Go back to the prosperous days and become a layman

Chapter 751 750 Go back and make a shirt for him

"Why did you come back so late today? Did you give extra lessons to students?" Xiao Wang asked when she saw her husband coming back.

The whole family knew that he would bring back meals from school in the next few days and they were all waiting for him.

"Oh, don't mention it. We met a family who was having a funeral on the way. They invited a lot of people and blocked the street. It took a while to move out." Tang Zhitong took out the rice bowl and steamed buns and said.

"Speaking of funerals, have you seen people preparing paper gold ingots? I wanted to buy some a few days ago, but the store didn't have any, and I didn't see anyone selling paper gold ingots." Zhang Guifang asked when she heard this.

"I haven't seen it. Mom, don't expect it. It's unlikely that there will be any to sell in the next two years. The notebooks used by Fengzhen and Fengzhi are already in short supply this year, and the school doesn't even bother to cover it up. Students are asked to write on the front and use the back. There's not enough paper for serious matters, so where is the manpower and resources to produce and burn paper? You'll see, by the end of the year at the latest, we may not even be able to buy yellow paper, and we may have to burn newspapers." Tang Zhitong shook his head.

In my mother's words, "selling ingots" is a profession. They carry a load on their shoulders and walk through the streets. On both ends of the load are hung gold and silver ingots that have been folded and blown up and strung together with strings. They are used by people to burn them as sacrifices to various gods and their ancestors.

In the past, these vendors appeared at the entrance of alleys every now and then, because there were many temples in the city, today there was a temple fair, tomorrow there was a birthday celebration of a deity, and ordinary people wanted to pray for wealth and peace, so it was not easy to go there empty-handed. As a result, this industry had good business and even became a livelihood.

"Go! You are such a fool. What kind of words are you using to burn newspapers?" Zhang Guifang glared at her son, not quite believing what he said. She looked at her daughter-in-law and said, "Burning paper is a habit of the people. The higher-ups can't just ignore it, right?"

"Mom, this... Everything is in short supply now. If we have paper, we have to use it to print books and exercise books first. Even if we have some left, we have to supply it to grocery stores, cake shops, and pharmacies for wrapping things. I think even if yellow paper is available, there won't be too much." Xiao Wang glanced at her husband and said.

Before being asked by her mother-in-law, Xiao Wang had never thought about the supply of yellow paper, but had paid attention to the supply of other papers, such as toilet paper.

As a woman, there are always a few inconvenient days every month. Since getting married, Xiao Wang has never worried about toilet paper. It’s all thanks to her husband who puts two rolls of toilet paper in the closet every once in a while, and they are all disinfected.

Student Xiao Wang noticed that more newspapers have been used in the public toilets at his workplace since the Spring Festival, and toilet paper has gradually become rougher. Now few people use disinfected toilet paper.

The income of female students in the Beijing Library is not low. It’s not that they can’t afford it, but it’s already very difficult to buy it.

Xiao Wang did not tell her husband about this, but quietly reduced the amount of toilet paper she used. However, the careful Tang Zhitong still discovered it because the consumption of toilet paper in the closet was much slower than before.

It was not until Tang Zhitong asked that Xiao Wang told everything.

Tang Zhitong was of course not happy about it. He said that men could just shake it but women couldn't. It would also be ugly if newspapers or something were covered with ink. He insisted that Xiao Wang use sterilized toilet paper and told him not to worry about the supply because he would find a way to get it.

Thinking of this, Xiao Wang looked at her husband again. How could she not like such a considerate and warm-hearted man?

"No, then I have to buy a few more tomorrow. I'll need them for July 15th and the Spring Festival." After hearing what her daughter-in-law said, Zhang Guifang believed it for the most part and kept muttering about "purchasing goods."

"Mom, how can a few dollars be enough? In my opinion, you should just break it up and save two bundles, just in case, in case you want to buy something later and can't buy it. You can't let my dad and grandma be short of money." Tang Zhitong took the opportunity to instigate. He had just assigned KPIs to the two elders. Everyone knows that food and fodder must be prepared before troops move. In the future, more money will be spent, otherwise it will be difficult to accomplish anything due to insufficient funds.

"Then I'll visit a few more stores." Zhang Guifang believed it and agreed.

Yellow paper is different from other things. It is not a controlled item. It is sold in state-owned stores and cooperative stores.

Tang Zhitong chuckled, like a fox that had stolen a chicken.

April 4th, Saturday, was Tang Zhitong’s last day teaching the Mandarin workshop.

When he arrived at the Post and Telecommunications College early in the morning, Tang Zhitong heard from Lu Jian that someone had called him.

"What did you say?" Tang Zhitong went straight into the classroom. He couldn't go back to the dormitory to ask the dormitory manager at this time, so he could only ask Lu Jian, hoping that he knew.

"The dormitory manager said the other party's surname is Fang, and asked you to pick up the funds when you can." Lu Jian repeated truthfully.

"Okay, thank you, dormitory leader, I understand." Tang Zhitong understood as soon as he heard it. It was Fang Yuan calling him back to the unit, and the so-called funds should be the money to buy hens.

"Teacher Tang, why does Director Fang want to see you?" Luo Zhiping, who was sitting next to Tang Zhitong, poked him. He was also present when the dormitory manager went to dormitory 219 to make the announcement yesterday and heard it all.

Lu Jian was not clear about the composition of the escort department, but Luo Zhiping, who was a member of the Municipal Bureau, knew it very well. Since the surname was Fang and he was in charge of funding, he guessed that it was Fang Yuan.

"Go away. It's an adult matter, kids shouldn't ask about it." Tang Zhitong replied jokingly. He didn't tell Luo Zhiping, but he didn't deny that it was Fang Yuan who called.

Tang Zhitong felt that time was a bit tight. Not only did he have to go to the Teachers' Training College for lunch, he also had an appointment with Han Haizhou to hand over the tuition fees after lunch. As a result, there was not enough time before class for Tang Zhitong to make a trip to the escort office.

Although he had money and didn't need any capital to buy hens, the people at the escort department didn't know about this. After thinking it over, Tang Zhitong still felt that he had to go to the escort department today.

"Class monitor, if the teacher asks, just say that I have something to do at work and I'm leaving first." Tang Zhitong made up his mind, said hello to Luo Zhiping, and left after the first class.

Anyway, I'm skipping classes on orders, and I've skipped so many times that it doesn't matter if I skip one or two classes.

Arriving at the escort office, Tang Zhitong went straight to Fang Yuan's office. Seeing that Tang Zhitong was sweating profusely, Fang Yuan stood up to pour him some water while complaining, "Why are you in such a hurry? You are sweating profusely."

"Hey, thank you, Brother Yuan." Tang Zhitong took the teacup with both hands. The water was not hot, obviously boiled water. Before drinking, he briefly explained why he was late: "Yesterday, I went to the Cultural Reform Committee's workshop before finishing my class. I didn't receive the message. I rushed here immediately after I found out today."

"It's okay, drink some water first." Fang Yuan nodded. After Tang Zhitong drank the water in the cup, he told him that no one volunteered. Finally, he confirmed with Tang Zhitong again: "Are you sure?"

"Brother Yuan, don't worry. I have classes this afternoon. I will go there early tomorrow morning and will definitely get the job done beautifully. Sister Chen will not be at work tomorrow. I will come over to hand over to her on Monday." Tang Zhitong was full of confidence. This was not a difficult task at all. He just needed to pull out a few healthy hens from the space and hand them over.

"That's fine. In that case, the chickens will be kept at your house for a day. Report to me how much food they eat and I'll find a way to make it up to you."

"Don't bother. My family may lay two eggs a day. You can use the eggs to offset the loss." Food was hard to come by now, and Tang Zhitong didn't want Fang Yuan to waste his time on this, so he refused directly.

"You!" Fang Yuan pointed at Tang Zhitong with a smile, but did not reveal his thoughts. He urged, "Come on, stop wasting time here, go find Sister Chen, and get your money and get back to your work."

"Okay!" Tang Zhitong left without any further ado.

Sister Chen was efficient. When she saw Tang Zhitong coming, she first asked if he had any difficulties. After getting a definite negative answer, she happily opened the drawer and started counting the money.

"Then I'm counting on you." Sister Chen counted out two hundred yuan and handed it to Tang Zhitong, saying with a smile.

"Don't worry, Sister Chen. I promise to complete the task assigned to me by the organization!" Tang Zhitong held the money in his hand and said solemnly.

After agreeing on the delivery time with Sister Chen, Tang Zhitong packed up the money and left. Sister Chen did not say anything about the receipt, and neither did Tang Zhitong. Everything was self-explanatory. Tang Zhitong left the main entrance of the escort office and walked north from the west gate of Taoranting Park.

This area has more newly built courtyards in the past few years, and further north it becomes an old residential area, where most of the people are ordinary people.

Feeling the call of spring, swallows have already flown to the city. Some of them draw graceful arcs in the sky, while others stand side by side on the electric wires, flirting with each other.

A few naughty little boys tried to shoot swallows with slingshots. Maybe they did it for fun, maybe they were really hungry, or maybe they had never tasted the pain of their father's belt for shooting swallows before.

Tang Zhitong walked north along the crowded alley. Seeing this scene, he was reminded of Liu Yuxi's "Wuyi Lane".

In the old days, Wang Xietang flew into the homes of ordinary people.

Ordinary people, strictly speaking, is a metaphor, because "xun" and "chang" were units of measurement for length in ancient times.

"Xun" is the length between the fingers of both hands when the arms are stretched out. One xun is eight feet and one chang is sixteen feet.

The house, which was sixteen feet long and eight feet wide, was indeed a bit small. Probably from this time on, "ordinary" began to mean "common".

Entering the inner city from Xuanwu Gate, the houses are obviously much better than those in the outer city. The overall feeling is no longer so cramped, and there are more trees in the yards.

The people living in the courtyards love trees very much. Tang Zhitong has to pass Weiying Hutong when he goes to the Teachers Training College these days. Weiying Hutong was formerly known as "Weiying Hutong". It was a place for the emperor to raise eagles during the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

There is a Sophora japonica tree in Weiying Hutong that is over 200 years old. The tree is lush and vigorous, and many people are looking forward to seeing it bloom soon so that they can enjoy the feast.

This expectation has to be waited for, because the flowering period of Sophora japonica is around July.

Instead of waiting for the Sophora japonica flowers to bloom, it is better to go to Nanchizi to pick Sophora japonica flowers first. I guess in a few days the streets will be filled with the fragrance of Sophora japonica flowers.

Although there are green trees on the sides of larger roads in Beijing now, the history of street trees is actually not long. There were no street trees during the Qing Dynasty. It is said that the planting of street trees in Beijing was initiated by Zhu Qiuqun when he was the municipal supervisor in the early Republic of China, and he introduced acacia trees from Germany.

It was an unintentional act in the early years, but now it has become a means of filling my stomach.

The Sophora japonica trees in Weiying Hutong grow in a courtyard. Although it is customary in Beijing not to plant Sophora japonica trees in courtyards, there are always some people who don't care about this.

As we all know, Mr. Zhou Shuren had two trees outside his yard, one was a jujube tree and the other was also a jujube tree. In addition, there was also a locust tree in the Shaoxing Guild Hall where he stayed when he first came to Beijing.

In the preface to "Call to Arms", he vividly described the environment in the courtyard of the guild hall: "On summer nights, when there were many mosquitoes, I would sit under the locust tree, fanning myself with a cattail leaf fan, looking at the blue sky through the gaps between the dense leaves, and the late-hatched locust silkworms would often land on my head and neck with their cold wings."

Mr. Zhou must be a brave man. Tang Zhitong thought he couldn't be so calm. Even if there were lush big trees in his yard, he would still pull out the bugs when he got home to avoid being hit by a bug that fell on his head unexpectedly.

When Tang Zhitong had finished his meal, received his money and started his class, it was break time at the Red and Expert University where Xiao Wang was studying. Several female classmates were chattering about where to go to enjoy the spring flowers the next day.

"There's a saying in the old city: the peonies in Chongxiao Temple, the crabapples in Huazhi Temple, the peonies in Tianning Temple, and the lilacs in Fayuan Temple. I really want to go and see them one by one." A young woman pressed a book to her chest with both hands, raised her little face, squinted her eyes, and looked dreamy.

Classmate Xiao Wang smiled but said nothing beside me. Perhaps this is the literary young woman her husband is talking about?

"Then forget it. The monks have all returned to secular life, and these flowers may have disappeared long ago." A young woman nearby joked.

"Oh, you only know how to spoil other people's fun, why don't you think about it?
It is said that when Tagore came to Beijing, Xu Zhimo took him to Fayuan Temple to see the crabapple trees. The two of them chanted poems under the flowers all night, leaving behind a beautiful story.

Hey~ Jingwen, do you know where the crabapples are beautiful? Now is a good time to enjoy them! "

The literary young woman has a very active mind. In the previous sentence she is still blaming her companions for spoiling the fun, and in the next sentence she is already asking where to go.

"If you want to go somewhere closer, you can go to Jingshan Park. If you want to go farther, you can go to the Summer Palace. Don't even think about going to temples. They may have been uprooted and planted with vegetables." When Xiao Wang saw her asking him, he thought for a moment and said, in fact, there is another place with beautiful crabapple trees, in a lake, but it is difficult to get in, so she didn't mention it.

"Oh, what a beautiful flower, it's such a pity to pluck it." The literary young woman said with great sorrow.

"Do you know why the peonies in Chongxiao Temple bloomed so beautifully in the past?" Seeing her look, the disappointing young woman interrupted and asked.

"Why?" The literary young woman felt there was a trap, but she couldn't help but asked curiously.

"Before liberation, the temple would apply 'big fertilizer' to the peonies every year. Do you know what 'big fertilizer' is?" The young woman who disappointed the audience saw the literary young woman shaking her head, smiled, and added: "'Big fertilizer' is the pig's head and offal that have been cooked very mushy. Isn't it good to eat that meat? Why water it on the flowers? Don't you agree?"

"This... this... is a Buddhist holy land..." The literary young woman frowned and said in disbelief.

"My family originally lived near Niujie Street in Guang'anmen. These things are not secrets in our area. I have known them since I was a child. So, I think they are hypocritical, but their own hands are merciful?"

"Then... let's look at the crabapples. Jingwen, are you free tomorrow? Let's go enjoy the flowers together?" The literary young woman invited Xiao Wang.

"You guys go ahead, I have something to do at home." Student Wang raised the book in his hand and declined.

"Look at this, do you want to make clothes by yourself at home?" The classmate next to him saw clearly that the book in Xiao Wang's hand was a tutorial on sewing.

"Yes, it's hot now, and I should make a shirt for my husband." Student Xiao Wang admitted frankly.

Tang Zhitong only has one short-sleeved shirt that he made last year, and it is inconvenient to change it, so Xiao Wang borrowed the book a while ago and has been learning how to make clothes by himself. We have to thank the rise of sewing machines. With the popularization of sewing machines, more and more books on tailoring have appeared.

"Oh my, you are living a life where men farm and women weave. How enviable!"

"It's obvious that Xiao Wang is a virtuous woman. If you are envious, stop admiring the flowers and learn how to make clothes. Then you can find a considerate husband in the future."

"Hey, don't blame me, don't you still have a partner?"

The topic had unknowingly changed direction. Seeing the two students playing and joking around, Xiao Wang smiled and concentrated on reading a book...

(End of this chapter)