The steamer went down the river with black smoke, Aunt Mei went to the next cabin to play mahjong, Chunbao lay on the porthole to see the scenery on both sides of the strait, there are a lot of ships on the Yangtze River, there are many machine ships with foreign flags, Nanjing to Shanghai is not far away, it is enough to take the waterway for a day, when the steamer enters the Huangpu River, Chunbao is simply dizzying, there is an extremely large ironclad warship parked in the center of the river, there are many high-rise buildings on the shore, Shanghai is much more prosperous than Nanjing.

The boat stopped at the sixteenth shop wharf, Chun Bao carried a wicker box under the gangplank, his eyes were still looking around, he almost fell into the water, got off the boat and called two rickshaws, one Aunt Mei was sitting, one was pulling luggage, Chun Bao spread his legs and ran with the rickshaw, when he entered the concession, Chun Bao saw the foreign soldiers for the first time, the British soldiers with high noses and blue eyes were wearing khaki military uniforms and shorts, black leather shoes were shiny, stockings were pulled under the knees, the rifle was a shiny bayonet, and there was a tall Indian patrol next to him, with a red bun on his head, With batons hanging from their waists, the foreign soldiers have straight waists and majestic styles, which are completely different from the weak and obscene big-headed soldiers under Chen Baoju. Chunbao couldn't take his eyes off it, but a foreign soldier suddenly pointed at himself and drank the order, Chunbao couldn't understand the foreign language, stood ignorantly, Aunt Mei got out of the car to negotiate, and she couldn't get the essentials, fortunately, others pointed out, saying that the Chinese soldiers were not allowed to enter the concession, Sister Mei didn't say a word, tore off Chunbao's epaulette and collar badge and threw it to the ground, the foreigner shrugged his shoulders and actually let him go.

Sister Mei lives in the Dadong Hotel on Nanjing Road, there is an elevator, running hot water and an iron shelf bed, three yuan a night, Aunt Mei asked Chun Bao to put down the luggage, standing facing the wall, and after a while let him turn around, Aunt Mei has changed into a cheongsam, wearing white high heels, and wants to take Chun Bao out of Baixiang.

Nanjing Road, also known as Avenida Avenida Major, is the most prosperous street in the British Concession, there are cars and jingling trams, Aunt Mei took Chun Bao to open a foreign meat, spent copper yuan two to take the tram, sat from the British Concession to the French Concession, found a Western restaurant to eat, Chun Bao has been immersed in shock, many years later still remember the clean white tablecloth and butter bread fragrance of the Western restaurant.

It was already dark when I came out of the western restaurant, I still took the tram back, and returned to the hostel, Chun Bao served Aunt Mei to wash her face and get to bed, light a cigarette lamp, and install a cigarette bubble, and Aunt Mei lay on her side, comfortably smoking a tube of opium. Aunt Mei's green cheongsam has an extremely high slit, revealing her white and greasy thighs.

Chun Bao had the courage to sit on Aunt Mei's heels, Bai Huahua's thighs were under her noses, and the extremely fine hairs on them could be seen clearly. swallowed her saliva and was about to put her hand on it, but Aunt Mei stretched and turned off the light. Then I heard her faint voice: "Go to bed early." Chun Bao heard the rejection in Aunt Mei's words. This night, he slept on the floor and tossed and turned, and he really couldn't guess Aunt Mei's thoughts.

The next day, Aunt Mei went out for a whole day, and only came back after dark. As soon as she entered the door, she put down the little kun bag in her hand, didn't speak, sat down in front of the dresser, and stared blankly at the face in the mirror. Chunbao's heart sank, and he could see that Aunt Mei was unhappy. As soon as she wanted to ask, Aunt Mei spoke: "Do you think I'm good-looking?" Chunbao didn't expect Aunt Mei to ask like this, and suddenly opened her mouth wide, then reacted and nodded violently, "It's good-looking!" Aunt Mei, no, Sister Mei, of course you look good. "Aunt Mei has bent eyebrows and a small mouth, and her melon seed face is black and her almond eyes are really good-looking.

"Do you think I'm young, then?" Aunt Mei asked again.

"This-" Chun Bao didn't know how to answer, Aunt Mei was in her twenties, of course she wasn't young. After a moment's thought, he said, "Looks young," and then added, "Twenty at most." ”

"Do you think men like me?"

Needless to say, Chun Bao knew how to answer, and nodded vigorously.

Aunt Mei seemed to be in a better mood, and her almond eyes were watery all of a sudden. She pouted and pointed her fingertips on Chunbao's head, "I can't see that you are also dishonest." Then Aunt Mei instructed Chun Bao to go to the nearby Dexing restaurant to order a table of mixed dishes, and buy a bottle of brandy by the way.

The brandy was very strong, and Chun Bao was almost drunk halfway through it. He felt Aunt Mei help him to the bed, strip him naked, and lie on top of him naked...... Later, when the wine came up, I didn't know anything.

When he woke up, he was stunned for a while before he realized that he was sleeping on the street, and the little clerk who was in the morning hurriedly passed by him. He staggered to his feet and ran towards the Great Eastern Hotel. Aunt Mei had already checked out and didn't know where to go, and Chun Bao had to ask, and the Indian Ah San, who was wrapped in a red turban, blasted him out of the door like a duck. Chun Bao rummaged through his pockets and found a piece of Yinyang. The daylight was dazzlingly white, Chun Bao narrowed his eyes and stared at the glowing silver ocean in his hand, and finally carefully put this silver ocean into the pocket of the small coat inside.

Chun Bao wandered aimlessly, when he was thirsty, he turned into a small alley and begged people to give him tap water to drink, and when he was hungry, he bought street snacks, and a piece of silver was quickly spent. He learned that his family had set up a broken bowl on the side of the road, and he couldn't get a few coppers from morning to night, and he had to endure the hooligans on the street, the boss of the beggars, and everyone came to bully him. Chun Po has finally had enough, and he prepares to go home. Hearing that there was a freight train to the north at Zhabei Railway Station, which he could pick up, he began to walk towards Zhabei. Shanghai is too big, and when I walked to the dark Chunbao, I found that I was lost. Chun Bao was shivering, hungry and cold, and then he saw a group of people running on the road in front of him, and someone was shouting: "Hurry up, hurry up, Boss Lin is giving up big steamed buns and fried dough sticks again!" Unconsciously Chun Bao ran with the people, turned a corner, and soon squeezed into the middle of a large group of poor beggars.

Lin Ji abacus shop is at the corner of Wutong Street, facing the back gate of Yuyuan, and the front of the small east gate, which is already a relatively deep place in the south market. It's a three-story building. The workshop in front of the shop in the small building, up and down three floors, unlike the general Shikumen house, there is a patio in the west, the patio of this house is in the west, relatively small, just for lighting. The entire floor is full of abacus workshops, and the second and third floors are where Boss Lin's family lives. The south-facing hall facing the street is Lin Kee's shop, which has a large glass cabinet that is transparent on three sides, and all the abacus styles produced by Lin Kee are in the glass case, from the simplest and best-selling bamboo and wood abacus to boxwood and mahogany abacus dozens of kinds. In the middle of the store is the Eight Immortals Table Taishi Chair, which is specially used for customers to talk about business. There is a passage next to the shop that leads to the workshop and the large kitchen, as well as the tent in the east wing.

Boss Lin is standing at the door of the store at the moment. It was already dark, but the lights in the hall were bright, and several oil lamps hung under the signboard in front of the store, illuminating the edge of the street. Boss Lin was surrounded by several guys, and there was a large table in front of him, on which was a large basket covered with a white cloth, and a large basket of white flour steamed buns was full. He is in his 40s this year, has only one daughter under his knees, believes in Buddhism, is willing to give, and has the idea of adding another boy to inherit the seeds, so in recent years, there has been a fixed day every month dedicated to giving steamed buns to beggars and poor. Today is the day of steamed buns. In the big kitchen at the back, the proprietress is leading the cook maid to pick up the big oil pan and fry the fritters. The smell of fragrant oil came from inside, and Chun Bao felt his stomach twitch for a while, and swallowed hard.

Soon the fritters were brought out in a big dustpan, and Boss Lin said a few words as usual, nothing more than modesty, although he gave charity, but he did not dare to pretend to be the benefactor of the benefactor. Then he ordered the men to start giving alms according to people's heads, one steamed bun and one fritter per person, and not many takes. Lin Ji Shi steamed buns for several years, and the neighbors have long been accustomed to it, and they are doing good deeds, so there is no one to make trouble next to them, and everyone is lining up, quietly waiting for their turn. When it was Chunbao's turn, he bowed deeply to Boss Lin and said loudly: "Great benevolent people live a long life, and they are blessed and long-lived." Then he walked away with the steamed bun.

As soon as he walked around the corner, a guy hurriedly ran up and grabbed Chunbao, "Little brother, our boss called you over." ”