December 1, 1927.

Suzhou's major textile factories have been suspended for more than a month, and the government has levied higher and higher taxes on textile products from other places entering the city.

But it still seems to be profitable under the heavy taxes, and people from the countryside carry cotton and linen and other things, and rush to the city to sell them, and when they leave, they have to exchange more oil and salt to go back, after all, it is not suitable to go out again in winter.

The price of cloth in the market has risen again and again, and sometimes overnight, the price of a piece of coarse cloth has risen to two or three copper plates.

When the poor people rush to the cloth shops and finally make up their minds to buy a piece of cloth with their long-time savings, they are told the following news:

"Manager! Can you ask? Is the price of cloth going up or down today? ”

"The factories are not shipping, and the outside stuff can't come in! Sporadically come in and the government asks for a price tax, and you still think that the price of cloth will fall? I want to eat a fart! Compared with yesterday, it has risen by half a percent! ”

In the year of Ruixue Zhaofeng, the colder the weather, the more expensive the price of cloth, ordinary people can grit their teeth and buy some, wear them decently, and it is better to cover a quilt at home at night.

The flower children on the street have no tricks, clothes must not be affordable, not even a sheltered house, want to hide anywhere, the stomach is still hungry cooing, in a few days will be turned into a corpse, so the best to understand a sentence - called the sky should not be, the earth is not spiritual.

And Suzhou Provincial High School finally announced its winter vacation on this day.

"After this winter vacation, the students will meet in this classroom again in 1928! I hope that everyone can study arithmetic during the winter vacation......"

Mr. Shen stood on the podium to speak, and the students were all overjoyed when they heard it, after all, it is better to read some magazines and newspapers while lying on the sofa at home than to read books in the cold winter.

"Bao Guowei, let's go!"

"Baozi, come to my house to play when you have time!"

"Bao Liujia, will you go to 82nd Street to play basketball tomorrow?"

After greeting a group of classmates who were familiar with him, Bao Guowei also packed up his belongings and set foot on the way home.

"Guowei!"

Every time he leaves the school gate, he can hear the sound of Lao Bao's shouting, even in the cold winter weather, he will hold a pair of old cold legs to pick up Bao Guowei from school.

……

The beginning of winter has passed more than ten days, last night's drizzle, the sound of rain hitting plantains sounded overnight, after the moisturizing and cleaning of water droplets, the vegetation recently planted in the courtyard of the Bao family house is obviously much more delicate.

In the morning, no one can see the sun, and the sky is only white, which can indicate that it is not yet late at night.

The fire in the main hall of the house "crackled", and the exuberant fire drove away the cold air from outside the house, burning and distorting the air.

An old man in his forties and fifties, dressed in gray coarse cotton clothes, with a stubble on his face, kept tossing and turning inside with a pair of pliers, this is the new man.

The old man's name is Zhang Ergou, he once participated in the Northern Expedition, since he has fought, he wants to come to the home nursing home is very handy, and he will teach Wang Dazhui and Wang Xiaowu some fist and foot kung fu on weekdays, and he can receive a salary of three yuan a month.

The cook, Aunt Li, wielded a spatula in the kitchen, while the maid Xiaoxiu cleaned every corner of the western-style building, and even the landscape paintings on the walls had to be taken down and carefully wiped the dust on the back of the frame.

Bao Guowei sat on the edge of his big bed, repeatedly studying the white-sealed envelope in his hand, and unconsciously showed a smile on his face.

"Hello, Bao Guowei, I have received your letter, if you want to see me, you can come to Tianjin Yongli Alkali Factory, there is nothing to do at the end of this year, I will stay in Tianjin."

This letter is not small, and it is from the current director of Yongli Soda Factory, Hou Debang.

A few days ago, this letter was forwarded through Chu's family, and although the two places were two thousand miles apart, it did not take a few days to get a response, and the efficiency was very high.

Why did you find the Chu family to relay the letter - after all, Bao Guowei has been monitored, and it may not make sense to contact Hou Debang secretly through the teachers of the school, but it will have some negative effects.

Looking at the smile on Bao Guowei's face, the old Bao sitting on the side showed a little worry on his face:

"Guowei, are you really going to go far this time? What can't be solved by letter? ”

Bao Guowei still looked at the letter, with a smile on his face:

"It's better for me to do this in person, whether it's a letter or a telegram, it's not appropriate, and there are Wang Dazhui and Wang Xiaowu with you on this trip, so I don't think there will be any danger."

Lao Bao heard Bao Guowei's words, and kept nodding his head, but he still felt a little uneasy in his heart, now that the north is in chaos, is it really safe to take a foreign train?

"Why don't I go with you? There's still a war going on in the north......"

"No, you don't! I first take the train to Shanghai, and then to Tianjin, take two trains to go directly, it won't take long, not to mention the safety, is it possible that someone dares to rob the big train?

Besides, it's winter, you still don't go far away, won't your legs hurt when you go out in winter? Just sit at home and have a fire. ”

Bao Guowei said, put away the envelope, put on a thick and dense light blue woolen sweater, and opened the door to go out.

Lao Bao still wanted to say something, but looking at the back of his son's departure, he could only sigh.

……

The first floor of the western-style building is obviously much warmer, and the hot tea and breakfast on the dining table are neatly arranged.

After a brief breakfast, Bao Guowei opened the white wooden arch and prepared to go outside to breathe, and before leaving, he finally visited the city of Suzhou - Tianjin and Suzhou are separated by more than 2,000 miles, and I am afraid it will take a lot of time to go.

There was a smell of dust in the air, and the temperature had obviously dropped a lot, even if I wore a thick woolen sweater, my face could not be covered, and when the wind blew, it made people's ears hurt.

"Young master, it's cold outside, put on your coat!"

Xiaoxiu saw that the young master was going out, so he hurriedly put on a big black cotton jacket for him.

Bao Guowei tightened his clothes, looked at the two gods who were still fighting each other with sticks in the yard, and shouted at the top of his voice:

"King's sledgehammer! Wang Xiaowu! Out! ”

……

Even in this cold winter weather, there are still newsboys in thin and clean clothes, standing on the side of the road, shivering from the cold, still waving newspapers in their hands.

"Extra! Extra! It hasn't rained in Guanzhong for months! God Bless North ...... Down with ......"

As Bao Guowei expected, the imminent drought in Guanzhong is much better in the south of the Yangtze River, after all, there is never a shortage of water in this territory.

Bao Guowei stepped on a pair of black hard-soled leather shoes, walked up to the newsboy, took out a coin from his trouser pocket, handed it to the newsboy, and took a newspaper.

The top of the news is not written about the small drought in Guanzhong, after all, except for Bao Guowei, no one knows how far this drought will eventually develop:

"Please pay attention to keeping warm, 104 people have frozen to death in the past five days, and 36 people have frozen to death in the previous two days, and the observatory has observed that the weather will be colder.

Although the weather in this city is not very cold, the temperature in the early morning is slightly below zero degrees Celsius, causing beggars to sleep in the open, and those who freeze to death have not disappeared......

Bao Guowei put away the newspaper and saw that the little newsboy in front of him, who was less than 1.5 meters tall, was counting the money in his pocket, as if all the broken money was not worth a coin just now.

Young Master Bao is in a good mood today, and he is willing to give some money to the poor.

"Take it, and add some firewood to the house."

(End of chapter)