There is a plate of jasmine slices soaked on the table, the faint aroma wafts out, and the newly replaced hibiscus reveals a natural dense bamboo smell, and the bamboo mat is scrubbed with a towel in the morning, and it is dried in the sun for three hours before putting it on the sofa. The fifth aunt went home early today, gave the bag to the employer and sat on the sofa leisurely, took a book in her hand, and stayed so that when it was time for dinner, she only heard the car stop outside the door, and then the maid said outside: "Young master, come back early today." ”

Then he heard Chen Shuyi's voice talking outside, and said, "Is the master back?"

As she spoke, the fifth aunt walked out of the living room, she walked up to Chen Shuyi with a smile and said, "The eldest young master is back, you are looking for the master, but the master has not come back yet." ”

Chen Shuyi changed his slippers at the staircase and said, "Okay, then I'll go up first." ”

The fifth aunt followed him upstairs and said, "Young master, you haven't eaten since you came back so early today, have you?" The fifth aunt happened to have no food either, so let someone set the table and we will have a meal together......

Chen Shuyi walked lightly and quickly, and reached the second floor, the fifth aunt was too cold, he stopped and almost hit him, Chen Shuyi said calmly: "I have dinner, I am a little tired after the board meeting today, now I want to take a bath, my aunt is hungry, let's eat first." ”

Chen Shuyi untied her tie as she spoke, and the fifth aunt was too bored to be bored, so she had to say: "Okay, okay, rest early when you're tired, and the fifth aunt won't bother you." He turned around and went downstairs.

At eight or nine o'clock in the evening, Chen Mingzhong's car was parked outside, and then the housekeeper came forward to open the door for the master, Chen Mingzhong wore a pair of gold-rimmed glasses, an old-school long shirt and a horse coat, and the housekeeper said: "Master, the meal is ready for you." ”

Chen Mingzhong nodded, the housekeeper instructed the maid to serve the food, the fifth aunt heard that the master went home, and came out to help the master, until the dinner table, the fifth aunt gave him vegetables, Chen Mingzhong said to himself: "Why did you come back so early today? Don't you stay all night with those card friends?" The fifth aunt put down the chopsticks and said, "Master, I usually go home so early, I only occasionally stay up all night with those card friends." ”

Chen Mingzhong took a sip of soup, sneered, and was wiping his mouth with a napkin when he heard Chen Shuyi's footsteps downstairs.

Their father and son went to the study to talk about things, but the fifth aunt was too difficult to go up, so she had to take back the unfinished book and continue to read.

Chen Mingzhong walked into the study, Chen Shuyi closed the door, Chen Mingzhong had already sat on the sofa, and said, "Did Cheng Nan write a letter back?"

The letter had already been placed on Chen Mingzhong's desk, and Chen Shuyi handed it to him. Chen Mingzhong's eyes were not good, so he put the letter under the lamp and looked at it carefully, folded it up and put it away as it was, and said to him: "Then I will rest assured, you will keep the letters he sent for me in the future." ”

Chen Shuyi did as the old man said, and Chen Mingzhong saw him standing there silently as if he had something to say, so he only said, "What do you have to say?"

Chen Shuyi sighed and said, "Father, I don't understand, why did you call him back when your second brother went abroad to study abroad?"

Chen Mingzhong said: "He is playful and uninhibited by nature, he used to be in front of me when he liked to cause trouble, and you don't know it." After he stayed abroad, I couldn't sleep well every night. ”

Although Chen Shuyi felt that his father's words were right, he said: "Actually, your worries are unnecessary, he went with Tang Qi, and the two of them can take care of it together." ”

Chen Mingzhong took off his glasses, rubbed his eyes and said, "It was because he went with the people of the Tang family that I insisted on letting him come back." ”

Chen Shuyi took a step forward and said puzzledly: "Why? Father, we are not old friends with the Tang family?" Chen Mingzhong never replied to him, only let him go out.

It's almost early in the morning, the light in the study is still on, and the light comes out of the crack in the door, and the fifth aunt used to play cards all night until three or four o'clock, so now she doesn't feel sleepy, and when she saw that the light in the master's study has been on, she poured a glass of milk and served it.

Chen Mingzhong quickly responded, the fifth aunt opened the door and went in, Chen Mingzhong sat at the desk next to a lamp, he was holding a pen in his hand and was writing, she put the tea on the table and said, "Master, rest early so late, you still have business tomorrow." Chen Mingzhong stopped writing, took off his glasses, closed his eyes and said: "After all, people are old and dazzled, I think I am dying." ”

The fifth aunt went up to rub the old man's shoulders, and said busily: "Master, why did you suddenly say such a thing, the eldest young master has just learned to take care of family affairs, and I want you to mention it everywhere, the second young master is not yet twenty years old, and the two sons are not married, and you still have me...... And Madame, you can't say such a funeral. ”

Chen Mingzhong patted the back of her hand and said with a smile: "It's rare to see you intimate." Looking ahead, he said, "The boss is calm, I'm not worried...... Only the second child is left, he is young, and he is like a wild horse, I don't know when I can tame ......"

The fifth aunt rubbed his shoulders: "Then you still send him to that place?"

Chen Mingzhong shook his head and smiled bitterly: "I want to exercise him, I hope he can behave properly when he comes out, and let me worry less." I have an acquaintance there, so I dare to send him there. ”

The fifth aunt didn't know what her expression was, and she only read in her mouth: "So that's the case, I can't complain that Mrs. has repeatedly dissuaded me at that time, and you don't listen to ......" Chen Mingzhong suddenly turned his ear behind his ears and said with a slanted face: "What are you talking about?"

The fifth aunt leaned over her face, looked at a dense block on the table, and said, "You are writing a letter, who is it for?"

Chen Mingzhong shook the page twice, waited for the ink to dry, and said while putting it in the envelope: "Write a letter to that old friend, so that you can take care of Cheng Nan." ”

The fifth aunt was too suffocated and continued to rub his shoulders.

The Lin family is an old-fashioned family, living in a courtyard, the yard is planted with trees inside and outside on all sides, the green leaves are poor in the spring equinox, and the green trees grow in the summer, and the yard is set up with a reclining chair, and there is a fat cat with a yellow body and white feet curled up in the grass altar, taking a soft and warm nap, which has become a kind of leisure.

At this time, a black car was parked outside the gate of the Lin family, and two guards stood straight at the door.

Aunt Gu San's playing cards is too proud, Mrs. Liu, Miss Lin Er and Miss Lin San lost a total of more than 1,000 yuan, but they still played hard, don't they know that they know that Gu Dashuai has been trusted by the overseers recently, and the military affairs in the district have been appointed to him to be handed over, and Gu Sanaunt is his new favorite, and he deliberately lost to her so that she could drag her to do things in the future.

In fact, this Third Aunt Gu is too smart and beautiful, with slender eyebrows swept into her sideburns, a pair of red phoenix eyes, it is difficult to resist the bewitching beauty, wearing bright red lipstick, wearing a black fox fur, and she is full of luxury. is also because she was born as a singer, and now she is only twenty-one years old, her pink face does not need to be powdered at all, she used to sing in the troupe, and the boss strictly required that she was not allowed to speak dialects, especially in front of people with status. Now she doesn't need it, and blurts out the dialect of her hometown from time to time, but she speaks in soft Nong, straight to the bones. Eighty percent is also the reason why Gu Dashuai spoils her.

Mrs. Liu played a card and said with a smile: "Where is Aunt Gu from, it doesn't sound like a dialect from Outer Hong Kong." ”

Miss Lin Er came to make up the numbers, and she didn't say a word during the whole process and occasionally accosted her, she followed a card. Aunt Gu didn't reply yet, she showed a deck of cards, and only said: "Give money and money, eh, I don't know what luck I have today-" and then replied to Mrs. Liu: "I'm from a small place, I'm afraid you won't know if I say it." ”

They were willing to give the money, but Aunt Gu was embarrassed at first, so she called twice and said that she wanted to treat herself and go to Jufu Building for afternoon tea, Mrs. Liu couldn't wait to have such an opportunity, but the two young ladies of the Lin family were not interested, so Aunt Gu and Mrs. Liu went to Jufu Building together.

The car was a new car sent to her by Gu Dashuai, the comfortable leather seat was imported from Germany, and Aunt Gu held Mrs. Liu and talked together.

Mrs. Liu is the oldest in a class of official wives, she goes in and out of a simple housekeeper, and now she is wearing a silver rat gray cheongsam covered with a hollow knitted sweater, and she is dressed very plainly. In fact, this is also because her mother's family is a scholarly family, her grandfather is a former Qing bachelor, and she has asked her husband to teach her since she was a child is a female training woman and other old-fashioned ideas, and she is not the first lady, Commander Liu's wife died of illness within a few years, and she was remarried two years later. Her mother's family refused at first, but because of the decline of her family, it would be a good marriage for her daughter to marry an official, so she agreed.

Aunt Gu Santai entered the opera troupe at the age of fifteen to sing, and there has been an endless stream of people who have praised her from the south to the north for several years, she has a good voice and is young and beautiful, and she talks with big people and responds like a stream, without a little flaw in her cautiousness, so Mrs. Liu is like a bird in a cage to her.

The car drove to Jufu Building because Mrs. Liu told her a lot of things about herself, and Aunt Gu was listening, in fact, she had no malicious intentions, but she was extremely smart, and she caught a little bit of asking her to do something from Mrs. Liu's words.

Seeing that it was Aunt Gu and Mrs. Liu who came, the waiter in Jufu Building went up one step ahead of the driver to open the door and put her hand on the car frame.

Ying said: "It's a coincidence that the third aunt is here, we just bought a batch of tea from abroad today, and there are new dim sums, do you want to try it?"

Since she entered the Marshal's Mansion for half a year, the waiters in these teahouses have a more attentive attitude towards her than before, she used to accompany some guests to these teahouses to eat tea and chat, but the waiters looked at her with some contempt, and she naturally knew the reason. But now it's different, she despises this kind of 180-degree turn attitude very much, as if these people are snobs, so she doesn't pay much attention to this attendant, and only said lightly: "Okay, there is no need to introduce, bring up your most expensive ones." The attendant went down with joy.

In the chat just now, I felt that Mrs. Liu was a simple person, usually at home to take care of family affairs, and I couldn't complain that Commander Liu had not accepted the small so far, Mrs. Liu looked at the two places and said, "I don't usually come to this kind of place." ”

Mrs. Gu Sanjie had a good impression of Mrs. Liu from the conversation just now, Mrs. Liu behaved like her own sister, and she also had an older sister. She was close to Mrs. Liu, the two of them were next to each other, a bamboo curtain hung in the box was half-drawn, and the light and shadow of the long thin bamboo fell on the table and the wall, and the crowd of people came and went on the wide street outside.

Aunt Gu said: "Today's luck is so good, I'm embarrassed to win, but I want to invite you to a meal, but the two young ladies of the Lin family don't give face." ”

The Liu family and the Lin family are good friends, and Mrs. Liu said: "The two young girls have their own social relationships, and they don't like to be with us." Aunt Gu knew what Mrs. Liu meant, but she also said coquettishly: "They are young girls, aren't I young?" Mrs. Liu said with a smile: "Third aunt, they are not married yet, so they are young, how can you compare with them?" ”

After eating a cup of tea, Mrs. Liu felt that the third aunt in front of her was not very difficult to get along with, she was more than ten years older than her, and she had seen more people, but during the conversation, she felt that she was still the kind of young woman's liveliness and willfulness, and it could not be said that she had no scheming, after all, she used to do that, and people like them could not survive without a little way of life. But she felt that the third aunt was too unguarded against her, so she felt like her own sister.

Aunt Gu comes and goes a lot in the social arena, and she is very handy when she talks and chats with people. She tried her best to hide everything, but in the process, she always felt that Mrs. Liu had something to say to her, but she hesitated to save face. She likes Mrs. Liu, and she also knows that her husband Commander Liu has been very unhappy in recent years, women, she is still the kind of old-fashioned woman, she must want to find a way out for her husband.

After drinking the black tea, Aunt Gu looked up and down at Mrs. Liu, she had already recognized her as her sister when she spoke just now, so she said, "Sister, do you have something to tell me? ”

Mrs. Liu didn't expect that Aunt Gu would say it so directly, she was inevitably a little embarrassed, she wiped her mouth and brewed for a while, suddenly held the third aunt's hand, sighed slightly at first, and then said: "Sister, then I will say it if I have something to say, in fact, it is your brother-in-law...... He has had bad luck in the past two years, and his superiors have not sent him errands, in fact, he has reached the age of retirement, and he just wants to do something to support the family and keep the family...... But this world is not satisfactory, he has been idle for more than half a year, and the upper and lower talks say that he is like a wandering commander......" Speaking of this, a tear fell from the back of Mrs. Liu's hand, and continued: "Sister, I have never thought of glory and wealth, as long as the family lives a good life, it is good to eat chaff vegetables." This time, I pulled down my face, just to beg you, can you dredge up the relationship with Gu Dashuai and send him an errand......"

Aunt Gu is too clear, Mrs. Liu took the initiative to talk to her at the last banquet, Mrs. Liu is also educated, but she is also willing to talk to her aunt, she was surprised. Qianxing is only a small jurisdiction in the North District, of course, the commander is only a name, she is also soft-hearted, seeing that her sister is crying pitifully, her white face looks pale, and Commander Liu is more than 20 years older than her, and it is also the age of resignation and returning to her hometown. She took out a handkerchief and rubbed it for Mrs. Liu, and only said, "Sister, what's so sad about this, I'll go home and tell Changsheng about the big deal for such a little thing, you just wait for news at home." ”

When Aunt Gu returned home that night, she saw a few cars parked outside and guards guarded by soldiers, and she sat in the car only to feel that it was dark outside, and only the street lights that drove in along the way were bright.

As soon as she got out of the car, the employees of the family came out to get the bag for her, she twisted her body and walked towards the living room, but was stopped by the housekeeper step up, and said: "Third aunt, the handsome is talking to others about things, and no one is allowed to go in." She looked at her and asked, "Who is inside?" The housekeeper smiled: "The big man said that if you come back, you can go upstairs to rest first, and you don't have to wait for him." ”

She is very interesting, and looking at the housekeeper's attitude, she understands that there are definitely big people in it, talking about important things, and this kind of confidential thing will never let her listen. Then he turned and went upstairs.

Her high heels made no sound on the floor, the faucet in the bathroom, her legs were sore after a day out, she took off her clothes and threw them on the sofa, the windows were closed, so she felt quieter than ever when she came upstairs. After the user finished putting the bath water out, she removed her makeup in the mirror. The steam in the bathtub fogged the mirror, and she washed her face with water, and it took a moment to raise her head and wipe the mirror with her hand.

Looking at herself in the mirror, she actually gave birth to a sense of sadness, couldn't help but smile dumbly, took off her thick makeup, and the self in front of her was white and innocent, just like someone praised her for having a beautiful face before, and her eyes as clear as water are the most attractive. Now she just glanced at herself in the mirror, although this face was still the same as before, but these eyes could no longer brighten, she didn't know why, just felt, and then there was an empty coolness in her heart.

Lying in the bathtub and almost falling asleep, she opened her eyes and got up to put on her nightgown when the door was locked. Gu Changsheng looked tired, took off her coat, opened the door and reached out to take her clothes, glanced at the clock on the wall, and said, "It's going to take so long to talk about something, it's almost twelve o'clock." ”

Gu Changsheng took a step to sit on the sofa, she took off his boots and put them aside, and listened to him: "Isn't it just that little thing above, and I have to have a meeting at home." In the past two days, I have official business to go out, and you stay at home obediently. He went to unbutton his shirt.

As soon as she heard that he was going out, she stood up and said, "What should I do if you go out?" I don't want to stay at home alone, I don't care, you take me too. ”

Gu Changsheng pulled her to sit on his lap and said, "Don't mess around, I'm going to the office to take you, how can I take you, you are obedient, anyway, there is everything in this house, just send them what you want." ”

She still refused, so she didn't look around and said, "I don't want to see the second wife, she always gives me face." ”

Gu Changsheng suddenly laughed, patted her thigh, and said, "Look at your careful eyes, what do you care about her, you will inevitably run into her once when she lives in the West Building." ”

She broke free and straightened her dressing gown, which smelled of smoke and cigars, and said to him, "Don't take a shower if you smoke to death, or you won't want to sleep in my bed tonight." "Don't even look at him.

Gu Changsheng patted the armrest of the sofa and stood up, pinched her face before going to the bathroom, and said with a smile: "Little family - I like it." ”

Soon after, the sound of water in the bathroom was heard, and the person inside called her, saying, "Qiushui—hand me my pajamas." ”

She took out a pajama from the cabinet, knocked on the door and put her hand in, Gu Changsheng took the clothes from inside, her hand was empty and was about to take it back, Na Cheng wanted to open the door as soon as she wanted, her body floated, she was picked up by Gu Changsheng and walked around in the air, she knocked on his chest and shouted, "Let me down!"

Gu Changsheng smelled of soap all over his body after taking a bath, and walked to the bed and put her on the bed. She lay on the bed and watched him, listening to him say, "Do you like me?"

Bai Qiushui hooked his neck and replied with a smile: "I like it-" said that her hand stopped at the button of his coat along his neck, and she flexibly unbuttoned it, and she said, "If you help me do something, then I like it more." ”

Gu Changsheng saw her clearly at this time, and he raised his face and said: "Last time, you dragged Mrs. Zhang and asked me to help Brigade Commander Zhang get an order, and last time you asked me to get someone out of prison, and last time, my old friend in your troupe was investigated for selling Western medicine, and I also found someone to bail him out." Who do you want to do for this time?" he spoke lightly, and then rested her head in the crook of his elbow.

She naturally knew that this matter was not difficult, her eyes were shining with stars in the shadowy little face, she casually stroked a button of his pajamas, and said, "It's Mrs. Liu of Qianxing, and her husband is the commander, you should know this, right?"

Gu Changsheng thought about it, nodded and seemed to understand a little, and said, "Qianxing, isn't that just a nominal commander-"

She curled up his arm and whispered, "You also know that those official wives don't care about me, they are on good terms with the second wife, and they look down on me." That Mrs. Liu is so good, I think she is like my sister, and she is willing to be a sister to me, and she is pitiful, and begs me to help with this—will you agree—"

She tugged at the tube of his clothes, knowing that he would agree, but she had to do it hard. He looked at her coquettish and soft-spoken like a bird, and the man's heart was half soft, and he smiled and said, "Okay, there is an errand in two days, and I am worried that no one will do it." ”

She was as happy as a bird playing in the river, hugged him deeply and kissed him.

The futon was a silky silk texture, and her hands were slightly cool to the touch, and she didn't know what she was looking at, just looking at her nails, the red dancome had faded, and she was going to mend it tomorrow.

Gu Changsheng tucked her in the crook of his elbow, her hair was black and fragrant, which made him take a deep breath greedily, and then said: "Some people are good with you with a purpose, don't always ask you to do something." ”

Bai Qiushui played with his nails, hid in the quilt and muttered, "As long as anyone is good to me, I will help whom." ”