fourth rebirth

However, the scenery of the small bridge and flowing water imitating the south of the Yangtze River in the courtyard makes Chi Zhe miss it a lot. He was originally from Jiangnan in his previous life, and he grew up in the south in this life, so he naturally prefers this kind of scenery.

"Uh, what's next," Chi Ran compared the scenic spot map bought outside the door, took out a crumpled piece of paper from his bag, pondered for a long time, and finally raised his head and pointed in one direction, "This way."

Chi Zhe leaned over to take a look curiously. The handwriting on it looked familiar, round and crooked.

He hesitated, "Sister, have you...been here before?" He remembered "Chi Zhe" writing himself a treasure location.

Chi Ran didn't know, so he glanced at him, "Huh?"

"This is the treasure map you... drew when you were a child?"

Chi Ran, who had probably tasted something, raised his eyebrows to look at him, and slowly rolled up the scenic spot map in his hands, signaling to continue.

Chi Zhe swallowed his saliva, "This handwriting...is very cute, it's really well written, it's childlike and lively, haha." It's just that the livelyness is a bit too much, and there are not many words in a line.

"I drew this by myself a few days ago." He picked up the scenic spot map that was rolled up in a roll, and knocked on the back of his brother's head with no seriousness. Chi Ran glanced at Chi Zhe, "Follow me."

Dressed in a doll shirt and cropped trousers, she felt like a queen was coming.

Chi Zhe shrank his head obediently and acted as a little follower.

No matter how well renovated such an old palace is, there will always be some hidden and dark corners.Turning around, Chi Ran led his younger brother to a narrow "room gap".It’s really a gap in the house, an old house, an exhibition hall that is obviously incompatible with the surrounding scenery, and there is an alley with a width of about 30 cm between the two houses. Looking from a distance, it is deep and dark, and the end is pitch black.

Even if he was as petite as Chi Ran and as thin as Chi Zhe, he could only lean sideways and walk in against the wall.

Naturally, no one cleaned such a narrow place.

Behind him, the hand against the wall was so painful, Chi Zhe held his breath and looked at the bug that seemed to be sticking to his face, and tightly shut his mouth, no matter how many questions he indulged, he could only hold back.

Almost at the end, Chi Zhe was surprised to find that there was a door on the wall!A door that was half-closed to the back wall of the house.

Chi Ran nodded to him, motioned him to squat down, then covered his mouth and nose, and opened the door.

The door shaft turned, and the dilapidated and ancient door was slowly pushed open. The creaking sound was ear-piercing and thick, just like the anxious woman stretched out a pair of white jade hands to start her new life a hundred years ago, and it was also like dozens of years ago. Years ago, that immature child was full of joy when he was about to see his small yard full of toys, exactly the same.

Nothing seems to have changed.

Chi Zhe was in a trance for a moment, as if a new world suddenly appeared in front of him.

"Why are you in a daze, why don't you come in?" Chi Ran unceremoniously hit his younger brother who was stunned in place.

"Ah, oh." Chi Zhe finally came back to his senses, and entered the door blankly.

There is indeed a hole in the sky behind the door, a small yard, with a few trees and flowers planted in the middle, no one prunes, and the growth is wanton and decadent.

The fallen leaves on the ground were mixed with mud and dirt, and the stone bricks had long lost their original function.Fortunately, it was a sunny day, and the ground was so dry that I could barely walk.

While Chi Zhe was looking around, Chi Ran opened another door, thick ash was flying everywhere, and the smell was too strong, so she simply dragged Chi Zhe to the place farthest from the door to rest.

"Sister, where is this place?" Chi Zhe finally had a chance to ask, and he had too many doubts along the way.

"Here," Chi Ran's eyes were still fixed on the door, and he replied a little casually, "it should be regarded as Grandpa's house."

"Grandpa's house?" Chi Zhe looked at the small yard in front of him with wide eyes, "Grandpa used to work in this family?"

Servant, butler, or...?

Such a hidden house.

Chi Zhe has made up for countless private affairs of the rich and powerful, and fights with each other.

Chi Ran glanced at him in surprise, seeing the calmness and curiosity in Chi Zhe's eyes, she was silent for a while, then suddenly smiled, the smile contained too many emotions that Chi Zhe couldn't understand.

"If that's the case... that's fine."

She took out a box of desserts from the bag she was carrying, without saying a word, threw two to Chi Zhe, and leaned against the wall to eat.With the paint peeled off and cobwebs on the wall on his back, Chi Ran tore off the wrapping paper of the dessert in his hand.

Pick up a piece, the viscous glutinous rice flour is mixed with the ingredients, it has a crystal clear beauty, through the shell poured with sweet-scented osmanthus sugar, you can faintly see the small sweet-scented osmanthus inside.Timid, the petals stretch out, making people lovable.

When chewing, it seems that even the lips and teeth are stuck, and the faint fragrance spreads, covering the entire mouth from the teeth.

Jiangnan, squinting, looking at the warm sunshine pouring down, Chi Ran remembered the old house of Qiao's family in Jiangnan that Grandpa Qiao took her to see.

Carved beams and painted buildings, beautiful.

"Go in." After simply picking up the trash, Chi Ran wiped his fingers and walked into the room.

The house is cleaner than the outside. Although there is a thick layer of dust, there are fewer insects and ants. The wooden furniture is piled up in a mess, occasionally mixed with a few pieces of porcelain.

However, even at this level of desolation, the messy furniture still has a kind of beauty that cannot be ignored, a kind of beauty that can only be seen in pictures, auctions, and museums.

Chi Zhe recalled the study room introduced by the director just now, and compared it with the one in front of him, he found that it seemed... pretty similar?Moreover, the furniture here is obviously divided into several sets, and the colors and woods are different.

Concubine, foreign house, favored, legitimate son...

These few words suddenly popped into Chi Zhe's mind.

Connecting with his father's mysterious background, he gasped, could it be that his parents eloped?

When he was thinking wildly and wildly in a strange mood, Chi Ran suddenly squatted down, stretched out his hand, and stroked the leg of a table.

Rubbing repeatedly, soft and white fingers pressed against the dirty and cold table legs.

After caressing for a long time, she finally stood up and wiped her hands with the wet towel she carried with her. Her eyes were clear and her expression was indifferent.She waved at Chi Zhe, "Chi Zhe, come here."

"Did you see these words clearly? Find the same one, wipe it clean, and I'll take a picture with the camera." She threw a handkerchief to Chi Zhe.

"Ah, oh." Hearing Chi Ran's voice, Chi Zhe suddenly woke up from all kinds of bloody dramas.He patted his head, laughed at himself secretly, and took the handkerchief.

Picking up his trousers and squatting down, he also saw the line of words that Chi Ran rubbed repeatedly.

"Brother is a big villain! I hate him the most!" The handwriting is extremely shallow and crooked. It seems that a young child was angry with his brother, pouted, and engraved this line of words resentfully. .

He could almost imagine a soft and tender child wearing a small mandarin jacket from the Republic of China, frowning and staring at big black and white eyes.

It's so cute, Chi Zhe hooked the corner of his mouth unconsciously.

But then it was not so pleasant. Chi Zhe thought that there should be only two or three pieces of lettering in the whole room, but he didn't want to have lettering on almost half of the furniture.

The handwriting ranges from light to dark, and there are even two different handwritings that are easy to distinguish.

One seems to strive for perfection, even if it is lettering, the strokes must be clear.

One seems to have been hastily carved by a man of greater strength.Penetrating three points is a bit lacking in strokes.

And Chi Zhe became more and more startled the more he looked at it. While venting these engraved words, they also recorded the mood and things of that person at that time.From the initial complaints to his father and brother, to the deep and sharp criticism later.

"A person who betrays his trust, how can he be worthy of such a great responsibility!"

Chi Zhe watched in silence, and when he thought it was over, Chi Ran said, "There's still the pillar over there."

Then, he saw the last line of writing.

"Where is the home! Where is the country! Joe's Anyan!"

Reckless and flamboyant.

If he still held a relaxed and cheerful attitude at the beginning, and gradually frowned, when he saw the words Qiao Shi'an Yan, he could almost feel his heart beating suddenly.

He turned his head involuntarily and looked at Chi Ran, with a confusion and bewilderment on his face that he had never noticed.

Chi Ran faced his gaze calmly, and nodded, "This is Grandpa's house." She repeated softly, but Chi Zhe finally heard something different.

"Where's the person?" He seemed to be asking endlessly, but Chi Ran understood what he meant.

"Dead, everyone is dead. The family is ruined, so there will be no one else, or," she looked into Chi Zhe's eyes, "people are dead, so the family is ruined."

"Joe's house?"

"The Qiao family began in the Ming Dynasty, died in the Qing Dynasty, flourished in the Republic of China, and declined in..." Chi Ran paused and changed the subject.

"Grandpa's father and brother died early, and Qiao's family is not prosperous. He is the only heir to the huge property. He should have had a chance to make a comeback. Unfortunately, his age is too different from his father and brother. He was only a teenager at that time. On the seventh day of his death, he was kicked out of Kyoto."

When Chi Ran said this, his eyes were indifferent, as if everything had nothing to do with her.

"After he left Beijing, the things left by Qiao's family were swallowed up. This house is considered to be a sudden kindness of those people. Although it was confiscated according to the policy, it gave grandpa a chance to spend money to save these things. Sell ​​things that are not considered cultural relics. But in order to protect the integrity of the ancient house, and prevent grandpa from being cunning and deliberately smuggling cultural relics. He can buy the things in it, but he can’t take them away. Keep them and protect them The integrity of the old house."

Chi Ran said lightly, but Chi Zhe closed his eyes. He could almost see how a thin young man carved this line of words on the pillar in great grief.