The next day, Lao Wen brought lunch, and he told me that Young Master Hu didn't go home last night, and said something about Xiaohu, and said that Xiaohu even spoke ill of his stepmother outside. When I heard this, my heart was not very happy. After lunch, I couldn't work in the house and didn't want to go out shopping. I walked in the garden in the flower hall for a few steps, and when I was tired of walking, I sat down on the sofa to rest; Tired of sitting down, I got up and walked again. In the end, I was so bored that I suddenly remembered that it was better to go to the cinema to kill time. As soon as I turned from the stone railing into the porch, I saw Sister-in-law Zhou bringing me dinner, saying that the old proclamation had gone to the street, so she would deliver the meal.

I had to go back to the lower flower hall and have dinner. Sister-in-law Zhou made tea and poured water on her face. She is quick to do things, she is about forty years old, she has a big bun combed at the back of her head, her face is quite long, her color is yellow, her cheekbones are high, her lips are thick, her eyebrows are many, and her body seems to be very strong. She refused to speak in front of me. I deliberately asked her if Young Master Tiger was at home.

"He? Needless to say, I went to Zhao's house again. When our wife went back to her mother's house, she begged him to go, but he refused. He only likes to go to Zhao's house to play for money," Sister-in-law Zhou flattened her mouth and said contemptuously.

"Your lord told him to go with his wife, and he was disobedient?" Let me ask one more question.

"Even the master will be on him, he is the little tiger of the Yao family, the little emperor." She turned her head and stopped talking.

After dinner, I walked out the door, intending to go to a movie theater in the center of town. The janitor, Li Laohan, was sitting on an old Taishi chair inside the gate, smoking a leaf cigarette, and when he saw me, he stood up, took off the pipe, and respectfully called: "Master Li," and smiled kindly at me.

I went out of the gate, and the sound of "Master Li" still made my ears uncomfortable, so I turned back. As soon as he sat down, he immediately stood up again.

"Old man Li, sit down, you're welcome," I made a gesture to him to sit down, and said to him gently; Don't call me 'Master', they all call me 'Mr. Li'. Do you understand what I mean?

"Yes, Mr. Lai, I understand," he replied deferentially.

"Sit down, sit down." I saw that there was no one else next to me, and decided to take this opportunity to ask him about the children of the Yang family. I sat down on a bench across from me, and he had no choice but to sit down.

"I heard that you have helped the Yang family for a long time before, haven't you?" I asked, looking at the top of his bare head.

"Yes, Mrs. Yang's house has just been repaired, and I came in, it was the thirty-second year of Guangxu, and it has been more than thirty years since now. At first, I was a sedan chair bearer in the Taipan, and in the sixth year of the Republic of China, I got into a fight with others, and my leg was broken. He buried his head and knocked the pipe on the sole of a shoe, and the butt fell to the ground, and he quickly put out the fire with his foot. He placed the pipe across the chair behind him.

"Are the people of the Yang family okay?" I asked, with a look of concern.

"The old lady passed away in the twenty years of the Republic of China. The eldest master has also been dead for more than five years, and there is only one young master, and the mansion was sold, so he went to 'below', and there has been no news. The second master is in Hengyang, running a business, and he is very handy. The fourth master works as an assistant manager in a large company in the provincial capital, and his family background is also very good. It's just that the third old man's property has been exhausted, and it is very difficult to eat......" He sighed a few times in succession, shook his head a few times, and stroked his white beard, which was only an inch long.

"Is the little young master who came yesterday from their Yang family?"

"Yes, this is the little master of the third master. Like his father, he is very delicate, very intelligent, and very strong. When the third master was a child, the old lady liked him very much, and everything would be up to him. Later, when the third master grew up, he picked up the third wife, and brought it to his friends, ruining the family property, and even the third wife's dowry was spent. Later, the third wife and the eldest young master quarreled with him, and only this little young master was good with his father. ”

"So is the third master of the Yang family still there?" I quickly interjected and asked.

"This ...... I don't know," he shook his head. I paid attention to his eyes, and although he turned his face away from me, I saw the tears in his eyes, and I knew that he was not telling me the truth, that he was hiding something. But I still want to put his words in words.

"Isn't the eldest young master of the Yang family working at the post office? Then the family should also get by. This little master is still in school, and now he wants to send his children to school, and it will cost a lot of money! ”

"Yes, their brothers have a good relationship, and the little master studies hard. The eldest young master likes his brother very much, but he doesn't like his father. The little master is in the school, and every time he takes the exam, he is in the top two or three. Li Laohan said, pinching his beard proudly and smiling, but the tears in his eyes had not dried up.

"Yes, I can see that he is indeed a good boy," I said knowingly; "But there is one thing I don't understand, why does he often come here to get flowers and embarrass the Yao family? He loves flowers, he can spend money to buy them, and they are not expensive. Why fold other people's flowers? ”

"Mr. Li, you don't know, the little master has a good heart, and he doesn't want to fold flowers."

"Give it away, you can also spend money to buy it! Camellia is also sold outside," I said, and I saw a ray of light.

"There are not many camellias outside, even if there are, they are not as good as those in the Yang Family Mansion! It has been planted for more than 30 years, and when the third master was young, there were camellia flowers in the garden. There are two in total, one red and one white. The white one was cut down by the young master tiger the year before last. Now that's all that's left is the red one. The third master likes this camellia. Although he said that he was not doing his job, but when it came to selling the house, it was not the meaning of the third master, the second master and the fourth master wanted to take money to do business, and they must be clamoring to sell, the eldest young master was only twenty-seven or eighteen years old, unmarried, irritable, looked down on several uncles in the family on weekdays, and also clamored to sell the house, saying that he had cleaned up the family property, and he had to go to a foreign country to study, and never return to the province. The third wife's money was spent by the third master, and she also wanted to wait until she sold the house and shared some money to live. Everyone wants to sell it, and the third master alone said that it can't be sold and it's useless. At that time, everyone was very anxious, afraid that the days would change after a long time, so the house price was very cheap. Everyone got a penny for the money, and the third master didn't get a single money. His mouth closed again, and a short, thick white beard obscured everything.

"How could he not have gotten a piece of money? The third wife will always give him some money to spend when they get it. At least he has to pay for his food and housing," I asked, amazed, believing that he must have been hiding something important from me.

"Yes, Mr. Lai said," he replied deferentially.

I knew he wasn't going to say anything to me anymore. He probably sensed that I was asking him for news, that I was trying to find out the secret of his heart, and he used the word "yes" to shut my mouth. If I continue to inquire further, I am afraid that not only will it not do him any good, but it will increase his suspicion of me, so it is better to stop there and wait until I have the opportunity to inquire into him later.

While I was thinking this, I suddenly saw a figure dangling in front of the door. Li Laohan immediately stood up, his face completely changed, his round face twitched with horror, as if he had seen something he was afraid to see.

I was also taken aback. I stood up and walked out the door. I looked out into the street. All I could see was the back of a man: a lanky figure, long hair stained with dust, and a gray cloth robe covered in grease and almost black. He walked fast, as if he was afraid that someone would chase him after him.