The Four Lifetimes Together

I: Old Master Qi was afraid of nothing but not being able to celebrate his 80th birthday. In his prime, he saw with his own eyes how the Eight-Power Allied Forces attacked Beijing. Later, he saw how the Qing emperor abdicated, and successive civil wars; a moment of nine city gates closed, the sound of guns and cannons day and night; a moment of the city gates open, the road and the victorious warlords galloped high horse and car. War did not frighten him; peace pleased him. He celebrated the festivals and paid homage to his ancestors. He was a peaceful citizen who only wanted to live a quiet life without worrying about food and clothing. Even in the event of war, he had his own way: most notably, his family always had enough food and pickles for three months. So even when shells were flying in the air and soldiers were running around in the streets, he would close the door and put a broken jar full of stones on top of it, and that would be enough to avoid the disaster.

Why did Master Qi prepare only three months' worth of grain and pickles?

Why did Mr. Qi only prepare three months of grain and salted food? Because in his mind, he always thought that Beiping was the most reliable city under the sky, and that no matter what disaster there was, in three months, the disaster would be eliminated, and then everything would be fine. Beiping's disaster is just like a person can not avoid some headache, after a few days will naturally be well. If you don't believe me, you can see that Mr. Qi would count on his fingers: how many months were there in the war between Anhui and Zhiwan? And how long was the war between the Chi-Feng and the Chi-Ping? Ah! Listen to me, we can't get through three months of disaster in Beiping!

The year of the July 7 war, Mr. Qi was already seventy-five years old. He had long since stopped worrying about household chores. His important work now is to water the potted flowers in the courtyard, tell stories of old age, feed and water the little yellow bird in the cage, and take his grandchildren on a very slow stroll through the main street and the Guoguo Temple. However, the sound of cannon fire at the Lugou Bridge, the old man could not help but worry a little, who taught him to be the fourth generation of the same family, the old master.

The son is already over 50 years old, and the daughter-in-law's body is old and sickly, so the old master Qi called the eldest grandson's daughter-in-law over.

The old man liked the eldest grandson's daughter-in-law best because, firstly, she had already given birth to the Qi family and taught him to have grandchildren; secondly, she knew how to keep a house and knew how to behave, and was not like the second grandson's daughter-in-law, who wore her hair like a rotten chicken nest, and made her look like she was in a state of panic; thirdly, since the son didn't live in the house very often, and his daughter-in-law was very sick, it was in fact the eldest grandson who was in charge of the house, and his daughter-in-law, and he was always away from the house to teach, and at night had to prepare for school and correct papers. The eldest grandson was away all day teaching, and at night he had to prepare his homework and correct papers, so the eldest grandson's daughter-in-law had to take care of the family's clothing, food, tea, and celebrations with friends and neighbors; this was not easy, so the old man had to be a little more kind to her in the name of justice. In addition, the old man grew up in Beiping, and learned many rules and etiquette from the flag people: when a daughter-in-law meets her father-in-law, of course, she should stand with her hands down. However, the daughter-in-law is more than fifty years old, the body and often sick; the old man if you do not teach her to hang down her hands, it will break the rules of the family; teach her to set the rules of it, but also in the heart, so it would be better to simply and the eldest grandson's daughter-in-law to discuss the major events of the family. Although Qi's back was a bit crooked, he was the tallest of the family. In the prime of life, he was everywhere called "Qi big man". High stature, long face, he should be very dignified, but his eyes are too small, a smile will become a slit, so people only see his tall body, and do not feel what special place to fear. To the old age, he became good-looking some: yellow dark face, snow white eyebrows, the eyes of the eyes and cheeks of the wrinkles out of always smiling lines; small eyes y hidden in the smile lines and white eyebrows, always look at the smile and show goodness; in the time he really laugh, his small eyes put out a little bit of light, as if there is unlimited wisdom and refused to put out all at once like.

Calling his eldest grandson's daughter-in-law to him, the old man gently combed his white beard with a small comb, and made no sound for half a day. The old man in his childhood only read three books and six words; young and strong years ate all the pain, alone to buy a house, started a family. His son also only read three years in private school, and went to apprenticeship; until the grandchildren, only by the trend of transfer, and go to the university. Now, he is the old master, but he always felt that the learning is not as good as the son - the son can still recite the "Analects", and write a fortune-teller prize good characters - even less than the grandchildren, and is very afraid that they look down on him. Therefore, when he spoke to the younger generation, he always flinched for a while to show that he was a good thinker. He didn't have to do that with his eldest grandson's daughter-in-law, because she didn't know much about reading and writing, and all day long her mouth was either calling for the children or talking about oil, salt, soy and vinegar. However, over time, he has developed this habit, so he had to teach his grandson's daughter-in-law to stand a little longer.

The eldest grandson's daughter-in-law never went to school, so she didn't have a school name. It was only after she was married that her husband gave her a name, Yunmei, as if he were giving her a doctorate degree. The two characters "Yunmei" seemed to be unlucky and never got through in the Qi family. In-laws and the old master naturally do not have the habit and need to call her name, others think she is just a housewife, and "rhyme" and "plum" do not seem to have much to do. Moreover, the old master thought that "rhyme plum" and "coal transportation" since the same sound, it should also mean the same thing, "Well, she is busy all day long, you still have the heart to teach her to transport coal?" In this way, even her husband was ashamed to call her, so she became "Xiao Shun'er's mother" in addition to her deserved titles such as "sister-in-law" and "mother"; Xiao Shun'er was her The boy is her little boy.

Little Shun'er's mother was not a bad-looking woman, with a medium-sized body, a round face, and two big, watery eyes. She walks, talks, eats, and does things quickly, but not too quickly. She combed her hair, washed her face, and powdered her face all quickly, so that sometimes when she happened to powder her face well, she looked better; sometimes when she didn't powder her face well, she didn't look well. When she didn't wipe the powder well and was laughed at by others, she still didn't get anxious at all, but laughed at herself as they laughed at her. She was naturally good-tempered.

Elder Qi combed enough of his white beard and gently wiped it twice with the palm of his hand before he said to Little Shun'er's mother,

"How much grain do we have left?"

Little Shun'er's mom's big, watery eyes quickly turned twice, already guessing the old master's mind. Very crisply and quickly, she answered, "There's still enough to eat for three months!"

In fact, there was not that much food at home. She didn't want to provoke the old man's nagging by telling the truth. With the elderly and children, she was good at employing kind deception. "Where are the pickles?" The old man brought up the second important matter.

She answered more quickly when, "There's enough to eat as well! Dried jaundice, old salted turnips, there's all of it!" She knew that even if the old man did have to order it himself, she could go and buy some right away.

"Good!" The old man was satisfied. With three months' worth of grain and salted vegetables, it was the sky that was falling, and the Qi family would resist. But the old man didn't want to end his concern just like that, he had to give his eldest grandson's daughter-in-law a clear understanding of the reason: "The Japs are causing trouble again! Hmph! Go ahead! In the year of Gengzi, the Eight-Power Allied Forces entered Beijing, even the Emperor ran away, but did not break my head to go ah! Even the Eight Powers couldn't do it. What can a few Japanese kids do? We're in the middle of nowhere. We can't survive for three months! Let's not be too careless, at least we should have rice and pickles to eat!"

When the old man said something, Xiao Shun'er's mother nodded once or said "yes". She had heard the old man's words at least fifty times before, but she still listened to them as if they were new. The old man saw that someone appreciated his words, but could not help but raise his voice a little, in order to increase the power of moving:

"Your father-in-law, don't look at him more than fifty, in terms of running the household is still far from being able to do it! Your mother-in-law, simply a sick bag, you discuss something with her, she will just grunt! Let me tell you, this family depends on you and me! If you and I don't take care of things, we won't even be able to put our pants on! Do you believe me?"

Little Shun'er's mother was too embarrassed to say 'believe' or 'don't believe', so she lowered her eyes and smiled.

"Ruixuan hasn't come back yet?" The old man asked. Ruixuan was his eldest grandson. "He has four or five lessons of homework today." She replied.

"Hmph! Fired a gun and didn't come back fast enough! Where's Ruifeng and that crazy bitch of his?" The old man asked about the second grandson and the second grandson's daughter-in-law - the woman with her hair permed like a chicken's nest.

"Both of them--" she didn't know how to answer.

"The two of them are so young that they can't stay away from each other for even a moment, and they're really not afraid of being laughed at!"

Little Shun'er's mom laughed a little, "This is the young couples are that kind of thing in the morning and evening!"

"I can't stand it!" The old man said decisively. "It's your mother-in-law who spoils her! I have not seen, a young woman a day always long in the North Sea, Dong'an market and - what movie park to come?"

"I can't say!" She really couldn't say, because she almost never got to see a movie to go to.

"Where's Junior?" Junior San'er was Rui Quan, as the old man still called him because he wasn't married yet; in fact, he was on the verge of graduating from college.

"Lao San took Nyuzi out." Nyuzi was Little Shun'er's sister. "Why isn't he in school?"

"Lao San just told me for a long time that if we don't fight Japan, we won't even be able to keep Beiping!" Little Shun'er's mom spoke quickly, but also clearly. "When he said it, he turned his face red with anger, rubbing his fists and grinding his palms! I advised him straight away that, anyway, our family name Qi had not offended the Easterners, so they must not bully us! I was kind enough to say this to him, so as to teach him to calm down; drink, how do I know that he glared at me, as if I and the Japanese collusion! I didn't dare to say anything else, and he grumbled and pulled Nyuko out of the room! You see, what have I done?"

The old man was stumped for a short while, then said with emotion, "I'm very uneasy about Junior, I'm afraid he'll cause trouble sooner or later!"

While he was talking here, Xiao Shun'er in the courtyard shouted, "Grandpa! Grandpa! You're back! Did you buy me peaches? Why, no? Not even one? Grandpa, you're so useless!"

Little Shun's mom replied from the house, "Shun! Don't talk to Grandpa! If you keep talking nonsense, I'll beat you up!"

Little Shun'er stopped talking, and Grandpa walked in. Little Shun Er's mom rushed to pour tea. Grandpa (Qi Tianyou) was a small black-bearded old man in his fifties. Medium stature, quite Fu Tai, round face, heavy eyebrows, big eyes, hair and beard are very heavy and black, very worthy of a decent shopkeeper - in fact, he is now really a three-front cloth shopkeeper. His footsteps were heavy, and the flesh of his face twitched with every step. Used to doing business, his face is always a ball of peace, almost always wrinkled on the nose of a whirl of laughter lines. Today, there was something wrong with his demeanor. He had to smile reluctantly, but his eyes didn't have the same light as when he laughed, and the smile lines on his nose didn't seem to be able to be tightened; when he laughed, he almost didn't dare to raise his head in a dignified manner.

"Well? Boss!" Qi old master gently grasped the white beard with his fingers, on the hand child looked at his son's black beard, the heart somehow a little uneasy as if.

The little black-bearded old man sat down unnaturally, as if the white-bearded old man had given him some kind of mental oppression. Looking at his father, he lowered his head and said in a low voice:

"Times are not good!"

"Can we fight?" Little Shun'er's mother asked boldly, in her capacity as eldest daughter-in-law. "People's hearts are restless!"

Elder Qi slowly stood up, "Little Shun'er's mother, prepare the broken jar for the top gate!"

Two: the Qi family house is located in the west city of Guiguo Temple near the "small sheepfold". Perhaps, this place in the beginning or really a sheep pen, because it is not like the general Beiping hutong as straight, or slightly have one or two curves, but rather like a gourd. To the West Street to go is the gourd's mouth and neck, very long and thin, and very dirty. The mouth of the gourd is so narrow, people do not pay attention to look for, or ask the letter carrier, it is easy to overlook. Into the neck of the gourd, see the pile of garbage at the root of the wall, you dare to boldly go inside, like Columbus saw something floating on the sea before daring to move forward. Walked dozens of steps, suddenly a bright eye, you see the chest of the gourd: an east and west of forty steps, north and south of thirty steps long circle, there are two large acacia trees in the center, surrounded by six or seven families. Further on, there is another alley - the waist of the gourd. Through the "waist", and an open space, than the "chest" with two or three times larger, which is the gourd belly. "Chest" and "belly" is probably the sheepfold, right? This is still to be a historian to check a bit, and then can be determined.

Qi's house is in the gourd chest. The street door is facing west, diagonally opposite a large acacia tree. In the beginning, Qi old man shopping for a house, the status of the house decided to take his go. He loved this place. Hutong mouth is so narrow and unobtrusive, so that he felt safe; and gourd chest of six or seven families, but also make him feel warm. Outside the door it, two large acacia under the children can play, neither horse and carriage, but also acacia beans acacia flowers and acacia insects can be used as children's toys. At the same time, although the location is a bad alley, and the west through the street, behind the Protectorate Temple - every seven or eight days there is a temple fair - not inconvenient to buy things. So he decided to buy that house.

The house itself is not very smart. First, it had no layout. The yard is a long strip from east to west and a short strip from north to south, so the north and south rooms can't be opposite each other; if they were, the yard would be squeezed into a seam, rather like the aisle in the middle of a cabin on a ship. South room two rooms, therefore, is close to the street door, while the north room five facing the south yard wall. The two east rooms are the eastern end of the courtyard; north of the east room there is a small open space, is the toilet. Outside the south courtyard wall is the yard of an old incense and candle store for drying Buddhist incense, with a few willow trees. Fortunately, there are a few trees, otherwise Qi's south wall will be nothing, as if the train station on the house, out of the door is the field. Second, the house is not very strong. In addition to the north room of the wood is not bad, the rest is simply no place to praise. In the hands of Qi's old man, the mountain wall of the south house and the back wall of the east house collapsed more than twice, while the boundary wall - all made of broken bricks - collapsed every year during the rainy season. In the courtyard, there is no path, and during the rainy season, the water in the courtyard can be more than a foot deep, so you have to go in and out of the courtyard with bare feet.

Qi loved this house. The main reason was that he had bought the property himself and was proud of it, no matter how bad the layout and architecture were. Secondly, ever since he got this house, his population has increased and today he has four generations of family members! The feng shui here must be very good! When Changsun Ruixuan got married, the entire house was completely renovated once. This time it was Qi Tianyou who contributed - he wanted to turn his father's purchased property into a fortress that could be passed on to the next generation, so that it would be worthy of the old man, and worthy of his children and grandchildren. All of the wood was removed and replaced, all of the broken bricks were replaced with whole bricks, and all of the wood was painted. After this modification, this house although in the pattern is still lack of decency, but in essence has become a small sheep circle one of the best houses. Qi old man looked at the new house, satisfied sigh. After he had celebrated his sixtieth birthday and decided to retire, his labor was focused on beautifying the courtyard. At the base of the south wall, he gradually planted begonias, hairpins, hydrangeas, and tigresses. In the center of the courtyard, he kept four large pots of pomegranates, two pots of oleanders, and many small plants that bloomed without much effort. In front of the south room, he also planted two jujube trees, one bearing large white jujubes and the other bearing sweet and sour "lotus seeds.

Looking at his own room, his own children and grandchildren, and hand-planted flowers and plants, Qi old man felt that his life's labor is not wasted. Beiping City was a city of immortality, and his house was a house of eternal immortality.

Now, Tianyou old couple with little Shun'er live in the south house. The five north rooms, the center for the living room; living room east and west each have a small door, leading to Ruixuan and Ruifeng's bedroom; the end of the east and the end of the west of the one, are another door, the east is Ruiquan's, the west is the old master Qi's bedroom. The east room was used as a kitchen and stored grain, rice, briquettes, and firewood; in winter, it also housed pomegranate trees and oleanders. In the beginning, when he bought this house, he had to rent out both the east and south houses in order to show that the courtyard was not too empty; today, his own children and grandchildren are almost unable to live. The house was filled with his own people, and the old man's heart was filled with joy. He was like an old tree that bore branches in the courtyard, and the flowers and leaves on each branch were born out of him!

In the hutong, too, he felt complacent. For forty or fifty years he had lived here, while his neighbors had always moved in one day and out the next, and there were fewer who could live here for ten or twenty years at a time. They lived, they died, they prospered, they declined, and only Qi alone had roots here. Because of the prosperity of the family and leave this alley, he did not go to the bow; because of the decline of the family and even this alley can not live, he is also unable to go to the relief; he only knew that his old here not move, and gradually become the whole hutong old masters. Newcomers to the area must first come to him to pay their respects; neighbors have wedding and funeral banquets, he must sit in the chief; he is the old man of this area, representing the population prosperity, and family prosperity!

In his complacency, he did not dare to imagine. He only wished he could build a happy hut in his long yard to celebrate his 80th birthday. After eighty years old, he did not want to think about; if God taught him to live it, very well; God if he retracted him to go it, he closed his eyes and left, teaching his children and grandchildren in white mourning to send him out of the city gates! In the gourd-breast there is a gate on the west side of the road, which is blocked up. There are two gates on the south side of the road, both of which are clear water ridged gatehouses with fairly neat houses. There are two gates on the north side of the road, and none of the yards are large, but they all house three or four families. If the south of the road is a nobleman's area, the north of the road is a slum area. East of the road there are three gates, as far as the southern end is the Qi residence. With the Qi family wall of the courtyard is also a long strip, living in three families. And then the past, there is a, inside and outside two yards, there are more than twenty rooms, living at least seven or eight families, and people are very uneven. This can be considered a large mixed courtyard. Master Qi did not think much of this yard, so take that yard people are not treated as neighbors; in order to cover up the real reason, he always said that the yard is only a little less than half of the "chest", and more than half of the gourd waist, so can not be counted as a close neighbor, as if the "chest" and "waist", but also like "chest" and "waist". "The two are separated by a distance of ten miles or so.

Excluding the large courtyard, Qi old man on the remaining five yards of the view also have rank. The most valued by him is the first from the west - door number one - the door south of the road. This door lived in a family surnamed Qian, they moved away once, but soon moved back, before and after in this place has lived for fifteen or sixteen years. Mr. and Mrs. Qian were of the same generation as Tianyou, and his two young masters both went to school with Ruixuan. Now, the first young master has been married, the second young master is also engaged but not yet married. In the eyes of the general public, the Qian family was a bit strange. They are extremely polite to everyone, but they also keep a considerable distance, as if they look up to everyone and look down on everyone. The family's clothing was always ten or twenty years behind, and to this day, Mr. Qian still wears red tweed caps in the winter. The women of his family never seem to go out of the door step; when necessary, they must buy some sewing or vegetables at the door, but also only open the door a little crack, as if afraid to go out of the door of what secrets like. Although their men also came out and went in like other families, they acted as if they were very careful, so that others could not understand them. Mr. Qian had no work to do and seldom went out; only when he had a bit of wine on his face did he stand for a while in his old clothes at the door, looking up at the acacia flowers, or smiling at the children. What were their family circumstances? What joys of life did they have? What are the pains of life? No one knew. There was almost never any noise in their yard. When there is a marriage in the alley, a funeral, or a running boat or a monkey, everyone comes out to see the fun, but only the door of the Qian family is still closed tightly. They don't look like they're living their lives, but rather like they're hiding from their debts or taking refuge for the rest of the year.

In the whole hutong, only Qi old man and Ruixuan often to the money family, know some of the money family's "secret".

In the whole hutong, only Qi old man and Ruixuan often come to the money family to know some "secrets". Qi old man heart very understand this, but do not want to say to others. In this way, it is as if he has a kind of responsibility to keep secrets for the money family, and increase their own identity.

The courtyard of the Qian family is not big, but full of flowers. Many of Mr. Qi's seedlings and seeds came from here. In addition to flowers, Mr. Qian's house is filled with old books and broken paintings. His daily work was watering flowers, reading, painting, and reciting poetry. When he was particularly happy, he drank two cups of his own wine. Mr. Qian was a poet. His poems were not for others to read, but only for him to savor. His life was organized according to his ideals, regardless of whether they worked or not. He sometimes went hungry, and he didn't utter a word even when he was starving. His youngest son teaches a few hours in high school, and is quite a fatherly figure in terms of fun. The second youngest is the least poetic of the family, and he drives a car. Mr. Ch'ien was not at all against his son's driving the car, but only disliked the smell of gasoline on his son's body; therefore, the second young master did not come home much, though he did not have any trouble with his father because of the smell of gasoline. As for the women of the family, they did not go out of doors because of the authoritarianism of the men, but because their clothes were too old and they were ashamed of themselves. Mr. Qian and his son are by no means willing to oppress anyone, but their money power and the interest of life make them pay no attention to the clothes, so the women of the family have to hide themselves and do not go out to expose their defects.

In the interaction between Mr. Qi and Mr. Qian, Mr. Qi always came to see Mr. Qian, while Mr. Qian never went to Qi's house. If Qi old man brought a bottle of wine, given to Mr. Qian, Mr. Qian must immediately send his son to send more expensive than a bottle of wine with two or three times some gifts; he never accepts people's things for nothing. His hands were never rich, for he never counted or kept accounts. When he had money he spent it; when he had none he would freeze and think of poetry. His great young master had the same temper. He would rather practice a few more hours of painting at home than go and teach a few more hours and increase his income a little.

In terms of character, learning and interest, there was no possibility of Elder Qi becoming good friends with Mr. Qian. However, they actually became good friends. In Qi old man it, he, first, need an old friend, so there is a place to play his stale grain rotten sesame. Second, he admired Mr. Qian's learning and character. As for Mr. Qian, he refused to flatter anyone in his life, but he was not in a position to refuse those who wished to associate with him. He was very noble, but he did not have the bad habit of looking down on people. He was a very kind man if anyone wanted to come and see him.

Although he was already 57 or 78 years old, Mr. Qian Mo Yin's hair was not much gray. Short, rather fat, a mouth of oily black teeth, he grew so thick and dun lovely. Round face, big eyes, often close his eyes to think. His voice is always very low, but his tone is always so modest and gentle, make people feel comfortable. He and Qi old man talk about poetry, talk about calligraphy and painting, Qi old man do not understand. Qi old man told him how his grandson had measles again, the second granddaughter-in-law how to change the plane head, Mr. Qian is not interesting. However, the two seem to have a tacit understanding: you say, I will listen; I say, you will listen. Qian Mo Yin teach Qi old man to see the painting, Qi old man will nod and praise good. Qi old man reported the trivial things at home, Mr. Mo Yin will be ready to answer with "how good?" "Really?" "Yes!" and so on. If he really had no words to reply, he would close his eyes and nod repeatedly. At the end of the day, the conversation inevitably shifted to raising flowers and plants, and both of them could go on and on and on, and both of them felt a rare sense of pleasure. Although Mr. Qi's interest in the pomegranate tree is to produce more pomegranates, and Mr. Qian is to see the redness of the flowers and the beauty of the pomegranates, there is a need to discuss the methods of cultivation with each other.

After talking about flowers and plants, Mr. Qian often stayed with the old man to have a simple meal, and the women of the Qian family could take the opportunity to talk to the old man about the shortcomings of the family - at this time of the year, even Mr. Qian could not help but admit that in addition to poetry and painting, there are also salt, soy sauce and vinegar in the life of these issues.

Sometimes Ruixuan accompanied his grandfather to visit the Qian family, and sometimes he came alone. Nine times out of ten, when he came alone, he was in trouble with his wife or someone else. He was a man who could control himself with reason, so even though he was occasionally angry, he didn't want to yell and scream. He would sneak over to the Qian family without a word, and talk to them about matters far removed from family and national affairs, and then dissipate the bad anger in his breast.

In addition to the money family, Qi old man also like the money family across the door, the door number two of the Li family. In the whole hutong, only the Li family's old man and Qi old master of the same generation, and only shorter than Qi old man less than an inch - it is not that the Li four master's body than Qi old man's shorter so much, but his back is more curved a little. The mark of his profession was a great bundle of flesh on his neck. Twenty or thirty years ago, there were quite a few people in Beiping with this kind of meat bag on their necks. They formed their own business, specializing in moving people. When people wanted to move valuable things, such as large magnetic bottles, clocks, and wooden utensils made of nanmu or pear, they would tie them up, put a narrow wooden board around their necks, and carry them away. They had to walk very steadily, and had to have a great deal of strength in their necks, in order to be able to carry the weight without insuring that it would not damage the things. People call this line of work "the neck of the nest".

Since the plate car, this line of people gradually "nest" into "pull", and although the young still eat this line of rice, neck can not have that meat bag. Li must have been very decent when he was young, even though his neck had a meat bag, and his back had been pressed to bend a little bit. Now, his age was not unlike that of the old man Qi, but there were not yet many wrinkles on his long face, his eyes were not yet blurred, and when he smiled, his eyes and teeth let out light, so that one could still see a little of the beauty of his youth.

There are three families living in the courtyard of No. 2, and the house is the fourth master's, Li. Qi old man's like Li fourth master, not because Li fourth master is not an unproductive and jobless vagabond, but because Li fourth master's good person. In his profession, he was always very conscientious, and asked for money with particular restraint; sometimes he moved for poor neighbors, then just a meal money, not to mention the salary. Outside of his profession, especially in times of disaster, he was always willing to serve everyone. For example, when there was a mutiny or a disaster in the region, he always ventured out into the streets with a gun in his hand to find out the news, and then came back to report to the people how to prepare for it. When the city gates were about to close, he shouted under the big acacia tree, "It's time to close the city! Prepare some grain!" When the disaster was over and the gates were open, he would shout again: "Peace is fine, don't worry!" Although Mr. Qi regarded himself as one of the oldest men in the area, he was inferior to Mr. Li in terms of service to the people. Therefore, in terms of age and in terms of character, he couldn't help but respect Fourth Master Li. Although the young master of the Li family is also a "neck", although the Li family courtyard is a dirty and messy small courtyard. If the two old men met under the acacia tree and settled down, the younger members of the two families were sure to take out their stools quickly, because they knew that most of the conversations between the two old men were from fifty or sixty years ago and would take at least an hour or two. Li four master's neighboring four, and Qi old man's neighboring six are also small courtyard. No. 4 lived in the shaver Mr. and Mrs. Sun Qi; Ma old widow and her grandson, grandson to go along the street to call: "turntable of the box" as a business; and pulling a car Cui - in addition to pulling a car, but also often beat his wife. No. 6 is also a courtyard, and people's occupations are slightly higher than those of No. 4: the north room lived John Ding, Christian, in Dongjiaominxiang Lane, "British House" as a table. In the north ear room lived Mr. and Mrs. Liu, the scaffolding maker, Mr. and Mrs. Liu, in addition to scaffolding for others, would also practice boxing and play "lion". In the east room lived Mr. and Mrs. Xiaowen, both of them can sing opera, ostensibly for fun, but secretly take the "black pestle" ①.

To the people of No. 4 and No. 6, the old man Qi always maintains the attitude of not being too far away from each other, if there is something, we will be able to help each other, and if there is nothing, we will not disturb each other. Li is not, he is willing to help anyone, not only the people of No. 4 and No. 6 are his friends, even No. 7 - Qi old man does not like the big miscellaneous courtyard - also often by his assistance. However, even so, Li Si master still often suffered Li Si mother's criticism and scolding. Li Si Ma, full of white hair, a pair of large myopic eyes, almost never a day without scolding that "old thing". Her scolding, most of her thought that Li Si masters of friends have not done their best to help, and this scolding will become Li Si masters of the righteousness of a kind of urging. All the children in the hutongs, no matter how ugly they look or how dirty and smelly they are, are Li Si Ma's "babies". For the adults, although Li Si Ma was too embarrassed to call them out, but in her heart she thought that they and they should be her "big baby". Her eyes could not see who was ugly and who was handsome, and her heart did not recognize the rich, the poor, the old and the young; she thought that all the suffering people were poor and lovely, and all needed the help of the old couple. Therefore, the people in the hutong sometimes can't help but respect and distance themselves from the old man Qi, but to the old couple Li will always be passionate love; they have any grievances to go to Li Si Ma to complain, Li Si Ma will immediately urge Li Si Master to help, and Li Si Ma's sympathetic tears are both sincere and rich.

Sandwiched between the Qian family and the Qi family, No. 3 is a thorn in the side of Qi's old man. Before the Qi family's house was refurbished, No. 3 was the most decent room in the small sheepfold. It is in the Qi family yard after the renovation, on the pattern is not as good as the style of the third. First, three outside the door, in the old acacia below a shadow wall, painted black is black, white is white, the middle of the oil is good two feet square of the big red letter of blessing. Outside the door of the Qi family, there is no shadow wall, the whole hutong family have no shadow wall! Secondly, on the doorway, the third is the water ridge, and the Qi family's is the flower wall. Third, No. 3 is a neat and tidy courtyard house with a square brick plastered floor in the yard. Fourth, three every summer, the yard must be six Liu master to build up a new mat of the pergola, and the Qi family shade only rely on two trees not big shadow of the supply of jujube trees. The old man Qi can not help but be jealous!

On the way of life, the old man Qi felt more spiritual oppression and resentment. The owner of the third, Guan Xiaohuo, has two wives, and the second wife is singing Fengtian drums, once red, You Tongfang. Mr. Guan is already more than fifty years old, and Qi Tianyou's age is similar to the upper and lower, but it still looks like a person in his thirties, and it is more beautiful than a person in his thirties. Mr. Guan must shave his face every day, and take care of his hair once every ten days, with one white hair plucked out. His clothes, whether Chinese dresses or suits, are made of the best materials possible; even if the materials are not the best, they are still made to be the most fashionable and suitable. Small man, small long face, small hands and small feet, no body is not small, but all grow proportionate. Well-proportioned features and limbs, coupled with a wonderful figure, and the most stylish clothing, he is quite like a gorgeous smooth glass beads. Although his person is small, but the grand style is very big, usually make friends with all the celebrities and noblemen. The family used a cook, a top know the rules of the manservant, and an old satin shoes little mother. A guest, he always sends people to Cheap Square to call the hanging oven roast duck, to the old Baofeng to call the far years of bamboo leaf green. Playing cards, pay attention to at least forty-eight rounds, and before and after meals to sing the drum book and two reed. To some status of the neighbors, he is quite polite, but in addition to the usual wedding and funeral ceremony and hanging, and no close interaction. As for Mr. Li, Mr. Liu, Mr. Sun, and Mr. Cui, he only saw their occupations,

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