Forever into the vast expanse without heat and cold

——Zhu Huaijing, Li Mingxi, Jingbang

Zhu Huaijing nodded slightly, secretly admiring Li Mingxi. Looking at the words of the Shanglian list, it is very appropriate, and what is even better is the pun on the three words "knowing black and white", which shows the personality of Bu Lao. The next couplet writes that Bu Laoxian's return is not poignant, and it is also in line with Bu Lao's indulgence. Zhu Huaijing's writing is mediocre, but because he has been with Li Mingxi and Bu Weizhi for a long time, he has also read some miscellaneous books that are against poetry. After all, he rarely has Yaxing, but he has a rough idea of Ping Qian and the like. He looked at Li Mingxi's elegiac couplet, and the meaning was very good, and there seemed to be something wrong with it. The word "in" is a sound word, and it is necessary to use a flat sound here. The words "blank" and "none" are flat sounds, and this place should be a sound of voices. He didn't say it either, just nodded his head in praise. Zhu Huaijing looked at the couplet, looked up and searched around, only to find Li Mingxi squatting by the bookcase in a corner, looking at him, timidly like seeing a stranger. The room was still in a mess, and it seemed to smell something. "Mingxi, are you alright?" Zhu Huaijing asked.

Li Mingxi didn't say anything, stood up slowly, and asked, "Just go?" Without waiting for Zhu Huaijing to answer, he carefully folded the coupling and went out. Zhu Huaijing closed the door for him and followed him downstairs. After getting into the car, Li Mingxi said to himself: "People ...... in this life" Zhu Huaijing wanted to hear if he had any lofty opinions, but he couldn't hear the following. At this moment, Li Mingxi's mind may be full of philosophical insights about life, and it must be grotesque and profound. He didn't say it, Zhu Huaijing just turned his face sideways, looking at his slightly cloudy eyes sunken into his sockets, and seemed to smell a philosophical smell.

There are still a few shops in front of Bu Lao's house, and the mournful suona sound can be heard in the distance. Playing suona in the Buddhist dojo is really a very wise invention of the ancestors. The suona of the Buddhist dojo does not pay attention to the tune, but just sets the gongs, drums, wooden fish, melodiously accompanied by one or two sounds, which is naturally poignant and tear-jerking. Zhu Huaijing felt a sour itch in his nasal cavity, and couldn't help but feel it.

When the filial men and women saw Zhu Huaijing and Li Mingxi coming to mourn, they knelt down together, screaming loudly and crying. The crying made the suona sound harmonized, and it was even more pathetic. Zhu Huaijing's eyes were astringent, and they quickly became moist. He hurriedly stepped forward to pull up the filial men and women and asked them to mourn. After a man in his fifties was pulled up, he shook hands with Zhu and Li to express his gratitude. Zhu Huaijing guessed that this man must be a stranger. They had never dealt head-on. Li Mingxi sent the couplet, and Zhu Huaijing sent the sacrifice. The neighbors who watched the excitement came up to see the couplet, but they didn't understand the meaning of the couplet, and they all said that the word was beautifully written. That one was really Bu Zhifei, he looked at the couplet, and knew that it was two good friends of his father before his death, so he introduced himself and thanked him again. Invite both of you to sit down and have tea.

The mourning hall is a shed erected in front of the elegant hall facing the street. Ordinary people in Jingdu are old, and they all build a shed in front of their house to make a mourning hall like this, which seems to have become a custom. Naturally, Yachitang is closed. The big book on the front of the mourning hall is "when it is a big event", and the couplet on both sides reads:

The fairy weng went west against the wind

Jing Shui was speechless

Bu Zhifei saw Zhu Huaijing and Li Mingxi looking at the couplet, and hurriedly said: "These are the two sentences I made up myself, not good." The couplets sent by the two gentlemen are in line with my father's lifelong aspirations, and I immediately asked someone to replace the couplets sent by my husband. Zhu Huaijing saw that Li Mingxi was silent, so he said: "You don't have to change it, just hang it next to it." Bu Zhifei was polite, called someone over, took down the original couplet and hung it aside, and hung the couplet written by Li Mingxi on the front of the mourning hall. Zhu and Li accompanied Bu Zhifei to talk, which was nothing more than some comforting words. The filial daughters crying on the side is the traditional crying and mourning tune of Jingdu, which exhausts the benefits of Bu Lao's daily life. The older woman, who must have been Bu Zhifei's wife, cried the most, and actually rhymed with each other: "...... Daddy, you are fifteen or sixteen years old, a burden, an apprentice, and you have gone to the city of Beijing. A month of hard work, two and a half pieces of Guangyang, between your teeth, you (is) saving food. Finally, you (are) learned the art, you (is) not easy for the old and young family, and you (are) not resting every year. When you are old, you (yes) will have to suffer a hardship, and you will criticize you (yes) standing on the stage, saying that you want to change the sky. Men and women (yes) are not filial, you (yes) still teach the arts, so that children and grandchildren (yes) don't ask for food. Listen to this cry, Bu Zhifei did not avoid the guests, his eyes were red, he choked up, and said: "My wife, I have been married to my family for almost forty years, and I know that my father has a difficult business....... Zhu Huaijing was also very moved and sighed a few times. The Jingdu woman was crying and mourning, and Zhu Huai heard it once and felt that it was very flavorful. The "yes" in the sentence is a modal word, which is equivalent to "which" or "yo" in a folk song. What's even more interesting is that there are remnants of ancient grammar in the Jingdu dialect, and the "have" of Mrs. Bu Zhifei's crying "big heart" is still a particle in the language in ancient times.

Li Mingxi never spoke much, always looking at the portrait of Bu Lao. Zhu Huaijing saw that Bu Zhifei's family regarded him and Li Mingxi as VIPs, so he felt that it was inconvenient to sit here all the time and cause trouble to others, so he asked: "Lao Bu, if you have anything you want us to help with, just say it." "This was a kind word to say goodbye, but I never thought that Bu Zhifei really had something to help. He shook his head helplessly and said, "Mr. Zhu...... Ah, Director Zhu, there's something to see if you can do me a favor. I went to the funeral home this morning and it was all trouble. We didn't set up a mourning hall with them, but we sent it to be cremated after the Buddhist ashram was finished, but they insisted that we rent a mourning hall. In fact, it doesn't matter whether you rent or not, you just want me to pay. I don't think I can talk about it, so I'll just calculate the rent of a small mourning hall. But they didn't let me and insisted that I rent the Great Mourning Hall. I remember the year my mother died, and at that time, she was not allowed to set up a funeral hall in her own home, and she had to hold a funeral at a funeral home. Because we have many relatives and friends, we want to rent a big spiritual hall, and they think we are funny, saying that the big spiritual hall needs a considerable level of leadership to use. It's good now, it's not about leaders or leaders, as long as they can make money, they can't wait to rent out the entire funeral home. It's easy to talk about this rent alone, but it's even more unreasonable. My mother is also buried in the cemetery of the funeral home, and we want to bury my father and mother together, which is the wish of the old people. We wanted to hire someone to carry out the construction ourselves, but they said that this would not work, and we had to pay more than 20,000 yuan, and they would be responsible for the construction. In fact, we can build it ourselves and spend one or two thousand yuan. In addition, I have to rent wreaths and buy small white flowers from them. It is all done according to what the funeral home says, including the makeup fee for the elderly, cremation fee, etc., which will cost 50,000 or 60,000 yuan. This does not include the cemetery requisition fee, because this is a joint burial, and no new land acquisition is required. If the land is requisitioned, it will not cost 80,000 yuan. These are all things that they have explicitly stipulated to be collected, not including the payment of points to the staff. If you don't do it, the relationship is stiff, they don't cremate you right away, they have to queue up, and they intend to delay time with you, then they have to collect the rent for parking the body, and how much is it every day. Director Zhu, in Jingdu, ordinary people don't say they live, and they can't afford to die. To be honest, it's not that we can't afford to spend tens of thousands of dollars, but it's just that it's not going well. It was really not good to talk about it, so I had to drag him to the countryside against my father's wishes, spend money to buy a piece of feng shui treasure land, and bury him. Anyway, burial is something that the old people can't ask for. ”

Zhu Huaijing was very angry. He couldn't think of any way to help Bu Zhifei for a while. Before he could speak, Bu Zhifei said again: "Those people's attitudes are called bad, they are simply people sent by Lord Yama. They said, "You have to pay the money, it's a nail." I thought of a delaying tactic and came back to think of a way. Before leaving, they said that it was useless for you to ask Pede to intercede, and that he would have to be sent here when the time came. Is it hard for you to hear this? ”

Zhu Huaijing snorted and said, "These people are really scoundrels!" Don't worry, Lao Bu. I'm trying to figure it out. At this time, someone came over to invite Zhu Huaijing and Li Mingxi to dinner. It turned out that according to the customs of Jingdu, if there was a funeral in the family, a flowing water banquet would be held. Those who come to mourn will send a sacrifice, and when they have registered, they will go to have a meal. The Bu family's flowing water mat was opened in the backyard of his house. Zhu Huaijing said that he had eaten, thank you. But thinking that Li Mingxi must not have eaten lunch yet, he said, "Mingxi, you haven't eaten, have you?" You go and eat, I'll talk to Lao Bu here, waiting for you. Li Mingxi was not polite and went in with the others. Bu Zhifei looked at Li Mingxi's back and said, "This Mr. Li, my father often talks about it, he is a talented man. Zhu Huaijing smiled and said yes. He suddenly remembered that the funeral home was also the administrative area of Song Daqing's bureau, maybe he had a way, so he tried to hang up the phone and explain the situation in detail. Song Daqing said: "I really have never dealt with funeral homes. That piece belongs to our Yuetang Police Station, I'll contact them and ask them to do it immediately. Zhu Huaijing said: "Then thank you in advance." I'll be waiting for your call. ”

"I really didn't expect that Old Bu was so healthy," Zhu Huaijing sighed, "How can you say that you just left?" ”

Bu Zhifei hid his tears and said: "You don't know, my father has suffered all his life, but he is easy-going, optimistic and cheerful, and he never can't get along with himself." I didn't expect to end up holding a grudge. ”

Zhu Huaijing didn't know what to do, and asked, "What other big wishes does Elder Bu have to fulfill?" ”

Bu Feizhi said: "You don't know, my old father took an ancient painting from someone else to repair it in his early years, and he never saw that person come to pick it up. It's been more than 40 years, and my father has kept the painting for others. It was a painting by Shi Tao in the Qing Dynasty, called "Alpine Cold Moon Map". According to his father, this is a painting by Shi Tao, which is very precious. The old man said that this is someone else's thing, and it must not be taken for himself. My father only showed me this painting, and no one else in the family knew that it was in the house. Unexpectedly, a week ago, the painting suddenly disappeared. My father was bedridden that day. I'm the only one who knows about this painting, and it's a strange loss. My father was sick in bed, and refused to eat anything, and after sleeping for seven days, he closed his eyes. My father didn't have anything else to say to me, but only said to me on his deathbed: Life is in the world, it is easy to know what is wrong, and it is difficult to know what is wrong! I think my father gave me such a name, and he had his own view of life. It's a pity that I was born stupid and not wise enough, which disappointed my father. ”

Hearing that Bu Lao died due to the loss of his painting, Zhu Huaijing's brain was shocked, and his face couldn't help but turn red. It seems that he stole something from someone else. Bu Zhifei said that no one else knew about this thing, so it was difficult for him to say that he had seen this painting. Fortunately, Li Mingxi was not present, otherwise he would definitely say that he had seen the painting, which would have caused trouble for no reason. This is a bit mysterious. Zhu Huaijing asked, "Did you lose anything else at home?" Bu Zhifei shook his head and said, "I didn't lose anything else." There is no cash in the house, and no one wants furniture and utensils. Nowadays, even thieves are not the same as before, and if you steal, you have to steal cash. ”

While the two were talking, Zhu Huaijing's phone rang, it turned out to be Song Daqing calling, saying that the matter was settled, let the Bu family go to the individual, and go to the Yuetang Police Station in the afternoon to find Director Zhou, Director Zhou accompanied him to the funeral home to go through the formalities to ensure that there was no problem. Zhu Huaijing didn't expect things to be done so quickly, he really admired Song Daqing's ability to do things, and said thank you. When Bu Zhifei heard that the matter was really done, he was happy and had a smile on his face. But after all, this is not the time to laugh, so he immediately calmed down and said very sincere words of thanks. Zhu Huaijing later knew that Director Zhou of the Yuetang Police Station received a call from Song Daqing, and he did not dare to slack off, so he immediately drove to the funeral home to negotiate in person. The funeral home was also tough at first, but Director Zhou said that it was easy to do, and he immediately had to see the temporary residence permit of the temporary workers of the funeral home. The dirty work of the funeral home is all done by hired migrant workers, there are dozens of them, where have they applied for temporary residence permits? Director Zhou was not annoyed, and asked them to go to the police station immediately in the afternoon to apply for temporary residence permits. At the same time, each temporary worker who did not apply for a temporary residence permit was fined 5,000 yuan. Everyone in the area of Yuetang knows that when they meet Director Zhou's errand, they are not afraid of him staring, but afraid of him laughing. Director Zhou smiled, and the leader of the funeral home immediately came forward and said sorry. It's easy to say, they promised to only charge the cremation fee of Bu's hometown, and burn it as they go. This is what Zhu Huaijing later had dinner with Song Daqing and occasionally heard about it at the wine table. After listening to what happened, Zhu Huaijing shook his head and said that this is really black and black. Song Daqing corrected with a smile, saying that it was red eating black. The people present joined in the fun, saying that if they want to say that they are all red, the funeral home and the public security are all in charge.

Li Mingxi came out with his mouth rubbed, and Zhu Huaijing said that it was not early, and he had to go to work in the afternoon, so he said goodbye. Bu Zhifei got up and shook hands with the two again, thank you, thank you, and give up.

In the car, Zhu Huaijing asked Li Mingxi: "Do you know how Bu Lao died?" ”

Li Mingxi didn't seem to understand this, opened his mouth and puffed out his eyes, and asked rhetorically: "If you die, you are dead, how can you die?" ”

Zhu Huaijing glanced at him and said, "Bu Laozang's Shi Tao's "Alpine Cold Moon Map" was lost, I didn't eat or drink, and I slept for a few days and went. ”

"Painting?" Li Mingxi said a word thoughtlessly and was silent.

After sending Li Mingxi away, Zhu Huaijing still returned to the office. I always think about what Bu Lao said on his deathbed is easy to know, and it is difficult to know what is wrong, and I can't help but sigh. Zhu Huaijing wants to be in officialdom, mostly to let you know what is right, and you don't need to know what is wrong. Over time, people in the officialdom only know how to listen to instructions and nod yes in their lives. In his life, although he was a flat-headed commoner, he best understood the great truth between heaven and earth.

When he was about to get off work, Bu Zhifei called and said that the funeral home had been contacted, thank you very much. Zhu Huaijing was polite and said that there was no need to thank him. At this time, he didn't know how the Yuetang Police Station was doing good things, but he secretly sighed to himself, thinking that it was no wonder that many leading comrades liked to make friends with public security officers. Putting down the phone, he was about to leave with his briefcase, Fang Mingyuan entered his office and joked: "What, hurry to go back and help my wife cook?" ”

Zhu Huaijing put down the briefcase and said, "Where, where." What are the indications? You may be seated, please be seated. ”

Fang Mingyuan said: "Mayor Pi is very busy these days, I am running around with him, and I don't have time to see you." It's okay, I just want to talk to you in the vernacular. ”

Zhu Huaijing handed over the cigarette, thinking that Fang Mingyuan must have known the news that he was going to be promoted. Sure enough, Fang Mingyuan smiled mysteriously and said, "Brother Zhu, you have a good thing again, congratulations!" ”

Zhu Huaijing shook his head and smiled: "Thank you, Brother Fang." I, Zhu, can have today, all thanks to your brother. ”

Fang Mingyuan waved his hand and said, "Where, if you want to thank you, you have to thank Mayor Xiepi." Mayor Pi is very serious about you. I have heard him and Secretary-General Liu talk many times about your promotion. It wasn't clear at the time, and I couldn't talk to you about it. ”

Zhu Huaijing could hear that Fang Mingyuan was clearly selling favors for Mayor Pi, but in fact, he was also showing merit for himself. He pointed at Fang Mingyuan and said with a smile: "It turns out that Brother Fang has a hand for me!" ”

"How dare you?" Fang Mingyuan's words changed, "In the future, Brother Zhu will be my leader, and you have to cultivate me more." ”

Hearing this, Zhu Huaijing understood that Fang Mingyuan was not very nervous in his heart, but it was not easy to say. The two brothers, now Zhu Huaijing is about to be promoted, although he himself is the secretary of Mayor Pi, he is still at the deputy department level. Maybe it's not jealousy, but at least it's a little sour in my heart. Zhu Huaijing himself knows that his time is indeed because of Mayor Pi's attention, and all of this has a lot to do with Fang Mingyuan. It was inconvenient for him to comfort Fang Mingyuan clearly, as if he saw that he was psychologically unbalanced, so he said, "My two brothers don't say kind words." I know you're more stamina than I am, and you're the material you can use. What about me? It's barely a department or bureau level, and it's not a big deal. ”

Fang Mingyuan sighed and said, "Alas, the officialdom is dangerous, whether this official is appropriate or not." Let me tell you a top secret, the team of the Finance Bureau, this time I'm afraid that it will be a nest. ”

"Why? I didn't hear the wind at all. ”

Fang Mingyuan said: "The investment company of the Finance Bureau has a big incident. The manager of the investment company was taken into review yesterday, and it is said that all bureau leaders will be involved. ”

"Economic problems?" Zhu Huaijing asked.

Fang Mingyuan said: "What else can be the problem? What is the matter now, if it is not an economic problem, what else can be a problem? As long as there are economic problems, problems of life style, abuse of power for personal gain, dereliction of duty, and so on will come out in succession. The economic problems have not come out, all the problems are hidden, and there are women around them, which is the ability of others. ”

Zhu Huaijing was not very surprised, it seemed to be a normal thing to hear that someone had an accident now. It's just that Director Lan of the Finance Bureau is very old, and he has a lot of face in front of the city leaders, so can he really be moved? He said: "I have a lot of contact with Director Lan's work, and I know that he has a very strong relationship. He is with Mayor Sima, he is like a brother, and he is not bad with Mayor Pi. ”

Fang Mingyuan said with a smile: "He and Mayor Pi only have a working relationship, but he has a good personal relationship with Sima." ”

Zhu Huaijing heard some off-string sounds, but it was inconvenient to break them. Recently, I have often heard some people talking about the private feud between Mayor Pi and Vice Mayor Sima, and it seems that there must be a deeper background to this case. He pondered his wording and struck on the side: "What is Mayor Pi's attitude towards this case?" ”

Fang Mingyuan said: "Mayor Pi was resolute and said that he would investigate to the end. ”

Zhu Huaijing secretly speculated that the bottom of what Mayor Pi said was probably Vice Mayor Sima. The two sighed for a while because of this topic and went home separately. There was nothing to do, Fang Mingyuan came to talk about it. But when Zhu Huaijing walked on the road, he always felt that something was not good, not because of the case of the Finance Bureau, but because he was guessing Fang Mingyuan's thoughts.

When I returned home, I saw my son lying on the sofa asleep, and I didn't see Xiangmei. Go to the kitchen and take a look, cold pot and cold stove. When I went to the bedroom again, I saw Xiangmei and Yi sleeping on the bed. Zhu Huaijing was startled, afraid that Xiangmei was sick, so he hurriedly asked, "Xiangmei, what's wrong with you?" Shake it, but Xiangmei's eyes are closed. He became more and more scared, and went to touch Xiangmei's face to see if it was hot. I didn't think that Xiangmei would pull away his hand and turn her body inside. Zhu Huaijing knew that Xiangmei must be angry about something, so he said, "What are you doing?" Are you talking? He asked why for a while, and Xiangmei began to cry. Zhu Huaijing was even more panicked, thinking that he must have let her know about his affair with Yuqin. In fact, he had long expected that sooner or later Xiangmei would know about this, and he was not too nervous, sitting on the edge of the bed and waiting for death, but his mind was empty. Xiangmei cried for a while before she sobbed and said: "You say you are busy every day, and if you say you are busy, I will believe you, you will go out early and return late, and you will mix outside all night long." I also feel sorry for you, saying that you are too busy, and telling you to pay attention to your body. You're good to be playing outside...... Play ...... Playing with prostitutes. I can't even say it! ”

Zhu Huaijing heard a buzzing in his ears and said, "What are you talking nonsense?" Who played whore? The women I Zhu Huaijing dated outside are all prostitutes? You speak cleanly! ”

"You've done everything, and you're saying I'm not clean!" Xiangmei said, sat up suddenly, and pointed to the bedside table, "Look for yourself, this is what you brought back!" ”

Zhu Huaijing picked up a business card on the bedside table and looked at it, it turned out to be left by Miss Li Jing when she was playing in the Tianma Entertainment Center that night. At that time, he casually stuffed it into his pocket, didn't care, and didn't expect to take it out and lose it afterwards, but asked Xiangmei to find it when she washed her clothes. What he wanted to cause trouble was the two lines printed on the back of his business card: When you miss this night, please call me. Knowing that Xiangmei didn't find out about him and Yuqin, she was a little relieved. But it's hard to explain it. Looking at these two lines, people would really think that he had a night with that woman. Zhu Huaijing was silent for a while and said, "I just want to tell you that I haven't done anything to be sorry for you. This business card, naturally, has a history, but it is not as complicated as you think. I also don't want to explain anything specifically, believe it or not. Xiangmei couldn't help but feel sad when she heard his tone be so tough, and still lay down. Zhu Huaijing didn't say more, and went to the kitchen to make a note. When the noodles were ready, he pulled his son up to eat them, and brought a bowl to Xiangmei to the bedside. Xiangmei still didn't get up and cried to the corner. Zhu Huaijing sizzled and finished eating the noodles, remembering that he had that thing with Yuqin after all, and he had done that thing in the sauna, he felt guilty and felt a little unbearable. I went to the bedroom again to persuade Xiangmei. He turned Xiangmei's body over again and again, and Xiangmei turned over again and again. After repeating it many times, Xiangmei couldn't hold back anymore and stopped moving, but fell into the man's arms and cried whining. Zhu Huaijing knew that as long as Xiangmei was willing to cry in his arms, the reconciliation would be eighty. He kept stroking the woman's back, saying words of explanation and comfort, but he didn't say exactly what the business card was. If he wants to put it bluntly, he will explain the methods and dishes that men usually have fun outside, and things will be even more troublesome. What woman is comfortable with her man hugging other women in the casino at night? They are convinced of a truth: since ancient times, heroes have been sad to pass the beauty pass, not to mention that most of today's men are bears. Slowly, Xiangmei went from crying to sobbing silently, and finally lay quietly in the man's arms. The noodles had already become a mush, and Zhu Huaijing said, "I'll go and give you another bowl?" Xiangmei raised her head, pursed her mouth and said, "I bought beef, and I wanted to fry it tonight." I'm going to eat the beef noodles you made. Zhu Huaijing laughed and said, "Okay, I'll do it right away, authentic braised beef noodles!" He knew that Xiangmei was already coquettish in front of him at this time. She likes to eat the braised beef noodles he made himself.

When Zhu Huaijing went to the kitchen to make beef noodles, Xiangmei had already gotten up to pour water for her son and wash his face. After the son finished washing, he went to the room to do his homework. The braised beef noodles are ready in a while. When Xiangmei finished eating the noodles, her face was already hot and red, and she was no longer angry. Zhu Huaijing performed very well today, did not let Xiangmei enter the kitchen again, washed the dishes alone, and poured water for Xiangmei to wash her face. After the two washed up, they sat on the sofa watching TV and talking. Xiangmei gently leaned into Zhu Huaijing's arms, stroked him, and said a little shyly: "I want it so much tonight." Zhu Huaijing also hugged Xiangmei and said, "Let's do it well tonight and strive for full marks." Xiangmei said: "There is nothing to watch on the broken TV, I want to rest." Zhu Huaijing went over and told his son to do his homework and slept by himself, and went to the room with Xiangmei in his arms.

Tonight, the two of them are like warriors who have just experienced a fierce battle, their whole body and mind are relaxed, and they need the most soothing love. Coordination is a rare harmony, and Xiangmei's emotions rushed to ** again and again, like intoxicated. The two were in a good mood and talked a lot until late at night, when they fell asleep. Suddenly, they were woken up by the ringing of the phone. Xiangmei took it and handed it to Zhu Huaijing, saying that it was a man looking for you. Zhu Huaijing thought who was crazy and called so late. When I took the phone, I saw that it was Li Mingxi. I thought he was really a madman, but it was hard to say. "Mingxi? What's the big deal? Zhu Huaijing asked.

Li Mingxi said: "Huaijing, come quickly." ”