Siheyuan: The romantic and suave Xu Damao

"I understand! I understand what you mean, brother!" Zhang Tietou slapped his thigh excitedly and said loudly.

As they were talking, Zhang Tietou and Huang Genwang had already tidied up their stall quickly and loaded all the items into the basket on the back of their bicycles.

At this time, there were three people, two bicycles, Zhang Tietou was carrying Huang Genwang, and the three of them were riding towards the west of the city together.

"Brother, should we go directly to find Mr. Liu or go to his shop?" On the road, Zhang Tietou and Xu Damao were riding bicycles side by side. Zhang Tietou was a little nervous and couldn't help asking.

"Of course we should go to his store first. Didn't you say that Mr. Liu does a big business? If we go to him like this at the beginning, he will think we are scammers." Xu Damao rolled his eyes at Zhang Tietou and said with a smile.

"Brother is right. Let's go to their store first and take a look." Zhang Tietou scratched his head and smiled embarrassedly.

Not long after, under the guidance of Zhang Tietou, the three of them came to a relatively prosperous street in the west of the city.

Although it is called prosperous, it is actually just a lively market. There are all kinds of stalls on both sides of the street, and many people pull carts to sell goods there.

In addition, there were many people carrying poles and selling snacks, and the whole street was full of life. Due to the overcrowding, it was a bit difficult to ride a bicycle, so Xu Damao and Zhang Tietou had to get off and push the bicycle.

"Brother, let's go to that store and ask!" Zhang Tietou pointed to a large grain and oil store in front and said. Xu Damao also noticed this grain and oil store. It was quite large, occupying three storefronts, and the building was three stories high. It was one of the largest shops on this street.

"Okay, let's go in and take a look. Genwang, you watch the bicycle outside, and Tietou and I will go in to take a look at the situation." Xu Damao instructed, and after parking the bicycle, he took Tietou into the store.

As soon as you enter the store, a strong and unique smell hits you, which makes you feel a little surprised.

However, after careful tasting, you will find that this taste is not unpleasant, but a complex aroma mixed with multiple ingredients such as soy sauce, vinegar, corn flour, etc.

There is a small counter next to the store door, on which various condiments are displayed.

The store is quite spacious, with several large jars that are more than half a person's height, each of which is tightly covered. These jars should be used to store various seasonings and sauces. I guess the smell I just smelled came from these jars.

Just as I was looking around curiously, a little boy of four or five years old came over with a black bottle.

He walked up to a waiter and said in a baby voice, "Uncle, I want 10 cents of soy sauce."

The waiter took the dime and the soy sauce bottle from the little boy with a smile, then skillfully took a funnel from the bamboo pole beside the big jar and inserted it into the mouth of the bottle.

Then, he carefully moved the lid of the jar a little, reached into the jar with a bamboo bucket, quickly lifted it up, and then poured the soy sauce inside into a bottle.

The whole process was very skillful, and in a short while, the waiter poured half a bottle of soy sauce into the little boy's bottle.

"Okay, kid, you can go home now." The guy said to the little boy with a smile.

The little boy picked up the bottle and ran out happily.

Watching his departing back, Xu Damao couldn't help but recall that when he was a child he often followed his parents to such grocery stores to buy things.

Although supermarkets later had a wide variety of goods, this traditional grocery store still had a unique sense of intimacy.

"What do you two want to buy in my store? I have a full range of products here, including soy sauce, vinegar, cornmeal, and white flour. Look at my soy sauce, it's black and shiny, and it's made from the finest soybeans."

The boss enthusiastically recommended the store's products to the two of them. As he spoke, he pointed to the neatly arranged soy sauce bottles on the counter with a proud smile on his face.

Perhaps because the soy sauce in the store is quite famous, the shopkeeper specifically emphasized the soy sauce.

After all, there are many restaurants nearby, and these restaurants buy ingredients such as soy sauce, vinegar, cornmeal and white flour from their store.

Therefore, the shopkeeper is well aware of the quality of his own soy sauce and is full of confidence in it.

After hearing the shopkeeper's introduction, Xu Damao nodded in approval.

He walked to the counter and carefully observed the soy sauces on display. The bottles of soy sauce were shiny black and exuded an enticing aroma.

Xu Damao couldn't help but pick up a bottle and shook it gently a few times, observing that the soy sauce had a thick texture and a dark color.

"Well, the soy sauce is really good." Xu Damao praised, with a hint of satisfaction in his eyes.

He secretly sighed in his heart that although the soy sauce nowadays is not classified into various categories like in later generations, the soy sauce brewed with traditional techniques has a unique flavor that makes people linger in the aftertaste.

At that time, soy sauce was not divided into different types such as dark soy sauce and light soy sauce like in later generations, but was uniformly called soy sauce.

Moreover, the soy sauce here is not made through artificial chemical blending, but is carefully brewed using natural ingredients and traditional techniques.

In comparison, the chemically treated soy sauces of later generations pale in comparison.

However, this good soy sauce also has some minor drawbacks.

For example, in the hot summer, they are prone to breeding bugs like those soybean pastes, the white kind, rich in protein...

However, as long as winter is over, these bugs will disappear naturally and the soy sauce can still be eaten safely without any problems.

"How much do cornmeal and flour cost?"

Xu Damao first praised him a few words, and then asked the question that concerned him most.

"Little brother, these two things are not easy to get nowadays. You must know that last year, the authorities issued food stamps and strictly controlled these two things. I don't know about other small shops, but we need food stamps to sell these things in our shop."

The shopkeeper said helplessly.

Hearing this, Xu Damao's face suddenly darkened: "Hey, brother, I didn't ask for any food coupons when I went to other stores to buy food. Why do you ask for food coupons when I come to your store?"

"Yes! I just went to another place yesterday and bought two kilograms of flour. I didn't collect any food coupons."

Zhang Tietou, who was standing behind Xu Damao, couldn't help but interrupt. After all, he had just experienced the same thing.

"Don't worry, brother. I'm sure you all know who our boss is. It's Master Liu."

"I'm sure you guys know a little bit about our boss Liu Erye's character. He is determined to respond to the government's call. I don't care whether other stores accept food coupons or not, but the food store managed by Liu Erye requires food coupons."