Siheyuan: Sizhu starts blindly and takes a new path

Chapter 290 Ballet

As dusk fell, the old locust tree in the courtyard rustled. Zhou Qisheng pushed a brand new Forever bicycle into the courtyard. There was a net bag hanging on the handlebars, which contained two bottles of Arctic Ocean soda and a pack of animal biscuits. Yu Shui was holding the sleepy little Mudan on the back seat. The little girl still had a red hairband tied on her head that she bought when she watched a play.

"Are you back?" Sha Zhu poked his head out of the kitchen wearing an apron. "Was the show good?"

"Shh..." Yu Shui handed the child to Yu Li who came over, "He just fell asleep."

Zhou Qisheng parked his bicycle against the wall and said in a low voice, "It was a great dance, except for the part where Little Mudan was scared and cried when she saw Huang Shiren collecting debts."

"You should!" Sha Zhu waved the spatula, "Why should such a young child watch a sad drama! In my opinion, you should take her to see "Heroic Sisters of the Prairie"..."

"Brother!" Yu Shui glared at him in reproach, "Model operas are a political task, and every family must watch them."

The aroma of braised pork wafted from the kitchen. Zhou Qisheng sniffed and asked, "Brother, what's the good day today?"

"Hey, can't we eat good food just because it's not a good day?" Sha Zhu proudly lifted the lid of the pot, "The factory is entertaining people from other places today, and the pork belly is pretty good, so I bought a pound for ourselves!"

Yu Li walked into the house holding Little Mudan, and suddenly she exclaimed, "What is this child holding in his hand?"

I gently opened my fist and found a program sheet soaked with sweat. The three big characters of "White-Haired Girl" were printed on the red cover, and there was a line of small characters below: National Ballet of China 1972 Tour.

"This kid," Yu Li said, not knowing whether to laugh or cry, "is still thinking about it before going to sleep."

After entering the house, Zhou Qisheng described the details of the ballet in vivid detail. When talking about Xier's escape into the mountains, he suddenly stood up and performed a ballet move, and almost knocked over the soy sauce bottle.

"Come on!" Sha Zhu laughed. "If you dance ballet like a tall guy like you, the stage will collapse!"

Yu Shui suddenly remembered something: "Oh, I met Xu Damao at the theater today. He was sitting in the front row with Qin Jingru."

"Bah!" Sha Zhu spat, "He must be using the name of a projectionist to get free tickets again!"

Little Mudan woke up babbling in the inner room. Yu Li hurried to pick her up, and when she came back, the little girl was already alert and insisted on sitting on "Uncle Zhou's" lap.

"Xier! Xier!" Little Peony waved the program and kicked her short legs.

Zhou Qisheng suddenly had an idea and lifted the child up and spun him around: "Let's fly! Our little Peony wants to be a ballet dancer too!"

Liuyi and Qiyi were doing their homework in the inner room, and they ran out immediately after hearing the noise. The two boys became excited when they saw Xiao Mudan being lifted up high.

"Uncle, I want to fly too!" Liuyi jumped over and reached out to grab the corner of Zhou Qisheng's clothes.

Qiyi was even smarter. He directly brought a small stool and stepped on it: "Uncle, I want to be a ballet dancer too!"

"Go away!" Sha Zhu rushed out of the kitchen holding a spatula, "Why are you two dancing ballet? You two are going to be chefs in the future!"

Zhou Qisheng became interested, handed the little peony to Yu Shui, turned around and squatted down: "Come on, Liu Yi, try it first."

Liuyi rushed over excitedly, and Zhou Qisheng almost sprained his waist when he exerted force - this boy was much heavier than Xiao Mudan.

"Oh my old waist!" Zhou Qisheng put Liuyi down with a grin, "Qiyi, forget it. Your uncle's bones can't stand it anymore."

Qiyi was not convinced, so he suddenly took a running start and jumped directly onto Zhou Qisheng's back: "Then you carry me on your back!"

"Ouch!" Zhou Qisheng staggered and almost fell out of the door.

Yu Shui hurried over to help him, laughing so hard that he couldn't straighten his back: "You guys, are you going to tear the roof off our house?"

Seeing this, Little Mudan stamped her feet anxiously: "Brother Qiyi is bad! He stole my uncle!"

Sha Zhu couldn't stand it anymore and shoved the spatula into Yu Li's hand: "Get out of the way! Watch me!"

He put his waist and horse together, picked up Liu Yi in one hand and Qi Yi in the other, and turned them around twice like he was holding a chicken. The two boys screamed in the air, both scared and excited.

"Brother Zhuzi!" Zhou Qisheng adjusted his crooked glasses and praised sincerely, "With your arm strength, it's a pity not to lift weights!"

"That's right!" Sha Zhu proudly put the two boys down, "When I was learning cooking, I had to practice my strength. I could carry a 50-jin bag of flour in each hand..."

"It's blowing again!" Yu Li brought out the dishes and interrupted him with a smile, "Hurry up and wash your hands and eat!"

At the dinner table, Liuyi and Qiyi were still imitating ballet moves, you bumped into me, I pushed you. Little Mudan followed suit, standing on a stool and spinning on tiptoe, and ended up falling into Zhou Qisheng's arms with a plop.

"Oh my, my little ancestor!" Zhou Qisheng hurriedly checked whether she had bumped into anything. "Let's not imitate Xi'er, let's imitate Wu Qinghua, okay?"

"No!" Little Mudan pouted, "I want to be Xier!" She suddenly pointed at Zhou Qisheng's glasses, "Uncle Zhou, be Huang Shiren!"

Everyone at the table burst into laughter. Sha Zhu slapped his thigh with joy and said, "Did you hear that? I asked you to play the villain!"

Zhou Qisheng pushed his glasses helplessly, suddenly lowered his voice, and made a ferocious expression: "Xiao Xier, it is only natural to pay back debts..."

Little Peony cried out in a fake voice and threw herself into the arms of Yu Shui: "Mom, help me!"

Amidst the laughter and joy, the old locust tree in the yard swayed gently. The night wind brought the song from the distant radio station: "The north wind is blowing, and the snowflakes are floating."

At the end of September 1972, the evening broadcast sound penetrated the entire alley, and the announcer's sonorous voice echoed in the courtyard: "Japanese Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka arrived in Beijing today for an official visit to our country..."

The enamel pot in Sha Zhu's hand slammed onto the table with a bang, and the tea splashed all over the table.

"What?! Are the Japanese idiots worthy of being our guests?!" He stood up suddenly, his face flushed. "We just sent away the American idiots at the beginning of the year, and now the Japanese idiots are here! We haven't even taken revenge yet, and we're making peace?!"

Yu Li was sewing clothes for Xiao Mudan, and her husband's shout scared her so much that she made her needle go off course. She quickly put down her needlework and turned down the volume of the radio: "Zhu Zi, keep your voice down! If outsiders hear us, what will happen!"

"What's wrong with hearing it?!" Sha Zhu kicked the stool away and shouted even louder, "My grandmother died when the Eight-Nation Alliance invaded the capital! My mother died after giving birth to Yu Shui. Why? There was no medicine. Where was the medicine? My father said that at that time..."

"I know! I know everything!" Yu Li quickly grabbed his arm and lowered her voice, "But this is the policy decided by Chairman Mao. Can you see further than Chairman Mao?"

As if his neck was being strangled, Sha Zhu suddenly fell silent. He was breathing heavily, and his fists were clenched so tightly that they made a crackling sound.

At this moment, Zhou Qisheng came into the yard pushing his bicycle with a newly bought copy of People's Daily hanging on the handlebars. He immediately understood what was going on: "Brother Zhuzi, did you see the news?"

"Look at that shit!" Sha Zhu grabbed the newspaper and threw it on the ground. "I just can't understand why we should make peace with the devils?!"

Zhou Qisheng bent down to pick up the newspaper and gently brushed off the dirt on it: "Brother Zhuzi, look at this headline - 'The Chinese and Japanese people should maintain friendship from generation to generation.' This is what the Prime Minister said."

"But..." Sha Zhu's fist loosened and clenched, and finally slammed heavily on the grape trellis, shaking the leaves to fall down, "Nanjing Massacre, Unit 731...are these blood debts just going to be let go?"