Chapter 0417 – Old Tang’s Story

With the sound of Xiao Fang’s call. There was no movement in the door, but a door opened next to it, and a girl with hair as messy as a chicken’s nest stretched out her head to take a look, and with a “bam”, closed the door again.

“Xiao Fang, there won’t be no one in this house, right?”

Stomping outside, Zhuang Rui asked Xiao Fang, this place through the evil line, Zhuang Rui stood in front of the door, can feel next to the house, there seem to be several pairs of eyes, staring at their own two people.

“Impossible ah! He still has a medicine pot in his house, it’s always in the house ah!”

Xiao Fang was familiar with this family, knowing that they were the old tenants who had lived here for decades, their sons and daughters were not very capable, or else they would have moved out long ago, and now the people in this quadrangle, the ones who were a little bit capable had all moved out and rented out their houses.

“Old Tang, Old Master Tang. Are you there?” Xiao Fang spoke while knocking on the door again.

“Aigoo, come le, let you two wait for a long time!”

Along with the sound of words, that brushed with red paint very tacky door, from the inside was pulled open, just Zhuang Rui two people still did not see the situation in the house, because a thick cotton curtain, blocked in front of the eyes.

Cold days in the north, the general home door inside, there is a thick cloth curtain, just the old Tang family curtain, looks like a quilt changed, a little greasy above, emitting an unpleasant smell.

Open the door that person is polite, reach out to the curtain to lift up, Zhuang Rui and small side of a short head into the house, a look around, only to understand why the house is so dark.

The original window, is also hanging a thick layer of curtains, weak light, from the curtains to the house, the light bulb or the kind of pull line, a long rope, from the door of the wall, pull to the bed. This was convenient, one didn’t have to get out of bed, one could reach it with one hand.

In the middle of the hall, there is a stove rising, the smoke pipe on top of it sticks out from the window, and there is a kettle on top of the stove, which is not a waste at all, but this house is covered so tightly, it is really not cold, it is the smell, which is a little bit unpleasant.

“Two of you, please sit down, quickly please sit down, you loser bitch, go inside and lie down.”

The old Tang master busily gave Zhuang Rui and Xiao Fang a seat, and then reached out to pull the lights open, which opened the lights and did not open, the difference is not very big, because that emits a small yellow light bulb, pressure did not play much of a role.

After opening the light, Zhuang Rui realized. The original main hall in the bed, there is still lying a person, was the old Tang yelled after, lifted the quilt to go to the inner room.

“Cough, cough ……”

This quilt was lifted, immediately a strange smell filled in the whole room, Zhuang Rui really can not help it, coughing vigorously a few times, stood up and walked to the door, lifted the curtain, took a deep breath, only then the stomach that almost want to vomit out of the sour gas, to calm down.

That smell is not only the smell of stinky feet inside the quilt, there is also a musty smell of Chinese medicine and the smell of decay, mixed together, not to mention Zhuang Rui, that Xiao Fang is also a face suffocated red, followed closely behind him to the door.

Zhuang Rui grew up although it is said to be a general family situation, not good, but Ouyang Wan especially love clean, not to say that the home is spotless, at least is also cleaned every day, winter time every three to five days spread a good weather, will be taken out of the quilt to the sun a little bit, where have smelled this kind of similar to stinky tofu fermentation flavor ah!

“Ahem, I said Xiao Fang, this …… is better to come back another day!”

Zhuang Rui really do not want to go into that house again, he is not a delicate person. When one person was working in Zhonghai, he also lived in a rented house, but this flavor is really killing ah! It can be compared to the gas bombs of Japan back then.

“Brother Zhuang, come and take a look! His ancestors seem to be Manchus, maybe he has some good stuff left!”

Although Xiao Fang also can’t eat this smell in the house, but this is his job, Zhuang Rui does not buy things, he can be this trip is a waste of time.

“Master Tang, you put up the window! The smell in the house is too heavy, I can’t stand it.” Xiao Fang turned around and shouted at the house.

“Hey, okay, let’s breathe in the smell! You two come in and sit down!”

Tang master words seem to be a little reluctant, I do not know how long he has not ventilated the room, but the window support up, open the door again, the house is bright up, Tang master hand and turn off the lights, not to respond to the national call for energy conservation, I’m afraid that is not willing to spare the two electricity costs of the majority of the mind.

Zhuang Rui is still a little afraid of the flavor. Casually took out a packet of cigarettes, opened and handed a small party and Tang master.

“Aigoo, is China ah! How to see your smoke, not the red belt Huabiao ah?”

Master Tang took the cigarette and took a look at it, put it in his nose and sniffed it vigorously, did not take it to his mouth, but hung it on his ear, and the gesture was to keep it to savor it.

“Other people give, I do not know why it is so.”

Zhuang Rui smiled, this cigarette is Ouyang Lei to him to take over. Moved a whole box of dozens of articles, said he let him stay slowly smoke, finished and then asked him to, although the smoke is not as famous as the giant panda, but it is also the army’s internal supply, less than the level of generals, simply can not see.

Crooked head to the small square point of the fire lit on the eye after a hard draw, Zhuang Rui felt the house flavor faded some, walked back to the house and sat down, said: “You guys this house, is to often breathe, otherwise the body is not good.”

“Hey, all to this age, over the day counts one day, which still care about the body is not good ……” Master Tang sighed and sat down with his legs crossed beside the bed.

After opening the doors and windows, the room is much brighter, Zhuang Rui carefully observed the Tang master, he should be sixty-five or sixty years of age, is not very tall, a little fat, the head of the hair fell almost, a light brain through the light, turn back to see the back of the neck of the meat folds.

Look at this face, if then change clothes, should be some bosses of the atmosphere, not like living in this place ah! Just this master Tang smiled up, through a stock of naive look, I guess this is also behind the small Fang called him “Bold master” reason it!

“When I think of my ancestors, that is since Nurhachu from the dragon into the customs ministers, until my grandfather’s generation, the family still has a big yard with two gardens in four, but after the liberation of all the public, the government gave this small yard. Later on, a few families lived in, and they couldn’t be driven away …….”

Tang master seems usually not much people and he spoke, Zhuang Rui and Fang sat down, he read up on his own, said the rise, clamped in the ear on the cigarette also took down, with a fire tongs from the stove clip a piece of carbon point on, beautiful smoke a mouthful.

Listen to the words of the Tang master, his family is a big family in the early years, according to his statement, his grandfather’s identity, and the mansion in the white old seven almost, relying on the ancestor bud shade and their own efforts, to create a not small property, Tang master before liberation, that are served by the mother of the big, seven or eight years old, will not be wearing their own clothes.

When his grandfather did not die, all day is smoking a big bubble (opium), and then said to him, your son was born a good life, a life of shit do not do, alone I left you these assets, can let you live comfortably for a few lifetimes.

This old Tang’s old man, is not a good bird, all day is the eight hutongs and theater wandering back and forth, although that will be old Tang or small Tang, eight hutongs is not to go, but the theater can go ah! According to the old Tang’s statement, Mei Lanfang, Shang Xiaoyun, Cheng Yanqiu, Xun Huisheng a few famous actor’s play, he went to the scene, but also had been his father stuffed with gold beans, to the stage thrown it!

Just this then the liberation of Beiping that year, the family’s old man died, only know eat, drink, whore and gamble old man, for fear of being dictatorship, all the companies and some mansions are sold, replaced by gold hidden in the home, and in the census, even the ancestors of the last name were changed, which now has the name of the old Tang.

However, what should come, always can not hide, to that red and professional era, the old Tang family’s old bottom was revealed, the fight parade what are stalled, his only eat, drink, whoring and gambling hollowed out the body of the old man is dry, two eyes closed to see the old Tang grandpa went to leave the old Tang but suffered a crime, the home of the gold were searched not to mention that they are three days or three days of a fight, five days of a big fight, the loss of that will be young and good health, or this would have known that the gold was sold, changed the home to hide, and even changed the name of the ancestors, which has now the old Tang name. Otherwise, this would have been unknown in that lonely grave lying.

Later, after the end of the decade, the implementation of the policy, gave the old Tang this small courtyard, gold and so on, of course, no shadow, but the bottles and cans of some of the old furniture, is to give back to the old Tang quite a lot of ancestors left behind, the old Tang did not want to sell, it has been left to the present.

But immediately here to demolition, compensation for demolition money, simply not enough to buy a house in addition to the old Tang, which is thinking of the ancestors of the objects to sell, according to the old Tang said, the ancestors in the ground are not willing to look at the children and grandchildren sleep on the street, right?

This old Tang said, actually while wiping up tears, do not know from that nook and cranny touched out an erhu, pulling himself to sing: “One day away from home one day deep, like a lonely goose sleeps in the cold forest, the two digging son to lead the way towards the front …….”

This is actually sung or Cheng Yanqiu’s “Jade Hall Spring”, the word is not to say that the tone of the deep twists and turns, serene and dignified, singing quite a few points of Cheng masters of the elegance of the erhu is to see the bottom of the work, not more than ten years of work can not be played so skillfully, Zhuang Rui in the side are listening to silly, what is he here today ah?

“Hey, hey, I said master Tang, okay, today we do not chant these things, I have heard this almost three times.” Zhuang Rui listened to this Peking Opera is still a little fresh, but Xiao Fang was impatient, spoke out to interrupt the erhu sound.