The Boss of Yan's Family in Siheyuan

On the weekend, Yan Jiecheng decided to go shopping in the bookstore.

He will show more and more abilities in the future, and the only explanation is that he studies.

Therefore, he should develop the habit of reading and collecting books.

If you want others to believe it, you must first believe it yourself.

After exiting the alley and crossing the Drum Tower, Yan Jiecheng headed straight to the east.

In less than ten minutes, we arrived at Dongzhimen Inner Street.

In addition to avoiding trolleybuses and buses on the road, Yan Jiecheng went on a rampage.

After all, there will be no red street lights here, and there will be an endless stream of ox carts, donkey carts, and horse carriages along the way.

Seeing the Dongzhimen Gate Tower in sight, Yan Jiecheng was filled with emotion.

The Dongzhimen Gate Tower is now the only one left alone. The tower has three drops of water on the top of the hill with double eaves, gray tube tiles and green glazed tiles trimmed around the edges. Animals roam the ridges of the walls. There are horse trails on both sides of the inner walls of the tower.

The Wengcheng and the Arrow Tower have long disappeared.

This summer, in order to facilitate transportation, a gap was opened on the north side of the city tower, the watchtower platform was dismantled, and the urn city and the watchtower were completely demolished. A gap was originally opened on the north side of the watchtower, and most of the city wall leading to the north of the watchtower was demolished.

At that time, Yan Jiecheng, like other residents nearby, came here every night and stole bricks every day.

Of course, there is no means of transportation, so you can’t steal much.

There is a Xinhua Bookstore on Dongzhimen Street, and Yan Jiecheng spent half an hour shopping. He found a set of "Music Appreciation Series" and the "Oral Organ Learning Manual" issued by Shanghai Tonghui Bookstore.

When I was going to check out, I saw a row of comics listed on the counter.

I pulled it out out of curiosity and looked through it, and yo, it turned out to be Romance of the Three Kingdoms by Shanghai Fine Arts Publishing House.

Yan Jiecheng read it with gusto. From the characters' joy, anger, sorrow, and gestures, to the carved pillars of the palace, the military operations, and the battles and victories on the battlefield, the comic strips were all described in detail, lifelike, and hard to put down.

"Hey, what about you, do you want to buy it? You want to take it home and take a look at it. Don't ruin it for me." A female shop assistant in her thirties shouted to Yan Jiecheng.

Yan Jiecheng was not angry, closed the book and said quickly: "I will buy it, I will buy it."

Yan Jiecheng knew about this comic book series "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and started publishing it in series in the fourth quarter of 1956.

This year, due to some reasons, manuscript preparation, creation and other work have been stopped.

Later, it was not until 1962 that the creation work of "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" was resumed. By 1964, all 60 volumes were finally published.

Therefore, the comic strip Yan Jiecheng saw was only half a set of 34 volumes.

I paid the bill at the counter, the total was six yuan and 35 cents, and the comic book alone was only three yuan and 40 cents.

It made Yan Jiecheng feel distressed for a long time.

Along the inner street of Dongzhimen, there is a narrow-fronted house facing the street, which is owned by a Chinese bookstore.

Yan Jiecheng entered the door and saw bookshelves along the wall on the left and right, with books written densely and high.

The space between the two rows of bookshelves is enough for two people to stand back-to-back in front of the bookshelves and flip through the books. If a third person comes over, all three of them will have to turn aside to make it through.

It was already very crowded, so a checkout counter was set up on the right hand side of the entrance on the first floor, half the size of a table.

Yan Jiecheng passed through the cashier, there was a staircase next to it, and he went up to the second floor.

The second floor suddenly opens up, with an area of ​​about 100 to 200 square meters, and a row of windows facing the street. While flipping through a book, you can watch the people on the street below, which makes it feel like you are at peace in the midst of the hustle and bustle.

Yan Jiecheng saw that the bookshelf was full of cheap picture albums, copybooks, notes, unofficial histories, essays and the like. The printing and binding were also sloppy, and he couldn't tell what edition they were, and they had no so-called collection value.

Yan Jiecheng didn't know that those books were worth collecting, so he just treated them as a treasure hunt based on luck.

After searching for a while, I found a recipe manuscript called Zhihuang Shanji.

The exposed area is filled with the chef’s experience, and it looks like the handwriting is that of two different people.

From the information on the title page, we know that this recipe was mainly collected, created and compiled by someone who calls himself Zhihuang.

Yan Jiecheng saw that the narrative in the book was vivid and interesting, so he put the manuscript away and bought it later.

After shopping around and seeing nothing he liked, Yan Jiecheng paid the bill and left the bookstore, and bought a flute in front of a small stall.

On the way home, I stopped by the trust store and bought a harmonica.

Just like this, more than eight yuan disappeared along the way, which was enough for two people to eat for a month.

The third aunt at home was chattering again, calculating how much corn flour, how much sweet potatoes, and how long she could eat for more than eight yuan.

At noon, Yan Jiediai made a fuss about eating white flour steamed buns. Yan Jiecheng pinched Yan Jiediai's little face and said, "You little guy, I'm afraid you won't be able to eat these two noodles in the future."

Yan Bugui has made up his mind that everyone in the family will eat sweet potatoes from now on.

Sweet potato rice, sweet potato steamed buns, you can’t live without sweet potatoes.

In the afternoon, Yan Jiecheng took the bus out of the city and headed towards Zuojiazhuang.

It arrived in less than an hour.

I got off the car and walked for a while. It was the coldest month of winter and there were no people on the country roads.

Along the way, villages are dotted like stars, ranging from small villages with seven or eight households to large villages with dozens or hundreds of people.

After walking for about an hour, covering a distance of four to five kilometers, we finally arrived at Zuojiazhuang.

There are several households in one village, and visiting relatives and friends depends on walking, which means that your legs will collapse from exhaustion.

There are more than thirty families in Zuojiazhuang, all named Zuo, and they are all from the same clan.

What Yan Jiecheng is looking for is Yan Bugui's cousin Zuo Linhe.

Zuo Linhe is the accountant of the brigade and has some skills. In the past, the Yan family always turned to him for food exchange.

"The solution is here. Come to the house and warm yourself up."

There is no farm work in the village in the middle of winter. Dogs don’t even care if it’s cold outside, and everyone hides in the house.

After entering the house, I took off my shoes and got on the kang.

A warm current spread from his butt to his whole body, and Yan Jiecheng suddenly felt that the fatigue along the way was swept away.

My cousin looked at the two bottles of Erguotou that Yan Jiecheng placed on the table, and he was more than a little curious.

You must know that your cousin is the most calculating. Although he does not suffer a loss every time he exchanges food, he never takes advantage.

When have you ever seen someone bring gifts to your home? It’s really weird!

"Jie Cheng, what are you doing?"

Yan Jiecheng saw that his cousin's face looked strange, so he told him about working in the steel rolling mill.

"Okay, okay, my cousin will definitely drink this wine. Now that you are working, your dad will be able to relax. It's really not easy for your dad to raise your whole family by himself over the years."

The two chatted for a while, and the cousin asked his aunt to go outside and watch.

My cousin took the soles and sat at the door, basking in the sun and pulling the soles.

The two people in the room started talking.

"Now the grain of every household in the village has been collected, and everyone eats a big pot of rice together. Most people don't have any extra grain to exchange for." My cousin smoked a dry cigarette and puffed away.

"It is estimated that only a few cadres in the village and the cook on the stove have food."

After hearing what his cousin Zuo Linhe said, Yan Jiecheng was shocked. It's strange, the cooks there these days are indispensable for stealing.