brotherly innocence

He was born handsome, with a pair of peach blossom eyes that fascinated all beings, and the coarse cotton robe could not hide the nobility in his bones. When he walked into the gambling game swaggeringly with the skirt in his hand, he immediately attracted countless attentions. .

At the door, he calmly brushed the snowflakes off the lapel of his robe, and then brushed off the snowflakes from Chunbao's hair.

Chun Bao'er pulled his sleeve tightly and reminded him in a low voice: "Uncle, it will be a disaster if Daddy finds out."

Chu Yaonan didn't look at Chun Bao'er, but glanced around with a smile, as if greeting someone, and only whispered to him: "Shut up, pretend to be dumb."

He didn't speak, he sat down in front of a card table, and firmly placed a square and heavy thing wrapped in a handkerchief on the table in front of him.

A clerk came over and stretched out his hand for an inspection, but he held it down with one hand, and looked up at the man with a smile. His gaze made the clerk feel dazed, and he didn't even dare to persist.

When the first one came down, everyone was pressing big, but he chose to press small.

A person beside him nudged him with an elbow to remind him: "Brother, it's already six games in a row. It's time to wake up from this God's nap. It must be too big."

He just smiled and stood still.

At the beginning of the game, everyone's eyeballs almost fell on the table, and it really was "small".

Seeing a handful of money being pushed in front of him, Chu Yaonan was neither surprised nor happy, nor looked sideways, just pushed it out and continued to press "Xiao".

The younger brother who opened the cards glanced at him, yelled for everyone to bet, and couldn't help but glance at him, but he was calm, took out a piece of money from the bet, and told Chun Baoer: "Go, buy a sesame seed cake at the door with donkey meat to eat." , don’t run far.”

At the beginning of the game, he still wins.Changing big and small like this several times, Chu Yaonan seems to have divine help.

The thugs in the guard looked at each other and slowly surrounded them. Chu Yaonan calmed down and said with a light smile, "I have been playing dice since I was born. Before I learned how to read, I learned how to play money first. I am afraid that there will be no one or two. It belonged to my opponent. On the ground in Beiping, I dare not say it, but in this gambling house of yours, the tricks are more than enough."

One person came to capture him, he pressed down the paw, and the hard object wrapped in the handkerchief slapped down hard, and he let out a shrill scream, causing everyone in the casino to flee in a panic.

Coming down from the stairs, the thugs in a black oiled silk blouse with white cuffs, surrounded by a middle-aged man in a long jacket and mandarin jacket with a pipe in their mouth, with high cheekbones and reddish cheekbones, wearing glasses, sized him up at the stairs.

"Sir, our boss invites you to come over and talk." A thug came over and said politely.

"This place is very good, don't delay my fortune."

"Sir, please..." The man's voice didn't stop, Chu Yaonan stretched out his hand to stop him and said, "The Eight Great Schools of Peking, on the ground of the White Pagoda Temple, is the territory of Lord Shang?"

The man was startled, and asked alertly: "The brother is..."

"My surname is Qin, Qin Rong, Dingjiang, Qingdaotang, neither big nor small."

The man left with a smile, and not long after, the middle-aged man in a long coat came to invite him in person.

He got up, cupped his hands and said: "Brother, I have offended you. The younger brother was away from home and encountered an accident. He is short of money for the time being. Let's borrow expensive land to make a fortune."

"Dare to ask, my little brother, your surname is Qin, and Master Qin of the Blue Gang..."

Chu Yaonan only squinted at him and smiled strangely, and asked instead: "Boss Qin's son, can he come to this third-rate gambling hall to make a living?"

His eyes stayed on the man's eyes and he smiled, the man understood, and ordered his subordinates to give Chu Yaonan a gold bar as a greeting gift, Chu Yaonan cupped his hands and said: "That's not necessary, I can earn some money with my ability, and I am very grateful for the precious land gone."

He walked away with his hands in his hands, and his little nephew Chun Bao'er came back with a donkey meat pancake. The fragrant sesame flavor was sandwiched with sauced meat, which was very greedy.

Chu Yaonan got up and brushed off the sleeves of his robe and led him away, holding the heavy object in his hand.

When they went out, several gamblers nodded and bowed to see his uncle and nephew off. The shopkeeper personally came out to see him off, cupped his hands and said, "Brother Qin, you can come to the small shop to get anything you need. Brother Xie will take care of the business."

Chu Yaonan smiled and cupped his hands and said: "The shopkeeper is very polite, we will meet later!"

He also refused to take the car prepared for him by the shopkeeper, and only called a rickshaw to drive forward.

The wheels pressed black marks on the snow, and the wet slush splashed to the sides.Pedestrians on the side of the road are in a hurry, and occasionally cars pass by honking their horns.

The little nephew asked curiously, "Little uncle, where is Qingdaotang?"

Chu Yaonan looked at the coachman who was running like a mule with his head buried, deliberately lowered his voice and said mysteriously to Chun Bao'er: "It's my little uncle's home in Dingjiang. It's more grand there than here. The casino there is as luxurious as palace."

He looked at his dumbfounded nephew, rubbed the hair on the top of his head and said, "It's windy, don't talk."

Wrap the big brother's scarf around my neck around my little nephew's head, take him off the car halfway, and buy him a white-faced pancake, Puwufang's sauced pork, pig's ears, and Jingba dim sum.

"Little uncle, do those uncles know you? Why did you give money to the little uncle, why did the little uncle say that his surname is Qin?" Chun Baoer kept asking, Chu Yaonan snickered.With the manager of this casino, even Shang San himself would not dare to ask Boss Qin if the second son of the Qin family came to his shop to gamble.

He whispered to Chun Bao'er: "Don't tell your father, you don't know anything."

He shook off the veil conveniently, revealing half of the brick, and threw it to the side of the road.

"Uncle, isn't it the inkstone? Think it's Daddy's inkstone." Chun Baoer said in surprise, Chu Yaonan scratched his nose and said, "Uncle is reluctant."

When I got home, my brother and sister-in-law were seeing the doctor away. The doctor of Chinese medicine, wearing a long gown and a goatee, said in a low voice: "The cold air invades the bones, and the illness disappears like spinning silk."

Chu Yaonan stepped aside and stood there with a bow. When the elder brother saw off the guests and came back to visit him, he said: "Elder brother, the younger brother is back. The younger brother has found a job to teach at Xingtan, just like the elder brother."

The older brother's expression of reproach turned into surprise, and he asked, "How did I find it so quickly?"

Chu Yaonan followed him into the house and happily explained: "A friend works in a foreign company. His boss's son wants to learn French and is looking for a tutor. He recommended me. Once we meet and talk, it will be settled and the advance payment will be paid. This month's salary."

He proudly showed off that when he put the money on the table and taught it to his sister-in-law, everyone was shocked.

"Why so much money?" asked the sister-in-law.

Chu Yaonan turned his eyes and said: "Naturally, rare things are more expensive. The boss must be looking for a Chinese who can speak English and Spanish after studying in France. I heard that I haven't found it for three months. .” He hastily explained.

"Hey, my little brother has so many abilities." Sister-in-law sighed, looking at him with admiration.

"Don't spend money recklessly next time." The eldest brother said with a sullen face, without any look of joy, Chu Yaonan couldn't help but be disappointed.

"Dinner's ready, dinner's ready, this is enough to last for a few days. I'll also cut some to deliver to Mrs. Li in the front yard, and return the briquettes by the way." The sister-in-law said excitedly, and Chu Yaonan only took a look at his brother's back, He always felt very flimsy, and suddenly asked: "Brother, where is your padded robe? Why are you wearing a single shirt in such a cold day?" He remembered that his elder brother was still sick with a fever.

The sister-in-law pulled him over and motioned for him to speak softly, avoiding the old lady before telling him outside: "See the old lady's doctor, your brother pawned the padded robe as emergency money, sister-in-law will go and redeem it right away."

Chu Yaonan had mixed feelings in his heart, seeing his elder brother sneezing non-stop and looking sick, he couldn't help feeling distressed.

It was inconvenient for the old lady to go to the ground, so the whole family had dinner around the old lady's kang.

The kang was burning, and it was very hot, and the house was warm.Halfway through the meal, Chun Baoer's eyebrows were already crooked with a smile, looking satisfied, and the old lady couldn't close her mouth from ear to ear.Sister-in-law Li sent half a pot of cabbage vermicelli soup made by herself, and when she left after a few words of greeting, the sister-in-law sent it out and never came back.

After half a cup of tea, the sister-in-law came back, forced a smile on her face and said, "Sister-in-law Li borrowed a pair of shoes from me, and she delayed for a while."

Then he said to Chu Yaonan: "Have you finished eating? Your elder brother told you to meet him in the study."

Chu Yaonan saw something ominous in the sister-in-law's worried eyes.

"Chun Bao'er, your father told you to go too," said the sister-in-law.

Chun Baoer opened her mouth in confusion and looked at her mother.

Chu Yaonan looked at his sister-in-law inquiringly, and the old lady interrupted and asked, "Daughter-in-law, what happened?"

The sister-in-law hurriedly said: "It's nothing, I'm afraid they are watching their uncles and nephews go out for a day, and they have to test their homework."

But Chu Yaonan knew in his heart that it was not so simple, he thought vaguely, did the eldest brother notice something?

He dragged Chun Bao'er into the study, the room looked cold without a fire.

"Kneel down!" the eldest brother shouted, Chun Bao'er knelt down without hesitation, and tugged on Chu Yaonan's robe.