The literary era since 1979

Chapter 137 Don't Regret

"Yanzi, you are looking at a recipe, right?"

Tian Zengxiang passed by Fangyan and his attention was immediately attracted by the "Popular Cookbook" in his hand.

Fang Yan nodded, "What's that expression on your face?"

"You are a professional writer, why do you like recipes instead of reading literature?" Tian Zengxiang glanced at the various books on prose theory and aesthetics on his desk.

"I'll just take a look."

Fangyan smiled. This was the creative advice that Wang Zengqi specifically gave himself when he borrowed his prose works from him.

"I thought you wanted to learn how to cook."

Tian Zengxiang raised his eyebrows.

After chatting for a while, Fangyan looked at his watch.

"I'm going out to collect some folk songs. I won't be here this afternoon."

Then he left the editorial office and headed straight for the agreed location.

Not far from the Housing Management Office, Fang Yan took out a bag of money in the presence of the broker and Han Yuemin.

Uncle Wang opened the newspaper, grabbed a handful of the Great Unity pieces inside, held them up to his eyes to look at them carefully, and then counted them carefully.

Sometimes happy, sometimes sad, his expression changes constantly.

"uncle?"

Fangyan reminded, "How is it, is the number correct?"

Uncle Wang came back to his senses, his eyes complicated, "Yes, yes, the number is correct, correct..."

"Then let's quickly sign the deed and hand over the keys."

The broker urged him, eager to get the generous agency fee, but he saw that Uncle Wang had a conflicted look on his face and it was obvious that he had feelings for the old house and was reluctant to leave.

"Master, we are all here."

Han Yuemin asked, "You don't want to sell it anymore, do you?"

"Who said I won't sell it? Of course I will sell it!"

Uncle Wang watched a bag of Great Unity float away from his sight.

"You should think about it carefully."

Fangyan took the money and waved it in front of the old man deliberately: "Don't regret it later, or you'll have to pay the bill later..."

"How could I regret it!"

Uncle Wang said angrily that even if he really wanted to regret it, he would probably be abroad by then and it would be too late.

"You've gone abroad, and you don't plan to come back?"

"Maybe I'll come back during the Qingming and Double Ninth Festival."

"In that case, let's go to the Housing Authority."

The dialect disagrees.

At this time, people's enthusiasm for going abroad is unprecedented. Even those who have even the slightest overseas connections are trying to find ways to go abroad.

"Okay, that's it!"

"We'll go to the deed and give you the keys!"

Uncle Wang made up his mind and walked towards the Housing Management Office in Dongcheng.

The transaction of buying and selling an entire courtyard house is very rare, and the buyer is an individual. According to the process, it should have required strict review and verification. However, when Fangyan showed the clerk his identity certificate as a "professional writer", the approval procedure was immediately accelerated a lot.

"Thank you for your hard work."

Fangyan took it, looked at it carefully, confirmed that it was correct, and then handed over his signature.

The clerk smiled and said, "You're welcome, Teacher Fang."

Taking advantage of the opportunity of shaking hands, Han Yuemin secretly stuffed a pack of Hongtashan cigarettes into the clerk's hand, revealing that it was a little gift from Fangyan and himself.

Both parties smiled knowingly, and then directed Fangyan to the finance department, where he paid the property tax based on the area and obtained the formal title deed.

"No wonder you can come up with so much money at once, it turns out you are a great writer!" Uncle Wang couldn't help but sigh.

"I don't deserve the title of great writer."

Fangyan waved his hand.

"If I had known this would happen, this price..."

"The deal has been concluded now. You can't go back on your word."

"No regrets, no regrets. I'm going abroad anyway, how can I regret it?"

"You are right. Then, I wish you a happy life abroad and all the best." Fangyan clasped his fists and said with a smile.

After watching Uncle Wang hand over the keys and leave, Han Yuemin turned around and saw Fang Yan giving the broker the agency fee while explaining:

"My requirements are the same as before. A complete set, complete paperwork, and the house is in good condition. The price is negotiable. Let me know when you find it."

"Well, you'll see!"

The broker took a look at the agency fee and agreed without hesitation.

"Yanzi, do you want to buy more?"

Han Yuemin opened his mouth. "Yes, I asked him to ask the neighbors if they can buy it."

Fangyan's idea was not sudden, he had thought about it long ago. At present, this room is mainly used as a warehouse, and so many small sheds are just right.

Before Han Yuemin had his own office, if he needed manual work and processing, he could set up a small workshop.

Of course, people will definitely live there in the future, but it would be best if they live on the left and right sides, or if we buy the entire Hougulouyuan Hutong.

Then, break through the wall, just like the Ke Garden, and build your own "square garden", with flowers and plants as friends, cats and dogs as companions, and a golden house as a treasure...

…………

After getting the key, Fang Yan and Han Yuemin returned to the house, walked around for several rounds, and discussed a preliminary plan.

Of course, the most urgent task right now is to clean up a few rooms and use them as warehouses for the fabrics to be used for the next T-shirts.

And the antiques, calligraphy and paintings, furniture that I want to stock up...

"Look at that dark hole in front of you. It must be the thieves' lair."

"I'll catch up with it and kill it cleanly."

Fangyan was walking briskly, holding a bunch of hairtail he had just bought from the Xisi Fish Shop. Through his peripheral vision, he could see through the open door that under the eaves and in the yard of almost every household, there were strings of bacon and salted fish hanging.

No matter in this life or the last, no matter in the south or the north, the dish that always occupies a place on the New Year’s Eve dinner table must be cured meat. There has always been a saying that “winter is incomplete without cured meat, and year is incomplete without cured meat”.

If we were to list all the cured meats from all over the country, even a "cured meat universe" would probably not be enough to contain them all.

Anything that runs on the ground, flies in the sky, or swims in the water can be turned into delicious cured meat. It is not an exaggeration to say that "everything can be cured", including sausages, bacon, cured ribs, cured fish, cured duck, cured chicken, etc.

Some people like the sweetness of Cantonese, some like the spiciness of Sichuan, some love the smoky flavor of southern Hunan, and some prefer the freshness of Jiangsu and Zhejiang...

Yanjing also has its own way of eating it, called "clear sauce pork".

Unfortunately, Fangyan only knows how to eat but not how to cook.

When I think of that taste, my mouth starts to drool.

"You're back from shopping again. Are you celebrating something happy today?" Fang Hong walked out of the kitchen with a pot of cornmeal porridge in her hand.

"Hehe, sister still understands me."

Fangyan lowered his voice and told the truth.

Fang Hong's hands couldn't help but tremble, "Ah! You, you..."

"Sister, be careful not to drop it." Fang Yan made a gesture to silence her, "You should take the pot into the house first."

"I'll interrogate you when I come back!"

Fang Hong ran in hurriedly, ran out quickly, and pulled Fang Yan into the small kitchen.

The brother and sister whispered to each other, and Fangyan said everything he could say, then took out the house deed and keys from his bag.

"Twelve thousand five!"

"Oh my God, twelve thousand five!"

Fang Hong looked at the title deed again and again, and was very careful with her hands.

Fang Yan said: "Sister, this price is not expensive for a 300 square meter courtyard house with two entrances."

"It's not expensive, it's not expensive, it's not expensive. The last house our factory bought cost us 1 yuan, and the area is not as big as yours."

Fang Hong asked curiously, "But Yanzi, why did you buy a house?"

"Sister, you know that there are more and more editors coming to our house, and I have to find a quiet place to create."

The dialect directly revealed the purpose. It was mainly used as a warehouse, and a few rooms in the backyard were selected to be used as study rooms and temporary residences.

"That's good. I thought you wanted to separate your family and live separately."

Fang Hong breathed a sigh of relief.

"How could it be a split family?"

Fang Yan pursed his lips and said, "I'll refurbish that place later and take you there on a good day."

"Don't wait a few days. I'll take mom to see it this Sunday." Fang Hong's eyes showed a hint of anticipation.

In dialect, "Then my mother..."

"Don't worry, I'll talk to mom for you." Fang Hong rolled her eyes and asked him to marinate the hairtail fish they had bought.

Five days later, the red cured meat and fish are hung out fresh. Under the sun, they are rosy in color and elastic.

Just one look at it, and the desire to eat and drink to your heart's content during the New Year will stir up in your heart.

The sunlight shines through the window onto Fangyan's desk.

I saw that the graph paper was densely packed with ink and had dried.

The prose clearly states:

“Hundreds of families dry their cured meats in a hundred different places, and the dried meats have a hundred different flavors.”

"........."

"When I was far away from home, I had preserved meat for my three meals a day."

“The wind, light, clouds and rain of my hometown seem to linger around me and never disappear.”

(End of this chapter)