As they said this, several people walked to the front yard. After staying in the leather goods shop for a few days, Han Xiaomo only relied on Han Xiaomo to relay what happened outside, and some of the key points were not very clear. Zhang Xueliang decided to walk around the overpass today, and from here
The people who come and go can best understand the current situation through their mouths. Tianqiao is a mixed place. Businessmen doing business, coolies working, and the families of some lower-level officials often come here to relax.
Walking out of the door of the leather goods store, the excitement outside immediately affected Ma Xingkong and others. Among them, Liu Wu, the eldest, was only twenty-three or four years old. To put it bluntly, they were just a bunch of kids, so they naturally liked the excitement. Long Jie was the youngest,
Everything looked strange, looking at this, pinching that. Zhang Xueliang was also generous, took out a few silver coins, threw them to Long Jie and let him do as he pleased.
As he walked, he paid attention to the conversations among the people. In front of a small tea shop, Zhang Xueliang led everyone in. In the hall on the first floor, a large group of descendants of the former Qing Dynasty carrying bird cages and cricket cages were standing.
Listening to the big drum is enjoyable. On the stage, an old man and a young man, perhaps a father and daughter, sing in a measured and orderly manner.
The tea waiter saw Zhang Xueliang's extraordinary clothes and hurriedly moved them to the second floor. This is the most fashionable combination at the moment. Listening to ditties and storytelling while drinking tea not only solves the teahouse's business problems, but also solves the artist's life. Ma Xing
Kong didn't know what a big drum was, but seeing the onlookers shaking their heads and clapping their hands, he must be singing well.
The private room on the second floor is connected to the first floor. When you look down, you can see the father and daughter performing in the center of the hall. They just sat down when the tea waiter poured tea and served some melon seeds and snacks. The drum downstairs also
Just as the song was finishing, thunderous applause and cheers rang out, and some people took out money from their arms and threw it at the father and daughter.
The girl kept bowing her head to thank her, and the old father also thanked him while picking up the money. Another voice from the crowd kept shouting, and the teahouse owner stood at the counter smiling cheerfully. At this moment, several more people came in at the door, wearing long robes and mandarin jackets.
, the front of the robe is tucked into the belt around the waist, holding two balls in one hand and turning them continuously, and raising his birdcage high with the other hand. He wears a melon skin hat on his head, staring back and forth with a sly look.
"Ouch! Third Master Chang, what brought you here?" The shopkeeper hurriedly came out of the counter, came to the door and saluted, stood up and shouted: "Little Third Master, hurry up and find a good seat for Third Master! Come in
Great tea!”
Near the front row, someone made room for a table. Mr. Chang put down the birdcage with square steps before sitting down. He grabbed a few melon seeds on the table and peeled them off, then opened the cover of the birdcage.
Put the peeled melon seeds into the cage. The canary with bright fur chirped twice.
"Haha, this thing likes to eat your melon seeds. I'm just curious, what's in your melon seeds?" Mr. Chang said with a smile as the shopkeeper joked.
The shopkeeper stood aside politely with a smile on his face: "You can put whatever you want. Your baby likes to eat it. That's my blessing. My mistress will get some more melon seeds, hurry up!"
Chang Sanye nodded: "You know how to do business, what are you singing today? Why didn't you sing when I came here?"
"Let me tell you, I just sang "Yang Family General". Now that you are here, I will sing your favorite "Yutangchun"!" While talking to Chang San, the shopkeeper motioned to the father and daughter who were singing the drum to start quickly.
Ma Xingkong and others sitting on the second floor found it strange that this Chang San was neither an official nor a soldier. Why was the shopkeeper so nice to him, while other people also felt a little afraid of him. Han Xiaomo smiled
He smiled: "This is the characteristic of Beijing. Such people are called gangsters in Beijing. They fool themselves and others!"
Said Chang San, he has a great background. He is in his fifties this year and was the steward of the former Prince Gong's Mansion of the Qing Dynasty. When the Eight-Nation Allied Forces entered Beijing, all the old Buddhas fled, leaving only Prince Gong in the capital to deal with foreigners. This
Chang San followed Prince Gong in dealing with envoys in various countries and officers of foreign armies. Over time, he became very familiar with foreigners.
After Prince Gong lost power, he often paid homage to Yuan Shikai. Recently, I heard that he had a fierce fight with Yuan Keding. Such a helpless figure lived in such a world. Relying on his relationship with foreigners, he was also in the Republic of China today.
Very useful. Yuan Shikai, Yuan Keding and his son asked Chang San to handle many tasks that could not be brought to the table.
Chang San's home is in Tianqiao. He is unknown and has no status. He has a strong voice among the government and local gangsters in Tianqiao and the surrounding areas. He has become a local snake in the capital. No wonder the shopkeeper fawns over him.
"Bah!" Shitou spat: "It turned out to be a bastard! He didn't provoke me, but if I punched him to death, he would be in trouble!"
Several people were talking above, but the big drum downstairs had stopped singing long ago. Chang San smiled and looked at his subordinates, chatting with the father and daughter who sang the big drum. The shopkeeper kept saying nice things to the side, but Chang Shan remained silent.
, watching his men pull the girl to him.
"How old are you?" Chang San bared his two rows of yellow teeth, smiled softly, and looked up and down at the girl who sang the drums with his two small triangular eyes.
"What do you want me to ask you? Hurry up and say it!"
"Sixteen!" the little girl replied timidly, lowering her head and not daring to look at Chang San.
"Oh! Sixteen!" Chang San smiled, took out a few silver dollars from his arms, and said to the stage: "Old guy, I bought this girl!"
Chang San's men couldn't help but drag the girl out. The old man playing Sanxianer had tears in his eyes and knelt in front of Chang San: "Chang San, you can't do it! My daughter has been betrothed to someone else! Please, just let me go.
Let’s do it!”
Chang San sneered: "Don't worry, from now on you are my father-in-law. Your daughter will follow me to enjoy the good things and drink hot food. She will have endless blessings. I will treat her well!"
One of Chang San's men kicked the old man in the chest and kicked him to the ground. He couldn't get up for a long time: "You old man doesn't know how to behave, take your money and get out!"
Chang San pretended to be angry, glared at the subordinate, walked over and helped the old man up: "Qiu Ba, you are tired of living, this is my father-in-law, please apologize quickly!"
All the people drinking tea around were watching silently, no one dared to say anything, let alone come up to stop them. Some of the timid ones had already gone out. It seems that this kind of thing happens often, and people here are already used to it.
Weird. This made Stone upstairs so angry that he grabbed the tea bowl, pointed it at Chang San's head and threw it down.
"Pa!" There was a crisp sound. Chang San didn't pay attention at all. The tea bowl flew down from the second floor and hit Chang San on the back of the head. The thick glaze tea bowl instantly fell into pieces. Blood immediately came out of Chang San's head. It hurt.
Chang San paused on the ground with his head in his hands, blood gushing out from between his fingers, and one of his subordinates was frightened. Chang San covered his head and looked towards the second floor, and said fiercely: "Catch it off for me!"