Chapter 10 Capital City
"Mr. Wang, the discount is 5 cents per piece! A single room is 1 cent, and dinner is 5 cents."

Wang Deming took out a small stack of cash from his pocket, carefully counted out one dollar and eighty cents and put it on the shopkeeper's counter.

Upon seeing this, the waiter immediately shouted again: "Dear guest, Mr. Wang, here's a reward of three thousand yuan!"

Then the waiters in the first and second courtyards also expressed their gratitude: "Thank you, Mr. Wang, for the reward!"

Wang Deming smiled and bowed to the shopkeeper and the waiter, declined the waiter's help, and left the hotel leisurely with his luggage.

"Take care, and welcome back next time!"

The current Beijing Railway Station is also known as Zhengyangmen East Station. As the name suggests, the station is located on the east side of Zhengyangmen. It is a European-style building with three floors above ground and an arched dome. There is a tall clock tower on the left. The south side faces Qianmen Street, commonly known as Dazhalan.

Before you even leave the station, you can see the eye-catching Zhengyang Gate and the Zhengyang Gate Arrow Tower, commonly known as the Qianmen Tower, which is dilapidated and gray; there is also the wooden Zhengyang Gate Archway with five rooms, six pillars and five floors to the east of Zhengyang Gate.

As people were leaving the station, there was a neat row of rickshaws on the left side of the exit. Wang Deming waved his hand, and a clean rickshaw started up quickly and stopped in front of him. "Where are you going?"

"Please go to the Wellcome store in Bamiancao (now the middle section of Wangfujing Street) first, then go to the Yili Food Store in Dong'anmen Street, and finally go to No. 81 Gulou East Street."

"The whole trip is 45 cents."

Wang Deming declined the driver's offer to help carry the luggage, put it down with both hands, and stepped into the car.

"Please sit tight!"

The driver lifted the two handles in front of the rickshaw with both hands, trembled slightly at first, then started to jog slowly. When he got out of the brick road and reached the asphalt road of Gong'an Street, he began to gradually accelerate. He turned right from Tiananmen Square into Dongsanzuomen Street (East Chang'an Avenue), turned left into Wangfujing Street, and arrived at Bamiancao.

Wang Deming didn't get out of the car either. He waved to the guy at the door of Wellcome and handed him two yuan: "Please send a duck to No. 81 Gulou East Street and ask the master to slice it at home."

"Just deliver it before lunch."

Then the waiter's loud voice sounded: "Okay, a roast duck, No. 81 Gulou East Street, delivered before noon, sliced ​​at home!"

Wang Deming clasped his fists to his fellow driver and asked him to continue moving forward.

Wang Deming had to get off the bus when he arrived at the "Yi Li Food Store". They sold candy and bread, but there was no waiter at the door to solicit business.

After entering, I bought a pound of milky white bread and half a pound of White Rabbit candy, and got on the rickshaw again. After the rickshaw returned to Bamiancao, it went all the way north until it reached the intersection of Jiaodaokou South Street and Andingmen Street, turned left into Gulou East Street, and it took a while to reach No. 81.

After thanking the driver and paying him fifty cents, Wang Deming returned to his sister's house through the side door of Baochao Hutong next to No. 81, carrying his luggage in one hand and bread and candy in the other.

As soon as he entered the door, an old lady wearing a solid-colored silk gown with long sleeves and a large collar was watching some children playing in the yard. As soon as the children saw Wang Deming, they surrounded him and asked, "Uncle, uncle, what delicious food did you bring us?"

Wang Deming put down the luggage on his right hand and picked up a cute 3 or 4-year-old girl with two pigtails in front of him with one hand: "Do you miss your uncle?"

"Yes." The little girl answered in a baby voice.

"Haha, good girl!" Wang Deming happily put his forehead against the little girl's and shook it twice.

"Hello, Grandma Stephanie." Wang Deming greeted the old lady.

This old lady was not my sister's mother-in-law, but the widow of my father-in-law's brother, named Wang Kui. Her late husband was the nephew of Ji Lu, the Minister of the Imperial Household Department of the Qing Dynasty. She was the eighth among her brothers in Ji Lu's family and was known as Ji Ba Ye. Therefore, people generally respectfully called Wang Kui Ji Ba Nai Nai.

How come he is Wang and has the surname Ji? This is because the Bannermen pay attention to using their given names as their surnames, and each generation has one name;
Manchu surnames are too long. For example, Niu Hulu’s first name was Jilu, so he took Ji as his surname. The next generation was named Wang Kuikui, so he took Wang as his surname. However, in order to show their family name, they called each other Ji Baye to the outside world.

After her family fell into poverty, she had been living in her brother-in-law's house, helping to look after the children and helping her sister with the cleaning.

As for cooking, I really don't know how to do it. I can even fry an egg and it's burnt.
A little boy, about 7 or 8 years old, saw that Wang Deming ignored him, and a cunning look flashed in his eyes. He wanted to take advantage of Wang Deming's inattention to snatch the two paper bags in his left hand. He could already smell the sweet smell coming from the paper bags.

But the little boy's rush over missed. While Wang Deming was teasing his sister, he suddenly raised the paper bag in his hand high up.

Seeing this, the little boy hugged Wang Deming's thigh and started to act like a spoiled child: "Uncle, what about me?"

"Oh, you miss your uncle too?"

"Yes, I do!"

"Okay, then let mom share some with you later, otherwise you will have a toothache if you eat too much candy."

A woman in her 30s, wearing a moon-white silk gown with a pink lotus edge and white satin embroidered shoes, with a fair and gentle complexion and a face like a full moon, came out of the room upon hearing the noise in the yard. When she saw Wang Deming holding a paper bag in his left hand and holding the girl in his right hand, she said with a hint of complaint: "Deming, you are too doting on the child."

"Why do you buy things every time you come back? Aren't you afraid of spoiling them?" Wang Deming put the little girl down, rubbed her head gently, and called out with a smile: "Sister."

"I was coming back by train today, and I just happened to pass by the Yili Food Store in Dong'anmen, so I bought this."

"Besides, how can an uncle not spoil his nephew?"

"Isn't it said that nephews are debt collectors of their uncles? From now on, I will have to rely on them to support me in my old age!"

Yan Baozhen rolled her eyes at Wang Deming in anger and said, "Don't talk nonsense. It's not like you won't be able to have children in the future! Let's not talk about how you study, but now you have learned all the tricks of Beijing oil."

"Hurry up and go back to the house to change your clothes. I'll get you some water to wash. You too, always change into this grey and black homespun clothes before going back to the village. It looks old-fashioned."

"I think you and mom are your biological children. You always talk about being simple, calm, and reserved."

Wang Deming handed the paper bag in his hand to his sister and replied with a smile: "Sister, why don't you just say it's rustic? Don't I have to help mom with work when I go back to the village this time?"

"This dress is convenient to wear."

"Besides, when you go out, it's better to dress simply, which is safer."

"It's safer for you to wear your school uniform! Besides, this is a new society with good public security. You just take after your mother and are used to being cautious." Yan Baozhen felt her hands sink after taking the bread and candy. She raised her eyebrows and said, "Why are you buying so many again? We still have the White Rabbit candies we bought last time."

Wang Deming walked to the door and turned back with a smile: "Sister, there are many children at home, they eat quickly, and we adults can also have some sweets occasionally."

"Where are my brother-in-law and father-in-law? I'll change my clothes and go say hello. I just happened to have something to ask my father-in-law."

"Ama (the bannerman's name for father) went to Houhai for a stroll, Nainai (the bannerman's name for mother) and Gu Nai (eldest sister-in-law) went out to play cards, and your brother-in-law went to the Kaiming Theater to watch a play. They are not at home."

"Oh, then wait until they come back."

"Oh, sis, please don't cook one dish for lunch. I ordered a roast duck when I passed by Wellcome and it will be delivered to my house later."

"Hey, why are you spending money recklessly again?"

Wang Deming smiled without saying anything and went back to the house with his luggage.

In fact, now my sister's in-laws only have two yards left to sell, namely, No. 81 and No. 82. The reason why she didn't tell Qin Huairu was that it was also another preparation for spending money on herself.

49年春天85号院卖给了租门面的广发祥木器行，200块现大洋；后面两年又分别把83-84号院同样卖给了同样租门面的东美成衣铺，60匹“大五福”的白胚布。

In those two years, the price of housing was based on cloth, not gold. The most famous garden - originally with more than 300 rooms and corridors, was bought by the Air Force Command Logistics for 50 pieces of cloth in 3500. The East Courtyard (the Peace Hotel and Beijing Electronic Computer Building were built behind it)

The yards 81 and 82 were the same size, with blue bricks paved on the ground, a pomegranate tree planted in the middle, and a running water pond next to the tree. However, there was also a large lotus fish tank in the yard 82, which contained goldfish.

However, one of them has three rooms in the north and three rooms in the east wing, and the other has three rooms in the west wing, with a moon door in the middle; my sister and brother-in-law, with their children, and Wang Kui live in Courtyard No. 81; my father-in-law, mother-in-law, and my widowed sister-in-law who has returned home live in Courtyard No. 82.

Wang Deming lived in a room on the south side of the west wing, which was quite spacious. There was a kang in the room, and a mahogany desk and wardrobe were placed near the window. There were two camphorwood cabinets against the south wall.

After entering the room and locking the door, Wang Deming moved the cabinet with force, revealing a half-meter square brick underneath. He lifted the brick to reveal the iron box underneath. He took out the key to open it, and then put the large and small yellow croakers and stacks of rolled-up dollars taken from the Changping Drum Tower neatly into the cabinet.

Wang Deming looked at the large iron box that was already more than half filled with satisfaction. He admired it with joy in his heart for a while before putting it back in place one by one.

After rearranging everything, he spread out the calligraphy and paintings he got from the Changping Drum Tower and placed them on the camphorwood cabinet to remove the moisture first. Although he didn't understand calligraphy and paintings now, anything that could be hidden by someone couldn't be bad.

After everything was cleaned up, Wang Deming brushed the dust off his hands and went to the yard with a washbasin and towel. His sister had already fetched the water and mixed it with warm water. After washing up, he went back to the house and changed into youth clothes.

It is said to be a youth suit, but in fact it is also a Zhongshan suit, except that the collar is larger and the lapels have also grown from small to large.

After going out again, Yan Baozhen in the courtyard looked at her brother Wang Deming with satisfaction, an absolute clothes hanger: "How great is this!"

“How spirited!”

"Sister, let me tell you something. I'm going to ask my father-in-law to help me find out if there are any houses for sale nearby. I want to buy two houses first."

"Ah, we live well at home, why do we have to buy a house and move out?"

(End of this chapter)