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

Chapter 41

During the period of the Republic of China, there was a tabloid in Xiulin City called "Social News", which specially published articles such as celebrity anecdotes, insider secrets, and exposing people's private affairs to attract readers, and it was well-known in Hunan and Hubei.There is a reporter named Shi Yansheng in the newspaper office. His writing style is very ordinary, but he is extremely smooth. He likes to make friends with celebrities, gentlemen, officials, and rich people. With his sharp tongue, he has obtained a lot of "news" from the so-called upper class. clue.

On this day, Shi Yansheng received an invitation letter:

Mr. Shi Yansheng Taiwan Jian:
The little girl Hu Die was recently admitted to Jinling Women's University.On the occasion of this young girl's ranking, I would like to express my gratitude to my elder relatives and friends for their teaching and care. We will hold a dinner in the humble house on the [-]th of July, and prepare some thin wine to express our gratitude.Please take the time to visit!
Mrs. Nalan
Shi Yansheng is familiar with this "Mrs. Nalan".It is said that he was originally a descendant of a famous family in the capital, from Manchuria Zhenghuang Banner, and her husband was a Beijing official from Xiulin.When the Qing Dynasty fell, her husband died in the war, and the family fortune fell.She wandered with her daughter for many years, and only recently returned to her husband's hometown. She bought a house at the mountain pass of Xiulinjie, and settled down with her daughter.

Mrs. Nalan was born in a famous family. It was rumored that Prince Gong Yi was her uncle and grandfather. He lived in an official's family since he was a child, and knew a lot about the anecdotes among the wealthy and official families in the capital.On a whim, I wrote an article "The Secret of the Iron Hat King and Lafayette", which was about the unknown secrets of the struggle between Prince Gong Yi and Empress Dowager Cixi. It caught Shi Yansheng's attention.Later, Shi Yansheng interviewed this Mrs. Nalan several times. She had a lot of anecdotes and anecdotes about the imperial relatives in the Forbidden City. It's been months.After coming and going, I became acquainted with this Mrs. Nalan, otherwise this Mrs. Nalan would not have invited him to her daughter's school entrance wedding banquet.

Mrs. Nalan's mansion is located in Huangshu Street, Jieshankou. It is a two-and-a-half-story new-style western-style building. In front of the door are two ten-meter-high marble columns, red walls and green tiles, Western iron grilles, and the steps are paved with The beautiful flower-step bricks look both foreign and stylish.The outside is surrounded by a circle of iron fence walls, and some precious flowers and plants are planted inside and outside the walls.

On the eighth day of the seventh lunar month, when Shi Yansheng, who was dressed in a suit and leather shoes, came to Mrs. Nalan's mansion as promised, it was in the evening when the sun was setting and the sun was pouring down. .He looked up at this beautiful foreign-style building, and secretly admired in his heart: Such a foreign-style house doesn't cost tens of thousands of yuan, so I'm afraid it can't be bought, right?As the old saying goes, a lean camel is bigger than a horse. It is said that Mrs. Nalan's family has fallen, but the current wealth is probably not comparable to that of ordinary people!
When he walked into the courtyard, there were already many guests in the hall, all of them were rich or noble, prominent figures in Xiulin City, at a glance, there were probably no fewer than a hundred people bustling with each other.It seems that the dinner party at the host's house is really quite big!Mrs. Nalan wore light makeup and a well-fitting short-sleeved cheongsam, revealing her plump and fair arms. Her hair was tied up in a high bun, elegant and noble.She is over forty, at this time, she looks like a young woman in her early thirties, she speaks and smiles softly, shuttling among the guests, she is both dignified and generous, but also charming and charming.

At around 7 o'clock in the evening, Mrs. Nalan saw that all the invited guests had arrived, she turned around and walked into the study, and walked out of the room holding a young girl's hand.The girl looked about seventeen or eighteen years old, wearing a white dress, with Mrs. Nalan's shadow in her eyes, Shi Yansheng had already vaguely guessed who this girl was.Sure enough, Mrs. Nalan took the girl's hand and introduced to everyone: "This is the little girl Hu Die. She has been studying at her uncle's house in Tianjin. She recently graduated from high school and came back to me. A few days ago, I received a telegram that the little girl I have been admitted to Jinling Women's University. On the occasion of this young girl's high school ranking, I will prepare a glass of thin wine to thank all the elders and friends for their teaching and care." After hearing this, everyone couldn't help but let out a voice of admiration, Jinling Women's University is the number one in China today Famous women's university, those who can be admitted are very rare.The girl named Hu Die could not help but blushed when she heard everyone's praise, and lowered her head shyly.

Mrs. Nalan smiled slightly, and continued: "Today is also my little girl's birthday. There is an old saying that a girl has undergone eighteen changes. After today, my little girl will be considered a grown-up. The ancients had the gift of being a child. Today, I will also be present in front of my elder relatives and friends." Let’s give her a small gift as a souvenir.” After speaking, he turned around and took a small ornament from a tray held by a maid behind him, and when everyone looked at it, it turned out to be a butterfly Brooch, although the brooch is small, but the whole body is golden yellow, it is actually made of pure gold.The brooch looks like a butterfly, flapping its wings and ready to fly, lifelike.There is also a small groove on the back of the butterfly.Mrs. Nalan slowly opened the other palm, and everyone felt that what she was holding in her palm was a finger-sized diamond with colorful and brilliant light.

A knowledgeable person among the guests said after a careful look: "Isn't this the famous 'Angel Heart' among diamonds? As far as I know, this has always been a royal collection. It is considered a treasure to see it here today. Eye-opening."

Mrs. Nalan smiled approvingly at the man, and said: "This diamond is indeed the 'Heart of an Angel'. It was originally a gift from an Australian businessman to the Qing emperor, and it has been treasured by the royal family. After the fall of the Qing Dynasty, this diamond Diamonds are lost among the people along with many national treasures. Not long ago, I bought them with 1 yuan in cash from an old man from the Qing Dynasty." Everyone was stunned. According to the prices at that time, five yuan in cash could buy back a big buffalo, and one silver dollar could buy a large buffalo. Buying a load of rice, 1 yuan is enough to buy a big house.

Mrs. Nalan said: "Everyone only knows one thing, but not the other. This 'Heart of Angels' is not only precious, but also a top-quality inlaid ornament." With one touch, this "angel heart" is completely inlaid on the brooch.She put the brooch on her daughter's chest lovingly, Hu Die did not expect her mother to give herself such a precious brooch as a birthday present, her eyes were slightly red, she called "Mom", and threw herself into her mother's arms gratefully .The crowd also applauded excitedly.

Mrs. Nalan thanked the guests for their applause with a decent smile, raised her voice and said, "It's getting late, I've prepared a dinner on the second floor, please move upstairs to have a light meal." Then she said, "My little girl is fine Specialty, only the piano is good. Xiaodie, it’s rare that everyone likes you so much, you will play a few pieces for everyone tonight, to cheer everyone up.” Hu Die smiled shyly and said: “Okay, I’ll change it The clothes will go upstairs." After saying that, he turned and went into the room to change.

Shi Yansheng walked upstairs with the crowd, and the host's family had prepared a sumptuous dinner in the hall on the second floor. As soon as everyone was seated, the elegant piano sounded in the hall.While eating, everyone enjoyed the beautiful sound of the piano like flowing clouds and flowing water, which was very pleasant.

At the end of the banquet, Shi Yan became anxious and hurried downstairs to go to the toilet.When passing by the door of the study room, he saw that the door of the study room was ajar, so he glanced in through the crack of the door, and happened to see that the drawer of the desk in the room was not closed tightly, and he could vaguely see the butterfly brooch inside.As soon as his heart moved, he couldn't move his footsteps. Looking around, the servants and guests were all on the second floor, while the first floor was empty and quiet.After hesitating for a moment, he walked into the study, opened the drawer, and saw the butterfly brooch inlaid with "Angel Heart" lying there quietly. He thought that Hu Die hurriedly took off the brooch and stuffed it into the drawer when changing clothes. locked.

He picked up the brooch and broke it hard, and the diamond worth 1 yuan jumped out.His heart was beating wildly, and he was almost out of breath. He thought that he worked hard for a month and his salary was only 30 to [-] yuan. If he had this diamond, he would not have to worry about it for the rest of his life.With Thief's heart together, he held the diamond tightly in the palm of his hand, never wanting to let go.But how can the diamond be stolen?Just put it in your pocket and walk out proudly?Certainly not, there is a gatekeeper at the gate outside, and the dinner is not over yet, leaving early by oneself will definitely make people suspicious, even if he can walk out of this western-style building now, the police will make trouble for him in the future.

When he was in a dilemma, he suddenly saw a bird cage hanging behind the door, and a parrot was kept in the cage.He had heard Mrs. Nalan introduce that this is a crowned parrot, which is a very rare species.Upon closer inspection, the parrot really has a circle of yellow hair on its head, like a crown, very cute.Looking at the parrot, he suddenly remembered a detective novel he had read not long ago, in which there was a plot where criminals used the parrot to steal jewelry.He rolled his eyes and thought about it...

At around 9 o'clock in the night, when the dinner party was over, Hu Die got up and went downstairs to change clothes, and suddenly exclaimed: "My diamond has been stolen!" Everyone was shocked and gathered around.Among the guests happened to be the chief of Xiulin Police Station.The chief is very clever. When he saw the theft, he asked the gatekeeper if no one had left tonight, so he immediately ordered the gate to be closed and no one was allowed to leave. He also called a team of policemen to monitor all the people in the house. People are searched.I searched three times in a row, and I was in a hurry for a while, but there was no gain.Seeing that it was almost dawn, the guests were yawning and complaining, the police chief scratched his bald head, opened the door helplessly and let the guests go back.

When Shi Yansheng came home, his heart was beating wildly. He wanted to lie down and squint for a while, but he couldn't sleep. When it was dawn, he immediately turned over and got up. First, he bought a wig to wear on his head, and then put it on his face I painted some paint on my face, put on my newly bought glasses, dressed up in disguise, and then came to Uncle Huang Street, and walked around the yard of Mrs. Nalan's house a few times, worrying about myself, when I suddenly saw the gate of the small courtyard. Open one side, a thin old man came out carrying a birdcage, which contained the same crowned parrot from last night.Shi Yansheng couldn't help but be overjoyed.It turned out that he couldn't steal the diamond out for a while last night, so he imitated the trick he saw in detective novels, wrapped the diamond with a small piece of bread, and let the parrot eat it.Today he was thinking about how to sneak into the house and steal the parrot out, when he saw the servants in the house lift the bird out, isn't it just like someone sent a big pillow when he wanted to sleep?
The thin old man walked out of Jieshan Pass with the birdcage and walked down an empty hillside.Seeing that there was no one around, Shi Yansheng followed quickly, said haha ​​to the thin old man, threw him a foreign cigarette, and said, "Brother, you are such a handsome bird!" The thin old man was Nalan. Shi Yansheng, the servant of the wife's house, met him in the mansion last night, but today he has changed his appearance, so the old man can't recognize him.The old man took a puff on his cigarette, and then he said: "Of course, this bird is called a crown parrot. Our master bought it from a down-and-out prince in Beijing for 800 yuan. This bird is usually very lively. Yes, it’s just that for some reason, I didn’t poop all night last night, and I didn’t have much energy early in the morning, so the master asked me to take it out for a walk.”

Shi Yansheng thought to himself that such a big diamond blocked the bird's asshole, so it's no wonder it can poop.Just slapped his thigh, pretending to be surprised and said: "Coincidentally, I also have a crown parrot at home, but it is a female, and now it is in estrus, and has a very bad temper. She bangs her head against the cage all day long. Is this bird of yours a male? I’m thinking of buying a bird like this to go back to pair with, so why don’t you just sell this bird to me.”

The thin old man was startled, and said: "How can this be done? This is our master's treasure. I sell it, do I still want to live?" Shi Yansheng smiled and said: "You really can't turn around Let me ask you, how much salary do you get per month with your master?" The skinny old man said: "Eight yuan per month, plus one yuan for board and lodging expenses." Shi Yansheng said: "That's right. , you sell this bird to me, and you take the money from selling the bird and fly away. 800 yuan is now in the ocean, which is almost enough for you to work as a long-term worker for ten years." Looking at the bird in his hand, the thin old man seemed a little tempted.

Shi Yansheng hit the iron while the iron was hot, took out 50 yuan and stuffed it into his hand, saying: "Master, we have settled like this. Here is 50 yuan, which is regarded as a deposit. I will go back to get the money now, and you must wait here for me to come back." .” The thin old man nodded and said, “Don’t keep me waiting.”

Shi Yansheng ran home, took out the more than 100 yuan he usually saved, took out the house deed, went to the pawn shop, mortgaged the two old houses left by his old father, and pawned more than 600 yuan, plus the deposit just paid, It was exactly eight hundred yuan.He ran back down the hillside and handed over the money to the old man.The old man made 800 yuan out of thin air, and his legs and feet were shaking with joy, and he didn't know how to walk.Shi Yansheng reminded him: "You keep taking the money, don't go back, go out of the city and live a good life." The thin old man just woke up like a dream, and ran away with the money bag.

Although Shi Yansheng's house has been mortgaged, the pawnshop can still let him live for a month. If the ransom cannot be paid after one month, the house will belong to the pawnshop.He returned home with the parrot, took out a bamboo stick and scratched hard at the bird's buttocks, but besides pulling out a few pieces of bird droppings, where was the shadow of diamonds?He gritted his teeth, took out a kitchen knife, and slaughtered the expensive parrot. He spent a long time scratching in its stomach, but he still couldn't find the diamond he fed to it last night.Shi Yansheng couldn't help but sat down on the ground.

He thought about his treasure-robbing operation from beginning to end, and felt that something must have gone wrong, so he decided to take the risk of going to Mrs. Nalan's house to find out the news.When I came to Huangshu Street, I found that the courtyard door of Mrs. Nalan's house was closed, with a big lock hanging on the door, and an old man with a white beard was cleaning on the steps in front of the door.Shi Yansheng felt very strange, so he asked: "Master, why is the door of this house locked? Where are the people inside?" The old man said: "The lease term has expired, so we moved out." Shi Yansheng was surprised and asked: "The lease term Arrived? Didn’t Mrs. Nalan buy this house?” The old man shook his head and said, “Where, this house belongs to my son. The mother and daughter only paid 12 yuan to rent it in Dayang for a month, and the servants are also temporary. Please, they have all been disbanded."

Shi Yan staggered and almost sat down on the steps.He had vaguely guessed that he had been duped, but he felt a little strange that Mrs. Nalan put on such a big show to cheat him of 800 yuan, which was too much money, right?Isn't it worth the candle?

This question was not gradually understood until three months later when he inquired about some news.It turned out that I had read the popular detective novel and knew that there were quite a few people who used the method of parrot stealing treasure. He was not the only one who used his method to steal diamonds that night. At least fourteen or fifteen guests had their hands on the diamond.Of course, these people bought a parrot from Mrs. Nalan at the same high price the next day. The most they spent was 1000 yuan, and the least was 800 yuan.It was later proved that the "precious parrot" was actually just an ordinary parrot common in the north.

According to Shi Yansheng's rough estimate, the sum of the money these people spent on buying birds has exceeded 2000 yuan, which is enough for Mrs. Nalan to really buy that western-style building.

(End of this chapter)