Siheyuan: The romantic and suave Xu Damao

"What are you going to give me in exchange, old man?"

Xu Damao was also very curious.

"Are you from the city? If so, where do you work?"

The old man asked Xu Damao casually.

"Old man, the ghost market has its own rules. You can't ask like that. I can only tell you that I am from the city, an honorable worker."

"I have a courtyard house near the front gate. How about exchanging these two things?"

"What? A courtyard? How big is it? How many entrances does it have?"

Xu Damao's eyes lit up and he immediately asked a series of questions.

"This yard is not big, it just has one entrance."

"There are three rooms in the main house, two rooms on the east and west sides, two rooms in the south, a half-room toilet (about 5 square meters), and a small courtyard. The total area is about half an acre."

"It's just that no one has lived in the house for a while. You know the weather in Beijing, so it might be a little dirty. Just clean it up."

The old man described Xu Damao in detail.

"Okay, I'll change it! But I'll keep these two things. It won't be too late to give them to you after we transfer the land and property ownership certificates."

"Okay! That's fine. I'll treat you to a meal later, and we'll do it after dinner, how about that?"

"Okay, then I'll trouble you, old man."

"Then we'll meet at the tower gate at five o'clock?"

The old man pointed in a direction.

"it is good!"

Xu Damao put the Phoenix Pearl and the official kiln slag bucket into the back basket of the bicycle, and then started selling other items on the stall.

Many people were interested in the rosewood birdcage, but after asking the price, they were shocked by the number Xu Damao quoted and shook their heads and left.

"Brother, how much is this bird cage?"

"That one? Rosewood or sea yellow?"

"Is that the yellow one? Wait, let me take a closer look."

An old man in Tang suit asked Xu Damao about the price, and a young man followed behind him. The old man spoke Chinese a little stiffly. Xu Damao knew that this man should be an overseas Chinese because he had seen some of them in his previous life.

Needless to say, the overseas Chinese who can be seen strolling on the streets of Beijing in this era must be the patriotic overseas Chinese who assisted the country during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression!

When he learned that the other birdcage was made of Hainan rosewood, he hurriedly handed the small-leaf red sandalwood birdcage to the young man behind him, and picked up the Hainan rosewood birdcage and brought it forward for a closer inspection.

"It is indeed Hainan Huanghuali wood. I like these two bird cages very much. How much are they?"

The light from the lantern flickered on the old man's face. After watching for two minutes, the old man spoke softly.

"Grandpa, this rosewood bird cage costs two hundred dollars, and the huanghuali one costs one hundred and fifty. If you want all of them, I'll give you a reasonable price, three hundred dollars for both!"

"Isn't the price of this rosewood birdcage too high?"

"Old man, please take a closer look at this bird feeder."

Xu Damao reminded.

"Oh, let me see. I'm not very good at appreciating porcelain, but I'm okay with ivory, horn, wood carvings and other miscellaneous items."

The old man took out a green bird food can and examined it carefully in his hand in the dim light of the lantern.

"It looks a bit like Longquan kiln, but I'm not sure if it's authentic. Brother, you're putting me in a difficult position. If the bird feeder I bought is fake, then I'm going to lose a lot, right?"

"Old man, you can't tell whether this bird food can is real or not. As the stall owner, you definitely won't believe me if I tell you it's genuine. I wouldn't believe it either if I were you."

"What should I do? I really like these two bird cages."

"It's actually very simple. Just take down this bird feeder."

As Xu Damao spoke, he reached into the rosewood birdcage and took out the Longquan kiln bird food jar.

"Old man, you can take this cage away for one hundred yuan now, plus this Huanghuali wood, the total is two hundred yuan."

Xu Damao held the bird food can in one hand and quoted his price with a smile. The price was lowered a little because the old man was a patriotic overseas Chinese, but the old man in front of him was not short of this little money.

"it is good!"

The old man whispered a word "OK" and waved to the energetic young man behind him.

The energetic young man took out a few stacks of money from his bag and handed them to the old man.

The old man counted some money and handed it to Xu Damao.

"Old man, do you want this bird feeder again? The amount of money is wrong?"

"I believe you! I am an old man, and I am still very good at judging people."

The old man looked at Xu Damao with a smile.

"Thank you very much. Can I use the bag?"

Xu Damao shook the small jar in his hand.

“You don’t have to put it in a birdcage.”

"okay!"

Xu Damao put the bird food can away and handed it to the old man respectfully.

"Go slowly, old man!"

After a while, Xu Damao saw that no one came, so he closed his stall and started strolling around on his bike.

After buying some more things, I felt that the time was about up, so I rode my bike towards the place where I had agreed to meet the old man.

It was still early, so Xu Damao bought some melon seeds as snacks and ate them while waiting.

"Little brother, have you been waiting for a long time?"

The old man's voice came from behind, which scared Xu Damao. He turned around and saw that it was the old man from before.

"Come on, the old man will take you somewhere!"

"Where?"

“Of course it’s a good place to eat.”

The old man pushed a bicycle and waved his hand, motioning Xu Damao to follow.

Since both of them were riding bicycles, they soon arrived at Qianmen Street. Although it was still early, Qianmen Street was already bustling with people.

On Qianmen Street, there are stores such as Quanjude, Yitiaolong and Duyichu.

Quanjude and Yitiaolong were not open yet in the morning, so the old man brought Xu Damao to the store in Duyichu.

"Two servings of siu mai, two fried triangles, and two servings of ma lian pork!"

The old man named the dishes very familiarly.

"Okay! Please take a seat, both of you."

The guy dressed as a waiter swiftly picked up the plates and rattan plates and brought over what the old man ordered.

"Little brother, try it. This is a rare delicacy in Kyoto. Although this store is not big, it has a history of hundreds of years."

"It is said that on New Year's Eve of a certain year, Emperor Qianlong walked incognito to Qianmen Street and found that only this restaurant was still open."

"After we went in and had our meal, we found the food very delicious. At that time, the restaurant had no name yet, so Emperor Qianlong said that since we were the only restaurant in the capital still open on New Year's Eve, we should call it Duyichu."

"So, the emperor personally inscribed three big characters on this restaurant, and it became famous from then on."

The old man kept eating, but it did not stop him from explaining vividly.

"Wow! No wonder it's so delicious, the taste is excellent, I have to buy more for my family to try."

As Xu Damao spoke, he stood up and went to buy it, but was stopped by the old man.

"Don't worry, let's talk after we finish eating."