Siheyuan: The opening earthquake of stealing and replacing pillars

On the morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year, snowflakes began to fall from the sky again. Although they were not big, the ground was already covered with white snow...

He Yuzhu was also awakened by the bursts of firecrackers. He was sitting on the bed in a daze. He was still thinking about what happened last night. It felt like a dream. And those gold and silver ingots were the start-up capital for future business plans. They were gone just like that. Who could he complain to?

"Oh~" He sighed and prepared to accept the reality.

Looking at the lucky bag in his hand, He Yuzhu became excited again. When he bound the system, he was told that there would be a "good fortune pill" that could change a person's physique. He didn't know what the effect would be!

Thinking of this, he hurriedly opened the lucky bag, and suddenly a golden light floated out. He then probed inside and found a pill. It was snow-red all over and emitted a faint halo, which was very charming.

"Hey, what is this little thing?"

He Yuzhu saw a black object the size of a soybean in the corner of the lucky bag. When he picked it up and took a look, he was stunned. It turned out to be a piano, and a super mini one at that!

He wants to cry but has no tears!

"Fuck the system!"

Wait, this can't be the wish I made?

He Yuzhu opened his mouth in disbelief, but when he realized what was going on, he wanted to slap himself twice. Damn it, why did he wish for a piano? What's the point of wishing for something else? It's not enough to eat or wear. I regret it!

Little did he know that this piano was the Steinway B211 that he had dreamed of in his previous life, which was worth more than two million yuan, and the keys were all made of ivory, which was very expensive. Because the system urged him to do so urgently, He Yuzhu agreed to this wish without thinking about it. Who would have thought that his dream would come true?

If I had known this earlier, I would have changed to a smaller goal!

He threw the mini piano to the ground in disgust. The next second, an incredible scene happened. The small thing grew bigger and bigger at a speed visible to the naked eye. The more than two-meter-long piano body instantly filled the entire room!

"Depend on!"

He Yuzhu quickly put the big guy into the space. After all, it’s all money. It’s a walking mani. Who would he sell it to if it got a little scratched?

At this time, the clock struck seven o'clock, and He Yuzhu was ready to get up, but he took the Fortune Pill first to see the effect.

"Gulu!"

The pill rolled down his throat, and soon his body began to heat up, and his bones were crackling. He Yuzhu was startled and hurried to the dressing mirror. He found that his body had grown two or three centimeters taller and was now about 1.78 meters tall. Looking at the outline of his face, although the general appearance had not changed, his skin was tighter, his forehead wrinkles were gone, and the moles on his face disappeared without a trace!

"Haha, this is my second spring!"

But he didn't feel happy for long as he felt his body getting sticky. He rubbed it with his hands and found a huge ball of dirt. He put it under his nose and smelled it. It was so smelly and disgusting!

Just when He Yuzhu was about to throw it away, he suddenly remembered Jigong's panacea - "Stretch Your Legs and Kick Your Eyes Pills". If he gave this to Xu Damao, could it cure his infertility?

"Haha~"

He suppressed his nausea and rolled eighteen pills in a row, then threw them into the space. He planned to find an opportunity to deal with Xu Damao. Oh, and Yi Zhonghai. He didn't know if this old man still wanted a child.

He went out and fetched two buckets of water and boiled them on the stove. After the water boiled, He Yuzhu carried the buckets to the newly built bathroom. After a bath, he felt refreshed.

……

At around eight o'clock, the courtyard began to become lively. It was the first day of the Lunar New Year, and everyone was busy greeting each other. First, neighbors, as it is no longer customary to give each other New Year's money. When two parties meet, they just say Happy New Year to each other, and at most they exchange a few polite words, asking others to come over for a drink when they have time, or to go to the temple fair tomorrow, etc.

He Yuzhu didn't join in the fun, because he's not a fool! Thinking about making Tan's cuisine tomorrow, he started preparing at home. Tan's cuisine is also called official cuisine. The name sounds very high-end, not to mention that it uses sea cucumbers and abalone. These things are simply not affordable for ordinary people.

In the past, high officials were very particular about food, especially when it came to eating. It was under such circumstances that Tan's cuisine came into being. It is said that Tan Zongjun and his son Tan Gongqing spared no expense to hire famous chefs from the capital, learned their cooking skills, and eventually combined Cantonese cuisine with Beijing cuisine to form their own style, which was named Tan's cuisine. It mainly relies on "roasting, stewing, simmering, roasting and steaming", and is "good at processing dried goods" and "expert in cooking the eight delicacies of the sea with high broth and old fire". This is the essence of Tan's cuisine.

The process of making Tan's dishes is very troublesome. It usually requires preparation two or three days in advance. Slow work makes fine work. However, He Yuzhu took into consideration that it was just a family dinner tomorrow, so it would be enough to just make something symbolic. There was no need to make a fuss. It would not be too late to cook when he was really free!

After putting the soup on the stove, he went out to pay New Year's greetings. He first went to visit Mr. Luo's house in Dongzhimen, and then went to Fengji Fish Shop in Jianguomen to sit for a while. Everyone was busy on the first day of the New Year, and it was not a good idea to stay for dinner, so he said a few words and left.

After lunch, He Yuzhu couldn't stay idle at home and planned to go out for a walk.

After exiting Anding Gate, you will arrive at Ditan Park. Although there is no temple fair here, it is still very lively because a new word is popular now - tourism. People who come here to visit include not only locals, but also many tourists from other places, and you can even see a few foreign friends. Isn’t it amazing!

After leaving Ditan Park, He Yuzhu came to Shichahai again, but he regretted it after arriving, because this is a holy place for young people. There are pairs of young lovers on the ice, which makes him jealous to death.

"Damn it, I want to find a wife too!"

He Yuzhu couldn't help but think of Zhu Lin again. This girl was really pretty, with both good looks and a nice figure. He had felt unconfident before due to his age, but now it was different. After the transformation of the Creation Pill, he looked ten years younger. At the age of thirty, it wouldn't be considered too much of an old cow eating young grass to find a girl in her early twenties, right?

Hey!

"Oh, Director He, it really is you!"

Speak of the devil and he will appear. Xiumei pulled Zhu Lin and trotted to He Yuzhu.

"So it's you!" He Yuzhu also greeted with a smile.

Xiumei looked He Yuzhu up and down, and suddenly said in surprise: "Director He, you seem to have become younger!"

You have quite a sharp eye. I almost forgot about you!

He Yuzhu smiled and said, "It's mainly because of the clothes!" As he said that, he shook his leather jacket, as if he was really refreshed.

The two girls were immediately amused and burst out laughing.

"Director He, are you leaving?" Zhu Lin was rather reserved. After all, she was a lady from a wealthy family!

"Yeah, everyone here is in pairs, and I'm the only one alone, why shouldn't I leave?"

He Yuzhu deliberately acted very lost, and secretly observed Zhu Lin's reaction. Seeing that she looked a little shy, He Yuzhu was instantly overjoyed, there's a way!

"Haha, that's right!"

I didn’t expect Xiumei had the same feeling. We are both wanderers in this world!

"I was just planning to go eat!" He Yuzhu asked tentatively, "By the way, are you hungry? How about we eat together? I'll treat you!"

Xiumei was delighted when she heard this: "Great, we are also tired from playing, and our stomachs are just empty!"

Zhu Lin lowered her head shyly. She felt as if He Yuzhu was asking her a question.

Seeing that Zhu Lin did not object, He Yuzhu waved his hand and said, "What else is there to say? Let's go!"

The three of them found a restaurant in Xinjiekou, called Yueweixuan, which seemed to serve Cantonese cuisine, just what the little girl liked. After entering, He Yuzhu found that it was quite large, well decorated, and full of antique charm.

After ordering the dishes, the three of them started chatting. It turned out that Zhu Lin had loved literature and art since she was a child. During the turmoil, she was sent down to work, but she did not give up her dream. Her hard work paid off. In 1969, she was admitted to the Communications Corps Art Troupe of a certain army. She had participated in art performances organized by local organizations in Chang'an, but she was not outstanding at that time. After all, she was not a professional actor!

Later, she had to change her career. On the advice of her family, Zhu Lin returned to Kyoto again. She is currently working at the Kyoto Medical Research Institute on a part-time basis. In the last art performance organized by the Railway Art Troupe, there were not enough actors, so Xiumei invited Zhu Lin to come to the rescue. However, she was still a minor supporting role and didn't even have a chance to show her face. How miserable is that!

Soon, all the dishes were served. He Yuzhu asked the two girls to eat quickly, and he ordered a bottle of rice wine. There was nothing he could do as he had eaten too much at noon and hadn't digested it yet!

Seeing that he was drinking, Zhu Lin advised him, "Director He, you should eat too!"

"Hey, he's a chef, he must look down on the food here!" Xiumei joked.

"That's not the case!" He Yuzhu explained with a smile: "Actually, I have a habit of drinking something before meals. I like to drink tea in the factory!"

"How about asking the waiter to make a pot of jasmine?" Zhu Lin asked considerately.

"No, rice wine is just fine, like soda!"

"Rice wine is also wine. Drinking too much will hurt your stomach!" Xiumei retorted.

"You don't understand this!" He Yuzhu said sarcastically, "In ancient times, wine could really be drunk as tea! Why? Because it was low in alcohol. For example, Wu Song drank 18 bowls of wine before getting drunk on Jingyang Ridge. Even if he drank 4 liang per bowl, that's 7 jin. If it was Erguotou, Erlang would have drunk himself to death!"

"Haha, I didn't expect Director He to know so much about wine!" Xiumei blinked at Zhu Lin, as if conveying some message!

Zhu Lin, with her beautiful eyes slightly closed, ate the barbecued pork silently, and looked at He Yuzhu from time to time, and found that he was really interesting.

"I don't think I know much, at most I know a little bit, because I'm a chef!"

Xiumei said, "Then tell us about it!"

Alas, I really don’t want to show off. If my sweetheart wasn’t here, I would be a dog if I stayed any longer!

"In fact, the wine in ancient times was just a bowl of green sweet water!"

"Puff!" The two girls spat out mouthfuls of rice.

Xiumei's eyes widened as she asked, "Green sweet water? Is that true?"

"Of course it's true. The wine in ancient times was not only green, but also very thick. This is because the distillation technology at that time was not good enough to extract high-purity liquor!"

"Then how do they make wine?" Zhu Lin was very curious.

What a curious baby, so cute, I love him!

He Yuzhu stared at Zhu Lin for two seconds, and the girl immediately lowered her head shyly and continued to put rice into her mouth, as if this could cover up her embarrassment.

"It's very simple. Just put the yeast, water and grain into a sealed jar for fermentation, and then sprinkle a handful of lime to make wine. Due to the chemical reaction, the color looks light green. There is a poem by Bai Juyi in the Tang Dynasty that goes like this, 'Green ants, new embryo wine, red clay stove', so ancient people especially liked to use green ants to describe the color of wine!"

"Wow, Director He, you are so awesome!" Xiumei said admiringly.

Zhu Lin also nodded in agreement, and it was obvious that she was sincere.

He Yuzhu was secretly proud of himself. He continued, "Why is it called Green Ant? Because the surface of ancient wine would have a dense layer of small wine residues!"

Zhu Lin asked in confusion: "Wine dregs?"

"Yes, it's the wine dregs. The extraction technology is so backward, so combined with the green color, it looks like little green ants!"

"So that's how it is!" Zhu Lin suddenly realized, as if she had learned new knowledge.

"That's so disgusting!"

Look, the contrast of Xiumei just highlights Zhu Lin's noble character of "being well-read and elegant". She is worthy of being a talent trained by a great professor (her father is a professor at a science and technology university), she has temperament.

He Yuzhu secretly praised and continued, "You can choose not to drink it. 'Lanling fine wine is like tulips, served in jade bowls with amber light'. You see, the wine Li Bai drinks is amber in color, and the purity is different. Most people can't afford it, but Li Bai is a rich second generation, so he just bought 'a horse with five flowers and a fur coat worth a thousand gold'. You can't help but accept it!"

"Haha, interesting, really interesting!" Xiumei laughed so hard that she fell down, and Zhu Lin was not much better.

At this time, the person at the next table suddenly turned around and gave He Yuzhu a thumbs up, "Comrade, your insights are very unique. I admire you!"

Damn, there are fans now!

He Yuzhu said politely: "No, no!"

"Director He, please continue. We haven't heard enough!"

He Yuzhu looked at Zhu Lin and saw that she was also looking forward to it, so he continued, "This brings us to the second characteristic of wine, turbidity!"

"Turbid?" Someone from the next table interrupted again, "Could it be that Li Bai drank turbid wine?"

"You can say that!" He Yuzhu smiled and said, "Because Lu You's poem describes it this way, 'Don't laugh at the muddy wine of the farmers, in a good year there are enough chickens and pigs to entertain guests'. Not only Lu You, but even Fan Zhongyan has written this way, 'A cup of muddy wine, my home is thousands of miles away, I have no plan to return until Yanran is engraved', and Yang Shen's 'A pot of muddy wine is a joy to meet each other'. From this we can conclude that most of the wine in ancient times was muddy!"

"So there was no sake in ancient times?"

"Of course there are, but 'a golden cup of clear wine costs ten thousand coins', what does that mean? In that era of material scarcity, it was undoubtedly more expensive than gold. How could ordinary people afford it? That's why it was served to the imperial court, and it was paired with precious delicacies. 'A jade plate of delicacies costs ten thousand coins' is the reason. Otherwise, even if Li Bai was a rich second-generation, he couldn't afford it!"

"Amazing! Really amazing!"

The comrade at the next table stood up excitedly and was about to shake hands with He Yuzhu, "I am Li Hui, a reporter from the city radio station. I am fortunate to hear such profound remarks from you today. It really opens my eyes!"

"Hello, I'm He Yuzhu, an employee of the Red Star Steel Rolling Mill. Nice to meet you!"

Li Hui said respectfully: "Comrade He, I'm sure you have a deep understanding of wine culture!"

I was quite impressed with the cocktails!

"No, no, we were just chatting. That's all I have to say!" He Yuzhu was sweating from guilt. He had gone too far in pretending.

"Don't be so modest, I will definitely interview you if I have the chance!" Li Hui instantly became a little fan.

"Haha, let's talk about it later!"