Xie Jizu heard that there was a begging person making trouble at the door of his house, so he hurriedly walked out to see what was going on.

Although Xie Jizu has a big family, he is not satisfied, he wants to make his family business bigger than his predecessors. As the saying goes, "the rich are not as rich as three generations". In the past few years, under the influence of external turmoil, Xie Jizu has always thought of the scenery that his ancestors have passed down to his generation for hundreds of years, "the tree is a big wind", and there are not a few people who hate the Xie family, and he is now old. In order to keep the family business, Xie Jizu had to make a great appearance of a good man on the surface, not only pretending to give a few bags of grain and rice to the poor every year in the Chinese New Year's Eve, but also giving the poor a few bowls of porridge wrapped in clear soup and little water in the face of famine.

Today, he was sitting in the study of the mansion, waiting to worship the gods and ancestors with the whole family, and then happily eat a "Chinese New Year's Eve dinner". Unexpectedly, when he heard a commotion outside, his son Xie Chengtong came in and reported to him that there was a beggar who did not know the height of the sky and the earth was clamoring outside to come in and sit on the "top eight" and eat "Chinese New Year's Eve dinner." Xie Jizu knew in his heart that with his local prestige and power, ordinary people would not dare to come and make trouble in the Chinese New Year's Eve, and since this begging man dared to openly argue to come in, it could be seen that he had no fear. Besides, there has always been a custom, that is, in the Chinese New Year's Eve, when you meet monks, Taoist priests, begging for food, you must invite them into the house and have a "Chinese New Year's Eve meal". If you meet someone with a special status, you will also invite him to come in and sit in the "upper eight". At that time, Xie Jizu's father had the idea of building the current mansion because he invited the Taoist priest of Youfang into the house to sit in the "upper eight" and eat the "Chinese New Year's Eve dinner", and only then did the Xie family's family business become more and more prosperous. It's just that later, when the Xie family became more powerful, no monk, Taoist, or beggar dared to break into the Xie family's "Chinese New Year's Eve Dinner" in the Chinese New Year's Eve, and no one dared to shout to come in and sit on the "upper eight". Xie Jizu thought of these past events, and felt that it was better to settle things and turn big things into small ones, so he decided to go out in person to greet this begging man, wanting to see what kind of medicine was sold in his gourd.

Xie Jizu personally came out to greet the invitation and beg for a mouth, which was a precedent that had never been seen in the local area and the Xie family. At this time, there was a sudden silence in front of the Xie Mansion, and even the little babies who were crying and making trouble just now were also wide-eyed and timidly looking at what was happening in front of them.

More than a dozen family members in front of Xie's house, holding "open fire guns", looked at the hunchback and begged for help, at this time, even the high madman didn't want to go in, so he had to go inside. Gao Madman must have eaten a hundred family meals, and he can be regarded as well-informed and thick-skinned, but in desperation, he can only let it go. I saw him hunched his back and his neck high, and without even saying a kind word, he stepped straight into the main gate and walked towards the house.

The madman didn't even say a kind word, just carried a "Luo Guo" on his back and stepped into the main gate with his head held high.

Xie Jizu looked at him coldly without being anxious or annoyed, until the back of the high madman disappeared into the doorway, Xie Jizu waved politely to everyone, and then turned around and walked towards the main gate with a steady step.

The housekeeper Ma Renli stood at the gate, rubbing two steel balls with his right hand, waving his left hand at the poor people under the steps, and shouting at them loudly: "You have received alms, hurry home for the New Year!" ”

The high madman entered the main gate of the Xie family with his head held high, and was simply stunned by the grandeur in front of him. He looked up, the Xie family's compound was built into a three-way courtyard by the mountain, and the first courtyard in front of him actually covered an area of more than ten acres. In the middle of the courtyard is a magnificent theater building, in front of which there are two stone lions that are taller than people, and four huge wooden pillars are erected on the backs of the four stone lions, supporting the whole theater building. The high madman looked up at the theater building: he saw that the roof of the theater was a painted pine crane sunrise pattern; Above the stage, there is a huge plaque written with the four seal characters of "Dragon Flying Phoenix Dance", under the eaves of the corner on both sides, there is a gold-lettered plaque hanging respectively, which is carved with the vigorous "Floor-to-Floor Towering Cui" and "Feige Liudan" several big characters respectively.

The corridors in front of the stage and on both sides are composed of woodcuts, bricks, and stone carvings with delicate knife skills and different styles. I saw the three-star eight immortals on the wood carving, and the god of wealth was lifelike; The fishing wood on the brick carving is ploughed and read, and the characters in the drama are vivid; The birds and beasts carved on the stone base, cranes, deer, pines and plums are colorful.

The high madman quietly looked at the side of the cloister, and there was a wide side courtyard next to it, and there was a well pavilion built in the middle of the side courtyard, and on each side was a row of side rooms, presumably a kitchen on one side, and a warehouse and a place where the housekeepers, girls, and subordinates lived. At the end of that yard there was a vegetable patch, orchard, and stables. The high madman estimated that only the first courtyard and the two side courtyards covered an area of at least about twenty acres.

The tall madman was stunned by the sight in front of him. He wanted to watch carefully, but the family kept urging him to "go away!" He had no choice but to follow his family up the steps to the left side of the courtyard. Eight steps up, a carved gatehouse appeared in front of him, and he followed the family to the second courtyard. He looked up, this gatehouse does not seem to have the outside of the gate magnificent, but it looks particularly exquisite, the outside of the gatehouse on both sides of the erection of a stone drum, the gate is wrapped in iron sheets. The main hall in the courtyard has eight screen doors, and a plaque is hung high in the middle, which is engraved with the four brilliant characters of "poetry and book heirloom". There is a row of luxuriously decorated wings on each side, and Gao Maniac guessed that this was probably the Xie family's study and guest room.

Gao Luozi followed his family to walk in the corridor next to the wing, and heard a rhythmic echo under his feet, no need to ask, he knew that it was the legendary "porcelain basin corridor". In the past, Gao Maniac only heard that some wealthy families, when laying the corridor, ingeniously put a ceramic basin upside down to use it to cushion the bottom, and then build a wooden frame and pave the floor tiles. This kind of corridor, people can hear the rhythmic echo when walking on it, which can not only show the owner's style, but also call the police when thieves and bandits sneak attack. Today, the tall madman walked on it, listening to the soft crunch under his feet, and he was in a very comfortable mood. He secretly saw that there was also a side door on each side of the courtyard, and from here, there were two exquisite small courtyards. The madman Gao estimated that the two small courtyards might be the inner rooms where the Xie family's dependents lived.

The madman Gao was dazzled, and he followed the family dizzily along the corridor, from the edge of the eaves, to an eight-step gentle bluestone staircase, and came to the Xie family's most private and luxurious third courtyard.

It's a different scene here.