Siheyuan: Relieve stress and relieve worries

Chapter 9 A new beginning

January 26, 1953, New Year's Eve, West Wing in the Front Yard of the Siheyuan

This year is New Year's Eve. For Yan Jiekuang, it is his first Spring Festival since he came to this world. He is full of expectations. He woke up early in the morning, put on his own cotton-padded jacket, and climbed off the kang. Yesterday, his elder brother said that he would take him to the big market in the morning.

"Slow down, listen to Uncle Li and don't run around." Yang Ruiping also stood up.

Yan Bugui also woke up, glanced at Yan Jiekuang, turned over and closed his eyes again.

Uncle Li has already stood up and is packing up the tricycle of the street office at the gate. He promised yesterday to take the three little ones from the Yan family to the market. This task is a long and arduous one.

Uncle Li also regretted it. It was fine if Yan Jiecheng was fine, but why did he still agree to that little guy so foolishly?
"Uncle, uncle, I'm here." Yan Jiekuang ran towards the front door with his short legs. Yan Jiecheng also got up and was washing his face.

"My master is at the door. We'll take a car there later. Have you washed your face?" Yan Jiecheng said to his wife.

Yan Jiekuang shook his head, holding the basin and walked towards the door, "I'm going to the middle courtyard to change the water. You little cat, go and call your second brother."

Yan Jiekuang went straight to the side room of his house and ran to the kang quietly. Yan Jiefang was still sleeping. His two cold little hands reached into Yan Jiefang's quilt sinfully.

Yan Jiefang screamed "Ah!" and sat up suddenly. He was furious when he saw that it was his family members teasing him.

Yan Jiekuang was not afraid either, "Brother, aren't you going to the market?"

Yan Jiefang was now completely awake, and he quickly got up and put on his clothes. His mother came in from the door, and obviously heard the second son's cry. As soon as she saw her two sons, she knew they were making a fuss, so she didn't care and went back.

After the three brothers reunited, Uncle Li also walked into the house and looked at Sanxiao, "Okay, let's go."

Uncle Li glanced at Yan Jiekuang and told Yan Jiecheng, "Watch your brother. He is too young. There are all kinds of people at the fair. Hold his hand and don't let go."

As soon as he went out, Yan Jiefang saw Zhou Nianping from Widow Wang's house standing at the door, looking over here, and shouted, "Pingping, wait for me to come back and bring you some candied haws."

Zhou Nianping was standing at the door of his house, not coming out, looking at the three Yan brothers with envy. It was obvious that Zhou Nianping knew where they were going, and Yan Jiefang probably told Zhou Nianping yesterday.

Yan Jiefang had two good friends in the front yard, one was Zhou Nianping, and the other was his neighbor, Sun Xiaolong, who also lived in the middle room of the west wing.

Uncle Li, riding his bike with three extremely excited young men on board, drove towards Tongzhou Market.

This year, Uncle Li accepted the invitation of Aunt Yang Ruiping to spend the New Year with him at the Yan family. Old Li thought that he couldn't go empty-handed, so he made this trip to the market.

Tongzhou Market
The market was set up on the Tongzhou River. It was only seven or eight in the morning, but the market was already crowded with people. The three brothers went from being excited to being stunned. They were obviously shocked, but also full of curiosity.

Uncle Li pushed the cart towards the market, and the three brothers couldn't keep their eyes busy. They looked east and west, saw the candy man selling people, and wanted to get off, saw the monkey showman, and wanted to get off, saw the performer performing acrobatics, and wanted to get off.

Uncle Li didn't even stop, he just rode his bike to the back of the market, "I'll go buy some vegetables first, and I'll come back and take a look later."

The three brothers quieted down, and Yan Jiekuang asked his second brother, "Do you have money?"

Yan Jiefang was stunned. He didn't know what money was.

"Without money, what can you use to buy candied haws for Pingping?"

Yan Jiefang was confused. He knew how to buy it, but he didn't know the money. In the home of the third uncle, the three brothers had never seen money. Now he knew that if he wanted to buy the candied haws, he had to buy them with money.

Yan Jiecheng looked at Yan Jiefang with a sly smile on his face. When he came, Yan Bugui gave Yan Jiecheng 50,000 yuan, but the two brothers didn't know about it.

Yan Bugui understands the ways of the world, and now he knows not to be greedy or take advantage of others, and he also knows how to be grateful, so the third uncle has changed.

Uncle Li looked at the three young men, pretended not to know, and continued walking forward.

When they arrived at the vegetable market, the three brothers got off the car and followed Uncle Li. Yan Jiecheng helped Uncle Li buy vegetables and carry things, while Yan Jiekuang and Yan Jiefang held hands and did not get off the car either.

Yan Jiekuang looked around, his eyes darting around, and held onto Yan Jiefang and muttered to himself.

Yan Jiekuang pulled Yan Jiefang to a stall where a grandfather and his granddaughter were selling big red dates. They were harvested from their own home and were going to exchange them for some money at the market.

Yan Jiekuang asked the little girl, "Sister, how much is a pound of red dates?" The little girl was not very old, only four or five years old, but she was a little shy because she had not been in contact with many people. She turned her head and looked at her grandfather. The old man was called Shi Dashan, and he lived in Shijia Village on the edge of Tongzhou Town.

The old man was also a kind person. He looked at this delicate little figure with curiosity and laughed.

"The big red dates originally cost two thousand yuan per pound, but since you're so cute, I'll sell them to you for fifteen hundred yuan," the old man said teasingly.

Yan Jiekuang then asked, "Grandpa, how is your business? How much have you sold? How much do you have left?"

The old man hesitated for a moment, and was curious about what the little guy was doing, but then he thought, just treat it as teasing his grandson, since there was no business anyway.

"The business hasn't opened yet. We've brought in a total of 200 kilograms, all of which are here. How about you take them all, little guy? If you want them all, it's fifteen thousand per kilogram," the old man teased the little guy.

"Okay, then they'll all belong to me. I'll pay Grandpa after I sell them all."

The old man was holding his granddaughter's hand and looking at the little one curiously. How old is she? She must have just learned to walk.

Yan Jiekuang ignored it and went to his eldest brother to whisper something. The eldest brother hesitated for a moment, then ran to the market entrance and came back soon with a gong.

Yan Jiekuang had been whispering to Yan Jiefang for a long time, and Yan Jiefang fought hard for the candied haws.

The two kids returned to the stall, set up their gear, and started selling right away.

Yan Jiekuang was short, so he asked Yan Jiefang to hold up the gong and shout while he beat the gong.

"The New Year is here, the New Year is here, the big red dates are here first" "Bang"

"After eating, the Year of the Dragon will be prosperous and money will flow into your pocket" "Bang"

"Both adults and children like it, it's healthy, delicious and nutritious" "Bang"

"Big red dates, big red dates, two thousand per pound is not expensive" "Bang"

"To replenish blood and qi, stewed chicken and duck with jujubes is essential" "Bang"

"Fruits are scarce in winter, so jujubes are the first choice for the New Year." "Bang"

The sound attracted people, and soon, a lot of people gathered around. Uncle Li and Grandpa Shi were both stunned.

Soon the little girl next to him joined in and sang the jingle with Yan Jiefang. More and more people gathered around. The old man and Yan Jiecheng were busy weighing the items, and finally even Uncle Li came to lend a hand.

It didn’t take long from the time Yan Jiekuang started shouting until the jujubes were sold out. Some people even asked when they would continue selling.

Yan Jiekuang squatted next to Grandpa Shi, staring at the money in the bag.

"Grandpa, how much do I get?" Yan Jiekuang asked in a money-grubbing manner.

Grandpa Shi laughed and happily took out 100,000 yuan, but he didn't give it to the little guy. He gave it to Yan Jiecheng, knowing that he was his elder brother.

Grandpa Shi is very happy. With this set of rhymes, he probably will have all the red dates in his house by the afternoon.

Old man Li didn't say a word during the whole process, but his heart was surging. This little monster, how old is he now, what will he look like when he grows up.

Old man Li took his three brothers, said goodbye to Grandpa Shi and his granddaughter, and pushed the cart towards the door.

On this day, the three brothers went on a shopping spree. They bought gifts for their parents and tobacco for Uncle Li. Yan Jiecheng bought these secretly.

When I arrived at the market gate, I heard the children at the market gate shouting, "New Year is here, New Year is here, the big red dates are here first."

Old man Li was shocked again. Did the news spread so fast?

(End of this chapter)