Republic of China small businessman

Qinghe White Mansion arranged a banquet in advance in the twelfth lunar month, just because Bai Jiuye was leaving Qinghe County and returning to the provincial mansion for the new year.

The hall meeting this time was also very lively. Cao Yunzhao specially brought Chai Xuehe from Beiping to sit in the town.

The weather is cold and there is a little snow. It is really a kind of enjoyment to drink warm wine and listen to the opera in the snow.

Bai Jiuye sat on the second floor, only opened two windows, with the heater in hand, played for a while and then raised his eyes to look at the stage outside.

The stage of Qinghe Baijia is quite spacious, and it can be seen clearly from the window facing the second floor, except for the lively people on the stage pretending to dance and singing, there are ten people in front of the stage. Among the seven or eight tables, many people walked back and forth to pay New Year's greetings in advance.These are the relatives and friends of the Bai family who walk around on weekdays. There are many people who come, all of them are beaming. Being naughty, they ran to the stage in front of them in groups of three or four and looked up.

The servants in the White Mansion went to pick up some of them, but after catching up with one, they ran away from the other.

When the firecrackers sounded, the children's screams and laughter merged into one.

The white snow reflects the broken red.

New Year's Eve.

When Bai Jiuye came to Qinghe with a convoy from the provincial capital, there were three more carriages in the convoy.

One was specially ordered by Master Jiu to prepare it for Grandma Kou. It looked plain on the outside, but the inside of the hood was interlayered to keep it warm.Grandma Kou took Li Yuan along, and the two of them sat in the car. On the way, Xie Jing reined in the horse and came over to look at it twice, seeing that everything was fine before driving forward with confidence.

Li Yuan put up the car curtain to block the wind and snow.

There was a small heater on the carriage, and he took one and put it in grandma's hand, and put the other at her feet, so he didn't feel at ease and tucked the blanket for the old lady.

Grandma Kou said: "Don't be busy, my hands are not cold, you can use this heater."

Li Yuan refused: "Grandma, I'm not afraid of the cold, my palms are sweaty if you touch it."

Grandma Kou touched it. Although Li Yuan looked thin and thin, her palm was really warm to the touch, so she felt relieved.

Li Yuan smiled shyly and sat aside with his knees hugged.

Although I know that my grandma is kind-hearted, every time I am cared about, I feel extra warm in my heart.

In the past two years, he has regarded his grandma and Xie Jing as family members, and he has no anxiety about moving at all. No matter where he goes, as long as he is with his family, he dares to go.

The other two carriages were prepared for Bai Mingyu, the second young master of the Bai family in Qinghe.

Bai Mingyu was sitting in a carriage at the moment, with his legs curled up and his hands wrapped around his knees, but his heart was extremely sad.

When he left, his father and his eldest brother were obviously very reluctant to part with him, but they still left his "general" and "Bai Yaqing" behind, even confiscating the gourd.

Bai Mingzhe first stopped his father who was holding a stick, and then turned around to persuade his brother who was not up to date: "Hurry up, you are as tall as the door frame, why don't you understand anything! You went to the provincial government to teach you how to become a talent, what are you doing with those crap, hey... go, go!"

Even so, Bai Mingyu still brought two big carts of things. These were the luggage packed by his mother and sister-in-law. He was afraid that he would not be used to the outside things when he was away from Qinghe, so he brought a lot of everything, even clothes. Seven or eight sets were ordered.

The carriage jolted, and Bai Mingyu's legs and feet were numb, his teeth were grinning from the shock, and he forced himself to sit in a different posture with his hands propped up.

Xie Jing passed by on horseback, and Bai Mingyu yelled at him a few times. This guy's voice was too loud, even if he tried to pretend he couldn't hear him.

Xie Jing followed on horseback, turned around and asked, "Second Young Master, what's the matter?"

"You still have Bai Shisi with you? Fourteen feet is really safe," Bai Mingyu lay by the window and looked at his horse enviously, then looked up at him expectantly, "Give me a ride?"

Xie Jing nodded in agreement.

Bai Mingyu didn't wait for the coachman to stop, and immediately jumped out of the car. After a few moves, he wanted to change hands with Xie Jing: "I'm exhausted on this journey. I wanted to bring a horse, but unfortunately I couldn't find a good one."

Xie Jing glanced at him, too lazy to reveal it.

The second young master Bai wanted to take the gourd cricket to the provincial capital. When he left in the morning, he was so angry when he heard the sound, he even dropped several oil gourds and took off the second young master's horse.

The horses of the others in the team are more or less fierce, and they are not sure about the second young master's temper, so they dare not let him ride.

Only Bai Shishi, raised by Xie Jing, has a gentle temperament and dares to let the second young master ride a horse occasionally.

Xie Jing handed the reins of the horse to Bai Mingyu, and after he got up, he fed him another fourteen pieces of candy, and stroked the bridge of his nose: "Be steady, and bring the young master back properly."

Bai Mingyu finally got the horse, and it took half an hour to enjoy himself, so Xie Jing simply went back to Jiuye's carriage.

Bai Mingyu rode wildly for a while, his face was flushed from the cold, but he was in great spirits. He searched around and didn't see Xie Jing outside. After asking someone, he drove the horse to Jiuye's carriage. Not daring to make mistakes, after following slowly for a while, he called out to the people inside in a low voice: "Xiao Xie, hey, Xiao Xie?"

Xie Jing didn't respond.

Bai Mingyu wanted to shout again, but suddenly he saw a plain white hand lift the thick cloth curtain, and Bai Jiuye who was sitting inside looked over from the side, and asked softly, "What's the matter?"

Bai Mingyu greeted politely, and said in a low voice, "I'll return Xiao Xie's horse."

Jiuye lowered his head and said something to the people in the carriage. Curious, Bai Mingyu poked his head to look in, but he only saw a corner. Jiuye's carriage was huge, and it looked like a shrunken bedroom was moved inside, except for the bed. There is also a small row of bookshelves and a chessboard. On the thick plush blanket at the corner, one can vaguely see Xiao Xie and another person sitting there talking, the voice is so low that it is hard to hear what they are talking about.Before he could look any further, Master Jiu turned his head and said, "Leave the fourteenth to Zhang Huwei at the back. Xiao Xie has other things to do." After finishing speaking, he put down the car curtain.

Bai Mingyu couldn't figure out what else Xie Jing could do in the carriage, but he didn't dare to ask any more questions, so he agreed and went to the back.

On the carriage, Xie Jing was setting the chessboard.

Cao Yunzhao put his hands in his plush warm sleeves, squinted at the car window, and said, "Bai Jiu, don't make excuses, you are not allowed to leave today if you don't play three rounds with me."

Master Jiu looked back at him, his eyes fell on Xie Jing's hands that were packing up the chess pieces, and he said softly, "Your chess moves are wrong."

"What's wrong?"

"It's all wrong, you're going to kill yourself."

Cao Yunzhao smiled but didn't smile: "Really, maybe my chess skills have improved. That's how he played chess with Mr. Huang that day."

Master Jiu: "..."

Xie Jing took another plate of crabapple fruit, cut it and put it aside, and this time also took a small plate of powdered sugar.

Master Jiu glanced at him, Cao Yunzhao was impatient to strike first, and when Bai Jiu dropped the ball, he immediately picked it up and changed another place: "I made a mistake just now." This time, he dropped not just one word, but two.

Ninth Master Heizi held it between his fingertips and was silent for a moment: "You cheated."

Cao Yunzhao said: "It doesn't count, you just treat me as your husband."

"But you are not."

"What happened when you pushed me out to play chess with Mr...."

Before he finished speaking, Bai Jiu raised his hand and overturned the chessboard.

The chess piece crackled and fell off the hem of Cao Yunzhao's clothes. Young Master Cao was so angry that he stood up and was loaded into his head by the carriage with a thud, covering his head in pain: "Bai Jiu, how old are you, and you still play like this? When you were studying, you It's always like this... Hey, what a broken carriage you are, it hurts my head!"

Jiu Ye said: "You change the car, and the noise here is giving me a headache."

"Is it reasonable for you to play around? I shouldn't go all the way with you. If you take the train, there are so many things."

"It's still too late to go now, I'll send you there on horseback."

"..."

Cao Yunzhao couldn't make any noise, so he changed carriages angrily.

Xie Jing cleaned up the mess, but at the beginning of the game, the chessboard was easy to clean up, but the plate of crabapple fruit on the side hurt the fish in the pond, and the powdered sugar was also sprinkled.

Xie Jing wiped it for a while, then secretly went to see Master Jiu.

Bai Jiuye was also squinting at him. After meeting his eyes, Xie Jing moved away slightly, but couldn't help turning back curiously: "Master, did you do the same when you were studying?"

Master Jiu said, "What kind?"

Xie Jing scratched her cheek with her fingers, but didn't dare to ask.

Master Jiu grabbed his collar, pulled him over, put him in his arms and asked, "Do you think Master has a bad temper?"

Xie Jing faltered: "No, I just haven't seen it before, and I can't imagine that my grandfather is still like this, so...a man of temperament."

Master Jiu pinched his face, and chuckled softly: "You haven't seen many, I'm not a god, but I'm also an ordinary person who will get bored after eating whole grains."

The voice came across his chest, Xie Jing was a little cautious, and for some reason he felt flustered inexplicably.

Master Jiu teased the child for a while, then let him go quickly, and took a book to read while there was some leisure in the carriage.

Xie Jing also wanted to read a book, but couldn't calm down several times, and was distracted by looking at the pages.

Three days' drive back to the provincial capital, with two nights rest on the road.

The two hotels are both under the name of the Cao family. As soon as they arrived, there were people standing by the side of the road waiting for them. The old man came up to him. One of them picked up the distinguished guest and went to rest in the backyard, while the others led the horses to feed them high-quality fodder.

Cao Yunzhao didn't take the train, but came back in a carriage with them. He didn't even remember that there was such a property in his family, and he only vaguely remembered it when he was warmly welcomed by the shopkeeper.Cao Yunzhao treated the guests generously, and served them with good wine and good food. After drinking two cups, he had long forgotten about playing chess in the carriage, and said with a smile: "I think they are like this, and it is only your Bai family's property, and it is another Like me, come to worship the God of Wealth."

Master Jiu had a few drinks with him, and because they were drinking scalded hot wine, he also shared two glasses with Xie Jing.

Cao Yunzhao already knew that Bai Jiu would not lend someone to him, so he deliberately teased: "Xiao Xie, how is this wine compared to your Heihe Winery? Why don't you go back with me, every day there is good wine and new clothes."

Xie Jing shook his head, he had a low capacity for alcohol, and his face was already hot.

Seeing that he was drunk, Master Jiu told him to go back to rest first, but Xie Jing was obedient and walked away.

Cao Yunzhao watched with relish, and said with a smile, "How did you raise yourself, and why are you so obedient?"

Master Jiu raised the corner of his mouth slightly, turned the wine glass twice in his hand, and said after a while, "Maybe it's God's will."

"Ok?"

"I met a gangster in Heihe two years ago, and he was the one who saved me at that time."

Cao Yunzhao was surprised for a moment, "What's the matter with the Ma bandits? Why have I never heard of them?"

Master Jiu told him about what happened, and shocked Young Master Cao, who had only seen such incidents in picture books. When he heard that they were out of danger, he wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, and kept saying that he was lucky.

"Xie Jing is my dear friend, he is very important to me." Master Jiu said.

Cao Yunzhao nodded slowly, poured him a glass of wine, and smiled slightly: "No wonder I can't borrow anyone, and I'm also to blame. I didn't ask you for it until I found out clearly. I won't say this again from now on."

Master Jiu clinked glasses with him and drank hot wine together.

The two were best friends, and reunited after a long absence, so they inevitably drank a few more drinks when they got together.

Cao Yunzhao can drink a lot, and Bai Rongjiu can't get drunk after a thousand cups. The two of them left after drinking to their heart's content. Cao Yunzhao was helped back to the guest room. Jiuye walked back slowly with his footsteps still steady.

In the guest room, there is no earth dragon heating like in Qinghebai's house. After entering, I felt a little cold as soon as I took off my coat, but there was still a little wine in my stomach, with a warm feeling, which could still resist a little.

After Master Jiu washed up, he realized that someone had already slept on the bed.

Although he was drunk, he was still sober. He frowned slightly, walked over to see who the other party was but couldn't help laughing, raised his hand to stroke the soft black hair, and coaxed the other party to lean in: "Jing'er , Jing'er put it in, I won't be able to sleep."

Xie Jing groaned, buried her face in the pillow and moved a little.

Master Jiu could only pick up the person sleeping in the middle and put it inside, but after a while, the other person squeezed over again, stretched out his arms to hug his waist, and squeezed his small head towards his chest, mouth murmured something.

Master Jiu listened to it twice before he heard clearly. The other party said that he would warm his bed.

The boy's body was warm, like a small stove, enough to dispel the winter cold.

Master Jiu pinched his earlobe, and heard the other party's dissatisfied hum. At first, he was afraid that the little guy would wake up, but the more he bullied him, the other party just hummed twice without letting go.Master Jiu thought it was funny, kneaded for a while, and then let go when he saw that the other party was hiding. There was still a trace of warmth on his fingertips. After rubbing, it seemed that a small electric current had passed by, and he couldn't tell what kind of emotion it was for a while.

It's like liking, but it's a little more than liking.

After a few days of traveling, we arrived at the provincial capital.

For the next two days, Cao Yunzhao stayed in his carriage to sober up. When he arrived at the provincial capital, he was taken back to Cao's mansion, and the Bai family motorcade team also returned to the old house.

The old house of the Bai family was built in a low-key way, like other big houses on the screen, with high walls and red iron gates, with bronze lion knockers on it, and a very high door, symbolizing the glory of the past.

The motorcade stopped at the main entrance and sent Master Jiu off, while the rest entered through the side entrance.

Xie Jing and Grandma Kou didn't go in, but went with Zhang Huwei to an alley not far away, turned out and walked for a while, and arrived at a small courtyard with a single family.

Zhang Huwei handed the carriage to him, and said: "Jiu Ye said that the yard here is useless if it is idle, and I will leave it to you and grandma to take care of it for the time being. This side goes out from the Xiaonan Gate, and it just faces the street. It can be used as a pavement after a little modification. I don’t know what kind of business you want to do, so I haven’t changed it, you can see for yourself.”

Xie Jing agreed.

Zhang Huwei helped move a few more pieces of furniture down, and saw Li Yuan's thin and half-sized man carrying the box by himself, he was no longer as awkward as before, and his impression was much better.

Zhang Huwei had just returned to the provincial capital and was busy with other errands, so he left in a hurry after moving things.

Xie Jing moved a chair for Grandma Kou and put it in the hall, and cleaned up the house with Li Yuan, only letting grandma move her mouth, not even allowing her to touch the broom.

Grandma Kou was pressed several times, and she was anxious: "I'm not paper, why can't I work!"

Xie Jing said: "You cook at night, you are tired after cooking."

Li Yuan nodded, and after nodding, he said, "Grandma, I'll go shopping later. I saw a small stall just now when I was on the road."

Grandma Kou had no choice but to agree.

Several people worked together, and by the time the new home was cleaned up and dinner was served, it was almost nine o'clock in the evening.

Grandma Kou lit candles on the table and ate dinner with a little light. Xie Jing said: "The provincial government has electricity. I'll go and ask tomorrow if I can connect a light."

Grandma Kou said, "The electric light is too expensive, what do you need that for?"

Li Yuan was curious: "Are electric lights expensive? Have grandma used electric lights before? What kind of lights are they like?"

Grandma Kou suddenly became confused, lowered her head and pretended to drink soup, Li Yuan asked again before she said: "That's it, just press it and it will light up! There are a lot of wipes, each one is small, delicate and delicate. It’s troublesome, and it’s going to be too high...Anyway, I don’t think it’s useful.”

Hearing what she said, Xie Jing couldn't help but take a look. The candle was dim, and Grandma Kou didn't notice it.

Li Yuan had never used an electric light before, and he was fascinated by it, "There are so many. If they are lit up, people will think they are hanging a string of night pearls!"

Grandma Kou said: "We don't do needlework at night, what do we need to be so bright?" She took a chopstick of fish meat for Xie Jing as she spoke, and said: "Eat slowly, Jinger, don't get fishbone stuck."

Xie Jing ate the fish slowly, bowed her head and said nothing.

The author has something to say: Little Theater:

Ordinary Bai Rongjiu: I'm just an ordinary man with billions of dollars.

②

Ordinary Grandma Kou: The old woman is very poor and has never seen the world, electric light?Electric lights are just like that. If they break, it’s hard to fix them. You have to step on a ladder to climb up one by one to try them out. Oh, it’s annoying to clean them. It takes seven or eight people to work together!