The Twelve Years: Song of the Unsung Friends

Shen Xi's hands were cold, and he was caught in his hands, his subconscious reaction was to withdraw: "My hands are cold."

"It's cooler here, you try?" He grabbed her hands.

The four hands of the two were all soaked in ballast water.

"I'm not good, I'm used to nonsense," he exhaled into her palm. "The surgeon's hands can't be frozen."

She felt the warm itch, but in fact her hands were frozen.

Taking advantage of his guilt, it is serious to trick him back into the carriage.

"Go in?" Shen Xi lowered his voice, begging for mercy, "I'm so cold."

Fu Dongwen looked at her.

The cleverness of girls, especially the careful planning that is all for your sake, is really hard to resist.

The four men guarding the door were also worried about Fu Dongwen's body. As soon as Shen Xi turned around, they opened the door of the carriage before she reached out, and surrounded the wet two people and walked back.

From the carriages where smokers gather and the air is muddy, to the carriages where the snoring is endless, and the children are snaking around, Fu Dongwen is wiping her hair with water. When he returned to their carriage, the white linen handkerchief in his hand was soaked.

Wan An asked for hot water in the morning and wringed hot towels for the two.

There is a dressing room in the first-class compartment. Shen Xi and Fu Tongwen changed into dry clothes. Wan An handed a cup of hot tea to each other, and began to murmur: "Master, I said you haven't had a fever for some days, and forget whether you are sick. ?"

Fu Dongwen takes the teacup.

"It's hot, you have to drink it slowly."

Fu Dongwen blew the floating leaves.

"This is going to Paris, but the mountains and rivers are far away. If you come here every day, I won't be able to take care of you. Otherwise, throw me in Beijing, you go north, and I will stay. I can't bear it, I I don’t have a good heart. I think you’re ruining your body will make your heart narrow and you can’t breathe—"

"Okay," Fu Tongwen smiled, "You child, a body under twenty years old, and a heart of eighty years old, I can't stand you either. As you said, keep you in Beijing."

Wan An was choked, his eyes flushed. Anxious.

"Don't scare the children," Tan Qingxiang sighed, "Look at Wan An's little face is pale."

"Not white, but red." Peide seriously corrected.

Everyone laughs.

Shen Xi made a silent gesture.

Xiao Wuye was used to the healthy routine of the hospital, and fell asleep by the car window at this hour. His head slid to the left suddenly. Shen Xi put the woolen blanket on him, and whispered to Wan An, "You helped Wu Ye take off the prosthesis. If you can't tie it up during sleep, you will get **** tomorrow."

Wan An got under the wool blanket, unfastened Xiao Wuye's belt, took off his trousers, looked at the intricately tied leather cord, and didn't know where to start.

"I'll do it, you take a look."

Shen Xi gave a demonstration to Wanan. In the middle of the journey, Xiao Wuye suddenly woke up and was startled when he saw his trousers falling below his knees. Shen Xi held him down: "Okay, go to sleep."

She covered him below the waist.

"Why did my sister-in-law do it yourself..." Xiao Wuye said dumbly, "I should wake me up."

"Why are you shy?" Fu Tongwen sipped a sip of tea, "Your sister-in-law is a doctor first or your attending doctor, and then a girl."

The little fifth master was ashamed and embarrassed, so he chose to continue sleeping.

In the middle of the night, only the sound of trains was left.

Shen Xi did not sleep well. After waking up, he saw his shadow in the train window, and Fu Dongwen who was also awake.

"You didn't sleep? Or just woke up?" She leaned over his shoulder and asked softly.

"As soon as you wake up, I wake up too. Being together for too long is similar in this respect." He replied.

In fact, it didn't take long, it seemed to have known each other for half a lifetime.

Perhaps, it was the connection between the Shen family and him.

Shen Xi moved his legs, moved a little, and saw the two small paper bags next to the apricot red vase. He thought of Fu Dongwen's blunt request for Xiao Wuye to marry: "Your heart is too hard. To get married."

"Yang Yang is too soft-hearted." He laughed.

maybe.

He went on to say: "The children of ordinary people have lost a leg, and it is hard to find even errands. Our Xiaowu lost a leg, but we are very lucky to be able to go to France and do diplomacy," Fu Dongwen He whispered softly, "Our country is weak, and diplomacy is even more difficult. When Gu Youwei came back to find me, it was not just for me, she also liked the connections I had accumulated."

He paused for a while, and then said: "The third brother is begging, and I will tell you Miss Gu Jia."

"...I am not that small, you say so."

"Don't say it." He chuckled, "Anyway, there are no gains in vain in this world. I can pave the way for him, but I can't help him to the end. I still have to rely on him. You can sleep for a while. These words can be said on the road."

It does.

In the long and long journey that followed, only small talk could pass the time.

***

"The Beijing government and the southern government jointly sent representatives to attend. The five leading members are the Chief of Foreign Affairs Lu Zhengxiang, the second seat is the Southern Representative Wang Zhengting, the third seat is the Minister of the United States Gu Weijun, and the remaining is the Minister of the United Kingdom Shi Zhaoji and the Minister of the United Kingdom Wei Chen. After Zhou Lixun arrived in Beijing, he obtained further information.

Five representatives, and a delegation of more than fifty people, this is a diplomatic mission to Paris.

Regarding the Paris Peace Conference, both the Beiyang government and the Sun Yat-sen government chose to join hands and face the international community.

A few days after arriving in Beijing, Fu Dongwen also circulated among the envoys of various countries, striving for more support, and was so busy that he was almost out of sight. On the day he left Beijing, he returned in a hurry, streamlined his entourage without any entourage.

"We have to go with the train of the Chief of Foreign Affairs. The fewer people the better." Fu Dongwen explained.

"Even without Wan'an, Shen Xi and I can take care of you." Tan Qingxiang said.

"No, no, take me," Wan An retorted, "I'm keeping the young master safe."

"Go and clean up, the train in the afternoon can't be delayed," Tan Qingxiang smiled and soothed, "You should only give up your chance to Peide, and Mr. Tan owes you a favor."

Wan An is depressed, but there is no way. Everyone performed their duties and dispersed one after another.

Last month, Uncle Fu died of serious injuries and died in a Shanghai hospital. Once the eldest son died, the old lady did not want to go back to Beijing. She lived alone in the old mansion in Shanghai and was not allowed to visit Fu Dongwen.

The Fu's big room is scattered. In the eyes of outsiders, it is nothing but fighting in the same room. It is another realization of "a foot of cloth can still be sewn, a bucket of millet can be pounded, and the two brothers are incompatible".

As for the old house of the Fu family, it was originally under the name of Fu Dongwen. After Xu Yuan, Fu Dongwen wanted to give the house to the second master, but the second master declined it. He could not guess the mood of the second master. The Fu family was once in the limelight in Beijing, but now it's falling apart. It's not a good time to live here. People who come out and go in make people laugh.

To Fu Dongwen, gossip is harmless and can't affect his mood.

But this house, this yard, too much passed. He didn't want to stay either.

For example, the study where Dong Ming committed suicide.

As far as he could see, they were all wooden boxes, which were picked up by Shen Xi with the people these days.

Hearing that he intends to sell the house, Shen Xi took advantage of his free time and sorted out his things little by little. Each box was glued with a note, divided into categories, divided into books, letterhead, antiques and miscellaneous objects.

He put an arm across the shelf of the bookshelf, holding a letter in his left hand, and didn't move.

The curtain was lifted.

The wind stirred up the ashes in the charcoal brazier, entrained sparks, and made a small whirlwind. Then disappeared.

"It's snowing and it's still heavy," Shen Xi asked, "Do you want to leave early?"

She noticed the letter in his hand.

Fu Dongwen smiled and beckoned to her, and when she approached, he folded the letter paper: "Guess whose letter is this?"

"...There are many people dealing with your letter paper, how can I guess."

"Gu Yiren."

It's him?

No wonder he was in a trance as soon as he entered the house, as if thinking about something. She wanted to see it, but was afraid that Gu Yiren had written something bad, so she looked back in front of Fu Dongwen. Wouldn't it be worse?

Shen Xi hesitated, Fu Tongwen had already delivered the letter to her and whispered: "He doesn't know my address in Shanghai, so this letter is still sent directly to the old house, just like in the past."

This is for her to watch.

Shen Xi took the letter paper and opened it slowly. empty.

She looked up and down the letter paper in surprise, then turned it over again: "Nothing written?"

She also wanted to find the envelope.

"Yes," he said with a smile, "you don't need to find the envelope, there is nothing extra on it, it's no different from the letter he sent back when he was abroad."

Shen Xi looked at him with a true smile, stroked his fingers along the folds of the letter paper, savoring his phrase "it's no different." She packed up these correspondences for Fu Dongwen, and naturally saw the pile of Gu Yiren's. If it is the same as when studying abroad, it means that on the envelope, Gu Yiren wrote "San Ye Qi Qi".

This is an ordinary name, but it is also an honorific.

Shen Xi opened the blank letter paper again, using the same honorific name as when he studied abroad, but the letter paper was left blank. This was ashamed and unable to write. For Fu Dongwen, this letter must have more weight than the praise of him in the newspaper.

He looked at her and smiled without speaking, but like this blank letter.

"Where's the envelope? I'll take it away for you," Shen Xi also smiled, "put it together with the past letter to avoid messing up."

He pointed to the couch under his chin.

Shen Xi went to pick up the envelope, put the letter paper back in its original form, and put it away for him.

At noon, Wan'an went to Tianruiju to order some dishes, which Fu Dongwen loved in the past.

In recent years, Tianruiju had already cancelled the order, but I heard that it was Fu Sanye who returned to Beijing and wanted to taste the good food in the past. The boss of Tianruiju immediately asked the cook to prepare, and half an hour, it was delivered to Fu's house from the street of Guanghe Building. The four guys who were delivering meals entered the Fu's gate. Seeing that the Fu's family, who was supposed to be decorated for the New Year, was temporarily hung up auspicious red lanterns outside the gate. The main courtyard inside was actually locked, and it was quite lively. No, they exchanged a few glances with emotion.

They passed the main courtyard, and the guys passed the servant room, which was also empty.

The road was covered with snow, and there was no one in front or behind. It was like breaking into a deserted house by mistake. It was only when he arrived at Fu Dongwen's courtyard that he became popular.

The guys entered the Chuhuahua door and saw a woman wearing a high-waisted velvet dress and white fox fur with her back facing them, standing in front of the plaque, checking the suitcases.

In the daylight, snow fell in front of the hall, paved with layers of white.

The woman seemed to hear the movement and smiled, "Tian Ruiju's, right?"

It is a Western beauty in an old Chinese house. But if you look closely, you are clearly an Oriental with black hair and eyes.

These folks in Tianruiju often send food to Guanghe Building and often hear some interesting anecdotes in Beijing.

What everyone talks about most is Fu Sancheng's marriage. Unexpectedly, the third master of the Fu family, who had retired four times, would marry a girl who was married to the fourth master.

Needless to say the origin of a woman, this simple sentence has made the rich and young in the capital discuss it for more than half a year. Among those elder brothers, there was someone who was close to Fu Dongwen. When talking about the third grandmother, they were all deliberately selling off her, and no one was willing to elaborate.

Could it be this one?

Only this person's appearance is worthy of those market rumors. Talking about the poor girl raised in Fireworks Lane is clearly the attitude of the family lady.

...

Seeing that they did not answer, Shen Xi turned around and called Wan'an: "Is the food you want here? Wan'an?"

As soon as Wan An came out, the few guys woke up. Under Wan An's greetings, they placed food boxes in front of the plaque, and bowed to Shen Xi one after another, with one hand hanging over the top of the foot, which was an old gift.

Shen Xi nodded: "Thanks for your hard work."

The guys laughed, stepped back, and left the yard.

At Fu Dongwen's order, Wan An set up a table in the study, set up dishes, warmed up the wine, and said to Fu Dongwen along the way: "The guy from Tianruiju just now came, and I was dumbfounded to see the young lady."

Fu Dongwen was happy when he heard it: "Let someone send a reward, and go immediately."

"It's fun to see." Tan Qingxiang mocked him.

This time Wan'an didn't ask for many dishes, so he hurried to eat, fearing that they would burn slowly if they ordered too much, which would delay their schedule.

Less than ten dishes, yellow braised shark fin, boiled cabbage, yellow croaker in soup, nine-turn red sausage, mullet egg soup, braised prawns in oil, steamed with preserved meat, six fried pork shreds, and fried fish fillets. The soup has a mellow taste and a tangy aroma.

"This boiled cabbage is Tianruiju's most famous dish." Fu Dongwen added dishes to her.

Wan An immediately said: "You said it's boiling water. Don't really think it's boiling water for young milk. This is chicken soup. It uses old hens, female ducks, hoof meat and ribs, as well as scallops, boiled, and seasoned. Hanging for 4 hours to boil. Isn’t the chicken soup boiled with oil and impurities? The chicken breast must be chopped, stirred into a paste, and put in the soup to absorb impurities. Tianrui Juguang is absorbing impurities and oil in the soup. In this process, you have to go through at least three times to have this kind of chicken soup like boiling water."

"...You really remember it clearly."

"Master loves to eat this dish, because there are few oil stars, in fact, I can do it too, it is troublesome."

Fu Tongwen raised his eyebrows: "You are finished with what the young master said. How can you tell me and young wife to talk to each other?"

... Wan An embarrassed.

Everyone laughed.

Fu Dongwen has been eating consistently for many years. He put his chopsticks on the side of the bowl without moving a few times and peeled the lotus seeds with his bare hands. Fu Dongwen likes to eat small nuts, but also because he eats less food, he talks to satisfy his hunger. Whenever Shen Xi watched him eating, he could think of his old words: clothing is not enough to fit the body, food is not enough to satisfy the hunger, diligently seeking and thinking in vain.

"Look at what I am doing?" Fu Tongwen smiled and stuffed a lotus seed between her teeth.

She shook her head and said that women like men, but in the end most of them like maternal love, which is probably her mood.

After the meal, Wan'an made tea.

After this cup of tea, everyone is about to set off.

Fu Dongwen ordered people to roll up the curtains of the study, leaning on the door frame alone, drinking tea and enjoying the snow.

Shen Xi knew that he was reluctant. He looked at the grandfather clock several times and then reminded him: "Aren't you afraid of catching up with the farewell team, do you want to go to Zhengyangmen earlier?"

Fu Dongwen turned around and entered the house. There was snow on his leather shoes and a row of footprints was printed on the ground.

"The last sip of tea is for you." He brought the tea cup to her lips.

"This has to be divided."

She drank it with the mouth of the cup, and didn't want to get through the doorway of the tea.

He laughed, and was quiet for a while before he solved her confusion: "He Xi will come back tonight, let's have tea in the snow."

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Forgot to say~Happy 2018~The next update is next year~