Siheyuan: Survival Guide for Courtyard No. 95

The man in the dog-skin hat never thought that he had made a wrong judgment today. The guy opposite who looked like he had no money at all actually wanted to do such a big business with him.

He pulled his hat up, clasped his fists and said to Zhao Shanhe.

"What's your name, little brother? My name is Qiao Laoliu, and my friends call me Brother Liu. Are those things you just said you wanted to buy real or fake? We are not trying to deceive you."

Seeing that the other party had finally put down his arrogant attitude, Zhao Shanhe also clasped his fists and returned the greeting.

"Sixth brother, my name is Zhao Shanhe. I dare not lie to you. It is true that my friend wants to buy it as a gift. If you have spot goods, we can trade now."

Qiao Laoliu hesitated for a few seconds, stretched out his hand to signal Zhao Shanhe to follow him, and after entering the alley and turning three or two, he arrived at a dilapidated house. He knocked on the door, knocking several times, just like an underground party member meeting. After a while, the door was opened from the inside by a strong man about the same age as Qiao Laoliu. Qiao Laoliu nodded to the other party and signaled Zhao Shanhe to follow again.

If it was Zhao Shanhe from yesterday, he would definitely not dare to follow in. What if the other party had any bad intentions, then he would be helpless. However, now he already had his own small world. If they encountered danger, the worst that could happen was that he would just pull the other party in and let the other party know what it meant to be the master of a small world.

The house looked shabby from the outside, but it was unique inside. There were three people in the house, including the one who opened the door. The other two men, about 30 years old, were sitting by the iron stove and warming themselves by the fire. They should be the ones who were looking after the things.

There is a circle of antique display shelves against the wall, with many old bottles and jars on them. It's a pity that Zhao Shanhe knows nothing about treasure appraisal, otherwise he would really like to get a few small gadgets to keep as family heirlooms.

As for the reader who said that these antiques would be valuable decades later when Zhao Shanhe would be old, and there would be no point in buying them, there is some truth to this, but who would be able to resist buying an antique that costs only a few kilograms of grain and a fine product that costs only a few kilograms of pork? If you miss this opportunity, you will miss it forever.

This is human nature. I can do without it, but I can't live without it.

Qiao Laoliu greeted the two people who were warming themselves by the fire, and took Zhao Shanhe directly into the inner room without introducing him. There should have been windows in the room, but now they have been sealed with bricks. A kerosene lamp made the room without sunlight appear dim. There was a circle of wooden boxes on the ground, and no one knew what was inside. Under the sealed window was a large desk, on which canned food, candies, cigarettes, alcohol, tea, and even a few cans of malted milk were neatly stacked.

From this we can see the grade of items these days: tobacco, alcohol, sugar and tea are the most important, and everything else has to take a back seat.

Qiao Laoliu walked over and took two packs of Zhonghua cigarettes and two bottles of Moutai from the pile of cigarettes and alcohol, then came back and handed them to Zhao Shanhe.

"Two packs of Zhonghua cigarettes and two bottles of Maotai, a total of 36 yuan. If you want more, you'll have to wait. After all, it's not easy for us to get this stuff."

Zhao Shanhe was afraid that the other party would think too much, so he readily paid 36 yuan to buy the cigarettes and alcohol, and then looked at the canned food, tea leaves, and malted milk on the desk. He wanted to buy some but didn't dare to say anything. He would decide later. Anyone who could set up such a big stall in Pigeon Market must have connections in both the black and white sectors. It would be easy to get into trouble if he showed too much wealth. Just take the things he bought now and someone would take the risk if he took them out casually.

Before going out, he borrowed a cloth bag from Qiao Laoliu and put all the things in the pocket before he dared to leave. Qiao Laoliu was also very happy. He made several dollars from this business. He took Zhao Shanhe back to the entrance of the alley and said something before parting.

"Little brother, if your friend wants to buy anything that's in short supply, just come to me. You can see that we have all kinds of good stuff. If you buy a lot, I can give you some kickbacks."

Zhao Shanhe thought to himself, forget it, I can’t just eat my own kickbacks, right?

He waved goodbye to Qiao Laoliu and squeezed into the crowd. After walking a few dozen meters and when the people behind him could no longer see him, he found a dilapidated house and put all the cigarettes and alcohol into his small world. These things cost him nearly one and a half months' salary to buy, and he was afraid that they would be stolen.

As it was getting dark, I thought there was nothing to buy, so I left the pigeon market, picked up my bicycle and returned to the courtyard.

In late November in Sijiucheng, the sun had already set at around 11 o'clock. It didn't take Zhao Shanhe long to buy corn and peanuts, but he wasted a lot of time buying cloth coupons, cigarettes and alcohol. When he returned to the yard, it was already dark, and the supreme door god at the door had already gone home for dinner.

Zhao Shanhe couldn't wait to see him. Every time he entered or left the yard, this stingy old man would find something to talk about and try to take advantage of him.

Pay attention to him. He always asks you where you were, what you bought, and what you brought back today.

As long as you talk to him, Yan Laokou will become more and more demanding. When you come back from buying vegetables, he will take two vegetables from you and ask you to try them. When you come back from buying meat, he will touch the grease on your hands. He doesn't take advantage of much, but his tricks are disgusting.

If you ignore him, he won't dare to provoke the older and more capable ones, but the younger and less capable ones will be in trouble.

He will definitely find different ways to say that you don't respect the elderly and the young, and don't respect your teachers, and he will say it in front of the gate of the yard. Coupled with his wife Yang Ruihua's gossipy mouth, after a while everyone in the yard will think you are that kind of person.

In this age where reputation is more important than anything else, just tell me how annoying it is to meet this old couple. So over time, everyone has become tolerant of Yan Bugui's habit of taking advantage of others, and just considers it as a way to avoid disaster. It's not a lot of money or things anyway.

After passing the middle courtyard and arriving at the backyard, when Zhao Shanhe came back, it should have been dinner time. There was no one watching. He leaned the car against the wall, opened the door and went into the house. The process was the same as yesterday, lighting the lights and lighting the stove.

Although he could go to his little world and feel the spring-like warmth, other residents in the yard would be suspicious of him if he didn't light the stove. Many of them had struggled and struggled to survive during the war years, and were very wary of abnormal things.

I lit the stove and made some cornmeal paste. I opened the window slightly to let the smell out. This was also to let Liu Haizhong's family and the deaf old lady in the backyard know what I was going to eat today.

The main point is I don’t eat meat, I don’t eat meat, I don’t eat meat! I have to say it three times.

After ten or eight minutes, the windows were closed, the smoke bombs had been deployed, and Zhao Shanhe had to start getting down to business.

I turned off the lights and entered the small world. The grass plants on the hills in the distance had grown a lot. The flow rate of 10 times was still considerable, but the trees had not grown leaves yet. It would probably take another day.

He planted many kinds of trees and fruit trees in Mangshan, including walnuts, chestnuts, crabapples, oranges, dates, and mountain reds.

He also brought in Mangshan’s most famous apples, pears, apricots, plums, and even a few from the decades-old ginkgo trees.