The petition was fruitless, and even Section Chief Zhao's promise to "comfort the injured students" was not fulfilled, so the students of the schools went on strike two days later. However, these so-called schools are only a part of the schools, and most of the schools are in fact closed.

On the second day of the strike, the student federation under the auspices of the "Foreign College" and "Gaoshi" schools officially issued a declaration of strike, saying a few disrespectful words to the Overseers. A few more terrible days followed, and almost every day there were skirmishes between soldiers and students, which caused the whole city to panic and unsettle, as if another war accident was about to happen. Students do not dare to walk alone on the street, and if they want to go to the street, they must always make an appointment with five or six classmates as companions, otherwise they will inevitably suffer losses. One evening, a student of the "senior teacher" was surrounded and beaten by three soldiers at the south gate, and the police did not dare to say a word when they saw it.

The whole city fell into a state of disorder, and the authorities did not care about it at all, pretending not to see it. Section Chief Zhao's statement to the petitioning students that "the governor has his own solution" seems to be just empty words. The Overseer was busy giving his mother a birthday these days, and he might have forgotten about such a trivial matter. Therefore the arrogance of the soldiers grew, and the majesty of the wounded soldiers became greater, and they roamed the streets at will, and no one came out to interfere.

However, students are not easily subdued. They are brave enough to carry out this so-called "self-defense movement to preserve the dignity of students". After they leave class, they replace their homework with activities such as handing out leaflets and giving speeches. The Students' Federation was very active, and on the one hand, it sent telegrams to all walks of life throughout the country asking for justice, and on the other hand, it sent representatives to other counties to publicize it, and most importantly, it contacted the students in all counties to respond and expand the student movement as much as possible.

Jue Hui was much more enthusiastic about this movement than Jue Min. Juemin seems to be too busy tutoring Jean to learn English, and doesn't care much about anything else.

One afternoon, when Juehui returned home from a meeting at the student union, she met Aunt Chen's maid, Sister-in-law Qian, in the hall. Sister-in-law Qian said, "Third young master, the old lady called you." You go. He followed Sister-in-law Qian to his grandfather's room.

My grandfather, who was over sixty years earlier, was lying on a wicker chair in front of the bed, and his body looked very long. The long face has a dull yellow tinge. There are two gray mustaches on his lips. The top of the head is bald, with only a few gray hairs. The eyes were closed, and there was a slight sound in the nostrils.

Jue Hui stared intently at the old man who was in a false sleep. He stood in front of his grandfather in fear, not daring to wake him up, and he did not dare to leave. At first he felt very uneasy, as if the air in the room was oppressing him, and he stood here quietly, hoping that his grandfather would wake up sooner and that he would go out sooner. Later, his fear gradually subsided, and he paid attention to his grandfather's dark yellow face and the bare crown of his head.

Ever since he could remember, he had a shadow of his grandfather who looked like a ** in his head. My grandfather was a man whom the whole family admired and revered, often with an awe-inspiring and inviolable aura. When he met his grandfather, he rarely spoke more than five sentences. Every morning and evening, he went to his grandfather's house twice a day to say goodbye. In addition, wherever he was, whenever he saw his grandfather approaching, he tried to avoid it, because he felt restrained by his grandfather's presence. Grandfather seems to be a completely unkind person.

Now his grandfather looked very weak before his eyes, and his body lay there limp, drooling intermittently from his slightly open mouth, and wetting the clothes under his chin. "Grandpa wasn't necessarily born to be old-fashioned and unkind." He thought to himself. So an old poem came to his mind: "I don't like heavy makeup, I love light makeup, the natural richness overwhelms the crowd, and sure enough, I still pity you, and I blame Tan Lang for being crazy." As he read the verses of a poem given to him by his deceased grandmother (which he had read in her grandmother's book of poems some time ago), the image of his young grandfather immediately appeared in front of him. He smiled slightly. "Grandpa used to be a ridiculous person, and he didn't become a good man until later." He remembered again: In his grandfather's own poetry collection, there were also many poems that were donated to school books, and he was not the only one who received poems from him. And he thought, "This was before the age of thirty." It was probably only when he got older that he became a stubborn figure who talked about morality and benevolence. "But...... In recent years, my grandfather occasionally corresponded with Xiao Dan's plays, and once my grandfather and fourth uncle called a famous Xiao Dan to their home to take pictures in disguise, and he once saw that Xiao Dan combing his hair and rubbing powder in the living room. Such a thing is not strange in a provincial town. Not long ago, several elders who presided over the Confucian Church also boasted of the Liyuan list in the newspaper and ordered a certain Hua Dan to be the champion. It is said that this is an elegant thing. My grandfather was also a celebrity, and he printed two volumes of "Poetry Collection" to send to friends, and he liked to collect calligraphy and paintings, so he was not exempt from vulgarity at this point. "But how can the graceful things coexist with the spirit of the Guardian?" That's what his young heart didn't understand.

My grandfather also had an aunt. Although this woman often wears heavy makeup and is full of fragrance, she does not have a little love. When she spoke, she always spoke in a shrill voice, squirming and squirming. She was bought to serve her grandfather after her grandmother died. Her grandfather seemed to be very fond of her, and he spent nearly ten years with her. She also gave birth to a sixth uncle, but the sixth uncle only lived to be five years old before he fell ill and died. He remembered that his grandfather was in the mood to enjoy calligraphy and painting and live with this aunt, and he couldn't help but smile dumbly.

"That's how contradictory people are," he thought, feeling that he didn't know his grandfather any more. The more he studied, the less he understood, and in his eyes his grandfather became a mystery, an insoluble mystery. ……

Suddenly his grandfather opened his eyes, looked at him for a moment, looked at him in surprise, as if he didn't know him, and waved his hand to let him out. He wondered why his grandfather called him and made him stand for a long time, and without saying a word to him, he told him to go out. He was about to open his mouth to ask, when he suddenly noticed an unhappy look on his grandfather's face, and he knew that too much talk would lead to scolding, so he quietly walked outside.

As soon as he reached the door, he heard his grandfather's voice again:

"Third child, come back, I have something to ask you."

He answered, and turned and walked up to his grandfather.

"Where have you been? I shouted at you for a long time and couldn't find you! The tone was stern, and my grandfather was already sitting up.

The question embarrassed him. He knew he couldn't tell his grandfather that he was back from the student union, but he couldn't make up an answer on the fly. Grandfather's stern eyes shot in his face. He blushed and hesitated for a moment before he said, "I'm going to see a classmate." ”

Grandfather sneered, his majestic eyes swept across his face, and then said, "Don't lie, I know everything." They all told me that in the past few days, students have been making trouble with the soldiers, and you are also messing around. …… There are no classes in the school, you are not at home every day, and you go to some student association for a meeting. …… Just now, Mrs. Chen told me that someone saw you scattering some leaflets on the street. …… Originally, the students were too arrogant and too nonsense, and they had to inspect Japanese goods today, and tomorrow they would catch merchants and parade through the streets, which was simply lawless. Why are you messing around with them? …… I heard that the wind outside is very bad, and the authorities will take a big unfavorable action against the students. Messing around outside like you, see how your little life is ruined! Grandfather cursed, paused, or coughed. Juehui agreed, he wanted to say a few words, but as soon as he opened his mouth, his grandfather rushed to continue. Grandfather finally coughed. Aunt Chen ran over from the next room with a smell of fat powder, and stood next to her to beat her grandfather's back.

Grandfather slowly stopped coughing, and when he saw him still standing in front of him, he said angrily, "You students don't study all day, they just like to make trouble." The current school is really bad, and it only creates a few troublemakers. I said that I don't want you to enter the school, but now the children will learn badly as soon as they enter the school. You see, your fifth father has never entered the foreign school, and he reads well, and his handwriting is better than yours. He reads and writes at home all day, recites poetry and writes against each other, where is he messing around outside all day long like you! If you continue to make trouble like this, I think you'll ruin your little life! ”

"It's not that we like to make trouble, we used to study hard in the school, and our movement this time is just a movement of self-defense. We were beaten for no reason, and of course we didn't want to end it casually......" Juehui said calmly.

"You still have to argue! I told you, but you didn't listen! …… From today onwards, I will not allow you to go out and make trouble. …… Aunt Chen, you go and call his eldest brother," the grandfather said tremblingly, coughing loudly again, panting and spitting a few mouthfuls of phlegm on the ground.

"Third Young Master, you see that you are angry with your grandfather like this. Please say a few words so that he can rest for a while! Aunt Chen said to Juehui with a straight face. Jue Hui knew that there was a thorn in her words, but in front of her grandfather, he was not good at attacking, so he turned his face away and did not speak, and secretly bit his lip hard.

"Aunt Chen, you go and call his eldest brother and Keming together!" Grandfather stopped coughing and said again.

Aunt Chen said yes and walked out, leaving him standing face to face in front of his grandfather.

Grandfather said no more, and seemed to calm down a little, and his old blurred eyes moved aimlessly in all directions, and then he closed his eyes.

Jue Hui glanced at his grandfather's slender body several times, and suddenly a strange thought came to his mind: he felt that it was not his grandfather who was lying in front of him, he was just a representative of an entire generation. He knew that their grandparents would never get to know each other, but he wondered what was hidden in this lanky body that would make them talk together like two enemies not like grandfather and grandson. He felt very uncomfortable in his heart. There seemed to be a lot of things weighing heavily on his young shoulders. He shook his body, trying to show his resistance to everything.

However, Aunt Chen came in. The pink face with high cheekbones, thin lips, and dark eyebrows shook in front of his eyes. She brought in a pungent scent. Then his eldest brother came in. The brothers exchanged unpleasant glances. Juexin immediately knew what kind of situation Juehui was in, so he calmly walked up to his grandfather.

Grandfather heard footsteps, opened his eyes, and when he saw Juexin standing in front of him, he asked Aunt Chen, "Where is the third master?" He heard Aunt Chen reply, "The third master went to the law firm." He scolded: "He only knows how to fight lawsuits for others in one day, regardless of family affairs!" Then he instructed Juexin: "I will hand over your third brother to you, you take care of him and don't let him out." If he runs out, I'll ask you for someone. Grandfather's voice was still harsh, but softer than before.

Juexin only responded, making a very deferential appearance, while secretly looking at Juehui, giving him a look, and telling him not to speak. Juehui didn't say anything.

"Okay, take him out, I've made enough trouble for him," said the grandfather after a long pause, and closed his eyes again.

Juexin still responded, and made a gesture to Juehui on the one hand, and the two of them walked out quietly.

They walked out of their grandfather's room, through the hall, and down the patio. Jue Hui exhaled deeply and said with a half-mocking smile, "I only now feel that I am my own master. Juexin glanced at him. He suddenly asked Juexin seriously: "Big brother, what should I do?" ”

"I don't have a good idea. I had to listen to my grandfather's words: If you don't go out for a few days, it's fine," Juexin said with two hands.

"How's that going to work? The movement outside is going on vigorously, how can I quietly hide at home and not go out? He said in despair that he was beginning to understand the seriousness of the matter.

"What's the solution? Since he wants you to be like this," Juexin said calmly. These days, he has been almost calm about everything big or small.

"Well, your 'non-resistance' is here again. I think you might as well be a Christian by the rules. If someone hits you on the left cheek, they will immediately send the right cheek as well. ......" Jue Hui scolded angrily, as if to vent the anger he had received from his grandfather to Jue Xin.

"You're so anxious," Juexin didn't get angry, but laughed slightly. "Why are you losing your temper with me? What's the use of you scolding me? ”

"I've got to get out! I'll run out right away! Look what he did to me! Jue Hui muttered to herself excitedly, pausing incessantly.

"It turned out to be just a few more scoldings," Juexin replied, his voice beginning to become melancholy.

Jue Hui raised her head and glanced at her brother, then fell silent.

"Now I'll talk to you seriously," Juexin comforted Juehui peacefully and cordially, "I advise you to stay at home for a few days and not go out, so as not to make Grandpa angry again." …… You're young and impatient. In fact, whatever grandpa says to you, you just have to listen quietly, let him say it alone, and when he has said enough and calms down, you promise a few 'yes' words and go out, forgetting everything as if you haven't heard anything from him. Wouldn't that be simpler? You don't do any good arguing with him! ”

Jue Hui stopped talking, and he looked up at the gray sky. He didn't agree with his brother, but he didn't want to argue with him anymore. My brother also has a point: there is no need to work hard to do things that are not beneficial in the first place. But can a young man's heart be forever bound to the plan of interest? At this point, my brother didn't seem to know him.

He looked at the few dark clouds flying in the sky, and several contradictory thoughts struggled in his mind. But in the end he decided. He said to Juexin gently, "I decided not to go out for a few days. But I'm not listening to grandpa, it's just to avoid causing you more trouble. ”

Juexin's face showed a look of relief. He smiled with satisfaction, "Thank you." In fact, if you want to go out, I can't control you, I have to go to the company every day to do things, and I came back early today when I have something, and I happened to meet you. …… In fact, in good conscience, grandpa doesn't want you to go out, it's still for your good. ”

"I know," Juehui replied without thinking, not knowing what he was talking about. He stood in the patio stupidly and watched Juexin walk away. A man walked listlessly to the flower pot. The red plum branches were blooming, and the fragrance was reaching his nose one after another. He stretched out his hand and folded a short sprig, took it in his hand and folded it into several pieces, plucked the flower from the twig and put it on the palm of his hand, and then pinched it hard, and pinched the petals into a small wet ball.

He didn't know what he was doing. But he was satisfied, because he had destroyed something. He thought about how happy it would be if one day this hand grew bigger and could destroy the old system like this. ……

But after some time, he became depressed again, because he realized that he could not go out and participate in the student movement now.

"Contradiction, contradiction......" he kept reading, he knew that not only his grandfather was contradictory, not only his eldest brother was contradictory, but now even he himself was contradictory.