Life in siheyuan era

Shen Lan Yin failed to pin the label of "rascal" on Zhou Zhiyuan, but she was confident that the label of "naive" would stick firmly to his head.

Her efforts seemed to have succeeded, as Chen Shuying chuckled, "Zhou Zhiyuan has such an innocent side?"

Hearing this, Shen Lan Yin felt something was off. Chen Shuying used "innocent" instead of "naive."

Fang Nan, on the other hand, wore a surprised expression. She had a deep impression of Zhou Zhiyuan and felt that he was unfathomable, which didn't align with Shen Lan Yin's description of him being naive.

Only Fang Xiang actively echoed her conclusion, "Zhou Zhiyuan is very naive."

However, Shen Lan Yin didn't care about his statement. Since Chen Shuying had expressed her view, Shen Lanbo's attitude was crucial.

Shen Lanbo chuckled softly and slowly said, "Zhiyuan acts spontaneously and is sometimes childlike due to his pure heart."

His words pleased Chen Shuying and also cleared Zhou Zhiyuan's name. "Pure" and "rascal" were two completely opposite characteristics.

Chen Shuying smiled and said, "Isn't a twenty-one-year-old young man just a big boy?"

Aunt Liu chimed in from the side, "He should be a good kid."

Listening to Chen Shuying and Aunt Liu, Shen Lan Yin was displeased. Why didn't they believe her? Zhou Zhiyuan was simply an impolite, snobbish, and naive young man.

As she pondered these thoughts, Shen Lanbo suddenly asked, "What does Zhiyuan think of Hao Zhiwen?"

Shen Lan Yin replied without thinking, "He said he has no principles."

"Heh..." Shen Lanbo chuckled and said, "The truth is clear. You incited those children to label Zhiyuan as a book thief, didn't you? Forcing Zhiyuan to play a reenactment game to prove his innocence. And his saying you were highly myopic was a double entendre—you misjudged him."

Shen Lanbo reached a conclusion. His words resonated with Fang Xiang, who immediately added, "Zhou Zhiyuan's assessment is accurate. Someone like Hao Zhiwen would be a traitor during wartime."

Fang Xiang was also on Shen Lanbo's side. Shen Lan Yin secretly pinned a label on him: "traitor."

But she wouldn't reveal this label. Nor would she take off the label she had placed on Zhou Zhiyuan. Reading comic books at twenty-one was a sign of naivety.

That was Shen Lan Yin's firm belief.

However, Zhou Zhiyuan didn't think he was naive. In his dream, he was taking self-study exams. During class, he had once heard an associate professor say, "I have two bookshelves at home. One is for famous works, and the other is filled with comic books..."

The associate professor's words inspired him, and collecting comic books became his hobby.

When he first entered this library, he wanted to go to the children's reading room to look at comic books, but he was too embarrassed in front of Zhao Yongmei.

But this time he had the chance. There was no one at the service desk, so Zhou Zhiyuan walked into the children's reading room without hesitation, never expecting this incident to occur.

Shen Lan Yin had actually secretly followed him and incited the children to label him as a book thief.

He was indeed quite embarrassed when the children escorted him out of the children's reading room, but seeing Lou Xiao'e gave him a flash of inspiration.

Lou Xiao'e had feelings for him, and her coming forward to help him proved this point. This was an excellent opportunity for contact, and Shen Lan Yin had helped him.

Thinking about it, Zhou Zhiyuan used the reenactment to prove his innocence, which also aroused Lou Xiao'e's strong curiosity: "Why did he go to read comic books?"

Then, using the opportunity to dispel her doubts, he threw out bait: "investment." This bait would definitely work on the daughter of a former capitalist.

He thought so and acted accordingly. At this moment, he was standing in line at the cashier of the time-honored wonton restaurant, preparing to pay for the treat.

Treating was also an investment, and he was always generous in this regard.

At this moment, he stood in front of the investment window and turned his head to look. The two ladies at the table by the window were whispering to each other and occasionally glancing at him. When they saw him looking over, they immediately retracted their gazes and continued whispering.

They misunderstood. Zhou Zhiyuan didn't turn his head to look at them, but to focus on the backpack on the stool.

The issuance of grain coupons began in 1955. When having enough to eat was still a problem, the government centrally purchased and sold grain, implementing a personal rationing system, with specific amounts recorded in grain books.

Grain coupons of equal value were issued based on this amount. To buy grain at a grain store, one had to present the grain book and pay the corresponding amount of money and grain coupons.

Grain coupons were divided into two main categories: national and local. National grain coupons were not issued unless for special reasons such as traveling out of town on official business, so very few circulated in the market.

Zhou Zhiyuan didn't need a grain book to eat wontons at the wonton restaurant, but he had to pay with grain coupons. Without grain coupons, he wouldn't be sold a single wonton.

He also had two jin of local Beijing grain coupons in his pocket. He wouldn't pay with national grain coupons, but he took them out to examine them carefully before carefully putting them back in his pocket.

He wanted to fish. These ten jin of national grain coupons were the bait. Here, one jin of national grain coupons was used as one jin, but in some people's hands, it could be exchanged for two jin of local grain coupons.

He wanted to exchange some grain coupons. He took out these grain coupons to send a signal, then put away the grain coupons and approached the window at the cashier, paying one yuan and ten cents for one jin and two liang of grain coupons. He bought three bowls of wontons, six sesame cakes, and two side dishes, asking the waiter to help bring them to Lou Xiao'e and Zhao Yongmei's table.

Then he came to the table and sat down, glancing in that direction. That thin figure was secretly eyeing him, showing signs of taking the bait.

Seeing this sign, Zhou Zhiyuan retracted his gaze and turned to look at Lou Xiao'e, hearing her whisper, "This isn't the place to talk either."

Zhou Zhiyuan nodded slightly in agreement, picked up the small bottle on the table, poured some pepper into his bowl, and whispered, "The 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms' comic book was completed by more than a dozen master-level calligraphers and painters. It shouldn't be simply regarded as children's literature. The exquisite character images it contains cannot be replaced by other books."

His voice was very low. After speaking, he scooped up a wonton and put it in his mouth to chew slowly.

Lou Xiao'e and Zhao Yongmei exchanged glances. Lou Xiao'e asked in a low voice, "What is the investment you're talking about?"

Her voice was very low, desperately lowering her tone like a mosquito.

Fortunately, Zhou Zhiyuan's hearing was excellent. He swallowed the wonton and replied faintly, "The templates will be constantly worn down during continuous printing. When the templates can no longer be printed, this set of comic books will be out of print."

"This set of comic books has a total of sixty volumes, priced at eight cents per volume. Buying them all would only cost four yuan and eighty cents. But what can four yuan and eighty cents buy in twenty years?"

His voice was also very low. Without knowing the context, the neighbors wouldn't care if they heard these words. They wouldn't care about things twenty years from now, nor would they know the concept of investment.

In this environment, Zhou Zhiyuan could raise a question. Lou Xiao'e took over the question and asked in a low voice, "What can it buy?"

He replied, "This is impossible to predict, but I know that people's income is directly proportional to the amount of social material. The material wealth in twenty years will definitely be much richer than it is now, and people's income will increase significantly. Comparatively, the current money is also constantly depreciating."

"So, instead of saving four yuan and eighty cents, it's better to buy a set of 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms' comic books for collection. This money won't affect my normal life, but it can be expected to maintain its value in the future, and may even appreciate. This is investment."

Zhou Zhiyuan explained clearly and also put bait on the hook. Seeing Lou Xiao'e and Zhao Yongmei pondering, he raised the wonton bowl with his left hand and placed it on his right palm, lowered his head and drank a mouthful of wonton soup, and used his left hand to pick up a sesame cake and put it on the plate in front of him.

The investment concept he spoke of was very simple and easy to understand. Lou Xiao'e and Zhao Yongmei understood it after careful consideration. The premise of investment is not to affect life, and this concept was acceptable.

Understanding this investment concept, Lou Xiao'e opened her mouth and said, "Besides comic books..."

She wanted to ask what other investments there were, but Zhao Yongmei interrupted her, "Xiao'e, some things can be said later."

Lou Xiao'e suddenly woke up, looked around and saw that no one was paying attention to them, breathed a sigh of relief, and turned to look at Zhou Zhiyuan. Seeing him holding the wonton bowl in his right hand and using the chopsticks in his left hand to bring a sesame cake to his mouth, this action gave her a feeling of disharmony.

Looking closely at his right hand, seeing his four fingers straight, she asked in surprise, "What's wrong with your right hand?"

Lou Xiao'e discovered the problem. A normal person holding a bowl would press their thumb against the rim of the bowl and curve their four fingers to support the bottom of the bowl.

But Zhou Zhiyuan placed the rice bowl on the palm of his right hand, with his four fingers stretched straight.

This action surprised Lou Xiao'e, and Zhao Yongmei also noticed it, putting down her soup spoon and looking up at Zhou Zhiyuan.

Seeing their gazes, Zhou Zhiyuan gave up his plan to bite into the sesame cake and replied faintly, "An injury sustained on the battlefield, assessed by the military doctor as a fourth-class disability."

Zhou Zhiyuan explained, but Lou Xiao'e wanted to ask again. Zhao Yongmei gently nudged her arm with her elbow.

Lou Xiao'e realized that Zhou Zhiyuan didn't want to go into detail, so she had to restrain her curiosity, no matter how curious she was, after all, their relationship wasn't that close.

So she scooped up a wonton and put it in her mouth, then looked at Zhou Zhiyuan again, discovering that his movements were becoming more and more coordinated. If it weren't for his four fingers being stretched straight, one wouldn't even be able to tell that there was a problem with his right hand.

Curiosity rose in her heart again, "How did he do it?"