Siheyuan (courtyard house): My name is Shazhu!

Tianqiao Xiejie, officially named Tianqiao Shichang Xiejie, got its name from the Tianqiao Market established in the early years of the Republic of China.

Tianqiao Market Slanting Street is located in the northwest of Tianqiao Market, running from northwest to southeast, starting from Yong'an Road in the northwest and ending at Beiwei Road in the southeast.

Among the diagonal streets in Beijing, Tianqiao Market Diagonal Street is the only one that presents a very regular arc shape.

Originally, Tianqiao Market Slanting Street was located at the base of the outer altar of the Temple of Agriculture. Because the Temple of Agriculture, like the Temple of Heaven, presents an overall layout of "round in the north and south", the north wall of its outer altar is an arc. After the outer altar wall was demolished, this unique slanting street was formed.

He Yushui came here first. She had been to Tianqiao before and only remembered that Tianqiao was very lively and had many snacks on Xiejie Street.

He Yuzhu did not refuse. He first went to see Master Miao San, said a few words, gave him New Year's gifts, bought New Year's goods and snacks, and watched a performance. The itinerary was already planned.

With He Yushui in tow, they arrived at the place where Master Miao San used to perform wrestling. There were quite a few people gathered there, and some were cheering him on. It had been three years since they last came, but he was still there.

He bypassed the crowd and went to Master Miao's usual spot, sitting facing south, just like the emperors of the past. He said he liked it.

The brother and sister squeezed into the crowd. Master Miao was still sitting in his chair with a swagger. He was forty years old, with a full beard and a thick waist.

Sitting there, he looked every bit the big brother of the underworld, exuding authority and power.

He Yuzhu did not go forward to meet Master Miao San, but instead took He Yushui and stood in the crowd to watch the wrestling performance of Master Miao San's fifth and sixth disciples.

The two wrestlers' performance was not a mere show of effort; it was a genuine display of hard work. Unlike regular wrestling, the first few minutes were just a performance.

The senior disciple explained the key points of their movements to the audience.

The senior brother's commentary, also known as "using words," helps the audience understand the science and art of wrestling.

"The skills of the street performers" consist of both explanation and practice, each accounting for half. Explanation is a prerequisite for helping the audience appreciate the skills.

Seeing the brilliance and difficulty of understanding a program, sometimes adding a touch of humor makes it even more enjoyable for the audience.

With a large audience, both wrestlers exerted their strength, attempting to throw each other to the ground. At this point, the two wrestlers began to use their full power, without any performative intent.

The competition was extremely fierce, much like the gold medals won by wrestlers at the Olympics in later generations. There was no leniency between them; it was all about the competition.

We can't treat the audience like fools. There are discerning people among them, and no one dares to ruin our reputation. Life is hard enough as it is.

The better the wrestler's fall, the cleaner and more decisive the fall, the more "tips" he will receive from the onlookers, and the higher his income will be.

Three years ago, He Yuzhu had just started learning wrestling. Master Miao and his eight disciples took turns wrestling. Master Miao wrestled once every three days, and sometimes one or two more times.

Income wasn't always good; it was often more today than tomorrow. And since they were all "warriors," they had huge appetites. The saying "the poor are scholars, the rich are warriors" was perfectly embodied here.

Three minutes later, the two players were decided. The sixth junior brother was better, throwing the fifth senior brother to the ground and winning when the time limit for suppression expired.

The sixth junior brother, as the victor, said to the audience, "If anyone needs 'ramming' (a form of ramming) when building a house, come to me."

Then the eldest brother brought Miao San's youngest daughter, a girl of about twelve or thirteen, and said, "Please reward me." The girl held the gong horizontally with both hands.

The eldest brother shouted beside her, mainly because paper money is now used, which is inconvenient to throw into the wrestling arena, so there are people specifically here to collect the tips.

He Yushui excitedly handed over 20,000 yuan, saying she thought it was very entertaining and the wrestling match was very realistic, and she also had the idea of ​​trying it out herself.

The senior disciple recognized He Yuzhu, but pretended not to see him. He knew that the little girl who gave the reward had come with He Yuzhu and was afraid that the audience would think she was a 'plant'.

The donations have been made; the next show will begin at 1:30 PM. The audience slowly dispersed.

He Yuzhu brought his sister to Master Miao San and said, "Master Miao San, it's been a long time. How are you?"

As soon as Master Miao saw He Yuzhu, he immediately recognized him and stood up abruptly. "Zhu Zi, it's you, Zhu Zi! It's been three years! I'm so glad you're alright. What are you doing now?"

"You're not setting up your stall this morning, so let's talk as we walk. Yushui, this is Master Miao San, you can call him Uncle Miao. This is my sister, He Yushui."

Hello, Uncle Miao.

"Hi Rainwater, there's quite a big age gap between you and your sister. Are you in school yet?"

"She's nine years younger than me. She goes to Xicheng Elementary School. I came here today to see that the pedestrian overpass is quite crowded, more so than when I left."

"After you left, we didn't open for three months and didn't know how they were doing. Later, we mustered up the courage to start performing again. There were few people for the first two years, and things only started to get better from May last year."

Business is so-so, you know how much they can eat, it's just barely enough to make ends meet. What are you doing?

"I was an apprentice at Emei Restaurant. I've just graduated. I come from a family of chefs, so it's easier for me to be a chef, and the income is good."

They walked and talked, and soon arrived at Master Miao's house, a large courtyard with its own entrance, where his family lived and his apprentices lived in the adjacent yard.

After greeting Master Miao's wife and their two children, a boy and a girl, I presented them with a gift, saying, "This is a small gift for you, please don't refuse it. I now have a stable income."

Master Miao saw four gifts on the table: two bottles of Fenjiu liquor, two cartons of Hademen cigarettes, a whole piece of pig's head meat, and a large bag of broken Maojian tea.

These were all his favorites, especially pig's head meat, which was loved by everyone in Yanjing. On the second day of the second lunar month, many old Yanjing residents would eat pig's head meat, just like eating dumplings on the fifth day of the lunar new year.

"Zhu Zi, you've gone to a lot of trouble. You're getting old and will be getting married soon. You need to save money after you start working so you can use it to get married."

"Don't worry, Master Miao, the food is cheap. I work at a restaurant and my monthly income is quite good. Getting married in three years is a piece of cake."

"That's really not low."

"Not low."

"You're not short of money, so I'll accept the gift; it's a token of your appreciation. It's good that you have a skill to rely on, so you don't have to practice wrestling. It's not a big problem when you're young, but as you get older, you'll have more health issues."

It's good that you're learning to cook. At least during years of famine, it won't affect you much. Once you've mastered cooking, your income will be much better than what we earned from wrestling.

"It's too hard, and I don't even make any money. I'm getting old, and I have all sorts of health problems. Changing careers isn't easy either," Master Miao said in a low voice.

"Master Miao should be able to take on more apprentices, just like I used to, not formal disciples, but in the teacher-student relationship in school."

Would it be alright if you charged a tuition fee to teach them the art of wrestling for self-defense?

"Zhu Zi, that's unlikely. Wrestling isn't just about martial arts training; it's expensive. Other martial arts schools charge less, so it's not very meaningful for us."

Thank you for considering my situation. Our income isn't too low, it's just that we all eat too much. If we don't eat enough, what's the point of practicing wrestling? We'll just ruin ourselves.

"Martial arts practitioners eat too much. Only by stopping their training can they eat less." He Yuzhu had no good solution either.

"Two years ago, my second and fourth brothers left to find other ways to make a living, and I agreed. I often thought that wrestling seemed to have no future, and just setting up a stall wouldn't work either; there was no good solution."

"Setting up a stall to perform wrestling is not acceptable; they need a formal job. If they don't practice wrestling, hopefully they can reduce their food intake."

"Let's take it one step at a time. If there's a good place for them, I won't block their way. I've noticed that things are different now than before; there are far fewer wealthy people. They're different from those of previous dynasties."