When he returned to his room, He Yuzhu brought out a few peanuts and cold dishes. She opened a bottle of Fenjiu and sat there drinking alone.
Alone in a strange land, I miss my relatives more than ever during the festive season. It had been almost half a year since he had transmigrated to this world of the courtyard house. He was usually busy not thinking about his parents, wife, and children in his previous life. However, on this lonely and cold New Year's Eve, he sat alone and drank alone. All he could think about was the Spring Festival of the past.
The high-spirited him and his newlywed wife went to their parents 'place to celebrate the Spring Festival in their first year. In the second year after their marriage, they held a pair of foot-long babies and accepted the blessings of their new friends. Whenever they talked about it with others, they would say that the couple was a blessed person.
He also thought of a pair of children who had started learning to speak, from a toddler to a young girl, and then to a man who danced with a spoon. The scenes replayed in his mind frame by frame. She did not know how much of a blow the loss of their father would be to the two children, and what their lives would be like in the future.
Heartache, heartache, worry, frustration, heartbreak, all sorts of emotions mixed together. Unknowingly, after drinking two bottles of white wine, He Yuzhu was already drunk and fell asleep on the table.
On the first day of the new year, He Yuzhu woke up with a hangover. His mouth was dry and his head was splitting. She found his big tea vat and saw that there was still half a cup of herbal tea inside. She picked up the kettle sitting on the stove and mixed the water in the big tea vat into warm water. She drank half a cup in one gulp and sat there in a daze for a while. Then, she climbed onto the bed and lay down. She grabbed the blanket to cover her head and went back to sleep.
He didn't have any relatives, and he didn't want to get close to the Siheyuan people. He didn't have to pay New Year's greetings to anyone, so he just slept in. In the end, he wasn't disturbed by the firecrackers set off by the other families, but he was woken up by He Yushui.
Compared to the later generations, the Spring Festival in this era was more festive. It was the moment that children looked forward to the most. The little girl was also very excited and insisted on pulling her brother to go shopping on the bridge. He Yuzhu did not want to stay in the courtyard house, so she simply took her sister shopping.
On the bridge, there were countless restaurants, teahouses, food stalls, and general merchandise stalls. There were storytellers, opera singers, street performers, and so on. It was the largest entertainment center in the old capital.
There were all kinds of folk artists and tourists gathered here. There were Beijing opera, Hebei opera, Pingju, puppetry, shadow play, crosstalk, storytelling, single-string, and other folk arts. There were martial arts, circus, flag waving, juggling, and many other forms.
Not only were there all kinds of programs and tricks that were dazzling, but the delicacies of the capital were also gathered here. There were tofu pudding, fried liver, braised small intestines, braised cakes, sausages, fried dumplings, scorched rings, and more than a hundred other snacks. There were also stir-fried tripe, stinky tofu, sheep's frosted sausages, sour plum soup, tea soup, snowflake cheese, and everything from staple foods to snacks and drinks.
He Yushui held a pinwheel in her left hand and a candied haws in her right. She looked here and there.
She could not help but widen her eyes and mouth when she saw the broken rocks on her chest. She was so nervous that she seemed to have forgotten to breathe. Seeing the circus performance, they were overjoyed and exclaimed repeatedly.
When she saw the stall with the fried belly stone, she quickly stuffed the half-eaten candied haws into He Yuzhu's hands and pulled her brother to eat the fried belly.
He Yuzhu brought her sister around for the whole day. Yushui's eyes were big but her stomach was small. She wanted to eat when she saw delicious food. If she couldn't eat it, she would stuff it into her brother's mouth. She didn't stop eating along the way. At this time, He Yuzhu also treated the rainwater as his future children's love and would grant all requests. In the end, the two of them did not eat any proper food at noon or night. Their stomachs were filled with all kinds of delicacies.
On the second day of the Lunar New Year, she brought Yushui to Wangfujing to visit a bookstore. There was the first Xinhua Bookstore on Wangfujing Street, and there were several other bookstores, including the International Bookstore.
He Yuzhu bought the little girl's " New Four-Corners Number Dictionary'," Our Summer "," Journey to the West ", the comic book " Wandering Three Hair "," Chicken Feather Letter ", and " I Want to Study ". He also bought the first three volumes of " Leader Selection " and prepared to study them carefully.
It was still the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, so there were not many works of the new era. Many of them were pre-founding books, and there was a mix of good and bad. He Yuzhu was also more careful when choosing reading materials for her sister. Not only did she have to consider the impact on the little girl, but she also had to not let anyone catch her during the turbulent decade.
On his way home, he passed by the Xinjiekou entrusted store. Seeing that there were quite a lot of people inside, he brought Rainwater in to take a look. Thinking that it wouldn't be long before many things would have to be bought with tickets, he could buy what he could now. Moreover, buying old goods wouldn't be so conspicuous, so he wanted to take a closer look.
The commission store was a shop that appeared after the founding of the People's Republic of China to buy and sell old things, similar to the pawn shop before the liberation.
There were two ways to purchase: one was to entrust the store to evaluate the price of the seller's goods, and after the seller agreed, the store would be entrusted to pay on the spot to receive the goods; The first was that the seller wanted to sell the item for more money. After the item was appraised, the shop would sell it on behalf of the seller. However, the seller would have to wait until the item was sold before they could get the money. The shop would charge a certain handling fee. The handling fee for ordinary items was 7%, and for furniture and bicycles, it was 4%.
In the era of scarcity of goods, people could consign their unused old items to commission stores for sale. This helped alleviate the lack of daily necessities and satisfied people's daily needs.
Because it was a state-owned store, all aspects of the transaction were very standardized. It also paid attention to protecting the interests of the people, so it was normal for the people to go to the entrusted store to buy and sell old goods.
When the siblings walked into the commission shop, they smelled a strong smell of Camphor. The counter was filled with old watches and pocket watches that had turned yellow. There were some clothes hanging on the rack at the side. There were cotton-padded jackets, coats, and even furs. The empty space was filled with old wooden furniture and old bicycles.
Rainwater sneezed when she smelled it. She thought about the comic book she had just bought and said to He Yuzhu,"Brother, I can't stand this smell. I'll wait for you at the door.”
"Alright, don't run around. If I can't find you later, I'll go back by myself.”
"I'll stay at the door. I won't run around.”
He Yuzhu mainly looked at big items like the Three Turn and One Sound. These would have to be bought with tickets in a few years, so it was more cost-effective to buy them now. As for antique paintings and calligraphy, he was not in a hurry to buy them here. The 1960s and 1966s were the time to do those.
He first went to the clock counter to look at the clock. There were several rows of clocks on the shelf, some Chinese and some Western.
He Yuzhu saw a 90% new 35 brand clock with a wooden shell that didn't look fancy. He said to the salesperson,"Comrade, bring that clock over and have a look."
The salesperson moved the clock to the counter and said to He Yuzhu,"This is a Shanghai-made 35-brand table clock with a copper movement. The last time it was wound, it could run for 15 days in a row.”
"How much?" He Yuzhu asked.
"Eighteen yuan!"
He Yuzhu bought it without hesitation. He moved the clock to the door and saw Rainy squatting by the door reading a comic book. He went over and placed the clock in front of Rainy and said,"You keep an eye out. I'll go in and take a look.”
"Big brother. You bought a clock? That's great. If you put it in my room, I won't be late in the future.”He Yushui said excitedly.
"Alright, watch carefully. Don't let anyone move it away.”After saying that, He Yuzhu walked into the shop again.
He went to the furniture section and saw an official leather box. It looked good, so he went over to take a closer look. He then looked at a pair of large wooden boxes at the side and found that the official leather box was full of yellow rosewood, while the pair of large wooden boxes were made of yellow rosewood and iron rosewood. They were all good things.
Coincidentally, He Yuzhu wanted to make some boxes to store things in the system backpack, so he asked the salesperson,""Comrade, how much are these three boxes?”
"This official suitcase is 10 yuan, and that pair of large wooden boxes is 7 yuan.”
"Alright, I'll take it. Put it aside first. I still have to look at something else.”
He Yuzhu spent another 16 yuan to buy an old mahogany chest of drawers. Old furniture like this would be sold at sky-high prices in the future. He Yuzhu had once wanted to be an artsy person and get a set of antique mahogany furniture. However, real mahogany furniture could easily cost tens of millions. This was something that even a high-ranking worker in the capital would not dare to think of. He did not want to let go of this opportunity.
However, He Yuzhu was not in a hurry. It was still possible to get a set of old mahogany furniture before 1966, but it would take some effort to get a set of furniture from the same era.
Genuine sets of furniture were not the kind that were pieced together. For example, tables from the Ming Dynasty and stools from the Qing Dynasty, beds with rosewood and cabinets. What was really important was the furniture that had been passed down from the Ming Dynasty. Usually, it would be best if they could get it from the Ming Dynasty. He Yuzhu was still confident that he could get at least one set before the 10th year of Fengyun.
However, if he came across old furniture made of expensive materials, he would still buy it immediately.
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。