Chapter 630 Ma Huzi
In fact, the west wing faces south, and there is a small room close to the south wall.
But when you get there, there is the toilet.
After this place became a large courtyard, due to poor cleaning, it became increasingly filthy. It has become smelly.
Of course there is no need to see it.
So after leaving the west wing, Kang Shude took Ning Weimin directly to the main room in the north.
These five rooms are the most important buildings in this courtyard, and they are also the rooms with the best orientation.
The old man didn’t even need to speak, Ning Weimin could guess that it must be the residence of the owner, Mr. Song.
It’s just that this was originally supposed to be a large room with five rooms connected through it, but now it is divided into two rooms, three rooms and two suites by a brick wall built behind the wall.
Apparently two families were using it separately before those homes were moved out.
Fortunately, what is quite gratifying is that after unlocking the door locks of these rooms, there is no longer any trace of the past like other rooms.
The pair of partition doors that originally distinguished the secondary room and the final room on both sides, which is the Bisha cabinet mentioned in "A Dream of Red Mansions", are actually still nearly complete and maintain their original appearance.
The pair of doors are composed of twelve partitions, which are quite exquisite.
The main frame, sill frame (including the holding frame, upper, middle and lower sills), partitions, cross-sections and other parts are almost complete.
Although the green and white silk yarn on the partition is damaged, it is not a serious problem and can be replaced later.
This was indeed a big surprise for Kang Shude and Ning Weimin.
You must know that the Ma family is a family of architects. Can the style of partitions they design and select be comparable to ordinary people's homes?
Don’t think it’s just something from the Republic of China.
But the texture of the wood, the exquisiteness of the carvings, and the attention to detail are all top-notch, comparable to those of a royal palace.
Such a thing would be worth a lot of money if it were redone by a woodwork factory.
Since the original is still there, it would be much easier to just repair it, saving at least two to three thousand yuan.
But what makes Ning Weimin quite strange is that the height of the two east-facing rooms on the right is actually the same as the threshold.
The foundation is much higher than the three rooms next door.
What's going on?
“Hey, what’s so strange about this? You call me ‘Dongyangyuan’er’ for nothing...”
Seeing Ning Weimin looking at the ground puzzled, Kang Shude smiled slightly and gave him an answer.
"Mr. Song's Japanese wife followed her husband back to the capital after marriage, and it was difficult to change her living habits in her home country. Mr. Song was a man who loved his wife very much. After moving here, he first asked the Ma family to send someone to take care of his wife. The east secondary room and the east end room of the main house have been greatly renovated.”
“The first step is to raise the floor of the house very high. You have to take off your shoes to enter these two rooms, which is equivalent to going up a flight of steps. The floor is covered with tatami like straw mats, which gives the impression that you take off your shoes and get on the kang when you enter. Moreover, the windows of these two rooms are opened very low, so you can see the cats running in the courtyard while sitting on the floor. It is a bedroom, but there is no bed. Mr. Song and Mrs. Song sleep on the tatami at night. "
"When I first came here, I saw that the furnishings in these two rooms were very fresh. According to my imagination, Song. When the husband and wife woke up and opened their eyes, they saw tables and chair legs everywhere, and the visual angle became that of a mouse, which was quite awkward. But gradually, I understood that this is the living habit of Japanese people, and I was not surprised. Weird.”
“Also, Japanese people love to take baths, so Mr. Song also separated a five- to six-square-meter space in the easternmost room as a bathroom and installed a Japanese-style sliding door. We also spent a lot of money to install water supply and drainage facilities according to Western methods, and installed washbasins, bathtubs, and toilets. Because water is often used here, it was not converted into tatami mats, and only the original red ones were left. Blue patterned tile floor ”
"So if you ask me, this two-room room should be the most convenient in the entire Majia Garden. After this room is occupied by the housing management, those who are lucky enough to live here will have their own independent toilet. And the bathroom."
As he spoke, Kangshu pulled open the partition door in the east room and stepped in.
Ning Weimin followed closely, and as the old man said, he saw a bathroom in the end room.
But it is in a poorly protected situation.
The Japanese-style sliding door is gone, half of the wall is built, and the rest is separated by a broken curtain hung with wire.
The tiles inside are cracked, the bathtub is missing, the toilet has been replaced with a squat toilet, and the water pipes are still leaking. It was immediately apparent from one glance that the resident who had moved out did not realize how lucky he was and was somewhat let down by such convenient conditions.
But what surprised Ning Weimin the most was that Mr. Song, who had resolutely returned his wife to Japan, actually had such a considerate side. He could be called a doting maniac on his wife. .
It seems that their relationship is indeed very good. Otherwise, a man would never go to such great lengths to consider his wife so thoughtfully.
It can also be imagined that it was not easy for Mr. Song to make a ruthless choice.
On the contrary, it must be very painful and difficult.
In the final analysis, it was the war that destroyed this harmonious family and ruined their relationship as husband and wife.
It is a family feud caused by national hatred...
"Old man, what about the other rooms? Is it Mr. Song's study?"
Ning Weimin doesn't want to I stopped thinking about it and took the initiative to change the topic, trying to avoid this sad feeling.
Just listen to Kang Shude continue to speak.
“The middle hall is the Ming Room. The middle room has a big Kang with a red mat and red square pillows, which can be used as a reception area. The innermost room in the west is the room for Mr. Song’s children. Bedroom. Mr. Song has a son and a daughter. The boy is five years younger than me. Everyone calls him Xiao Yuanzi. The girl is seven years younger than me and is named Song Chunzi."
< br>"There is also a bed in the west room outside the partition. It is the bed of Tian Ma, the nanny who takes care of the children. That little old woman is the wife of a vegetable farmer in the Taiyang Palace outside Chaoyang Gate. She has given birth to three children, two sons. A girl. She had to go to the city to be a mother. Although she has no experience as a servant, she is very down-to-earth. "
"Mr. Song just chose her simplicity and liked her because she didn't live in a house. Because of her bad habits, she was willing to hire her at a high price of fifteen dollars a month. This was almost the price of the highest-class maid at that time. The average maid only earned eight or ten dollars to support her in the countryside. It’s more than enough for a family.”
“For this reason, Tian’s mother naturally knew that she had found a good family, so she took great care of Mr. Song’s children and was very loyal to Mr. Song and the Japanese wife without any complaints. She has the scheming and insightful attitude of an ordinary maid. She is even very respectful and polite to Mr. Lan, but she is not so irritable when speaking to outsiders. Not only does she speak rudely, but she even has a bit of a temper. ”
"I knew something like this happened. Tian's mother is very good at making molded tofu, so she always makes two jars. In addition to one jar for daily use in the small courtyard, the other jar can be distributed to the garden. One day, she went to deliver molded tofu to the servants of the Ma family. When she came back through the garden, she met a female family member of a foreign family. "
" I don't know if it was my wife or my concubine who drank too much and couldn't get up from the pavilion in the garden. When she saw Tian Ma, she shouted urgently, "Mom, come here and give me a hand." Tian Ma listened. This person spoke rudely, and regardless of the status difference, he immediately retorted, "There are no mothers here, only sloppy ones!" Listen, she is such a tempered person. "
The old man's description made me laugh. Ning Weimin couldn't help but smile, and couldn't hold back his joy.
Because he knew that this sloppy comment was made by people in the capital to intimidate children.
In the past, almost all children in the capital heard a similar sentence when they were young.
"If you cry and make trouble again, Ma Huzi will come and eat you!"
In the parents' tone of voice, Ma Huzi, a tiger-like monster, seems to be the most terrifying existence in the world.
Krampus, who corresponds to Santa Claus in Western mythology, has the same preferences and specializes in eating disobedient children.
If a child is naughty and crying, Ma Huzi will follow the breath and snatch the child away.
Even Lu Xun specifically studied it in "Morning Blossoms Plucked at Dusk".
It is believed that the origin of this word is Ma Shumou, who ate children in the Sui Dynasty. It should be called "Ma Beard".
No matter what kind of explanation, Ning Weimin must admit Tian Ma's adaptability and courage to contradict her.
She actually scares those who yell at her as if they are children.
The subtext of these words is clearly to criticize this drunken wife or young lady - you are just a child, you are so ignorant!
This can make people vomit out a mouthful of old blood without being able to express their grievances.
I'm afraid I won't be able to taste it anywhere else except the capital.
(End of this chapter)