Xu Xuzhi

Chapter 41
Needless to say, Feng Jiu studied hard every day, and Ning Zheng came back less and less recently.

The inside of the pass is not peaceful, but outside the pass is a completely different scene: the old man's painstaking management for many years has made the three eastern provinces peaceful, which is very different from the living conditions of the people inside the pass.

One morning, a letter came from my hometown in Haicheng, saying that the old handsome grandma and Ning Zheng's great-grandmother passed away last night: this great-grandmother is the continuation of the great-grandpa, who is more than 20 years younger than the great-grandpa, and has nothing in her life out.

The funeral of the old lady and grandma can only be handled by the fifth aunt of the Ningfu. The elder sister-in-law, second sister-in-law, Fengjiu and Hongsi are also there. They plan to leave for the countryside in the afternoon to attend the funeral.

Ning Zheng had just returned from Beiping and went directly to the military headquarters. He called Feng Jiu at noon, only to find out that she was going back to her hometown for the funeral soon—this kind of trivial matter, for the old man who planned the world every day, and Ning Zheng, Neither is worth telling.

But Feng Jiu lowered his voice and said, "How did I find out that your old man from the Ning family is Ke Yuanpei?"

Ning Zheng choked, where did he start?

Feng Jiu continued: "Look, great-grandfather's first spouse has passed away long ago; as for grandma, it's a continuation; as for mother-in-law, I have no luck to see her; I heard that among my father's brothers, at least three of my first spouses also died. It's gone long ago... Looking at it this way, ah?!——Aren't I dangerous?!"

Ning Zheng gasped as she listened to Feng Jiu's last sentence on the phone. She could almost imagine that if she didn't have a phone in her hand at this time, she must be holding her face in both hands, and her already big eyes would be wider than ever. The bull's eye is still big.

Ning Zheng gave a "puchi" smile, and shook his head helplessly, "Nonsense... You beat me, okay?"

"Ah bah! Tong Yan Wuji!" Feng Jiu immediately put down the phone, resolutely rejecting Ning Zheng's role of defining himself as a natural broom star - he is a soldier, she can't bear such jokes and accusations.

Ning Zheng also put down the phone, thought for a while, and still couldn't help laughing.

A group of people from Shuai's Mansion got on the special train in the afternoon, arrived in Haicheng at dusk, and then took a carriage to drive to the old house. After all, the road conditions over the old house were not so easy to drive.

Haicheng is the old man's hometown. Their old Ning family fled from Shandong and broke into the Guandong more than 100 years ago, and they took root here.

Until now, the old man also thinks that the good Feng Shui in his hometown made him what he is today.

At the beginning, Mr. Ning's family was just a branch of the Ning family in Haicheng that was not valued. After they got rich, the two were good and the other was good.

Speaking of which, if the person who passed away was really Old Shuai Ning's own grandmother, I'm afraid that unless it rains red, he won't be able to go.

Thanks to the fall of the Qing Dynasty, otherwise, no matter how big an official is, Ding You would have to be sued to leave his post for three years if his parents died, regardless of whether they were biological or not.

Watching the people from Fengtian’s mansion come back to attend the funeral, a few large carriages parked at the head of the village, they are magnificent, and when the curtain is lifted, the people who come down are all beautiful figures like gods. The folks in Bacun couldn't help but have something to say.

Back then, Mr. Ning was just an ordinary farmer, nothing unusual.

The variable is Mr. Ning. Although he is not tall, he has a long white face and a straight nose. He doesn't look like a farmer, and he doesn't like to do farm work. The only thing that Mr. Ning has foresight is that he is wearing a belt , let him study in a private school for a year, at least he learned a few words, he didn't become a blind man, and he also gained some insight.

When he was ten years old, Mr. Ning got upset again, scratched his head and sighed: This kid is smart, but he doesn't see any talent for reading; he doesn't want to do farm work at all, so I can only send him to the Chinese medicine shop Be a buddy.

He did a good job, because he had a doctor who was sitting in the hall, and he also learned a little bit about seeing, hearing, and asking. Later, he found that veterinarians were more in need, so he carefully learned a good skill from others, especially good at treating horses, livestock food accumulation, and horseshoe injuries. It is a cure for illness at hand.

When he was fifteen or sixteen years old and two years older than him, Zhao Chungui, the daughter of the owner of the traditional Chinese medicine shop in her boudoir who was always picky and picky, saw his handsome appearance and bold and careful temperament. All the steps were completed in a few days.

The young couple lived together in a down-to-earth manner, helping the old shopkeeper to run the Chinese medicine shop, and treating the livestock from time to time. Weng and the son-in-law worked together, and their brains were active, making the business more and more prosperous. It was originally a prosperous appearance. Son.

Unexpectedly, within a few days of the good times, he was taken away by a nest of bandits.

At that time, the old handsome happened to be on a long trip to buy goods, which was equivalent to being broken into an empty door by bandits. He didn't die, but he robbed the treasure of the town store-five old wild ginseng, and smashed seven other medicinal materials. Seeing that it was not going well, the old shopkeeper saw that his life's hard work was ruined, so he didn't come up in one breath and hung up.

The old handsome was impatient and went up to Dawa Mountain. He wanted to seek revenge, but he saw that there were bandit families in the village whose food was worse than his own wife and children. After further inquiry, five old ginseng were only exchanged for five oceans on the black market. , couldn't help sighing, and simply turned the grass into a bandit and became the leader immediately.

He quickly picked up his wife and children, and robbed several hills in exchange. However, even ordinary people were forced to go to Liangshan at this time. It is conceivable that his business without capital can only become more and more difficult. Can't even open it.Seeing that he couldn't do it, he had no choice but to put down his bandit business and join the army.

He changed from a bandit to the head of the local security regiment.There was no way, at that time, the Mongolian and Russian bandits were running around and harassing the people everywhere. The truth at that time was that the army was short of manpower, so from then on, Old Commander Ning was completely cleansed.

As for later chances and coincidences, he became king of the Northeast step by step. It was because of the right time, place and people and everything was indispensable. It was also his fate that brought evil spirits. He met gods and killed gods along the way, met Buddhas and killed Buddhas, and finally achieved this hegemony.

Mr. Lu Xun has a classic sentence in the article "Northern and Southerners": "As far as I can see, the advantage of northerners is thickness, and the advantage of southerners is cleverness. But the disadvantage of thickness is also stupid, and the disadvantage of cleverness is also Cunning... There is an article in the photo book that says that people from the north are south-looking, and those who are southern from the north are more expensive. I don’t think this is a lie. People from the north are thick and clever; people from the south are smart, needless to say And it can be thick.”

From Mr. Ning's family down from him, there are almost every man in the family from the south to the north. How many of them are dragons and phoenixes.

Of course, there are many inconspicuous ones in the side branches, such as...

Feng Jiu and the others were taken into the Ming Hall by the Ning family, and hurriedly put on the pre-prepared filial piety clothes, which were divided into two sizes for adults and children. Regardless of their identities, anyway, they were gray and white burlap filial piety clothes with white filial piety tied on their heads. Take, first go to the mourning hall to kowtow, and then wait for the funeral early the next morning.

Of course, there is also the part of keeping the spirit, but no one in my hometown would be so ungrateful, and it is enough for the distinguished guests to keep the unrelated grandma to keep watch for half an hour.

At this moment, the mourning hall was full of people, and everyone suddenly heard a lazy voice: "Fifth Aunt, I am late, forgive my sins."

Mrs. Shou frowned, everyone looked at the entrance of the mourning hall in unison, and saw a tall young man walking in, his eyes were frivolous, and he walked lightly as if he had no feet. Feng Jiu looked familiar, and he saw Feng Jiu at a glance, "Hey, who is this? Such a rich and precious third sister-in-law has come to this poor village, it really is full of splendor."

Feng Jiu immediately matched up with Ning Zheng's cousin Ning Feng.

The libertine who hangs out with Japanese geisha.

Mrs. Shou could only speak, with a thin polite expression on her face, "It's Fengzi, you just arrived?"

"It's not just arrived. Greetings to all aunts and sisters-in-law."

He wobbled around in circles and bowed his hands, and the person opposite him returned the salute. He didn't know what to say for a while, and the scene was silent.

It seems that the Ning family's impression of him is that they are like-minded, and they are really bothered.

He was not angry, turned his head to Feng Jiu and said with a smile: "Sister-in-law San is still used to it? Do you want to go out and see the surrounding scenery? The scenery here is not bad. Brother, I grew up here since I was a child," he looked around with a smile , "very familiar."

Before Feng Jiu could say anything, Hong Si beside him had already said, "I'm familiar with it too, so I don't need Uncle Wu to worry about it."

When Hongsi was in poor health when he was a child, Dr. Huang once said that it would be better to go back to the countryside to recuperate for a few years, maybe there will be improvement, so his sister-in-law took him back to the ancestral house and lived there for three years honestly, and he was indeed in good health. When I woke up, my originally sluggish expression became full of vitality. It seems that rural life can indeed strengthen a person's body and mind.

When he had to go back to the city to study, he still cried and refused to leave.

Ning Feng seemed to see Hong Si just now, looked him up and down with interest, then squinted at Feng Jiu, and smiled, "Don't be too courteous, your third uncle is not a vegetarian."

Hong Si was furious, how could he bear such a cold arrow at his young age, he was about to step forward, but was held down by the sister-in-law next to him, and then Madam Shou's cold voice sounded: "I think fifth boy is another The horse pissed too much, why are you still standing there? Help Fifth Young Master go down to rest!"

The strong guard standing beside him immediately stepped forward, ignoring Ning Feng's protest, and dragged down the silver-like pewter gun head despite his tall body.

When he was dragged out of the mourning hall, the others breathed a sigh of relief—if this troublemaker was around, there might be many unspeakable incidents.The Ning family in their hometown was also very clear about it. They didn't see this Ning Feng again until Fengtian's distinguished guests left.

Although the Ning family's old house was not as rich and elegant as the Shuai's mansion, it was refurbished and expanded five years ago, and all the furniture and facilities were decent.

But after all, there are no flush toilets and hot water throughout the day. Of course, it would be nice to have electricity, so when a group of people go to rest separately, it is inevitable that there is a sense of "it is difficult to go from extravagance to frugality". Vigorous, the next day early children can not help but feel dizzy.

When everyone gathered in the large ancestral hall, there was already a person standing inside, with his hands behind his back, looking very imposing. The person in charge of funerals in Northeast China is called "Mr." You are very particular about it, for fear that if you do it wrong, it will hinder the feng shui of future generations, so Mr. must come.

This gentleman is very young, fifteen at most, and he is not short. It is said that the previous gentleman was in a hurry, so he had no choice but to be on top of him, a freshman.

"The heavens and the earth are spirits, please invite the patriarchs to show their spirits. First, Tang Monk Zhu Bajie, second, Drifting Monk Sun Wukong, third, Erlang to show his holiness, fourth, Ma Chao Huang Hansheng, fifth, Jidian my Buddha, sixth, Jianghu willow spirit, seven Please dart Huang Santai, eight please go forward to be colder than ice..."

Although Mr. is small, he knows many moves, and even more words in his stomach.

Everyone around was drowsy, only Feng Jiu was full of energy and listened with interest.

"I know Erlang Ma Chao, who is Huang Hansheng? Who is Leng Yubing?" Feng Jiu asked in a low voice.

"...Why do your focus always go astray?" The only one who could pick up her words was Hong Si, who didn't think about it, and looked at her with his swarthy eyes, a little helpless.

"Oh, you don't know either." Feng Jiu said in a low voice, every time they met, the tacit understanding cultivated in the past two years immediately popped out like nothing.

Hong Si: "..." He still wanted to provoke me, "...Huang Zhong, you know, right? His name is Han Sheng; Leng Yubing is the protagonist of the novel "The Wizard of Oz" in the Qing Dynasty, and he is a Taoist cultivating immortals."

"That's it—not to mention that Huang Zhongfei said Han Sheng, it's for rhyme."

Hongji nodded.

The eldest grandma looked back at them, and calmly reminded: "Hong Si, come forward, you are the eldest grandson, and you are about to throw a pot at grandma."

When the drummer blew the desolate suona, the group of people cried as much as they should, and the fine golden nanmu coffin was covered with a coffin lid, and after getting up and kneeling and repeating it several times, everyone breathed a sigh of relief in unison.The name of the old lady is written in gold letters on a black background in correct italics. A woman who has made no waves in the Ning family except for her marriage and death. There is another memorial tablet in the ancestral hall of the Ning family, and another grave in the cemetery.

After everyone left, Madam Shou was still staring blankly at the newly added tablet, not knowing what she was thinking.

Feng Jiu glanced at her, and sighed in his heart—the position of the main wife, those who get it don't care, and those who don't get it don't like it.

"What are you looking at?" After the funeral, everyone seized the opportunity to rest, especially the female family members, who basically went back to the guest room to rest. Hong Si found that Feng Jiu had entered the study and was looking around, his face full of excitement.

"Ning Hongsi, come here quickly, Grandpa has a lot of good things here."

Hongsi was a little unconvinced, what good could such an old house do?He hadn't found anything in the past few years.

He walked over slowly, followed Feng Jiuli at the bookcase, glanced over, and saw several first editions of "The Story of the Stone", and then remembered that Cao Xueqin was born in Liaoyang. Since "The Story of the Stone" was passed down to the world, It has always been very popular, and there is a trend of being more and more valued. It seems that some relatives of the old house that he doesn't know very well, after having some spare money, are keen to collect rare ancient books, and want to collect some Zhiyanzhai approved editions , is also normal.

When Hongsi was born, the Ning family was already well off.

The more upstarts with little background, the more concerned they are with their children's education, so Hongsi has been taught many classics and history collections by various masters since he was a child.

As for Feng Jiu, that's not to mention.

Grandfather Fengjiu was an important official of the Qing Dynasty who was exiled to Ninggu Pagoda, and his bones were buried here in the end, but it is impossible to bury the family tradition of poetry and books along with him.

Although he passed away early in the morning, the family fortune is still there, and the reputation of the Zanying family is still there.

Fengjiu likes these ancient books. When she was only 12 years old, she wrote an article on how to flexibly develop the northern economy by using the existing resources in the north. It's a woman.

"There is nothing left and right, why not compare and weigh these ancient books, calligraphy and paintings, and debate the authenticity."

Feng Jiu's eyes lit up.

There are pawnshops in the two properties, and the people in charge of the shops are all masters in the field of antique appraisal.

Hongsi thought about it, he came to his hometown to express condolences today, and happened to see Lin Rulan, the big shopkeeper of "Ji Chunlong" pawn shop, who is also the number one expert in appraising treasures in Ning's shop, and is good at authenticating ancient books of calligraphy and painting. Make a trip and invite him in to be a referee.

Feng Jiu nodded again and again, "You can still know the shopkeeper of your pawn shop, I admire you."

Hongji smiled, "Shopkeeper Lin will come in later, and you will never forget it once you see it."

Feng Jiu's eyebrows twitched, and he looked around, "I think shopkeeper Lin must be very handsome, so let's wait and see. Let's talk about it first, two ancient books, two scrolls, and one character, each of which is true or false. The total wins... whoever loses gets his hair cut."

After Feng Jiu finished speaking, he folded his arms with confidence, as if he dared not bet with me even if you forgive me.

Kouji: "...I'm not afraid. At most, I shave my head. It can also explain that unfortunately I have alopecia areata and need to nourish my hair. What about you? Didn't you just cut your hair a while ago, and you still cut it, are you willing?"

A while ago, Feng Jiu didn't think his hair had grown again, so he ordered Qiu Sheng to cut it off by two inches, which made Ning Zheng unhappy for several days.

Feng Jiu gritted his teeth: "The boy is crazy, he actually talks to your third aunt like this, whoever loses will win if he can't keep it right for a while." Hong Si smiled, and suddenly remembered something, and then he stopped smiling.

Feng Jiu didn't care about him, just pursed his lips and smiled: "I'm tired of this long hair. It's inconvenient to kick the shuttlecock, jump the rubber band, or play tennis. Especially when running, I always feel that there is a hand pulling me back, comparing it with the kangaroo's tail. This braid, it’s fine if you don’t help, but it’s actually dragging your feet, it’s tolerable or unbearable.”

"It seems that you also have no confidence in yourself, and you can't wait to lose." Ning Hongsi said sarcasticly.

Feng Jiu: "...you'd better worry about yourself, I can't wait to see you put on a light bulb. Stop gossiping and come here."

The two each took the painting, appreciating it carefully, and after a while, exchanged it again.

Not long after, Feng Jiu picked up the pen on the table, wrote his tasting results on a piece of Daolin paper letterhead, folded it and put it aside.

Hongji was much slower than her, he pondered for a long time before starting to write.

Feng Jiu didn't urge him, and just cared about playing with other objects.

Seeing that Hongsi had finished writing, Feng Jiu immediately called out to the servants serving outside, saying that Master Hongsi invited shopkeeper Lin to come in and discuss matters.

As one of the eight shopkeepers in the Ning Mansion, Lin Rulan had just finished the funeral, and was drinking some hot tea with the other shopkeepers outside to chat about homework, when she heard the master looking for her, she quickly put down the teacup to wipe her mouth, and hugged the others , hurried to the inner courtyard.

As soon as Shopkeeper Lin entered the room, he found out that there were other people besides Young Master Hongsi. Seeing that the young woman was young, tall, and elegant, she immediately knew who she was.

He hurriedly greeted the two masters with his hands clasped together.

Feng Jiu has been staring at the door since he heard the hurried footsteps coming from outside.

It wasn't until he saw a big sarcoma entering the room first, followed by a big bald head that was sweating from running in the cold weather, that he understood what Koji meant.

Anyone who has a big egg on their cheek has to be memorable.

You don't have to be pretty to do business, but you should look normal and there's nothing weird about it.

However, Lin Rulan has grown into such an appearance and can be reused so much, which shows that she has real skills.

Lin Rulan smiled after listening to Hong Si's request, "No problem, young master, third young mistress wait a moment, I'll start right away."

Fortunately, there are magnifying glasses and writing brushes in the study room. Hongsi and Fengjiu watched Lin Rulan pick up the magnifying glass and carefully looked at the texture of the paper, the rough edges, the color of the ink, and the various private marks on it. Cleaned his hands in the basin and dried them, and then stroked and rubbed them lightly. Seeing him intoxicated, Feng Jiu also felt that it was a great enjoyment.

After about a quarter of an hour, the sun went down, and the lights in the house were brightly lit.

"Master Hong is four right and one wrong, three young mistresses are right, four are wrong and one is a tie—!" Lin Rulan announced with a long tail, the two masters are evenly matched in Jianbao skills, and they are all wrong, which is also interesting. Lin Rulan immediately Start explaining.

"The first painting, "Shen Cui Xuan Poetry", is the work of Xie Jin, a poet of the Ming Dynasty. Do you think that if the poem is true, the painting must be true? This kind of half-truth and half-false is the most deceptive."

"How do you know?" Feng Jiu asked anxiously.

"This is a painting that Xie Jin completed during the Yongle period. He imitated Wang Meng's cowhide. After it was completed, he was very satisfied, so he asked many talented people to write poems on it. Later, the poems were still there, but the painting was lost. After more than 100 years, it seems that Wen Zhengming got this part of the painting, so he added poems on it, but Wen Zhengming is such a rigorous person, how could it be possible to inscribe the year he got this painting as the 13th year of Zhengde, not the original In the year when the author wrote this poem, as a calligrapher and painter, it is impossible for everyone to make such a mistake, the paintings and inscriptions are all fake, but the poem is real, and it is indeed Wen Zhengming’s authentic work.”

Feng Jiu and Hong Si glanced at each other, feeling suddenly enlightened.

"Most people feel relieved when they see that the poem is true, and they don't care so much about the painting, or they will be fooled."

The two of them lowered their heads to look at the painting again. It was a fine brushwork painting on silk, and the brushwork was rigid and delicate, a little rigid, and it really didn't have Wen Zhengming's elegance and elegance.

"Master Hong, you are still so powerful, and the old man has opened his eyes. Some shopkeepers said before that I still didn't believe it. They said that the grandchildren of the Ning family had a young master with very poisonous eyes. The treasures of the family are very accurate. See, convinced."

Feng Jiu immediately looked at Hong Si with admiration, and Hong Si smiled slightly.

Shopkeeper Lin turned around and praised Fengjiu again: "Third Young Mistress, you surprised the little old man even more. I didn't expect that besides Young Master Hong, there is another you who can hold eyes at a young age."

Feng Jiulian said he didn't dare.

At this time, a servant came to look for shopkeeper Lin, so he had to say goodbye.

As soon as Shopkeeper Lin left, Feng Jiu said to Hong Si: "The real person doesn't show his face. I didn't expect that I thought I was the only one who likes to ponder these old antiques. I didn't expect you to be more knowledgeable than me."

Hongji smiled, "Bong Jiu, how did you find out that this "Historical Records" is a fake?"

"Because butterfly costumes in ancient books were popular in the Song Dynasty; Yuan and Ming Dynasties were the world of endorsement, but this "Historical Records" published by Yuyong Bookstore in the Tang Dynasty is actually a butterfly costume, which has surpassed the times. It is impossible. However, how did you determine that this edition of "Historical Records" is fake? I only found out about it when the owner of our pawn shop chatted with my father."

Fengjiu knew that different people appraised treasures and focused on different things. Maybe Hongsi had a different perspective.

Hong Si's expression became very serious when he heard it, Feng Jiu nodded secretly, the real person did not show his face, he was able to learn something today, and he exchanged ideas with his colleagues, it was indeed a pleasant surprise.

"I am—" Ning Hongsi hesitated to speak.

Feng Jiu eagerly moved forward and moved closer, which was a little closer than the long distance between the two of them just now.

"Just looking at it, I feel that this thing is really worthless." Hong Si said slowly.

"...Is this the end?" Feng Jiu was dumbfounded.

"It's over." Hongji tugged at his cuffs.

"You, this is too much fun." Feng Jiu couldn't help feeling aggrieved.

"I remember hearing my grandfather talk about Mr. Ai, the former emperor. He said that when someone asked Mr. Ai to appraise antiques, he was sure about it, but he couldn't tell why. Everyone was not convinced, so he had to say, 'I just don't think it's like ours', the crowd was overwhelmed."

Feng Jiu laughed.

She thought for a while and said, "That's right - it's a bit like when I do an English test paper, you ask me to explain the grammar logic, I really don't understand it, but I just know, it's very fluent and in line with English habits. "

"That's right, that's what it means. You've already developed a sense of language. Also, both of us have kept our hair." Kouji looked at Feng Jiu's bright eyes, the snow-white glutinous rice teeth that were exposed when he laughed, and his blushing face. , said softly.

The familiar sense of loss that came and went in my heart came back again.

(End of this chapter)