High walls of gray bricks, shiny black lacquered gates. Two basin-sized red seal characters "Rest Garden" look down arrogantly from the lintel. The inner door, which was originally closed, is now open for our car. The white wall greeted me. On the wall, four patterned earthy red seal characters "descendants of Changyi" are embedded in a blue round frame. As soon as my eyes stopped at the words, the car turned. The car rolled a few times in this ashlar yard and stopped at the second gate. My friend stepped over the threshold with my suitcase, and I followed him with my pocket. In front is a square stone-paved patio, and on the other side of the patio is the hall. A row of golden doors obscured everything in the inner courtyard. In a corner of the hall are three new chartered buses.

The sound of several people talking at the same time was heard somewhere, but there was no shadow of a person in front of him.

"Zhao Qingyun! Zhao Qingyun! The friend shouted. We walked down the patio. I looked to the left, and to the left was the porter, with several doors wide open, and the tables and benches were all empty. I looked on the right again, a row of doors on the right were all closed tightly, there were two small doors on the steps of the hall, and there was a white paper horizontal strip pasted on the lintel, and the two big black characters on it were still the seal of "Rest Garden".

"Why is it written everywhere that says 'Rest Garden'?" I thought curiously.

"Please stay here and be satisfied!" My friend pointed to the small door and said to me. He didn't wait for me to answer, and called out again: "Lao Wen! Old text! ”

I did not hear the answer of his messengers, and I felt that it was not good for him to always ask him to carry my luggage, so I reached over my free hand and said, "Carry the box for me." ”

"It doesn't matter," he replied, as if afraid that I would snatch the box over, and quickened his pace, hurried up the stone steps, and into the little door. I had no choice but to follow him in.

When I crossed the threshold, I saw the stone railing at the end of the porch, and the rockery, trees, flowers and plants outside the fence, and at the same time heard a commotion.

"Who's arguing in the garden?" The friend muttered to himself in amazement. As soon as he finished speaking, a group of people came out along the stone fence on the left, and when they saw my friend, they stopped and called respectfully, "Master." ”

In fact, there were only four people who came: two messengers in long shirts, a young man in short clothes and a barefoot coachman, and a child in a clean school uniform. The child's right arm was dragged by the young messenger, but he was still struggling, and he kept shouting, "I still have to come, you drive me out, I still have to come!" When he saw my friend, he glared at him angrily, pouted, and did not speak.

My friend smiled. "Why did you run in again?" He asked.

"This is my own house, why can't I come in?" The child said stubbornly. I look at him: he has a long face, clear eyebrows, but his nose is a little to the left, and his upper teeth are slightly exposed. He was only thirteen or fourteen years old.

The friend put down the suitcase and instructed the young messenger: "Zhao Qingyun, take Mr. Li's box into the lower flower hall, you can clean the lower flower hall by the way, Mr. Li wants to live here." The young man answered, looked at the child again, and then let go of the child's arms, and carried my suitcase along the stone railing on the right. The friend said, "Lao Wen, you go and tell my wife that I invited a good friend to come and live there, and asked her to pick up two clean beds and cover them, and call someone to make a bed in the lower flower hall." Washbasins, teapots, and other things are ready. The gray-haired, missing front teeth of the old messenger answered "yes" and immediately walked along the stone railing on the left.

There was only one coachman left, standing behind the child in astonishment. My friend waved his hand and said briefly, "Go." Even he walked away.

The child didn't talk or go, just pouted and glared at my friend.

"It's your material, and you can write it down. Let me introduce you," my friend said to me with a smug smile, and then raised his voice: "This is Young Master Yang, the old owner of this mansion, and this is Mr. Li, a novelist. ”

I nodded at the child. But he ignored me, looked at me with suspicion and hatred, and then put his hands in his trouser pockets, and asked my friend as if he were an adult:

"Why didn't you get rid of me today? What tricks are you doing? ”

The friend was not angry, he still looked at the child with a smile, and replied calmly: "It happens that Mr. Li is here today, and I will introduce him to you." In fact, you are too unreasonable, since the house is sold to someone else, it is someone else's thing, why do you often come in and look for trouble? ”

"The house was sold by them. I haven't sold it again. I'll come, and I won't spoil your things, but I'll just break a few flowers. It's rare for you to see these flowers horizontally, and breaking two branches is nothing. You're such a little tool! The child said with his head held high.

"Then why do you keep arguing with my listeners?" My friend asked with a smile.

"They were unreasonable, and when I came in and showed them, they dragged me out. They said I came to steal. What a bastard! The house has been sold by them, and I still want this little thing in your house? It's not like I don't have food, but I'm not as rich as you. In fact, what is a few more money for sin! The child's lips were thin, and he could see that he was a man of speech, and his eyes were bright, and his face was flushed when he spoke.

"You asked them to sell the house? That's a beautiful point! In fact, if you don't let them sell, they still have to sell! My friend laughed. Interesting, how old are you? ”

"How old am I and what does it have to do with you?" The child turned around angrily and said.

The young messenger appeared, he stood in front of his friend, and said respectfully, "Master, the flower hall is cleaned up, do you want to go in and have a look?" ”

"Go ahead," the friend commanded.

The young messenger looked at the child and asked, "This little baby—"

The friend didn't wait for the young man to finish speaking, so he interrupted and said, "It's better to let him talk to Mr. Li here." He said to me again, "Lao Li, you can talk to him," (he pointed to the child), "Don't let go of this good material." ”

My friends are gone, and so is the young messenger. I was the only one left standing by the railing with the child. I looked at him, and he looked at me. The angry look on his face was gone, and he was looking at me with suspicion. He doesn't move his feet, he doesn't speak. Finally, I said, "Please sit down." "I patted the stone railing with my hand.

He didn't answer, and he didn't move.

"How old are you?" I asked again.

He whispered to himself, "Fifteen." He suddenly came up to me, flashed his eyes, stretched out his hand to take my arm, and begged me, "Would you please break the camellia branch for me?" ”

I followed his gaze. Outside the stone fence, on the side of the rockery, next to the laurel tree, there is a camellia tree more than one zhang high. The thick dark green leaves hold the red flowers one by one.

"That's it?" I asked unintentionally.

"Please fold it to me. Come on. Wait a moment they will come again," the boy pleaded earnestly, his eyes so that I could not say a single "no." I know my friend won't reproach me for breaking the flowers in his garden. So I stepped over the railing, went to the foot of the camellia tree, and broke a small branch with four flowers on it.

He stood in front of the railing and waited for me with his hands outstretched. So I went up from the pen and gave him the flowers. He took the flower, smiled happily, and said, "Thank you," and immediately turned around and ran away.

"Wait a minute! Wait a minute! "I'll call him from behind. But he had run out of the gate and could not hear.

"What a weird kid," I thought.