Tianzhu: The Record of Foreign Stories in the Republic of China

Chapter 16 Rat Killing (2)
The muscles on Zhu Dapeng's face twitched, his expression extremely ugly, as if it wasn't the chipmunk bitten by the white rat, but his own neck.After standing there for a while, he slowly bent down, grabbed the big chipmunk on the ground, and threw it into the small wooden box without caring about checking its injuries. Said: "Master Ma, I lost, the business of Boss Chen's family is yours."

Ma Shiqi felt apologetic and said, "Winning or losing is a normal thing, there is no need for Zhu Zhuangshi..."

Zhu Dapeng snorted, and before he finished speaking, he had already picked up the box, said "Farewell", and walked away without looking back.

2
With the sound of a gong, the mouse game finally began.

Yao Waquan went to work to open his toolbox, took out his outfit, and on the table of the Eight Immortals where the two mice had just dueled, a small stage decorated with colorful paint was tied up with wooden sticks and red cloth ropes, with vertical columns and beams, and colorful flags fluttering. Also presentable.Longevity peaches, buckets and swings are hung on the beams with silk ropes. In the middle of the stage is a small spinning wheel made of thin wooden sticks with white threads wrapped around it. Next to it is a spinning wheel made of two round pebbles. There is a mill and a wire ring wheel, and a row of weapon racks are placed beside it, on which are inserted eighteen kinds of weapons such as knives, guns, swords and halberds cut out of wood.Two bamboo soft ladders are temporarily nailed on both sides of the Eight Immortals table, hanging from the edge of the table to the ground.

The big white rat known as the "Rat King" was bitten on the back during the duel with the big chipmunk, suffered a little injury, and was lying on the side panting.Ma Shiqi took out a small blue and white porcelain bottle, sprinkled some medicinal powder on its wound, patted its head and said approvingly: "My boy, today's battle will not insult your reputation as a 'rat king'! Go down and rest for a while, and come out when I call you." "Rat King" seemed to really understand his words, "Zhi Zhi" answered twice, slipped into his sleeve, and disappeared.

Ma Shiqi tied the hem of his long gown to his waist, carried a gong in his hand, and walked around the arena for a circle. The gong rang three times, and all the guests sitting around were suddenly silent, with their eyes wide open, eagerly waiting.

Ma Shiqi snorted softly: "Boys, come out." With a flick of his sleeves, he heard a burst of squeaky cheers, and a group of little white mice came out of his sleeves one by one, stepping on the rhythm of the gong. Climb up the soft ladders on both sides of the Eight Immortals Table in two groups, line up and stand on the stage.When everyone looked at it intently, they couldn't help laughing out loud.It turned out that there were sixteen mice in this team, all of them were egg-sized white mice, with red eyes and pointed noses, and they looked very cute and cute.The most wonderful thing is that each little white mouse is wearing a small coat, dressed up as male or female, or red or green, or pretending to be serious, or scratching its head and making funny poses.As soon as he appeared, he won a burst of applause.

Ma Shiqi paused for a while, and waited until the applause from the guests died down, then he struck the gong again, put his hands behind his back, looked around the rats, and said, "Li Sanniang, come out."

The rats seemed bewildered, looking at each other, as if they didn't know who he was calling.Ma Shiqi pretended to be angry, picked up a mallet and tapped a mouse on the head lightly, and shouted: "Want to be lazy? I told you, don't come out yet." out.It is wearing a blue blouse with a calico apron tied around its waist, which matches the name of "Li Sanniang".

The guests were smiling and watching with great interest, wondering what kind of tricks this "Li Sanniang" could play.But Ma Shiqi pointed at the bucket hanging from the beam, and said, "It's very hot, go, get my old man a bucket of water to wash his face."

"Li Sanniang" got the order, walked slowly to the side of the stage, suddenly supported her body with her two hind legs, stood up with her whole body, and climbed up the vertical pillar that was as thick as a thumb.It has a lean and nimble body, quick movements, and uses all four legs. After a while, it climbed to the top.Stretch out your front paws again, put it firmly on the crossbeam, then bend down, and crawl along the crossbeam towards the middle.

In the middle of the beam hung a small tin bucket with a thin silk rope, and under the bucket was a bamboo bowl filled with some clean water. "Li Sanniang" climbed to the middle of the beam, looked down with her head, then grasped the beam with her two hind feet, bent down, pulled the string with her front paws, lifted the tin bucket, and put it into the bamboo bowl.The tin bucket sank slightly, and was immediately filled with clean water. "Li Sanniang" used her two front paws alternately to lift the bucket slowly.

The guests were amused and were about to applaud, when "Li Sanniang" suddenly slipped, swayed, fell upside down from the beam, and fell into the bamboo bowl with a "plop", splashing a splash of water.When it got up in a hurry, it was already soaked and embarrassed.Everyone let out a "ha" and burst into laughter.Ma Shiqi couldn't help laughing, but with a straight face on purpose, he pretended to be angry and said, "You useless guy, get out of here quickly." "Li Sanniang" was wet all over, with her head bowed, like a The woman who did something wrong shrank back in fear.

Ma Shiqi rapped the gong again and said: "Children, come to a 'Shuangmei Playing Swing'." The two mice heard the order, climbed up the two vertical pillars on the left and right at the same time, jumped onto the swing, and cooperated left and right. , Swing the swing up.Ma Shiqi said again: "Here comes another 'Nezha playing with Hot Wheels'." A little white mouse immediately got into the wire circle, pedaled on all fours, and kept spinning. Zha is playing Hot Wheels.

Ma Shiqi pointed a little white mouse with his finger, and said, "Little boy, go and spin a piece of cotton for me." The little white mouse ran into the small spinning wheel, got into the spinning wheel, and turned its back to the sky. , pedaling with all four feet together, the axle beam of the spinning wheel is smooth and round, and it immediately starts to spin when kicked by it.Ma Shiqi said: "Don't be lazy, work harder." The mouse put out all its strength and pedaled the axle beam desperately, the spinning wheel turned very fast, and the white thread it spun spit out faster and faster, pulling more and more. so long that it almost entangles it.The mouse panicked and wanted to run outside, but the spinning wheel was spinning too fast and couldn't stop for a while. The mouse ran wildly in the spinning wheel, and accidentally tripped over the white thread. The white mouse fell into the white thread and rolled away. into a ball.The guests were amused and laughed again.

Next came "The Stupid Man Pushing the Mill", "Jiang Taigong Fishing" and "A Rat Married a Daughter". Holding a weapon, bouncing and bouncing, somersaulting somersaults, holding a big head with a big head, dancing with a knife, dancing with a gun, playing with a gun, guns and sticks for a while, swords and swords, just fighting on the stage stand up.There is a saying that laymen watch the excitement, and experts watch the doorway. Among the guests, there are many people who know some martial arts moves. They saw that one of the white mice was playing the Shaolin Qimei stick technique, and the attack and defense were all in order. They were really dumbfounded. .

After a round of mouse play was over, two little white mice stepped forward to pull the mechanism, and the red curtain gradually closed, completely covering the stage.

Ma Shiqi coughed dryly, clasped his fists together, and said: "Guest officials, the few small plays just performed are all the repertoires that young old people send mothers-in-law, daughter-in-law and children in the streets and lanes. Forgive me."

When everyone heard what he said, they asked: "Master Ma, don't you have a good show for later?"

Ma Shiqi smiled slightly and said: "Today is Boss Chen's [-]th birthday. The house is full of guests and friends, and there are many high-ranking scholars. The little old man can't just fool everyone with these street tricks. Of course, he has to come up with some unique tricks in order to do justice to Chen." The boss is very kind." When everyone heard this, they knew that there was still a good show to come, and they immediately cheered up and waited for the next article.

Ma Qiqi picked up the teacup, drank two sips of tea unhurriedly, moistened his throat, and after a short rest, he suddenly picked up the gong and knocked it loudly, and the rats on the stage touched something The Taoist organ, the two curtains were slowly opened again.On the stage, [-] mice were divided into two teams, standing neatly in the middle, all looking up at Ma Shiqi, as if waiting for something.

Ma Shiqi ignored them, put his hands behind his back, walked around the Eight Immortals table without any haste, and then raised his voice and shouted in a drawn-out tone: "The time has come, the Rat King is coming to court—" Lifting his sleeves, With a wave towards the stage, he saw a big white mouse more than a foot long, slowly walking out from his sleeve step by step.

Everyone took a look and recognized that it was the "Rat King" who fought the chipmunk bravely just now, but his attire was quite different from last time. Not only was he wearing an apricot yellow embroidered dragon robe, but also a A golden crown is tied with a yellow silk sash, a jade belt is tied around the waist, and the whole body is supported by two short and powerful hind legs, standing up like a human being, pacing square steps, coming to the middle of the stage, and going to the stage. It sits firmly on the ground without any superfluous movements, but it is not angry and majestic. It has a kingly demeanor that no one dares to underestimate it.

Ma Shiqi shouted again: "The Rat King goes to court, and all the rats will see you, long live, long live, long live." The two rows of white mice, just like the civil and military officials on the Golden Temple, bowed their heads together, making a mountain call long live to pay homage to the "Rat King". The "Rat King" sat upright, waved his "hand", and moved his mouth. Ma Shiqi cooperated with the "Rat King" and said in the tone of "Rat King", "Everyone loves you, and you have something to play, and nothing to leave the court."

A little white mouse immediately jumped out of the queue, took three steps forward, bowed its head, and made a gesture of initiating a performance.Ma Shiqi changed his voice and tone again, and said: "Qi Zou Shuwang, today is the [-]th birthday celebration of the boss Chen Liangyou in Xiulin City, what birthday gift should I give, please let Shuwang show you."

The "Rat King" thought for a while, and "said": "Since it's a birthday, I should give it a birthday peach. I heard that there is a fairy peach in Tianting, who would dare to pick it up and give it to Boss Chen?"

The mice "discussed" for a while, and then the little white mouse "said": "After discussing, I feel that it is the mouse king who went to the heaven and personally picked the fairy peach to present to the birthday man, so that he can show his sincerity."

The "Rat King" nodded, and "said": "What Ai Qing said is very true, and I will wait for this king to personally go out and pick the fairy peach."

Ma Shiqi tuned his voice, kept changing his voice and tone, and spoke out his lines one by one, while the rats acted on the stage as if they were acting in a play.

I saw the "Rat King" got up and came under the beam, looked up and saw a small peach hanging on the beam with a thin thread, the peach was about two feet high from the table.Long ago, Yao Waquan quietly stacked two bricks under the peach, with a long bamboo board sandwiched between the two bricks. "Rat King" jumped onto the bricks and onto the bamboo board. The bamboo board stretched long, like a springboard, and had excellent toughness. "Rat King" walked to the top of the bamboo board, and the bamboo board immediately sank slightly.

"Rat King" looked back at Ma Shiqi, Ma Shiqi knocked a gong and said, "White ape stealing peaches, go!"

The "Rat King" got the order, and his feet fell down, and the bamboo board suddenly sank downwards, but quickly rebounded upwards. "Rat King" took advantage of this rebounding force, jumped up slightly, and then flew up two feet high, just in time to touch the "Xiantao", and immediately stretched out his "hand" to hug it.The "Xiantao" was tied with a red thread as thin as a hair, but when it was pulled by it, it broke immediately. "Rat King" hugged "Xiantao" and landed on the ground steadily.Seeing that it succeeded in "stealing the peach", the little mice gathered around one after another, "Zhi Zhi" cheered endlessly.

"Rat King" picked the peaches in his hands, climbed down the ladder, walked straight to today's birthday boss, Boss Chen, bowed his head, and presented the birthday peaches with both "hands" respectfully.

Ma Shiqi dragged his voice and shouted: "The Rat King presents peaches, I wish Boss Chen a long life in Nanshan and good luck like the East China Sea."

Boss Chen saw the majestic king of rats come to offer birthday peaches to him, and suddenly felt his face increased in front of all the guests. He was very pleasantly surprised, and he grinned until he couldn't see his eyes.There was thunderous applause in the courtyard, and the guests applauded one after another. Some applauded loudly and gave a thumbs up to "Rat King", while others took the opportunity to show their courtesy and say some blessings to Boss Chen.Boss Chen's chubby face was full of smiles, and he couldn't even close his mouth with joy.

"Rat King" offered birthday peaches, but still stood in front of Boss Chen, refusing to retreat for a long time.Boss Chen was startled for a moment, but suddenly understood, chuckled, took out four silver coins and handed it to it. "Rat King" took it with both "hands", turned around and ran back to Ma Shiqi, and put the silver dollar in his hand.

Seeing that Boss Chen was so generous, Ma Shiqi had already paid 12 yuan in advance when he entered the door. This time, he made a move and tipped another [-] yuan. He earned a total of [-] yuan. I'm afraid I won't be able to earn this amount in a month, so I'm naturally full of joy and can't stop thanking him. The "Rat King" returned to the stage and led a group of mice, clasping fists and bowing together as a curtain call.The guests were feasting their eyes this time, seeing a real "rat show" once again, and couldn't help but give warm applause again.

Ma Shiqi clasped his fists to the ground, thanked him again and again, and said, "This is the end of today's mouse show. My little old man, I would like to thank Boss Liu for his kindness, and even more so, all the guest officials for their kindness." Yao Waquan heard the master announce the end of the performance. , was about to go forward to remove the stage gear and put it back into the small wooden box, when someone said "wait a minute", the master and the apprentice looked up, but saw a troublemaker standing out from among the guests, who stopped them and said: "Master Ma, after watching your mouse show just now, I'm curious about the 'Rat King', and I can't help but want to ask about it."

Ma Shiqilue cupped his fists and said politely, "If you have any advice, sir, just tell me."

The man pointed to the big white mouse wearing a golden crown and a dragon robe on the stage and said: "This big white mouse, you call it 'Rat King', I don't know if 'Rat King' is a title you gave it, or it is really a mouse. King of all?"

Ma Shiqi said: "Sir, you are joking. The honor of the 'Rat King' is like the position of the emperor in the world. How can the little old man have the final say? To be honest, I am the 'Rat King', who was elected by all the rats." The king of the world's rats, he commands all the rats in the world."

Hearing his amazing words, the man shook his head in disbelief, and said with a smile: "Master Ma said that it is really the king of rats that rules the world's rats. I wonder if there is any evidence for it?"

"Yes, yes, what proof is there for calling it the 'Rat King'?" Other guests also asked with great interest.

Ma Shiqi smiled slightly and said: "Everyone wants to see the majesty of the 'Shu King', what's the difficulty?" He lowered his head, put his mouth next to the "Shu King"'s ear, and whispered a few words.

The "Rat King" got the order, and immediately climbed down from the table of the Eight Immortals, and flashed out from a corner of the courtyard door like a ray of white light.When everyone saw that Ma Shiqi had let the rat go away for no reason, they couldn't help exclaiming "Ah", worried that the rat would come back after being freed from restraint and discipline.

But the guests soon discovered that their worries were unnecessary.After about a cup of tea, they suddenly heard a rustling sound coming from outside the gate. Everyone turned their heads and saw that the "rat king" who ran out just now was leading a group of white mice, slipping by the gate. They came in and gathered at the foot of Ma Shiqi.

At the beginning, there were only dozens of white mice, big and small, all following behind the ass of the "Rat King". Standing in front of him was a vast expanse of whiteness, all of a sudden there were rat heads, at least [-] to [-] white rats, big and small, gathered in the yard.Moreover, the white rats outside the door were still pouring into the yard continuously. At first glance, it looked like a white line extending from the door without end in sight.

The "Rat King" turned around and faced the rats.All the rats fell silent immediately, and bowed to the ground together, just like the subjects of the world paying homage to the emperor, full of reverence and reverence.Everyone present was stunned by this strange and solemn scene, and was speechless for a long time.

(End of this chapter)