caricature

The time is nearly early in the morning, the lights in the Songzhuzhai lobby are bright, the old man An sits in the center, and Lao Wang stands sideways, what is surprising is that not only An Zaijiang and Zuo, Chen Lianfu are sitting in the hall, even An Zaihai, who has been in Wuzhong for several months, is also sitting firmly in the middle hall.

However, he said that the place was not as many as a cow's hair than the high-ranking officials in Beijing, and that this place under the sea had only been in a few months, and it was even more imposing than when he was the second-in-command of the Central Propaganda Department of the great authority.

"When you enter your own base camp, some people hold stinky feet, what is there to be proud of, and there is the ability to work hard in other people's circles like me, just rely on your ability to keep and eat so much that there is not even scum left." Zuo Qiu Ming even thought of his "miserable" experience, and he was full of slander.

Speaking of which, the convening of this family meeting was almost entirely due to An Zaihai, as soon as this benevolent brother heard that Xue An was far from his sixtieth birthday, he hurried up, galloped under the stars, and rushed back. Originally, An Zaihai arrived in Beijing at noon today, and he had enough time to congratulate Xue An, but instead of going, he said that he returned to Beijing to deal with the factional crisis.

As for the word "crisis", it is An Zaihai's overall evaluation of Xue Anyuan's birthday. At this moment, the meeting has been going on for more than two hours, and the reason why it has been tossed for so long is not that everyone spoke enthusiastically, but that most of the time was silent, occasionally mixed with An Zaihai's personal statement.

An Zaihai couldn't figure out how the thing that should have been condemned by everyone became his own one-man show, and it was an increasingly boring one-man show, I really don't know if these people in front of him are not enough to scheming, and they can't see the danger, or if they are driving thousands of miles, but they are guilty.

"Dad. They don't say anything, but you have a attitude, the old Xue family is too unauthentic to do this. Do you think that if it wasn't for your recommendation, Xue Anyuan would be where he is today? Again. It's just to put up a flag, no matter what, you should say hello to us first, so arbitrary, doesn't it mean slapping us in the face, so what do outsiders think? ”

It turned out that because of Xue Xiang, An Zaihai has always regarded the Xue family as his own people, and it is with this cognition. In addition, General An Lao strongly supported Xue Anyuan as the deputy commander of Zhengnan at the Military Commission last time, and got Tongguò, An Zaihai couldn't help but put the old Xue family into his own faction. But now that he heard that Xue Anyuan raised the flag to become self-reliant, how could An Zaihai swallow this breath. It was so that the starry night rushed back, and it was treated as a safety crisis.

Sure enough, the effect of An Zaihai's words that I don't know how many times was the same as before, General An didn't raise his eyelids, and the rest of Zuo Qiu Ming, Chen Dao, and An Zaijiang didn't pick up any stubble at all.

An Zaihai saw this situation in front of him. Suddenly, there was a strong sense of grief and indignation, quite sad for its misfortune, angry at its indisputable taste, pinched the porcelain cup in his hand, and wanted to smash it to the ground in one fell swoop. Wake up this "sleepy" guy in the room, but as soon as he raised his eyes and looked at the old man's half-open and half-closed eyes, the anger in his heart was suffocated for no reason.

"Big brother, third brother, seventh brother, what's the matter with the three of you, I heard that you went back in the morning? Everyone else is clearly trying to draw a line with us, and you are still rushing forward, and there is a string missing in your mind. Seeing that the old words were ineffective, An Zaihai decisively changed the topic and hit the three of them.

"Second child, how do you speak, what do you mean to draw a clear line with us, I don't know how you judge, is it possible that the old Xue family can't do happy events?" Zuoqiu couldn't get used to An Zaihai's self-proclaimed king, pointing to this, training that, and being the oldest.

Zuo Qiu Ming was disrespectful, and An Zaihai was not angry but happy. It's no wonder that this one-man show, who has been singing for half a night, finally has a connection, how can he be inexplicably excited, "Big brother, don't pretend to be confused." Xue Anyuan returned to Beijing in such a hurry, how could he have planned his birthday earlier? Besides, although the war on the front line has ended, the artillery fire has not stopped, as a former commander, is it appropriate to celebrate his birthday at this time? ”

An Zaihai said this, Zuo Qiu Ming naturally knew it, and only then refuted it, he was simply not used to seeing An Zaihai's appearance high above, but he was not too lazy to answer at this time, he lowered his head and shouted with the teacup in his hand.

An Zaihai thought that he was impressed by Zuo Qiu Ming, his momentum soared, and he put the teacup on the table, "Dad, the matter is clearly in front of us, we can't turn a blind eye, how much do you have to express your position?" ”

This sentence, An Zaihai said with a fierce voice that he had never said before, and even the cheeks on both sides seemed to bulge and balled, and they were round.

Finally, Old Man An opened his eyes: "What do you want me to say?" ”

The seven words were like sharp needles and arrows, poking An's cheeks that bulged high on both sides of the sea.

"Yes, how should the old man express his position?" An asked himself in his heart.

At first, when he heard that Xue Anyuan was doing something about his birthday, his brain was hot, and he immediately returned to the capital overnight, until the one-man show at this time, his brain became hotter and hotter, and he didn't think about how to solve it at all, but just vigorously stated to everyone present the fact that the Xue family was self-reliant, and the danger that followed. At this moment, the old man broke the key, and Xue Anyuan suddenly became dumb.

In his mind, the old man really couldn't express his position, could it be that he called to scold Xue Anyuan and even Xue Xiang? Or give Xue Anyuan eye medicine at the Military Commission? These are all laughable actions to think about, who will make them?

An Zaihai sat back in his chair, his heart was full of resentment and remorse, he didn't know what he was resenting specifically, but his heart was full of that young and handsome smiling face, was it the lost person who parted ways without saying hello? Are you worried that you will lose the little fan that will always be a last resort and suffer in the future game? Or is it the pain of being betrayed by oneself as a nephew and a relative.......

Perhaps, all these negative feelings are both in An Zaihai's heart, in the final analysis, what An Zaihai is troubled by is not how Xue Anyuan is, but how Xue Xiang is!

"Second brother, don't think about it, Xue Xiaozi and we haven't been intersecting for a day or two, who he is, everyone knows it, you can't catch fire." An Zaijiang didn't think that Xue Anyuan's birthday would be too strict for him, and besides, he had always only recognized Xue Xiang and not Xue Anyuan. After all, Xue Anyuan's brand is there, and it is not something that An can swallow in one bite. It's just that now seeing the second brother's anxious look, An Zaijiang can't bear it. only then did he speak comfortingly.

An Zaihai opened his mouth, wanting to say that An Zaijiang was superficial. naïve, but looking at that sincere red face, the words that came to his mouth were not spoken after all.

Silence, silence returned to the lobby.

Suddenly, the old man yawned, took the teacup on the standing stool, and poured tea with his fingers. wiped his eyes, and finally spoke: "Seventh, the eldest and the third have spoken, I see that you have been moving like a mountain." I have a lot of words in my heart, let's talk about it. ”

The old man actually ordered Chen Dao to speak! An Zaihai was terrified, Zuo Qiu Ming was also shocked, I don't know when, this old seven who has not been able to climb the deputy department has such weight in the old man's heart.

Chen Daochong nodded at the old man. got up and said: "Since Dad has named me, I will say two words, in fact, I have nothing to say, just one sentence." The second brother was right, but he was too worried. ”

Chen Dao's voice fell, and An Zaihai buckled the tea lid heavily: "Old Seven, I know that you are close to Xue Xiaozi in Jianghan, and this time you are in Beijing with the gang of people in Jianghan Province, but if you really want to talk about distance and proximity, you can't compare to me and Xue Xiaozi, I would like to advise, don't be blinded by some appearances." You say I've been worried, but I'd like to hear how. ”

Chen Dao was cut off, but he was not annoyed, and even returned a smile: "I said that you have a reason to be careful, you just said that you are closer than me and Xue Xiaozi, but I don't know that we have someone closer than you here, he didn't speak, how do you know that Xue Xiaozi is making his own claims?" ”

Chen Daoduan woke up the dreamer with a word, An Zaihai looked at the old man's face in surprise, and what he saw was still a sleepy old face, but he believed it very much in his heart. After all, with the proximity of the old man and Xue Xiang, coupled with the calmness and composure at this time, An Zaihai judged, Xue Anyuan raised the flag this time, Xue Xiaozi must have said hello to the old man, but if he said hello, why didn't the old man speak up, and let himself jump alone for a long time, I don't want to see myself embarrassed!

To say that Chen Dao has studied the art of Chinese power and scheming for 3,000 years, it is not a blind boast, this person's scheming city government does not deserve this self-praise, but it is also stronger than the An brothers and Zuoqiu Mingduoduo. No, when he said a word, not only woke up An Zaihai, but even Zuo Qiu Ming and An Zaijiang also showed a look of sudden realization, and they all raised their eyes to look at the old man.

Old Man An was silent, took the teacup and snorted gently.

Who knows the disappointment in the old man's heart at this moment, but the disappointment is disappointment, in the end, he is determined. However, the old man's disappointment and determination were not because of Xue Xiang, but because of An Zaihai, because of this son who had always made him unable to die and could not make up his mind. But tonight, the old man is completely dead to it, and he is also determined.

To put it in detail, the old man didn't expect that this son was not only short-witted, but also so narrow, it was for a piece of news, plus he didn't have to speculate, he could draw conclusions out of thin air and put them into practice, and so on, it really made the old man completely disappointed, and he began to wonder if it was a big failure and a wrong move that he had arranged for him to enter Wuzhong to clean up the situation.

Seeing that the old man was still silent, An Zaihai's patience reached the limit first, so he stood up and said hurriedly: "Dad, you are going to sell Guanzi, Xue Xiaozi in the end..."

Halfway through the sea talk, but when he heard a loud bang, the old man slammed the teacup in his hand on the ground, and his eyes, which seemed to be open, suddenly opened and closed, and the light was magnificent, so that everyone in the audience stood up and bowed to his side.

The old man stared at An Zaihai's unbelievable square face tightly, and raised his hand to point: "You, if you can do it, you can do it, and if you can't do it, you can make a sound, and some are people who do things." You are a dignified official of Wuzhong Province, in his position, he does not seek his own government, all he thinks about all day long is fighting and plotting, and the common people can point to an official like you, which is a hell! From now on, within three years, you are not allowed to step into the house for half a step, if you can't make a name for yourself in Wuzhong, you won't come back! ”

After saying that, the old man waved his hand to stop An Zaijiang, who was about to make a sound, and strode away with his cane.

An Zaijiang was still waiting to catch up, but was stopped by Lao Wang, who did not follow up. But seeing that Lao Wang took out a few pieces of paper from his pocket and handed them over, he didn't wait for An Zaijiang to take over, but he was snatched by An Zaihai, opened it, and stood on the spot.

…………………

It was early summer, and the night breeze was like water, Xue Xiang was a greedy guy again, and he drove slowly all the way back to get home. The Xue family's compound was already quiet. As soon as I parked the car in the warehouse, I noticed a sound on a big tree in the courtyard, and I looked at it very much. In the clear moonlight, someone in the treetops saluted him. Xue Xiang knew that this was the guard who accompanied Xue An into Beijing last time. To say that the only drawback of this Xue family's new house is that there are not enough guest rooms, or there are no guest rooms, just the Xue family has gathered, and they have to add a bed in the room before they can squeeze it out, and naturally there will be no room for the guard.

Xue Xiang raised his hand and saluted back, feeling a little apologetic in his heart. But he didn't make a sound invitation, because he had invited him, but he was politely declined. After saluting the guards and soldiers, Xue Xiang moved into the house. But seeing that there was no one in the large hall, there were many gift boxes scattered messily on the two side-by-side tables of the Eight Immortals, a bunch of small golden pigs and silver horses, etc., and a table was scattered.

Xue Xiang smiled. But he couldn't clean it up, his eyes moved up, and he swept on the calligraphy and painting hanging in the middle of the middle hall, and read these eight big characters silently repeatedly, raising land. I am infinitely grateful to the old chief and An Laosheng. To say that Xue Xiangsheng had this kind of emotion, it really didn't come out of thin air, but there was a reason.

Because he knew how risky it was for Xue Anyuan to raise the flag alone this time, how many people were waiting to see the joke, and how many people were waiting to fail. To say that although Xue Anyuan is the founding general and the most shining general in this Southern Expedition, in terms of qualifications and strength, it is really reluctant to erect the banner independently. After all, it is now seventy-nine years, not ninety-nine years, several old marshals are still alive, and there are many fathers and generals whose qualifications and strength have overshadowed Xue Anyuan, but the result of Xue Anyuan and Xue Xiang's discussion is still one word: lift!

And this extremely risky action, it was with the support of the old chief and the old man An that the rudder was stabilized.

Let's talk about the old chief first, not only did his old man ask Uncle Nan to send him a far-reaching eight-character operation, but Uncle Nan also carried out it in person in court, which made it of great significance. After all, if Uncle Nan didn't ask to open this handwritten book at that time, it would be impossible for the Xue family, as the main family, to open the gift box before the guests left. And if it can't be revealed in public, then the power of these eight words may have to be greatly reduced, fortunately, at that time, Xue Xiang hugged the gift box to go, but was stopped by Uncle Nan and opened it in public. This is clearly showing that the old chief not only supports the Xue family, but also supports it.

As for the help given by Old Man An, only Xue Xiang, Old Man, and Lao Wang knew. It turned out that Xue Xiang had already sent a letter to the old man after agreeing with Xue Anyuan, and this letter was not a phone call, nor a text, but a few pages of comics. And the reason why Xue Xiang chose such a primitive and unconventional way to deliver information naturally has his reasons. To put it in detail, with the passage of time, the friendship between Xue Xiang and the old man is like a pot of wine, and the more it is brewed, the sweeter it becomes.

And it was precisely because of this kind of too close relationship that Xue Xiang was embarrassed to tell the old man about the incident, after all, no matter how you explain it, it is a fact that the Xue family is self-reliant. But it doesn't work if you don't explain, because the paper can't contain the fire, and when the time comes, it will leak, but it will be more passive. However, in this matter, Xue Xiang was a little ashamed after all, he couldn't open his mouth, and it was difficult to put pen to paper. Therefore, Xue Xiang chose comics, which are quite game-like and relatively helpful to adjust the atmosphere, as a means of conveying information. And Xue Xiang knew that with the old man's mind and the city, he would not be so small, and it was impossible not to see the meaning of the painting and taste the pros and cons.

…………………………

But it was said that An Zaihai snatched a few pages of manuscript paper handed to An Zaijiang by Lao Wang, and looked through it, and what caught his eye was pictures without words, and it was the same when he flipped through several pages. An Zaihai first looked at Lao Wang with a puzzled expression, Lao Wang made a gesture of invitation, An Zaihai temporarily forgot the harshest wording in the history of the old man he had just received, and stared at the picture and thought about it.

Here, when An Zaihai opened the paper, An Zaijiang and Zuo and Chen Lianxiang all hugged forward, and they couldn't wait to see what mysteries were hidden on these pieces of paper, so that the old man could even suppress such a big thing, which was really curious.

A group of high-ranking officials did not care about the image, and crowded around An Zaihai, but fortunately, An Zaihai was very slow to look at the painting, and it took a few minutes to turn it over, and everyone saw it clearly.

It turns out that on the first page, a big tree is drawn, and a small tree stands next to the big tree, and on the second page, the small tree dies, and on the third or fourth page, the big tree gradually grows larger, and the small tree that has just fallen gradually becomes smaller until it disappears, and on the fifth page, a strong wind blows, and the big tree does not withstand the destruction of the Lord, and breaks off by roots.

Then, on page 6, the picture is exactly the same as on the first page, except that one of the branches of the tree is drawn very long, like a bent arm, encircling the little tree, and on the seventh and eighth pages, the little tree grows gradually, and on the ninth page, as usual, a strong wind blows the big tree to the east, and the little tree that grows up swings westward, and the branches of the big tree and the small tree bent over the east and west intersect and lean against each other, and on the tenth page, the wind is stronger, and the two trees bend harder, but they are still leaning and have not broken.

The drawing skills of the cartoons on the white paper are very clumsy, but they accurately express the meaning, and even An Zaijiang, who is not good at guessing people's minds, also read the story of these ten or so pages.

Apparently pages 1 to 5 are a story, which is about the death of the little tree, the body turned into nutrients, absorbed by the big tree, and the storm came, because a single tree did not make a forest, and without support, the big tree eventually fell; On pages 6 to 10, there is a story about how the little tree grew up under the protection of the big tree, and when the storm came, the big tree and the little tree relied on each other to help, and together they resisted the storm and survived.

In detail, the painting is constantly clumsy, and there are many errors that violate common sense, such as the fact that the branches of the big tree on page 6 almost cover the small tree, and according to normal scientific common sense, we all know that a small tree cannot thrive if it does not receive sunlight. And on pages 90, when the wind came, the two trees did not fall to one side, but bent in opposite directions, one east and one west, which obviously violated the laws of mechanics.