Siheyuan: Happy life of veteran drivers

Xiangshan Park is located on the eastern foot of Xishan Mountain in the northwest suburbs of the old city. As early as the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, the royal family built palaces and villas in Xiangshan. It is a rare scenic spot. Every summer and autumn, the emperor would come here to hunt and cool off.

It was burned down twice by the British and French Allied Forces and the Eight-Nation Alliance in 1860 and 1900 respectively. It was opened as a People's Park and officially opened to the public in 1956.

……

The red leaves of Xiangshan are truly unique.

The leaves of the cotinus coggygria all over the mountains are as red as flames.

As the autumn wind blows, the red clouds rise and fall like waves of wheat in the fields, and the scene is extremely spectacular.

There are also pines and cypresses dotted among them, just like dots of green among thousands of fires, magnificent and beautiful.

Late September and early October is the time of clear and crisp autumn weather, which is very suitable for climbing and looking far into the distance. It is also the best time to enjoy the red leaves of Xiangshan Mountain.

……

After climbing halfway up the mountain and finding a shady spot, everyone stopped.

Wang Hongtao suggested: "That's it. Roasting suckling pig takes time and effort. Let's roast it first."

"Jingru, take off the mat from Ah Huang's back and spread it out. You can sit on it and rest. I'll go and set up the grill."

Wang Hongtao does it as soon as he says it. Although he doesn't like cooking, he has a special liking for barbecue.

Besides, I just saw Shazhu do it a couple of days ago, and I’m itching to do it now.

"Jingru, come here and take some photos for me. The red leaves all over the mountain are so beautiful. This is my first time in Xiangshan!"

Lou Xiao'e naturally has a camera, but she usually doesn't dare to take it out in order to keep a low profile.

"But...I don't know how to use it..."

"You keep doing this... like this... and keep doing this..."

"Just keep adjusting it. When you can see the little man in the camera clearly, press here."

Lou Xiao'e patiently taught Qin Jingru that the cameras at that time were not the point-and-click cameras of later generations. They required manual exposure, focus, etc., which was very complicated.

Lou Xiao'e brought a trial version of the "Shanghai 4" camera, a 6 twin-lens reflex camera that uses 6x120cm film.

The famous Seagull 4B is a scaled-down version developed based on the "Shanghai 4".

Probably like this: There is a picture

Xu Damao was used to traveling through mountains and rivers to show movies, so today's journey was nothing to him. He was in high spirits at the moment:

"Inspired by this beautiful scenery, I, Xu Damao, want to recite a poem!"

“I stop my car and sit to enjoy the maple forest in the evening, the frosted leaves are redder than the flowers in February!”

"How about this poem?" the guy said proudly.

Wang Hongtao curled his lips and said, "Not very good. The red leaves in Xiangshan are not maple leaves, but cotinus coggygria leaves. You are a real city dweller, but your knowledge is not as good as that of a country boy like me."

Xu Damao scratched his head and said, "Hey, it turns out to be a cotinus coggygria tree. I've learned something new today."

This piece of knowledge was told to Wang Hongtao by other tourists when he visited Xiangshan in his previous life.

Before this, he also thought that the red leaves in Xiangshan were maple leaves. After some scientific research from others, he learned that these were actually cotinus coggygria trees. There are also maple trees on Xiangshan, but there are only three or five of them.

Most of the cotinus coggygria trees here were planted during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty. After so many years of development, there are now more than 90,000 trees.

Every autumn, the leaves of the cotinus coggygria all over the mountains look like red clouds, which is particularly beautiful.

At this time, Qin Jingru had also finished taking pictures and came back, her eyes sparkling: "Brother Tao, you are so amazing, you know all this!"

"Heh, okay."

"Have you finished taking the photos?" Wang Hongtao responded.

"Well, I took a few pictures for Sister Xiao'e." Qin Jingru said sweetly.

"Don't you take pictures yourself?" Wang Hongtao was curious. Shouldn't girls love taking pictures the most?

"I want to take pictures! Sister Xiao'e asked me to take pictures, but I didn't let her. I heard that taking pictures is very expensive. I'd rather buy more food with that money."

"Well, let's take some pictures together after I'm done with this!"

Wang Hongtao patted Qin Jingru, who was full of joy:

"Go pick up some thick firewood and use it to make charcoal!"

"Oh!"

After hearing the man's instructions, Qin Jingru happily ran to collect firewood.

Xu Damao looked at the well-behaved and obedient Qin Jingru, and then at Lou Xiaoe who was sitting on a rock, swinging her legs and eating melon seeds. He felt indescribable in his heart.

He walked over to Wang Hongtao and squatted down: "Brother, are you sure she's the one?"

Wang Hongtao smiled and said, "It's about the same. It's comfortable to live with someone like Jingru."

Xu Damao nodded: "Brother, you have to see the problem thoroughly."

After saying that, he looked at Lou Xiao'e, seeming to want to say something else.

"Sit down and rest for a while. We'll need your help when the fire is ready."

“Oh…” Xu Damao nodded dejectedly, but said nothing in the end.

"Brother, I brought some wood back. Do you think this is enough?!"

Qin Jingru dragged the tree trunk, which was as thick as her arm, back three or four meters. No one knew where she picked it up from.

"That's enough. We won't need this much."

"What are we going to do now? Make charcoal? I know how to do that. Let me help you, brother?" Qin Jingru squatted down and held her cheek with her hand and said flatteringly.

"Well, then you do it, be careful not to overcook it."

Wang Hongtao touched Qin Jingru's head and planned to walk to the side, but he didn't walk far when Lou Xiaoe followed him.

"Hey, Sister Xiao'e, you are quite brave. Aren't you afraid that Xu Damao will come to find you?" Wang Hongtao joked.

"What are you afraid of? Isn't there Ah Huang following you?" Lou Xiao'e said proudly, "Don't think I don't know. Every time you sneak into my house, you let Ah Huang squat at the door to keep watch!"

Wang Hongtao pinched Lou Xiaoe's nose and said, "Sister-in-law, how come you are so smart? You figured this out?"

"Hmph, I won't tell you that."

"Let me ask you, are you willing to bring Qin Jingru out today because you plan to marry her?" Lou Xiao'e pouted and said a little unhappily.

Wang Hongtao said with a bitter face: "What else can I do? I have to get married at my age, right? Our Wang family is counting on me and Abin to continue the family line..."

"How about you divorce Xu Damao and marry me?"

Lou Xiao'e shook her head hurriedly, but soon realized that Wang Hongtao was joking.

She patted him lightly and said, "You are such a person. You know I can never marry you, but you still say that!"

"That's it, isn't it? You can't be single at your age like Shazhu, right?"

Lou Xiao'e nodded helplessly: "Actually, Jingru is not bad. She is well-behaved, obedient, and pretty. It's a pity that she is from the countryside."

Lou Xiao'e suddenly remembered that she drove Deputy Director Li's car today, and added: "But it seems that it doesn't make any difference to you whether you live in a rural area or not."

"Yeah, and I just saw you and Jingru chatting very well. When I, Old Wang, marry a wife, I don't look at anything else, I just see if she gets along with my sister-in-law Xiao'e!

If we can't get along, no matter how good the conditions are, you have to get out of here!"

Wang Hongtao hugged Lou Xiaoe and said in a frivolous way.

"You're such a chatterbox! You're the only one who can say that!"

After Wang Hongtao's commotion, Lou Xiao'e lost all emotion and leaned on Wang Hongtao's chest, feeling very sweet.

Forget it, forget it. Who made me already someone else’s wife?

No matter whether what you said just now is true or false, I will admit it even if it is a lie!

After thinking about it, Lou Xiao'e buried her head deeply in Wang Hongtao's arms and rubbed it gently.

……