Siheyuan: Survival Guide for Courtyard No. 95

Because he wasted some time on the road, it was already past 3 p.m. when Zhao Shanhe returned to Sijiu City. Although he was very tired, his mental excitement made him ride his bike very fast. He did not stop until he reached the Dove Market near Yongdingmen, south of the Temple of Heaven.

After parking and locking the bicycle, he gave the old man who was watching the bicycle 1 cent, and the other party gave him a small bamboo piece. This was the early parking fee. Compared with the parking fee of 21 yuan per hour within one kilometer of major hospitals in Fengtian in the 10st century, it can be said to be very cheap.

The pigeon market on the Yongdingmen side was originally said to be a place for selling pigeons, but later it gradually became a place where all kinds of things were sold. The authorities also knew about this a long time ago. Although it is not a formal market, people still have to eat, right?

There are too many people in the city of Sijiu who do not have enough food rations, so they can only go to the various pigeon markets in the city to find some food at high prices without tickets. If these markets are closed, who knows what kind of trouble will happen down there.

Zhao Shanhe was also a frequent visitor to the Pigeon Market. When his father was alive, he would often take him around. As a buyer, everything he did was to exchange things with fellow villagers. To borrow an advertising slogan from later generations, we are just porters living in the city.

It happened to be Sunday, and the Pigeon Market was crowded with people coming to buy and sell things in an endless stream.

Zhao Shanhe walked around the grain sales area outside the market and was lucky enough to find a fellow villager selling white horsetooth corn. This crop had just started to be planted in Hebei Province this year. He had also come to the Pigeon Market to look for it two months ago and finally bought it this time.

Thanks to his life as a rich man in his previous life, he once bragged and chatted with a group of colleagues who were waiting for orders at midnight.

A fat uncle once said that this kind of corn is the most delicious in the area around Sijiu City. Various cooking methods can bring out the strong corn aroma. It is also large in size and drought-resistant. It's a pity that after the introduction of genetically modified corn, white horsetooth corn was gradually eliminated, and in the end only a few people who like it grow some for themselves.

Zhao Shanhe had never eaten it either, but since the fat uncle said it was delicious, it must be right, because fat people are all foodies.

After wandering around for a while, he saw a fellow villager selling peanuts in shells. He went over and bought half a pound of them. Seeing that there was nothing else worth buying, Zhao Shanhe went to an alley near the center of Pigeon City. There stood a middle-aged man wearing a half-new double-breasted military coat, a dog-skin hat on his head, an unlit economic cigarette in his mouth, and his eyes scanning the people passing by like radar.

Zhao Shanhe came to the middle-aged man and asked in a familiar voice.

"Uncle, what's the price of the cloth ticket today?"

This man is the biggest ticket dealer in the entire Pigeon City, guarding the best spot in the market. It is said that he has some "background" in the Yongdingmen area, so no one dares to compete with him for business. He makes a lot of money by buying low and selling high every day.

Although this pigeon market is a product of spontaneous gathering, there is no one in control behind it. Even a three-year-old child would not believe this. With such a large place and huge profits, how can people not be jealous?

However, these were too far away from Zhao Shanhe. He only came to buy some useful tickets. For example, he had to buy back the six feet of cloth coupons that he took out to exchange for chickens yesterday, in case he encountered a place where he still needed the cloth coupons, he would not be unable to take them out.

The man in the dog-skin hat saw so many people every day, how could he recognize Zhao Shanhe? But since the other party called him uncle, they must have done business before.

"One dollar for three feet, how much do you want?"

Seeing the other party's attitude, Zhao Shanhe knew that the other party definitely didn't remember him. That's right, he was not a leader, nor a big shot. He had only traded cloth coupons once. How could the other party remember him, a little Karami?

He took out three dollars from his pocket and handed it over.

"Give me nine feet of cloth coupons."

The man in the dog-skin hat took the money, took out a stack of bills from his coat pocket, pulled out a few cloth coupons to make up the total of nine feet, and put the rest of the bills back into his pocket. Zhao Shanhe felt a little dizzy seeing so many bills, and thought how nice it would be if they were all his.

However, he also knew that this was just a thought. If the man with the dog-skin hat dared to trade tickets here alone, there must be people nearby to protect him, just in case someone was planning to take the tickets. To put it bluntly, the life of the man with the dog-skin hat might not be as valuable as those tickets.

After taking the nine-foot cloth coupons handed over by the other party, Zhao Shanhe was not in a hurry to leave.

"Uncle, I want to ask you, do you have first-class cigarette tickets and Maotai liquor tickets?"

After hearing Zhao Shanhe's question, the man in the dog-skin hat raised his head slightly, glanced at him, and then replied.

"Are you sure you want first-class cigarette tickets and Maotai liquor tickets? I don't have these now. If you want them, you can pay a deposit first and I can get them for you within half a month.

But these two tickets are not cheap, and you don’t look like you belong to a wealthy family, judging from your clothes. If you want to give me a gift, Daqianmen can usually afford it.”

Zhao Shanhe knew what the other party was thinking as soon as he heard it. His work clothes gave people the misunderstanding that the other party might think that he was so young and even if he worked in a factory his monthly salary was only more than 20 yuan at most. In the department store, a pack of Zhonghua cigarettes cost 6 yuan, Maotai cost 8 yuan, and Wuliangye cost 5 yuan. The other party meant to tell him that if he wanted to give a gift, he had to do it within his means.

If it were in the past, Zhao Shanhe would never buy these things even if he was beaten to death. However, now that he has a small world, his mentality has inevitably changed a little. He still has to survive, but he has to change the way he does it.

"Uncle, I have a friend who wants to buy some first-class cigarettes and Maotai liquor for his father-in-law. I'm here to ask for him. I can't bear to buy these. If you have a way, can you tell me the approximate price? I can go back and tell you."

When the man in the dog-skin hat heard what was going on, he lowered his head and said.

"I thought it was some young fool coming here to play the dishes. If you had said so earlier, it would have been over.

You can go back and tell your friend that no one will sell first-class cigarette tickets and Moutai liquor tickets in Pigeon City. Even if people in Pigeon City receive these tickets, they will exchange them for Zhonghua cigarettes and Moutai liquor and sell them directly at a higher price.

Zhonghua cigarettes are 8 yuan a pack, Maotai liquor is 10 yuan a bottle, Wuliangye is 6 yuan, the prices are the same in the pigeon market of the whole city, but I can guarantee the authenticity, if you buy fakes, you can come back and smash my brand anytime. "

At that time, only the children of the wealthy families could get these things. Ordinary people had only heard that they could not get tickets at all. This was also the highest standard of gift giving. There was naturally a reason why these things were expensive.

After listening to the story told by the man in the dog-skin hat, Zhao Shanhe realized that the other party was also on guard against him. However, it was understandable after thinking about it. The risk factor in their line of work was too high, and they had to be on guard against everything they did.

He originally wanted to prepare for a rainy day, as he would definitely need these things in the future. Every village would have some poultry such as chickens, ducks and geese. He could buy some ordinary cigarettes and alcohol and ask the village chief to help him purchase them door to door. However, large livestock such as pigs, cattle and sheep were limited even to the commune. If he didn't bring some good things, who would risk helping him for no reason?

What he bought was not Zhonghua cigarettes or Maotai liquor, but grilled lamb chops and braised pork that he could not finish.

Although it seemed very expensive, he still followed the other party's question.

"My friend wants to buy six cartons of Zhonghua cigarettes and four bottles of Maotai liquor. How much deposit does he need to pay? When can he get the goods?"

The man in the dog-skin hat raised his head again after hearing this, which made Zhao Shanhe feel that this man really looked down on people. When I bought cloth coupons, he didn't even look at me. When I bought good cigarettes and wine, he immediately acted like he had learned Sichuan opera face-changing. He really didn't care about other people's feelings at all.