Siheyuan: From Being Called Shazhu

After lunch, He Yuzhu felt restless and couldn't sit still.

Originally, He Yuzhu estimated that it would take about a week for our army to enter the city before he could go out and have fun.

But now, after seeing our troops on the streets, He Yuzhu's heart suddenly became wild when he went out.

Isn’t there a famous quote that goes, “I could endure the darkness until I saw the light”?

And this is what He Yuzhu is like now.

While He Daqing was coaxing He Yushui in the main room, He Yuzhu slipped out directly.

When we arrived at Di'anmen East Street, it was just time for work to start in the afternoon.

He Yuzhu looked at a group of people who were doing something unknown, so he squeezed over to join in the fun.

After a while, it was He Yuzhu's turn. He Yuzhu realized that this was the place to register as helpers.

"Name, home address."

The registration area was just a simple table, a chair, and a young soldier.

There was nothing to hide in the first place, and besides, many of the people who came here to help were neighbors in the alley, and everyone was familiar with each other, so He Yuzhu answered frankly.

"He Yuzhu, No. 95 Maoer Hutong, in Nanluoguxiang, behind."

"Ok?"

The young soldier who was still registering with his head down suddenly heard the noise of a child. He then raised his head and looked at He Yuzhu, frowning and asking:

"How old are you, kid?"

“I’m 15.”

He Yuzhu didn't lie. He was born in 35 and it's 49 now. Doesn't that mean he's 15 years old?

However, the age in Chinese lunar calendar is calculated based on the New Year.

But He Yuzhu is 15, there is nothing wrong with that.

"Oh?"

Although the young soldier was very confused, he still registered He Yuzhu.

However, He Yuzhu was not assigned to collect garbage on different roads like other adults. Instead, he took out a whistle from the backpack behind him and handed it to He Yuzhu.

"Brother, take this and go to the entrance of the alley. If you find anything wrong in the alley, just blow the whistle. When the time comes, someone will come and call you."

He Yuzhu did not refuse, took the whistle and said thank you.

Anyway, he had no intention of making a living here, so working for free wouldn't be considered an advantage.

Although Beijing is not the Northeast, the temperature is not minus 20 or 30 degrees Celsius, and it is even over 40 degrees Celsius.

However, as we all know, with the rise of buildings in cities, the improvement of heating facilities, and various technological reasons, the temperature has risen.

As a result, after the 21st century, the perceived temperature in winter in the north has been getting higher and higher.

But, to be frank, in today's Beijing, the area outside the second ring road can still be called suburbs. So you can imagine how cold Beijing must be in winter now.

Moreover, He Yuzhu was still guarding the entrance of the alley, with a strong draft and not much movement.

After a while, He Yuzhu felt that his feet and face were a little numb from the cold.

"Master, how about you take a break and let me take over the handle?"

He Yuzhu, who couldn't stand the cold, looked at the old man next to him who was working so hard that he had taken off his cotton-padded jacket and was left with only the sweater underneath. Judging from his appearance, the old man should be almost 60 years old, and said something.

The old man looked up and glanced at He Yuzhu without saying anything. He handed the shovel in his hand to He Yuzhu, then pulled out a pipe from his waist, pounded his waist, straightened his back, lit the pipe and started smoking.

"Master, the weather is cold, please put on something before you smoke."

He Yuzhu took the shovel, gave a kind reminder, and prepared to bend down to start cleaning the garbage on the ground.

He Yuzhu dared to swear that he really meant well and was just giving a casual reminder.

After all, this was a habit he left over from when he opened a restaurant in later life.

His snack bar is located next to the steel plant's family quarters, and there are piles of retired workers and masters in it.

I called him Master and he stayed.

However, unexpectedly, the old man who was smoking his pipe suddenly became angry like a cat whose tail was stepped on.

"You little bastard, who are you calling old? I'm telling you, I'm not old."

As he spoke, the old man started to complain.

"Humph, one or two people all look down on me for being old. I'm only 49 this year, I'm still young."

"Yes, yes, you are not old at all, you are still young."

He Yuzhu didn't care at all and agreed without hesitation.

But the old man had no intention of letting He Yuzhu go.

"Hey, you little brat. I'm almost your grandfather, and this is how you treat me?"

The old man really didn't lie.

In this era, let’s not talk about men getting married at the age of 17 or 18.

There are many people who get married at the age of fifteen or sixteen.

According to what the old man said just now, he is 49 years old, so he can really be the grandfather of He Yuzhu who is only 13 years old now.

"Yes, yes, you are right. After all, I am a grandfather, but I am not old at all."

He Yuzhu just joked with the old man indifferently.

It’s not that He Yuzhu is like the alley urchin in the plot, talking nonsense and having no respect for the elderly at all.

The main reason is that He Yuzhu in later generations has seen many people like the old man.

He's like an old kid who refuses to admit his age even after retirement. The more you argue with him, the happier he feels.

Look, the old man was pushed by He Yuzhu, and he said "You..." and then changed his "track".

"Little guy, aren't you afraid that I will kill you?"

As he spoke, the old man stared at He Yuzhu "fiercely" and put his hands on his waist.

But He Yuzhu laughed instead.

That's it?

Let’s not talk about the fact that He Yuzhu just knew that the old man in front of him was a member of our army.

Take the old man scaring children, for example. In the Northeast, especially in old neighborhoods where everyone has lived next to each other for life and everyone knows everything that happens in everyone's family, it is very common.

"Okay, okay, you are awesome, you are awesome, okay. I am afraid, isn't that okay? Master, you are not old, you are just the master, okay."

He Yuzhui kept agreeing, but his expression looked as if he was asking for a beating.

This made the old man so angry that he was about to raise his hand to point at He Yuzhu, but then he put it down.

"Come on, a master is a master, he is better than an old master, anyway, I am not old, I am still young."

The old man muttered something, then gave up the discussion about age and started chatting about family matters instead.

"Son, where in the Northeast are you from? I hear your accent sounds like someone from Liaoyang. Did you come here with your parents?"

(Xiaoer, pronounced as erhua, has the same meaning as xiaoxiaozier and xiaoxiaoer, both referring to little boys.)

"You old..."

"Ok?"

Before He Yuzhu could finish his words, he was stared at by a death ray from the old man.

He Yuzhu immediately changed his words.

"Uh, no, I'm not from the Northeast. My home is in Maoer Hutong in the back alley. I live on the ground floor."

"That's strange. Subconsciously, your accent does sound like that of Beijing. But if you listen carefully, it sounds like the accent of Liaoyang in Northeast China."

Now, the old man was confused.

"hey-hey."

He Yuzhu smiled foolishly and started to explain.

"You're right, Master. I have a master from Anshan in the Northeast. He abducted me and now he speaks like that."

There is no other way, He Yuzhu has to find a reason.

It was because He Yuzhu had been stuck in the yard for two months, and his speech basically came out word by word. Now, when he finally heard his hometown accent, he spoke a little faster and his accent came out.

"That's no wonder."

Now, the old man suddenly understood.

"Master? What did you study? I was wondering why you are different from others. Others call you "Master" or "Sir" when they meet each other. Although we don't use such terms, when it comes to you, we just call you "Master."

Well, I almost let it slip, but luckily the old man figured it out himself.

He Yuzhu just followed up with the conversation.

"I studied cooking. I learned how to smoke, stew and marinate from my master in Northeast China."

"Oh, smoked, marinated, I thought it was a royal cooking lesson."

The old man looked at He Yuzhu meaningfully.

"What about your parents? You're so young and you're out trying to make a living. You don't want to go to school?"

"My mom is gone, and my dad is at home taking care of my sister."

He Yuzhu didn't take it seriously and didn't care.

But the old man misunderstood the meaning, thinking that He Yuzhu's family was poor and he couldn't afford to go to school so he had to come out to make a living.

"You can't not go to school. What can you do with your limited skills in smoking, pickling and stewing? Children have to go to school, so that they can have a bright future."

"No, Master, are you thinking about something else? My family is a Shandong cuisine family, and my dad is a chef. My dad and I have been learning for several years, and we are almost masters at it."

He Yuzhu was glared at by the old man, and his voice became lower and lower. In the end, he simply stopped talking.

But this confirmed to the old man that he had dropped out of school to make a living.

"Master? What's wrong with mastering it? Do you not need to go to school? If you don't go to school, how can you write? If you can't write, how can you remember the recipes? In the future, even if you get the palace recipes, you can't understand them. What's the use? You are blind."

To be honest, the hatred on the old man's face now is not fake at all.

But He Yuzhu could understand this kind of hatred, and felt very warm in his heart.

Some things can only be understood after experiencing them.

Just like He Yuzhu, he had experienced it and knew that the old man's hatred was like "hating iron for not being able to make steel."

"No, Master, calm down first. I didn't say I wouldn't go to school or study. I taught myself. Now, my listening, speaking, reading and writing are no worse than those of adults."

He Yuzhu was not trying to comfort the old man in this regard.

After all, in later generations, he was at least a sophomore in high school and a high school dropout.

If mathematics is not counted, the education that He Yuzhu received in later generations would be more "substantial" than what is taught in schools today.

"Humph."

Although the old man snorted, he still took out a newspaper from his jacket pocket.

"Little guy, I won't make it difficult for you. I'll read to you now and you write on the ground. If you can't do it, you'd better go back to school as soon as possible."

After saying that, he started reading while He Yuzhu was stunned.

"The spokesperson of the XX Department on the Huaihai front talked about the great victory of the Yongcheng annihilation battle. The grass-roots have lost all the main capital of the civil war........." (Note 1)

The old man read about a hundred or eighty words in one breath before stopping, then looked at He Yuzhui proudly.

"So, you can't write anymore, right? If you can't write, just admit defeat and go back to study hard."

(Note 1: Cao Tou Zi, Chun Dian, Bao Man Er in the Cotton Trousers Waist, surnamed Jiang, here, in order to block the key words.)