his robbery

Chapter 111 Self-reliance

Huo Xiangzhen didn't expect Andre to come back.Standing on the steps, he watched Andre walking further and further away with the stove, and asked himself in his heart: "What's going on?"

Before he could figure out "what's going on", Andre had already brought back a stove of charcoal.The two entered the living room one after the other, and Andre put the small white stove in front of the sofa as usual.Huo Xiangzhen sat down, and he squatted down too. The two of them stretched out their hands to warm the fire. The stove was too small, and the heat from the charcoal was hardly enough for four big hands to distribute.Andre had chilblains on his fingers, his skin was white, and it became more and more bright red from the chilblains.

Huo Xiangzhen stared at his frostbite, and finally asked: "What are you doing when you come back? There are always old men recruiting soldiers in Harbin. I am not afraid that you will have no way of life after passing. I am at the mercy of others. What will happen to me? You have to end up with something. You follow me, you can't get along well."

Andre shook his head: "I don't want to be a soldier, I hate war."

After saying this, he flinched in fear of the cold, and his golden eyelashes drooped, reminding Huo Xiangzhen of his sorrel Arabian horse—a gentle, docile, tall and strong beauty.

He didn't answer, making Andre think that he didn't speak clearly, so he explained carefully: "I'm always in war, and I hate war."

Huo Xiangzhen withdrew her hand, and sighed in a low voice: "Nothing!"

Andre pursed his thin red lips into a line, and lowered his hands above the stove, as if he no longer knew how hot it was: "Master..." He said softly, "Please take me in."

Huo Xiangzhen put her elbows on her knees, leaned over and turned her head to look at him.He watched for a long time without saying a word, and finally he reached out and patted Andre's head, and smiled slightly: "Okay, follow me!"

Because a tall and burly Andre came back by his side, Huo Xiangzhen thought of "living life" for the first time.Andre came to ask him to "take in" him as a savior backer, he couldn't let this little old man starve to death by his side.

He found a few more things and asked Andre to go out and run the pawn shop.With the sum of money he got, he sent the chef in the kitchen. He thought it was done once and for all. The kitchen was divided into Chinese food department and Western food department.What seemed like an insignificant expense at the beginning is now a burden and can no longer be afforded.

The master chefs really left, and the kitchen was temporarily closed.Andre put a small iron pot on the small stove, and every morning he would chug a pot of rice porridge.When the porridge was about to be cooked in the pot, he wrapped himself in a cotton coat and ran out the door to buy sesame seed cakes.The policemen guarding the gate all knew him. Every morning, they saw him galloping out empty-handed like a big ocean horse, and after a while, he ran back with hot biscuits in one hand and a new newspaper in the other, and spouted white gas. Thinking about the rice porridge boiling in the small iron pot.

Huo Xiangzhen drank rice porridge and ate biscuits, reading the newspaper while eating and drinking.Always relying on pawns for a living is not a long-term solution. Besides, the things that can be pawned at home are limited. There are still a batch of antiques, which were bought by Mr. Huo. With Mr. Huo's vision, the authenticity of the antiques is questionable.Huo Xiangzhen didn't study this way, so he didn't dare to sell the treasures that he didn't know were real or fake, so he didn't dare to sell them, and couldn't sell them.If it's fake, it's worthless and not worth selling; if it's real, it's a crime to sell jade for the price of glass.

Andre's red envelope had already been opened, part of it was given to the master as wages for the master, and the other part was held in Andre's hands, turning into three meals a day and a large carriage of briquettes.Huo Xiangzhen couldn't let Andre support himself, so he read the newspaper over and over again, hoping to get some inspiration from it and find a way to support himself.

It was too cold downstairs, so Huo Xiangzhen and Andre moved upstairs to the bedroom.Huo Xiangzhen sat cross-legged on the bed with a quilt on her lap.Holding the newspaper in one hand and hot tea in the other, he was concentrating on browsing the news when he suddenly realized the existence of Andre, and raised his head forward: "Come up, the bed is warm."

Andre was a little shy, standing against the wall and just smiling.

Huo Xiangzhen lowered his head and looked at the newspaper again: "Hurry up! There are only two people left in the family, so there is no difference."

Andre walked to the edge of the bed and sat down meaningfully. He took off his shoes and lifted his legs to get on the bed.Pulling the corner of the quilt and putting it on his own leg, he tentatively stretched his feet, the depth of the quilt was warm - as long as Huo Xiangzhen had enough food and drink, his body would be warm and warm.

Huo Xiangzhen didn't look at him, stared at the newspaper and said: "There are a lot of errands, but none of them have anything to do with me. The way to become an official is blocked. I don't have capital or know how to do business, but I do have strength—" —" He laughed self-deprecatingly: "Or, I'll go to work as a coolie?"

Andre looked anxiously at the troubled big man in front of him, fearing that he would really work hard.He had already worked his life as a soldier for a living, and he didn't want to see Huo Xiangzhen become his second self.

After Huo Xiangzhen said this, she also thought it was nonsense.Shaking his head and sighing, he put down the newspaper and looked up: "It's nonsense to talk about doing coolies. If it really doesn't work, I'll learn from Second Master Yuan and sell calligraphy!"

Andre asked hesitantly, "Learn...who?"

Huo Xiangzhen put down the newspaper, took a quick sip while the tea was still hot: "President Yuan's second child. His calligraphy is really good, I can't compare it. My calligraphy is too crafty."

Andre couldn't understand again, so he listened and guessed.And Huo Xiangzhen drank the tea in the cup in one gulp, lifted the quilt and wanted to get out of bed, while getting off the bed, he said: "Whether it will work or not, let's try it first!"

Huo Xiangzhen went to the study room, drew up an advertisement and asked Andre to send it to the nearest newspaper for publication.Andre delivered the ad and paid for it in advance.The newspaper office knew that the advertisement had a history, so it published it very actively, and let it appear in the newspaper the next day.

But after half a day, someone really came to the door of Huo's residence.The police guarded the gate, but they did not have the power to drive away the visitors, so after a few interrogations, they let the visitors in.Huo Xiangzhen didn't want to lead outsiders to her living place, so she opened the front building.This building was originally the place where Mr. Huo received guests, and the hall is very spacious.Andre was very excited to bring the Four Treasures of the Study, and Huo Xiangzhen didn't say much, spread rice paper on an old-fashioned old case, and according to the request of the visitor, he wrote a couplet bit by bit.

After all, Jing Shuai is Jing Shuai. Although he has stepped down, he still retains a bit of legend, and even the words are worth money.A pair of couplets was exchanged for three oceans.When the visitor walked away holding the couplet like a treasure, Huo Xiangzhen sat down on the grand teacher's chair behind the case, with a faint fever on his face.Selling characters and selling characters sounds elegant, but in the final analysis, it is still a sale.He doesn't have the unrestrained and unrestrained heart of a romantic, and he can't learn the celebrity school of the second son of Yuan. He still feels uncomfortable when he listens to other people's instructions to write and draw.

But if he is uncomfortable, he is uncomfortable. He secretly comforted himself: "Don't steal, don't rob, and eat according to your ability, there is no shame in it."

In one afternoon, there were three deals in total.Huo Xiangzhen wrote a pair of couplets and two fans, and got 11 yuan in cash.Huo Xiangzhen didn't know what these few oceans were enough for, but she felt a little happy in her heart.After giving all the money to Andre, he lowered his head and packed up the pen, ink, paper and inkstone by himself: "I won't eat sesame seed cakes tomorrow, you spend the money yourself, buy something good!"

Andre put away Dayang, and then followed him back to the small building behind.The two fought and had dinner, and Andre carried the little white stove into Huo Xiangzhen's bedroom.The heating is really unbearable, and the stove seems to have only a symbolic temperature. Looking at the red light hitting the face, the effect is actually incomparable with the heating.The frostbite on Andre's hands was getting worse day by day. He bent down and touched the sheets of the big bed. He said, "It's cool."

Huo Xiangzhen stood at the end of the bed, looking at the back of his rotten red and white hands: "I didn't cry, but you are so hairy that you can't bear it."

Andre blinked his eyes and understood.Rolling up his cuffs and looking at the light golden hair on his forearm, he turned his head and smiled at Huo Xiangzhen: "I'm an old man."

Huo Xiangzhen walked around the big bed and shook off the quilt: "Bai has a whole body of hair. Kittens and dogs can survive the winter, how are you, let your paws freeze to rot first."

Undressed and went to bed, Huo Xiangzhen took out an old book from under the pillow, and waved to Andre: "You squeeze me tonight, I'm hot."

Andre knew he was hot, but shook his head with a hesitant smile, he still remembered that he was an adjutant.

He kept his duty, but Huo Xiangzhen waved to him disapprovingly.If there was no Andre in this family, Huo Xiangzhen simply didn't know how to live alone - of course, he could live, but such a day would be too lonely.

In the end, Andre went to bed in his shirt and shorts.Huo Xiangzhen didn't have the habit of going to bed early, so she turned on the light to read.Andre was lying beside him, holding a stack of writing paper in his hand, which was Huo Xiangzhen's usual pen practice.The characters are large, and the strokes are clear and thick, just enough for him to trace and learn to write with his fingers.Suddenly he raised his hand and pulled the sleeve of Huo Xiangzhen's pajamas. He pointed to a black letter on the paper and asked, "Me?"

Huo Xiangzhen glanced absently: "It's war, war of war."

Andre grunted: "I hate war."

Huo Xiangzhen turned a page of the book: "Coward."

Andre was silent for a while, then spoke again.Mobilizing his tongue that always wanted to snort, he lay on his side on a pillow of writing paper, watching Huo Xiangzhen speak in a low voice.He is a person without a bosom friend, but he is sure that Huo Xiangzhen will understand what he means.

He told a story of one of his older brothers, with a little sadness in his blue eyes.His older brother, who was much older than himself, had a close personal relationship with Tolstoy, also wanted to be a writer, and died tragically in the Revolution.

"He wrote a lot." He looked at Huo Xiangzhen anxiously: "It's not easy to understand. I think it's probably not good."

Huo Xiangzhen's body temperature slowly warmed the tip of his nose, and he muttered again, "He always writes."

Raising his hand to pat his face, Huo Xiangzhen said in a low voice: "If you are willing to study, you can."

Andre closed his eyes peacefully, and murmured, "I'm learning Chinese characters."

Huo Xiangzhen ignored him, so his eyelids became heavier and heavier, and finally he fell asleep with a light snoring sound.

Huo Xiangzhen finished reading a thin book, turned off the light and lay down.It's not that Andre is unhygienic, but he has a natural animal smell, so Huo Xiangzhen had no choice but to turn his back on him.Andre was probably dreaming, he muttered a series of Russian words, and finally put his head on Huo Xiangzhen's back, and continued to sleep wheezing.

The next morning, Huo Xiangzhen got up.After breakfast, he sent Andre an errand—first, to buy or find a few more small white stoves; second, to buy some chilblain ointment to rub on the back of his hands; , I can't handle dinner anymore, I thought about going out to order a table of better meals in the afternoon, and let the guy deliver them to my house.

Andre took the order to go out, but was startled when he arrived at the door.Turning his head and running back to the small building behind, he made a fuss and shouted: "Marshal, there are a lot of people here, I want you to write!"

Andre's words were true, the advertisement was just published in the newspaper yesterday, everyone read it, but they were still dubious, and only when someone really begged for the calligraphy to go back, everyone knew it.Among these people were a few newspaper reporters who wanted to take the opportunity to interview Jing Shuai who had stepped down—it was not uncommon for Mr. Wen Sheng to sell calligraphy. It's news.

The policemen panicked, not knowing how to deal with this large group of people.The reason why they were sent to stand guard was to put Huo Xiangzhen under house arrest in a disguised form, to isolate him from the outside world; it would be better not to be under house arrest, but now there are many people of various religions and ranks here, who knows what their identities are?

The police had no idea, so they had to report to the higher levels and let the upper peaks decide.At the same time, Huo Xiangzhen had already set the scene.Andre went out, no one was busy, so he simply put a tin box containing biscuits in the corner of the case, and the person who paid the money put the money in the box by himself, and he didn't care if he put more or less.

However, he had just written all morning when the crowd at the door was dispersed by the police.Master Tong called and said, "If Shuai Jing is in financial difficulty, he can ask the government." Then he gave another example, saying that General X can now get [-] yuan from the government every month. It is very easy to write a letter and send it to Nanjing.

Huo Xiangzhen put up the phone, this time he did not fly into a rage, nor did he intend to ask the Nanjing government for money.Holding the heavy biscuit tin, he went back to the small building at the back. He entered the living room and put the biscuit tin on the tea table.As for the money, he still didn't know how long it would cost even the half-pack of banknotes in Dayang; he will wait for the little old man to come back later, let the little old man clean it up!The little old man patiently folded the ocean into a pile, wrapped it with white paper into a long roll, and then flattened the banknotes into a docile pile.

He boiled water and made himself a pot of hot tea. Huo Xiangzhen sat on the sofa and drank it slowly. While drinking, he thought about what else he could do to exchange money.You can't live like this, eating and waiting to die, otherwise I'm sorry for Andre.Andre followed him so desperately, at least he couldn't let the frostbite on his hands survive the winter.

Andre bought chilblain ointment, and went to the restaurant to book a banquet.It's been a long time since he had a good meal, and he walked home happily with some odds and ends.

But when he was about to reach the gate of Huo Mansion, he found an extra car on the road outside the gate.As soon as Yixin mentioned it, he was really afraid that another uninvited guest had come.When he got closer, he looked in through the car window, but found a young man with greasy hair and powdered noodles sitting in the back seat, holding a small round mirror to take a picture.Andre looked at him curiously, and he also turned to look out at Andre.This time the two met each other, and Andre was stunned for a moment, because the man was dressed like a man, but his face was pink and white, and he looked a bit like a woman with makeup, and there was a small patch on his forehead. Gauze looked injured.

The people in the car seemed to be taken aback by Andre - after the shock, he said something to the driver in front of him, and the driver agreed and started the car immediately.

Andre felt a little relieved when he saw the car leaving.He is always confused about the appearance of Chinese people.Men, such as Huo Xiangzhen, are undoubtedly beautiful in his eyes; women, such as a female student he once met on the street, with big eyes and braids, are also so beautiful that he never forgets them.But for Lieutenant Li and his like, as well as the young people in the car just now, he really couldn't see beauty or ugliness, he simply thought they were both male and female.

Bai Mani sat in the car, his heart pounding.Fortunately, that blond foreign face just now distracted him, otherwise he would have almost got out of the car and walked in!

He had been in Tianjin with Lian Yi before, and he just came back in the morning.Lian Yi saw a newspaper from Beiping yesterday, and smiled at him after reading it: "How does Huo Jingheng live these days? Is he going to sell calligraphy for a living?"

Bai Mani knew that his brother's soldiers were gone, but he didn't know that his brother had also lost his money.Throwing away the pipe and snatching the newspaper, he got up and read it again.Lian Yi leaned back with his arms on his pillow, and began to sneer and sneer happily; the more Bai Mani listened, the more annoying he became, and finally his heart was like long grass.Picking up the bong and knocking at Lian Yi, he said angrily with a pale face, "Shut up!"

Then, he fought with Lian Yi.

This is not the first time they have fought. When the two are good, they are really good. When they are not good, they seem to be haunted, and they are really ruthless, but they can't break up.In terms of boxing, he is certainly not Lian Yi's opponent.So he put his hands into Lian Yi's close-fitting jacket, and he scratched and bit like crazy, scratching Lian Yi's back to pieces.Lian Yi also became ruthless and almost strangled him to death.

In the end, he didn't scratch Lian Yi to death, and Lian Yi didn't strangle him to death.Lian Yi came to attend the military meeting a few days ago, and Gu Chengxi was also with him.They cannot return to Beijing until the meeting is over.

Angrily, Bai Mani took a step back, and after getting off the train without stopping, he got in the car and went straight to the Huo Mansion.But when the car stopped in front of Huo's residence, he sat in the car and suddenly felt timid again.He took out the small mirror and looked at himself carefully. He saw that there was a wound on his forehead, and there were still bruised finger marks on his neck. The scarf was not thick enough to cover it up.He thought how could he meet his elder brother with his face like this!

He wanted to see and leave again, until he was startled by Andre and finally fled.

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