Located in the French Concession, the Wen Mansion is a small three-storey western-style building with a separate garden, a grassy courtyard and a cobblestone path in the middle. The black car drove along the cobblestone road until it came to a slow stop.

The servants were already waiting at the door, and when they saw the old ladies coming down, they hurriedly came up to help carry the luggage.

The two ladies who were waiting inside heard the news and quickly greeted them, and entered the house with the two old men.

Wen Jianning fell at the back of the group, looking at the furnishings of the Wen Mansion while listening to the adults.

The eldest lady is shrewd and capable, and she is the real housekeeper in the Wen Mansion. She gave birth to two sons, the eldest son, Wen Songnian, who is sixteen this year, and the younger son, Wen Songshou, who is twelve this year, went to school and came back for dinner at noon, and could not return until the evening. Jianwan was born to an aunt, that aunt went early because of dystocia, Jianwan was raised in the old house, and the relationship with the eldest lady was not close, but in front of her, she was still meek and respectful and called a mother.

Although I don't know how the eldest lady behaves in private, as soon as they entered the door, the eldest lady warmly entertained them as a hostess, and even Wen Jianning was extremely affectionate, which made her feel a little uncomfortable. While taking them upstairs to see the vacancy of the guest room, the eldest lady also asked them about their preferences by the way, and explained the dinner arrangements to the maid.

The second wife, that is, Jianyu's mother-in-law, was born short and fat, and she and the second uncle are very husband and wife. As soon as I saw Xiao Jianyu, I hugged it in my arms and screamed heartily. She has no son, only Jianyu's biological daughter.

As for Wen Jianxiu and Wen Songchang, who I haven't seen yet, they were both born to my aunt, and my relationship with her is relatively cold.

However, in Wen Jianning's opinion, the Wen family is not a poor family, and they are willing to throw such a small Jianyu in the Wen Mansion, but they came to Shanghai to guard the second uncle, and the heart and liver in the mouth of the second wife are estimated to be greatly discounted.

In the evening, the three brothers Wen Songnian, Wen Songshou, and Wen Songchang also came back from school.

Although the three of them have to go back to Huaicheng during the New Year's holidays, because they have been living in Shanghai for the past few years, they don't often see each other with Jianwan. He didn't have anything to say to Wen Jianning, who had just arrived, at best, he just said hello in front of adults.

Although this group of children was a little rusty when they first met, they were a family in the end. At the dinner table, there were adults who deliberately led them to talk, and soon they started talking, laughing, and laughing. There were only two stuffy gourds, who didn't say a word from beginning to end, just bowing their heads to eat.

One of them is Wen Jianning, and the other is Wen Baiqing.

It wasn't until everyone finished eating that the eldest lady noticed that the two children had been silent, and couldn't help laughing: "Why didn't Bai Qing and Jianning speak, are they dissatisfied with the food?"

"Nope. ”

"Nope. ”

One big and one small subconsciously glanced at each other, and invariably turned their gaze to the other side.

Although the journey from Huaicheng to Shanghai, the titular cousins have known each other for some time. But both of them have always been taciturn, and neither of them will speak unless necessary, so they haven't even spoken a few words.

Regarding Wen Baiqing's cousin, Wen Jianning listened to the conversation of the adults before and knew that Wen Baiqing was the only son of the late third uncle Wen Shuyu, and like her, he only returned to the Wen family not long ago.

The adults said that more than ten years ago, the third uncle made a revolution because he messed around with people outside. In order to prevent him from causing trouble to his family, the third uncle was directly expelled from the house by the old lady, and only declared that he was sick and died. The third uncle was also stubborn. Since the family didn't want him, he simply didn't go back to Huaicheng. Later, the old lady regretted it, and sent someone to call him back several times, but he refused, and then there was no news.

When the Wen family inquired about his whereabouts again, they found that a few years ago, the third uncle had already passed away in an accident, leaving only a pair of orphans and widows to rely on each other.

Wen Baiqing's biological mother had a bad background, and the old lady refused to let her get started, so she used some means to only bring Wen Baiqing back to the Wen family. To some extent, the two of them are the same, both were forced by the Wen family to leave their closest people.

Wen Jianning was actually a little curious about this cousin, but the other party exuded a sense of alienation from thousands of miles away, and she would not take the initiative to come up and make fun of herself like Jianwan.

The group stayed at the Wen Mansion for only two days, and soon set off again to prepare to take a boat to Hong Kong. Although they are still reluctant to give up on the prosperity of Shanghai, the itinerary is destined for them not to delay here for too long.

This time, the Wen family went to Hong Kong on a Dutch steamer. In recent years, the management of domestic shipping was chaotic, and the authorities only knew how to come up with various taxes to squeeze small merchants, and the civilian ships below were already struggling to survive, coupled with the control and exclusion of Western countries, most of the seas are now dominated by foreign merchant ships.

The second wife had already asked her subordinates to buy first-class tickets in advance, and personally escorted her heart, liver, and soul Jianyu to Hong Kong Island.

On the first day of boarding, Wen Jianwan, who was unpleasant to Jianning along the way, couldn't get angry anymore.

The sky was gray. The clouds were low, almost grazing over people's heads like the wings of gray geese.

The docks were crowded with people, especially just before the boat departed.

It wasn't until the steamer's whistle sounded that while the second wife and the others were busy arranging their luggage, Wen Jianning stood on the deck and quietly watched the surging waves behind him and the dock gradually moving away.

Once again, she felt that she and her aunt were getting farther and farther apart.

There was the sound of footsteps behind him.

Mr. Qi put a hand on her shoulder: "It's windy here, let's go back first." When we get there, there will be news. ”

Wen Jianning glanced up at Mr. Qi, but still followed her back to the cabin to take classes.

Although it was a long journey from Huaicheng to Hong Kong, except for the few days when they lived in the Wen Mansion, Mr. Qi did not forget to find opportunities along the way, whether it was the customs and news along the way, or the major events at home and abroad in recent years, she would tell them about it and teach them lessons at every turn.

It's a pity that Wen Jianwan and the others can't quite understand Mr. Qi's painstaking efforts, and there is almost no time when they can sit still.

In addition to Wen Jianning honestly following Mr. Qi's side, it was Wen Baiqing, a cheap student, who often sat aside without saying a word and rubbed off class. However, he generally does not talk to people, and only occasionally answers a few words when Mr. Qi asks.

Today, Mr. Qi plans to take advantage of the time to give them a lecture in English.

When the girls arrive in Hong Kong in a few days, they will definitely want to learn English. Let them learn a little bit early, and it will be easier to learn when they get there.

But compared with usual, Wen Jianwan and the three of them are even more absent today.

The three little people sat there and twisted around, as if they were sitting on pins and needles under their buttocks, and they were very restless.

Mr. Qi originally only used a cough to signal them to pay attention to their sitting posture, but it did not have much effect.

After saying the first English letter, she had to stop: "See, I know there are some bumps in this boat." But can you bear with me for a while, at least for five minutes? ”

Wen Jianwan's face turned pale and said, "Sir, this boat is so bumpy, why don't we go to class today-"

Before she finished speaking, she couldn't help it, and she spit out with a "wow" in her mouth.

Jianxiu, who was closest to her, was startled, and it was okay to hide back, but Wen Jianning, who was some distance away from her, was vomited on the spot. There are marks on the jacket and skirt, and there is a sour smell.

Although Wen Jianning has no habit of cleanliness, he will also be angry.

She turned her head and pointed at Jianwan, and complained to Mr. Qi: "Sir, she did it on purpose!"

These days, Mr. Qi has not seen the two sisters quarrel, from the time they were still in the Wen family, to the time they got on the boat. It's not so much that the two of them are quarreling, it's better to see that Jianwan is provoking alone, Wen Jianning has always ignored it, and it is the first time for Mr. Qi to see Wen Jianning so angry.

She couldn't help but feel a little funny.

- Still a kid after all.

Although Jianwan's face was pale and her body was shaky because of the vomiting just now, she didn't forget to bully Wen Jianning: "Yes, I did it on purpose, I not only want to vomit on you, but also deliberately vomit on your face——"

Saying that, I couldn't hold back and vomited again.

This time, Wen Jianning had already taken precautions, and when she saw Wancai, she avoided as soon as she lowered her head.

But behind her happened to be Wen Baiqing, who came to class, and as soon as she dodged, Wen Baiqing suffered.

Seeing that Wan was stunned, she didn't dare to look at Wen Baiqing's face, and explained with a crying voice: "Brother Baiqing, I'm not vomiting-"

She wanted to say that she didn't mean to, but her throat didn't fight, and she vomited violently again, and she couldn't take it back.

Seeing that the embroidery couldn't hold back any longer, she covered her mouth with a handkerchief and vomited.

Seeing that the two sisters vomited, Jianyu also vomited.

The scene was chaotic for a moment.

Mr. Qi asked the maids of the Wen family to come over to help quickly, and at the same time asked Wen Baiqing to quickly inform the second wife, and when he turned his head to see Wen Jianning standing in the corner and looking down at the stains on his clothes, he frowned like a little adult, and said with a smile: "Don't be stunned here, go back to the room first and change your clothes, and I'll help you wash them later." ”

Wen Jianning shook his head: "How can I let Mr. wash clothes, I'll go find Chun Tao." ”

But as soon as she returned to her room, she saw Chun Tao retching against the wall, and her feet were already in a mess.

- Forget it, she's better figure it out on her own.

Mr. Qi and the second wife were busy taking care of a few small ones, and some of the rest of the maids were as seasick as Chun Tao, and some were also taking care of Jianwan and them, and no one could take care of her for a while.

Wen Jianning had no choice but to take the dirty clothes, wanting to find someone to ask where there was a place to wash clothes on the ship.

The doors around the first-class cabin were closed, and there was no one in the hallway, so it was very quiet.

Wen Jianning hesitated for a moment, but still didn't knock on the door, he was alone with his clothes, and wanted to go elsewhere to see if there was a place to wash clothes.

The Dutch ship they were on was neither big nor small. Although the internal structure is not complicated, Wen Jianning is still young after all, and it is the first time in his life to take this kind of big boat, and he can't tell the direction after walking for a long time, so he can only walk together with his feelings, and the more he walks, the darker the light around him, the more polluted the air, and the noisier the surrounding sounds.

On the way, she also met a few adults, but they were all in a hurry, and they didn't have time to take care of her children. One of them impatiently dismissed her before she could get closer: "Go away, go away, no money, no money." ”

Wen Jianning stopped, feeling that he could not go any further.

She was about to turn around and go back when a man suddenly appeared around the corner in front of her.

When the man saw that she was a girl here, and there was no one else nearby, his eyes lit up, and he grinned: "Where is the little girl, what are you doing here?"

Wen Jianning saw at a glance that he was not a good person, and he didn't answer, so he turned his head and left.

She had short legs, and as soon as she turned around, the man strode in front of her with a strange smile: "Little girl, where do you want to go, why don't you go down with your uncle to play." ”

Wen Jianning was silent.

She turned to the left and tried to bypass him, but he blocked the way to the left, and to the right, he stood on the right to prevent her from going.

Wen Jianning's hand holding the clothes touched the sleeve, and a pair of apricot eyes stared at him sharply: "Get out of the way!"

Mei Shan once said that Wen Jianning had a pair of beautiful eyes.

Ordinary people's apricot eyes are the most gentle and delicate, not aggressive, but Wen Jianning is different. Her pupils were extremely black and round, large and bright, black and white, too bright, and once they were sharp, they were even more cold.

The man was stunned by her, and soon reacted that it was just a hairy girl in front of him, looking at these eyes, he only felt a little itchy in his heart, and he rubbed his hands and was about to step forward: "It's a little interesting." ”

Wen Jianning was about to find out what was hidden in his sleeve, when a young man's clear voice suddenly came from in front of him: "Sister, what are you doing here." Uncle just told you to go back to your room and change your clothes, and then go dancing later, why did you get here? ”