Siheyuan: Survival Guide for Courtyard No. 95

Since he had been ordered to slack off, Zhao Shanhe certainly would not stay in the factory for long. After leaving the steel rolling mill, he returned to the courtyard and moved all the things in the back room to the front yard room. Although the walls of the room were mottled and the decorations were old, it was much better than the back room overall.

The biggest flaw is the furniture left by Uncle Zheng. Although there are quite a few, they are all very worn out. I couldn’t see it clearly yesterday because the light was dim, and now I look at it again and it doesn’t look good. Finally, I thought, since I don’t have to go to work, I might as well go to the commission store (that’s what it’s called) to take a look.

Before liberation, commissioned stores were called pawnshops, and in the 21st century they are called pawnshops.

Because pawnshops in the old society were a business that oppressed and exploited the working people, they were all converted into consignment shops after liberation.

The shop assistants are all "drummers". They have been doing bargain hunting and find-and-match business all their lives. It can be said that they can tell you the truth about anything that comes into their hands. Of course, it is a new society now, and they certainly dare not use the tricks of using insect-eaten and rat-bitten goods and torn cotton-padded jackets to deceive people.

After all these years of development, there are now four most famous commissioned stores in the old city, located in Dongdan, Xisi, Beixinqiao and Caishikou. Of course, the one Zhao Shanhe wanted to go to was the Beixinqiao commissioned store, which was less than 2 kilometers away and took less than 10 minutes by bike.

I thought it was working hours and there wouldn't be too many people around, but I didn't expect there were so many elderly grandpas in the city who loved to go shopping in commission stores when they had nothing to do. Fortunately, the clerks here are different from those in department stores. They can get a commission. Even if it seems a bit noisy with so many people, the clerks' efficient work makes everyone feel that the place is not chaotic.

When his father was alive, Zhao Shanhe went with him to the commissioned store in Caishikou, but all he could remember was the taste of the snacks from "Nanlaishun" opposite the store. This visit to the store in Beixinqiao brought back memories.

As you enter the door, you can see a circle of shelves. The items on them are not arranged neatly, just like a grocery store. The clerks probably don’t have time to tidy them up because there are so many customers.

The biggest advantage of buying things here is that there are no fakes.

There are bronze ware, porcelain, calligraphy and paintings, clothing, watches and so on. Many people say that you can also buy bicycles here. That's really too much to think about. Even if there is a commission to sell, as long as the price is right, it would have been absorbed by the internal staff long ago. After all, a new bicycle with tickets will cost at least more than 200 yuan, and here, if you are lucky, an 100% new one may only cost more than yuan. Even if you go back and sell it secretly, you can still make a lot of money.

Zhao Shanhe walked around the store. There were quite a lot of furniture, but unfortunately there was nothing he liked. He walked to the counter and said to a middle-aged clerk who looked to be in his 40s and wore glasses.

"Comrade, let me ask you, are these the only old furniture you have outside?"

The clerk had just finished serving a customer and was about to take a breath when he saw Zhao Shanhe asking him a question and responded without thinking.

"We don't have enough space here, but we have some furniture in the backyard warehouse. Comrade, what style do you want to buy? Tell me and I'll see if we have it. If not, you don't have to go over to look."

Zhao Shanhe thought about it and realized that this was indeed the case. If he went to the warehouse and looked around and didn't buy anything, wouldn't that be delaying other people's work?

He took out a Great China cigarette that he bought from Qiao Laoliu from his pocket and handed it over to him.

"I want to buy some with better wood and finer workmanship. Do you have any in your store?"

After hearing what he said, the middle-aged clerk looked at the Zhonghua cigarettes in his hand and knew that this was a big business. He raised his glasses and said.

"Yes, there are, but they are expensive. The kind of furniture you want is mostly made of mahogany or huanghuali wood. The cheapest one costs dozens of dollars. If you really want it, I'll take you to have a look."

If Zhao Shanhe had been persuaded to give up before the fish was delivered, he would have spent half of his 1,000 yuan on buying a house, daily expenses and buying books. He was still wondering, isn't it said that money in the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China is easy to spend? Why is it different when it comes to him?

However, ever since he earned more than 200 yuan from delivering fish, he has become less concerned about money. As long as there is output in the small world, if he does not become the richest man in Sijiu City during the three-year disaster, his trip through time would be in vain.

So he spoke directly to the middle-aged clerk.

"Comrade, as long as the product is good, price is not a problem."

These "drummers" before the liberation were best at judging people by their appearance and when they saw the tone of Zhao Shanhe's voice, they knew that this was a wealthy man, and their faces immediately lit up with joy and they replied with a smile.

"Please wait a moment, my dear. I will take you to the warehouse."

The middle-aged clerk said a few words to a person who looked like a manager next to him, then took a bunch of keys from the other person and took Zhao Shanhe directly to the backyard.

As soon as he entered the backyard, he could see a row of warehouses. The middle-aged clerk took him to a warehouse with the word "furniture" written on the door. He took the key to unlock the door. As soon as Zhao Shanhe entered, he felt that his eyes were not enough.

Although he couldn't tell what era these furniture belonged to, he could still tell the quality of the wood. All this was thanks to his early career as a delivery guy. There were so many talented people among those guys.

Box-type four-piece cabinets made of rosewood, large square corner cabinets made of huanghuali, hexagonal tables made of rosewood, and canopy beds made of huanghuali, all of these things that would cost eight figures or more in the 21st century, are randomly placed in the warehouse.

"Are these all for sale? Isn't this too much?"

Zhao Shanhe asked uncertainly. After all, the warehouse was filled with at least hundreds of pieces of furniture.

"Yes, all the furniture in this warehouse can be sold. Tell me which one you like and I'll tell you the price."

Zhao Shanhe walked over to a pair of Huanghuali official hat chairs and checked them up and down, making sure there was no damage before asking.

"How much is this pair of chairs?"

The middle-aged clerk must be very familiar with the things in this warehouse, and he spoke without thinking.

"This pair of Huanghuali official hat chairs is from the late Ming Dynasty. They cost 100 yuan a pair. If you want to buy them, our store can deliver them directly to your door."

Zhao Shanhe just wanted to say, wow, who said antique furniture at this time is not valuable? This pair of chairs is worth three months' salary.

In fact, this is also because Zhao Shanhe does not understand the market situation of this thing. Antique furniture has never been cheap except during the three-year natural disaster period and the ten years of wind. Even when the reform and opening up just started, a pair of Qing Dynasty chairs cost one hundred or eighty yuan.

Zhao Shanhe walked and looked, then came to a Huanghuali painting table and touched it.

“How much is this table?”

"This is a Huanghuali painted table from the late Ming Dynasty, 70 yuan."

"What about this...?"

“What about that…?”

More than half an hour of questions and answers went by, and the middle-aged clerk became a little impatient. Finally, Zhao Shanhe decided to buy a pair of rosewood chairs, a huanghuali painting table, a black rosewood cabinet with rounded corners and wooden hinge doors, and a rosewood kang table.