Siheyuan: Relieve stress and relieve worries

Chapter 674 Yuan Ge’s Choice
Wang Zhan and Wang Li pushed the door open. Both of them stretched their heads to look. The light of the kerosene lamp shone into the room. There was a box in the room. Wang Zhan was a little disappointed, but still walked in. Wang Li followed closely behind. The room was probably as big as the room on the left just now. The box was placed in the corner inside.

Wang Zhan walked over and opened the box. The brother and sister took a look. Wang Li asked curiously, "What is this black thing?" Wang Zhan said, "Silver. It looks like official silver. It has turned a little black over time. It's okay. It can be cleaned out."

Wang Zhan and Wang Li first took out the top layer of silver, a whole layer, a total of twelve, each worth twenty taels of official silver. A layer of cloth was laid underneath, but the cloth somehow broke at the slightest touch. Further down, there were only scraps of paper and scrolls.

Wang Zhan felt distressed. He knew that there must be calligraphy and paintings underneath. Unfortunately, it was too long and there were no preservation measures, so they were all broken. However, he still said to Wang Li excitedly, "Sister, you are lucky. We have made a fortune. We have so many treasures."

Wang Li pouted and said, "Brother, I saw it. There is nothing underneath. It's just wood. Don't try to make me happy."

Wang Zhan said helplessly: "Lili, don't disbelieve me, I can sell these wooden scrolls for a sky-high price, don't worry."

Wang Zhan knew that there was nothing in this secret room. Seeing that the last room was also empty, Yan Jiekuang actually didn't care at all. The existence of this secret room was already a huge surprise. Not every courtyard house had a secret room, and it was even more impossible to build such a secret room now.

After the two siblings finished watching, they did not stay any longer. After all, the dust here was too much for both of them to bear. They walked out of the secret room quickly. After Wang Zhan closed the bronze door again, he told his sister not to tell anyone about this, including the master. Wang Li rolled her eyes and said, "I am young, not stupid."

Wang Zhan thought to himself, this time there is something to do, this secret room came at the right time, he didn't know where to put the things he brought back from the warehouse, this time he had to plan carefully. Wang Zhan took Wang Li to wash up, both of them were a little tired after all this trouble.

Before going to bed, Wang Zhan went to the front yard to check, and his master still hadn't come back. Wang Zhan didn't wait any longer and went back to the house to sleep. He still had a lot of things to do tomorrow.

The next morning, Wang Zhan dressed Wang Li and said, "Brother is going to Qianmen to buy something today. How about we go eat fried liver together?"

While Wang Li was getting dressed, she asked with a smile, "Okay, are there any candied haws there?"

"Of course there are, little greedy cat." Wang Zhan dressed his sister, took her to wash up, and then put on his coat, scarf and hat. After he was fully armed, he pushed the small tricycle and set off.

When they got to the front gate, they went straight to Zhao Ji's Fried Liver. They came early, so luckily there weren't many people. The brother and sister ordered two bowls of fried liver and four steamed buns, and they started eating. While eating, Wang Li said, "Why is their fried liver different from the one at the entrance of our alley?"

Wang Zhan asked: "Which one is delicious?"

Wang Li said, "The food here is better than the one at the entrance of our alley. I'll come here again in the future."

Wang Zhan nodded and said, "Okay, I'll bring you here often in the future."

After dinner, Wang Zhan took his sister for a walk. After walking a few steps, they saw the Tongtai De Southern Goods Store. Wang Zhan took Wang Li in. The shopkeeper saw that there were two children and did not move. He continued to settle the bill at the counter. Wang Zhan looked around and saw a clerk. He walked up and said, "Bring some of the top-quality bird's nests and shark fins over."

When the waiter saw that they were two children, he hesitated. The shopkeeper saw them and said quickly, "They are all guests. Serve them."

The waiter hurried to the back and brought back a few boxes in a short while. Wang Zhan looked at them carefully and selected a box of bird's nest and a box of Tianjiu Wings.

The shopkeeper saw that this guy was a connoisseur and a big customer, so he said quickly, "This young man has good taste. This is the top-grade Tianjiu wings, and the bird's nest is also the blood bird's nest from Sichuan and Guizhou." Wang Zhan nodded and said, "Shopkeeper, the things are good. How much is it in total?"

The shopkeeper thought for a moment and said, "Just give me 10 million."

Wang Zhan didn't even bargain, he just paid the bill, the shopkeeper asked, "Do you want it delivered to your house?"

"No need, I'll carry it." Wang Zhan said and pointed to the cowhide backpack behind him.

After leaving the southern goods store, Wang Zhan did not delay any longer and went to the blacksmith shop to order an oven. He had drawn the blueprint himself yesterday. He paid a deposit and left his address.

As soon as he got out of the door, he went to the Wanchang Copper and Tin Old Shop and bought a ready-made copper hot pot. After paying the bill, he didn't pick it up immediately, saying he would come back to get it later. Then he took his sister to eat while walking. Wang Li no longer had her hands to hold her brother's, and she was eating happily with a candied haws in each hand.

The brother and sister strolled around until noon and ate a lot of street snacks. When they were full, Wang Zhan went to get a hot pot and then went home, riding a tricycle with his sister.

In the middle hall of the backyard, a smoking copper hot pot was placed on a low square table. The water had boiled and Wang Zhan was putting meat in it. Next to it were three or four plates of freshly cut mutton, a plate of frozen tofu, a plate of cabbage hearts, and a plate of vermicelli.

The brother and sister sat opposite each other, with the prepared sauce in front of them, but Wang Zhan was squatting on a stool while Wang Li was sitting on the stool obediently. Wang Li kept asking, "Are you ready, brother? I'm hungry."

Wang Zhan said, "Okay, okay, don't get burned, I'll pick it up for you." As he spoke, Wang Zhan picked up a large piece of mutton with chopsticks and put it into his sister's bowl. Wang Li couldn't wait any longer and put the mutton dipped in Erba sauce into her mouth in one bite.

Wang Li was breathing heavily due to the heat, but she refused to spit it out. After she finished eating, she said, "It's delicious. We should eat this hot pot often in the future. It's so delicious."

Wang Zhan took a bite and continued to pick up some for Wang Li, saying, "Put more coriander in it. If you want to eat it, just eat it. This is the perfect match for hot pot in winter."

The brother and sister were eating enthusiastically when a familiar person walked in from the front yard. Wang Zhan knew that he had already locked the door when he came back. The only person who could walk in so blatantly was his master.

"Master, have you eaten? If not, let's eat together?" Wang Zhan said.

Qi Dasheng was not polite at all, but turned and left. It turned out that he went back to his room to get a bottle of white wine and a cup. Then he came back and sat down at the table. Looking at the chopped mutton, he said, "Okay, it's well cut. Where did you get the copper pot?"

Wang Zhan said as he ate: "I just bought it today. It will be more convenient to eat in the future."

Qi Dasheng prepared the seasoning himself, and Wang Zhan added another plate of meat, weighing a full pound.

(End of this chapter)