Siheyuan: Relieve stress and relieve worries

Chapter 1133 The New Breakfast Shop
In the warm spring of March, it should be the season when grass grows and birds fly. However, while the grass has grown, it has also attracted the attention of some elderly people. Early in the morning, groups of people go out of the city to look for wild vegetable shoots. It's not just one or two people, but groups of people going out in droves.

At No. 47 Yu'er Hutong, the front yard remained peaceful, with only the broken lanterns rustling in the wind. The main gate of the back house was slowly opened a crack, and a golden dog's head poked out from inside, looked around, and then squeezed out of the door.

Jinbao stood at the door, first shaking its fur, then yawning. After that, it stretched its front legs, strained its hind legs, and then strode briskly towards the small garden, where there was always a bucket of well water left by the well. It seemed that Jinbao was thirsty.

There was also movement in the east wing of the main house. Wang Zhan had woken up, but he didn't get up. He was lying on his kang (a heated brick bed), with his shoulders and above sticking out of the kang. He took out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter from beside his pillow, lit one for himself, and lay on the edge of the kang smoking. No one knew what he was thinking.

The west bedroom was still filled with the sound of little Lili snoring. Last night, she kept pestering her brother to tell her a story because the radio was playing Romance of the Three Kingdoms. The unique, slightly hoarse storyteller had captivated Wang Zhan and his sister, and they listened until the end, still wanting more. So Lili kept pestering her brother to tell her the rest of the story, and they kept talking until midnight.

After washing up, it was already late at night before they could go back to bed, so neither of the siblings got up this morning.

Wang Zhan wasn't really thinking about anything while lying on the kang (heated brick bed). He just needed to sort out his family's receipts, as they had expired and couldn't be used anymore. He didn't really know how many receipts he had at home.

Another thing is that we need to collect next month's grain tomorrow. I heard from Grandpa Yang next door that people in their yard line up at five in the morning. Wang Zhan is hesitating whether he should go and line up with them. The grain station delivers the grain to the station that night and opens for sale in the morning. The earliest it opens is six o'clock. Tomorrow is also the day Wang Zhan reports for school and the first day of school for Wang Li. They are both going at the same time.

Wang Zhan was supposed to report for duty at 8:00 AM, but since he was an intern, he had to arrive early on his first day. He couldn't send Wang Li off, so he had to go to Old Man Zhang's house today to ask for her help.

After finishing a cigarette, Wang Zhan made up his mind to do his best and leave the rest to fate. He would get up early the next day to queue up. If he could buy the food before 6:30, he would take it home and go to work. If not, he would give up queuing and focus on getting to work first.

Wang Zhan got up, dressed, folded the quilt and put it in the cabinet next to him, got off the kang, put on his shoes, went into the main room, added some firewood to the fireplace, and then took his toiletries and left the main room.

As Wang Zhan was brushing his teeth in front of the washroom in the west wing, Jinbao called out twice from the front yard. After years of getting along, Wang Zhan could tell what Jinbao meant: someone was knocking on the door early in the morning.

Wang Zhan went to the front yard and opened the door. He saw that it was Grandpa Yang from next door. Wang Zhan asked, "Grandpa Yang, are you back from your walk?"

"What stroll? I went for exercise. By the way, a restaurant opened on the west side of our alley. They sell breakfast and dinner, it's a bit pricey, but they really have meat. They even have fried liver and steamed buns right now. You can go check it out," said Grandpa Yang.

"That area near Qianmen Street? When did a restaurant open there? Is it state-owned? No, you're knocking on my door this early in the morning just to get me to spend money?" Wang Zhan said.

"I know you too well. Alright, that shop was opened by one of my comrades-in-arms and his son, and it's state-owned, jointly operated with the neighborhood committee. But you don't need meat coupons for fried liver, but you do need meat coupons for steamed buns. Hurry up, they'll be gone in a bit. I'm off." After saying this in one breath, Grandpa Yang turned around and ran away.

Wang Zhan watched Grandpa Yang's retreating figure, shook his head with a smile, turned around, closed the door, and went back inside. Not long after, Wang Zhan went out with a lunchbox and a small pot. After washing up, he went back inside to look through the receipts. To his surprise, there were quite a few receipts expiring soon, including two jin and two liang of meat receipts, as well as cigarette and liquor receipts. Those receipts were military receipts, which were sent to him by his brother Wang.

The remaining coupons that were about to expire were all sorts of miscellaneous coupons, such as soap coupons, match coupons, chimney coupons, iron stove coupons, and iron pot coupons. Wang Zhan was worried. If he used them all, he didn't know how much money he would spend, but it would definitely take a lot of time. If he didn't buy them, those coupons would really expire.

Before even leaving the entrance of Yu'er Hutong, Wang Zhan smelled a long-lost aroma – the aroma of fried liver. The last time he ate fried liver was during the Spring Festival last year, at a temple fair with his sister. Wang Zhan had been living a very quiet life this past year, going nowhere, and had long forgotten about this authentic dish.

There weren't many people in line, probably because it was the first day of opening and not many people knew about it. Wang Zhan moved slowly forward with the line, his eyes looking around.

This shop is quite large. This room is a street-facing shop. In Wang Zhan's memory, this shop has always been closed and has never been open. It seems to be a building owned by the neighborhood committee. Now that it has been turned into a breakfast shop, it is a good opportunity to make use of it. This shop is at least 60 or 70 square meters. Two meters away from the inner wall is a long counter, which is where the money is collected and the goods are delivered.

On the left is the counter, and on the right is the delivery counter. Against the inner wall on the right is a row of earthen stoves, each with a large pot on its burner. The pots are topped with tall steamers, and steam is rising from them, making the entire right side feel shrouded in mist.

The order of buying goods is also quite interesting. Everyone lines up on the left front, and then goes to the counter. First, you pay, then there's the area for serving fried liver, tofu pudding, and soy milk. Next, you go to the area for serving steamed buns, and at the very back there are two fryers making fried dough sticks and other foods.

Wang Zhan glanced around and saw that the shop had a pretty complete selection, so he figured it would be packed with customers in the future. It was the first day of business, and there were already quite a few people. After buying his fried liver and steamed buns, Wang Zhan turned to head towards the shop entrance, but as he casually glanced around, he suddenly saw someone he didn't expect.

An old woman sat alone in a corner, head down, eating heartily. There were three plates on the table, two of which were empty, and the third contained a plate of steamed buns. Besides the bowl of fried liver that the old woman was eating, there was also an empty bowl with leftover sauce next to her.

Wang Zhan wasn't marveling at the old woman's appetite; he was puzzled that she was eating there. The woman was Jia Zhangshi from courtyard number 95. Wasn't her family poor? Besides, if she was eating alone, what about her family? Even if she didn't have to worry about her daughter-in-law, what about her grandchildren? Why weren't they brought along?
What Wang Zhan was more curious about was where this old woman got so many meat coupons. He was such a wealthy man, yet he had to exert himself so much to only be able to produce half a jin of meat coupons in the morning to buy steamed buns. Judging from the size of the plate that Jia Zhangshi was eating, he estimated that each plate must have weighed at least two liang, and three plates would have weighed six liang.

The total weight of the buns at this shop depended on the amount of meat inside. If it was said to be a three-ounce bun, that meant three ounces of meat alone, not including the flour and other ingredients. So back then, it wasn't an exaggeration to say that one bun was enough to fill a child up.

Wang Zhan estimated that, not counting the money, this meal cost one jin of grain coupons and six liang of meat coupons.

Although Wang Zhan was curious, he didn't stop and went straight out the door.

(End of this chapter)