October 10, 1911 is an epoch-making day in Chinese history, on the evening of this day, the Qing army in Wuchang City, Hubei Province, the new army soldiers mutinied, captured the armory of Chuwangtai, after a night of fierce fighting, the next day the rebel army occupied Wuchang City, announced the establishment of the Hubei Military Government. The success of the Wuchang Uprising greatly shocked the whole country, and the revolutionaries in Hunan, Shaanxi, and other places responded one after another, and the situation in various places was surging.

On October 13, Zhang Youlin returned home from outside, and as soon as he entered the courtyard, he was greeted by the staff: "Master, Mr. Huo is here, waiting for you in the living room." ”

"Uncle Huo is here? Great, I'm thinking about him! "Zhang Youlin is overjoyed." Uncle Huo ......" he shouted and rushed to the living room.

Huo Zhenxi is much older, his sideburns have turned gray, he was drinking tea in the living room, he heard the shout and stood up, Zhang Youlin rushed in and hugged him: "Uncle Huo, I miss you to death!" ”

"Youlin, although I haven't been to the capital all these years, I've heard all about you, it's good, I really didn't misunderstand you back then." Huo Zhenxi smiled, his eyes full of approval.

"What did you hear?"

"I've heard all about you running for those revolutionary parties, okay, boy, you really have some guts, to catch up with this kind of thing, ordinary people can't hide from it."

The two sat opposite each other, and Zhang Youlin served tea to Huo Zhenxi: "Uncle, I admire those revolutionary parties, they are all hot-blooded men, and they will not hesitate to lose their lives for their revolutionary ideals." ”

Huo Zhenxi agreed: "I have heard of Wang Zhaoming, he is very famous, he has always followed Mr. Zhongshan, their slogan is 'drive out the Tartars, restore China', and they have held many riots, although they have not succeeded, but the courage of repeated defeats and battles is admirable. ”

Zhang Youlin looked around and asked in a low voice, "How are you preparing over there?" ”

"Young Forest, you don't know yet, do you? Just yesterday, the New Army stationed in Wuchang was the first to raise the banner of righteousness and riot, and they captured the Huguang Governor's Office overnight, and by this morning, the three towns of Wuhan were all under the control of the revolutionary army. ”

Zhang Youlin was very surprised: "Oh my God, what are these revolutionary parties going to do? What will happen after the occupation of Wuhan? ”

"Does that need to be said? Now that the banner of righteousness has been erected, it is about to be done to the end, and in my opinion, in this uprising, the revolutionary party wants to overthrow the imperial court and change the dynasty in one go! Huo Zhenxi waved his arms, looking excited.

"Uncle, what about those Hui brothers in Gansu? It's not been a year or two since you were preparing for an uprising. ”

"You're right, Wuchang is up there, we in Gansu will definitely not be idle, I won't tell you, this Wuchang uprising happened too suddenly, I left Lanzhou when there was no sign, who knew that just arrived in the capital, I heard the news of the Wuchang uprising, you say, can I still stay in the capital?"

"Do you want to go back to Gansu to participate in the uprising?"

"Yes, we've been preparing for so many years, isn't it just for this day? Of course I want to go back, and in any case, I am going to be with the brethren, and I have come today to say goodbye to you. Zhang Youlin pondered: "Uncle, can you wait in the capital?" I estimate that Wuchang Yiqi is in one move, I am afraid that many provinces in the country will respond, and it may become a prairie fire in a blink of an eye. ”

"Youlin, do you want me to wait and see the situation in the capital before making a decision?" Huo Zhenxi shook his head, "This is impossible, this bullshit court should have collapsed a long time ago, how many years have we been looking forward to it?" Now that I've finally waited for my chance, how can I watch from the sidelines? ”

Seeing that Huo Zhenxi couldn't be kept, Zhang Youlin asked again: "When do you plan to leave?" ”

Huo Zhenxi stood up: "Now, I'll leave now, Youlin, I'm going, I don't know when I will meet again in the future, if I am unlucky on the battlefield......"

Zhang Youlin hurriedly stopped: "Uncle, you have nothing to do, I will wait for you to come back after the success of the revolution, uncle, I am waiting for you!" Zhang Youlin's eyes were moist, he was a person who had been on the battlefield and knew that guns were ruthless.

Zhang Youlin has been sending Huo Zhenxi to the post road outside Guang'an Gate, the two of them cherished each other, and after saying goodbye with their fists, Huo Zhenxi turned over and rode along the road with all the martial artists. After Huo Zhenxi returned to Gansu, he participated in the uprising in Wuchang, an armed rebellion that overthrew the Qing Dynasty, and became the father of the Xinhai Revolution.

Zhang Youlin stood on the post road, looking at the smoke and dust in the distance, and refused to leave for a long time......

After the success of the Wuchang Uprising, in just over a month, 14 provinces across the country successively declared "liberation" and independence, and the revolutionary storm swept across the land of China. On November 6, 1911, the imperial court announced the release of Wang Zhaoming and Huang Fusheng, and more than 1,000 people from all walks of life in Beijing went to the gate of the Ministry of Justice Prison to solemnly welcome these two righteous men who plotted to assassinate the regent.

On the third day after Wang Zhaoming was released from prison, Zhang Youlin was reading in the study in civilian clothes, and Yun Sheng followed the employee in sweaty: "The owner, the shopkeeper of the village invites you to come over." ”

"What's the matter?" Zhang Youlin put down the book in his hand.

"It turns out that our neighbor, the shopkeeper of the Shouzhen Photo Studio, is waiting for you in the shop!" Yun Sheng looked excited.

Zhang Youlin's eyes lit up: "Wang Zhaoming? That's great! ”

He changed his clothes and hurried to Rong Bao Zhai. When Wang Zhaoming saw Zhang Youlin coming in, he hurried up to meet him and held his hand tightly: "Mr. Zhang's help to me will never be forgotten!" ”

"You're welcome, may you be seated, Miss Chen?"

The two sat opposite each other, and Wang Zhaoming replied: "She is waiting for me in Shanghai, we are going to hold a grand wedding, and we will invite you to attend at that time." ”

"Definitely! You are a big hero, what will you do in the new government in the future? ”

Wang Zhaoming smiled: "I once made a promise that after the success of the revolution, I would not be an official or a parliamentarian, and I would retire after success, and Bijun and I would go to France to study." ”

Zhang Youlin shook his head and sighed: "It's a pity that a pillar of the country like Mr. Wang is not an official." ”

Wang Zhaoming took out a beautifully packaged box from his leather bag: "Mr. Zhang, give it to you as a souvenir." ”

Zhang Youlin took the box with both hands: "Thank you!" ”

At this time, a young man outside the door came in and urged: "Mr. Wang, it's time for you to leave." ”

Zhang Youlin sent Wang Zhaoming outside the gate, the two shook hands and said goodbye, Wang Zhaoming said sincerely: "Mr. Zhang, if you have something to do in the future, you can come to Nanjing to find me, or you can write a letter to Mr. Hu Hanmin to pass it on to me." ”

Zhang Youlin's expression was indifferent: "The friendship between gentlemen is as light as water, Mr. Wang is a person who does big things, don't be distracted by me and other laypeople, if you go to Beijing in the future, Mr. Wang don't forget to come to Rong Bao Zhai to sit and have a cup of tea." ”

"Definitely, Mr. Zhang, goodbye!" Wang Zhaoming boarded the carriage.

"Goodbye, safe journey!"

The horse's hooves made a crisp sound on the stone road, the carriage gradually moved away, and Zhuang Huchen walked out of the shop: "Youlin, you are really bold enough, people like Shopkeeper Wang are not our dealings, if you can't get it, even the shop and the family will be all finished." ”

Zhang Youlin thoughtfully: "A person like Wang Zhaoming is destined to meet one, and this life is enough......"

Back in the north house of Rong Bao Zhai's backyard, Zhang Youlin opened the box sent by Wang Zhaoming, and inside was a piece of ancient ink in the shape of a beast face shop. Master, this is priceless! ”

"What do you say? Let me see. Zhuang Huchen took Gu Mo and carefully identified it, but he became excited, and his voice trembled, "Young Lin, it's really Pan Gu's 'Foxy' Mo!" Zhuang Huchen sent the ink to Zhang Youlin's nose and let him sniff it: "Smell the fragrance, right?" The book says that after the ink is opened, the fragrance penetrates the muscles and bones, and the fragrance is not fading until it is ground to the end. ”

Zhang Youlin sighed: "Mr. Wang is so polite! Master, let's use it as the treasure of the town. ”

"Good! Rong Bao Zhai has the town's 'shy' ink, and the south paper shop of Liulichang can't compare with us. Zhuang Huchen was overjoyed.

Wang Renshan came in to deliver the account book, and he also came up: "Yo, shopkeeper, who can make such a good ink?" ”

Zhuang Huchen talked eloquently: "The person who made the ink is called Pan Gu, is the famous ink maker of the Song Dynasty, known as the 'ink fairy', this fox is a kind of beast in the legend, it is said that the dragon gave birth to nine sons, the fox is the fifth son of the dragon, the shape is similar to the lion, the 'fox and the lion' made by Pan Gu has always been known as the god in the ink. Su Shi wrote a poem to Pan Gu, which has these two sentences: 'The cloth shirt is painted with ink and hands like a turtle, and the curling is not harmed to store the autumn moon. Mr. Pan was a good drinker, and one day when he got too drunk, he fell into a dry well in the wilderness and fell to his death. I've only heard of it before, and it's the first time I've seen it. ”

"Dongjia, you really have the vision to make a friend like Shopkeeper Wang." Wang Renshan admired.

Zhang Youlin smiled faintly, stood up and left.

Zhuang Huchen asked people to match the "Xuanyi" ink with a red brocade base and a delicate glass cover, and set up a special grid for the shelves in the middle of the front hall of Rong Bao Zhai. Every time Zhuang Huchen walked in front of it, he couldn't help but look at it with joy.

In the days when Zhuang Huchen was still immersed in the treasure of Xide Town, the Great Qing Kingdom staggered and finally came to its end. On February 12, 1912, the Empress Dowager Longyu promulgated the abdication edict of Xuantong Emperor Puyi in the Yangxin Hall of the Forbidden City, and thus the Qing Dynasty, which had ruled China for 268 years, officially came to an end.

It was a gloomy day, the north wind was howling, and there were few pedestrians on the streets. Prince Su Shanqi came out of the Forbidden City with tears streaming down his face, he sat in the carriage and walked aimlessly on the street, I don't know how long later, the carriage turned into the glass factory and stopped in front of Rong Bao Zhai. Shanqi got out of the car, he stood in the cold wind for a while, calmed down, and then stepped up the steps of Rong Bao Zhai.

There were no guests in the shop in such weather, Zhang Youlin was directing the guys to adjust the cargo position, and suddenly, the cotton door curtain was gently opened, and it was Prince Su, an important minister of the imperial court, who came in. Although Prince Su was only wearing casual clothes today, Zhang Youlin still recognized it immediately, and he hurriedly greeted him: "My lord, why do you have time to go out for a walk today?" ”

"Mr. Zhang, we met again, you look good, you don't have to be busy, I'm passing by here, and I'm buying some stationery supplies by the way." Shanqi has returned to his former ease and kindness.

"What do you need, sir?" Wang Renshan asked respectfully.

Shanqi casually wrote a list on the counter and handed it to him, and Wang Renshan went to prepare.

Zhang Youlin asked Shanqi to sit down: "My lord, looking at what you are wearing, do you want a private visit to Weifu?" ”

"Hey, Mr. Zhang, I won't hide it from you, I just finished the last imperial meeting in the Yangxin Palace, and the Empress Dowager Longyu issued the emperor's abdication edict, the Great Qing Kingdom, it's over!"

"Huh?" Zhang Youlin was taken aback, "Then ...... you?"

"Yuan Shikai is a sinister and vicious person, Beijing will soon become a place of right and wrong, I have to leave here first, and I have to talk about it later." Shanqi looked around, "I've lived in Beijing for decades, I'm really a little reluctant, can I come back in the future......" Shanqi shook his head, tears rolling down his cheeks.

Wang Renshan sent the wrapped stationery supplies, Shanqi stood up and left the silver on the table: "This can be regarded as a little memorial before leaving, I say goodbye." ”

Zhang Youlin sent Shanqi out of the gate, and a gust of wind blew, rolling up the yellow dust in the sky. Zhang Youlin said: "Lord Wang, you are a good person, I, Zhang Youlin, have been in this life...... I can't forget you, the world is changing, I hope you take care! ”

Shanqi got into the car with a gloomy expression: "Mr. Zhang, goodbye!" ”

Seeing off Shanqi, Zhang Youlin hurriedly came to the north house in the backyard of Rong Bao Zhai, pushed open the door and said, "Master, the emperor has abdicated." ”

Zhuang Huchen was making calculations, and he was stunned when he heard it: "Is the news reliable?" ”

"Reliable, Prince Su just left." Zhang Youlin sat down opposite Zhuang Huchen.

After being silent for a long time, Zhuang Huchen relieved himself: "I really let you say it, this is not a good thing for us." The gentry and the lord are gone, the Republic of China is starting from scratch, and I don't know how much the old relationship that I worked hard to manage earlier can be used, alas, the time has come! Zhuang Huchen hung his head.

"Don't worry, I've been thinking about it for a long time, it is imperative to change the dynasty, there will be losses in the change, this is inevitable, but there should be new opportunities."

"Do you have an idea?" Zhuang Huchen looked at him eagerly.

Zhang Youlin shook his head: "Not yet." ”

At this moment, Pei Ziye locked himself in the study, sat on the chair and beat his chest, and cried nonstop: "The Great Qing Kingdom, the ancestors of the country for more than 260 years, it's over when you finish speaking......"

The cry spread to the courtyard, the housekeeper Xu Lianchun and the employee stood together, Xu Lianchun frowned: "What's wrong with Bei Ziye?" This has never been done before. He instructed his servants: "Go under the window and listen." ”

The servant bent down and ran under the window of the study.

In the study, the more Pei Ziye cried, the more sad he became: "The country of the Great Qing Dynasty is gone, what am I still going to live?" It's better to die and have a clean heart! He said as he stood up and rummaged through the cabinet against the east wall.

Xu Lianchun also came to the bottom of the window of the study, and whispered to him: "Master Pei said that the country of the Great Qing Dynasty is gone, what is he still alive." ”

Xu Lianchun was stunned: "The rivers and mountains of the Great Qing Kingdom are gone?" As he spoke, he dipped his hand in the foam, pierced the window paper, and looked inside. I saw that Bei Ziye took out a piece of white silk from the cabinet, stretched it with both hands, walked to the center of the study, and wondered where to tie it. Xu Lianchun didn't understand what Bei Ziye meant, he dodged the broken window, and muttered in his mouth: "The country of the Great Qing Kingdom has changed hands, and Bei Ziye will not be a relative of the emperor in the future, and the benefits that came for nothing are gone, and he has become a flat-headed common man overnight, alas, who can stand it!" ”

The servant leaned closer to the window and looked at it, and couldn't help but be shocked: "Steward Xu, it's not good, Master Pei is going to hang himself!" ”

Xu Lianchun suddenly reacted: "Save Bei Ziye!" With that, he ran to the door of the study and screamed and slammed the door: "Master Pei, Master Bei, open the door, open the door, open the door, ...... open"

After calling for a long time and there was no movement inside, Xu Lianchun hurriedly ordered the staff: "Make a little effort and knock the door open!" ”

The servant stepped back, and with all his strength, kicked the door open.

They rushed into the study, and helped Bei Ziye get down from the chair, Xu Lianchun used his sleeve to pouted a chair that was trampled on by Bei Ziye, and then helped Bei Ziye sit down.

Bei Ziye was holding Bai Ayazi in his hand, with tears on his face, Xu Lianchun pointed to Bai Ayazi, frightened: "Bei ...... Bei Ziye, this is ...... Emperor...... The emperor's reward? ”

Bei Ziye slammed Bai Ayazi to the ground: "It's because I don't want to live anymore!" ”

Xu Lianchun breathed a sigh of relief: "Then why are you?" ”

Pei Ziye's tears came down again: "The Great Qing Kingdom, the ancestors of the country......"

Xu Lianchun motioned to someone to take the white silk away, and the employee picked up the white silk and went out, so he persuaded: "Bei Ziye, although the country of the Great Qing Dynasty is gone, but you can't hang yourself, if you really have a good one, don't you let those who have smashed the Great Qing Kingdom get their wish?" ”

When this was to the point, Bei Ziye nodded: "You have a point." ”

Xu Lianchun took a handkerchief and handed it to Bei Ziye: "That's right, what will happen in the future, let's think about it again." ”

These days, Zhuang Huchen is always frowning. It was almost noon, he came from the backyard, and stood at the door of Rong Bao Zhai to observe the passing pedestrians, who had cut off their braids and obviously had a lot more than a few days ago.

Yun Sheng came to the door with a newspaper in his hand: "Shopkeeper, when are we going to cut our braids?" ”

"What's the hurry, wait." Zhuang Huchen's voice was low.

Yun Sheng pointed to the newspaper: "The Republic of China has just announced the No. 29 communiqué, with a deadline of 20 days, and the officials, soldiers and civilians will all cut off their braids, and those who do not cut it will be violated, let's hurry up, okay?" ”

"Cutting braids is a trivial matter, I'm pondering, the dynasty has changed, what should I do with Rong Bao Zhai's business."

"What should we do?" Yun Sheng was stunned.

"Then wait and drink the northwest wind." Zhuang Huchen shook his hand and left.

Yun Sheng looked at the back of the shopkeeper and was puzzled. At this time, two guests with braided hair came to the door, Yun Sheng came back to his senses and hurriedly greeted the guests: "Two gentlemen, please ...... inside"

It didn't take long for Zhuang Huchen to come back with one hand covering the back of his head and the other hand with his braid, and Yun Sheng happily greeted him: "Shopkeeper, have you cut your braids?" I'll cut it later. ”

Zhuang Huchen sat down: "I met two little rabbit cubs on the street, and when I was not paying attention, I jumped up with a pair of scissors, and I had braids for a lifetime, just like that...... It's all over. ”

Zhang Xi'er brought the tea: "Didn't you say that we Han people didn't keep braids earlier?" This is the exquisiteness of the Manchurians, and it is the braid that the Manchurians forced us to keep. ”

Zhuang Huchen looked at the braid in his hand, and his face was full of sadness: "In case the Republic of China doesn't get it right, and invites the emperor back, how can you explain it without the braid?" ”

"Shopkeeper, there is nothing to do, you are worrying about it." Zhang Xi'er was relieved.

"Have you settled the score?"

"It's a little bit worse, but it's definitely worse than it was this time last year."

"I expected it, the loss is still to come." Zhuang Huchen stood up, "Let's go, I'll reconcile with you." ”

Zhuang Huchen and Zhang Xi'er went to the backyard, and Song Huairen, a man from Maoyuanzhai who had been watching through the window for a long time, saw that only Yunsheng was left in the shop, so he pretended to have nothing to do and walked in. Song Huairen is twenty-one years old, just out of apprenticeship for less than two years, this person has a fast brain, very capable, but greedy, calculating, it is said that his hands and feet are not very clean, and he seizes the opportunity to take advantage of the shopkeeper from the customer behind his back, Zhuang Huchen looks down on him.

"Yo, Huairen, why are you so idle today?" Yun Sheng asked as he cleaned up the counter.

"I heard that Rong Bao Zhai got a piece of Pangu made of 'Foxy' ink, I'll come and take a look."

Yun Sheng pointed to him: "There it is." ”

Song Huairen walked over: "Take it down and show it to me, okay?" ”

"Okay." Yun Sheng climbed into a chair and took the ink down.

Song Huairen took it and looked at it carefully, and asked knowingly: "Where did you get the shopkeeper?" Spent a lot of money, right? ”

"It wasn't our shopkeeper's Tao in exchange, it was given to our owner by our neighbor, the shopkeeper of Shouzhen Photo Studio Wang, earlier."

"Why did he send such a valuable thing to your host?" Song Huairen's purpose was to inquire about this, and as for the "shy" ink, he had already come to see it when Yunsheng was not there that day.

"After the shopkeeper Wang was imprisoned, our owner was busy saving him, and the owner also persuaded the old owner to take out their ancestral "Xiling Holy Mother Post", and gave a gift to Prince Su with his head tucked, hey, our owner was more righteous, but Prince Su didn't ask for it, but the shopkeeper Wang knew this, and as soon as he came out of the prison, he went around looking for our owner, and he had to give him this piece of ancient ink, which I saw with my own eyes." Yun Sheng's eyes lit up as he spoke, and his spat flew stars.

"What did you just say? "Our Lady of Xiling"? The Zhang family is enough to take advantage of it, hey, this "Our Lady of Xiling" ......"

"Monk Huaisu's wild grass wow, it's worth the old nose silver!"

Song Huairen was about to ask again, but Zhuang Huchen came in from the back door and shouted angrily: "Yunsheng!" ”

Song Huairen put down the ink, and smiled without smiling: "It's really a good ink, Zhuang shopkeeper, I won't bother." ”

"Xiao Song, what are you busy with?" Zhuang Huchen is lukewarm.

"I still have to take care of the shop, another day." Song Huairen turned around and left.

Zhuang Huchen watched him walk into Maoyuanzhai, and then said slowly: "Yunsheng, those who do business on a street are all rivals, and they look at Lele on the surface, and they will give you a knife behind their backs. ”

"Yes, shopkeeper, I remember."

Yunsheng is a child with a heart, and he has firmly remembered Zhuang Huchen's words for a lifetime. However, as soon as the word is out, the horse is difficult to chase, and the owner of Rong Bao Zhai has the ancestral Huaisu monk's wild grass "Xiling Holy Mother Post", and Song Huairen also remembers.

In the yard, Zhang Li was coaxing his two-year-old grandson to play, He Jiabi hung the little clothes that had just been washed for Xiaolu on the rope, Zhang Youlin shaved his head and came in from outside, He Jiabi had never seen her husband like this, she laughed: "Youlin, is this still you?" ”

"How?" Zhang Youlin turned his back to show his mother and wife.

Zhang Li shook his head: "I'm used to seeing you comb your braids all the time, and suddenly it's gone, I'm really not used to it, do you think your head is light?" ”

Before Zhang Youlin could answer, the servant hurriedly came in with a vegetable basket: "Master, hurry up and go to Master Jilin, I just met the messenger, and Master Jilin is sick again." ”

Zhang Youlin listened, pulled his legs and left.

In the bedroom, Zhang Jilin was lying on the bed with a sallow face, and Yue Mingchun, a senior disciple of Imperial Physician Fan, sat on the edge of the bed and enlightened him: "You can't be in a hurry, your body and bones have to be raised for a while." ”

"I still have a big mess in my hands, and I can't step on it." Zhang Jilin gasped, his voice weak.

"No, I can tell you, you can't stand it at all, just lie down honestly on the kang."

Zhang Jilin looked very sad and sighed: "Alas! ”

"Isn't the Great Qing Kingdom all finished? What else are you busy with? Rest for a while and wait for a change. ”

As soon as the words fell, Zhang Youlin pushed the door in: "Doctor Yue, I'm bothering you." He looked at Zhang Jilin: "Brother, are you better?" ”

"Much better." Zhang Jilin didn't tell the truth.

Yue Mingchun stood up and picked up the medicine box: "You can rest, I will come to see you in two days." ”

Zhang Jilin struggled to get up from the bed, but was stopped by Zhang Youlin: "Brother, don't get up, I'll send Dr. Yue." ”

Out of the gate of Zhang's house, Yue Mingchun stopped: "Mr. Zhang, you have to be prepared." ”

Zhang Youlin was taken aback: "My brother's illness ...... Not good? ”

"It's not a general bad, Imperial Physician Fan explained to me, and I still treat him according to the prescription left by Imperial Physician Fan before he died, but it seems that there is little hope this time, the pulse has come out, and it is only this month."

"You can think of a way again."

Yue Mingchun shook his head: "If there is a way, I won't tell you this." ”

Suddenly, tears welled up in Zhang Youlin's eyes. After sending off Dr. Yue, Zhang Youlin stood outside the door, his thinking was almost stagnant, and his brain was blank, until the person sent by Zhang Jilin came out to call him, Zhang Youlin hurriedly wiped away his tears and went in to accompany his cousin.

He Jiabi had already said that she would take Xiaolu back to her parents' house today and stay with her father for a few days, so Zhang Youlin stayed at her cousin's house until late and didn't come back. When he entered the bedroom, he saw He Jiabi actually making the bed, he was very strange: "Aren't you going to stay at your mother's house for a few days, why did you come back?" ”

He Jiabi frowned: "Youlin, the limelight is not right, since the news of the emperor's abdication came out, the price of grain has skyrocketed these days, but the number of people who can buy it is still increasing, and the stock of our rice store is almost sold out." ”

"Really? No wonder Rong Bao Zhai's business has been sluggish recently. ”

"Does this have anything to do with Rong Bao Zhai's business?"

Zhang Youlin sat on the chair: "Of course, now is the time for the transfer of the old and new regimes, the pattern of the Republic of China has not been finalized, the relationship between government departments has not been connected, there is no way to talk about large-scale transactions, only relying on individual customers to support the façade, people are busy buying food, indicating that the market is unstable, when eating is a problem, who still has the heart to write poems, write and paint?" ”

"So what do we do?" He Jiabi looked at him anxiously.

Zhang Youlin avoided her gaze: "The shopkeeper and I are worried about this." In fact, what worries him even more is still to come.

A few days later, it was past midnight, and there was a sudden chaos outside, and groups of soldiers poured into the glaze factory, slamming the door and robbing the shop.

Rong Bao Zhai's guys were sleeping on the bunk in the front hall, Zhang Xi'er was the first to wake up, he got up and listened, and hurriedly called Yun Sheng: "Yun Sheng, wake up, wake up!" ”

Yun Sheng slept in a daze: "Big guy, what are you doing?" ”

Wang Renshan had already turned over and got off the bunk, listening carefully to the movement outside.

Under the moonlight, five soldiers wearing crooked hats and open chests snatched all the way, holding porcelain vases, bronzes and other antiques snatched from the antique shop to the door of Rong Bao Zhai, and a soldier looked up at the plaque hanging on the eaves: "Sir, what's wrong with this shop?" ”

"What nonsense, go in and see!" The chief was impatient.

The soldier began shouting and slammed the door with the butt of his gun: "Open the door, open the door quickly......"

Yun Sheng was completely awake at this time, he hurriedly put on his clothes, and looked at Zhang Xi'er in horror: "Big man, what should I do?" ”

In the dark, Wang Renshan's reaction was very fast: "Quick, first hide the 'Foxy' ink, that's the treasure of the town store." ”

Zhang Xi'er quickly jumped onto the table, took off the "spicy" ink from the shelf, and Wang Renshan took it and stuffed it into the counter.

Outside, the shouts of soldiers came out: "Fuck, if you don't open the door again, Lao Tzu will shoot!" ”

"Hurry up and open the door." Zhang Xi'er instructed Yunsheng.

Yun Sheng hurriedly opened the door, the soldiers rushed in, and the officer kicked Yun Sheng when he came in: "Why the is so slow?" Looking for death? ”

Wang Renshan turned on the electric light, the soldiers piled up the looted things on the counter, the officers looked around in the shop, and Zhang Xi'er followed him in horror.

The officer looked around, slapped the pistol on the table, and swaggered down on the chair: "Take out all the valuable antiques in the shop!" ”

When Zhang Xi'er saw the officer show his face, he was so frightened that he was sweating profusely, and his words were not good: "Long ...... Long...... Sir......"

Seeing this, Wang Renshan grabbed two steps and said in a low voice: "Sir, our shop is a southern paper shop, and it doesn't sell antiques. ”

The officer's eyes narrowed: "Boy, are you tired of being alive?" ”

Wang Renshan haha: "Don't dare, don't dare, if you like it, take a few pieces of ink and go, this is the most valuable thing in the shop." As he spoke, Wang Renshan went to the shelf and took down a few pieces of ink and respectfully handed them to the officer.

The officer glanced at it, and immediately became angry, and slammed the ink to the ground: "Just use this broken thing to deal with Lao Tzu?" As he spoke, he raised his hand and slapped Wang Renshan in the mouth, and then ordered his subordinates: "Brothers, smash this shop!" ”

The soldiers knocked down the shelves, the pen holders fell to the ground and shattered, and the brushes rolled everywhere on the ground, and then they smashed the locks on the account cabinets, snatched the silver and copper inside, and threw the inkstones, colors, and rice paper on the counter. After a few people finished tossing, they picked up the antiques they had just snatched from other shops and walked away.

The ground was in a mess, and Yun Sheng cried: "Big guy, the shop is like this, how can Ming'er explain it to the shopkeeper!" ”

Zhang Xi'er gritted her teeth in anger: "These people who have suffered a thousand knives, where are the soldiers, they are pure bandits, so they will not die well!" He turned around: "Renshan, are you okay?" ”

Wang Renshan touched his swollen face, and replied casually: "It's okay, go to sleep." ”

Zhuang Huchen came out of the house in the morning, and as soon as he entered the city, he realized that something was wrong. When he hurried to the glass factory, he saw that almost all the shops along the street had been robbed, and the guys were cleaning up the mess, and many of the shops hung banners at the door of the "This store is robbed", these banners trembled in the cold wind of early spring, like the hearts of the shopkeepers were wailing.

In Rong Bao Zhai, the ground has been cleaned up, Zhang Xi'er, Wang Renshan, Song Xuan and Yun Sheng are all sweating profusely, they work together to erect the shelves from the ground and put them firmly against the wall.

Yun Sheng handed everyone a hand towel: "You all rest for a while, I can do the rest." ”

Zhang Xi'er took the handkerchief and wiped the sweat on her head: "It doesn't matter, let's try to restore the shop to its original state before the shopkeeper arrives." ”

Before the words fell, Zhuang Huchen entered the shop. He first looked at the guys, saw that everyone was there, and breathed a sigh of relief, and then turned his eyes to the lattice for the "foxy" ink, and saw that it was empty, and he didn't feel a tightness in his heart: "What about the 'foxy' ink?" ”

"Yes." Zhang Xi'er took it out of the counter and handed it to Zhuang Huchen.

Zhuang Huchen looked at it carefully, the "Foxy" ink was intact, he closed his eyes, and muttered to himself: "Buddha and Bodhisattva bless, really Buddha and Bodhisattva bless!" Putting down the "shy" ink, Zhuang Huchen looked around, and Zhang Xi'er followed behind him: "The shopkeeper, compared with those antique shops, our loss is small." ”

"It's good that the person isn't hurt."

"The money in the account cabinet has been robbed, and the porcelain pen holders on the shelves have almost been broken." Zhuang Huchen picked up a piece of broken ink from the corner of the wall, put it under his nose and sniffed it, but he didn't squeak. After a while, he turned around and asked Song Xuan, "How is the post over there?" ”

Song Xuan frowned: "Hey, I don't know where so many soldiers came from, they robbed all the shops along the street, and set fire to the houses, it is estimated that they are dead, they didn't go inside, I heard that something was wrong outside, locked the door, and quickly made a detour." ”

"When Brother Bolt arrived, our shop had just been robbed, where was you?" Wang Renshan poured tea.

"I didn't grab that piece, but on the way here, I saw a lot of people picking up things that the bandits had landed on the street last night."

"They're picking up the bargain." Yun Sheng was very envious.

Wang Renshan disagreed, he shook his head: "There is no cheap in this world, let's see." ”

"Fortunately, Renshan's brain is fast, and when he slammed the door as a soldier, Renshan's first thought was to hide the 'foxy' ink, otherwise he would also be smashed by the soldier." Zhang Xier said.

Zhuang Huchen patted Wang Renshan on the shoulder: "Good job, Renshan, you have made a contribution to our store, I will remember it for you!" ”

Wang Renshan pondered: "Shopkeeper, where is this soldier?" How dare you rob it openly in Beijing? ”

"It's not quite right, except for the time when the Eight-Nation Alliance Army was troubled, the shops in Beijing City have not been robbed like this, how can the soldiers be so bold and dare to openly rob the shops?" Zhuang Huchen was also puzzled.

When chatting with his cousin last night, he said that he wanted to eat Yueshengzhai's sauce mutton, Zhang Youlin got up early this morning, and he wanted to go to Hubu Street to buy it for his cousin in person - his cousin's days are numbered, and Zhang Youlin wants to do something for him as much as possible. Passing by the door of his mother's bedroom, Zhang Li heard the movement, opened the cotton door curtain and walked out: "Youlin, go out?" ”

Zhang Youlin stopped: "Mom, I'll go buy some food for my brother." ”

"Is Jilin feeling better these days?"

"It's still like that."

"Ugh." Zhang Li paused for a moment and said, "I made a lot of noise for most of the night yesterday, and I don't know what's going on outside, so you can stop by and inquire." ”

Zhang Youlin was stunned: "Why didn't I hear it?" ”

"You're asleep, like you're quite far from us."

The cold wind mixed with snowflakes blew over, Zhang Youlin turned sideways to block it for his mother: "It's cold outside, you better go in." ”

In the courtyard of Zhang Jilin's house, Zhang Shanlin put down the bird cage and a few Yangluo'er in his hand and was about to go out, Zhang Youlin came in with the sauce mutton soaked in the old soup, he frowned: "Uncle, the street is so messy, why are you going?" ”

Zhang Shanlin was still elated: "Look at the excitement, hey, young forest, you don't know, right?" Last night, the bandits from outside came in and robbed almost all the shops in Beijing, and this morning I went out to walk the birds, which really scared me stupid, guess what? The streets were full of things dropped by bandits, as well as pieces of cloth, which they didn't have time to take, and the early risers were able to pick up the bargains. ”

"Didn't you go to Rong Bao Zhai to have a look?" Zhang Youlin was anxious at this time.

"Do you still have to say that?" Zhang Shanlin lifted the lid of the soup pot and sniffed, "It's very fragrant, Jilin is worried about this, let's use it to pour noodles at noon." He closed the lid again: "I didn't even care about the birds, I went to the glass factory first, fortunately, Zhuang Huchen is there, the shelves of our shop let the bandits knock down, smashed a pen holder or something, plus the ruined things, pay a few hundred taels of silver, and those antique shops are much better, you stay, I'll go out to see." ”

"Uncle, I advise you not to go, when I came here just now, I saw that the soldiers were arresting people."

"Afraid of arresting people or something? I didn't recruit them and didn't mess with them, just to see the excitement, you go and accompany Jilin, I'm leaving. Zhang Shanlin walked out of the courtyard.

Zhang Youlin looked at his back and shook his head helplessly.

At lunchtime, Zhang Shanlin did not come back. However, this is also a common thing, and he can't tell which restaurant he goes to and eats at the door, and his words can't be believed.

In the afternoon, Zhang Youlin went to Rong Bao Zhai, he and Zhuang Huchen counted the lost stationery supplies, and chatted for a long time in the north house of the backyard.

Zhuang Huchen was worried: "Not long after the emperor abdicated, it became like this, didn't he say that the emperor had a good life if he left?" Where are the good days? ”

"You can't say that, overthrowing feudal rule and moving towards democracy and freedom is a worldwide trend."

"Youlin, you came out of the foreign school, I can't tell you the truth, but, if you want to follow such a troublesome method, you will come up indiscriminately and rob the shop, and if you can't take it away, you will destroy it, to say something you don't like to hear, I don't think it's as good as when the emperor is here."

Zhang Youlin frowned: "First of all, I have to find a way to find out why I robbed the shop, if it is easy for one or two families, maybe it will be the enemy's revenge, but thousands of shops have been robbed overnight, I think there must be a famous hall here." ”

"What do you mean......"

Before Zhuang Huchen's words were finished, Zhang Xi'er came in: "Dongjia, Master Jilin sent someone to find you and ask if you know where his father went." ”

Zhang Youlin was stunned: "My uncle hasn't come home yet?" ”

Zhang Xi'er nodded: "It seems that it is, Master Jilin is very anxious." ”

Zhang Youlin's fire jumped up all of a sudden: "My uncle too, Jilin's illness is afraid of being anxious, it's been a day, why did he go?" Zhang Youlin stood up: "Master, I'll go over, if my uncle comes to you, let him go home quickly." ”

"Go ahead." Zhuang Huchen sighed, "Alas, I have never seen such a father, his son is so sick that he can't get up from the kang, and he is still stringing around, so that he is not at home at all, so that the patient is anxious for him." ”

Zhang Youlin walked to the door and turned back again: "You have to worry more about the shop." ”

"I'm not afraid of worrying about being tired, the previous relationship is gone, we can find a new one, what I'm afraid of is flying into trouble." Zhuang Huchen is telling the truth.

"Don't worry, it won't always be like this." Zhang Youlin opened the curtain, and his figure disappeared into the night in an instant.

Zhang Youlin went to Beijing City to search for all the places where Zhang Shanlin might go, but found nothing, and it was not until the second half of the night that he dragged his tired body back home.

The glaze factory in the capital has always been a place of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, at that time there were not many employment opportunities, and it was not easy for ordinary people to make a difference in the glaze factory. Song Huairen has a lot of ghost ideas since he was a child, compared with his clumsy brothers, his father sells vegetables in the East Fourth Archway, and the whole family lives hard, in order to let this son who is only likely to get ahead have a good future, the old Song did not hesitate to spend money, and gave a distant relative three years of vegetables in vain, which was only helped by relatives, and entrusted Song Huairen to Maoyuan Zhai for apprenticeship.

After the apprenticeship expired, Song Huairen's heart and eyes were alive again. Over the years, Maoyuanzhai's business has been half-dead, barely maintained, and has no future; Rong Bao Zhai is the boss of the South Paper Store in Beijing, and he has just come out of the apprenticeship, and he has no achievements and can't remember. Song Huairen thought about it and aimed at his neighbor Huiyuan Pavilion, who was much stronger than Maoyuanzhai in terms of management.

The soldiers robbed the shop was a godsend for Song Huairen.

That night, Song Huairen lied that he was going home, but in fact he secretly went to the Bada Hutong to visit the kiln. In the middle of the night, he quickly ran back to the glass factory, only to see that the soldiers were starting from the east, smashing the door next to the house, robbing, seeing that the shops on this street were in a catastrophe, he was just about to knock on the door of Maoyuanzhai, suddenly had an idea, and thought about it. Song Huairen went around the back, jumped over the wall and jumped into the backyard next door to Maoyuanzhai and Huiyuan Pavilion, woke up the stunned guys and apprentices, and commanded them to overturn the tables, chairs and benches by themselves, and scattered pen, ink, paper and inkstone on the ground, disguised as the looted Xiangzi, and then opened the door of the shop wide. Sure enough, several groups of soldiers passed by the door of Huiyuan Pavilion, looked at it, and did not enter, and Huiyuan Pavilion was spared because of this.

Looking at the banners flying all over the street, "This store is robbed", Chen Fuqing, the big guy of Huiyuan Pavilion, was happy, and naturally, Song Huairen also jumped to Huiyuan Pavilion as he wished. However, Chen Fuqing is not a fool, he is like a mirror in his heart, a guy like Song Huairen's brain is enough, and he will calculate Chen Fuqing one day, so after giving a decent amount of reward, he will no longer give Song Huairen a good face.

In the morning, Chen Fuqing had breakfast at the nearby "Tofu Plum" food stall and paced into Huiyuan Pavilion. Song Huairen was the only one in the shop, Chen Fuqing sat down and glanced at him without yin or yang: "Huairen, when you arrive at Huiyuan Pavilion, you have to say hello to me in advance if you have anything, you can only do it after I nod, you can't make your own decisions, in addition, our current shopkeeper is a real hands-off shopkeeper, don't care about the, just wait for the end of the year to divide the silver." ”

Song Huairen put down the work in his hand, made tea for Chen Fuqing, and stood in front of him respectfully: "I know, Huiyuan Pavilion is Chen Guy, you have the final say." ”

"It's good to know, the business of the South Paper Store is not good at the moment, and Rong Baozhai, the boss of our industry, is also in a recession these days, Zhuang Huchen's head is drooping, what about you, think about the idea, don't come here in vain."

"Guy Chen, actually...... It's not difficult to do, but ......" Song Huairen swallowed.

"But what?"

"My salary...... What's the algorithm? Song Huairen has been thinking about it in his heart.

"I won't treat you badly, it must be much stronger than Maoyuan Zhai." Chen Fuqing picked up the tea bowl and took a sip of tea, "As long as you really do a good job, when the dividends are distributed at the end of the year...... It's all negotiable. ”

Song Huairen had a smile on his face: "As long as you get a lot of silver, it's easy to do, let's suffer hardships, isn't it silver?" ”

"What do you say, it's easy to do?" Chen Fuqing frowned.

Song Huairen was confident, he approached Chen Fuqing, and said the idea that he had been pondering since he was in Maoyuanzhai, Chen Fuqing listened to it and nodded frequently.

In the lounge in the backyard of Rong Bao Zhai, Zhuang Huchen took out Yunnan Pu'er tea that had been treasured for more than 20 years to entertain Zhao Hanbo.

After pouring out the water for washing the tea for the first time, Zhuang Huchen poured the tea soup that had been soaked for about a minute into the plain white porcelain tea bowl and handed it to Zhao Hanbo: "Is it true that the newspaper is published?" ”

Zhao Hanbo shook his head: "The water is big!" I'm just telling you, you can't spread the word out. He lowered his voice, "This is all done by Yuan Shikai." ”

Zhuang Huchen was taken aback: "Huh? Why did he let people rob the shop? Did the trader recruit him or provoke him? ”

"Shopkeeper Zhuang, this is a struggle for power and profit."

Zhao Hanbo picked up the tea bowl and tasted it carefully, looking very intoxicated: "In the end, it is an aged Pu'er, the soup is red and bright, soft and smooth, different is different!" ”

Zhuang Huchen looked confused, and Zhao Hanbo put down the tea bowl: "Republic of China, Sun Yat-sen's faction wants to set up the capital in Nanjing, have you heard?" ”

"I heard, didn't your newspaper talk about this all the time ago?"

"But Yuan Shikai doesn't do anything."

"Why didn't he want to go to Nanjing?" Zhuang Huchen refilled Zhao Hanbo's tea bowl with tea.

"Hey, it's all conspiracy. Yuan Shikai's roots are in the north, if he goes to the south, won't he be paid at the bottom of the kettle? But Yuan Shikai couldn't openly say that he was unwilling to leave Beijing, so he thought of a rut and instructed his subordinates, Cao Kun's soldiers in the Third Town, to pretend to mutiniate and rob the shop, which was a joke. ”

Zhuang Huchen frowned: "Who is it for?" ”

"Isn't the envoy sent by Sun Yat-sen to welcome Yuan Shikai to Nanjing still in Beijing? did it for them, in order to let them see, the city of Beijing is in a mess, and he Yuan Shikai can't do without it! If you want to say that this Yuan Shikai is really not a thing, he is duplicitous, this time, you see, he received the envoy ceremoniously on the surface, and secretly asked people to rob the envoy's residence in Cinder Hutong, and the envoys were so frightened that they hid in the embassy area for refuge. ”

"Yuan Shikai's goal has been achieved?"

"It's reached, the chaos in Beijing City, the envoys have seen it, not only did not urge Yuan Shikai to go to Nanjing, but also turned around and called the Nanjing Senate to support Yuan Shikai in Beijing as the interim president."

Zhuang Huchen sighed: "Alas! I heard that more than 4,000 people were robbed, and even robbed and destroyed, and in the past few days, more than 90 million taels of silver have been lost. ”

"You don't count yet, it's those people who are greedy for cheap, you just lose your money, and they can't even save their lives."

"How can you even take your life?" Zhuang Huchen was puzzled.

Zhao Hanbo looked very mysterious: "The night of the soldier is over, aren't the cheap people picking up foreign clothes on the street in the morning?" Including some people who watched the excitement, they were all arrested and charged with robbery, and they had to be killed in the next two days......"

When Zhuang Huchen heard this, he couldn't help but be shocked.

Zhang Shanlin has been missing for several days, and his cousin can't hold on anymore, Zhang Youlin is as anxious as an ant on a hot pot. He hurried to the pharmacy and handed the prescription to the guy who grabbed the medicine, and the guy looked at the prescription and said that there were two kinds of medicine that were not commonly used, and he would look for it after getting it, so Zhang Youlin walked to the window and sat down, and picked up the newspaper on the table.

Just after reading a few lines, suddenly there was a boiling voice outside, Zhang Youlin put down the newspaper and came to the door.

I saw soldiers escorting a group of prisoners from a distance, and the prisoners were all tied up with flowers, and there was a sign with a severed head on their backs, on which was written the name of a certain person, and the name had been marked with a red cross. The prisoner led by him was actually the one named Hanako who rescued him from the city wall when he was fighting against the Eight-Nation Alliance, and Zhang Youlin couldn't help but feel nervous.

Called Hanako to scold all the way: "I'll fuck your eight generations of ancestors, Lao Tzu will become a bandit if you pick up things on the street...... God, wronged! Hanako, I've been asking for food in this realm for more than 20 years, and who doesn't recognize me, old and young, why the hell became a bandit robbing shops overnight......"

There was also a cry and curse in the ranks of the prisoners.

The soldier gave Hanako a rifle butt, and blood flowed down his head. Zhang Youlin took a step forward to stop the soldier: "Master Bing, I testify, this master is not a bandit, you caught the wrong person." ”

Huazi was overjoyed when he saw Zhang Youlin: "Mr. Zhang is a person with status, he has spoken for me, you have arrested the wrong person!" ”

Suddenly, Zhang Youlin found Zhang Shanlin in the prisoner team, his cotton robe was torn, his hair was unkempt, and there were several blood marks on his face. Zhang Shanlin also found him, and cried out in despair: "Youlin, save me, I'm standing next to watch the excitement, and I'm going to be a bandit!" ”

Someone in the crowd shouted, "Wronged! Wronged ......" suddenly, the crowd rioted, and the voices of "wronged" came and went. An officer rode up from behind, stood in front of Zhang Youlin, pulled out a pistol from his waist, and fired three shots at the sky, "dang, dang, dang", and glanced at everyone menacingly: "Who doesn't want to live, stand up, Lao Tzu will kill him together!" ”

The crowd of onlookers immediately fell silent, and the prisoners were driven onwards. Zhang Shanlin's cry was faint and ethereal, but it hit Zhang Youlin's ear drum like a hammer: "Youlin, save me......"

Not far away, gunshots rang out, and people flowed to the place where the gunshots rang out, and Zhang Youlin was stunned. Yue Mingchun struggled through the flow of people to Zhang Youlin's side: "Mr. Zhang, the medicine is useless, your brother has already ...... just now" Yue Mingchun patted Zhang Youlin's shoulder.

Zhang Youlin's tears flowed down, and he slumped on the steps at the door of the pharmacy as soon as he went limp......

The mourning hall was quickly arranged, Zhang Youlin knelt down in front of the statues of Zhang Shanlin and Zhang Jilin, studied with his cousin when he was a child, and played with his uncle with birds and crickets.

Outside the mourning hall, He Jiabi led Xiaolu to look inside anxiously, she was really afraid that her husband would cry, so she took out a letter from her pocket and stuffed it in Xiaolu's hand: "Send it to Dad." ”

Xiaolu staggered into the mourning hall with the letter: "Dad! ”

Hearing his son's scream, Zhang Youlin stopped crying, he wiped his tears, stood up and picked up Xiaolu, and opened the letter. The letter was sent by Qiu Yue from St. Petersburg:

Young:

It's been a long time since I've heard from you, how are you? ……

Zhang Youlin's tears poured out again, Xiaolu stretched out her little hand to wipe him, and innocently asked, "Dad, is mom spanking?" ”

Zhang Youlin hugged Xiaolu tightly in his arms, and tears dripped on Qiuyue's letter, soaking a large ......

Losing two relatives at the same time, Zhang Youlin was grief-stricken. After burying his uncle and cousin, he fell seriously ill and lay in bed for a whole month before slowly recovering.