Senator Ye lived in an ancient house made of bluestone next to the 99-room house, and he was seen standing at the door from a distance, stretching his neck and looking.

We walked up to him, and he had a straight face and a bad eye. "Look what time it is, I've been hungry and waiting for you for an hour."

Mu Mian stepped forward and grabbed the old man's arm, with a coquettish tone: "Grandpa Ye, I'm sorry, we didn't mean to, there was a very important thing delayed." ”

Senator Ye's eyes softened. "Come in."

The rich man's house is a courtyard structure, with four rows of houses in the east, west, north and south, surrounded by a small courtyard in the middle, which is boxy. Some flowers and trees are planted in the yard, there is a stone Buddha shrine in the corner is very eye-catching, the Buddha shrine is chiseled on the bluestone, the carving is exquisite, the Buddha kneeling mat is placed on the ground in front, the incense burner is inserted with the leftover incense stick, it turns out that the rich man is a devout Buddhist.

To the north is the living room, dining room, kitchen, and a back door leading to the outside, and the rest of the orientation is basically the room, as well as the bathroom. I did a rough count, and there were at least six or seven. A very large house, only Senator Ye lives alone.

There was nothing in the dining room except for a large rectangular table in the middle and stools all around. The dishes and rice on the table are all well arranged, simple home-cooked dishes, scrambled eggs with tomatoes, sauerkraut tofu, white radish pork rib soup, braised fish, not too greasy, all of which are more suitable for my appetite.

"Where did this braised fish come from?" Xiao Se must have remembered going fishing in the afternoon.

Senator Ye snorted. "I bought it outside, not from the lake."

"It looks delicious, you're welcome", Xiao Se picked up the chopsticks first, added a large piece of fish meat and sent it to his mouth, "It tastes good, the master has good craftsmanship, you can also taste it." ”

Senator Ye didn't greet us, but Xiao Se was like a master. Mu Mian also moved his chopsticks to eat.

I looked at Senator Ye with some restraint, and he was staring at Xiao Se, and there seemed to be a slight warmth in his eyes, which surprised me. Senator Ye noticed that I was looking at him, the warmth in his eyes disappeared instantly, and he threw me a stiff sentence of "why don't you eat", and he picked up the rice bowl and gulped the rice.

I don't eat rice, so I give my bowl of rice to Paul, who is next to me.

"Why don't you eat rice?" Senator Ye immediately asked.

I told him the truth, it was to control his weight.

He sighed. "Children who learn dance are very hard."

I was touched by the old man's sigh, and I dared to conclude that he was by no means as impersonal as he seemed on the surface, and even had an emotional inside, but for some reason he disguised himself with a hard shell.

Everyone had almost eaten, and Mu Mian quickly cleaned up the dishes and chopsticks, and I hurried over to help. Senator Ye sat on the bench expressionlessly, took out his cigarette pouch, and began to roll leaf cigarettes.

Mu Mian and I came out of the kitchen after a busy day, and saw three men from the old, middle and young generations still sitting around the table, and they were all swallowing clouds and spitting fog. Xiao Se and Paul smoked French cigarettes, and the packaging was all in French. Senator Ye smoked his own hand-rolled leaf cigarette. The room was filled with smoke.

"Smoking is bad for health, the elderly, smoke less." Mu Mian kindly reminded Senator Ye.

Senator Ye disagreed. "Bacon is smoked during the Chinese New Year in the countryside, and after the smoke is roasted, the pork does not have insects. It's the same for me to smoke, I can't smoke a leaf cigarette, I have to smoke a pound every month. ”

"You're so eloquent, I can't say it." Mu Mian turned to joke with Xiao Se, "What about the two of you, are you smoking to avoid worms?" ”

Xiao Se let out a puff of smoke. "My brother doesn't smoke, it's lonely."

Mu Mian burst out laughing, and I couldn't help laughing.

"Hmph, young man, don't learn well!" Senator Ye was unhappy, "Get out, I'm upset when I see you like this." ”

The old man is moody and unforgiving. I felt embarrassed for Xiao Se, who stood up slowly as if he were nothing. "Then we'll go first, you rest early."

When we said goodbye, Senator Ye just waved his hand and said, "Close the door when you go out." "He didn't send us off, and I looked back after walking some distance, and he was sitting at the table still, his head bowed, not knowing what he was thinking. The dim light shrouded him, like a silhouette of broken time, lonely and desolate.

Rapid and low drums and crisp cymbals sounded from the right side of the 99 large houses, and the doors were wide open, and things were being done inside. The custom here is that before a person dies and goes out of the funeral, he must ask a Taoist priest to do things, and then enter the earth for peace, which is called "being a Taoist priest". I saw four Taoist priests dressed in blue robes, and Mu Mian introduced to me that one of the four people was a master, one was an assistant, and there was a drummer and a cymbal.

Many people in the village gathered around to watch the excitement, and Zhao Junning and Fang Zinan were also crowded in the crowd. As soon as Zhao Junning saw me, he waved his hand very enthusiastically, which caused the people next to him to look at me one after another, and his behavior was too inappropriate on such an occasion. I quickly ducked into a corner to avoid any more notice.