Chapter 129 New House
Wang Deming glanced at the dining table. There was a bowl of sauerkraut with a few slices of fat meat on it, a plate of fried shredded potatoes, a plate of fried shredded radish, and a dish of pickled radish skins. The staple food was steamed buns made of two grams of flour.

Then he complained, "Why are you cooking so plain when mom is here?"

"Sister Qin, have you run out of money in the box at home?"

Wang Deming reached into his pocket, took out twenty yuan, handed it to Qin Huairu, and said, "Here, this is the lecture fee for today, spend it."

“Don’t be reluctant to spend money.”

The lecture fee was a complete surprise, about 20 dollars a week.

Each Chinese medicine doctor who participates in the training pays a monthly tuition of 6 yuan, which includes teaching materials, paper and pen, as well as a lunch with one dish of fish and meat, and rice or white flour buns.

Qin Huairu didn't answer and replied gently: "Deming, there is still a lot of money in the box at home. It's my mother who won't let me buy it."

Instead, godmother Wang Shuqin pointed at the fat on the sauerkraut and scolded Wang Deming, "Deming, isn't there meat here?"

"Who can eat meat every day?"

"Go and see the people next door. Each person gets a sweet potato, a bowl of clear cornmeal soup, and a pickle, and that's their dinner."

Wang Deming was so amused by Wang Shuqin that he explained, "Mom, the neighbors next door can't be described by common sense. They are so stingy."

"He was a small business owner before and is now a primary school teacher. Why would he be so frugal?"

“一斤大米1毛4分2厘；一斤标准面粉2毛1；咱就说猪蹄，才9分钱一个，白菜、南瓜更便宜1分钱2斤；粗粮就别提了，白薯一分钱一斤，玉米面3分钱一斤.”

"It's right across the street. The food expenses for a whole family are probably no more than 2 cents a day."

"Mom, our family is already frugal enough. Look, let's all follow the example of the people in the courtyard and eat steamed buns made from 20 grams of flour."

Wang Shuqin thought about it and thought, this seems to be the case? So the neighbors are saving so much so that they can open a shop in the future and make a lot of money?
Hey, speak of Cao Cao and here comes Cao Cao.

After a knock on the door, Yan Bugui's slightly flattering voice sounded: "Is it my sister-in-law?" Then, a skinny figure came in, opening the door curtain, holding a bowl of steaming, watery millet porridge with an egg in it and a few grains of brown sugar sprinkled on it.

She continued to talk to herself, "Your sister-in-law gave birth to a baby girl a while ago. We have to thank Baozhen for asking relatives to help send the baby to the hospital."

"I heard you were here, so I sent you a bowl of eggs and brown sugar. Please come and share in the good fortune."

He enthusiastically brought the food to the table in front of Wang Shuqin, then glanced at the table casually and swallowed his saliva.

"Master Yan, congratulations! I haven't thought about your last righteous words." Wang Shuqin understood what Yan Bugui meant when she saw him. She praised him and then told Qin Huairu: "Xiaoru, pick out the big eggs I brought today and give 10 to Master Yan."

"Sister-in-law, look at what you said, aren't we real relatives?" Yan Bugui's teeth were exposed. He took the egg from Qin Huairu and said in a fake polite manner, "Sister-in-law, I will think about your gift."

But he still stood there, staring at the big piece of fat on the pickled cabbage while chatting with Wang Shuqin, "Sister-in-law, how many days do you plan to stay in the city this time?"

"My mother doesn't live here, there's no room for her." Wang Deming was so annoying that he put his arm around Yan Bugui's shoulders and gently pushed him out the door. "Master Yan, that's enough."

"You should go home and eat as well."

"Your whole family is waiting for you to have dinner."

Wang Shuqin also stood up to see him off, talking about Wang Deming but not trying to persuade him to stay. "Master Yan, Deming is still young, please bear with me."

"Haha, no, no, it's time to have dinner at home." Yan Bugui smiled embarrassedly.

"Well, Master Yan, see you later." As soon as Yan Bugui left, Wang Shuqin shook her head in a helpless manner and said to Wang Deming, "Deming, you've gone too far."

“How can you push guests out?”

Wang Deming curled his lips and said disapprovingly, "Mom, do you believe that if we continue chatting for a few more sentences, Yan Laokou will definitely lead the conversation to the topic of meat?"

"Anyway, I've seen clearly a long time ago that he is a calculating person."

"If you don't believe me, ask my sister."

Yan Baozhen covered her mouth and laughed, nodded to Wang Shuqin and said, "Mom, it's true."

"My neighbor next door, I can't say he's a bad person, but he's really calculating to the core."

"For example, when the baby was born, I brought my wife and child home that night just to save a few cents. I was so angry at the time."

"By the way, don't we ask Aunt Guan to help with the laundry?"

"The guy next door doesn't even think about the fact that his wife's belly is bigger than mine, and he's still thinking about taking on jobs to make money. What do you think?"

Wang Shuqin's eyes widened, her mouth slightly opened, and after a long while she said, "Even more stingy than when your father was alive!"

"Haha." The whole family burst into laughter.

"Have a meal!"

After dinner, Wang Shuqin helped to clean up, and then Renchun and Yichun put on their hats. The family went out happily to Xiaojingchang Hutong for a walk after dinner.

Walk from Nanluoguxiang to the intersection of Gulou East Street. To the right are Dajingchang and Xiaojingchang; to the left is Baochao Hutong.

Yan Baozhen first glanced to the left, sighed slightly, and took Wang Shuqin's arm and sighed: "Mom, thanks to Deming, otherwise I can't imagine where the three of us would be now?"

"We have sold everything we could, including the graveyard and the house. I am still pregnant, so even if I take on tailoring work at home, I can only do some buttoning and embroidery work. It's good enough to make a living."

Wang Shuqin patted Yan Baozhen's arm. Wang Deming and Qin Huairu, each holding a child, skipped and walked in front, with a gentle look on their faces. They sighed in the same way: "We are lucky to have met Deming!"

After the Big Sutra Factory is the Small Sutra Factory. It is called this name because this area was previously the place where Buddhist temples printed and dried Buddhist scriptures.

Xiaojingchang Hutong is 6 meters wide and more than 300 meters long. At the north end is Fentingsi Hutong. This area belongs to a different street from Nanluoguxiang, Andingmen Street.

Maybe because it is used to dry Buddhist scriptures, the ground of Xiaojingchang Hutong, which is adjacent to Dajingchang in the west, is paved with tiles, which is a grade higher than the dirt road in Nanluoguxiang.

The group walked to a Ruyi Gate, which had obviously been renovated: the exposed beams of the eaves were painted red; the brick carvings on the upper left and right corners of the doorway were also rebuilt and carved into the shape of a Ruyi; the two door pins above the lintel were engraved with the word "Ruyi";
Especially the two big doors, the newly painted red ones were particularly bright. Wang Deming walked forward and knocked on the door.

"Coming!"

"Master Deming, you're here!" Aunt Zhang saw through the crack in the door and saw that it was Wang Deming and quickly opened the door.

Wang Deming was very polite to Aunt Zhang, "Aunt Zhang, sorry to bother you tonight. I brought Mom here to see if there's anything I missed."

"Master Deming, please come in as you say."

"Young Master Renchun and Miss Yichun are here too, please come in."

(End of this chapter)