Siheyuan: From Being Called Shazhu

It’s a pity that no matter how good He Yuzhu’s idea is, it’s just an idea, and reality is reality after all.

The next day, He Daqing, who had gone out early to sell buns, came back early again.

Not only did He Daqing come back, but also Yi Zhonghai and Liu Haizhong who were preparing to go to work in the factory, Xu Fugui in the backyard, and even the sick old Jia all rushed back soon after going out.

He Yuzhu hugged He Yushui and moved closer, only to realize that the troops entering the city were not the vanguard of our army as He Yuzhu had thought.

The city was closed for nearly two months.

Schools are on holiday, factories are closed, and some shops or something are also closed.

At that time, the city of Peking was already experiencing rising prices due to the issuance of gold yuan coupons.

The closure of the city caused an extreme shortage of supplies inside the city as supplies could not enter. It was also the New Year and some people had lost their jobs, so prices had skyrocketed.

However, the courtyard was still relatively peaceful.

After all, the people living in the courtyards nowadays are either skilled workers from the steel rolling mill or cooks like He Daqing who have stored food.

In this era, having a stable job means having a stable income.

As for stable income, in turbulent times, every household will have some surplus food.

As for other people in the alley, some of them are not as safe as this courtyard.

Some people rely on doing odd jobs every day to support their family.

Since the city was locked down, prices have skyrocketed, but the money earned from odd jobs has remained the same, and gradually it is not enough to support the family.

This has led some people to take risks.

However, these people who take risks can be divided into two types.

One type is an honest person.

Even though he knew that the fruit stalls were going too far, he still took the risk and worked as a laborer for the fruit stalls for the sake of his family's livelihood.

After a large number of fruitful troops entered the city during the city closure in early December, President Fu ordered the construction of temporary airports near the Dongdan Stadium and the Temple of Heaven Park to facilitate the evacuation of their so-called senior officials and capital giants.

Because building a temporary airport requires a lot of manpower, now on the streets every day there are people beating gongs to recruit laborers to build the airport.

Every day there are people who choose to work as laborers because they can’t make ends meet.

Of course, there are also some people who take risks and choose to put their heads on the belt and eat the food of others.

However, these people would not attack their neighbors, but instead targeted the scattered fruit stalls who they considered to be "rich families".

Since the city was sealed off, there were only a few barracks in the city to accommodate so many soldiers, so some of them had to build temporary residences in Beihai Park.

Some of these people could not endure the hardship, or their families were from Beijing, so they ran away under the cover of darkness.

There are also some who, for various reasons, are able to "stay overnight" in nearby residents' homes.

Beihai Park is actually quite close to Nanluoguxiang, only about 600 meters, or one mile away, so naturally some people live in Nanluoguxiang.

These people are the targets of some people in the alley who can't survive.

Whether being a Rongmen (Buddha) or a Hengmen, many people can make a living.

But many people also gave in.

Alas~~~~

No matter what you do to make a living.

Anyway, during this period, the city of Beiping was characterized by just one word: chaos.

But this chaos didn't last long.

Xiaonian, which is the 49rd day of the twelfth lunar month in the eyes of northerners, should be January 1st of 21 in the Gregorian calendar if He Yuzhu calculated correctly.

President Fu finally spoke out and formally signed the "Peaceful Liberation Agreement."

Now that the city gate was open, many people breathed a sigh of relief.

Because, according to what was said on the radio, from January 1st to January 21th, the Guodang Army will withdraw.

It was not until January 1 that our army officially took over the city of Beiping.

Now, not only can many people breathe a sigh of relief, but most people can also see the light.

Even the workers in the steel rolling mill, such as Yi Zhonghai, were notified to return to work and went to work.

However, He Daqing did not choose to go out and sell buns.

According to He Daqing's original words, who knows whether prices will rise in the future? Anyway, the family has enough food to last for a while, so just stockpile it and wait until things become clearer.

He Yuzhu just smiled and didn't respond.

Nine days, eight days...

He Yuzhu is now counting the days on his fingers.

From the time he traveled through time until now, apart from going out of the courtyard to empty the tiger bowl and toilet every day, the only thing he could do was go out of the courtyard to empty the泔水桶.

At other times, He Yuzhu has been confined in the compound for two whole months.

In a few days, our army will officially take over Peking. Then He Yuzhu will be able to go out and see the outside world.

As for these few days, it is better to stay quiet and stay in the yard.

After all, He Yuzhu had been chased by deserters once, and he didn't want to be chased again at this critical juncture.

But after just two days, He Yuzhu had to go out.

The coal at home was almost gone. He Daqing didn't want to buy coal in the first month of the lunar year, saying that it was a bad omen. He wanted to buy it early as possible so that he could have a peaceful breakfast. After handing He Yushui over to the aunt in the east room, he took He Yuzhu out before daybreak.

The father and son did not dare to walk through the alley for fear of encountering deserters, so they could only walk south along the alley until they came to Di'anmen Northeast Street. They planned to walk east along this road until they reached Dongsishi Street and then walk south to the Chaoyangmen market to buy coal.

But when he arrived at Di'anmen East Street, He Yuzhu's eyes were no longer enough.

Apart from what he remembered, this was He Yuzhu's first visit to Peking.

The current Di'anmen East Street is not as prosperous as those travel bloggers filmed when He Yuzhu was lying in bed watching short videos.

However, it is understandable. After all, it is at least half a century away from the future.

However, this is not the reason why He Yuzhu’s eyes are not enough.

Instead, it was on the main road that He Yuzhu saw the familiar, grass-yellow military uniforms (Note 1) that looked very friendly.

"The People's Liberation Army has entered the city?"

He Yuzhu muttered to himself.

At this moment, he felt that he was right.

“Prepare in advance” is indeed deeply imprinted in the DNA of flower-growing rabbits.

"Well, I heard from Lao Yi and the others that after the agreement was signed on the day of the Little New Year, the PLA vanguard that signed the agreement stayed behind, on the one hand to supervise the retreat of the fruit stalls, and on the other hand to clean up in order to welcome the large troops into the city."

He Daqing heard He Yuzhu talking to himself and thought he was being asked. Although he still had no expression on his face, he tried his best to explain to He Yuzhu, fearing that what happened in the previous two months had left a shadow on his son's heart.

"They are different from the people at the fruit stalls. I heard they have strict discipline and don't take anything from the common people. Many people in the alley come to help them, and they even provide them with food."

After seeing He Yuzhu nodded as if relieved, He Daqing finally felt relieved and began to quicken his pace.

"Okay, just take a look. After the New Year, you'll have plenty of opportunities to see it. Now, hurry up and buy coal, or you'll end up buying inferior coal if you're late."

It took He Yuzhu and He Daqing an hour to walk together before they finally arrived at the Chaoyangmen Market that He Daqing mentioned.

Fortunately, He Yuzhu has been exposed to wrestling since he was a child, and there is no shortage of chefs at home. He has even practiced martial arts continuously in the past two months. Otherwise, He Yuzhu might not have been able to persevere.

The Chaoyangmen Market and the "commercial street" on the other side of Tianqiao Dashilan in He Yuzhu's memory are two completely different gathering places for selling things.

In He Yuzhu's opinion, the Tianqiao Dashilan area was more like a market driven by martial artists and writers, and gradually evolved into a formal mid- to high-end market with a strong commercial nature.

The Chaoyangmen Market is more like the rural market that He Yuzhu visited as a child in later life.

Although there are some literary and martial artists working here, they are pitifully few compared to those over there.

But here there are more small vendors selling various daily necessities.

Some stall owners are not even small vendors. Most of them are residents from suburban areas or rural areas who come to exchange their excess supplies.

After passing through a crowd that was not large, but definitely not a bustling crowd, He Yuzhu and He Daqing soon arrived at an area of ​​bungalows.

"Remember, his family is the most sophisticated coal seller in this area. I knew their boss when I was in Fengze Garden, so I have some face."

He Daqing introduced He Yuzhu to others while taking him into the yard.

It was not known whether it was because He Daqing bought a lot or because of He Daqing's face, but the coal seller readily agreed to He Daqing's request for "door-to-door delivery".

After selling coal, He Daqing took He Yuzhu to the market to buy many things, basically, everything needed for the New Year.

Yes, after the Little New Year, the Chinese New Year is just around the corner. We have been stuck at home for two months. Who doesn’t want to have a good New Year?

When walking home from the market, He Yuzhu was already covered with large and small bags of drugs, and even He Daqing was carrying several cloth bags in his hands.

Not to mention that behind the father and son, there were two coal-loaded carts following behind them.

On the way back, there were also many pedestrians carrying large and small bags.

If this happened a few months ago, no, not even a few months ago, just a week ago, anyone on the street would be considered tough if they didn't get robbed if they dared to go out with a large amount of supplies so blatantly.

But now it’s different, everything is moving in a good direction.