box of hearts

Chapter 46: Welcome the Cyclamen (11)
Second Sister Duan swiped her hand, and looked straight into Qingtian's eyes, "Mom also knows what you think, I advise you, don't think about redeeming yourself in the future, so what if you redeem yourself? Carrying a hoe, do you still know how to plan? At best, just like me, buy a few adopted daughters to be old bustards, earn money and then make money, why don't you just stay here honestly, with your reputation, There are still good times in three to five years. As for the future, in front of Mu Yun today, my mother will tell you here: If you have that fate, you can meet a good family, no matter whether you are rich or poor, mother will not give you a penny Yours, prepare you a decent dowry and send you out with gongs and drums; if it doesn't happen, you teach the new little girls to sing and dance, and tell how you put those stinky If you are a fan of men, you can’t tell the difference between the south, the east, the north, and the north. The gangsters will pass away. When you serve me and die, the yard will be handed over to you. Qing girl, I, Duan Er, have been in Huaihua Hutong for so many years. Who hasn’t seen it? I have never admired anyone except myself. There is only one exception in half my life, and that is you. Ever since you were so young, you were beaten to death by me and you gritted your teeth and refused to beg for mercy. I have been calling you my mother for more than ten years, but I don’t know if there is a word of truth. I really regard you as a daughter. It’s a pity that our place can’t be compared with other people’s boudoir embroidery rooms. Mom, I’m not a good man, so I can only compare you like this Well, there are tens of thousands of ruthless old bustards in Beijing, and tens of thousands of prostitutes who have been beaten and pissed off. , the girls in Huai Yatang will not let you wear silver if they put gold in, Duan Er can afford to raise an old girl who will never leave the court!"

Qingtian tried his best to control himself, but he was still sobbing.Most of what she heard from Second Sister Duan since she was a child was mixed with the yelling of whip wind: "You are a little bitch who can post back, you treat those men as sincere!" "Okay, let's fight today!" You don't cry, you will be behind when you cry!" "I tell you to listen to the bastard, if you don't want you later, don't cry and yell at my Huai Yatang!"...At that time, she They all sneered arrogantly, thinking that the old woman didn't understand anything, that she was the most snobbish and vulgar in the world.In fact, she is the one who doesn't understand anything. This snobbery and vulgarity is obtained by using so many broken prides like hers and so many broken hearts. Mimi's own bones and heart.

Qingtian only felt sorry, sincerely sorry, she leaned forward and hugged Second Sister Duan, leaned on her shoulder and cried bitterly: "Mom, mother..."

"Hey, who told us to be women? Come on, good boy, don't cry, it's okay, Mom is here." Second Sister Duan sucked her nose, and put one hand on Qingtian's back to caress.On five fingers, there are four vulgar golden stirrup rings, and in the palm of his hand is the softness and strength of a person who has come here.

The next day, it was dawn.

The Paozi River at the east corner of Chongwenmen, the willow embankment smoke, and the green curtain car.A young woman stood alone at the head of the bridge and emptied a large camphorwood box in her hand.With cold eyes, Qingtian watched many things, gadgets, and objects...flying down from the box, falling quickly or slowly on the surface of the river; watching a red dress like a woman's empty shell, gurgling along the water go.She knows that it will be extremely difficult and remote, but she will try her best and make every effort so that one day in the future, she can also look at the two little orphans who are suffering from the same disease, and see him and her first love. The first innocent holding hands, the last lingering like water plants, or a whole ten years of pouring all her heart, drifting across a river like the dead, being sunk and taken away.

The rising day casts a cold and clear light on the surface of the water, and in the vast expanse, a slender soft shadow lies in the middle of the water.

7.
Three days later, it will be the fifteenth day of August.

Although the bruises under Qingtian's eyes and around his mouth hadn't completely disappeared, the make-up was thicker, so he couldn't see it in the dark.With her face half upturned, she asked Mu Yun to cover the last scar with gouache for her, and put all her heart into dressing up.This night is of great significance to all the prostitutes. There are a row of blue carts waiting in front of several courtyards in Huaihua Hutong, but it is not the guests who take the ladies out of the game, but the ladies themselves are going to pay homage to their wives in Goulan Hutong. temple.

Goulan Hutong got its name from Yugoulan in the capital of the Yuan Dynasty. After the fall of the Yuan Dynasty, a palace lady from the old palace rebuilt a temple on the original site to support the bronze statue of Mrs. Huarui.Mrs. Huarui's real surname is Fei, and she was the favorite concubine of Emperor Meng Chang of Later Shu.But I don't know since when, prostitutes have regarded this concubine who was born as a singing girl as their family, and they are invited to pay homage to Mrs. Huarui every Mid-Autumn Festival when the moon is worshiped.

Second Sister Duan attaches great importance to this day, no matter which master's round ticket, she must ask the adopted daughters to pay homage to the auspicious god before they can be out of the round.So Qingtian and his sisters bathed and changed their clothes, and each took a personal maid to get into the mule cart, and drove directly from Huaihua Hutong to Goulan Hutong.When we arrived at Dongsi, there was no parking space. The streets and alleys were crowded with beautiful flowers or fanatics.The first couple of Huai Ya Tang's ladies and gentlemen were waiting at the entrance of the alley, each holding a string of candied haws and eating vigorously, seeing Qing Tian and Zhao Hua approaching arm in arm, several sticks were raised to their mouths together.There was a lot of noise around, so Qing Tian stopped talking, and shouted with a smile, he stretched out his hand and pointed forward, "It must be the leader of this greedy girl, Dui Xia, I see that the belt on your stomach will be stretched sooner or later."

"It's not me this time." Duixia shook a row of tassels in her hair, and pushed the person beside her, "It's Diexian who slaughtered a big ocean plate in the past two days, please us Customer, don’t eat for nothing.”

"That's right," Fengqin hung a pair of huge silver silk crescent collar, which reflected her chin in silver, "Sister Diexian has made a lot of money this time."

Diexian was wearing Jin Sanshi's collar around his chest, he was shocked, and his posture was upbeat, "Hey, Baimei Daxian bless me, I caught a plague two days ago, a rich man from a small county, and he has no rules. I understand, I just had two rounds of tea circles, and I asked him to accompany me to the gold shop, and he was willing to let me go. Is there any reason to let go of such a big customer? I picked out five rings in one go, all of them I asked him to pay for it. How did he know that I had agreed with the boss behind my back and charged three times the price, and at night the boss secretly returned me 200 taels of silver. Not only did I get the ring for nothing, but I also made a lot of money .”

Qingtian and the others all held their mouths together and smiled, and even laughed at Xiangxia, "Don't listen to her Hu, what kind of rich man from a small county town? He is the famous Mr. Cao in Henan! He is the one who let the officials pay their debts." The Cao’s family is home to Tianlianqianmo and Milan Chencang. This man is the eldest grandson of the family. His name is Cao Zhimu. I heard that he has a wife in the countryside and no other concubines. He has only been in Beijing for two months. I don't know how many people have been eyeing her. If Die Xian, a little rascal, can really win this master, and go back with him to be Mrs. Ru of the Cao family, it will be nothing to say."

"Bullshit like a madam," Die Xian ate a candied hawthorn, and spit out the fruit coquettishly, "What a rare name? Others see it as gold, but I see it as shit."

"Have some good manners." Qing Tian pinched Die Xian's mouth lightly, "You have been restless these years, and you don't care about business, but you have never stopped those concubines who sing operas. Today, Xiaosheng, Ming Er Wusheng, even that Gandan hangs out with him, how long will it be enough? I'm old enough, why don't I find a new home and a way out, just prepare to eat this youth meal forever?"

Die Xianyang raised her eyes and said, "Sister, don't you know me? I never thought of marrying a good person from the first day I started business. If you ask me to marry a poor family, I will be extravagant." I'm used to throwing money away, so I can't bear poverty and suffering. Asking me to marry that high-ranking family, I feel that many rules are strict and restrictive, which makes people bored. Besides, there are many concubines from wealthy families. What’s so interesting about short days and many days? According to me, it’s like a tree of flowers. Since it blooms beautifully in the mountains, why bother to move it to the gate of the mansion? Leaving your own The land of Togen must be unaccustomed to the water and soil. What's more, it is simply to break off the good flowers and put them in a golden bottle. No matter how much the person who grows the flowers cherishes them, they will still die in a short time. Otherwise, there will be no There are so many shepherds who got married and begged to leave. I just want to say that since you are in this country of flowers, you don’t want pines and cypresses to be evergreen all the year round. They only bloom brightly and happily for a season, and it’s over. It should wither, it should die, that’s all.”

"Sister, don't try to persuade her, she is born with a low life." Xiangxia shook her narrow face and squinted her smiling eyes, "When the weather is fine, it will rain, and when it rains, it will be the sun. Those who have no money think that they are heartless, and those who are rich and affectionate think that they are not good-looking and poor in conversation. According to me, is there anyone who is perfect in this world? Even if there is, it is not our business. So, only by being a shepherd, spending money from bigwigs while sleeping on the bodies of young ones, eating and lodging, and taking advantage of everything, can I fulfill this aunt's wishes."

Die Xian pinched the golden teeth in front of her chest, covered her mouth with one hand and picked out the gap between her teeth, said indistinctly: "Come on, I don't know who is the expert in the Shidong family and the Suxi family. I don’t care to talk about the good things you did last night, but carefully, my mother knew that you used such tricks again, and you would not give me food for three days if you were hungry.”

(End of this chapter)