Siheyuan: Relieve stress and relieve worries

Chapter 1126 An Encounter at a Restaurant
In an abandoned courtyard in Doujiao Hutong, three excited men who had returned from scavenging began to examine their spoils.

Liu Guangtian took off the two backpacks hanging on his chest. Yan Jiefang's eyes lit up when he saw the backpacks. These were not the kind of backpacks sold by the supply and marketing cooperative. These two backpacks were obviously military backpacks. One of the backpacks was quite worn, but there were no holes. The other was about 80% new. If it was washed, it would look brand new.

Liu Guangtian's attention wasn't on his schoolbag. He opened the newer one and found a pair of roller skates inside. Liu Guangtian was overjoyed. He had just said he didn't have any roller skates, and here they were! Liu Guangtian couldn't wait to take them out and immediately started trying them on with his own cotton shoes. They were a bit big, but that was okay. He could just find some insoles to put on them later. Liu Guangtian was already very satisfied.

He was excitedly fiddling with his ice skates when Yan Jiefang took the schoolbag and continued rummaging through it. Liu Guangfu craned his neck to look into the schoolbag.

"Brother, there's a wallet." Liu Guangfu immediately told his second brother about his discovery. He was afraid that Yan Lao Er would hide it, so he had been keeping an eye on it.

Liu Guangtian suddenly paused for a moment, then snatched the schoolbag back from Yan Jiefang's hand and said, "Who told you to touch my things?"

Yan Jiefang said with a grin, "I'm just helping you take a look. Besides, would I touch your things? Am I that kind of person?"

“That’s for sure,” Liu Guangfu said from the side. Yan Jiefang glared at Liu Guangfu, then turned his attention to the wallet in Liu Guangtian’s hand.

There wasn't much money in the wallet, only five yuan and sixty cents, but it was a huge sum for the three of them. When Liu Guangtian saw Yan Jiefang's eager look, he put the money in his pocket. Yan Jiefang looked at him and said, "Wait, Liu Lao Er, what do you mean? Aren't we supposed to split what we get?"

"Did I say that? Whoever gets it gets it. Don't try to show off your Yan family's ways; they won't work on me." Liu Guangtian ignored Yan Jiefang and continued to look through his wallet.

Besides money, there were two food coupons in the wallet, both from across the country. Most importantly, in the innermost layer, Liu Guangtian found a student ID and two meal vouchers for Lao Mo Restaurant. These vouchers had already been paid for, so he could eat there, but the food was fixed and he couldn't order his own food.

Liu Guangtian had a great haul and was looking forward to the other backpack. Meanwhile, Yan Jiefang, standing next to him, was pacing around, trying to figure out how to get some of the backpack from Liu Guangtian. He had also seen some backpacks lying on the ground on the ice rink, but he hadn't dared to take them and was now filled with regret.

When the other backpack was opened, all three people's attention was drawn to it. Liu Guangtian opened it and saw that there was nothing in the backpack except for a square object wrapped in layers of newspaper.

The three of them were very excited. If it was wrapped so tightly in newspaper, there must be something good inside. Liu Guangtian put his schoolbag aside and started to unpack the newspaper. He opened one layer, and there was another layer inside. He opened it layer by layer.

As Liu Guangtian read on, he felt something was wrong. The newspaper was getting thinner and thinner, and it felt more and more like a brick. When he opened the last layer of newspaper, sure enough, there was a square brick inside.

Upon seeing this, Yan Jiekuang squatted down and burst into laughter. Liu Guangfu also wanted to laugh, but seeing his second brother's unfriendly gaze, he didn't dare and just held it in until his face turned red.

Liu Guangtian was also furious. He looked at Yan Jiefang, who was laughing heartily next to him, and shouted, "Stop laughing! Did you get something good? Show it to us!"

Yan Jiefang then realized that the occasion was inappropriate, so he slowly stopped and said, "I am not as good as you. You have money and meal vouchers, while I only got a pen and a pair of leather gloves."

After saying that, Yan Jiefang took out what he was carrying and showed it to the two brothers. Liu Guangtian said, "Well, that's fine. What you got is yours. But if it's something valuable, or something that someone insists on taking back, we have to think it over. I don't want to go to the police station for a visit."

Yan Jiefang nodded and said, "Don't worry, neither do you or I want to. Oh, by the way, Guangfu, what did you get your hands on?"

"I didn't, I didn't find anything. You can see for yourselves, there's nothing in my cotton-padded coat," Liu Guangfu said. To prove his innocence, he took off his coat, shook it, and turned around to show he had nothing hidden on him. Yan Jiefang didn't suspect Guangfu much, and simply said, "Being young is useless. So, you two, shall we go home or what? By the way, Guangtian, when you go to Lao Mo, take me with you. Everyone who finds something gets a share."

"What are you dreaming of? With what we're wearing, would you dare to step foot in Old Mo's door? I wasn't planning on using it anyway; I'm planning to sell it. I'll go to the pigeon market in Dongzhimen this evening to take a look," Liu Guangtian said.

Upon hearing this, Yan Jiefang knew he wouldn't be able to get a meal from Lao Mo. His eyes darted around as he said, "Guangtian, look, you've got the most today. Shouldn't you treat us to a meal? It doesn't have to be anything fancy, just take us to a meat shop sometime."

Liu Guangtian thought for a moment, then nodded and said, "Okay, it's settled then, but keep everything that happened today to yourself, don't tell anyone."

"Don't worry, I know what's important," Yan Jiefang nodded and said.

The three men left the courtyard, and the two brothers parted ways with Yan Jiefang. Yan Jiefang could go straight home, but the two brothers didn't dare to go back now. Who knew if Liu Hai's breathing had subsided? The two brothers planned to sneak back after dark. Anyway, they had money and ration coupons now, so they could buy food anywhere.

Liu Guangfu asked his brother where they were going, and Liu Guangtian thought for a moment and said, "Come on, I'll take you to eat tripe."

"Is the tripe delicious?" Liu Guangfu asked.

Liu Guangtian scratched his head, unsure how to answer, since he had never tried it either. But seeing his younger brother's longing gaze, he said, "It must be delicious, let's go."

"Okay!" Liu Guangfu happily followed behind Liu Guangtian.

The small shop that Liu Guangtian was going to was actually located in Doufupao Hutong behind the Drum Tower. He had seen the shop once when he and his junior high school classmate went out to play.

The shop wasn't big, with four tables inside. When Liu Guangtian passed by, it was already full of people, and three more tables were set up outside, all of which were also full. Everyone was eating tripe with gusto. Liu Guangtian's mouth watered at the time, and he thought that when he had money, he would definitely come here to eat. So, today he took Liu Guangfu there.

The shop wasn't far from Nanluoguxiang, and it didn't take long to get there. Liu Guangtian looked at the shop entrance and saw that no tables had been set up outside today. Liu Guangtian led Liu Guangfu directly into the shop, where only one of the four tables was occupied.

Liu Guangtian was quite puzzled. This restaurant was supposed to be quite popular, so why were there so few customers? Actually, Liu Guangtian and his group had come at the wrong time. It was neither the right time nor the wrong time; it was the middle of the afternoon, a time when no one would come to eat.

The two men found a seat. Liu Guangtian had never been here before, so he could only ask about the price and then ask the proprietress to make arrangements. The proprietress was very hospitable. Seeing that it was the first time the two brothers had come, she took the initiative to arrange two plates of tripe and a plate of lamb tripe for the Liu brothers.

The proprietress underestimated the two brothers' appetites, especially for such delicious tripe. Liu Guangfu devoured his first plate of tripe, practically dumping it into his mouth. Liu Guangtian then ordered another serving of the same dish.

Just as the two brothers were enjoying their meal, the curtain at the door was lifted, and a brother and sister walked in. What a coincidence! Wang Zhan and Wang Li had a great time, and the younger sister started complaining that she was hungry. Wang Zhan asked her what she wanted to eat, and Lili thought for a moment and said she wanted to eat tripe. So Wang Zhan took her to this tripe restaurant.

(End of this chapter)