt were rising off the desk, so he said, "It's best if you call back to apply. Hanging around in our bank is not a long-term solution," and asked him to "don't get me wrong."Hung-chien sneered harshly, and asked if he would be considered suspended from today.Manager Zhou put on a weak dignity and said, "Hung-chien, I tell you don't get me wrong! You will be traveling soon, and of course you have to be busy with your own affairs, so you don't have time to take care of the trip—fortunately, there is nothing to do in the trip. Set you free, and you don't have to come every day. As for your salary, you'll get it—"

"Thank you, I can't get the money."

"Listen to me, I will teach the accounting department and give you four months' salary together, and you don't have to ask your old man for your travel expenses—"

"I don't want money, I have money," Hung-chien spoke with the air, as if he had all the four national banks in his pocket, and before Manager Zhou could finish speaking, he strode out of the manager's office.It's a pity that the manager's room is too small to walk two steps, and his haughty back is no longer for Manager Zhou to look up to.Moreover, in the midst of his anger, he didn't take good care of himself mentally, and the leather shoes stepped on the foot of the footman outside the door. Hung-chien had no choice but to apologize, but the footman lifted his leg and smiled wryly, saying forcefully, "It doesn't matter."

Manager Zhou shook his head, thinking that women don't understand worldly affairs, they only know that they lose their temper at home and make their husbands embarrassing outside.I blew up a conversation draft. I wanted to talk about Hung-chien’s father from Hung-chien’s travel expenses. Following Hung-chien’s father, I changed my tone and said: “After you returned to China, you didn’t make out with your old lady much. Now that you are going on a long trip again, it seems that you should go back to your residence for a month or two to take care of your elders. My wife and I like you to live in the dormitory for a long time, and Xiaocheng is also reluctant to let you go; but I detain you, You are not allowed to go home and be a filial son, your in-laws and mother-in-law are going to come to 'visit your relatives and scold them'—" At this point, you should laugh out loud, pat Hung-chien's hands, arms, shoulders, or back, and look at his body. What was the most convenient part to shoot at that time-"Anyway, you often come to my house to play, isn't it the same? If you don't come all the time, I won't agree." In particular, the reception was flawless, and to the best of what Director Wang of the Documentary Department called "pushing the boat along with the flow", I'm afraid the letter manuscript written by Director Wang is no more than that.It's just a pity that this good conversation is all awkward when it comes out, I panicked first, and my attitude was awkward, that bastard Hung-chien had a face that was slapped in the face, give him face and step down, he is willing to scratch his face and contradict I really don't know how to flatter me, so don't blame my wife for hating him.The most difficult words are still stuffed in my heart, like sticky phlegm that cannot be coughed up in my throat, making it extremely itchy.Manager Zhou gave a meaningless cough symbolically and cleared his throat.Hung-chien was a boy who had been raised by himself for nothing, so it seemed that he was not very promising.Just now I heard from my wife that someone recently asked someone to judge his fate, and his fate is very hard. The marriage will not end, and Shuying killed him without getting through the door!Now it's a good luck, and there is no guarantee that there will be no trouble. It's better to let him go home and put Squire Fang under strict control, and he will let go of his relationship as an elder.But today, he suddenly kicked him away, and I didn't feel very embarrassed in the end-oh, my wife can't bear it because of her ill temper!Manager Zhou sighed, put the matter aside, picked up the business letters on the table, and struck the bell.

Fang Hongjian didn't want his colleagues to see the shame and anger on his face, so he ran out of the bank in one breath.Cursing Mrs. Zhou in her heart, she must have instigated today's incident. Manager Zhou's husband who completely listens to women is despicable enough!The funny thing is, I still don't understand why Mrs. Zhou suddenly made trouble in the small teacup, thinking to herself that she didn't offend her!However, there is no need to pursue the reason. They want him to leave, and he will leave. He will never linger, and he will not bother to argue with them.Originally, I wanted to buy some of her favorite food to go back to honor her at night and make her like it!When she found out that Miss Su was in contact with her, she changed her attitude and often said nasty words.Xiaocheng didn't like him at all, as if he should be his gunner if he took tutoring for him, he had to take home all the homework for him to do for him, if he didn't agree, he hated him.Besides, that little devil was meddling in his own business, thanks to his careful precautions, the correspondence did not fall into his hands.Yes!Yes!It must have been the coachman of the Tang family who came to get the letter this morning. She had some suspicions, but she couldn't afford to lose her temper like that?It's so inexplicable!good!good!If you have bad luck, you will be completely bad, and you will be happy if you are bad.Yesterday I was dumped by my lover, today I was kicked out by my husband, lost love and then lost my job, lost love and lost my job, I really fell on my back and even broke my nose! "Come together if you are not interested", just come, simply let the bad luck make it take care of every detail.The Zhou family couldn't stay for a day, so they had to go back to their parents' house for a few days, like a dog that had been beaten outside and ran home with its tail between its legs.But if he admits to his family that he was kicked back, how can he face it?In the past two days, I have been so angry and stupid. The back of my head is like a cotton-wrapped drumstick beating Bumeng's drum. It is vaguely heavy, throbbing and throbbing. I can't think of a perfect way to cover up my shame, so that my family members will not be suspicious. Why did I suddenly have to go home and live an uncomfortable life.My family didn't know about the telegram from Sanlv University, and it reported to my parents, which would surely make them happy. They might be more lenient and wouldn't pursue detailed interrogation if they were happy.I didn't bother to think about it any more, relying on this good news, I bit the bullet and went home to talk to the camera.I made it clear to my family, I don’t want to go back to Zhou’s house until late at night, so as not to see Manager Zhou and his wife, pack up the three pieces of luggage, slip away tomorrow morning, leave a letter to say goodbye, anyway, I have no face to see Manager Zhou Mrs. Zhou, Manager Zhou, Mrs. Zhou also has no face to see herself, which saves a lot of trouble.I won't live longer when I move back home. I just wait for Sanlu University's travel expenses to be remitted, and I will find a few friends to go on the road.Don't have to go to the bank before hitting the road, enjoy a few days of leisure and enjoy the blessing of leisure.For some reason, the blessing of leisure would take Miss Tang and hurriedly slid the thoughts across like skating, and there was a flash of pain in my heart that fortunately didn't attack.

When Hung-chien arrived home at four o'clock, the old lady yelled as soon as she opened the door, "Young master is here, ma'am, the young master is here, please don't invite me." When Hung-chien entered the door, he saw his mother sitting by the side of the old round dining table, holding Ah Ji, feed him milk powder, while Ah Chou is making noise.The old lady closed the door and rushed back to tease Ah Chou, telling him to "don't make noise, just call 'Uncle' obediently, and Uncle will give you candy".Ah Chou stopped talking and looked at Hung-chien with bare eyes, seeing that there was no sugar for him, so he jumped at Old Madam Fang again.

This Ah Chou is the son of the second eldest, Pengtu, who is four years old, and when he came to the ground, he looked ridiculously ugly as usual.Pengtu hadn't gotten used to being a father yet, so he didn't feel the pride of the creator and the partiality of the owner for the lump of red meat with five sense organs, so he hurriedly went to Lao Tzu's study to report: "A monster was born. "Mr. Fang Dunzhai is eager to embrace his grandson. He just took a hexagram of the God of Changes and obtained it. It is the hexagram of "Little Animal". .He read the hexagrams in the "Book of Changes" and wondered, wondering if his daughter-in-law was going to have a dystocia or a miscarriage, and was waiting for a pious divination, when his son suddenly said something out of his head, and jumped up in fright: "Don't talk nonsense! Is the child going to the ground?" Seeing Lao Tzu's serious expression, Pengtu hurriedly said: "It's a boy, both mother and child are fine." Fang Dunweng suppressed his liking, and taught his son, "I'm already a father, so I can talk It’s still so unruly, let’s see how you teach your son in the future!” Pengtu explained: “The child’s appearance is really ugly—please give him a name.” “Okay, if you say he is ugly, call him 'ugly Son, come on." Fang Dunweng remembered that "Xunzi Feixiang Pian" said that the appearance of the great sages and sages in ancient times were all ugly, so he simply named it "Feixiang" after his grandson.Mrs. Fang didn't know what is wrong with appearance, she just thought the name "Chouer" was not good, and said: "The child looks very good--all newborn children are like that, who said he is ugly? You still Just change your name." He took out all the old stuff from the bottom of Fang Dunweng's book bag: "You all don't understand this truth, if Hung Chien is at home, he will understand." Yibi said, and went to the study He picked out two or three books from the shelf and showed them to his son, because Mrs. Fang was not very literate.Fang Pengtu saw in the book that said: "Children should be easy to grow up, and they are often nicknamed by humble names, such as dogs, sheep, dogs, and horses." Son, Murong Nong's small characters are evil slaves, Yuancha's small characters are Yashas, ​​and there are spotted beasts, bald heads, turtles, badgers, etc., only then did I know that my son's name "Chouer" is still respectable.Fang Dunweng went to the teahouse to talk about this matter with everyone that day, those tea friends who flattered him not only congratulated him, but also complimented him for choosing a unique and harmonious name, not only elegant, but also sonorous.Only when Mrs. Fang was teasing her grandson, she often rubbed her face and protested on his behalf: "How beautiful we are! We are beautiful little darlings, why do you wrong us to be ugly? Grandpa is unreasonable, go and pull off his beard. Fang Hongjian also wrote back from a foreign country, expressing his opinion on the scientific name of his nephew, saying that the two pioneers in "Feng Shen Bang", the elder brother is called Fang Bi, and the younger brother is called Fang Xiang. The ghost brother raised the bar and changed it as soon as possible.Fang Dunweng ignored it.Last year, the war broke out for a few days, and the wife of the third son, Fengyi, also raised her firstborn son. Fang Dunweng was deeply moved by the "war is fierce and dangerous", so he called him "Aji" because of the situation, according to "Mozi Fei "Gong Pian" gave him the scientific name "Fei Gong".Dun Weng became addicted to inscribing names. I had thought about a dozen or so top-ranked names, and I just waited for the daughters-in-law to raise children one after another. Non-smoke", using the legend of Tang Dynasty.

During this escape, the two little things, ugly and fierce, were really tiring.Hung-chien, an unkind widower, listened to his parents talk about the bitterness of fleeing, and he deeply blamed the two sisters-in-law for not being able to take care of the children, and made the two elders suffer.At this time, A-Chou and A-Ji are pestering the grandmother, and their mother can't even see her, so he can't see it.Mrs. Fang had been a filial daughter-in-law for too long, and suddenly it was her turn to be a mother-in-law, she couldn't do it, she couldn't do it.In Western families, the struggle between mother-in-law and son-in-law is an ancient tradition that has been preserved to this day. The hostility between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law in our Chinese families has a long history as well.Only when the daughter-in-law is pregnant, the mother-in-law has to rely on her to be promoted to grandmother, so she began to accommodate her.When the daughter-in-law raised a real boy, the mother-in-law gave in even more.The old lady Fang is cowardly by nature, and the two young wives are really powerful. When Ah Chou was born, the Fang family hadn’t heard a child cry for more than 20 years. Obviously worse.Fengyi's wife was struggling with gas, and her first child was also a boy. Since then, the secret rivalry between the sisters-in-law has intensified.The old couple treated each other fairly, and the two sons and daughter-in-law each complained about their favoritism behind their backs.When Hung-chien returned to China for the first time, his family had a big house, and A-chou had a nanny to take care of him, so he wasn't too annoying.After escaping from disaster, Ah Chou's nanny can of course be omitted; the third grandma has never used a nanny because A Ji was born during the war.According to the unwritten law of the old family, the grandchildren's wet nurse should be hired by the grandparents.Fang Dunweng fled to Shanghai, and his situation is not the same as before. He cherishes tips and refuses to use a wet nurse for his second grandson.But when he talked to the third grandma, he didn't mention the economy a word. He only said that Shanghai is not like his hometown. Being a nanny, this kind of woman is poisonous, and she can't feed children, and the atmosphere in Shanghai is too obscene, and the nanny will always ask for leave to go out for the night, and the milk will change, and it is definitely not suitable for children to eat.Seeing that her parents-in-law wanted her to take the child by herself, the third grandma was so bloated that her stomach was getting bigger, she had no appetite to eat, and her limbs were weak.The doctor just confirmed that she was not sick a week ago and that she was nearly four months pregnant.The second grandmother shivered with a six-month pregnant belly, and sneered privately to her husband: "I guessed that, she knew all the tricks in her own stomach. I had to coax your confused mother, what bloat, Angry, huh, you can hide it from me!" A woman who is a daughter-in-law in a big family usually has a small stomach when eating, but a big stomach when she is angry; The belly can shrink.The bodies of these two grandmas are now like two big spiders who have eaten enough flies, and they have reached a state where the capacity of the house is obviously reduced. Mrs. Fang is so busy that she can't keep up with it.

Because of the illness of his third daughter-in-law, Fang Dunweng became interested in researching family medicine.In Shanghai, he was left in the cold, unlike when he was living in the countryside.A quack doctor from the same township is his neighbor. He admires his fame and has the time to kill people. He occasionally comes to chat with him.This quack doctor really "practiced medicine for three generations and knew everything about one side" in his hometown. Finally, that side had strong resistance, and he didn't kill his grandfather and father, leaving the four sides to three sides.Fang Dunweng, like all the older scholars, is confident that "if he is not a good look, he is a good doctor" and understands medicine.The quack doctor thought he had a good reputation and hoped that he would introduce business, so he would inevitably be confused several times.This misty soup is like wine, the amount of the drink varies from person to person; Dun Weng's soup has never been large, and he forgets it as if he was drunk.It happened that the third daughter-in-law could provide him as a test product, so he prescribed many prescriptions.The third grandmother felt that the medicines given by her father-in-law and the neighbor's doctor were ineffective, and she quarreled with her husband, so she wanted to consult a western doctor.When Dun Weng found out about this, he was unhappy at first. Hearing that Western medicine had concluded that his daughter-in-law was not ill, he was about to get angry.But the Western doctor said that she was pregnant, which was good news. I didn't want to be angry, so I had to endure it and find other ways to restore my medical dignity and wash away the shame of Chinese medicine.Mrs. Fang took Hung Chien into his bedroom. On his desk were "Flowers in the Mirror" and the tenth edition of the Commercial Press's "New Edition of Zeng Guangjia's Verification of Prescriptions". He wanted to extract the strange prescriptions in "Flowers in the Mirror" On the blank of "New Edition of Proof Prescriptions".When Dun Weng saw his son, he said, "You are here, and I was about to call you to talk to you. You haven't come for a month, and the family should come and go often. My father indulged you too much, you I don't know the rules and etiquette at all—" Flipping through the "New Edition of Proving Prescriptions", the old lady on the other side said: "Mom, since the third daughter-in-law is happy, I think she can use this recipe. Twice a day, one piece of tofu skin each time, don't cut it Swallow it in soup with soy sauce and sesame oil. The taste is not bitter. It can be served with rice, preferably without it, and the second daughter-in-law might as well follow suit. This recipe makes sense: tofu skin is slippery, and sesame oil is also slippery. The baby's afterbirth is slippery, it is easy to fall to the ground, and it will not cause dystocia in the future. You can show them this prescription. Don't go, listen to me talking to Hung-chien--Hung-chien, you are almost 30 years old, you should have a sense of proportion, take care of yourself We don’t need to talk about our time-honored antiques. But—mother, we don’t discipline our son anymore, someone else will discipline him for us, we can’t lose face, can’t we—your mother-in-law called in the morning and said you were outside Absurd, messing around with a woman, don’t argue, I’m not a fool, I don’t believe her completely—” Tuanweng stretched out his left hand to his son, palm down, as a signal to stop his defense—“But you must have a trace The indiscretions fall into her eyes. At your age, you will naturally get married and get married. It's my fault, I'm appeasing you for a while, and I will decide everything for you in the future. I want you to move back home Stay here, so that you don’t get bored by others, and at the same time, I will discipline you. You should also live the hard life at home; young people are greedy for comfort, their bones are loose, and they will have no future in life.”

Fang Hongjian felt ashamed and angry, and dozens of words came to his lips at the same time, only to struggle out: "I want to move back tomorrow, my mother-in-law is crazy, she likes nothing to do, what a jerk—"

Dunweng said stunned: "Your attitude is not right, I think you are becoming more and more brutal and rude. Even if she exaggerates, it is the kindness of her elders, you young people—" Fang Dunweng left Leave a blank to indicate that there are no words in the world to describe those hateful and rude young people.

Seeing that Hung-chien's expression was sour, old lady Fang asked her son cowardly and cunningly, "How is that Miss Su? As long as you really like her, Dad and I will always do what you want. As long as you like it."

Fang Hongjian couldn't help blushing and said, "I haven't seen her for a long time."

This blushing could not escape the observation of the old couple, they exchanged winks, and Dun Weng smiled thoroughly understandingly: "Is it because of a quarrel? This is also a common thing between young men and women. Once they quarrel, they feel better. I'm already remorseful, and I don't care about anyone when I'm still angry. Am I right? At this time, there needs to be a third party to come out and make amends. You don't want to be wronged and admit your mistakes. She will pay me for my face." The naughty smile and tone of Dun Weng were so bulky that they could crush the floor.

Hung-chien would rather his father be angry than his humor, so he panicked and said nonsense, "She's already engaged to someone."

The meaning in the eyes of the old couple deepened.Dun Weng solemnly changed his face and said: "Then, you are—the so-called 'broken love'. Well, there is no need to spoil yourself! The days are long." Not only did Dun Weng forgive, but he also felt pity for this son who was bullied by women. .

Hung-chien was even more embarrassed.Yes, I was "broken in love" - ​​these two words were very awkward in my father's mouth - but it was not for Su Wenwan.The sympathy of the parents is misplaced, as if there is a wound on the body, and the sympathizer tends to apply the dressing to the intact flesh.Do you want to tell them about Miss Tang?They would never understand that maybe their father would directly propose to Miss Tang for him with a flick of a pen, and he would make such a joke.Hung-chien faltered and concealed a few words, and showed the telegram to Weng Tuan.As expected, the matter of Mrs. Zhou was put aside.Dun Weng said that this is what foreign students do, and it is much better than working as a small bank clerk for a living; the place in Heisei is indeed remote, but "our Fang family should have someone in the free zone, and I and the rear can communicate with each other. You can go in and talk to relevant parties about all the actions since the fall of the place.” After a while, the man said again: “You should send me one-third of your monthly salary in the future, not because I want your money. It's to train you to be responsible to your parents, and your two brothers share the family's expenses." At the dinner table, the Dunweng couple obviously favored their son, blaming the Zhou family for being petty and intolerant, and they wanted to send Hung-chien away with an excuse: " A businessman is always a businessman, and they see that our Fang family has lost power. We don’t want to be in-laws with such stingy and snobbish upstarts.” The two elders decided that Hung-chien would go back to Zhou’s house to pack his luggage tonight, and that Mrs. Fang would visit Zhou tomorrow. My wife's illness, thank you for bothering me, so I can take my luggage away.

After dinner, Hung-chien went to Zhou's house if he didn't want to, and went to watch a movie by himself.After the movie ended, it was delayed for a while. It was expected that Manager Zhou and his wife had fallen asleep, so they went back slowly.As soon as I entered the bedroom, I saw a valid English grammar textbook on the table, with a note in the book: "Brother Hung-chien: I can't wait for you, I'm going to bed. Grammar exercises No. 30 to 38, please hurry up." Do it. There is also an essay on free essays in Chinese. Do 22 words casually. It is better if you are willing to do [-] words. It is so-so, and the article should not be too good. I have to hand in the paper tomorrow. Thank You Very Much. [[-]]" There is a big book next to the book The plate of loquat and skin core is supposed to be eaten by Xiao Cheng when he is waiting for himself.Hung-chien snorted, packed the suitcases, fell asleep, and left Zhou's house early in the morning.In fact, Mrs. Zhou regretted it that afternoon, feeling the emptiness of victory, and was willing to take everything back as long as Hung-chien humiliated and apologized.Tomorrow morning when she found out that Hung-chien had left without saying goodbye, and her son was jumping and cursing about skipping school for a day, she was too angry to chatter.At lunch time, the Dianjin Bank sent Hung-chien's four-month salary to Fang's family; Fang Dunweng accepted it on behalf of his son.

Fang Hung-chien lived at home and was very bored.He wrote letters and copied prescriptions on behalf of his father every day, and whenever he was free, he went for a walk on the street.Every time I go out, I always secretly hope that on the road, in the car, or at the entrance of the movie theater, I will accidentally run into Miss Tang.How did you meet?Sometimes the ideal self is cold and proud, turning a blind eye to her, which makes her unbearable.Sometimes the ideal self is calm with a smile, provocative and polite, and greets her politely, but she is at a loss for what to do with embarrassment.Sometimes when his imagination gets stronger, he walks hand in hand with a woman who is more beautiful than Miss Tang, and suddenly meets Miss Tang who has no boyfriend; but as soon as Miss Tang shows signs of sadness and despair, he immediately dumps that woman. Make up with her.The ideal Ms. Tang sometimes scolded herself as "cruel", and sometimes suppressed her emotions, keeping her face away and not letting herself see the tears on her eyelashes.

After staying at home for nearly ten days, the Dragon Boat Festival was over, and there was no news from Sanlv University, Hung-chien became anxious.One early morning, a special messenger sent a letter, written by Zhao Xinmei, saying that we hadn't seen each other at the Dianjin Bank yesterday, and that after four o'clock this afternoon, if you have time, please come and have a talk, and report something important.He also said: "Everything in the past was caused by misunderstanding, please don't mind." The strangest thing is that he called himself: "Brother Hung-chien sympathizes." After Hung-chien saw it, he was full of doubts.Now that Zhao Xinmei married Ms. Dingsu, why did he still come to find him? He would never invite him to be the best man for their wedding.After a while, the newspaper came, and the third grandmother rushed to read it, and suddenly asked, "Is the name of eldest brother's girlfriend Su Wenwan?"The third grandma pointed out to him an announcement in the newspaper, signed by Su Hongye and Cao Yuanzhen, who wanted to know that the daughter surnamed Su and the brother surnamed Cao were engaged today.Hung-chien was so surprised that he couldn't help exclaiming "Huh!"Presumably this was the "important matter" mentioned in Zhao Hsin-mei's letter.Miss Su will marry Cao Yuen Long, there is no way for a woman to be stupid!Poor Zhao Xinmei.He didn't know that after Miss Su agreed to Cao Yuanlang, she also said: "Zhao Xinmei is so pitiful, he has the heart to blame me." Poet Cao was overjoyed, forgetting his delicate understanding of women's psychology, and rashly said: "That's not necessary." Worry, he will find someone else. I hope that he will be as happy as me, and that he will soon succeed in falling in love." Miss Su remained silent before Cao Yuanlang realized that he had made a mistake.I have been working on new poems, but I didn't pay attention to Yuan Weizhi's two sentences: "Once the sea was too difficult for water, except Wushan is not a cloud", I regret it too late.Of course, Ms. Su thinks that the person who likes her, how can she easily appreciate the woman next to her?She didn't want to marry Zhao Xinmei, but subconsciously, she might want Zhao Xinmei to never marry again and wait patiently for Cao Yuanlang's death as a replacement.Cao Yuanlang hurried home and wrote a love poem and sent it to him, firstly to express happiness, and secondly to make up for past mistakes.The general idea of ​​this poem expresses the ideal of getting rid of private property, saying that he shares everything, body and mind, with Miss Su.He was passionate, and he ran a few more times under the scorching sun in early summer. He had two small boils on his head and a layer of red bumps on his face, which of course he shared with Miss Su.

Fang Hongjian found Zhao Xinmei's western-style apartment at exactly five o'clock, and before entering the door, he heard several houses in the apartment turning on the radio, broadcasting the popular "Spring Love Song", and the air was torn apart by the shrill voice of the domestic female star who fascinated everyone. messed up -

Spring, why hasn't spring come yet?
The flowers in my heart have already opened!

well! ! !my love--

The logical inference is of course: before summer comes, her body will bear fruit.The female star's sweet voice was sharp and turbid, more than half like snorting from the nose, greasy and sticky, soft and weak, and had the same quality as the main product of the nose, snot.However, at least it should be as long as a nose, so that it can tolerate the winding and continuous voice.Walking outside Zhao's house on the second floor, this song is also playing inside.As he rang the bell, he thought damn it!Damn it!Listening to this kind of song is like watching pornographic books and paintings. It is a sign of mental retardation and insanity. Unexpectedly, Zhao Xinmei will degenerate to this point if he loses his love!When someone opens the door to pick up a business card and enters, the radio stops.When the servant comes out, please enter the small guest room, which is exquisitely furnished, with several large picture frames hanging on the wall.There is a large photo of Zhao Xinmei's deceased father, a large photo of Zhao Xinmei's master's uniform holding a diploma, and a photo signed by Zhao Xinmei's American teacher.Zhao Xinmei was sitting on the floor in the first row of the group photo of the summer camp for students studying in the United States. To make it easy for viewers to identify him, he made a "+" sign on top of his head with red ink, and he was drawing it on the chest and abdomen of the person standing behind him. There is a great idea of ​​​​using the Japanese method of "seppuku" for him.The most eye-catching thing is a long and colorful photo, in which Ms. Su is driving a group of white sheep with a stick, with a cloth on her head, and what seems to be a shepherd's dress on her body, full of classical, romantic, idyllic, and pastoral styles. mood.It's a pity that this shepherdess doesn't seem to be focusing on tending the sheep. She faces out of the frame and smiles at the viewer.According to the two lines of writing on the side of the photo, it was taken by Ms. Su when she was vacationing in the French countryside, and it was enlarged and presented to Hsin-mei after returning to China.Hung-chien felt a brisk burst of jealousy, thinking that Miss Su had never shown himself such a good photo.In addition to these photographs of relatives, teachers, friends, and wives, there is a couple and a painting, all of which are signed by Xinmei.Yes, it is the style of "Jiucheng Palace" written by Dong Xiechuan: "Que still has a mandarin duck club; there are no geese and duck neighbors. Xinmei's second brother, who does not marry at thirty, is similar to the so-called "one who has the way" in Li Dongchuan's poems. Playing about scabies wall." That painting was written by Mrs. Dong Xiechuan, titled "Jie Lu Renjing Tu".Hung-chien was waiting to take a closer look, when Hsin-mei came out, the clothes he had put on in a hurry had not been buttoned up, the weather was hot, and he might feel a little ashamed, his face flushed like a tomato.Hung-chien hurriedly said, "I want to take off my clothes, and I ask for your master's permission." Xin-mei said, "Okay, okay." The maid hung up the clothes for both of them, brought tea and cigarettes, and Xin-mei distributed them to her. Go get a cold drink.Hung-chien praised his exquisite house and asked him how many people were there.Hsin-mei said that it was only him and his old lady, and the other three servants, his brother, sister-in-law and sister-in-law all lived in Tianjin.He glanced at Hung-chien, and said with concern, "Brother Hung-chien, you've gotten much thinner."

Hung-chien smiled wryly and said, "It's because you got me drunk that day and made me sick."

Xin Mei panicked and said: "Then please don't mention it again! If we don't know each other, we will get to know each other for a long time. Let me ask you, when did you know that Miss Su fell in love with Cao Yuanlang? "

"I didn't know until I saw the engagement notice in the newspaper this morning."

"Hey!"—Satisfied in her voice—"I knew about it early in the morning the day before yesterday. She told me herself and persuaded me with many kind words. But I still don't know what kind of person that Cao is. .”

"I've seen this man before, but I didn't expect that Miss Su would take a fancy to him. I thought she would marry you."

"Isn't that right! I thought she would marry you. Who knew there was another woman surnamed Cao! This girl is really capable, and we are both messed with by her. Speaking objectively, we have to I admire her. Well, well, we are in the same boat now, and we will be colleagues in the future—"

"What? Are you going to Sanlv University too?"

So Hsin-mei frankly told the ins and outs of the incident.Sanlv University is a university that just started to organize this year, and Gao Songnian is his husband.Originally Gao Songnian had asked him to be the head of the Department of Politics, but he was unwilling to leave Miss Su behind. He suddenly remembered that she had said that Hung-chien was eager to find a job in the National University, so he secretly sent a telegram to introduce Hung-chien to Gao Songnian as a good teacher. Miss Su was estranged from Hung-chien.But Gao Songnian didn't let him go, and sent letters and calls to invite him to go. He received a dismissal order from Miss Su the day before yesterday, and he replied and agreed as soon as he came out.The last time Gao Songnian wrote to him, he asked Hung-chien to send his resume. He also said that there were a group of colleagues in Shanghai who were applying for the job.

Hung-chien suddenly realized, "I should thank you well for finding a job for me."

Xinmei said, "Where is it? We should help each other in the same boat."

Hung-chien said, "I forgot to ask you, you called me 'Brother Sympathy' in your letter, what does that mean?"

Xinmei smiled and said, "Dong Xiechuan came up with this. He said that those who study with the same teacher are called 'brothers of the same teacher', those who are in the same school are called 'classmates', and those who have the same lover should be called 'compassionate'." '."

Hung-chien couldn't help laughing, "That's a wonderful name. It's a pity that your 'sympathizer' is Cao Yuen-lang, not me."

Xin Mei said: "You are too dishonest! We are in the same boat now, I am broken in love, and you are also broken in love. In front of me, you don't need to pretend to save face. Don't you love Miss Su?"

"I don't love her. I'm sick with you, not 'sympathy.'"

"So, who dumped you? Can you tell me?"

He could no longer hold back the secret: "Miss Tang." Hung-chien lowered his head and said in a low voice.

"Tang Xiaofu! Good eyesight, good eyesight! I'm really confused." It seemed that Hsin-mei had suffered the same funeral as Hung-chien, trying her best to compete with his gloomy and serious expression, not daring to let him get the reputation of being sad alone.At this moment, he knew that Hung-chien was in harmony with himself, and his attitude relaxed a lot, and his voice had returned to its usual loudness.He kept Hung-chien, called Dong Xiechuan, and the three of them went to the restaurant for dinner.Xie Chuan knew everything about Xinmei's broken love.Talking about Miss Su and Cao Yuanlang's engagement after dinner, Xinmei said magnanimously, "This is the best way. They are like-minded, and they both study poetry." Both are experts, and no one can coax the other. The husband will not worship his wife unpredictablely, and the wife will not worship her husband blindly. The foundation of marriage is not solid.Hsin-mei smiled and said, "It's useless to tell me these words. I just want them both to be happy." Everyone said that Hsin-mei was so calm that he could become a "saint".The sage smiled and did not answer. After a while, he took out his pipe, his eyes sparkled mischievously, and said, "Cao Yuanlang's stuff is at least read by Ms. Su; Ms. Su's stuff is at least read by Cao Yuanlang. Neither of us will be without readers. Okay?" Everyone laughed and said that Xinmei is not yet a saint, but they can still be friends.

From then on, Hung-chien was no longer lonely, and the three of them often visited each other.Three weeks later, Hsin-mei invited her new colleagues to the teahouse for breakfast, so that everyone could get to know each other better.Besides Hung-chien, there were three others.Li Meiting, the director of the Department of Chinese Literature, is an old colleague of Gao Songnian. He is in his forties and wears dark crystal glasses. Still wearing a black suit jacket.Xinmei asked him to take off his clothes, but he refused; Xinmei sweated for him, and his white shirt seemed to be suffering from yellow fever.Gu Erqian, a distant relative of Gao Songnian, seemed to have never dreamed that he would be hired as an associate professor of the history department. Happiness filled the table like boiling water, and he was especially attentive to Zhao and Li.Although he is a shriveled man of nearly 50 years old, he has the charm of an innocent and charming little girl. His smile is 30 years younger than his face, and the two golden front teeth in his mouth make his smile particularly brilliant.A lady, Sun Roujia, was the daughter of a senior colleague at Hsin-mei Newspaper. She had just graduated from university, was young and ambitious, and did not want to stay in Shanghai. Her father begged Hsin-mei to find a teaching assistant in the Department of Foreign Languages ​​for her.Miss Sun has a long round face, old ivory-colored cheeks with slight freckles, and her eyes are too far apart, which makes her often have a surprised expression; flush.When she first came here, she called Hsin-mei "Uncle Zhao", and Hsin-mei hurriedly taught her not to call him that, Hung-chien laughed secretly.

When Xinmei sent the old lady to Tianjin and came back, it was the beginning of September in the Gregorian calendar, and it was time to leave. Sanlv University was scheduled to start in early October.Hsin-mei wanted to invite everyone to dinner and set a date for their trip.Hsin-mei fell in love with eating out in restaurants, and he often invited guests over small things. If his friends asked him something, he had to discuss it with him at the dinner table, as if he had studied politics and diplomacy in a foreign country, and he only memorized a few sentences. Napoleon's instructions to diplomats: "Treat guests Good food", and Lord Stowell's principle of doing things: "Please eat to make things smooth and smooth".But this time Hung-chien protested that it was everyone's business, and that Hsin-mei should not have been spending the money all by himself, and ended up having dinner instead.During the meal, it was agreed to take the Italian company's ship to Ningbo on September [-].Hsin-mei said that he would buy the five boat tickets, all of which would be bought in the restaurant, and the bill would be settled in the future.Li and Gu didn't say anything.After the meal, the waiter brought the bill, Mr. Gu rushed to let him pay the bill alone, and said that he had been thinking about it for a long time, and wanted to invite all the colleagues to have a party, but it happened that he didn't have it today.Everyone said it was unreasonable, so Mr. Gu glanced at the bill and stopped insisting. He just said, "Why do you need to share this small amount? In fact, I can be my master." Xin Meiyi paid the bill and waited for it to be found at the counter.Mr. Gu went to the toilet, and Mr. Li followed.When we left the restaurant and parted ways, Mr. Li asked Hsin-mei if he had any acquaintances at the steamship company who would be convenient for buying tickets.Xinmei said, just entrust the China Travel Agency to do it.Mr. Li said: "I have a friend who works in a steamship company, should I entrust him to buy it directly? We have already paid Mr. Fei's attention, and I can help you with this matter." Hsin-mei said, "It's best not to. Five big dishes Time, please please!"

That afternoon, Hung-chien took Hsin-mei and Xie Chuan to a coffee shop, and talking about the three people who were traveling with him this time, he said, "I think Li Mei-ting is a disgusting guy, he has nothing in his stomach, how can he be the head of the Chinese literature department? You should introduce Xiechuan."

Hsin-mei stuck out her tongue and said, "Xie Chuan? Is he willing to go? If you don't believe me, ask him yourself. Only we, a couple of lost love, are willing to go there. Xie Chuan's family has a young and beautiful wife."

Xie Chuan smiled and said, "Don't mess around, I'm not interested in teaching. 'If there are [-] mu of paddy fields, I won't be the Hozen King next year'; why don't you accompany me to Hong Kong to find opportunities?"

Hung-chien said, "That's right. As for me, after returning to China, I will be unemployed. I don't care about teaching. Hsin-mei has many opportunities. He can become an official, and he can run a newspaper after retiring. I feel sorry for him."

Hsin-mei said: "Running a newspaper is to develop people's wisdom, and teaching is also to develop people's wisdom. Both are 'spiritual mobilization', regardless of the other. In terms of the scope of influence, running a newspaper has a wide range; however, in terms of the degree of influence, it is education. Deep. I went this time to add a life experience.”

Xie Chuan laughed and said, "These big hats deserve to be left in your editorials to coax your readers."

Xin Mei said anxiously, "I'm not lying, I really believe it."

Hung-chien said, "I'm used to talking big and fooling people, and I even convince myself—this is a very common psychological phenomenon."

Hsin-mei said: "You don't understand this truth. Teaching can also be involved in politics. You see, many big Chinese politicians are all professors. It's the same in Europe, such as the first president of the Czech Republic and the current prime minister of France. People who are engaged in politics should first teach, so that they can grasp the psychology of young people; secondly, they can train their own cadres, which is consistent with the creation of public opinion in newspapers.”

Hung-chien said: "It's not big professors doing politics, it's petty politicians running education. In the past, the policy of obscuring people was not allowing people to receive education, but the policy of modern obscuring people is only allowing people to receive a certain kind of education. People who are not educated, because they can't read , People who are educated, because they can read, are deceived by printed materials, such as your newspaper promotional materials, training handouts for cadres, and the like.”

Hsin-mei sneered and said, "Listen everyone, Mr. Fang's comments are so thorough! He is just 28 years old, and he has just had an unfortunate love experience, but he sees through education, sees through politics, and sees through everything. Hmph! I see through you too! To be so cynical for a yellow-haired girl is really making a fuss over a molehill!"

Hung-chien paused the cup and said, "Who are you talking about?"

Xinmei said: "I said Tang Xiaofu, your ideal person, isn't she a little girl?"

Hung-chien was so angry that his face turned pale, and he called Su Wenwan an old lady.

Xinmei said: "She is old or not, it has nothing to do with me, I am not as protective of Tang Xiaofu as you are, she knows that you are still in love, and she will come back again - Xie Chuan, right? ?—I have no ambition! Shall I give you a message?"

Hung-chien was speechless and stood up. Xie Chuan pulled him to sit down and said, "Don't quarrel! Don't quarrel! Everyone is watching us. I'm ashamed for you, anyway, you are each other. Hung-chien is coming recently." , it seems a little perverted, a man, a man, for a girl—”

Hung-chien angrily walked out of the cafe, not listening to him.Back at home, just sitting there in a rage, the phone rang, and it was Xie Chuan's voice: "Why are you so angry?" Hung-chien was about to answer, when Hsin-mei was talking on the other end, "Kuuuuuuu, Lao Fang Ah, I can apologize, but don’t pretend to be angry! Today you are the host, and you ran away without paying the bill. We, the guests, have no money on us, and we are waiting for you to save us in the cafe! SOS[23] Come on A glass of water and wine to apologize in the evening." Hung-chien couldn't help laughing and said, "I'm here."

On the afternoon of the 22th, Xinmei handed over the ticket purchased by Li Meiting to Hung-chien, saying that the shipping company had rescheduled the departure to 06:30 p.m. on the [-]nd, and everyone was on board at [-]:[-].In ancient times in the West, whenever someone disappeared, everyone said, "This person is either dead or has gone to teach." Although Fang Hongjian was not afraid of teaching as if he was afraid of death, he felt that teaching this time was part of bad luck, and he was listless for days. , I have an indescribable fear of traveling far, and it can be delayed for a day.But the shipping company really gave it a two-day grace period, and he hated the delay, so he might as well leave early.He brought three pieces of luggage: a large suitcase, a bed bag, and a suitcase.Mrs. Fang prepared clothes and bedding for him, and said: "When you marry a wife, I don't need to take care of these things." Fang Dunweng said: "I'm afraid you have to worry about it. Now those female students will only enjoy the off-the-shelf. I don't understand anything." Mrs. Fang thought that the weather in early autumn was unpredictable, and she asked her son to bring an extra small bedroll to keep the thin quilt and clothes in it so that she would not open the bed every day. bedding.Hung-chien was afraid that the luggage would be burdensome, so he said in Gao Songnian's letter that it would be a week sooner or ten days later, and that he would definitely arrive, and the weather would not be cold, so a thin woolen blanket in the suitcase would suffice.Fang Dunweng had a lot of parting words for his son to remember, and the pairings are very nice, such as "grit your teeth and stand firm", "you can miss home for a long time, but not for a moment", etc.Hung-chien knew that although he said these words to himself, they were mainly recorded in his diaries and memoirs for future generations to see how Fang Dunweng taught his son righteous prescriptions.Because Dun Weng had nothing to do recently, he suddenly found himself, like a child looking at the face in the mirror, shaking his head and looking sideways with interest.This kind of spiritual self-pity made him write his autobiography and diary, just like a woman wearing Chinese and Western clothes in spring, summer, autumn and winter, making a variety of postures, such as supporting her body, twisting her neck, walking, standing, sitting and lying down, and taking photos as souvenirs.These records prove Fang Dunweng's superiority from various aspects and facts.He is now thinking about how to record the Fa in his diary and words and deeds at the same time.The records are not completely hollowed out, for example, a small drop of water is always left after a blister is broken.Those who study the psychology of language know at a glance that they are "linguistic madness"; people with leadership desires, whether they are civil, military, official or businessmen, all reveal this pathology.When friends came, Dunweng often showed them the diary; the quack doctor in the neighbor knew that before the Dragon Boat Festival, the eldest son had a promiscuous girlfriend, and Dunweng reprimanded him. .Or the diary the day before yesterday wrote that he asked Hung-chien to go to Zhou’s house to say goodbye, but Hung-chien refused, scolding Mrs. Zhou for being stingy and snobbish. Therefore", the result is that the son "has no words".In fact, Hung-chien did not scold Mrs. Zhou.It was Dun Weng himself who was dissatisfied with her, so he used this Pili Yangqiu style of writing to criticize her.Hung-chien was really unwilling to say goodbye at first, but in the end he went anyway. He didn't see anyone, and it was as if he had been pardoned.One day later, the Zhou family sent four-color dishes.Hung-chien, an unreasonable person, was very angry when he found out and refused to allow his mother to accept it.Mrs. Fang asked her son to go down and tell the gift giver that he refused to see the coachman of the Zhou family.As a result, Zhou's coachman pushed back and forth, dropped his things and slipped away.Hung-chien was a bully, and would not eat the food sent by the Zhou family.Fang Dunweng added an entry in his diary, laughing at his son as Boyi Shuqi who "does not eat Zhou Su".

(End of this chapter)