Beat Generation

When Zhan Banbi heard that Wen's family was going to hold a funeral, she sat down on her leather chair and didn't speak for a long time. She terminated the next meeting, and after talking on the phone with her father Zhan Jinhuai for 2 minutes, she let Guan Yongquan immediately squeezed out of his schedule to attend the funeral.

That night, she left the government building 10 minutes earlier than usual.

When I returned to Zhan's house, my mother, Feng Qing, was packing.

"My little deer, you are finally back. You said it was a sunny day with thunderstorms. Why did Rong Lanzhi think of holding a funeral at this time? I heard that she asked Wen Xi and Wen Chong to give them to everyone in the capital. I sent a mourning telegram, and I sat in the office in shock, thinking to myself, I am about to retire now, and I am about to live a stable life, why did this happen?" Mother Zhan was wearing a light blue dress. The gardenia-patterned cheongsam has a small white flower pinned to its chest.

Wen's family held a funeral at this time, which made the North-South issue even worse. If the government puts more pressure on the South, it will inevitably make the world feel worse. All subsequent plans will be implemented because of this too sudden funeral. Adjust the details.Zhan Banbi rubbed the bridge of his nose, and pursed his lips with an unclear expression.

Mother Zhan noticed that the eldest daughter's face was not very good-looking, so she rubbed her shoulders, "Are you tired today?"

Zhan Banbi shook his head and nodded again.

"Tell me, where did Rong Lanzhi find such a person? It's Mrs. Rong, why have I never seen her before? When did she get married again, and Rong Lanzhi never mentioned it." Zhan's mother looked at Zhan Banbi , "Have you seen it?"

Zhan Banbi immediately shook his head, and Zhan's mother sighed, "I heard that Rong Lanzhi is a man and woman, and she has been a widow for so many years under the name of Mrs. Wen. In fact, if you think about it carefully, there is a confidant around her who is also a woman." It's quite normal....It's just that she is probably too hard-nosed, she can't kill Wen Conglai, and then she can't die..."

"Mother..." Zhan Banbi didn't want to hear any more, "I'm going upstairs, and I still have two official documents."

"Well. Then I'll pack your luggage for you."

"Thank you."

When Zhan entered her study, she put down her briefcase. As usual, she went to wash her hands and face first.

Fifteen minutes had passed, and Zhan Banbi was standing in front of the washstand like this, holding a boxy soap in her hands. She kept her head down, and her back looked rock-solid, as if no wind and rain could shake it.

She stood like this for half an hour before she soaped her hands, turned on the faucet, and let the cold water wash over her hands.

After washing her hands, she washed her face again.

She sat at the table for a long time with those two official documents, but she didn't read them. She was going to take the official documents to the plane.

When it was time for dinner, her two younger brothers, Zhan Banshan and Zhan Banhong, were also recalled urgently from the Ministry of the Army and the Ministry of the Navy respectively. The three siblings chatted for a long time, but Zhan's father did not come back.

Finally, Zhan's mother fed Zhan Zhengzheng the traditional Chinese medicine and said to them: "Don't wait for your father, he told me in the morning that he was going to the Northland for a routine visit and try to attend the funeral. Anyway, from the imperial capital of the Northland Flying to Wen's house is also close. Let's eat first."

"Mother, that means we go first and father comes later?" Zhan Banbi asked.

"Yes. I'll take you first."

Zhan Zhengzheng muttered softly while eating: "...Great, we can see Wen Li again."

When Zhan Banbi heard this, she immediately lowered her face and said to Zhan Zhengzheng: "Zhengzheng, elder sister has already told you what happened last time, you can't get too close to Wen Li."

"Why? Aren't you and Wen Li's sister (Wen Xi) also good friends?"

Facing Zhan Zhengzheng's innocence question, Zhan smiled, and Zhan Banshan said: "My little Zhengzheng, the second brother also told you that we and the Wen family are not the same way, you, you should be more friendly." Friends in Huanjing, let's play, okay."

"No, I like Wen Li, I just like playing with her."

Zhan stopped talking and lowered his head to eat. Zhan's mother touched Zhan Zhengzheng's head, "Okay, you can play with her, but you can't like her, let alone be good friends with her. Do you want to know why?...Then Mother asks you, the police dog in our family can protect the safety of our home, you can play with it, and of course you can like it, but can you be friends with it? It doesn’t understand what you say at all.”

Zhan Zhengzheng was about to say that Wen Li is not a dog, but Mother Zhan said sternly, "I've played too much, be careful that it opens its mouth and eats you, are you afraid?"

Zhan Zhengzheng was taken aback, and she stopped talking.

At this time, Zhan Banhong, Zhan's third brother, said, "So you have to play with the police dog, feed it some bones, walk it, and smooth its fur. It's not easy to tame a police dog?"

After the meal, Mother Zhan called many friends in Beijing who were going to attend Mrs. Rong's funeral. Many of the officials and wives who had lived in Beijing for a long time were old and rarely went to the south again these years. Mother Zhan took the lead, including After getting through the special government line, the next morning, more than 60 households of the dignitaries in Beijing and China all went to Wenzhai with their families.

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It was just dawn.

Wen Xi, who was lying on the bedside, woke up. She glanced at the bed and was immediately startled!

There was no one on the bed, the quilt was thrown back, she probed with her hand, but there was no temperature in the quilt, Zhuang Mei disappeared?She took another look at Wu Ershan who was lying on the other side of the bed, and Wen Xi called out.

"Ershan?"

Zhuang Mei didn't sleep these days, and Wu Ershan didn't sleep either. Zhuang Mei finally fell asleep last night, and she was exhausted. Wen Xi called her twice but didn't call her.

Hastily went downstairs, and saw that the servants had already started to be busy, and the white curtains in the house were billowing. During the shuttle, Wu Ma was especially careful to talk to some young servants about the rules, for fear that something might go wrong during the funeral, and people would think that they were gentle. The family is about to fall, and a decent funeral cannot be held!

"Mama Wu...have you seen Mrs. Wu?"

Wu Ma shook her head, "I got up at four o'clock and have been so busy that I haven't had a sip of water. I really didn't pay attention. I'll ask someone to find it for you."

Wen Xi was suddenly in a state of disarray, there were too many people coming from the south and the north, and there were not enough servants at home, and they asked for servants from all the immediate family members of the Wen family, and Wen Xi was too busy in the middle of the night to go I stayed with Zhuang Mei and Wu Ershan for a while... Why did they disappear in the blink of an eye?

Before Mama Wu beckoned someone to come over, Wen Xi had long since disappeared in the corridor, and she was seen running towards the mourning hall quickly.

The mourning hall was still the same, Rong Lanzhi was still holding Zheng Lianhe's hand, Wen Xi listened carefully, but couldn't understand what Rong Lanzhi could say to a person who had passed away?She softly asked the two maids who used to take care of Zheng Lianhe personally, and she was relieved when she learned that Rong Lanzhi had already had breakfast.

There was no one in the mourning hall, so Wen Xi went to the empty side house to look for it. She yelled several times at the cell with white candles, but there was still no one.

For some reason, after Wen Xi walked out of the empty side house, a strange feeling arose in her heart.She looked at the people who were busy preparing for the funeral in front of her, and her eyes blurred. She felt that it was not Zheng Lianhe who died, but Bo Mei. a ride...

A gardener came over with a copper pot for watering, and accidentally bumped into Wen Xi. He was startled, and quickly bowed to admit his mistake. When he looked up, he saw that the second lady not only didn't scold him, but instead had a distraught look on his face. He could only sigh at the second lady. I really care about this stepmother.

"Second Miss, are you looking for something or someone?"

"I...I...I'm looking for my heart..." Wen Xi lightly clenched his fists, pinched the position of his heart, and the gardener quickly said, "You want...you want?"

Wen Xi shook his head, and the gardener thought for a while, "Mama Wu seemed to say just now that you were looking for Mrs. Wu?...She is in the kitchen."

Wen Xi heard this, and ran towards the kitchen with one stride.

When she ran to the door, she saw that the kitchen was full of people, whether it was the chef invited from the restaurant temporarily or the cook at home, they were all listening to the chef's speech, and Zhuang Mei was wearing mourning clothes. standing next to the chef.

Wen Xi stood at the door, looking straight at Zhuang Mei.

Zhuang Mei is lowering her head to change the menu. This funeral has gathered almost all the political, business, and black and white figures in the entire southern country. Basically, they are all invited by the whole family. The southern side borders the northern country, and the business of the Wen family has also penetrated. The North Country, so many upstarts from the North Country were also invited.

This kind of table is not good for idlers, and how to arrange the people on the table is all knowledge.Zhuang Mei woke up early in the morning and asked Wen Chong for the table and seating plan. After reading it, she couldn't help but laugh. Some people can never be arranged on the same table, otherwise they will definitely blame the host.

If you want to say which one is the most difficult to deal with in the south or the north, and which one has a disagreement with which one, Zhuang Mei has been whispering since she was a child, and she knows the secret better than her. Her mother used to entertain distinguished guests , have to secretly prepare the seating plan and menu two nights in advance, trying to finish the banquet without leaving any complaints.

She spent an entire hour changing the seat map, and then entered it into the computer, and assigned the male servant who led the table to memorize it, so as not to let the guests sit at the wrong table.Then, she came to the kitchen and looked at the menu. To be safe, she changed a lot of menus. Firstly, it was a funeral banquet, so meat dishes should not be served, and it is best to focus on Vegetarian dishes; secondly, some tables The seats were all old people, not to mention ordinary old people, those were all respected old people in various bureaus and offices, their taboos and preferences were unknown to ordinary people, but Zhuang Mei knew a thing or two.

Changed one, added one, Zhuang Mei changed it for more than an hour, and the menu was finally changed. The chef is very high-level but has never prepared such a heavyweight funeral banquet. Naturally, I hope everything is safe. See Zhuang Mei She could tell the truth everywhere, so she agreed to them one by one, and adopted all her amendments.

After the chef's words were finished, Zhuang Mei also finished correcting them. She didn't eat anything when she got up early in the morning. She stood in front of the old stove and scooped up a small bowl of sweet bean curd with a small golden spoon. He heard Wen Xi calling her.

Zhuang Mei turned her head and saw Wen Xi looking at her.

"Where did you come from? Why is your forehead covered in sweat?" Zhuang Mei walked over, stood on tiptoes, and wiped her sweat with a handkerchief, "Brother Wen Chong went to the airport early in the morning to pick up people from the north. Well, the people in the south said that you don't need to pick it up, but when you get to the intersection, you can go and greet it."

Wen Xi held her hand tremblingly, just looked at her without speaking, this situation scared Zhuang Mei a little, she put down the bean curd, and waved her hand in front of her eyes——

"Don't scare me, is there something wrong? I know your period is coming soon." Seeing Wen Xi like this, Zhuang Mei thought of her mother's almost crazy eyes... Wen Xi's chin is thin She was pointy, and she was still wearing the rickety mourning dress that was beaten by Zhuang Mei. Zhuang Mei stood on tiptoe slightly again, and buttoned one button after another for her, lest she be blown by the wind.

The two were very close, their noses touching.

Seeing that Wen Xi remained silent, Zhuang Mei took her with one hand, and held the fragrant and hot sweet bean curd that night in the other, and the two of them went into the small patio next to the kitchen, which was full of tomatoes, cucumbers, and red beans. And a few sunflowers that grow extraordinarily tall.

Zhuang Mei asked Wen Xi to sit on the rattan chair, and she sat on Wen Xi's lap.

She picked up the steaming bean curd and fed it to Wen Xi mouthful.

"You drink more, I added brown sugar and roses. You eat this red date too, chew it carefully, it has a pit....You can spit it into my hand." Zhuang Mei took the red date pit naturally with her hand, Put it on the small table and continue to feed slowly.

Zhuang Mei was not surprised why she sat on Wen Xi's lap without any scruples. In the past five years, sitting on Wen Xi's lap was like sitting on a chair, and she was not shy about feeding herself. Because in the past five years, she has also fed several times.

Wen Xi was fascinated at first, but after drinking sweet bean curd, her stomach gradually warmed up, and she slowly regained her senses. She looked at Zhuang Mei who was close at hand, her careful appearance was like a little daisy with dewdrops in it , trembling with the wind, swaying people's hearts.

"Have you recovered?" Zhuang Mei asked her softly when she saw her eyes slowly returning to normal.

Wen Xi nodded, then shook her head again, "Feed me a few more bites, I'm hungry."

Zhuang Mei curled the corner of her mouth and fed the bottom of the bowl too.

"Okay. Finished."

She was about to get off Wen Xi's lap when Wen Xi hugged her.

Zhuang Mei pinched the bowl, "...what's wrong?"

"You don't sleep well, what are you doing out?" Wen Xi asked.

"It's what you said. You can't take care of it so well. I hope I can help you...my mother's funeral. After all, it's my biological mother's funeral. How can you be busy alone?" Zhuang Mei wiped the corners of Wen Xi's mouth with a handkerchief again, "You put me down, I have to go to Ershan, Ershan's parents also arrived this morning, and she and I are going to pick up the plane."

Wen Xi let go, and Zhuang Mei asked, "Is the bean curd delicious?"

Wen Xi lowered her head and said, "It's delicious."

"Then I'll give Ershan a bowl too, and she's worked hard to take care of me these days."

"You just fed me, now, are you going to feed her again?" Wen Xi stood up and asked.

Probably because the tone of the words was a little heavy and meant to provoke, Zhuang Mei didn't turn around for a moment, and asked instead: "What did you say?..."

Wen Xi didn't want to see her frightened look, so she shook her head and said, "Go."

"I'll do whatever you want me to do. Now is a special period, and I won't fight against you again." Zhuang Mei didn't want to see Wen Xi's displeased face, so she chased after her and grabbed her wrist, Said timidly.

Wen Xi was even more unhappy in her heart. Why did Zhuang Mei like to fight against her all the time in the past, but now she has only been married to Wu Ershan for a few days, and she has become such a tender person in front of her?Everything depends on her.She suspected that she had heard it wrong, no, she would rather she had heard it wrong.

"Okay. You said it." Wen Xi turned her head, lowered her head slightly, and looked deeply at Zhuang Mei, "I won't allow you to feed her tofu curd, not for the rest of my life, can you agree?"

Zhuang Mei was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "She doesn't like Chinese food in the first place, so I'll get her a ham sandwich. What am I supposed to do? You scare me!"

Zhuang Mei pushed Wen Xi, and Wen Xi smiled belatedly.

In the small courtyard, the small bamboo frame for red bean vines extends to the top of the eaves. At first glance, it looks like a small bird's nest, and the vines full of red bean horns climb all the way up.

The breeze blew over, and some thumping sounds rang from overhead, Zhuang Mei and Wen Xiqi raised their heads, but at some point, four or five parrots with bright coats flew silently to those bamboo frames, Just as you are pecking at those immature red beans.

These parrots had their tongues cut off by Rong Lanzhi, so of course they couldn't make a sound.

Zhuang Mei and Wen Xi didn't look up for a while, when suddenly more than a dozen parrots of various colors flew over the small courtyard, and some of them simply flew down to peck the green tomatoes that were not yet red.

Standing among a group of tongueless parrots, Wen Xi and Zhuang Mei laughed softly, not knowing what happened in the past.

And the beautiful parrot flew up and down around the two of them, non-stop, dancing...