Siheyuan: I am different He Yuzhu

Because he didn't have any cell phones and no nightlife, He Yuzhu was forced to go to bed very early. The next day, He Yuzhu woke up before dawn. He Yuzhu didn't want to get up even though he was lying on the bed. After all, he didn't know what time it was. There was nothing to do if he got up so early. Besides, it was winter now. Winter in Beijing is extremely cold. It was better to keep the quilt warm.

He Yuzhu was lying on the bed, thinking about how to get the seeds of the crops he had planned before. Now the Liberation War had just begun its first year. The skinheads were on the offensive on the front battlefield, and the Workers and Peasants Party was on a comprehensive strategic defense. It was not until July 47 that the Workers and Peasants Party began a strategic counterattack. When the Huaihai Campaign, one of the three major battles, was launched, the Beijing-Hankou Railway was temporarily interrupted, and the logistics between the north and the south would be suspended. So if he wanted to get the seeds of the crops in the south, he had to hurry before November 7.

But the biggest problem now is that I have no money. If I have money, I can go to several big pharmacies in Beiping and buy a lot of seeds of southern crops. For example, the seeds of tea trees have the effects of clearing away heat and detoxification, promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis, and relieving pain. In addition, many seeds have medicinal materials, so they can be easily obtained at pharmacies. How to get money? Ask the cheap old man He Daqing for it. If it’s a small amount, it’s no problem, but if you want to buy a lot, it will definitely take a lot, and He Daqing will definitely not give it. Now I am still a child, even if I go to borrow usury, no one dares to lend me money. As long as there is start-up capital, once there is output in the blessed land and cave, I can get money quickly.

As he was thinking, He Yuzhu fell asleep again. He Yuzhu woke up again because he had to pee. He looked out the window and saw that it was already dawn. He Daqing had already started making breakfast in the main room. He Daqing saw He Yuzhu sitting up and getting dressed.

"Zhu Zi, hurry up and get up and wash up. The meal will be ready soon. After you wash your face, come and watch over the pot. I'll go dress your sister and wake her up."

He Yuzhu hurriedly put on his clothes and shoes, opened the door and rushed out. He Daqing saw his anxious look and knew what he was doing. He smiled and shook his head and said, "This kid!"

He Yuzhu ran from the middle courtyard to the front courtyard in one breath with the memory of his previous life. The gate of the front courtyard had been opened by someone who got up early. He Yuzhu turned right after leaving the gate and ran about 150 meters to find the public toilet. As soon as he entered the public toilet, he immediately took off his pants and flushed against the wall. After He Yuzhu finished peeing, a look of satisfaction appeared on his face. He Yuzhu looked at the public toilet. It was just a big hole dug in the ground, and then a wall was built with bricks, and a few stone slabs were covered on the wall. He Yuzhu sighed that it was fortunate that it was winter now, otherwise it would be stinking in the summer.

He Yuzhu came out of the public toilet and immediately shivered in the cold wind. He immediately put his hands under his arms and ran home. He ran so fast when he came because he had to pee that he didn't feel the cold. But once he relaxed his concentration, he immediately felt the ruthlessness of the winter in Beijing.

He Yuzhu ran back home, poured some hot water from the thermos into the wash basin, and scooped some cold water from the water tank with a ladle. He tested the water temperature with his hand, and it was not that cold, so he immediately washed himself, and then dried himself with a towel. He Yuzhu came to the coal stove and took the spoon from He Daqing.

"Dad, go and dress the rain, I'll watch the pot."

He Daqing walked to the bed in the east room, and before dressing He Yushui, he rubbed his hands to make them look less cold. He Yuzhu looked at the porridge in the pot attentively, stirring it with a spoon when it started to boil. After a while, He Daqing carried Yushui, who had just woken up and was still a little dazed, to the washbasin, dipped a towel in water, and wiped Yushui's face.

Then He Daqing held Yu Shui in his arms, opened the door, walked to the toilet under the porch outside the door, took off Yu Shui's pants, held He Yu Shui in his arms and let her pee. When He Daqing returned to the house, He Yuzhu had already served the porridge and put it on the table. The family gathered around the table and started eating.

"Dad, I want to go out today. Can you give me some money?"

He Daqing took a sip of porridge and looked at He Yuzhu's hopeful expression, unable to bear to refuse.

"Okay, I'll give you 1000 yuan later, take it and don't lose it."

"Dad, isn't that a bit too much?"

"More than that. Even if I sold my house 10 years later, I still couldn't come up with 1000 yuan. When the legal currency was first issued, 1000 yuan could buy 10 cows, but now it can't even buy a chicken. The most you can get is 5 eggs."

When He Yuzhu heard this, he immediately remembered the history of his previous life in middle school, which said that during the Liberation War, the French currency depreciated greatly, and in the later period, everyone had assets worth tens of billions. Thinking of this, he felt a headache again. What kind of start was this?

After finishing his meal, He Daqing gave He Yuzhu 1000 yuan, and then went to work with He Yushui in his arms. After cleaning the pots and bowls, He Yuzhu sat on a stool and carefully looked at the 10 legal tenders in his hand. The order of writing and reading the characters on the legal tenders is from right to left. The front is printed with "Xingyin Central", and the left side is printed with "Yuanbaiyi", and the right side is "Father of the Nation Sun Xiangshan". There is also the year of printing below, "National Huazhong on the rd of the Year". The back of the legal tender is printed with a few words of the face value and some patterns. It feels very ordinary, not as good as Chairman Mao in later generations. He Yuzhu is now more and more curious. In this era when the legal tender is about to flood and depreciate seriously, he can still receive counterfeit money when selling buns. It's terrifying to think about it. I'm afraid there is a story behind it.

He Yuzhu took three leftover steamed breads from the morning, wrapped them up and put them in his pocket, found his hat, put it on, locked the door, and hung the key around his neck. He set off excitedly. After all, Beijing in later generations is a modern metropolis except for the Forbidden City, and it does not have the heritage of a thousand-year-old capital.

He Yuzhu walked towards the busiest Wangfujing Street based on his memory. Along the way, he looked at the sceneries and objects on both sides with curiosity, just like Granny Liu who had never seen the world. He Yuzhu decided that when he had money in the future, he must buy a camera and take more photos before the city wall was demolished on a large scale in Beijing, so as to record these things and keep them well.

He Yuzhu was walking and looking around when he suddenly found a grain store on the side of the road. He walked in and a waiter immediately came up to him.

"Hey young man, what do you want to buy? We have all kinds of food in our store."

He Yuzhu glanced at the displays in the store.

"Do you have corn kernels, glutinous rice, or wheat?"

"Little brother, come with me, I will take you there to have a look."

He Yuzhu followed the waiter to a row of sacks with their mouths open. He Yuzhu took a look, touched them and felt that they were pretty good.

“How do you sell this?”

"My dear, you know that the French currency is getting less valuable these days. Wheat is 300 yuan per catty, ordinary southern japonica rice is 350 yuan per catty, the Jingxi rice that just arrived in the store is 500 yuan per catty, and corn kernels are 250 yuan per catty."

“Why is Jingxi rice so expensive?”

"Jingxi rice is the rice produced in our Beiping. It is said that it was the seed personally selected by Emperor Kangxi of the previous dynasty. Kangxi named it the imperial rice. After Emperor Kangxi, it became the tribute rice eaten by the royal family and nobles of the Qing Dynasty. It was only after the fall of the Qing Dynasty that ordinary people would have eaten it."

When He Yuzhu heard this, he felt like he had struck gold this time. He calculated in his mind that he only had 1000 yuan in total, so he could only buy less and save some money for a visit to the drugstore later.

"Wheat and corn are both half a pound, and Jingxi rice is also half a pound,"

"Come on, wait a minute. Excuse me, where should I put it for you?"

He Yuzhu remembered when he heard it. This is not like later times when people go to supermarkets to buy things and pack them in roll bags. But plastic bags had not yet been invented in that era.

"I was in such a hurry to leave that I forgot to bring a rice bag. Do you have any bags that can be used to carry things? Please help me find a way. If not, I will buy one another another day."

"Young man, what you want is too little. The rice bags in our store are all relatively large, so they are not suitable for you. How about this? I will wrap it in brown paper for you, and wrap it in an extra layer for you. It must be wrapped tightly, so that you can take it home safely. You can pay at the counter in front."

He Yuzhu walked to the counter, counted out 6 bills from his pocket and handed them to the person at the counter. The person at the counter took the money and counted it.

"Hey, little guy, I'll charge you 600. The goods you want are 575 in total. I'll give you 25 in change. Keep it."

He Yuzhu took the change, looked at it, and put it in his pocket. At this time, the clerk had packed the things he wanted, three brown paper packages stacked together and tied with hemp rope. The clerk handed the things to him, and He Yuzhu took the things and left the grain store.

"Take care, I'll come back later."

Soon after He Yuzhu walked out of the grain store, he found an alley and turned into it. He looked around and saw that no one was there. He immediately used his mind to collect the three packets of seeds into the blessed land. After collecting the seeds into the blessed land, He Yuzhu returned to the street and continued to stroll around Beijing.

After walking for more than an hour, he finally arrived at Wangfujing Street. At this time, He Yuzhu realized how good the location of his house was. It was within the Second Ring Road and less than an hour's walk to the Forbidden City. He Yuzhu walked for a while and continued to walk south to Qianmen Street. On Qianmen Street, He Yuzhu suddenly found Tongrentang. This pharmacy has a history of more than 200 years. He had to go in and take a look. The prototype of the Bai family in the TV series "The Mansion Gate" was Tongrentang.

As soon as He Yuzhu walked to the door of the store, a waiter came to greet him. He Yuzhu stood at the door and looked up at the plaque hanging above the door. If nothing else, it looked really impressive.

"Hey young man, are you here to get medicine?"

"I want to buy some herbs, but I don't have the doctor's prescription. But I know the names of the herbs. Can you sell them in your store?"

"Tell me first what herbs you want, and I'll go ask the manager at the counter for you."

"I want to buy three kinds of things: tea tree seeds, alfalfa seeds, and foxtail grass seeds. Could you please tell me how much they are and how much they are for?"

"Okay, wait a moment."

After the clerk finished speaking, he immediately went to the counter to find the manager to report the three medicinal herbs that He Yuzhu wanted to buy, and came back in a short while.

"I've asked the manager about the three herbs you asked about. He said they can be bought without a prescription. Alfalfa seeds are 50 yuan per ounce, dogtail grass seeds are 5 yuan per ounce, and tea tree seeds are shipped from the south, so they're a little expensive, 100 yuan per ounce. How much do you want?"

After listening to this, He Yuzhu calculated that he still had 425 yuan in his pocket. He could buy 3 liang of tea tree seeds, after all, he didn't know how long it would take for them to grow into trees, so he had to buy more. He could also buy 2 liang of alfalfa seeds and 5 liang of dogtail grass seeds. The money was just enough.

"I want three ounces of tea tree seeds, two ounces of alfalfa seeds, and five ounces of dogtail grass seeds."

"Okay, come with me to the counter to settle the bill first, and I'll ask the chef to get you some medicine."

He Yuzhu followed the waiter to the counter to settle the bill. After a while, the waiter handed him the packaged medicine. He Yuzhu took the medicine and walked out of the door of Tongrentang. He Yuzhu looked at the sky and felt that he could go home by noon. In the afternoon, he went to Fudi Dongtian to plant all the seeds he bought today.

He Yuzhu rushed home full of energy, jogging all the way. On the way home, He Yuzhu picked up a straight wooden stick about 1.5 meters long and as thick as a thumb in an alley. He Yuzhu returned home, opened the door, and looked at the clock at home. He left home at 8:10 in the morning. Now it was 11:25. It seemed that it would take about an hour to get from his home to Wangfujing.