Siheyuan: The romantic and suave Xu Damao

Xu Damao counted out forty yuan for the old man by counting on his fingers.

"Well, forty dollars is a lot!"

When the old man heard the number forty, he nodded in agreement.

Xu Damao took out the money, counted it and handed it to the other party.

"Old man, please count the money and see if it's enough. If you leave, you won't acknowledge it."

After finishing the business with the old man, Xu Damao and Lou Xiao'e left the courtyard with a full harvest.

The sunlight shines on them, reflecting their satisfied smiles.

They continued walking along the alley and entered several small courtyards.

Some courtyards have some old porcelain, while others have various wood carvings and stone carvings.

Xu Damao selected the items he liked based on his experience and keen vision, while Lou Xiao'e also offered advice.

Time passed quickly, and it was noon in a blink of an eye. The sun was shining and the breeze was blowing. Xu Damao and Lou Xiao'e walked together on the bustling street, looking for a suitable place to have lunch together.

"Xiao E, is there anything you particularly want to eat?" Xu Damao asked gently.

Lou Xiao'e smiled and replied, "It's all right. I'm not that picky."

Xu Damao nodded and continued, "Okay, I know a Shandong fried chicken restaurant that tastes pretty good, let's go try it."

Lou Xiao'e readily agreed: "Okay."

Xu Damao carefully helped Lou Xiao'e onto the back seat of the bicycle, then he straddled the seat and rode the bicycle towards the fried chicken restaurant.

Soon, they arrived at the fried chicken shop. Xu Damao stopped the car and greeted the shopkeeper enthusiastically: "Boss, give us a fried chicken."

After entering the store, Xu Damao held Lou Xiao'e's hand tightly, and they walked to a square table and sat down together.

Lou Xiao'e looked at the table and asked curiously, "Da Mao, you only ordered a fried chicken, not some staple food like noodles or steamed buns?"

Xu Damao smiled mysteriously and explained, "Hey, Xiao'e, you don't know that this fried chicken has pancakes inside. They are made of a mixture of white flour and corn flour. They are so delicious!"

After hearing this, Lou Xiao'e showed an expectant look on her face and was full of curiosity about this unique fried chicken.

"What you said is very right. Our fried chicken comes with staple food. This is authentic Linyi fried chicken. My father was doing this business in Shandong before liberation."

"Unfortunately, due to the continuous natural disasters and the rampage of the Japanese invaders, I couldn't survive anymore. I had no choice but to follow the villagers to the Northeast and stay in the capital."

The shopkeeper was lying on the counter and speaking to Lou Xiao'e and Xu Damao, who were obviously a young couple.

"Brother, your hometown is Shandong?"

"That's right. Many people in the village left for the northeast. My father stayed here because of his poor health."

The shopkeeper shook his head and sighed, probably remembering the hardships and sadness of his journey north to Guandong.

After all, if you really can't survive, who would be willing to leave your hometown and settle down in a strange place?

"Hey, brother, don't sigh. It's not bad now. After all, you have a Beijing hukou, right?"

Xu Damao comforted the shopkeeper. Although he had not experienced these things, he had heard others talk about them, so he could understand some of it.

The shopkeeper gave a bitter smile and said, "Yes, if my father had been in better health, he might have gone to the Northeast and he might still have an acre of land now."

Xu Damao nodded, thinking that the shopkeeper's words made sense. But he thought of another question: "Brother, do you have any relatives now?"

The shopkeeper sighed, "Alas, so many years have passed, I don't even know if it's still there. Even if it is, I don't know where it is."

Xu Damao couldn't help but sigh: "Yes, time has passed too quickly, and many things have changed."

"But don't feel bad, brother. It's not bad to stay in Beijing. After all, you have a Beijing hukou, right?"

"Haha, you are really insightful, my dear brother. The income from the fried chicken business is much higher than that from growing crops."

Lou Xiao'e watched them chatting, and she felt a little emotional. She suddenly thought of her parents. After liberation, they were classified as big landlords and capitalists, and were watched covetously by others, and their lives were very difficult.

"Okay, okay, let's stop talking about this. Your food is here." The shopkeeper interrupted their thoughts, brought a plate of delicious fried chicken, and placed it lightly on the dining table.

The color of the fried chicken is very tempting. There are some finger-length green onion segments on top, and six golden mixed flour pancakes are evenly spread underneath. They have been soaked in the sauce of the fried chicken and look very tempting.

"Wow, it looks delicious!" Lou Xiao'e's eyes lit up and she immediately picked up the chopsticks, picked up a piece of chicken and put it in her mouth.

"Hmm~ delicious!" Lou Xiao'e exclaimed while eating.

Xu Damao was not to be outdone and started eating with big mouthfuls.

The two of them ate with gusto, completely disregarding their image.

The shopkeeper looked at them and smiled, "Eat slowly and don't choke. Zhang Laoba, bring a pot of tea to this table!"

Xu Damao raised his head and said vaguely: "Thank you, boss, it's really delicious!"

Lou Xiao'e also nodded in agreement.

After the meal, both of them were very satisfied.

When leaving, Lou Xiao'e and Xu Damao thanked the shopkeeper and said they would come back again in the future.

"Haha, welcome to come and support us in the future!"

The shopkeeper burst into laughter.

After they finished their meal, they left the restaurant. Xu Damao pushed his bicycle and Lou Xiao'e walked beside him. The two chatted as they walked.

"Xiao'e, I'm going to the ghost market to do business tonight. Do you want to come with me?" Xu Damao turned around and asked Lou Xiao'e for her opinion.

"Ah, of course I want to go. The ghost market is very fun. I haven't drunk snow pear water for a long time. There are very few places selling this in the market, but there are quite a few selling tea." Lou Xiao'e pouted and complained that there was no place selling snow pear water in the market.

"That's right. Snow pear juice is made of Tremella, pear, red dates and beet juice. These ingredients alone are hard to find. If you sell it at a low price, you will lose money. If you sell it at a high price, no one will buy it."

"Most people who come to the market don't have much money on them, so how can they afford to buy pear water?" Xu Damao explained the reason to Lou Xiao'e with a smile.

"How can people who go to the ghost market get rich?" Lou Xiao'e asked Xu Damao with her head tilted.

"You may not know this, but the ghost market is open at night, and many things that people dare not sell during the day can be sold at night. So people who go to the ghost market basically have some money. Otherwise, who would stay up late at night to go to the ghost market?" Xu Damao patiently explained to Lou Xiao'e.