Winter Begonia

They chatted until one o'clock before leaving the Huji Noodle Shop. It took most of the day and they hadn't touched the edge of the overpass yet.Out of the noodle shop, Shang Xirui took Cheng Fengtai's hand and walked vigorously, vowing not to be disturbed by anything, only then was the view of the overpass vividly before his eyes.

It's just a small open space. From Cheng Fengtai's visual inspection, the gardens of his palace may be bigger than this.There were everyone in the open space, opera singers, cross talk talkers, fortune-tellers, beggars, wonton stalls and people looking at foreign paintings. Everyone stayed in one place, and it was very crowded.Shang Xirui took Cheng Fengtai to look around, there was a small stall selling masks, there were all kinds of Peking Opera facial makeup.

Shang Xirui said happily: "This facial make-up is well done! It's so exquisite! Cao Cao! Look! There's also Huang Chao! Buy one of each, and you don't have to paint your face when you go on stage. Once you wear it like this, it's all work!" He took He put one on Cheng Fengtai's face, thought about it left and right, and said regretfully: "It's a pity that when I put it on, it covers most of my eyes. It's not good not to show your eyes. There's no expression either."

Not far away, a woman was wearing a red and blue costume, put on makeup and a film, and had a fish cannon on her shoulders. That was Su San's dress, and there was only an old man next to her to play the erhu for her.The voice of the female actress was extraordinarily high-pitched. In a place as noisy as the bridge, she sang and tore apart the hustle and bustle of voices.I don't know if this voice was specially cultivated for Tianqiao.

Shang Xirui laughed and said: "This is just right for the occasion!"

Cheng Fengtai also laughed and said: "Singing this here is more suitable than any other station."

The woman is singing wonderfully:

——"Su San left Hongdong County, and came to the main street. I didn't say anything, but my heart was miserable. The gentlemen who passed by listened to me: whoever is going to Nanjing, pass the letter to my Sanlang. Just say Su San cut off his life, and I will pay it back as a dog in the next life."

Shang Xirui followed the libretto and commented: "Street writing is not good, conversion is not good, transmission is not good, speaking is not good... Can't pronounce words, she is from the south!"

Cheng Fengtai smacked his lips, and said: "Boss Shang, don't be serious with the vendor."

Shang Xirui said: "I'm not being serious, I'm just talking casually." Taking out a few dimes and throwing them into the gong, he nodded to the girl with a smile, no matter where he met an opera singer, he always felt very kind .

Going further down, I listened to a cross talk and watched juggling for a while.When Shang Xirui first came to Peiping, the overpass was so rare that he came here every day, lingering on it.After getting rich, he has seen more of the world, so he is not so obsessed. He came to Tianqiao for other purposes-whether the baggage in the cross talk can be put into the play, and whether the juggling figure can be used for his own use.Cheng Fengtai comes from a bustling city like Shanghai, and he often goes to places that are more lively and interesting than Tianqiao, so he doesn't particularly like them. He just feels that there is a natural "vulgarity" and "roughness" here, which is not found in other places. Hot, cute, and funny.

Cheng Fengtai said: "In the future, I will have the opportunity to take you to the 'Big World' in Shanghai, there are more tricks than here!"

"I know that! Time is too tight in Shanghai, so I didn't make it." Shang Xirui took his finger: "Are you going to take me there?"

Cheng Fengtai firmly held Shang Xirui's hand: "I will take you there."

The two were talking, and a group of dirty children came across. The children seemed to be aiming at Shang Xirui, and they ran towards him excitedly, shouting repeatedly: "Shang Lang, Shang Lang, Shang Lang, Shang Xirui!" Lang!"

Cheng Fengtai and Shang Xirui couldn't help but take a step back under the enthusiasm.The children came rushing towards Shang Xirui and surrounded him in groups: "Shang Lang! Shang Lang give me money to buy jelly beans!"

Shang Xirui said with a smile: "What's the rule here? If you want to win the big prize, first get something fresh."

A child patted his chest: "Shang Lang! Let me give you a paragraph—the subordinate of Beitianyuan, Liu Jiu'er Zongzhi. The down-and-out scholar worshiped him as his teacher and passed it on to me. This lotus stick adds grace, and walked all over the fireworks market ..."

Shang Xirui said immediately: "The Biography of Li Wa. I've heard of it."

Another child stepped forward and pushed his companion away: "Listen to me—listen to me—the people in Chu and Han were uneasy, and Dacheng County came out with two great sages, Liu Chengyuan and Zhao. That year, Dacheng County suffered from drought, and there was only rice. It's as expensive as pearl noodles, and the money goes up..."

Shang Xirui waved his hands and said with a smile: "'The Two Immortals Gathering Herbs'. It's a treasure!"

"Listen to me! Shang Lang! I will!"

"Hey! I have a new joke! Shang Lang! None of them work!"

Having said that, but in the end still can not come up with a new one.The children were at their wit's end, and their dirty little hands fumbled and tugged at Shang Xirui.They are poor children and beggars in a large courtyard nearby, when they used to sing "Lotus Fall" to beg people for money, Shang Xirui stood by and listened to it a few times, and each time they gave five cents.After listening to all the words, they still stopped to ask for money, after Shang Xirui gave alms in vain a few times, he became cautious, this time he covered his purse and said nothing: "Hey! Don't drag me ! I didn't even pull me!" Pointing at Cheng Fengtai, he said: "You go to the second master, the second master is rich!"

A group of children immediately surrounded Cheng Fengtai, shouting repeatedly: "Second master, second master, second master! Buy jelly beans for you two!"

Second Master Cheng saw this group of children, snotty, snotty, snotty, black and stinky, not to mention how numb they were, he jumped back and pointed at the leading child and threatened: "Little Chi, don't come here, be careful I'll beat you." Then he blamed Shang Xirui: "What are you leading them to me? Get out of here!"

Shang Xirui saw that Cheng Fengtai seemed a little angry, and quickly greeted the children: "Okay! How about I send you a note?"

The children crowded around him, Shang Xirui hid behind Cheng Fengtai, Cheng Fengtai glared at the children fiercely, the children saw him dressed as a foreigner and were afraid to come forward.

"Write a note, I don't have a pen and paper!" Shang Xirui said.

The leading child said: "This is easy!" Standing on tiptoe, he tore a piece of advertisement from the wall saying "Ancestral Secret Recipe. The Golden Gun Never Fails", and it was a blank piece of paper when it was memorized.I have the paper, but where can I find the pen.Shang Xirui looked at Cheng Fengtai, Cheng Fengtai had no choice but to take out his Parker gold pen and give it to him.Shang Xirui took off the cap of the pen and squeezed it clumsily and forcefully in his hand, far worse than he had just made the merchant's stick handy.

"Well... today I owe..." Shang Xirui lowered his head and asked the older boy: "What's your name?"

The older child wiped his nose and said, "I'm called Ersha!"

Shang Xirui smiled and said: "Ha! It's the second master's second!"

Cheng Fengtai glared at him, did he make gestures with the second master and this little beggar?

"Stupid...stupid...Second Master! How do you write the word "stupid?"

Cheng Fengtai thought to himself that you are so stupid that you can't write stupid?With sleeves on his hands, he said, "I won't either. Boss Shang thinks for himself."

Shang Xirui bit the penholder and thought for a long time, but he still couldn't write, he thought Cheng Fengtai wouldn't help if he asked again, so he simply swiped the pen and drew a circle after the word "two".His unrestrained demeanor has the demeanor of drawing a behead before beheading.Shang Xirui leaned over the wall and brushed, and wrote an IOU with great difficulty: "Today I owe you two idiots—" But how can there be a word for idiot?Shang Xirui explained to the child: "Look, I drew a circle for you here, it's okay, it's the same."

Cheng Fengtai thought to himself, could it be the same?It's all the same, why use words?

Shang Xirui read aloud: "I owe one silver dollar to Erduan today. Tiangongfang will pay it - do you know Tiangongfang?"

"I know! It's at Wangfujing!"

Shang Xirui nodded.He is generous to others here, doubling the previous five-point rule, and he feels the joy of doing a good deed every day.

Cheng Fengtai smiled and said: "Yo! Boss Shang is well informed! He also knows that Tiangongfang is my property. Is this also the gossip heard on the mahjong table?"

Shang Xirui said: "I know everything. Come, my boss will sign it!"

Cheng Fengtai took it over, thinking that he has been in business for ten years, and he hasn't issued an IOU to anyone yet!Follow Shang Xirui to do stupid things and ask a group of little beggars to solve the problem.Sighing and shaking his head, he signed his name flamboyantly, then looked up at Shang Xirui's handwriting, those words were written crookedly, the strokes couldn't fit together, like matchsticks Put together, immature and ridiculous.He held the IOU in his hand and looked at it for a while, and the more he looked at it, the more he enjoyed it, but the children were afraid that he would repent, so they raised their heads and looked at him eagerly.Cheng Fengtai looked at the child, the sleeves of the torn padded jacket were half short, his fingers and ears were full of chilblains, he felt compassion, he put a vertical stroke on a piece of ocean, and said: "Go, wash your face, and go find it Shopkeeper Cai, don’t buy jelly beans with the money, buy warm clothes for each of you.”

The children grabbed the IOU and ran away with a cheer, Shang Xirui and Cheng Fengtai watched their happy backs with a smile.At this time, an old beggar with braids was rushing the child away, smiling all over his face, and walking head-on from the opposite side with his back bowed and his back bowed.When Shang Xirui saw the old man, he immediately turned his back and left.

"Yo! Shang Lang! Don't tell me! Don't turn your back when you see me!"

Shang Xirui walked fast, he suddenly opened his hand to stop him, almost fell into his arms.Cheng Fengtai shielded Shang Xirui to his side, frowned and said: "Master, speak, don't move."

When the old man saw Cheng Fengtai's clothes, he nodded and bowed with a smile on his face: "My lord, my little old man is blind, so I didn't see you. You are so handsome! The heaven is full and the seal is shining, you can see that you have made a fortune ! What business are you doing?" The old man has a drake voice, which is flat, sharp and thin, making the hairs of people shiver like a knife scraping a bone.

Shang Xirui interrupted him: "If you have nothing else to do, let's go first."

"Hey! Boss Shang! Boss Shang, stop!" The old man stretched out his hand again to stop him, but due to Cheng Fengtai's power, he retracted his hand resentfully as soon as he stretched it out, and rubbed against the hem of his clothes, making a distressed expression Expression: "Boss Shang, hey, look at me..."

Shang Xirui scowled: "No money!"

"Boss Shang, please do me a favor! I haven't eaten all day. I'm going to die on the side of the road in this cold weather. Please do me a favor and give me some."

Shang Xirui said violently: "Why do you all act like robbers every time I come back to the bridge!"

The old man bowed to him again and again: "Isn't that because Shang Lang is kind-hearted!"

Shang Xirui said: "Who said that! I'm the worst-hearted! For example, this time, no money will be given!"

Cheng Fengtai couldn't help laughing.

Shang Xirui walked forward slowly, the old man followed closely.Shang Xirui turned his face to look at him, and said as he walked: "Hey, Lao Xian'er, why didn't you go to Tianjin to find Jiulang? You came out with the Nanfu Opera Troupe, he will definitely take care of you, even if you beg him to play the piano Yanshe will arrange a job for you. You are getting old, begging is not a problem!"

When Cheng Fengtai heard this, he looked at Lao Xian'er curiously.Lao Xian'er's gray hair was tied into a thin braid and thrown behind her back, she was short in stature, and her face was surprisingly wrinkled. Compared with ordinary old men, she always had a strange feeling——Cheng Fengtai thought for a while, and suddenly understood Yes, he is the eunuch in the Nanfu opera troupe.

Lao Xian'er said hello: "Jiulang! Why did Jiulang know me! The head eunuch Zhao head doesn't care about us, how can we still look for Jiulang with a shy face? Jiulang is a celebrity in front of Lafayette, It's not on the same road as us gangsters!" Lao Xian'er hastened a few steps, and went around in front of Shang Xirui to block the way: "So, we are here to find Shang Lang..."

"It's useless to find me. There is no money!"

"Look at what you said. Who doesn't know you! After Jiulang left, you are the only one counted in the capital!" Lao Xian'er gave a thumbs up, "Every time you sneeze on the stage, people will applaud you, and you will reap a lot Nah!"

"No money!"

"Ouch! Shang Lang! Even if you don't pity me, I really have no way out!"

"You have no way to live, and I have no money."

The old one has no shape, and the young one has a stubborn temper.Shang Xirui was forced to make a mistake.If this grind continues, when will it be over.Cheng Fengtai stepped forward to intervene among them, the old and the young, and persuaded: "Okay, okay, it sounds like we are old acquaintances. Boss Shang, you have to respect the old!"

Shang Xirui snorted: "If you have money, you give it to him. I don't have money!"

Cheng Fengtai looked at Lao Xian'er, took out the checkbook and opened the interlayer, there was a thin stack of banknotes inside.Lao Xian'er stared at Qian, and kept flattering him: "Master, you are a good person, I know you are a good person at a glance! Lao Xian'er, I have met many people in my life! Just look There is kindness and loyalty in the tip of your eyebrows! In the future, you will surely turn bad times into good fortune, make your wishes come true, have many children and grandchildren, and make a fortune for the rest of your life!"

Cheng Fengtai often hears people calling him a hooligan, and at first hearing this, he is actually a little happy.Smiling and twisting the banknotes, before he could take out one, Lao Xian'er quickly grabbed a few from his hand, rolled them up and pressed them into the hat, and ran backwards while saying compliments.

For the two money, Cheng Fengtai might not go to grab it back again, looking at Lao Xian'er's back, he smiled dryly: "This is really a robbery!"

Shang Xirui said angrily: "He's always like this! He even took a watch from me in the past. He used the money to gamble!"

Cheng Fengtai patted him on the back: "Boss Shang, let's not get angry with him, it's not big money."

Shang Xirui frowned and said: "It's not about the money. I hate being disrespectful!"

The two returned to the car all the way, and it was nearly five o'clock at this time.Old Ge Ku waited for several hours, but he was full of energy and ready to go, without any impatience or slack, he was really a competent driver.

Cheng Fengtai asked: "Go to Qingfeng Grand Theater?"

Shang Xirui nodded, he sang a night show today.