The courtyard with green bricks and blue tiles is particularly eye-catching in Guoyu Village. In the early days, Guo Quanfa was the owner of that courtyard. Who knew that Quanfa’s mother passed away less than a year after his marriage. His father, Guo Shanren, brought him back from Fengqi County.

Female actors, the two of them slept and rolled on the kang in the dark. My grandfather was so angry that he left Inner Mongolia without a trace. Guo Quanfa's eldest son just landed in the morning, and in the evening he heard that his half brother was born.

After a few years of reluctantly making do, Guo Quanfa finally moved out of the courtyard house and built several huts for himself in the village, and the family lived in them. Quanfa and his father did not have much contact with each other during the weekdays.

, I just took the children to kowtow to their father in the courtyard during the Chinese New Year. In an instant, the wind blew and the grass grew. The eldest son Guo Wentao had grown to twelve years old. Quanfa came back from work that day and was sitting on the grass mound in front of the stove.

I went to smoke a cigarette and saw a head peeking in from the door. It turned out to be my father.

Guo Quanfa knocked off his cigarette ashes on the soles of his shoes, stood up, and asked, "Dad, do you have a problem with me?"

Guo Shanren waved to his son, and Guo Quanfa followed his father out. He was about to ask his father, but his father said: "It's not convenient to talk on the road. Dad wants to discuss something with you. Let's go back to the house to talk."

Walking into the courtyard house, he saw his stepmother standing in front of the eaves, with a smile on his face. On weekdays, Guo Quanfa rarely talked to his stepmother. Even if they met in the village, he couldn't save face before greeting him: "Have you eaten yet?"

"? The stepmother always had a gloomy look on her face, as if someone owed her two liters of chaff. During the Chinese New Year, Quanfa took the children to kowtow to his father, but the stepmother always hid in the back room and ignored them. His younger brother Guo Quan

Although You was the same age as Quanfa's eldest son Guo Wentao, he seemed reasonable and gave some walnuts, red dates, and peanuts to his nephews. Guo Quanfa was wondering, what on earth did his father and stepmother want to see him for?

The father and son sat across from each other around the Eight Immortals table. The stepmother made a rare pot of strong tea for them, and the room was filled with a strong aroma of tea. Guo Quan took a sip of the tea and looked at his father.

, waiting quietly for dad to speak.

Dad picked up the tea and drank it all in one gulp, smacking his lips and praising: "Good tea."

Before dad could say anything, the stepmother said, "Your dad and I have made plans and we want to marry Quan Zhong."

Dad said: "My father-in-law is a close friend of your grandfather. His name is Li Shouyi. He runs a stall in Fengqi County and is nicknamed 'Tie Suan Man'."

Guo Quanfa didn't say anything anymore, he just lowered his head and drank tea silently. In that era, it was not uncommon for wealthy families to marry their sons early. With a glance from the corner of his eye, Guo Quanfa saw the hookah that his grandfather left on the Eight Immortals table when he left, and he stretched out his hand.

I held it in my hand and played with it, and my thoughts went out of my grandfather. At that time, the Guo family was far more prosperous than it is now. There was a medicine shop opened by the Guo family in Fengqi County. There were medicinal materials everywhere on the mountains around Guoyu Village. All the medicinal materials dug by the villagers were sold to

In the Guo family, Guo Ziyi didn't take land rent collection seriously. The family's main source of income came from the drug store. When Guo Quanfa was eight years old, his grandfather hired many mules to carry bricks and tiles back from Wagou Town, and started construction in Guoyu Village.

, built a courtyard house. This incident alarmed neighbors from all over the countryside. On the day of moving to the new house, Guoyu Village was bustling with traffic, and almost all the prominent figures in the county came to congratulate him.

Although Guo Ziyi's family is well-off, there is one regret: the family is not prosperous. Counting from Guo Ziyi's father, there are only five generations. He originally expected his son Guo Shuangyou (nicknamed Guo Shanren) to be able to bring glory to the family, but Guo Shanren did not regard the wealth of the family as anything.

One thing is that he only does three things in his life: watching theater, gambling, and whoring. Guo Shanren is obsessed with watching theater and can recite certain jokes by heart. He once wanted to show his skills on the stage, but

That drake-like voice really put the spotlight on the scenery. He rarely returned to the village throughout the year and just wandered around in Fengqi County. As long as he acted in the Chenghuang Temple Theater, Guo Shanren would definitely be there to support him under the stage. Over and over again, he met Peony, a popular female actress at that time.

The reds are mixed together.

Peony Hong is nicknamed "Spittoon", which means that as long as he has money, any man can get her. Mudan Hong was originally committed to Li Mingqiu, the tyrant of Fengqi, but later fell in love with Guo Mazi and became Guo Mazi's mistress. Li Mingqiu was very angry about this.

I once wanted to have a fight with Guo Mazi, but Tie Abacus reached out to stop him. Tie Abacus said: "Good nephew, good men are everywhere. It's not worth losing yourself for a bitch. Besides, the Guo Mazi tree has deep roots, and we are no match for him."

”.

Mudanhong had been with Guo Mazi for more than a year before she was abandoned by Guo Mazi because Guo Mazi fell in love with Mudanhong's junior sister Shan Shaoyao. Shan Shaoyao was only fifteen years old when she appeared on the stage.

Hearing the sound of the drums at the third watch in the Qiao Tower, a large number of theater fans under the stage were fascinated. As soon as the play ended that night, Peony was carried to Guo Mazi's official residence in a sedan.

Feng, I hated Peony Hong so much that my gums started to bleed! But hate turned into hate. The next day, Peony Hong didn’t dare to express her anger in front of Guo Mazi. She knew the temper of military men. If you don’t go as well as you want, you might be divorced.

. She has had enough of this kind of fearful life, why not take advantage of this moment when Guo Mazi has a new love, ask Guo Mazi for a convenience, and leave this palace of hell? After thinking about it, Mudanhong pretended to be real and cried in front of Guo Mazi.

, saying that she had been away from her mother for many years and wanted to go home. How could Guo Mazi, who traveled all over the world, not see through Mudanhong's heart? He took this opportunity to push the boat forward, sent Mudanhong some silver coins, and hired a sedan to carry Mudanhong.

Out of the official residence.

The peony-red sedan landed in front of Li Mingqiu's residence. She got off the sedan, went up the steps, raised her jade hand, and knocked on the door knocker of Li Mingqiu's house. The door was opened by Li Mingqiu's housekeeper. Seeing that it was peony-red, he did not dare to neglect and quickly opened the door.

Peony Hong let him into the living room. There were four people sitting at a table in the living room, playing mahjong. Sitting at the table was Li Mingqiu. Opposite Li Mingqiu sat Qinglou Xiaocui. Tie Abacus and Guo Shanren sat on both sides to keep company. Each of them had a cup of tea in front of them.

The steward was holding a copper kettle to see whose tea bowl was out of water. He picked up the copper kettle and filled it with water.

The four of them all knew Mudanhong and did not need to introduce each other. When Li Mingqiu saw Mudanhong come in, he thought he was sent by Guo Mazi. Naturally, he did not dare to neglect, so he asked the housekeeper to play cards for him first, called Mudanhong into the back room, and stretched out his hand to touch Mudanhong.

He touched his tender face, and then said: "Xindandan, you miss my brother so hard." Unexpectedly, Peony Hong wiped away her tears and said that Guo Mazi had a new love and did not miss the old love.

She sent her out with a few silver coins. Li Mingqiu's mind turned around quickly, and he felt that the peony red was still useful to him, so he lamented and said: "Brother, you are so soft-hearted, don't cry, don't cry, others don't want it."

If my lousy brother wants it, then you can live in his house and he will keep the baby alive." Mudanhong burst into tears and smiled, saying that she had known that Brother Li was a person who valued friendship and brother Li would not leave her alone.

Li Mingqiu cursed in his heart: "Zhuri, your mother! Guo Mazi dumped you and you came to me. I, Li Mingqiu, am not a rag picker." But on the surface, he smiled and said, "Let's play mahjong."

Go, after playing mahjong, let me wash my girl's dust at the Donkey Tavern."

The two came to the front hall chatting and laughing. Li Mingqiu gave up his seat to Mudanhong and sat next to him to give instructions.

From the moment Mudanhong walked into the living room, Guo Shanren had no intention of playing cards. When Mudanhong first appeared on the theater floor of the Chenghuang Temple in Fengqi County, Guo Shanren was watching the theater downstairs. The phrase "under the moonlight"

"Watch the young master carefully" simply made Guo Shanren feel his heart in his throat. After the play ended, Guo Shanren lingered under the stage for a long time, thinking that he could see the red side of the peony, but it didn't take much effort and he only saw Yichen.

The sedan came under the stage. Under the moonlight, Peony Red walked lightly in front of the sedan and got in. Two big men carried the sedan along Fengqi Street and walked into Li Mingqiu's mansion...

Guo Shanren was so upset that he had no choice but to go to Fireworks Alley and asked for a girl from a brothel. When he slept with the girl in his arms, he was still thinking about Peony Red. The next day, he rubbed his sleepy eyes and went to his own medicine shop. He suddenly saw her on the street.

The crowd was crowded, and many people rushed to the street, thinking that someone was going to kill someone. This was the scene when people were killing people in Fengqi Street in the past. Guo Shanren was not only afraid of killing people, but he didn't even dare to look at the chickens being killed. He hid in the back hall of his medicine shop and did not go out.

.A sudden cry of "Mr. Gong——" shocked Guo Shanren. He hurried to the street, stood on the steps of the drug store and looked up. He saw Mudanhong riding a tall horse and wearing a costume, swaggering on the street. It was a pity.

The person had already passed by the door of the drug store, and Guo Shanren only saw the peony-red back.

In those days, actors were in the same class as prostitutes in Fireworks Lane. There were often sedan chairs parked under the stage, waiting for the actresses to be carried away after their performances. Guo Shanren was a passionate person, and during that period, he was aroused by the color of peonies, which made him restless.

However, no one in Fengqi County could look down on a small drugstore owner. Seeing Mudanhong being carried away by prominent figures after her performance, Guo Shanren felt as if he had eaten a fly.
Chapter completed!