Siheyuan's Journey Through the Ages

Chapter 24 Afternoon Chat in the Tavern

"Third uncle, you look down on me. In terms of age, I am the younger generation and you are the elder, but I am the head of the Ma family now. What I say is what the Ma family says. I will stick to my word."

Ma Qing seemed very determined. In this era, life was always boring. After having the system, Ma Qing had completely let go of the concept of money. Now as long as there was someone to accompany him, spending money was not a big deal. It was not bad to be a spendthrift. Ma Qing now had the urge to go back to find Brother Zhou.

Yan Bugui was half-hearted to begin with, but since Ma Qing had said so much, he naturally went with the flow and followed Ma Qing out of the hospital.

"Uncle, I have no experience, so let's go to whichever tavern you recommend."

"I heard there's a tavern at Zhengyangmen, but it's a little far away. Why don't we walk there?"

Ma Qing's heart skipped a beat. No way, could there be something similar to "The Little Woman of Zhengyang Gate" in this? What the hell is this world? Is it the real world?

"Since the master has said so, it's only about fifty minutes away. It's still early, so let's go slowly."

Ma Qing and the third uncle walked slowly in the afternoon of May in the city, smelling the fragrance of acacia flowers all over the city, and came to the front street under Zhengyang Gate. The third uncle took Ma Qing to a tavern, where the wooden door frame was slightly shiny due to years of polishing, and the door panels still had scratches and mottled paint from years of accumulation.

There was a wooden sign hanging on the door lintel, which read: "Daqianmen Tavern". The two climbed the stairs and entered the tavern. They saw that there were several wooden square tables and benches neatly arranged in the tavern. There were several porcelain bowls and wine jugs on the table. The patterns of the porcelain looked antique in the afternoon light. There were several landscape paintings hanging on the wall. Although the brushwork was simple, the artistic conception was profound, adding a bit of elegance to this small space.

In the corner of the tavern, an old man was leisurely smoking a pipe, his eyes revealing nostalgia for the past. Next to him, several middle-aged men sat together and talked in low voices. There were not too many customers in the tavern, and the noise in the hall was not too loud or too quiet. Ma Qing suddenly felt a relaxing atmosphere, and his whole heart seemed to relax.

As soon as the two entered the house, a beautiful woman came forward. Her dress had the unique flavor of this era but also a special sense of refinement. The light blue women's suit set off a refreshing and capable female image. Fortunately, it was not the actress, otherwise I would really suspect that I was not traveling through time but dreaming, Ma Qing complained in his heart.

"Welcome, welcome to our shop. Would you like to sit by the window or in the inner room?" The proprietress skillfully guided Ma Qing and Yan Bugui.

Ma Qing and Yan Bugui found a seat by the window. Yan Bugui ordered a bottle of Huadiao, saying it was good for the stomach. Ma Qing ordered a bottle of beer, a plate of peanuts, a plate of smashed cucumbers, a plate of pork head, and a plate of braised offal. He wanted to order more but was stopped by Yan Bugui.

"That's enough, that's enough, eat first, take your time."

Ma Qing naturally gave up. Ma Qing had received a lot of supply tickets during this period of time while receiving leaders, so he had no pressure at all to spend.

"You've made it big, you can even treat the Third Master to a drink now." Yan Bugui said with a little emotion and envy, "If my eldest brother is half as good as you, I'll be so lucky."

"Don't say that. I just got luckier. I didn't expect it. It was just a matter of luck. I didn't expect it to work out."

Yan Bugui sighed: "When luck comes, heaven and earth are on your side; when luck is gone, heroes are helpless. What belongs to you is yours, and being too modest is hypocrisy."

"I'm not so young to become famous, I'm really nervous, it's always good to be humble." "I watched you grow up, I didn't expect that I was wrong, you are a talented person. You're right, it's always good to be humble."

"Uncle, we can't just drink without doing anything. Last time when we went to the morning market, I promised to buy you a drink. You must tell me why this business has existed since ancient times and why it is no longer accepted now. You haven't forgotten this, right?"

Yan Bugui picked up the wine glass, took a sip of the wine, and said unhappily, "I knew you wouldn't treat me for nothing, but I didn't expect you to be interested in this."

Ma Qingxin thought, I came to this era just to solve my own doubts and get to know more about you parties involved, so that my trip will not be in vain.

"You can say it, but your third uncle is timid. Let me make it clear to you first. After today, I will not admit anything I said." Yan Bugui said in a low voice.

"That's right. There's no one else here."

"This business has existed since ancient times. Why is it not doing well now? The reason is very simple. There are not enough materials. If there are not enough materials, what do we need merchants for? I was born as a small business owner. Now I teach mathematics and I am very sensitive to numbers. After liberation, so many people are born every year, but there is only so much land. Did you know that last year the newspaper said that our population has reached 6.5 million, 1 million more than when the country was founded? It has been less than ten years. There are 1 million more people. What a huge number of food and supplies. In the past, merchants just took the excess goods from one place to another place to sell them and make a profit from the difference, which promoted the circulation of goods and commercial prosperity."

"Merchants have used their own means to exchange surplus materials from various places. Take food as an example. Is there any place that can supply enough food to feed the local people and then transport it to other places? It's not possible. The current situation is that no one can eat enough. Some places can eat 90% full, and some places can eat half full. As a result, everyone is eating half full. This is forced. Why do we need merchants? Let them eat another head here?"

"Then why do you have so many children? What do you think? My parents only have me, and my family situation is very good."

Yan Bugui glanced at Ma Qing. "Your mother was injured when she gave birth to you, otherwise we don't know how many children you have. My family has four children. You are young and don't know what it was like in the past. It is not easy for a child to grow up. In order to inherit the family line, you have to have more children. I also made a mistake. After liberation, the city recruited workers every year. I saw it and thought that if I had one more child, I would get an extra salary when he grew up. By then, my Yan family would have four children and five people would get salaries. Wouldn't my Yan family be stronger under my leadership? Who would have thought that we would not recruit workers starting this year? Hey, everyone should have the same idea as me. I am too optimistic about the future."

"Ah, so this is what happened in my family. I just found out."

"Hey, who would have thought that nowadays, families like yours with two working parents and few children are the most comfortable. Don't even mention your childhood friend Niu Zhenhua's family, they live an even more comfortable life. Ma Qing, you wrote this article this time, are you going to develop in the direction of literature in the future? Then can you consider your third uncle for your work position?"

Well, the third uncle is obsessed with my work station. It's pitiful that all parents in the world are so caring. Ma Qing is no longer concerned about his work at this time. He is very confident after getting the system, but he has never thought about giving his work station to Yan Bugui.

"Third Uncle, although I wrote an article that was published in the newspaper, I don't have the brains for that. I still want to apply for a technical secondary school in machinery. I want to go back to the steel mill in the future."

"Hey, you can't force it. If you change your mind, think about your uncle first. He won't let you suffer any loss."

It seems that the Yan family has a strong foundation. The tone of the third uncle is very firm.

(End of this chapter)