As soon as he stepped out of the prison of the Criminal Department, Usebo looked at the width of the streets, the distance of the sky, the bright and beautiful people, and the bright and prosperous whole world. The person in the aisle looked at him with white eyes, and he softened his sharpness first. didn't wait for anyone to reprimand, I couldn't help but learn the yellow croaker to slip to the side, bow my head and walk quickly, lest I let acquaintances meet me. During the Kangxi period, there was a will, the Eight Banners Barracks had their own garrisons in Beijing, and after hundreds of years, the population grew and declined, and the real estate was bought and sold, and there were many changes, and the Wu family still lived in the Shochu Hutong and did not move. Can the ancestral home of several lifetimes still be mistaken? But Wu Shibao entered the alley and couldn't find his own house. He walked back and forth along the alley several times, and finally stopped at the door of the valley next door to him. The Gu family is the leader of the white flag Niu Lu, and has lived with the Wu family for several generations. Wu Shibao is also a classmate of the Gu family, and this door is good. He stepped forward and slapped the door knocker a few times, and there was a noise inside, and a crack in the door was opened, and it was the porter Zhou Cheng. Zhou Cheng glanced at it, immediately closed the door again, and said sharply: "Let's go, hurry up and get to the door, we have never sent food away!" ”

Wu Shibao hurriedly shouted: "Lao Zhou, it's me!" Why don't you even know me? ”

"Who?" Zhou Cheng opened the door again, looked at it for a long time, and asked himself in a low voice: "Is this Uncle Bao?" Then he greeted loudly and cheered, "Hello uncle!" Is your plague full? ”

"Well, yes, yes, but why can't I find a home? Is this freshly built ceiling, new throttle posts, and brick walls with gray hooks and joints in our homes......"

Zhou Cheng was so stunned by the question that he didn't know how to answer for a while. At this time, a middle-aged man wearing a short stripe, loose braids, and holding a folding fan came from behind, and asked, "Zhou Cheng, who are you talking to?" ”

Wu Shibao took a step forward and said, "Second uncle, it's me, you!" Auspicious! ”

"It's Sebo! What's wrong with your outfit? I heard that you went to Shandong with the Mongolian prince to make a fortune, why did you dress like a golden pine? Do you want to sing and kneel to eat grass? ”

"Second uncle, you are joking, I am ......"

Second Master Gu turned his face and sneered: "You have been a boxer and a big prison, do you still have a face here?" You're not ashamed, I'm ashamed. How did you get into such a neighborhood! Zhou Cheng, close the door! ”

The door slammed shut again.

Wu Shibao was so angry that he trembled all over, and he couldn't shout when he wanted to, and he couldn't walk. Just as he felt dizzy, the door opened again, and it was still Zhou Cheng, but he lowered his voice:

"Wu Ye, let's go. Your house has already been sold to the Huang family in Taiping! ”

"What about our family?"

"Grandma returned to the West last winter. The young master asked Aunt Liu to take it away. ”

"You ......"

At this time, Uncle Gu shouted Zhou Cheng inside. Zhou Cheng waved his hand, threw a big pile of money in front of Wu Shibao's feet, and silently closed the door again.

Usebo only felt that his eyes were black, his chest was blocked, and he didn't know the direction, so he walked forward in general. As soon as I walked to the north entrance of Nanxiao Street, a top horse came from the east, two Ghosh guarded by him, and a blue tweed sedan chair came over. As soon as people saw it, they shouted: "Quickly avoid, Master Ma of Bean Sprouts Hutong has returned home!" Everyone couldn't hide, but Ushibo had nothing in his eyes, no sound in his ears, and still rushed forward with straight eyes. It happened that one of the ground guards walked by, afraid that he would make a mistake, so out of kindness, he went up and snapped two mouths, grabbed him under the guise of a cigarette shop, and squatted down according to him. These two mouths knocked him awake. He burst into tears. After crying for a while, my heart became lighter, and then I thought about where to go now?

He looked down at himself in rags, and thought to himself that he couldn't see anyone with this unkempt appearance. It's getting dark, your legs are weak, and your stomach is empty, so it's better to find a place to stay first, rest for one night, and make plans tomorrow. This is not far from Chaoyang Gate, where there are many mule and horse inns, it is better to go there nearby. With this string of money in hand, it may be enough to eat a few sides and squat on a big kang for a night.

Usebo staggered to a mule shop, and was about to enter the door, when a young man greeted him and asked:

"Who are you looking for?"

"Stay!"

"Please." As soon as the young man finished speaking, a middle-aged man with a hookah and shoes came up from the tent, stopped Usebo and asked, "Where are you going?" ”

Usebo said: "Stay in the hotel." ”

"Staying in a hotel?" The man looked him up and down and said coldly, "No room!" ”

"Don't live in a single room, stay together."

"The big kang is also full, you haven't closed the city gate yet, go to the gate and have a look!"

As soon as Usebo turned around, he heard the man say, "You have to be long-sighted in business, who would dare to come and live with you if you recruit such a person in?" With a smoky face, I haven't enjoyed it for a few days, can this kind of person clean his hands and feet? ”

Usebo fought a cold war and withdrew. The wooden ground followed the flow of people out of the city and came to the edge of the moat. Behold, inside and outside the gates, people come and go, and there is no one who relieves himself of his sorrows; On both sides of the avenue, thousands of households, unable to find a place to stay for themselves, only to believe that they really fell to the point of loneliness and loneliness, and the family was ruined, I couldn't help but sigh and said: "Oh God, God! For what sin do I have in the detribution of not thinking about wrongdoing anything wrong or taking ill-gotten gains? Where is justice, where is heavenly justice? ”

The sound of the market coming from the carriage of the city gate like a tide of wind and tide also lowered as he walked away. It was dark, and when I looked back at the street, one or two wind lamps had been lit, and one or two window lattices had been lit. He felt that his heart was heavy, his legs were weak, his mouth was dry, and his breath was weak, so he held on to a willow tree with a crooked neck, sat down on the bank of the moat, and looked at the swarthy and dead river, and asked himself: I can't even find a place to live now, how can I make a living in the future? So all kinds of embarrassing scenes of those poor banner people who lost their homes, lost their nationality, and lived on the streets appeared in front of his eyes. He asked himself: If you want to live, can you endure this kind of hardship? If you can eat it, can you bear this breath? Angry or bearable, can this person afford to lose it?

Thinking about it, the more I think about this world, the more I have no love, and the more I think about it, the more I have no way to live. I couldn't help but look up at the crooked neck tree, and touched the bag on my waist with both hands......

You can hear me clearly, I just said that he felt that it was easier to die than to live, that it was better to die than to live, and that he wanted to die a little, but I didn't say that he had made up his mind to die. There's still a long way to go before I want to do this! When people are forced to be unbearable by bad luck, they always have to find all kinds of means to fight. I can't find any other means, and death is a trick. But this trick can only be used once, and the price paid is so heavy that people are easily reluctant to use it. It's not uncommon to "think about it". "Think about it" means as if to say to yourself: "I'm afraid, it's a big deal and there is still a death." As soon as my eyes are closed, what can I do with all the hardships? ”

Usebo was thinking so, putting his hands loose in his bag as a demonstration of bad luck. As soon as I unbuttoned it, I felt a movement in my waist, a bang, and a heavy thing smashed on my feet.

"What, could it be that I forgot the silver taels I had left?"

He touched the bag with his hand, oh, it turned out to be the gold-filled bracelet that Nie Xiaoxuan handed him.

"Oh, Jing Gu is sad for his own affairs, but he has forgotten everything about Master Nie's trust." While picking up the bracelet and carefully carrying it in his arms, Usebo said to himself: "You don't believe in making friends? I haven't been to Master Nie's house yet, and I haven't done it yet, so how can I die halfway? If you really want to go to Wangxiangtai, you should wait for this matter to be done before leaving. ”

Thinking of this, Usebo perked himself together and stood up......

Is this self-talk from the heart? Can he put his own life and death aside for the sake of others?

Usebo was telling the truth. Although he is idle, eating and drinking, he has always emphasized faithfulness and affection. However, this is still half of the reason for his "resurrection". The other half, as we have just said, although he has a yearning for suicide, he is not determined to act, and secretly wants to find a sufficient reason to suppress the emotion of wanting to die and support himself to live. As soon as I saw this bracelet, of course, I immediately changed my mind and went to the inn.

He thought to himself that this Chaoyang Gate is the avenue of the grain truck, the store is a big bully, it is better to go north to Dongzhimen, where the brick car is taken, the store is small, dare not deceive people, so he went to Dongzhimen. When I got to the palm lamp, I found a small shop in the middle of nowhere. There are three halls on the street of this shop, and a fence with red cloth is hung at the door, and several long high platforms are built with adobe outside the door to be counted as tables, and a few tree stumps and axes are counted as pestles. Wu Shibao sat down, first asked for four taels of dumplings to eat, and then asked the shopkeeper: "I am going into the city, it is late, do you have a convenient place to live?" When the shopkeeper saw that this man was dressed in old clothes, had a good style, and ate elegantly, and gave the man a tip of two hammers when settling accounts, he said with a smile on his face: "Yes, yes." There is a big kang in the east ear room, and now there is a car handle, and you two happen to be companions. He ordered the man to lead him in, and especially told the man to make a pot of high end and wash his face with a basin of water.

The handlebar type is sitting cross-legged on the kang, drinking and burning knives with donkey meat. When he saw that there were another guest, he hurriedly bowed and said, "Here you are." Drink me this? It had been almost a day since Usebo had been out of prison for almost a day, and only then did he come across a place where he talked and did business, and treated him as a person, and this place he had not been to for decades. He punched the handlebar he didn't know a thousand times and said, "I'm wrong for you!" ”

Seeing that Wu Shibao thanked him seriously, he simply jumped off the kang to grab Wu Shibao and said: "Tobacco and alcohol are not separated." Since you have stayed in the same store, you have a fate in your previous life, and you have to reward me with a face when you say it. When Usebo smelled the wine, Ben was also moved, and after such persuasion, he said, "Then it is better to be respectful than to obey your fate!" Then he sat down on the opposite side of the kang table. As soon as the man saw that the guest was seated, he told the shopkeeper the news when he stepped forward to take the chopsticks. The shopkeeper is so lively, and the owner of this semi-rural shopkeeper still has a bit of ancient style, so he specially blew two loofahs and fried them, brought them to the house and said: "I heard that the two of them hit it off at first sight, and they also brought joy to the shop, and they made money with harmony, so I respect the two of them with a dish!" The handlebar pulled the shopkeeper into the seat, and the shopkeeper was a little polite, and sat down on the edge of the kang. As soon as Usebo entered the door, he felt that there was something strange about this person. After a few cups, Usebo's eyes were a little lively, and the shopkeeper inquired about Usebo's origin. Wu Shibao was holding back his stomach and had nowhere to talk, so he talked about how he was wronged, how he went to prison, how he couldn't find his home after being released from prison, and how he went to Chengguan to invest in the store and didn't accept it. Beijingers have always called soju "cowhide powder", and there is a saying: "If you drink cowhide powder, the gods don't care." As soon as Wu Shibao finished talking about the wine, the handlebar style borrowed the wine and scolded, claiming that he wanted to see Xu Huanzhang dare to whip him, and when he ran into Gu Zuoling, he was allowed to scold his ancestors. The shopkeeper waited for him to slap the table and shake off the chivalrous gall in his belly, and then interjected: "I said this master, what are you going to do now?" ”

"The first thing I do at dawn is to find a friend. ”

The shopkeeper shook his head and said, "The first thing you do is to shave your head, put on braids, take a bath, bare-face, and then borrow or rent it, and change it to a clean outfit. If you are not afraid of your anger, the street at the entrance of the East Temple is better dressed than you! ”

Usebo said: "You are right, but I am ashamed of my bare hands. ”

The shopkeeper said, "Are you still worried about not being able to make money?" ”

Usebo said: "I've been in prison for more than a year, and I don't even have a food delivery person, where did I get anything?" ”

The shopkeeper said: "Just now you were paying for the meal outside, and I saw you take out a cigarette bottle from your arms. ”

Wu Shibao couldn't help but put his hand on his stomach, and said in a lost voice: "Yo, dare to show your feelings!" ”

The shopkeeper said, "What do you do with these eyes?" Serious guests bring valuables, I have to be attentive and take care of them; Friends in the underworld brought licensed goods, and I can't ignore it, and if I don't get it right, I'll have to get a corrupt lawsuit. If you don't have this measure, do you dare to stay for the rest of your life? I'm a layman, and I don't know how to play with antiques. But in the end, he lives in one acre and three points of land in Long Live Lord, and he has never eaten pork and never seen a pig run? Know it's not an idle thing. With all due respect, the way you are dressed, this thing with you will be in trouble. Whether it is a wealthy intention, or a thief, everyone in this world has it, and weasels can bite sick ducks. If nothing else, just a few green-skinned scoundrels, find a reason to fight with you, and snatch things away, what can you do? In my opinion, it is better to sell. For a family like yours, there must be more than one of these playthings. Ming'er found the young master, what are you playing, why don't you use it to save an emergency? ”

Wu Shibao listened to his reasoning, and also wanted to take the opportunity to try his interior painting skills, so he nodded and said, "Then tomorrow I will take it to the antique shop and ask them to have a look." ”

The shopkeeper smiled: "You're bad again." The shopkeeper bullies customers, with your dress, people will wait for the silver to call when they see you, can they not lower the price? ”

Usebo asked, "What do you say you should do?" ”

The shopkeeper said: "I'll find a few acquaintances for you to see, they want it, we will save trouble, they don't want it, I will accompany you to the ghost market, but the ugly words are ahead, private trading, the commission money is broken into three or four, and the ghost market can be rewarded by you for nothing!" ”

The owner of the shop was a connoisseur who ran business for others.

At that time, the waterway to Liangjiang and Fujian was by canal. The slate official road from Tongxian to Beijing is outside Chaoyang Gate, and the gate of Dongzhi Gate is a cold place. Opening a store in this area is inevitably to receive friends on the ligature, and sell the stolen goods for them. This kind of trading is not allowed to enter the high stairs and large brands, and it is done in a clear way. The shopkeeper's customers were just pawnshop Lao Xi and Ghost Market Er playing drums, so he did not persuade Usebo to go to the antique shop. He was convinced that Usebo was not a thief, but he still had to treat him like a thief in his business, so that he could earn two commissions to spend. When he saw that Usebo agreed with his idea, he asked Usebo to take out his cigarette bottle and look at it.

"Good stuff!" Seeing that Wu Shibao took out his cigarette bottle, he grabbed it in his hand and glanced at it, and couldn't help but call out, "How do you say you can draw this branch and leaves?" Are you still worried that you can't change your outfit? I'm afraid I won't be able to catch such a cigarette bottle money after half a year! ”

"Then you are careful to fall on the ground and fall, and you will lose money with your car and horse!" The shopkeeper made a joke, snatched the cigarette bottle and tasted it carefully. The shopkeeper is a rough man, and he has two or five eyes in this regard. But in those years, it was fashionable to use this kind of thing, not to mention that he often poured goods for others, and when he saw more, he naturally knew a little bit about the doorway. The interior painting technique has a history of seventy or eighty years from the end of Jiaqing to the beginning of Daoguang to the present, and people are familiar with it. Gan Heng, Ma Tong, Guixianggu, Yongshoutian and others, most of the people who play with cigarette bottles know; There are a few recent interior painters who are simply household names. For example, Ma Shaoxuan can write the whole article "Jiucheng Palace" in the pot with a big thumb; The characters of the Red Mansion painted by Ye Zhongsan, the story of Liaozhai is called a must. And if the person who plays the cigarette bottle doesn't know Zhou Leyuan's name, it's like a calligrapher who doesn't know Wang Xizhi, and he will be laughed out of his big teeth. This week, Le Yuan used Gong Banqian's fan head method to the inner painting pot, and the paintings of "Fishing Snow in the Cold River", "Returning to the Boat from the Wind and Rain" and "Bamboo Orchid" are known as gods. The shopkeeper once sold a "Three Autumn Pictures" pot for others, and just glanced at the cigarette bottle of Usebo, and felt that it was very similar to the pot, which was the work of Zhou Leyuan, so he grabbed it tightly. After looking at it for a while, he "sighed" and shook his head.

Usebo asked, "What do you see containment?" ”

"No money!"

"The words 'Changbai Old Home' are also counted!"

"No print!"

Wu Shibao thought to himself: "It's good to get ink in the prison, where can I get red?" Then he said: "Ma Shaoxuan's pot is often not sealed." ”

In the end, the shopkeeper said: "Other pots are frosted and dark tea ground, how can your pot be translucent?" ”

Usebo couldn't help but let out an "oh". He always felt that the paintings he painted were a little different from the usual inner painting pots. The shopkeeper understood that the picture of the pot painting painted by others was transparent, but the wall of the pot was not transparent; It's all transparent, so the lines are not spiritual, and the tones are not shiny. He remembered that he had seen a pot painted by Gan Heng in the early years, which was also so transparent, but it was a white crystal billet, and he could see it clearly. He said, "You don't understand this." Most of the pots painted during the Daoguang period are translucent. This proves that I have enough years to do this! ”

The handlebar was sleepy, and he couldn't understand what they were saying, so he said, "You guys are fighting for anything here, and tomorrow you will see the market asking for a price." I'll set up a car to go to the Yellow Temple in the middle of the night, you want to rest early with the car! ”