Chapter 222: The Prosperous Peking (55)

Of course, Yi Zhonghai was not a man who did not keep his word. Seeing that everyone was asking about the meal, he immediately promised,

"Count the numbers, count the numbers,
It's just a meal,
I am the master of Siheyuan, and Dongxu is my apprentice. How can we go back on our words?"

Although Yi Zhonghai admitted what he said, Yan Bugui was still a little bit unwilling to give in and insisted on finalizing the matter right away.
"Okay, since Lao Yi has admitted his mistake, let's discuss it now and decide on the menu first.

Then arrange for someone to go shopping for groceries tomorrow."

Seeing Yan Bugui so anxious, Yi Zhonghai said helplessly,
"What's there to arrange? You're the only one among us who's on holiday now and has time to go to the market to buy vegetables, so this matter must be handed over to you.

As for what to eat,
It's nothing more than braised pork, steamed fish, stewed pig's trotters, and eggplant, pumpkin, cabbage, tomato, potato, and water spinach.

You can't ask Lao He to show off his cooking skills and make you a Fengzeyuan meal!

Even if he is willing to take a day off tomorrow and do it for you at home,
We can’t afford the food!”

Yan Bugui is a stingy person. He is too embarrassed to ask He Daqing to take a day off tomorrow to cook for everyone in the courtyard.
And when Yi Zhonghai mentioned three meat dishes, he was already quite satisfied.
"Okay, okay,

Then let's make it a deal.
Tomorrow morning I will take Jie Cheng, Damao and others to the vegetable market to buy vegetables.
Once I get them back, I'll have my wife and the others start preparing them, and you'll be able to eat them when you get home from get off work tomorrow."

Then he waved to Yi Zhonghai.

"Let's go back. It's such a hot day today. We've been walking outside all morning. Let's all go back and wipe off the sweat and have a rest."

Seeing that Yan Bugui became more talkative after settling the issue of the meal, Yi Zhonghai couldn't help but shake his head.

Then he took his wife to the middle courtyard first,
With Yi Zhonghai's departure, other people in the courtyard also left one after another.

After dinner, neighbors came to the yard one after another with benches and mats to enjoy the cool air.

The adults were busy with their own affairs.
Children like Xu Damao and Yan Jiecheng lay on the mats, looking up at the starry sky, and began to talk about their plan to go out to buy groceries with Yan Bugui tomorrow.

After a while, Xu Damao looked at He Yuzhu who was staring at the stars in the sky and said,
"Zhu Zi, why don't you go to the police station later tomorrow?
You should go shopping with us and Uncle Yan early tomorrow morning.

Recently, there are craftsmen in the vegetable market who are performing shadow puppet shows, blowing sugar figures, and playing with monkeys. It is much more fun than before.

I asked my dad for some pocket money to buy some candy for tomorrow."

After Xu Damao finished speaking, Liu Guangqi nodded vigorously, obviously he also had some pocket money in his pocket.
Among the three, only Yan Jiecheng remained motionless.
But everyone is used to it.

On the other side, I heard Xu Damao

Talking about the fun things on the street, He Yushui immediately got excited and pulled He Yuzhu's arm and shook it vigorously.

"Brother, you can go shopping with Brother Damao and the others, and bring Brother Qingshan and me along."

Seeing his sister's excited expression, He Yuzhu retracted his gaze, thought about it, and agreed.

"Okay, I'll go shopping with Uncle Yan and your brother Damao tomorrow. I'll take you and Qingshan along and buy you two candy figures, okay?"

Hearing that he could not only watch the monkey show tomorrow, but also buy candy figurines, He Yushui immediately cheered.
"Okay, brother, you are so nice!" Seeing his sister becoming excited, He Yuzhu tapped her little head with his finger.

"It's okay. Look at your front teeth, they're all gone, and you're still thinking about eating candy men."

"So what? Zhaodi also lost her front teeth, and they have grown back now. My front teeth will grow back too after a while."

"I just like to quibble."

After finishing speaking, He Yuzhu looked up at the stars in the sky again.
In this age without light pollution, the Milky Way in the night sky is extremely bright, and it looks no different from how it looked when He Yuzhu was a child in later generations, which makes him never tired of watching it.

Early the next morning,

After breakfast, He Daqing and his wife took He Jianguo to work at the steel mill.
He Yuzhu took He Yushui and Li Qingshan with him and followed Yan Bugui, Xu Damao and others to go out to buy groceries.

As soon as they went out, they saw neighbors from Nanluoguxiang walking out of the courtyard one after another. While greeting each other, the neighbors in twos and threes slowly gathered into a large crowd and walked towards the vegetable market not far away.

In August 1950, Daxia had been established for almost a year. Beijing seemed no different from before, but it was also very different.
Saying there is no difference,
This is because the clothes worn by the vast majority of the people have hardly changed since before liberation.
Most men still wore robes with side buttons, baggy suits that didn't fit them well, sweat-stained front-breasted short jackets, and trousers;
Women still wear cheongsam, short shirts with the left side open, long pants, and long skirts;
Clothing fabrics are still mainly machine-woven foreign cloth, coarse cotton and linen.

Said there was a big difference,

That's because after more than half a year of vigorous rectification by the State Council,

The mental outlook of the people in Beijing has changed a lot compared to the beginning of the year.

Not only did the smokers and reformed prostitutes in the city return to normal and start their new lives,

Even the streets are much busier than at the beginning of the year.

As large numbers of ordinary people flocked to Beijing in search of opportunities, vendors of all kinds also set up stalls.

I haven't left Nanluoguxiang yet.
He Yuzhu saw several noodle stalls on the main street. The stall owners with dark skin and amazing arm strength were kneading the dough vigorously on the chopping board, and then skillfully pulled out bowls of noodles.

Next to the noodle stall, a milky white mutton soup was stewing in a big pot at another stall, and thick white flour buns were being baked on the stove.

Then He Yuzhu heard the sound of drooling in his ears.
Looking down, they saw that not only the two younger ones, He Yushui and Li Qingshan, but also Xu Damao and Yan Jiecheng, were drooling at the aroma of the food.

So I said with a smile,

"How about you guys?

I just had breakfast before going out, how come I'm hungry right after leaving the house? "

At this time, He Yushui wiped the corner of his mouth and looked at himself pitifully.

"Brother, it smells so good! The noodles and steamed buns with meat soup are much more delicious than the steamed bread we had in the morning. I am so greedy!"

Although his sister looked at him pitifully, He Yuzhu remained unmoved.
"We came out only after we were full. I don't dare buy you noodles and steamed buns with meat soup. What if you get too full?
Let's go to the market, it's much more fun than these breakfast stalls."

(End of this chapter)