brotherly innocence

The weather is getting colder, and the cold wind blowing around the ground blows the fallen leaves of old poplar trees and floats all over the ground.

Chu Yaonan carried the suitcase and found an old house in Xiaohuagu Alley, Beiping according to the address.The courtyard walls with peeling skin, gray tiles, little lion heads on the door pier, and a few dolls with wavy hair combed, yelling and picking up fallen leaves of poplar trees to play "root up".

"Big brother, you have stepped on my old roots." A big-eyed doll said, refusing to let go and grab the root of an old leaf under his feet.

Chu Yaonan gently moved the toe of the shoe, and as soon as he loosened his foot, the child snatched the leaf as if he had found a treasure, then piled on the root of the tree and shouted: "I have found the general!"

"Chun Bao'er." He greeted the child, and the child suddenly turned to look at him, a tuft of hair on the top of his head fluttered, and he grinned.

"Uncle, is that you?" Chun Bao'er recognized him.

He stopped in front of the dilapidated house, his heart was surging, an inexplicable excitement surged up, but he was repelled by the hesitation in his heart.Her footsteps were at a standstill, and she couldn't move anymore because she didn't know what was involved.

Zhuo Mingtao greeted him and stood at the door.

With one hand holding the large cotton robe, he bowed his back slightly, humble and elegant, but with a bit of majesty.

The winter in the north is cold and windy, and this kind of gray-blue cotton gown can be seen all over the street. Only this rough and clumsy cotton gown looks extraordinary on Zhuo Mingtao.Zhuo Mingtao had a bookish face and a slender body, wrapped in a thick cotton robe, he felt a little floating.

Yaonan stood under the leafless jujube tree in front of the door and stared at him, his timid eyes were as timid as a child's, but there was a bit of joy in it, tears welled up in his eyes suddenly, and he Turning around suddenly, his eyes dimmed the tall figure in front of him.

He opened the suitcase, took out the jackal fur mattress that occupied half of the suitcase, held it in his arms and quietly walked towards Zhuo Mingtao.

"You finally found it." Zhuo Mingtao said, a little relieved, took the jackal fur mattress in his hand, stroked it with his hands, and led him into the courtyard like a lost treasure.

The warm winter sun shines on the body through the dry treetops, warming the body.

He was wearing a gray wool coat, revealing a snow-white suit, shirt and tie, which contrasted with Zhuo Mingtao in a cotton robe.Standing in a small courtyard with decaying bricks and tiles, it looks a bit abrupt.

"You're alive, they didn't lie to me. You really are alive..." Chu Yaonan spoke incoherently, his mind was blank, and he didn't know how to say these words.Impulsively, he rushed forward and hugged Zhuo Mingtao's neck, hugging him tightly, choked up and said: "Brother, I went to look for you, I looked for you, but everything there was blown into rubble." He murmured .

"It's good to be back!" Zhuo Mingtao said, patted his head, with a calm tone, neither happy nor surprised.Light as tea in the mouth.

"But, but, I'm your younger brother, big brother..." The words that had been stored in his heart for a long time finally came out, but he burst into tears, not knowing why he was so fragile and lost his composure.He is Chu Yaonan, Chu Yaonan, the well-known young master of the blue gang in the world, who has been known for being calm and ruthless since he entered Taoism, but at this time he has suffered a crushing defeat.

Zhuo Mingtao smiled, patted his head and said, "Have you thought about it?"

He was stunned.

"When Fengtian met you, I guessed your identity." Zhuo Mingtao said.

He was even more surprised, blinking his eyes and rubbing his tears as he looked at his elder brother in front of him.

"You really look alike." His face was stroked with cold rough hands, his tears were wet with his dimple, he tried to smile, for fear that his elder brother would not take him in.

"Since you've come back, it's okay to recognize your ancestors and return to your clan. It's just that you have to think about it. The threshold for entering the Shen family is not high, but there are many rules. It was established by our father before he was alive, and we must not violate it. Eldest brother's family is surrounded by walls. Not to be eaten by rich and noble people's bells."

He shook his head desperately and said: "Eating bran and swallowing vegetables is all willing. The younger brother has hands and feet, has been educated, and will go to work to earn money to support the elder brother."

Listening to his joking tone, Zhuo Mingtao pushed him away and stood in front of him, with a serious face, and with his hands behind his back, he repeated solemnly: "The Shen family has a strict family style and many rules. If you enter this door, you must follow them."

"Little brother must strictly abide by the family rules. If there is any violation..." He peeked at the elder brother, the slightly drooping eyelids revealed a bit of majesty, which made him feel chills all over.He murmured: "If there is any violation, let the elder brother punish and deal with it."

He glanced at the eldest brother, saw a satisfied smile on his face, and led him into the main room.

It is said to be the main room, but it is a tile-roofed house facing north and south.The elder brother explained that there are two entrances to the courtyard, and this entry is across the courtyard, where the old Zhuo's family lives, and there is an opera troupe next to it.

The old lady was sick in bed, and it was said that Fengtian contracted a leg disease on the way to Peiping after escaping from the disaster.Hearing that Chu Yaonan had returned, he also got up happily.

Chu Yaonan kowtowed politely, "Mother."

The old lady was crying, and the whole family was crying.

"On the way to Beiping, Fengtian went through all kinds of hardships and dangers, and was bombarded everywhere. My mother suffered from the cold and the root of the disease fell." The sister-in-law said.

"People are getting old, old, and useless." The old lady beat her legs and said, a little out of breath.

The sister-in-law was still smiling and amiable, and the little nephew Chun Baoer called him "little uncle."

He responded excitedly, went to dig into his arms, and wanted to give the child a greeting gift, but was held down by the elder brother, who gave him a wink, and motioned him to avoid it.

He tidied up the suitcase, there were a few pieces of clothing in it, and the rest was belongings.

He asked the elder brother to say: "Brother, the savings of the younger brother, the elder brother will take care of it."

He wanted to change the life at home, this dilapidated house, the cold house, the sick old man.

The eldest brother said coldly: "Since it has entered the Shen family, other people's wealth cannot be brought into the Shen family. Return it back."

After all, just spread the jackal fur mattress on the bed for him.

"Why?" Yaonan asked puzzled, knowing that the eldest brother is poor but ambitious, and most of the literati are arrogant.He tentatively said: "I only carry clothes with me, and the money is all earned by my younger brother, not from my adoptive parents."

He has a clear conscience, the Qin family's money is also earned by his blood and sweat.

"Return all the money to your adoptive parents." Zhuo Mingtao ordered, righteously, "You are only a big child, where are you going to earn so much money?"

That's right, big brother naturally didn't believe it, Chu Yaonan couldn't argue.

Yaonan thought to himself, could it be possible to go back and throw himself into the trap, and suggested with a flick of his eyes: "Brother is embarrassing my younger brother. Not to mention whether the adoptive parents are willing to accept it, one is that the money is from my younger brother's business, and the other is that they He took his own son abroad and left me, and he didn’t know when he would come back.”

Seeing Zhuo Mingtao's displeasure, he hurriedly suggested, "Why don't you keep it for now and return it to them later?"

The sister-in-law leaned aside and said: "Can't you see it, or the couple has their own flesh and blood and went abroad, so leave some money for the brother to support the family."

Chu Yaonan nodded desperately as he went down the slope, and said sadly: "Leave a letter and leave without even saying hello. They don't care about my money."

Only then did Zhuo Mingtao reluctantly order: "Give this box to your sister-in-law and lock it up."

How could Chu Yaonan dare to provoke him, seeing his stern look, he eagerly handed a box to his sister-in-law, feeling distressed in his heart.People walk in the rivers and lakes, where can they lack money?

All his life savings are here. He originally wanted to give this family a fairy-like life, but he didn't think that they were not uncommon.Originally, he stretched out a bamboo pole on the bank to save people in the river, but he didn't want to be dragged into the river by the people in the river, leaving him completely destitute. He thought, now he is really penniless.

He even cleaned out the things in his pockets and put them in the bamboo basket handed by his sister-in-law. He didn't understand why the elder brother did this and why the Shen family had so many strange rules.

But who made him come back willingly?

The eldest brother took a package and took him to the bathroom at the entrance of the alley to take a bath.

The eldest brother walked in front, and he followed behind. He looked around, and the eldest brother looked back from time to time to wait for him.

He guessed that there is no bathroom in ordinary houses, so he had to go to the public bathroom outside to take a shower.He once knew that the members of the Blue Gang often went to the bathroom, and the inside was very messy.But he had no choice but to follow the elder brother's arrangement, and followed him curiously all the way to a bathroom.

Entering the door and opening the thick cotton curtain, a white cloud of steam blows in, making people feel dizzy and suffocating, like falling into a cloud.Damp, greasy, groggy feeling, the sound of splashing water, the sound of shouting and laughing one after another, when you open your eyes to see clearly, it is all white.Either sitting or standing, or lying down or lying down, all surrounded by the steaming hot tub.The white tiled bath was yellowish and black, and the background color was almost invisible. Some people scrubbed hard, some hummed triumphantly, some chatted loudly, and there was a happy crowd.

Chu Yaonan was a little startled, he had never seen such a scene before, the ground under his feet was sticky to his shoes, making it difficult to move, such a dirty place is a bath?

He glanced at his elder brother, but his elder brother didn't mind leading him to a row of bamboo baskets behind a small half-draped curtain, and only told him, "Take off your clothes and put them in the baskets."

He lowered his head, and a black hard-shelled insect crawled lazily and slowly at the bottom of the basket, kicking and struggling from time to time.

He frowned, and looked sideways at his elder brother, who was slowly unbuttoning the right side of the cotton robe one by one, revealing the thin cotton blouse inside the robe.He stacked the cotton robes neatly, and was about to put the robes into the frame, when he saw the little life, the basket trembled on one side, and the little insect turned and fled.

Zhuo Mingtao looked up at him and smiled, "Afraid of bugs?"

There was some teasing in his tone, he wanted to say, I'm not afraid of bugs, I'm just afraid of dirt, but he couldn't say it.I had to half-close my eyes and take off the gray fine woolen coat, fold it up and put it on the cotton-padded robe of my eldest brother, and then untie the tie and loosen the belt buckle, when I saw the naked people passing by looking at him from time to time, it was so shocking. Gogou's eyes were full of strangeness.His cheeks flushed, and he saw that his eldest brother had already taken off his clothes and had a blue and white checked bath towel with yellow strips around his waist.The lean body bones are exposed, and the ribs are like a washboard without meat.

He pursed his lips and looked at his elder brother for help. This world is full of strangeness and fear.As if reborn from his body, he looked around at those bony backs and potbellied waists, surrounded by a pungent smell.

Someone muttered: "Is it still used in this kind of place when they are well-dressed? They are born with thin skin and tender flesh."

His cheeks turned red, he was young and handsome, he had never been to any place, and what was he afraid of?It's so embarrassing in a bathroom now.

……