Xu Xuzhi

Chapter 116 Eight Blessings Inn

Feng Jiu never expected that in this remote area of ​​Yuncheng, Shanxi, he would meet Ning Zheng's second elder brother Ning Cheng and second sister-in-law Yan Leling, whom he hadn't seen for many years: More than 2000 gamblers formed the Tianjin plainclothes team, which created two consecutive riots in November of that year, intending to take advantage of the gap in advance, which was known as the "Tianjin Incident" in history.

At that time, Ning Cheng was the mayor of Tianjin and the chief of the police station. He had been alerted to this for a long time. He had made a special trip to Beiping to report the situation to Ning Zheng, and concluded that "no fight will work." After Ning Zheng's approval, Ning Cheng Following Ning Zheng's instructions, Cheng and Wang Shuchang, chairman of Hebei Province and commander of the Second Army of the Ning Army, deployed defenses in advance.

During the two riots, plainclothes teams and Japanese soldiers led by tanks and armored vehicles set up cannons and attacked the Tianjin Municipal Government, Public Security Bureau, and Telephone Office. The fighting was fierce.Due to Ning Cheng's early deployment and proper command, the plainclothes team lost more than [-] people and fled in embarrassment.

Ning Cheng successfully smashed the Japanese and puppet riots, and the Nanjing government immediately awarded the second-class four-dimensional medal, and Ning Cheng became famous for a while.Unexpectedly, Mamoru Shigemitsu, the Japanese Minister to China, immediately protested to the Nanjing government, confounding black and white, and instead slandered Ning Cheng.As a result, the Nanjing government, which had praised Ning Cheng with great fanfare, immediately compromised and forced Ning Cheng to resign.

After hanging up the phone, Ning Cheng took out the medal that hadn't been warmed up in his arms, carefully looked at the blue sky and white sun pattern on it, put it lightly on the table in the mayor's office of Tianjin, suddenly laughed three times, and Shi Shi ran to the sky .

Ning Cheng and his family fled to Shanghai, and then transferred to Hong Kong. After the "July 26th Incident" broke out in the [-]th year of the Republic of China, they took their sister-in-law, several concubines of the old handsome and other children of Lao Ning's family there.

This time it was because Yan Baichuan's wedding invitation was sent to him. Ning Cheng thought about the possibility that Ning Zheng had been secretly released, so he rushed here with his wife. Although he didn't see the third brother, he could see the third sibling. It is already surprising.

The wedding was very simple, but very lively. Many warlords from all over the country who had friendship with the Yan family sent their family members to attend. Lao Jiang also sent Wei Junru, the commander-in-chief of the first war zone and Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei, to attend. He beat Yan Laoxi who didn't know each other, Fu Yisheng, his effective subordinate.

Everyone is very happy, it seems that it is no different from attending the weddings of old friends and nephews in the past. The wedding banquet only has the cheapest cured wine brewed by the folks, and the dishes include braised freshly caught Yellow River carp, Yangcheng braised pork, and Beixiang. Mutton carrots, mutton soup, Jiezhou mutton steamed buns, etc.After all, it is a big province of pasta, all kinds of pasta can open Fengjiu's eyes, but he only regrets that he has too little stomach.

The second brother, who has always been famous all over the country as a gourmet, also praised Feng Jiuxu, saying that the quality of wheat here is good, the ingredients are fresh and authentic, and the toppings, dishes, and small ingredients have the characteristics of southern Shanxi, and the taste is pure. The place where the true meaning of food is understood.

Feng Jiu kept nodding, and the two exchanged ideas for a while.Seeing this, the second sister-in-law on the side recalled the past situation, she couldn't help feeling a lot of emotion, and smiled "puchi", saying that the two of you should really form an association to publish a book, and Feng Jiu's eyes shined, saying that what the second sister-in-law said was very much in line with my wishes, When the Anti-Japanese War is victorious, this agreement must be fulfilled. After finishing speaking, the three looked at each other and laughed.

Shanxi's local small operas are very active, different from the grand operas that Fengjiu is used to seeing, which are full of flowers and flowers, and there are not many people in the small operas. The Yan family invited Luo Luoqiang, Yongji Daoqing, and Pingyao drums for this wedding. Shu, Jinnan Meihu, and many other small troupes, but after a day, what impressed Fengjiu the most was "playing with children"-the actors all use the back of their voices, the voice is thick and unpolished. The more he listened, the more addicted he became. Later, Feng Jiu unconsciously used this vocalization style even when talking to Qiu Sheng, making Qiu Sheng very happy.

Looking at the smiling faces in front of him and the bustling scene, Fengjiu was greatly encouraged: Although the Japanese have trampled China badly, we Chinese should get married and reproduce, and we still need to be safe. The land inhabits the land left to us by our ancestors.

During the two days that Feng Jiu stayed here, apart from talking with Yan Baichuan for a long time, he also had secret talks with other army generals such as Wei Junru to release Ning Zheng—Feng Jiu had always had a good impression of Wei Junru: this Mr. One of the tiger generals is not only a fierce general on the battlefield, but also has a good mind. He once refused to rush to help the friendly army who encircled and suppressed the Eighth Route Army in the Taihang Mountains. The Eighth Route Army went closer and was called the "Seven and a Half Route Army".

Not long after, Wei Junru, like Yan Baichuan, Fu Yisheng and other senior generals, happily signed Feng Jiu's newly drafted joint letter pleading with the Jiang Committee to release Ning Zheng. There are gains, of course, she can't go to Jiang Lian again rashly, and immediately take out this letter-as Li Renchao from the Cantonese department she just chatted with said yesterday, it depends on whether there is an opportunity now.

After all, everyone knows that the military court sentenced him to ten years in prison, and Lao Jiang immediately issued an amnesty order, but he did not release him, but handed him over to the military execution office for management. This is illegal imprisonment at all.

Feng Jiu had something on his mind, and felt very relaxed. He was thinking about whether to go to Xi'an again, when he was moved by a piece of news he heard by chance.

In fact, Feng Jiu had heard of Ms. Ai Weide a long time ago—this little British woman from a humble background, little education, and a Christian believer opened an inn and an orphanage in Yangcheng, Shanxi, and did a lot of charity work. He is a missionary who is down-to-earth and works hard.Fengjiu was very moved by her dedication to help the Chinese people, and always wanted to meet her.

During the wedding banquet, Fengjiu, who has long forgotten about this mother Ai, has been spending all her energy on her husband and children. When chatting with the locals, she realized that Yangcheng, where Ms. Ai Weide lives, is only [-] meters away from Yuncheng. kilometer.

After the wedding banquet was over, the guests went back home one after another. The second elder brother and the second sister-in-law had just returned to the mainland, and at this time they proposed to go to Guizhou to visit the third brother.Feng Jiulue thought about it for a while, and said that the attitude of the guard Liu has been obviously relaxed recently. As family members, they will not be hindered from visiting Ning Zheng.

Only then did Ning Cheng and his wife learn that Feng Jiu would not leave Shanxi immediately, but planned to visit Ms. Ai Weide, so the two groups said goodbye.

Feng Jiu thanked Yan Baichuan for his kindness in adding troops to escort them. Now that southern Shanxi is still safe, they decided to set off immediately.

The two accompanying guards, one named Hong Changli and the other named Ju Desheng, were both skilled and winking people. Along the way, Ju Desheng drove a car along the bumpy road, and then changed to a mule cart With the sedan chair, the group finally arrived at Yangcheng in the southeast of Shanxi.

When she arrived at the place, without asking too much, Feng Jiuyi inquired about the famous Ms. Ai Weide, and soon there were people scrambling to tell her the exact location of Ms. Ai.

Ms. Ai is a legendary British Methodist missionary who has long been a naturalized Chinese citizen.It is said that at the age of 28, she originally wanted to preach in Northeast China, but at that time the Soviet Union and Japan were confronting each other, so she traveled from London to The Hague, then to Moscow, and walked on the Siberian ice sheet for a day before arriving in Vladivostok, and then to Japan Kobe has just arrived in Tianjin—it took two months to travel [-] kilometers from London to Tianjin. This kind of perseverance is convincing.

Fengjiu finally saw Ai Weide in the back alley of Dongguan Village: she was a thin woman in her early thirties, not reaching Fengjiu's shoulders, and the courtyard where they were sitting and talking was said to have been originally a The abandoned empty house rumored to be haunted was transformed into an inn by her and an old, old missionary woman who is now dead, and specially accommodated the mule drivers who came and went. Yang's local cook helped.

As missionaries, the name of the inn must of course be related to their spiritual pillar, the Bible, so the plaque of "The Inn of Eight Happinesses" (The Inn of Eight Happinesses) was hung up like this.

Jesus had a "Sermon on the Mount", which contains the "Teaching Beatitudes", which refer to love, virtue, respect, patience, loyalty, truth, beauty, and faith.Believers who firmly believe in the Beatitudes will become the sons of the kingdom of heaven. In fact, in Feng Jiu's view, it is similar to the Chinese "benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and trustworthiness, gentleness, courtesy, thrift and concession". Anyway, it teaches people to be kind.

In the eyes of the two missionaries, Ai Weide and Old Jenny, it is a good idea to open an inn—it can spread the Gospel to the local people, but don’t forget that missionaries should go all over the world and spread the will of the Lord to all directions. At the same time, you can make money to raise funds for the church, why not do it?
Later, the Blessings Hotel was extremely successful, and it caused a sensation in Western society through the dissemination of mainstream magazines including "Time". This influence even provided important material resources for China's Anti-Japanese War, but the initial operation was not It's pretty rough.

At this moment, the little woman was sitting in front of Feng Jiu, smiling slightly, talking softly about the development history of the inn, because her Chinese had a strong Yangcheng accent, and Feng Jiu couldn't understand her, so she had to speak English frequently. Asking each other, the two looked at each other and smiled, and Ai Weide simply talked about the story of the Eight Fortune Inn in English.

"In the beginning, the business was bleak, and there was no one to stay. Old Jenny, my old partner who passed away last year, sat down with me to analyze, I'm afraid it was caused by the cultural gap between China and the West—the locals in Yangcheng didn't understand us outsiders. There is even some hatred, this kind of estrangement cannot be resolved in a day or two."

Feng Jiu nodded: cheating, this is one of the common problems of human beings, it is the same everywhere——

The mule driver, dressed in tatters and covered in dirt, with his scorched and blackened teeth bared, shouted "Dead foreign devil!" as he passed by the door of the inn. He also refused to enter the door of the inn.This place is remote, and Westerners are rare.They felt that these "foreign nuns" with yellow hair and blue eyes looked sinister, plus it was actually an inn run by two women—Lao Yang, the only local male who bravely accepted the appointment of Western missionaries, was automatically Ignore, besides, he rarely shows up in the back hall - so the yin energy is doubled, and it is so serious that it will kill people.

Feng Jiu shook his head and sighed, feeling anxious for them.

Ai Weide pursed his lips and smiled: "This situation lasted for a few days. Later, Madam Ning, guess what happened? Old Jenny came up with a way-let me stand at the door of the inn, and when I saw a mule team passing by, I tried every means to draw them in. But I'm not beautiful, and I'm not too young, so I really don't have confidence. But old Jenny said, first, you are a woman, and second, you are alive, so it's fine."

Ms. Ai burst into laughter as she spoke, and Feng Jiu also laughed.

Ai Weide seems to have returned to the difficult years when he opened the store, and his big blue eyes lost his mind for a moment. It’s delicious, the room is clean, and there’s a horse shed’. After all the good words, my mouth is dry, and people don’t buy it from me.”

The mule drivers mocked, spit, spouted obscenities, slammed their whips, and walked away. The situation was really sad and embarrassing.

However, gradually, there are occasional mule drivers who are not so picky and curious get out of the car and wait to go in to have a look-the inn is clean, the food is delicious, and the charges are cheap, how can you not be tempted?
In order to support the family, the daily price is running around on this rugged and steep Taihang Mountain Road facing the abyss. I don’t know if I can see the sun tomorrow, so how can I worry so much?

At that time, there were occasional people staying, and they would definitely entertain them wholeheartedly. The elderly Jenny also went in and out, busy up and down; Ai Weide took care of them inside and out, and tried to learn the local dialect with them.

In the evening, they came up with another way—letting Jenny, who had little education but was gifted in learning languages ​​and was already fluent in Yangcheng dialect, tell stories from the Bible to the passengers.The mule drivers didn't dislike it, and they didn't care about the details, they just listened to it as a happy and interesting fairy tale they had never heard before.

In this way, as time goes by, the inn is getting more and more popular, and the business is getting better and better.After a while, the inn was often full, and even the mule shed was full of mules.

Less than a year later, the mountain and field villagers who often stay in hotels have undergone obvious changes. They no longer only know how to smoke and drink, no longer speak dirty words loudly, and no longer hum obscene ditties, but learn to Singing Western hymns, they can't fully understand the meaning of the hymns, but somehow, as soon as they sing, which is obviously completely different from the small operas in their hometown, they feel that they have hooked up with the "civilization" outside, It seems that I am no longer so dispensable, humble and insignificant, but "like a person".

This is the power of civilized civilization.

This new situation was accidentally discovered by an American reporter of Time magazine in China. His keen sense of news drove him to rush to the hotel to stay for a week. After experiencing it personally, he was deeply moved. After all, there are many unsuccessful cases of Christianity preaching in China.

He praised Ai Weide and Jenny, the two lowest-ranking women in the pair of missionaries, who were able to take root in the remote areas of China, do things down-to-earth, and benefit one side. He quickly rushed out a manuscript, which was soon published in the birth In China, Luce, the boss of Time magazine, who has always regarded China as his home country, published it in his magazine.

Through the spread of magazine subscribers, most of whom are devout Christians in the American middle-class elite, more and more people have discovered that the Lord’s benevolent heart has borne fruit in the remote and impoverished mountainous areas of China. Since then, the "Bafu Inn" has become famous in Western society.

Speaking of which, suddenly a lot of children ran in from outside. Although the clothes on their bodies seemed to be inferior in fabric and rough in workmanship, they were all washed clean and neatly mended. They saw a few strange people sitting in the hall. Guests, stop immediately and say hello politely, the manners are not bad.

"Why, why are there so many little dolls?" Feng Jiu stammered and asked.

She covered them at a glance, probably there were almost a hundred of them, and Qiu Sheng who was sitting on the side was also shocked: How did they expect that there would be so many little orphans in such a poor mountainous area.

"Yeah, there are quite a few, and they are all poor children—this one used to be called 'Jiu Mao'." She pointed to a little girl with a bright smile who was busy dressing and feeding the children, her movements were quick and gentle, "I bought her from her biological mother for only [-] cents, and later named her 'Mei En'. She is my most capable little assistant."

She pointed to several children one after another, and said: "This tall boy was eight years old at the time, and his name was 'Shao Shao'; this girl was called 'Baby'; It's called 'Lanxiang'."

These were the first orphans she took in. Later, she took in more and more children and refugees until she had to set up a refugee shelter.Later, when the Japanese came over, she started taking in wounded soldiers again, and she was so busy every day that she hit the back of her head with her feet.

Fengjiu's heart was touched, and there was a surge in her heart - she looked at this unremarkable, thin British woman who was born as a London maid, and suddenly felt an urge to draw closer to her and draw spiritual strength from her.

"Ms. Ai, may I ask, are you making a lifelong wish?"

"Yes, I have already married God." Ai Weide winked mischievously.

Fengjiu felt that although the life of a nun was hard materially, it was extremely rich spiritually. She was not limited by her own experiences, but she was noble and simple, so envy appeared in her eyes.

"But you can't, you are so beautiful, elegant and knowledgeable, Mrs. Ning, you are born to be a wife and mother."

Feng Jiu smiled embarrassedly.Impulsive, Fengjiu immediately remembered the husband and children who had just been forgotten for a moment—in fact, everyone’s chances are different, and their fortunes are different. There is no need to envy or pity anyone, each has his own It's just a matter of fate.

They then talked a lot. Although the cultural level is very different, their natures are the same, so how to run an inn and an orphanage at the same time, take care of picky guests, and so many children, the two have something to talk about up.

"White hair is as new as before, and it is as old as before." Only after meeting Sister Ai today did she believe this sentence.The two women quickly became intimate with each other.

Ai Weide is so diligent and doesn't ask for anything in return, how could he not win the hearts of simple Yangcheng people?

So far, Feng Jiu has not heard a single word from Sister Ai to praise herself—her character is low-key and unassuming—but Feng Jiu still knows that more and more local people have converted to Christianity because of her inspiration , her immediate boss, Mrs. Smead, one of the "Seven Sages of Cambridge" who has been based in Zezhou, praised her greatly.

Two days have passed, Feng Jiu came to the inn every day, seized the opportunity to talk to Ai Weide, and by the way, helped Qiu Sheng to do some work, of course, her work level is different, but Qiu Sheng frowned after reading it , snatched the soles of the shoes she was feeding, and handed them to her children's homework for her to help correct. Feng Jiu was also very satisfied, she could do this job.

Sister Ai asked Feng Jiu softly, "Have you noticed that more and more women are putting their feet down?"

Yes, that being said, Fengjiu remembered that the youngest daughter of the landlord’s family they stayed at because the Eight Fortune Inn was full, was crying when she first arrived, but she was bouncing around and lively again today, only after inquiring did she know Well, it turned out that the landlady's wife, Sister-in-law Wei, bound her daughter's feet until she cried like hell, but she let go last night.

Her eyes lit up, "Why, this matter has something to do with Mammy?"

Sister Ai said shyly, "It was the county magistrate who entrusted me to carry out the 'Heaven's Foot Movement'. I told our congregants a few times, and went to a few stubborn ones. Now it seems that the results are not bad. "

Only then did Feng Jiu know that the guest at Mrs. Wei's house last night was Ms. Ai.

Feng Jiu looked at Sister Ai, who was accustomed to wearing Chinese-style high-necked blue cloth shirts as the Romans did, and learned the traditional Chinese humility, and held her hand tightly, "Nurse, you are amazing! I How did you hear that there was a riot in the county prison a few days ago, and the warden asked you to mediate, and the riot quickly subsided."

Ai Weide smiled shyly, did not answer, but poured another cup of tea for Feng Jiu.

The small brass kettle sitting on the low hearth was carried all the way from London by Ai Weide; the clay teacup Feng Jiu is holding is probably the worst she has ever used in her life.Feng Jiu saw that Ai Weide had already gotten used to not adding milk and sugar cubes to the teacup, let alone some refreshments, but was able to sip the mellow and sweet tea freely like a real Chinese , I can't help but sigh, this little British lady is very Chinese.

At this time, there was the sound of servants fetching water with a potter's wheel in the courtyard, and Qiu Sheng was playing with the children. She missed her baby too; there was a dull drum sound from a temple in the distance, looking out Going there, you can see the majestic and majestic old residence "Wuting Mountain Village" of Chen Tingjing, who accompanied Kangxi for 35 years, and Chen Tingjing, a scholar of Wenyuan Pavilion. Clouds and fog.

The currently peaceful mountain life is very suitable for Sister Ai's peaceful temperament. Fengjiu plans to stay for a few more days before saying goodbye to her. They all feel sorry for this in their hearts.Of course, at this time, neither of the two thought that instead of parting immediately, they would join hands to complete an unprecedented great pioneering work, which would have an immeasurable impact on their future lives
[4. Gladys Aylward]
(End of this chapter)