After Hou Yukui's funeral, Shang Xirui led Shuiyunlou to stop the show for three days to express his condolences, and also wanted to recover from the fatigue and sadness of the past few days. Hou Yukui's old records were playing non-stop in the commercial house, and Shang Xirui was wearing a pair of white shirt and trousers, dancing swords in the yard to the sound of the play. At this time, the willow catkins will wither in the alley, and the Sophora japonica is in full bloom. These small and white flower bones often rustle and fall on people's heads and bodies. Cheng Fengtai often said that it snows half of the year in Beiping, and the sophora japonica and catkins are the spring snow in Beiping.
A gust of wind blew, and the fallen flowers scattered all over the yard like sapphire, Shang Xirui's whole body was bathed in the rain of flowers, his young and thin figure was agile and graceful, like a piece of white silk washed in the wind.
Cheng Fengtai pushed the door open and came in just as he saw such a picture, he couldn't help but stare at him, leaning on the door frame with arms folded and looking at him quietly. Originally, the swordsmanship performed on the stage is known for its posture. Although it is difficult to say that it is difficult to stand alone in the martial arts with this move, it is really good-looking. The two little boys from the next door also peeked at the wall with their noses dragging, and found it very enjoyable, much like the hero Bai Yutang in the comic strip. Shang Xirui knew they were watching, so he didn't stop with the sword in his hand, when he finished the set, he bent down and picked a stone out of the mud under the plum tree with the tip of the sword. Seeing this, Cheng Fengtai might have knocked out the child's eyes, but it was too late to stop him. Fortunately, Shang Xirui was just trying to scare people, although the stone was coming fast, it just slapped on the tiles, scaring the two children into scrambling to jump over the wall, and then they heard ouch on the other side of the wall screaming in pain sound.
Shang Xirui was quite proud of the child after bullying him, and shouted across the wall: "How many times is this? If you dare to lie on the wall again, I'll tell your mother to go! Beat you to death!" With a golden knife, he took off his sweaty clothes and wiped the sweat from his face, then threw it on the chair casually, picked up the teapot and gave it a sip, and waved to Cheng Fengtai: "Second Master, come here !” The beautiful sword dance in watercolor and light ink just now was completely destroyed, as if it was just an illusion. In an instant, Shang Xirui fell from Mu Ying's sword-wielding fairy back to a pyrotechnic actor.
Cheng Fengtai put the clothes back on for him: "What are you doing! Standing shirtless in the yard in broad daylight! Doesn't Xiao Lai blush when he sees you!"
"Xiao Lai is not at home today." Shang Xirui felt aggrieved: "I'm starving to death."
Cheng Fengtai lifted his chin: "That's just right! Wear good clothes and follow me to Fan's mansion. Today is Fan Lian's birthday, I'll take you to relax."
Most of the time, Shang Xirui avoids all unnecessary entertainment and socializing, now he flatly refuses: "No! Fan Lian didn't invite me again!"
Cheng Fengtai expected what he was going to say, so he took out an invitation card from his bosom, opened the pestle and held it in front of his eyes: "Hey! Do you know your name? A few days ago you were busy with your funeral, and he couldn't find you, so he asked me to invite you today You. Come with me, Fan Lian has found an imperial chef to cook, a full banquet! I'll give you a taste of the big fat goose roasted on lychee wood!"
Shang Xirui was immediately moved by the imperial chef and the Manchu Banquet, he tidied up and followed Cheng Fengtai to the birthday banquet, but said: "I've eaten the imperial chef's imperial meal twice, and it's not very tasty, it's far worse than the dishes in Hexianju Already!" He said again: "I went empty-handed, I didn't prepare a birthday gift!"
In fact, Fan Lian didn't invite Shang Xirui at first, because for his birthday, the family had to get together first, and if Second Mistress and Jiang Mengping were both present, inviting Shang Xirui would be a dead end, so you can't give up the banquet flipped. Coincidentally, since the birth of the third young master, the second grandma has always been unhappy in her body. Not a whole life. If the second grandmother is not going, Jiang Mengping will not go, and will stay with the second grandmother at Cheng's house. Only then did Fan Lian ask Cheng Fengtai to bring Shang Xirui here, he felt that his relationship with Shang Xirui was a bit tense these days, as to why he was nervous, he didn't know why, he just wanted to flatter Shang Xirui .
Cheng Fengtai said with a smile: "Boss Shang is doing Fan Lian face if he is willing to go, and he dares to ask you for a birthday present? If he dares to speak, you just call him by ear."
Like Commander Cao, Fan's family also lived in a foreign villa in the suburbs in Beiping, but because of the large population, the house was even bigger than Commander Cao's. A large villa was used for the wives and younger brothers and sisters left by the father, and later added widowed aunts and cousins who defected. The other small villa is for their respective maids and old mothers. Even so, the Fan family is used to living in a wide open world outside the customs, and they still feel stumbling when they live in a bungalow. There are many widows and children, and they are noisy and crying all day long. Fan Lian is a capable businessman outside, but he is not a dignified head of the family at home. Cheng Fengtai provoked a bandit temper who was in a hurry and was a bit desperate. As a bastard, Fan Lian was used to swallowing his anger since he was a child, and he is still embarrassed and wronged from time to time in front of his aunt and several old concubines. The reason why he asked a dancer to live with him outside was mostly to run away from home, and the motive was actually a bit pathetic.
Shang Xirui and Fan Lian didn't know these things after they had known each other for almost ten years, because no one told him in detail, he only thought that Fan Lian would inherit the entire Fanjiabao and be as rich and prestigious as a prince ascending the throne and becoming an emperor. Unexpectedly, the empress dowager and concubine ruled the harem, and there were emperors and uncles in the foreign court who exploited for personal gain. Thinking about it this way, Fan Lian, the emperor, should be Tongzhi and Guangxu, and his life was really not easy.
Shang Xirui felt sorry for Fan Lian in the car. Cheng Fengtai took the opportunity to be a lobbyist, looked at him and said with a smile: "So if Fan Lian is inconsiderate and offends others, we don't have to criticize him, right? He is very kind and righteous."
Shang Xirui is expressionless and noncommittal.
Arriving at Fan's house, the garden has been set up like a buffet. It's really that the hall is not big enough, fearing that the children would play and destroy the decorations of the house, on the lawn, I saw a few children running around the long table covered with white cloth, and when they saw Cheng Fengtai, they rushed forward to call brother-in-law. Cheng Fengtai doesn't care much about his own sons, but he is very kind and affectionate to other people's children, he picked up the youngest one and kissed his face, and said: "Look what good things my brother-in-law brought you!"
Lao Ge moved out two large boxes of black pine soda, two large boxes of fruit candy, and many butter biscuits, chewing gum, and chocolate from the back of the car. While the children were all happy, they immediately started fighting over candy. A little girl was weak and had her braids untied, crying loudly. Lao Ge hurriedly got two servants to move all the candies to the housekeeper. Cheng Fengtai watched the children crying and making trouble with a smile, thinking that Fan Lian, a big coward, made the house look like a nursery, how could the children look like young masters and young ladies of a big family.
The big counselor Fan Lian wore a white suit which is rare, and came out to greet him in person, while walking, dodging the rampant children at his feet, and when he approached with a smile on his face, he called Shang Xirui first A greeting: "Brother Rui! I'm looking forward to your coming! I don't want to celebrate my birthday if you don't come! Hey! Brother Rui is really looking better and better, so delicate!"
Cheng Fengtai saw his nonsense, and Shang Xirui was praised as "good-looking", and it was quite helpful to grin the corners of his mouth, now he can see his true nature.
Fan Lian patted Cheng Fengtai's shoulder and called out brother-in-law. Cheng Fengtai patted him back, and said: "You take Boss Shang to play, I'll go see my mother-in-law first."
Cheng Fengtai's biological mother-in-law is the Fan family's aunt, the second grandmother's mother. I don't know why, in such a rich and powerful family, the fathers often die early, but the widowed wives live longer than one another. Old Mrs. Fan was not too old, but she didn't like to move much anymore. She was leaning on the cigarette couch to be served by others to smoke and drink tea. Several aunts and wives also all wore flag dresses, and the youngest among them was only in his early thirties, so he was considered to be of the previous generation, and surrounded the old lady to accompany and laugh. On occasions like Fan Lian's birthday where there are many young people, of course they would not show up in public. Cheng Fengtai went in and talked for a while, only to hear Mrs. Fan keep recalling the scenery of Fanjiabao in those years, recalling how grand the birthday celebration was when the master was alive, famous actors from thousands of miles away came to sing and sing. Then he complained about Fan Lian's bad taste, what kind of western band was invited in the hall to play the piano, Shang Xirui who sang "Pearls from the Hongqiao" at home last year was very good, how beautiful the martial arts airs are.
When the two young concubines heard Shang Xirui mentioned, a shy expression appeared on their faces, one unnaturally rolled his eyes and smiled, the other wiped the corner of his mouth with a handkerchief and coughed. For the past two years, Cheng Fengtai has been unable to figure out how Shang Xirui's endless stream of women are attracted to him, how could a woman fall in love with him with his heartless appearance. On the contrary, he was handsome, unrestrained and suave, coming and going in the inner hall of Fan's house, and he didn't see any old aunt who expressed his affection for him.
Cheng Fengtai smiled, and said: "Fan Lian is an amateur, he doesn't deserve to let Boss Shang sing for him. Tomorrow's mother's birthday, I'll invite you to Shuiyun Tower." He didn't dare to tell them that Shang Xirui was here, turn around Being called by the widows for entertainment and lust, isn't this a prostitute
While Cheng Fengtai greeted his mother-in-law, Shang Xirui was brought into the living room by Fan Lian to eat, drink and listen to Western music played by the orchestra. Fan Lian kept talking and joking with him by his side, introducing him to try this and that, leaving the other guests aside for the time being. Shang Xirui tasted all the puddings for dessert, sat on the sofa with a cup of milk tea and sipped slowly while waiting for dinner, anyway, he didn't come here for anything else today, just to eat something delicious.
Fan Lian sat down beside him, feeling that although Shang Xirui still didn't have a good face, but after being baptized by delicious food, he was now in a sweeter and more contented mood, so he finally asked him gently: " Brother Rui, we have known each other for many years, and our tempers are still clear, I have always admired you."
Shang Xirui took a sip of tea: "Oh!" Thinking that everyone admires me, I don't mind listening to it.
"But, Brother Rui." Fan Lian said pitifully, "How did I offend you these days? You are so angry with me."
Shang Xirui didn't even look at him, just drank his tea: "Oh, what do you say?"
Fan Lian was in a hurry: "I said... what did I say, me?"
Seeing how he died without repentance, Shang Xirui put the teacup into the saucer, poked his chest with his fingers, and threatened in a low voice: "If you dare to hook up with the second master again, you will ruin the second master's hookup! I'll beat him up kill you!"
Fan Lian was amused: "What? I hooked up my brother-in-law badly? Did he hook me up? He's bad enough! You don't even know him..."
Shang Xirui doesn't want to hear someone say that Cheng Fengtai is bad, even if Cheng Fengtai is really bad, Fan Lian raised his eyebrows and immediately begged for mercy: "Brother Rui, please speak carefully, I really don't understand what you mean by that."
Shang Xirui said coldly: "Dongjiaominxiang! Miss dancing!"
Fan Lian understood everything now. It's really dumb to eat coptis. If he dared to explain the inside story to Shang Xirui, Cheng Fengtai would come and beat him to death before he hooked up with Cheng Fengtai. It just didn't occur to him that it was not his sister who came to pursue this affair first, but Shang Xirui, this name is not right, what a dog and a rat! Fan Lian was silent for a while, then gave up and said: "Yes, I am a bastard! I raised a woman under the eyes of my brother-in-law! Let her go! I will never dare to bring any dancing lady or singing lady to my brother-in-law's eyes. It's gone!" The more I said it, the more I felt wronged, and I almost cried.
Shang Xirui nodded: "That's about the same!"
The two drank tea in silence for a while. Fan Lian looked at Shang Xirui's expression, felt that the situation had developed to this point, the two of them were going further and further on the road of playing with fire and guns, and the more they walked, the more they walked, there were some things that had to be said today, so he said hesitantly : "Brother Rui, there are some things I have always wanted to tell you, for fear that you will be unhappy."
Shang Xirui vaguely expected what he was going to say: "Speak."
Fan Lian was silent for a while as if it was difficult to speak, and finally made up his mind to turn sideways to him, and said solemnly: "Brother Rui, all fans who can hold you in front of you are either rich or expensive, and you are one of us." You know our group of young masters best. Take it easy, absurd, fun-loving. Those who have a tired family are very realistic and pragmatic. Generally speaking, they are not emotional and honest people .”
Shang Xirui'en agreed, this group of young rich kids are doing everything, smelling good on the outside and smelling bad on the inside. It would be even more serious if their parents were more relaxed in their discipline. The moral values of ordinary people could not restrain them at all. She has a lot of bad deeds in private, and no one dares to believe it when she speaks out. She might as well be a clean performer.
"My brother-in-law and I..." Fan Lian wanted to say something about Chang Zhixin, but he stopped in time: "We are good friends who are divided into groups, and we are all kind-hearted. But for example, I am very practical, just put Taking care of the younger siblings and the elderly is the most important thing. If a woman can’t take care of housework and coordinate the interpersonal relationship of the big family, no matter how much I like her, I won’t marry her—it’s impossible to marry her.”
Shang Xirui thought he was referring to the part with Miss Dancing Girl, nodded half understanding.
"I lived to be twenty-seven years old. I have only seen one true love infatuation in this class, the one who was almost beaten to death by you in Pingyang. Let's say he, his mother died before him, and he didn't have much kinship with his father and brothers. , and his wife seem to be divorced. Even if there is no Sister-in-law Ping, he will divorce his original wife sooner or later after his father dies. Sister-in-law Ping caught him by surprise and left him in a panic. I think it's very uncertain whether my sister-in-law has a chance to have a close relationship with him." Fan Lian paid attention to Shang Xirui's expression, seeing that he didn't look like he was about to get angry when he heard Chang Zhixin, and continued to speak relaxedly Said: "As for some people's quality is not bad, it is very righteous to be friends, and it is not cheating to do business, but if it is good to be true to them, it is not good to be a lover."
"Isn't this still talking about yourself?" Shang Xirui played dumb.
"Including me!" Fan Lian patted his thigh with a dry smile, "Of course, including my brother-in-law."
Finally got to the point. Shang Xirui and Fan Lian have known each other for many years, and the only thing that annoys him is that he either doesn't speak, or turns around when he speaks, he can kill the irritable temper alive. Unlike Cheng Fengtai who said three sentences, every sentence is the key point, happy! If it were someone like Fan Lian, Shang Xirui could really slap him to death in a panic.
Shang Xirui said firmly: "I think Second Master is very good!"
Fan Lian said with a smile: "You guys hang out together in your spare time, of course you think he's very nice, he's so good at coaxing people!"
"That's enough!" Shang Xirui was surprised: "What else? I don't want to marry him, and I don't want to marry him. Why are you telling me these things?"
Fan Lian gently enlightened: "Brother Rui, I want to tell you that our group of people have similar thoughts and concerns. After all, the situation is there. If you hang out with people who have families and businesses so seriously, in the end What should I do if the bamboo basket fetches water in vain? I watched you and Sister-in-law Ping turn against each other and see you suffer, so I feel sorry for you!"
Fan Lian lied, he was obviously biased towards Chang Jiang and his wife when it came to the matter back then, and was very troubled by Shang Xirui's madness. If it wasn't for Shang Xirui's rare talent for drama and his two-pronged nature, Fan Lian wouldn't talk to him at all now, and analyzed the prospects to Shang Xirui earnestly, after all, it was too tactful, for Shang Xirui For Xirui, it is "to make people dizzy with its obviousness". Fan Lian dare not tell Shang Xirui directly that Cheng Fengtai has all the bad habits of rich kids. Be comfortable, have fun, and never think about your family. Not long after the marriage with the second grandma back then, there was a lot of turmoil. For a while, the second grandma was taken to ride a horse in the countryside, causing the second grandma to fall off the horse and hurt her; a while later, it was rumored that she would marry a confidante to be a child, and the second grandma was so angry that she died . Now that I have grown up and put it away, the badness is not so obvious, and I know to let my wife know. But so what, bad material is bad material, if the root is still there, the nature is hard to change! And Shang Xirui himself is not a fuel-efficient lamp who suffers and suffers. I can't tell why this opera singer is a bit stupid. He seems very uncivilized. Even though he has deep feelings for Jiang Mengping, he has no means of turning things around when conflicts arise. He only knows how to love. Blindly love when you are in love, and blindly hate when you can't love anymore. From Fan Lian's point of view, these two people are one crazy and the other crazy. Not only is there no future in getting together, but also if there is a conflict, they will easily capsize and become enemies, just like Pingyang back then.
"You don't understand my affairs." The two of them argued for a long time, Shang Xirui shook his head slowly: "You don't understand what kind of relationship Second Master has with me."
Fan Lian thought that I don't always understand, I can't understand you two crazy people.
Shang Xirui's eyes were lit with two small flames, staring at an ethereal place in front of him, burning with energy: "We didn't get together just to talk about love."
Fan Lian originally wanted to tease him and said: Oh? You two are not living together for concubine, but for what? For world revolution? Turning his head to see Shang Xirui's dreamlike expression and the persistent light in his eyes, he couldn't help being stunned for a moment, then a chill ran from his scalp to his spine, making him unable to sit still. Intuitively, this Shang Xirui has something missing and something more than a normal person, something that makes him up and down life and death.
A conversation fell into a muddle-headed silence. Fan Lian was a sharp-edged person, and consciously stopped talking. But meeting Shang Xirui, a fool like this, it's like a passing wind. Fan Lian felt that Shang Xirui was so stupid that he couldn't be enlightened, no wonder he and his senior sister had such troubles. Shang Xirui feels that Fan Lian's ramblings don't make sense, no wonder he was ruled by others and reduced to Tongzhi Guangxu and others.
A few people at the door were laughing and chattering loudly. It was Xue Qianshan who arrived. Fan Lian took the opportunity to end the conversation, stood up and said with a smile, "Brother Rui, find a place to play by yourself. The third room on the right hand side on the second floor is the rest room. There are records in it to listen to. Wait for dinner." I’m here to call you.” While bending over, he whispered in his ear, “A lot of your fans are here today, if you get entangled by them, you won’t be free.”
Shang Xirui was terrified, didn't care about anything to eat, and didn't wait for Cheng Fengtai. Fan Lian saw that he was like a rabbit, so he ran upstairs avoiding people.