During the Tongzhi period of the Qing Dynasty, Dongdan Archway in the capital (Beijing) was a mixed bag, and all kinds of people lived here. It was still bright in the early morning, and Li Guolou had already woken up in the south room of a courtyard house in Hongchang Hutong.
He wakes up at this time every month and hears helplessly the Ma couple arguing loudly in the yard. What are Ma Da Bangzi and Sister Qian arguing about? Why are they quarreling? Li Guolou has known for a long time.
Ma Yaozu stayed out all night and spent the whole night gambling at Silver Hook Gambling House, losing all his nine hundred wages for a month.
"You bastard, why are you back here? Go jump in the Yongding River! I wish I could remarry soon!" Qian Shuiping shouted at the door of the west wing, throwing a big bowl at Ma Yaozu.
And Ma Yaozu was from Yongding Henanwan Wharf, and was born in Kangbaozi. He carried hundreds of kilograms of goods on the springboard every day. He was extremely flexible. He jumped sideways and shouted: "It was your brother Ghost Face King who dragged me there. He is
My boss, can I refuse?"
The big bowl fell into the yard with a "pop" sound and fell into pieces. The black dog who was looking after the house screamed in fright and hid behind a big elm tree in the middle of the yard.
When Qian Shuiping heard this, he became furious and cursed: "You have no brain! He is from the Qinggang. How much does he earn in a month? Why do you only have 900 coins? Whose pocket does the other 100 coins go to?"
Now? If I meet such a brother, we will only be blackmailed. Which of the two children has received a lucky money from the Ghost Faced King? You are so stupid! You will also listen to what he says!"
Ma Yaozu replied: "He was the one who found my errand. This is a good job. How many people are envious of it?"
Carrying buns at the Nanwan Pier is hard work, and the pay is high. It only takes half a day. In addition, Ma Yaozu is a relative of Qian Shuiyao, the ghost-faced king, so he is considered a long-term worker and gets the highest salary. Qian Shuiping is scolding her brother.
, regardless of family ties, still accept money from his brother-in-law Ma Yaozu, but outsiders are extremely envious of their family. They all say that Qian Shuiyao is a brother and takes good care of his brother-in-law Ma Yaozu. No one dares to bully the stupid big Ma Yaozu.
"Jealous! Jealous ass! Anyone who is jealous will go with you. I don't want to live with you anymore! Oh;;;;;;;" Qian Shuiping started to cry again, crying to her dead parents.
, If only her parents were still alive, how could her brother dare to be so heartless? This month has just started, and their family’s rice tank has already bottomed out. How can they survive as a family of four!
Qian Shuiping was crying loudly. Who was he crying for? The owners of this courtyard house, the widow Wu and her daughter, rented out most of the house. The Wu family, mother and daughter, lived in an east wing room.
Ma Dabangzi's family arrived early. They bought two rooms in the west wing. They are the only ones who are also the owners of this yard. The other tenants are not wealthy, they are all people of various religions. Only the main house in the south lives.
Li Guolou, a young man, lived in three rooms by himself, coming in and out mysteriously. I never saw him working, but he lived the most carefree life. Li Guolou was the richest person in this courtyard. I heard that he was
Co-organizer of the bachelor's degree and distant relative of Jiangsu governor Li Hongzhang.
In the south room, Li Guolou heard the two children of the Ma family crying sadly. He couldn't hold it in any longer. Although he knew that Sister Qian was beating and scolding her so early just to let him hear her, because she was afraid that he would be beaten as soon as he went out.
He never came back without a trace. Sometimes he would go out for several days. Anyway, he was alone and no one had to tell him where he wanted to go.
Li Guolou put on his clothes and looked at his figure in front of a floor-to-ceiling mirror with a wry smile on his face. The short braid on the back of his head had not grown much. It had been more than a year and his braid had not grown back to normal.
Half the length of a human being.
This braid almost caused him to be kicked out of the Li family. Li Guolou came from a famous family. Before he was fourteen years old, he responded to the call of his uncle Li Hongzhang and went abroad to study in Great Britain and the British Empire. Although he was studying at Cambridge University
I was dawdling in there, spending four years on being brave and fighting hard. I didn’t learn much about reading, but I could already understand English, read the Times newspaper, and could even read some English books. I didn’t expect to go back to college.
A serious incident occurred during the Qing Dynasty. His big braid was cut off by the landlady's daughter as a prank.
When he returned to his hometown in Hefei, Anhui, it would be a big deal if he looked like this. At this time, fake braids were also sold in the Qing Dynasty, but they were all the kind with hats. The Li family had many rules, and Li Guolou had to take off his clothes and pay tribute when he met his elders.
, as soon as he took off his hat when he got back, his head was revealed. There were only brothers and sisters in the family, so it was easy to deal with them. They covered for him and didn't argue with him. But the same could not be said for others. His future father-in-law, Xie Yuantong, was very rigid and unaccommodating.
There is room for him to be the first to come and break off the engagement!
What's more, he offended his uncle Li Hongzhang and said some treasonous words. Of course, he said that the Qing Dynasty was decadent and declining and could not be compared with the British Empire. Such nonsense. After he came back, his errands were not settled. Li Guolou did not
Willing to go into business with his brother and sister, he went to the capital to find a decent job, but for more than a year, he went to all the government offices in the six prefectures, and no one was willing to invite him. Li Hongzhang's sign was useless, but someone said hello.
Let him rejoice in vain. It was clearly agreed that the money has been received, but there is no shortfall this year. Wait until next year.
Li Guolou had a lot of English ink, but he had no use for it in the capital. He also held back his breath and decided not to live in the hometown association. He wanted to make a career on his own without relying on the advice of his uncle Li Hongzhang. He was
People who had studied abroad were a rare breed in the Qing Dynasty. Although they graduated from university without graduating, they could still be pillars of the country! Anyway, my family was rich and I had no bad habits, so I rented a few houses in Hongchang Hutong.
He wanted to see how ordinary people lived, so he did not live in a courtyard with a single courtyard. He did not live in the courtyard for a long time, and sometimes he would go back to his hometown to visit and go out with two people he knew from the capital.
Playing. But I can't stand the "enthusiasm" of the neighbors around me. I know that his family is in a good situation, or he is a thief and his money comes from the wrong way!
After showing his kindness for the first time, Li Guolou knew the bad nature of the Chinese people, and he had heard the saying countless times that they would form a ring with grass in the next life.
Li Guolou looked in the mirror and touched his chin again. Why didn't he grow a beard? Who would believe that an official is an official without a beard? Hey! You can't become a high official before you grow a beard. Li Guolou still has
In the last struggle, he did not open the door. How many times has this happened? The third or the fourth time, Li Guolou silently calculated in his mind, it seems that it happened twice in the summer, and now the autumn wind blows, and it comes again.
Once, that would be the fifth time. Ma Da Bangzi should stop resisting Baozi and just give him a long-term job.
Li Guolou has lived independently since he was a child and does not need anyone to take care of him. He is nearly 20 years old. After this year of training, he no longer talks big words. He secretly vowed that he wanted to explode. He said it ten times in his stomach first. If he did it again,
I couldn't help but say it again. The two children Niuniu and Niu Niu outside the door cried even more sadly. Their old mother Qian Shuiping wanted to commit suicide by jumping into the well.
"I don't want to live anymore, just let me jump in!" Qian Shuiping shouted loudly, but he couldn't get away from the two well-behaved children.
The doors of the other five families were tightly closed, and the storyteller Wang Kuaizui always sang in the yard, so he did not come out to join in the fun today. The five families had all given money and food to Ma Dabangzi and his family, but there was always a chance of this happening.
Second, there can't be three, four or five times, endless, who can bear it. Besides, if Ma Da Bangzi gets his monthly salary back, he is a big family in this house, and the Ma family is really not good enough. Wouldn't it be money to sell the house? Even the landlord Wu
The mother and daughter also refused to go out to discourage Qian Shuiping from jumping into the well, and he just jumped! At most, they went outside to fetch water. The neighbors were very dissatisfied with the Ma family's howling so early and did not come out to stop the fight.
Li Guolou pulled out the latch and opened the door. He saw Ma Yaozu, Qian Shuiping, Niu Niu, and Niu Niu all showing a smile of relief to him, but then they all looked sad.
Li Guolou seemed to have just woken up, stretched himself and said: "What are you doing? Do you want others to sleep so early in the morning?"
Ma Yaozu had a great savior, so he immediately came to Li Guolou and sighed: "Fake foreign devil, you don't know, this stinky bitch only knows about money, money, money, but doesn't know that we men are working hard outside."
Li Guolou looked at Ma Da Bangzi's stinky face and felt raging in his heart. He was not a prodigal. He knew that firewood, rice, oil and salt were expensive, and money was earned through hard work by his brothers and sisters. Of course, it was natural for him to spend it on himself. But why should he give it to others?
It wasn't because he was soft-hearted that Ma Bangzi and Sister Qian saw that he liked Niu Niu and Niu Niu.
The smile on Ma Yaozu's face was frozen together. The clustered facial features reminded Li Guolou of a pig. Isn't it the Zhu Bajie in Journey to the West? He was so shameless that calling him by his fancy name was unbearable!
Li Guolou raised his hand and slapped Ma Yaozu on the forehead. The speed was as fast as a bolt of lightning. He shouted: "Ma Dabangzi, are you a man? How can you live without money? You want to sell your son or daughter! If you do this,
If you go gambling again in a month, no one will punish you, I will beat you to death, believe it or not."
"Trust, trust, trust! This little brother is so quick. I promise never to go to Silver Hook Casino again." Ma Yaozu smiled playfully and pretended to admit defeat.
I thought to myself: If this little body is caught by him, like an eagle catching a chicken, he can lift it up in the air and throw it away eight feet away. Beat him! Who has this ability? If not for his clumsy tongue and soft heart.
, is not ruthless enough and has already sneaked into the Qing Gang. He will definitely have his place in the Four Vajras.