At half past five in the morning, the members of the Chunhua Opera Troupe on the first and second floors were sitting at the dining table as usual. Yumi, whose fingernails were still aching, did not see Wei until Qiushi came down and invited her to the second floor for dinner.

Ran came out of the room.

Of course Wei Ran wouldn't come out. How could his young cousin be so diligent? He could sleep as long as he could.

After half an hour of breakfast time, the members of the theater troupe spontaneously helped clear the dining table and cleaned the first and second floors. Then, under the leadership of Qiushi, they went to the basement to continue practicing and learning opera.

As for Youmei, who originally wanted to go to the basement with her to have a look, she stayed on the second floor despite Tao Canhua's invitation.

"Miss Youmei, let's learn some basic fingering techniques for playing Guqin today."

Tao Canhua didn't care whether the other party understood it or not, he just introduced himself in his native language. He was also the only person in the book who couldn't understand and had not learned Japanese.

As for how much Japanese he and his Aunt Meixiang have learned over the years, and to what extent, even Qiushi and Jasmine don't know.

But at least on the surface, Meixiang prohibited Tao Canhua from learning Japanese. As for the reason, in Meixiang's words, if you don't know Japanese, you won't hear what you shouldn't hear when you go to play the piano and sing for Ueda. Of course, these words

It's for Xiao Su's mother and Somegu's wife.

However, there is no need to worry about Yumi not being able to understand, because next to her, Jasmine is sitting helping her translate. What’s more, who knows if Yumi really can’t understand Chinese?

Although the three people on the second floor had their own thoughts, and although Tao Canhua taught extremely seriously and patiently, Yumei learned in a particularly painful way.

Not to mention that she didn't sleep well last night, just asking her to use her injured fingers to pluck the tight strings was tantamount to torture, and it required her to remain patient and smile on the surface.

Tao Canhua and Jasmine naturally cannot see these details, and even if they can see it, they will never admit it. And Youmei, who thinks she is pretending to be very good, can't help but feel a little smug despite enduring the pain - she is really strong.

, these Chinese people are really stupid.

In a three-and-a-half-hour Guqin lesson from 6 a.m. to 9:30 a.m., Tao Canhua, with the help of Jasmine, has basically taught Youmei several basic fingering techniques.

On the stage in the basement, the children also spent the same amount of time carefully playing a play they had been studying recently under Qiushi's command twice.

At the same time, Wei Ran, who had had a good sleep, was finally willing to get up and walk out of the room, and felt at ease eating a bowl of wontons and two sesame seed cakes that were crispy on the outside and tender on the inside.

At nine forty-five, Uncle Meng opened the fence gate of the small courtyard on time, and Youmei's guqin lesson was finally stopped when Meixiang came down from upstairs.

Correspondingly, Meixiang also scolded Tao Canhua, who had been teaching seriously from beginning to end. However, the words that came out of her mouth, such as "elm head" and "don't know how to pity the fragrance and cherish the jade", inevitably made Jasmine and

Mother Yang, who came up with breakfast, wanted to laugh a little.

But for Yumi, Meixiang's hearty breakfast, which was obviously a higher level, also made her regret more and more why she didn't sleep a little longer. Not only did she not have to have a headache when playing the piano, but she could also catch up on her sleep, and she didn't have to eat something she didn't want at all.

My favorite is the roasted millet porridge with soybean curd.

In the midst of regret, pain and sleepiness, at 9:52 in the morning, as two rickshaws stopped at the door of the study apartment, Mei Xiang finally stopped scolding Tao Canhua and sent him to the basement to do some work.

Prepare.

Immediately afterwards, Meixiang also held Yumi's injured hand affectionately, and hurried downstairs while the latter groaned with difficulty, all the way to the foyer.

"The two sisters are the first to arrive." Mei Xiang opened the door and greeted warmly, "Come in and warm yourself up."

"Meixiang, where did you find another little sister?"

During the last tea party, the rich and graceful Second Sister You spoke like a female gangster. She stretched out her hand and pinched Youmi's little face gently, and at the same time praised, "Tsk, tsk, tsk, this little face,

Even a young person can pinch water, and it's not much different from when I was young, but my teeth are a bit chipped."

"Second Sister You..."

Meixiang quickly stopped the other party's hand, first squeezed Youmei's hand with an apologetic expression and explained apologetically, and then said to the second sister You, "This is the daughter of Mr. Tian, ​​my fellow villager in Fengtian. She is staying with me temporarily.

After staying for a few days, she is still a young girl who has not yet left the court, and the second sister is not in a mood to talk nonsense."

She had just finished speaking, but tears were already overflowing from the corners of Yumi's eyes. Seeing this, Second Sister You and the person next to her immediately panicked, and quickly took out their handkerchiefs to wipe her tears while apologizing. Of course, the two of them

Little did he know that Yumi shed tears because it hurt so much from being held by Meixiang...

It was very comforting. When Yumei struggled to hold back her tears and expressed in Japanese that she just felt homesick suddenly, the second sister You was relieved.

It was at this time that rickshaws or cars stopped at the door one after another, bringing ladies one after another.

While she was greeting the people who came over, Second Sister You pulled Meixiang and asked in a low voice, "Meixiang, what did Mr. Tian's daughter say about the Japanese?"

"she..."

Meixiang glanced at Yumei who was sitting by the fireplace and was being courted by Wei Ran with a slight embarrassment, and then said calmly, "I heard that it was his pregnant wife... Yes, it was his pregnant wife who gave birth to him.

's children."

"This is okay, Mr. Tian"

Second Sister You smacked her lips, "I've met Mr. Tian, ​​don't tell me, Mr. Tian is very dark, but his daughter is quite fair."

“Who says it’s not?”

Mei Xiang suppressed a smile and responded, chatting casually while welcoming the visiting guests.

By the fireplace, after helping Jasmine pour a cup of tea for each of the rich ladies, Wei Ran also diligently sent a pack of fried melon seeds, a pack of roasted peanuts and a large pack of chestnuts to Youmei.

He looked at the other person with a fascination, and complimented her on how beautiful her nails were, as if she didn't notice that her hand hidden in her sleeve was trembling faintly.

At ten o'clock in the morning, Meixiang clapped her hands and said, "Sisters, how about we go down too?"

"Meixiang, what's the show scheduled for today?" asked the resentful young woman who seemed to be particularly interested in Tao Canhua at the last tea party.

"Don't worry, it's all what you like to see." Mei Xiang responded in a pretense of mystery, and then greeted many rich ladies to go to the basement.

Thanks to Uncle Meng's heating, it was naturally very warm in the basement. So as soon as these rich ladies entered the basement, they each took off their coats and handed them to Jasmine to hang at the end of the stairs.

On the row of clothes racks in the distance.

Soon, everyone took their seats. Wei Ran, who was watching, also noticed that not only did Volker from Deutsche Bank not come, but the Someya couple also didn't come. On the contrary, after everyone sat down, Xiao Su's mother actually came with two

The middle-aged woman in kimono walked down chatting and laughing.

"Xiao Su's mother is here too." Mei Xiang immediately stood up and said hello, and then said hello politely to the other two ghost women who came down with Xiao Su's mother.

"I'm worried about Yumi's child."

As Xiao Su's mother spoke, she sat down next to Yumi, took her hand and started asking questions in Japanese, while the two women in kimonos also used slightly off-key Chinese to chat with the other ladies.

call.

There is no need to guess, just by hearing the names between them, you can tell that these ladies probably know each other, and their relationship seems to be pretty good.

At 10:10, when everyone was seated, with a wink from Mei Xiang, the accompanists on the side of the stage also started playing.

Soon, a man wearing a monk's hat and cassock was the first to come on stage and sang "Mr. Zhang, please——" in a high voice.

Immediately afterwards, Tao Canhua, who was pretending to be a scholar, walked out from behind the curtain with a folding fan in his hand and said, "I have heard for a long time about the Hezhong Prefecture Pujiu Temple..."

As soon as he opened his mouth, the rich ladies in the basement immediately fell silent. Even Xiao Su's mother focused her attention on the stage, seemingly not noticing that the one that Yumi put into her palm was only the size of a business card.

envelope.

Xiao Su's mother didn't pay attention to this place, and naturally the rest of the people in the basement didn't pay attention either. As for Wei Ran, although he was really not interested in drama, when Xiao Su's mother came down, he had already guessed that there might be

This scene happened, so I didn't look over there at all, which gave Yumi enough face and opportunity.

However, just like Wei Ran, Youmei had no interest in the babbling art on stage, not to mention the lack of sleep and the carbohydrate intake in the morning made her even more drowsy.

Beside Yumi, Xiao Su's mother stuffed the small envelope in her hand into her pocket, secretly glanced at Yumi who was leaning on her shoulder and was about to fall asleep, and then glanced across the room without leaving a trace.

Sister You, who had lit a cigarette not far away, suddenly let out a series of violent coughs.

Such a movement naturally woke up Yumi who was about to fall asleep. But then, she saw Xiao Su's mother's face was red but she still waved towards her. Then, the fat woman was also panicking.

He stood up and ran outside.

Seeing this, Youmei was a little confused for a moment. Then, she saw Jasmine and Wei Ran following them out one after another.

After a slight hesitation, Yumi looked at each other with the two ghost women sitting on the other side. Then, she bowed slightly, stood up, picked up her skirt, and followed.

"Is Little Su's mother okay?" Jasmine asked, after chasing Little Su's mother out of the basement, patting her back gently.

Xiao Su's mother, who had been coughing, raised her finger with difficulty to the window of the storage room. Seeing this, Wei Ran, who followed a little later, immediately pushed open the window to let the cold wind outside flow in. Xiao Su's mother pushed it open.

Wei Ran fell asleep and lay beside the window, panting crazily.

"What's wrong with Aunt Su?" Yumei, who came out just a step behind Wei Ran, asked worriedly in Japanese.

"It's been an old problem for many years," Jasmine explained in Japanese. "She can't smell the smell of cigarettes. She coughs and wheezes when she smells the smell of cigarettes. Some lady must have choked her while smoking just now."

“So that’s how it is”

Youmei breathed a sigh of relief when she heard this, but then she was shivered by the cold wind coming in from the window, and by the way, the last trace of sleepiness was swept away by the wind.

"Yu...ahem! Yumei, please go down first."

Little Su's mother, whose fat face was flushed from suppressing pain and even had tears in her eyes, said in Japanese with difficulty, "It's cold up there, so you don't need to stay with me. I...ahem! I won't wait any longer..."

Cough cough cough! I can’t go down anymore.”

"I..."

Before Youmei could finish her words, Meixiang also chased after her from the basement and asked with concern, "Xiao Mummy, are you choked again?"

Xiao Su's mother, who was leaning against the window, waved her hands and coughed a few more times before saying, "It's okay, I'm always having this problem. You can take Miss Youmei down to the theater. Don't keep those ladies waiting. I'll be upstairs."

Sit down and let Wei Ran take me back later. Alas! I am getting older now, and my body and bones are... cough cough cough! It is not as good as before."

"Okay, cousin, take good care of Little Su's mother, and don't dare to act stupid and make Little Su's mother angry, otherwise you will get the best of you!" Mei Xiang held Wei Ran's ear and warned.

"Cousin, don't worry, don't worry!" Wei Ran promised, pointing to the sky and the ground, and then looked at Youmei lustfully, "Why don't you let sister Youmei stay on the first floor? It's so smoky down here.

.Besides, how boring is it to listen to Canhua singing? I will take Sister Youmei upstairs to see the parrots later."

"Do you want to stay upstairs or go down to watch the show with me?" Meixiang suppressed her smile completely in her heart and asked Yumi in Japanese.

"I want to go downstairs and listen to Tao Canhua sing," Youmi replied in Japanese, while hiding behind Meixiang.
To be continued...