Literary Heroes of the Republic of China

"What nonsense are you talking about, kid? We can't enter Chongxin anymore?" Wei Ting scolded Yao Hong dissatisfied: "I don't remember Chongxin having such a rule."

Yao Hong was reprimanded suddenly, his face was full of anger: "Chongxin is not something that anyone can get in! You better get out as soon as possible!"

In the end, he regained his confidence.

When Mu Qiong moved away from Yao's house, he said that he found rich relatives and contacted his father, but after Yao Hong asked his grandmother about the situation, he knew that he was probably lying.

He met Mu Qiong in a western restaurant, and knew that Mu Qiong was just a waiter in a western restaurant, and he took out twenty silver dollars at a time...

His grandma and the others had never seen the world, so they thought twenty silver dollars was a lot, but he really didn't think it was a big deal.His classmates celebrated their birthdays, and they were treated to wine at the Shanghai Grand Hotel, and a table of banquets cost ten silver dollars!

And Mu Qiong was able to come up with so much money, perhaps because he changed from serving food to being a shopkeeper--Mu Qiong was collecting money when he went to eat hamburgers that time.

If Mu Qiong's family is really rich and capable, how could he not go to school at his age and work in a western restaurant instead?

Which young master is willing to do this kind of work?

As for later, Mu Qiong hired a group of people to help him move things... Those people later came to their house to look for Mu Qiong.

There are many loopholes here, but his grandma was cheated, and even refunded the deposit and rent that should not have been refunded.

Thinking of this, Yao Hong wasn't so scared at first—his classmates would never believe the words of Mu Qiong, a waiter in a western restaurant, or disbelieve his words.

At this time, Mrs. Yao also came over with her little feet twisted.

Yao Hong was a little scared when he saw Mu Qiong, afraid that Mu Qiong would tell about his father smoking opium and his family being poor.

You know, he keeps telling his classmates that he runs a soy sauce shop at home.

But the old lady Yao didn't think about it so much. Ever since she learned from her grandson that Mu Qiong was lying before, the old lady Yao has always been worried about it. Every time she thinks about it, she will feel sorry for the deposit returned to Mu Qiong.

Even if the deposit does not belong to her.

And Mu Qiong spoke ill of her grandson in front of outsiders, which made her hate Mu Qiong even more.

"You little bastard, what are you doing here? Do you still want to extort money? You are young, and you are already a bad person!" As soon as the old lady Yao saw Mu Qiong, she raised her eyebrows and said, "Hurry up and get rid of me!" Return the money I cheated here!"

Mu Qiong: "..."

Wei Ting felt that this direction was not right.Although Mu Qiong does not spend money squanderingly, he is also very generous. He earns a lot from writing articles. How could he cheat this old lady with little feet?

Yao Hong is a student in the school, and many people know him. The incident here has attracted many people to stop.

Some students looked at Mu Qiong and Wei Ting curiously and whispered.

"Principal Wei?" At this moment, a young man wearing a long gown and looking like a teacher came over. He looked at Wei Ting with surprise on his face: "Principal Wei, why didn't you tell me in advance when you came here?"

"Shen Haiying? Are you a teacher at school now?" Wei Ting recognized the man.

"Yes, Principal Wei, I just became a teacher!" The young man smiled, and then looked at the people around him in puzzlement: "What's wrong here?"

"Mr. Shen, it's nothing. My grandma has identified the wrong person." Yao Hong said hastily.

"I'm not mistaken, this person..." The old lady Yao still wanted to ask Mu Qiong for money, but Yao Hong pinched her, and she was so shocked that she swallowed the words without saying a word.

"This is?" Teacher Shen also noticed Mu Qiong at this time.

"This is our English teacher from Ping'an Middle School. I spent a lot of effort to invite him." Wei Ting introduced Mu Qiong, and said, "I'm here to find Lao Qin, is he there?"

"Principal Qin is behind, Principal Wei, I'll take you there." Shen Haiying said.

Shen Haiying left with Wei Ting and Mu Qiong, not paying much attention to Yao Hong and Mrs. Yao at all.

But even so, Yao Hong's face was already flushed, and he wanted to find a crack in the ground to sneak in.

He pulled his grandma, turned around and left.

He felt extremely humiliated.

He thought that Mu Qiong was a waiter in a western restaurant, but...Mu Qiong turned out to be a teacher in Ping An Middle School.

What exactly is going on?

He couldn't get into Ping'an Middle School, so Mu Qiong could be a teacher there?

Mu Qiong has the ability to be a teacher, why did he work as a waiter in a western restaurant before?

Yao Hong couldn't figure it out.

At this time, Wei Ting asked Mu Qiong curiously: "What happened to those two people before?"

"When I moved out from their house, they didn't want to return the deposit to me. I frightened them a bit before getting the deposit back." Mu Qiong said.It was actually quite complicated at the time, but he didn't intend to talk about it.

Firstly, he doesn’t want to be pitiful, and secondly, if he really wants to tell the truth, Yao Hong’s life will probably change—such a face-saving person, if his classmates know what he has done, he will probably stay in school in the future. not go down.

Although he didn't like Yao Hong, he didn't want to ruin his life either.

"So that's how it is." Wei Ting said, "It's just bad luck for you to meet a difficult landlord."

"Principal Wei, we're here." Shen Haiying, who was walking in front, turned around and said.

Chongxin School is quite big, and there is a two-story office building. The principal's office is on the second floor.

The reason Shen Haiying is so enthusiastic about Wei Ting is because he was a student of Wei Ting, and the principal of Chongxin School was single-handedly promoted by Wei Ting.

Principal Qin quickly arranged for Mu Changyu to enroll, and Mu Qiong also took out money to pay Mu Changyu's tuition.

The tuition fee for the third grade is [-] yuan per semester. In addition, girls have to pay another [-] yuan.

And this is because female students do not attend classes with male students, and toilets are separated, and the school has an extra expense.

16 yuan is a lot of money for an ordinary family, but Mu Qiong can easily spend it now.

After paying the money, Mu Qiong asked some more about Chongxin School. The more he knew, the more satisfied he was. What he was most satisfied with was that although there were not many girls studying in middle school here, there were quite a few girls studying in elementary school here. There are more than 20 students in the third grade. Not only that, these female students are also quite old.

Mu Changyu should be able to play with them.

The school has school uniforms, but they don't buy them at the school. You have to go to a tailor to make them yourself. In addition, you have to buy books and so on.

Mu Qiong copied a list before leaving with Wei Ting.

"Principal, I have to thank you for this incident. Let me treat you to dinner." Mu Qiong said.

"Okay." Wei Ting agreed, and said again: "I'm going to have a good meal today."

Wei Ting said he wanted to have a good meal, but he didn't choose an expensive restaurant at all.He found a small restaurant on the side of the road, and he only ordered sweet and sour fish, duck soup with dried bamboo shoots, and stir-fried cauliflower, all of which cost only [-] cents.

Mu Qiong added another bamboo shoot and fungus, and the two sat down to eat.

The old duck soup is delicious, and the two vegetarian dishes are also delicious, especially the fried cauliflower.The cauliflower used for stir-fried cauliflower is the unopened flower of green vegetables, which is very tender and much tastier than stir-fried green vegetables.

But the taste of the sweet and sour fish was mediocre, probably because the fish was not very fresh.

"This sweet and sour fish is far less delicious than what you brought during the New Year's Eve." Wei Ting said.

"Principal, next time you come to my house for dinner, I'll ask my mother to make it for you." Mu Qiong said.

"Then I'll just wait!" Wei Ting laughed.

After they had dinner, Wei Ting went back to Ping An Middle School, while Mu Qiong went back to his residence.

The door of his house was rarely open, and Mu Changyu was still poking around the door. When she saw Mu Qiong, she came out of the house: "Brother, you're back! Brother, have you eaten yet?"

"I have already eaten."

"Brother, do you want some water?" Mu Changyu asked again.

"Changyu, what do you want to ask, just ask." Mu Qiong said.

Mu Changyu's eyes sparkled: "Brother, can I go to school?"

"Yes." Mu Qiong said.

Mu Changyu jumped up all of a sudden, and then ran into the house: "Mother! Mother! I can go to study now!"

Mu Qiong can quite understand Mu Changyu.

In the middle and late period of the Republic of China, many women could study, but in the early period of the Republic of China, there were very few women who could study.

Mu Changyu was excited for a while, and even Zhu Wanwan was also very happy.

Mu Qiong said again: "Changyu has to make school uniforms and buy textbooks, so prepare yourself, let's go together."

Zhu Wanwan and Mu Changyu agreed, and they put on the latest clothes, combed their hair again, and put a little lipstick on their mouths.

If Mu Qiong hadn't stayed with them every day, he probably wouldn't have noticed that they were wearing lipstick.

The three of them first went to the tailor shop that made school uniforms for Chongxin School.

The style of the school uniform cannot be changed, but what kind of fabric to use and how many pieces to make are people's choice.

"Brother, I'll just be the cheapest of the two." Mu Changyu said to Mu Qiong, she knew that Mu Qiong had money, but they still wanted to buy a house, so they couldn't spend it indiscriminately!

Mu Qiong ignored it and asked the tailor the prices of various fabrics.

In fact, there are not many fabrics to choose from, and Mu Qiong finally chose two moderately priced ones, one thin and one thick.

The style of the school uniform is pretty good, and it can be worn on a daily basis. Mu Qiong made three sets of thin ones for Mu Changyu to change into when the weather is hot, and two thick ones, for example, to wear when it is still cold today.

In addition, he asked a tailor to make two sets of clothes for Zhu Wanwan. In the end, adding these together cost ten oceans.

After leaving the tailor shop, Mu Qiong took Zhu Wanwan and Mu Changyu to the bookstore.

There are always more than a dozen books on the list, plus paper and pen notebooks, which cost two oceans in total. After buying these, Mu Qiong picked out another pen and gave it to Mu Changyu.

Mu Qiong now has two pens, one with black ink and one with blue ink, and uses them together.

These two pens are the cheapest ones to buy. After all, he doesn't pursue brands, and he doesn't need to use expensive pens to show his identity, as long as they can be used.

But for others to buy, he still picked a good one.

Before giving Fu Yun'an a gift, he chose a pen worth more than ten yuan, but this time, he chose a delicate Parker pen worth six yuan for Mu Changyu.

"Brother, such an expensive pen..." Mu Changyu didn't dare to take it.

"It can be used for a long time, and it can be repaired if it breaks." Mu Qiong smiled and bought her another bottle of ink: "Changyu, you must study hard."

"Brother, I will!" Mu Changyu said firmly.

Mu Qiong originally wanted to buy a schoolbag for Mu Changyu, but this time Mu Changyu didn't even want to enter the store: "Brother, I made a schoolbag myself, it's not worse than the one I bought!"

Mu Qiong didn't insist either. Although his family is relatively well-off now, they are not very rich after all.

The three of them bought something, and it was time for dinner.

The meals in ordinary Chinese restaurants can also be cooked at home, Mu Qiong thought about it, and simply took them to eat noodles.

People here generally eat rice, and they usually don’t eat noodles, and they don’t know how to cook them.

After eating noodles, Mu Qiong took the two of them to watch the Lantern Festival.

The Lantern Festival was organized by the New World Amusement Park, but it was not held in the New World Amusement Park, but by a nearby river, occupying a quite spacious road.

There is no entrance fee here, but the stalls on the roadside are one after another, and all the people who set up the stalls have to pay the booth fee of the New World Amusement Park.

Mu Qiong felt that people at this time were quite thoughtful and good at making money.

For the Lantern Festival, the New World Amusement Park advertised in newspapers, so many people came here, and they really came here... Almost everyone felt that the trip was worthwhile.

New World Amusement Park spent a lot of thought on this lantern festival. They found some strings of glowing small bulbs and wrapped them around the trees on the side of the road. Lanterns were hung on the trees. In addition, there were people walking on the road on stilts or wearing masks, and some even danced the "donkey drive" dance.

From Mu Changyu and Zhu Wanwan's point of view, this is very lively and interesting. They are almost blinded by it, but Mu Qiong doesn't think it's strange at all—just find a barbecue street in modern times, and the flickering lights are more novel than here interesting.

Of course, there are still some things that are rare in modern times.

Needless to say, all kinds of handmade lanterns, egg rolls baked on the roadside, delicious spring rolls fried on the spot, delicate sugar figures made on the spot...all of them are very interesting.

The road for the Lantern Festival is by the river, one side is full of various stalls, and the other side is the river, and there are many boats parked in the river.

These boats were all beautifully decorated, so Mu Qiong only took a few more glances, and then saw a woman coming out of the boat, who gave him a big wink.

Mu Qiong's expression froze, and he suddenly realized what these ships were for.

These... are probably flower boats from a nearby brothel.

Today's atmosphere is much more open than in ancient times. There are many women who come to see the Lantern Festival, but most of them are men, and these men... many of them have gone to the boat.

"Mother, Changyu, follow me closely." Mu Qiong asked Zhu Wanwan and Mu Changyu to follow her hand in hand, so as not to get lost and encounter any bad things.

After all, this was an era when smoking opium and visiting brothels was legal.

The three walked from one end of the street to the other, and then walked back slowly.

Mu Qiong was no longer thinking about eating like when he first came here, so he didn't buy much food. Instead, he spent two copper dollars to buy a nice wooden comb, and three copper dollars to buy a bamboo pen holder .

"This chopstick holder is quite beautiful." Zhu Wanwan said.

After a moment of silence, Mu Qiong gave the pen holder to Zhu Wanwan: "Mother, take it."

This pen holder is good, but he doesn't have many pens, so he might as well make a chopstick holder for Zhu Wanwan.

Maybe it really is a chopstick holder.

When the three of Mu Qiong were shopping, Huo Ying was leaning against the window on a boat not far away, smoking a cigarette while looking out the window.

And in the cabin where he was, shopkeeper Wu who was working with him was playing mahjong with someone.

The three people who played mahjong with Shopkeeper Wu were all well-known businessmen in Shanghai. While they were playing mahjong, they would look at Huo Ying from time to time.

"How many games will the second young master come to play?" One of them looked at shopkeeper Wu.

"Second Young Master doesn't like to play with this." Shopkeeper Wu said.

The three people were a little helpless when they heard this.It's fine if women don't play, don't smoke opium, and don't play mahjong... Second Young Master Huo is really hard to entertain.

The four continued to play, and after playing for a while, the door of the cabin was opened, and a beautiful woman came in with a plate of fruit: "Masters..."

The cabin they were in was located on the top floor of the three-story flower boat. The location was quite high and the wind was strong.

A window was opened on Huo Ying's side before. Although everyone was a little cold, there was no wind blowing at all, but now when the cabin door was opened, a gust of wind was blowing towards them.

The four players who were playing mahjong shuddered at the same time, and shopkeeper Wu hurriedly said, "Close the door quickly!"

The maid who followed the woman quickly went to close the door, and at this moment, the banknotes placed on the table as gambling funds were suddenly blown up by the wind.

"Ah!" The woman let out a soft cry, and the shopkeeper Wu and the other three rushed to grab them. They grabbed several of them, but there was still a banknote that flew towards the window where Huo Ying was.

When the woman came, Huo Ying had already looked over, and at this moment, he also saw the banknote that was blown to him by the wind.

But he didn't move a bit, but he exhaled a puff of smoke, and then just watched Zhuang Piao and the smoke he exhaled were blown out of the window by the wind and plunged into the darkness outside.

"Second young master..." Shopkeeper Wu cried out helplessly, despite the thin banknote, it has a denomination of one hundred yuan!

And those who gambled with shopkeeper Wu felt a little distressed.

They came here today because they made up their minds to lose money to Huo Ying, but the losers belonged to the losers. They couldn't bear to watch the money being blown away by the wind—their money didn't come from the strong wind, but I watched it being blown away by the strong wind.

The beautiful woman who came in couldn't tell what it was like in her heart.

She saw the dealer ticket flying out just now, and she wanted to rush out to catch it, but she endured it because she knew it would be too late, but... Huo Ershao didn't even reach out to stop the dealer ticket!

Obviously he can stop it!

Huo Ying glanced at shopkeeper Wu, then looked out the window expressionlessly.

But shopkeeper Wu said to the woman, "Quickly call someone to look for it, and see if you can get the money back."

Although most of the banknotes will never be found, it's okay to look for them.

The woman agreed and was about to go out, but she didn't want Huo Ying to speak: "Wait a minute."

"What orders does Second Young Master have?" the woman asked.

"Call that person up for me." Huo Ying pointed out the window.

The woman came to the window and took a look, but couldn't see clearly: "Second Young Master, who do you want to call?"

"The one leading the two women." Huo Ying said.

The woman finally saw it now, and she responded and went downstairs, calling for someone to find Zhuang Piao, and at the same time went to find the people on the shore.

Huo Ying extinguished the cigarette in his hand in the ashtray, changed his sitting position, and continued to look out the window.

From beginning to end, his right hand was not exposed.

Mu Qiong took Zhu Wanwan and Mu Changyu to buy some egg rolls.

People at this time like to use old newspapers to wrap things. For example, at this moment, the egg roll seller took a roll of newspaper, put the egg rolls in and handed them to them.

Mu Qiong felt that the old newspapers were not very clean, but seeing that everyone was used to it, he couldn't say anything, so he took out a silver coin and paid for it.

Mu Changyu took the egg roll, picked up one and took a small bite from the side where it was rolled up: "Brother, this egg roll is delicious!"

"En." Mu Qiong responded, and took one to eat.

While the three of them were eating, a very beautiful woman with heavy makeup came over suddenly: "Sir!"

At first Mu Qiong thought it was someone else, but unexpectedly the woman stopped in front of him.

"You called me?" Mu Qiong was a little surprised.

The woman was actually a little surprised. She didn't expect that Huo Ershao asked her to find such a young man...Mr. Ming even called him old.

"Sir, someone wants to invite you up." The woman said.

"Who is it?" Mu Qiong asked in puzzlement, Li Ronghua, Zhang Che and others flashed through his mind one by one.

These people...shouldn't be drinking flower wine on the flower boat?Wei Ting is not sure, but if it is Wei Ting, he should be called directly.

"You will know when you go up." The woman said.

"I still have something to leave in a hurry, so I won't go up." Mu Qiong refused without hesitation.

The woman was anxious, so she said: "It's Huo Ershao, Huo Ershao wants to invite you up."

Mu Qiong didn't want to go at first, but when he heard Huo Ershao's name, he changed his mind.

Huo Ershao was very honest, and within a few days after the banquet, shopkeeper Wu sent the money to Wei Ting.

After Wei Ting took the money, he would inevitably praise Huo Ershao again and again, and this made Mu Qiong, who already had a good impression of Huo Ershao, have a better impression of Huo Ershao.

It's impossible for Second Young Master Huo to find him because of some kind of conspiracy... Second Young Master Huo probably doesn't know that he is lucky, that means Wei Ting is also on it?

"My mother and sister..." Mu Qiong looked at the woman.

The woman remembered that Huo Ershao described Mu Qiong as "leading two women", and said, "You two go up together."

Hearing this, Mu Qiong took Zhu Wanwan and Mu Changyu and followed the woman to the boat.

A wooden "small bridge" with railings connected the flower boat to the shore. As Mu Qiong walked, he did not forget to explain to Zhu Wanwan and Mu Changyu: "It is the Second Young Master Huo who I mentioned before who wants to see us." , just take it easy."

Zhu Wanwan and Mu Changyu were really relieved when they heard Mu Qiong talk about this "good guy".

When the three of them reached the top floor, shopkeeper Wu and the person who played mahjong with him were gone, and only Huo Ershao was there.

As soon as Mu Qiong entered, he noticed that Huo Ershao's face was not very good-looking, but soon, the other party's expression eased again: "Mu Qiong, long time no see."

"What does Er Shao want me for?" Mu Qiong found that only Huo Er Shao was in the cabin, a little puzzled, and his brows frowned.

He still thought that Wei Ting and Huo Ershao were together, and Huo Ershao would look for him, but he didn't expect Wei Ting to be away.

That being the case, what did Er Shao Huo ask him for?

He has only met Huo Ershao once, but he has no friendship.

At this time, Huo Ying also realized that what he did was not normal.

Ever since Tianxing sent the letter, his younger brother asked for leave from Gongji Hospital, and then got a laboratory and got into it. It has been six or seven days now, and he hasn't come out once.

He came to Shanghai, on the one hand, for business, and on the other hand, to be able to get together with his younger brother, but suddenly such a thing happened... Maybe he won't see his younger brother until he leaves Shanghai!

Huo Ying was not in a good mood at all, but when he saw Mu Qiong and the two women visiting the lantern festival, his mood became even worse, and even asked Mu Qiong to come up directly.

But when he really saw someone, he saw that the two women beside Mu Qiong, the old and the young, looked very similar to him. They should be his relatives, so he was not angry. As for the reason for calling him here ...

Huo Ying smiled: "Mr. Lou Yuyu, I'm sorry to disturb you."

Mu Qiong finally relaxed when he heard Huo Ying call out his pen name.

Huo Ying said again: "I like "Study Abroad" very much, so I asked about you. Actually, I wanted to chat with you at the banquet before, but unfortunately there were too many people at that time and it was inconvenient... I accidentally saw you today, please You're here."

"It's my honor to make Er Shao like it." Mu Qiong said, he said that Huo Er Shao was a little too enthusiastic about him at the banquet before, and it turned out that it was because the novel he wrote caught Huo Er Shao's eyes.

"Your novels are so well written, I should like them. After coming to Shanghai, I read "Seeking a Doctor" and "The Wandering Story", both of which are rare masterpieces." Huo Ying said.

Mu Qiong was quite happy that his novel was liked by "Grandpa Huo", and immediately chatted with Huo Ying.

The two chatted for a few words, and Huo Ying said: "The two are Mr. Mu's sister and mother, right? It's boring to listen to our chat, do you want to go down to play?"

"No need." Zhu Wanwan refused cautiously, but Huo Ying had already called someone to come over, and someone took her and Mu Changyu downstairs to play: "I chartered this boat, it's quite clean, you can go and play at ease." good."

Only then did Zhu Wanwan and Mu Changyu follow the woman who called them up, but Huo Ying chatted with Mu Qiong about the novel written by Mu Qiong.

He had a deep understanding of the three novels written by Mu Qiong under Lou Yuyu's pen name, and he had obviously read them carefully. He also asked Mu Qiong a few questions, and Mu Qiong answered them one by one.

While chatting, Huo Ying suddenly asked: "Mr. Mu wrote that Jiang Zhenguo is an infatuated person. People outside are wondering if you really had such an unforgettable relationship... I am also curious."

"Second Young Master, I'm only seventeen this year, what kind of relationship experience can I have?" Mu Qiong laughed.

"Then what kind of woman do you like?" Huo Ying asked again: "Looking at your article, you are very sympathetic."

"I don't know either." Mu Qiong said honestly, faintly feeling something was wrong.

Huo Ying likes his novels, so it's normal to ask him to come up and talk, but it's not normal for someone like Huo Ying to talk to him about relationship issues.

Fortunately, Huo Ying quickly changed the subject.

Then... Huo Ying suddenly talked about Beijing, where the sons and daughters were competing to praise the actor, and the things about being close to the actor, and asked Mu Qiong what he thought.

Mu Qiong said: "I have always felt that individuals have their own preferences, and others have no right to interfere."

"Really? If this man is with this man, he will be burned to death when he is sent abroad." Huo Ershao said.

"That's over. If their feelings don't hurt others, then it has nothing to do with others." Mu Qiong said.

He feels that no matter whether he likes the same sex or the opposite sex, as long as he does not hurt others, he should not be criticized.

It's just... Why did Second Young Master Huo suddenly talk to him about this?

Mu Qiong suddenly thought that the Second Young Master Huo in front of him had never married a wife and had no children in his life, so... he likes men?