Literary Heroes of the Republic of China

"Mother!" Mu Qiong interrupted Zhu Wanwan's words: "People should live a life that meets their own conditions. If you have no money, you must let your children live a good life. What do you want to raise?"

Zhu Wanwan was a little confused.

"He should have stolen the Yao family's money." Mu Qiong said.

"How is this possible? He is a scholar!" Zhu Wanwan said.

Mu Changyu also interjected: "Brother, I heard that Young Master Yao's grades are very good..."

"Students with good grades have nothing to do with their character." Mu Qiong said, "Didn't that person kick us out?"

The person Mu Qiong mentioned is Mu Yongxue.When he said this, Mu Changyu suddenly came to his senses. As for Zhu Wanwan... She actually always felt that she was not good enough for Mu Yongxue. Yes... So Mu Yongxue is really wrong.

"Brother, why do you say that it was the young master of the Yao family who stole the money?" Mu Changyu asked again.

"I've seen him many times." Mu Qiong told about his encounter with Yao Hong before.

Mu Qiong was convinced that if the old lady Yao hadn't lied to anyone and really lost the money, it must have been stolen by her grandson.

The Yao family rented out most of the houses, and they only lived in two rooms, including four rooms in the attic. In addition, except for Yao Hong who went out to study every day, the rest of the family stayed almost all day. in the house.

Forget it, Zhu Wanwan knows how to keep her money in a box and hide it in a corner when renting a house... The Yao family's money can't be misplaced, right?

Four or five people stay in the house, and the money is hidden. How easy is it for outsiders to go in and steal the money?

And Yao Hong is even more problematic.

Mu Qiong often met him before, and his impression was that he was the young master of a rich family. Why?

He wanted Mu Changyu to study, so he specifically learned about the tuition fees at this time.At this time, I went to the kind of non-brand primary school outside the concession that Aunt Zhao’s two sons went to, which only taught Chinese and mathematics. The tuition fee for the first, second and third grades was three yuan per semester, and the textbook fee was not included. It was not expensive, so Aunt Zhao’s family could afford it. They only let their children study until the third grade, because after the third grade, the tuition fee will increase, and it will cost five yuan or more per semester.

This is a school where the quality of teachers cannot be guaranteed at all!

The schools in the concession are not so cheap, let alone the middle school itself is expensive.

Middle schools outside the concession cost fifteen or sixteen yuan a semester, while middle schools inside the concession cost at least 20 yuan a semester.

This is not counting other expenses such as food, books, paper and pens.

But what about the Yao family's income?

The rent of Yao’s house was calculated by Aunt Zhao as soon as Mu Qiong came to wear it. It was more than eight yuan a month... You must know that when he first went to Boss Chen’s shop to serve dishes, the salary that Boss Chen gave was eight yuan a month. piece.

Mrs. Yao and her two daughters can make money as female celebrities, but how much can they earn?

The big silk and satin shops all have dedicated embroiderers. This kind of work comes back from the outside... The widow of Boss Chen’s friend who helped Boss Chen make tablecloths is considered a good craftsman, and she earns her own living money. .

After all, you need money to buy vegetables and eat on weekdays, even if you pour Yexiang, you need to pay money every month.

Of course, it is not impossible for the Yao family to provide a middle school student who is studying in the concession, as long as the child is sensible and knows how to save money.

That's why Mu Qiong didn't take it seriously when Aunt Zhao complained that Yao's son was a white-eyed wolf.

However, Yao Hong is not a saver.

It's fine that he's always dressed decently, but when we met in the morning, Mu Qiong never saw him bring a meal.

Aunt Zhao's youngest son is studying, and every day he uses the canned food his sister brought home to fill a canned meal with some pickled vegetables and salted fish on it, and takes it to school for lunch. It doesn't cost much, but Yao Hong...he It is estimated that they ate in the concession.

Eating in the concession is not cheap, not to mention that Yao Hong would spend money to buy roasted sweet potatoes and other foods that are extremely uneconomical in the eyes of the poor.

After such a calculation, he must be supported by rich people?

But what about the Yao family?The Yao family has long been ruined by the husband of Mrs. Yao who hanged himself. It is said that there are still foreign debts outside!

"How could this kid be like this? Yao's family opened fire twice a day. Mrs. Yao and her two daughters were all starving and emaciated. He spent a fortune outside to treat guests to dinner..." After hearing this, Zhu Wanwan immediately became dissatisfied with Yao Hong.

Mu Changyu also said: "He is too bad!"

"It's not the son's fault to teach the father, he will be like this, mainly because of his family's education problems." Mu Qiong said.

"That's right, his father looks like..." Zhu Wanwan understood the literal meaning of "the son does not teach the father's fault".

"No, it's not just his father." Mu Qiong said: "A group of women in the family are working hard, saving food and money to pay for a child, and maybe they don't tell this child how difficult their family is... This child wants to be raised. It's hard to be crooked."

A child who is spoiled in this way will take it for granted that the family members should contribute to him and serve him, so naturally he doesn't know how to appreciate the hard work of his family.

After Mu Qiong finished speaking, he looked at Zhu Wanwan again: "So, mother, you'd better change your mind, and don't make yourself think of me all day long!"

Zhu Wanwan nodded repeatedly.

Mu Qiong didn't say anything more.

Zhu Wanwan's personality is actually the same as that of the women in the Yao family, but not as serious.So now while teaching Zhu Wanwan how to read, he has been trying to make her change her mind.

Zhu Wanwan is only 33 years old. In modern times, many people of this age are not married.

She still has decades of good life to live, but she can't be poisoned by those thoughts.

And Mu Changyu, what a lovely little girl, it would be a pity if she couldn't be self-reliant in the future.

The three of them waited for a while before the tram came.

At this point, almost no one went to the concession by car. When Mu Qiong and the other three went up, there was only one passenger in the car besides them.

And the conductor was actually Mu Qiong's acquaintance when he was riding in the car.

"It's you, why are you going to the concession so late?" The conductor greeted Mu Qiong when he saw Mu Qiong.

"We're going to live in the concession." Mu Qiong smiled at him.

"That's great!" The conductor chatted with Mu Qiong again.

But at this time, Zhu Wanwan and Mu Changyu were sitting in the tram, not daring to move.

When they were in Beijing, they had never taken a tram, and they mainly took a boat from Beijing to Suzhou. This was the first time for them to take a car that could move without a horse.

The car was bumping, and the night scene outside the window moved back quickly, all of which made them very uneasy.

"Mother, there are many places where you can go to the theater in the concession, and I will take you to the theater." Mu Qiong said vividly about the Chao'er Theater, although...he has never been to it.

However, as a writer, his greatest ability is to get a little bit of information, and then he can adapt it vividly - he has heard a guest of a western restaurant mention a sassy joke before.

At that time, he didn't know what Mao'er opera was, but he asked Xiao Wang and found out that it was a play performed by women only—Beijing opera was performed by men, while Yue opera, which was popular in Shanghai, was performed by women.

Zhu Wanwan's eyes lit up, and she asked softly, "Is there "Liang Shanbo"?"

In fact, Mu Qiong didn't even know where the theater was, but there was always such a famous play, he said firmly: "Yes!"

Zhu Wanwan suddenly became happy.

The tram passed through narrow streets and finally came to the concession.

This is a completely different place from the alleys they lived in before.

Mu Changyu looked at the tall buildings and street lamps on both sides, with an unconcealable shock on his face.

"Brother, are those electric lights? It's amazing..." Mu Changyu said.

"Actually, the principle is very simple. Changyu, you will know after studying physical chemistry." Mu Qiong said, he didn't know whether electricity was taught in physics class or chemistry class, after all, he is a scumbag in science...

No, it can't be said that he is a scumbag in science. He simply didn't go to school normally, and he never learned this knowledge systematically.

"Can I learn?" Mu Changyu asked.

"Of course." Mu Qiong smiled and led them forward.

Before bringing Zhu Wanwan and Mu Changyu out, Mu Qiong had considered what to do next.

He thought about going to Boss Chen, but he vetoed it. After all, it is always bad to bother him, so he finally decided to find a hotel to live in first, and then rent a house.

The Concession is very lively at night, and rickshaw drivers pull well-dressed people on the road from time to time.

Mu Qiong and Zhu Wanwan walked along the main road, and after walking for a while, they saw a "Xinxin Hotel".

Mu Qiong has never been to the streets where the rich people lived in the concession, and the usual range of activities has always been the place where the common people live in the concession, and this is also the case here, so this new hotel is not a luxury hotel with decoration, but it is actually quite broken.

After entering the door, I saw a middle-aged man in a mandarin jacket sitting behind the counter holding a hand stove. Hearing that Mu Qiong was going to stay in the store, he said, "Datong shop is a corner per person. If it is not Tongpu, it will be more expensive."

Many people live together in Datongpu, and of course men and women are separated.This was first vetoed by Mu Qiong,

As for the other rooms, there are single rooms with a room of two corners, and rooms with a room of four or five corners, and there are no better ones.

At that time, there was no standard version of the hotel, and all the rooms had a bed, but they had different sizes... Mu Qiong thought about it, and spent four cents to get two of the cheapest single rooms.

The boss collected [-] cents for the room fee and [-] cents as a deposit, and then gave them two keys and asked them to live on the second floor.

The key was of brass, and to it was fastened a cord, and upon the cord hung wooden signs, with "Three" written on one, and "Eleven" written on the other.

The hotel looks small from the outside, but there are quite a lot of rooms inside...

Mu Qiong took Zhu Wanwan and Mu Changyu upstairs, and then he was a little dumbfounded.

There is a small light in the corridor upstairs, and there are many doors lined up on both sides of the corridor...Mu Qiong came to the door of the room marked with "three", opened the door...

The door couldn't be fully opened.

Fortunately, people can go in... Mu Qiong went in and saw a small room with a length of at most two and a half meters and a width of at most one and a half meters. Other than pillows and a toilet, nothing else.

The futon pillows were also dirty.

Mu Qiong was sure that he couldn't lie down on such a bed.It's okay for the quilt in my own home to be dirty, anyway, he made it dirty by himself, but this kind of quilt...

"Let's go to another room." Mu Qiong said.

Mu Qiong took Zhu Wanwan and Mu Changyu to another room. The room was a little bigger because it was in the corner, and there was a window, but it was actually not that big.

"It... costs two cents..." Zhu Wanwan felt a little distressed: "Actually, we don't need to sleep anymore..."

"Mother, it's too cold outside." Mu Qiong said, and then put the box he brought on the bed and opened it.

This box was copied from their house by Mrs. Yao. It originally contained newspapers and Zhu Wanwan's savings. Later, he threw 20 yuan in it. Now the money in it adds up to more than [-] yuan. up.

Mu Qiong didn't touch the money, but just took out the newspaper inside: "Mother, spread the newspaper on the bed, don't take off your clothes and lie on it, then cover yourself with a few more layers of newspaper, and finally cover yourself with the quilt... sleep clean like this point.

"Isn't this ruining the newspaper?" Zhu Wanwan said, newspapers are quite precious to her.

"I've read all these newspapers, they are worthless." Mu Qiong said.

Mu Qiong left some newspapers to tell Zhu Wanwan and Mu Changyu to go to bed early, make sure to put the latch on the door and not open the door, and then went to another room with the box in his arms.

He also spread newspapers, and went to sleep as soon as he lay down.

He thought that he would not be able to fall asleep in this kind of place, but unexpectedly he slept very well, but there were always noises from outside in the middle of the night, which woke him up several times.

The next day Mu Qiong woke up early, wrapped his silver dollars in newspapers and put them in his pockets.

If the silver dollars are not wrapped in this way and put directly in the pocket, it is easy to make a knocking sound, and people at this time are very smart, and they know that the knocking sound is from the silver dollars, which is easy to attract others' coveting.

It was put in the box yesterday, and there were newspapers and cloth inside, so it didn't make any big noises.

After putting away the silver dollars, Mu Qiong knocked on the door of Zhu Wanwan and Mu Changyu's room: "Mother, Changyu!"

Zhu Wanwan and Mu Changyu immediately opened the door.

"Let's go eat something first, and then you wait for me here, I will rent a house, and I will pick you up after the rent."

Zhu Wanwan and Mu Changyu nodded in agreement.

There is a place to eat breakfast near the Xinxin Hotel. Two bowls of soy milk cost two copper dollars, and steamed buns and pickled vegetable buns cost two copper dollars. In addition, bean paste buns and meat buns are also sold for a copper dollar.

Because bean paste buns are delicious with lard, their price is the same as that of meat buns.

Mu Qiong ordered three bowls of soy milk, three steamed buns, and three meat buns, spending a total of six copper dollars.

If the soy milk here is not mentioned deliberately, the salty soy milk will be served directly.

Put a spoonful of soy sauce at the bottom of the bowl, a small spoonful of minced pickled mustard, a small spoonful of chopped green onion, and some fried dough sticks cut into small pieces, and then scooped hot soy milk into it, it is very fragrant.

The three of them quickly finished their portions. Mu Qiong ate a meat bun last night and was already hungry. Eating such a small amount is actually not enough to fill him up, but he didn't want any more.

It is better to save a little for the time being.

They can stay in the hotel room until noon. If they don't leave in the afternoon, they will come to collect the money.

Mu Qiong asked Zhu Wanwan and Mu Changyu to stay in the hotel, and went to the editorial office of Dazhong Daily by himself.

The editors in the editorial department haven't come to work yet, and only the part-time young man is boiling water and cleaning.

The man was very happy to see Mu Qiong: "You are here to deliver manuscripts again? Editor Li has been waiting for you!"

"You all just wait." Mu Qiong said with a smile.

"That's... this novel is really good." The young man smiled and asked Mu Qiong again: "Hey! Would you like some water?"

"Okay, I still have something to ask you." Mu Qiong said.

"What's the matter?" The man squeezed a pinch of black tea into the cup, then picked up the kettle from the coal stove and made a cup of tea for Mu Qiong.

"Do you know where there is a house for rent?" Mu Qiong asked.

The staff of the editorial department are all locals. If you want to rent a house or something, it’s good to ask them.

Speaking of it, because the circulation of newspapers at this time is not large, and it is not expensive to advertise in newspapers, Mu Qiong can often see house rental advertisements in newspapers, but most of the houses advertised for rent are quite large. The monthly rent is also expensive, which he hadn't considered before.

"You want to rent a house? How big do you want to rent?" the young man asked.

"It doesn't need to be too big, but there must be at least two rooms." Mu Qiong said.

"Do you live with a family? My fourth uncle had a house to rent out before, so I don't know if he has found a tenant..." The man said: "Otherwise, you can wait here until Editor-in-Chief Li and the others come and ask them. I don’t care about these things, and I don’t know much.”

The young people must be too lazy to care about these things like renting a house. Mu Qiong could understand and waited.

After nine o'clock in the morning, the editor-in-chief Li came. When he saw Mu Qiong, he was pleasantly surprised: "Is there another manuscript? Hurry up and give it to me."

Mu Qiong had already given the manuscript to the young man, and he not only read it, but also copied it... He copied the manuscript very fast, and he could tell from a glance that he often wrote.

Hearing what Editor-in-Chief Li said at this time, he gave the original manuscript and what he copied to Editor-in-Chief Li.

Editor-in-Chief Li took the manuscript and couldn't wait to read it.

Mu Qiong waited for a while before Editor-in-Chief Li read the manuscript: "It's well written, it's really well written, and when a book is published in the future, I must buy a book for collection!"

He put down the manuscript, stood up and walked a few steps, then asked Mu Qiong: "Your young master, can you afford a manuscript of ten thousand words a week?"

"I can offer it." Mu Qiong said.

"Well, this manuscript will be published tomorrow!" Chief Editor Li said.

"Editor-in-Chief, what will be published tomorrow, isn't it already decided?" Another editor came, just in time to hear this sentence, and asked.

"Take down my article." Editor-in-Chief Li said.

The editors in their editorial department, in addition to helping to proofread and typesetting, also write and write manuscripts themselves.

Otherwise... Dazhongbao cannot support so many people.