Siheyuan: Since 51

Chapter 274 Life is like smoke

Lin Zhiyuan asked with a smile: "Wen Qiang, why are you looking so gloomy?"

Tang Wenqiang sighed and said in a low voice: "Brother Zhiyuan, Mr. Zhou is seriously ill."

"what?"

Lin Zhiyuan stood up and asked, "Seriously ill?"

Tang Wenqiang rubbed his face and said, "It's probably just one or two days. He's basically unconscious now."

"Can't even make it through the New Year?"

Tang Wenqiang nodded.

Lin Zhiyuan frowned, and a series of images flashed through his mind.

"Two taels a day, no more?"

"That's not possible. If you drink too much, won't you become a toad soaked in wine?"

……

"Old man, four generations will soon live together. Isn't that great?"

"It's great. It's quite great."

……

"Then let's call her Zhou Zhiruo..."

"Okay, okay, this is good!"

……

Thinking of Mr. Zhou's humor, kindness and gentleness, Lin Zhiyuan felt an itch in his throat.

"okay, I get it."

After get off work, I rode my bike and hurried to Zhou's house.

Zhou Liping and his father were sitting in the living room smoking.

Xiao Zhiruo also lost her liveliness.

Tang Wenfang and Zhou Xiaomin were busy in the kitchen.

After a brief greeting, Lin Zhiyuan asked, "The old man is in the inner room? What's going on?"

Zhou Liping sighed, "Well, he was in a daze, waking up for a while and sleeping for a while. Mr. Ren came to check on him and said that his time had come."

Lin Zhiyuan nodded, "I'll go in and take a look."

"Go!"

Back room.

Mr. Zhou closed his eyes, as if he was sleeping.

His face was pale, almost bloodless, and his skin was dark and lusterless.

Lin Zhiyuan walked forward slowly, sat on the edge of the bed, and began to mutter.

"Grandpa, I'm Zhiyuan, here to talk to you."

"You are not in good times. I once had a dream."

"In the dream, everyone likes to listen to crosstalk."

"Crosstalk performers have also moved from the streets to indoor performances. Of course, this is also due to your efforts."

"Some well-known crosstalk performers even opened their own theaters, just like teahouses."

"Anyone who wants to listen to crosstalk has to grab tickets."

……

Lin Zhiyuan was talking to himself when suddenly a hoarse voice was heard.

"and after?"

Looking down, I saw Mr. Zhou squinting his eyes and smiling.

Lin Zhiyuan couldn't help but curl the corners of his lips and choked a little.

"Later, they toured the country, and every show was sold out, with at least several thousand people..."

Old Master Zhou chuckled, his voice was very low and slow.

"That's nonsense. If there are hundreds of people in a show, it's just a gift from the ancestors."

Lin Zhiyuan spoke seriously, citing examples.

"Hey, don't disbelieve me. You know radio, right? You can hear it wherever you have a radio. There are also televisions abroad, which are more advanced than tape recorders, just like movies. Even the pictures can be broadcast all over the country. Just think about it, who doesn't know crosstalk and who doesn't want to listen to it?"

Mr. Zhou's eyes flashed, and then he raised his eyebrows.

"Your dream actually has some basis."

……

After chatting for a few minutes, Mr. Zhou fell asleep again. Lin Zhiyuan pinched the edge of the quilt and left the inner room.

Zhou Liping glanced sideways and asked softly, "Did you wake up just now?"

Lin Zhiyuan nodded, "Yeah, I said a few words."

Zhou Liping took a deep puff of his cigarette and expressed his disbelief, "I'm already confused, how can I still talk to you? This is nonsense."

Lin Zhiyuan raised his eyebrows and spread his hands, saying, "Old man, kiss me."

Zhou Liping was just about to reply when the gate of the courtyard started banging.

Get up, run out and open the door.

Ma Sanli walked into the courtyard exhausted, "Liping, what happened to the master?"

"Uncle Fu, I'll close the door and go in to talk."

Entering the living room, Ma Sanli hurriedly asked: "Brother, Liping, Master..."

Father Zhou pointed to the inner room and said, "She's still there. She's probably waiting for you."

Ma Sanli let out a long sigh, pulled the package behind him and put it on the table.

After unbuttoning it, he took out a long gown from inside and said, "Come, help me put it on."

Zhou's father stepped forward to help, and in less than a minute, Ma Sanli straightened his long gown and walked into the inner room.

More than ten minutes.

Ma Sanli's eyes were red as he walked out, "Master wants to perform a crosstalk, everyone come in."

Enter the inner room again.

Mr. Zhou actually sat on the edge of the bed, greeted everyone one by one, and said with a smile: "Seeing Mikasa, I suddenly feel full of energy. You all sit down, and our master and disciple will perform a piece for you."

Ma Sanli helped him change into a long gown.

Mr. Zhou insisted on standing up, bowed, but couldn't hold on any longer and sat down on a reclining chair.

Ma Sanli was the funny one and spoke first.

"Now, we two will perform a crosstalk for you. What is it?"

Mr. Zhou asked with a smile: "Wait a moment, who are you?"

Ma Sanli slapped his forehead.

"Look at me, I forgot to introduce myself. I am Ma Sanli, and the person next to me is my master. Let's continue with the crosstalk. I'll tell you a piece..."

"Wait a minute, don't I even deserve a name?"

"It matches, it matches, it matches, of course it matches."

"Stop spitting in my face. Go on, introduce yourself. Who am I?"

"Next to me is my master, the crosstalk artist Zhou Deshui."

"I don't deserve it. I'm just an apprentice."

"Wow, if you are an apprentice and I am your disciple, what am I?"

……

Ma Sanli kept talking, but Mr. Zhou's responses became slower and slower.

In the end, he gradually became silent, tilted his head, smiled, and slowly closed his eyes.

"Master!"

"dad!"

"master!"

……

Mr. Zhou passed away peacefully. In the last moments of his life, he brought laughter to everyone, which is a reflection of his life.

Lin Zhiyuan lit a cigarette and stared at the cigarette butt in a daze.

Life is like smoke, isn't it?

A few pieces burned, my hair turned white, and I lost my energy...

After the New Year, communes sprang up everywhere, with grain becoming the top priority, and the communal dining system began.

The urban area was also affected, it became impetuous and exaggerated, and everyone was as excited as if they had been injected with chicken blood.

Steel rolling mill.

Lin Zhiyuan sat in the office, looking at Chu Chen, and couldn't help but sigh.

"Brother Chen, you decide. I have no objection."

Chu Chen frowned slightly and asked, "How can you not have an opinion? Support or not, you have to have an attitude..."

As he spoke, he thought of last year and couldn't help asking, "What did you hear again?"

Lin Zhiyuan waved his hand, "No rumors. I just don't understand what you are thinking. How many finished products can be produced according to the amount of materials is in line with materialism. Do you want all the employees in the factory to perform magic tricks?"

"This……"

Chu Chen calmed himself down and asked, "There are high targets everywhere. How can our factory be good if it remains unchanged?"

Lin Zhiyuan spread his hands and said, "Then you can find the raw materials."

After seeing Chu Chen off, Lin Zhiyuan rubbed his forehead, feeling helpless.

There is a reason for the wind. There are high targets everywhere. Pushing forward step by step, isn’t the source grain and steel?

I can't calm down when reading.

Drinking tea has no taste either.

Smoking until the end of the get off work day.

Return to the courtyard.

I met the students in the courtyard, including Lin Shufan and Qin Chaoyun.

"Brother Zhiyuan."

"dad."