Siheyuan: I am the Smart Pillar

There is a large second-hand book market near the old city wall near Di'anmen. This second-hand book market has a large flow of people every day, and many antique book lovers like to come here to exchange some of their favorite antique books. This market has existed since the late Qing Dynasty. Since the demise of the Qing Dynasty, the unfilial descendants of the bannermen secretly put their ancestral antique books here to sell, and over time a market was formed.

He Yuzhu was very surprised that there were books from all eras in this market. He Yushui was obsessed with those comic books, and pulled He Yuzhu's sleeve pitifully. Unable to bear the pleading of his sister, he spent two yuan to buy some comic books. After buying the comic books, He Yuzhu solemnly said to He Yushui, "Brother, let me be frank. If your academic performance drops because of reading comic books, don't blame me for confiscating these books again."

He Yushui nodded and patted his chest and said, "Don't worry, brother, my grades won't drop." He Yuzhu nodded and said, "Okay, I hope you can do what you say." He Yushui grinned and looked at his sister, who was very cute. He Yuzhu touched his head. He Yuzhu took his sister to walk through the stalls and was suddenly attracted by a book.

The stall owner was a middle-aged man in his 40s. He Yuzhu squatted down and looked at a tattered ancient book. He Yuzhu smiled and said to the stall owner, "Excuse me, can you let me have a look at that tattered book?" The middle-aged man nodded, carefully picked up the book, put it in He Yuzhu's hand and said, "Man, you have to be careful with this book."

He Yuzhu nodded, and he looked at the book. This book didn't look like a book in the orthodox sense, but rather someone's notes. The cover was a bit worn, and He Yuzhu looked at it for a long time before he could see the name of the book clearly: "Sichuan Cuisine Imperial Case Notes". He Yuzhu felt that this book was very important, as their family had inherited cooking skills from their ancestors, and in the past the word "imperial case" could not be used casually.

He Yuzhu opened a page at random and found that his judgment was correct. This book was indeed a dish, and it seemed to be a dish compiled by previous people. He Yuzhu said, "Boss, I want this book. How much is it?" The boss held up two fingers and said, "20 yuan." He Yuzhu carefully put the book on the stall and said, "Okay, I think I am not destined to have this book. Okay, sister, let's go."

When the boss saw He Yuzhu wanted to leave, he hurriedly grabbed He Yuzhu with a smile and said, "Don't go, brother. If the deal doesn't go through, we can talk slowly. Just name a price." He Yuzhu glanced at the book and said, "How about two yuan?" The stall owner's face darkened. He looked at He Yuzhu and said, "You're trying too hard to bargain, little brother. That's an ancient book. Well, I don't want 20 yuan. How about 15 yuan?"

He Yuzhu pointed at the book and said with a smile, "It is an old book, but now it is almost waste paper. I will take it for 5 yuan. If you want to sell it, then sell it. If you don't want to sell it, then forget it." The boss smiled and continued to bargain with He Yuzhu. The two finally made a deal at 10 yuan. He Yuzhu spent a few more yuan to buy a few notebooks and two pens, and left with his sister. When the brother and sister left, the stall owner said with a smile, "What a fool! Such a broken book can be sold for ten yuan. I deserve to be rich today."

The brother and sister walked around the market for a few more rounds, bought a few toys for the sister, and picked a few antiques for themselves. The brother and sister rode their bicycles back home. As soon as they walked into the front yard, they found Yan Fuguier standing there. When he saw He Yuzhu, he walked up to him with a smile and said, "Hey, isn't this Zhuzi back? Zhuzi, I heard from Lao Liu that you passed the sixth-level chef exam. Is this true or not?"

He Yuzhu nodded, after all, this matter could not be concealed. Yan Fugui's eyes shone with gold and said, "Zhuzi, how much will your monthly salary be in the future?" He Yuzhu smiled and said, "Not much money, hey, Uncle Yan, you guys also took the assessment today, how much is your salary set?" Yan Fugui smiled awkwardly and said, "Actually, I don't have much money either, I just make do with what I have."

The two smiled at each other. After all, high wages in this era are not a good thing. If people in the hospital knew about it and asked you to borrow money, would you lend it or not? Talking about money hurts feelings. Yan Fugui didn't pay attention, and then he realized that He Yuzhu actually had a bicycle. He opened his mouth and said, "Where did you borrow this new bike? Let Uncle Yan touch it."

He Yuzhu said, "I bought this bike. It cost me more than 180 yuan plus a bicycle ticket." Yan Fugui opened his mouth wide. He didn't expect this bike to be so expensive. He looked at He Yuzhu and asked, "Zhuzi, where did you get so much money to buy a bike?" He Yuzhu smiled and said, "My father used to be the canteen director. Do you think our He family can't afford a bicycle?"

He Yuzhu thought that it was better for fewer people to know his secret, so he decided to put the blame on He Daqing. What else did Yan Fugui want to say? He Yuzhu took his sister back home. Soon, the whole hospital knew that Sha Zhu had bought a bicycle. He Yuzhu was just about to sit down and read the book he had bought when there was a knock on the door.

He Yuzhu opened the door impatiently and found Yi Zhonghai and Liu Haizhong standing outside. He Yuzhu asked impatiently, "Why are you here at our doorstep so late at night?" Yi Zhonghai frowned and asked, "Zhuzi, I heard you bought a new bicycle, how can you afford it?"

He Yuzhu felt that this old man was really bad. He frowned and said, "Yi Zhonghai, you are really meddling in other people's business. Whether our family can afford to buy a bicycle is none of your business." He Yuzhu really hated Yi Zhonghai. He took himself too seriously.

Yi Zhonghai was so angry that veins popped out. He glared at He Yuzhu and said, "What's your attitude? We are all your elders. We are afraid that you will go astray." He Yuzhu snorted coldly and said, "Don't keep saying that you are my elders. The elders of our He family are all dead. My dad used to be a great chef. Can't he earn enough to buy a bicycle?"

When the people in the yard heard this, they thought it made a lot of sense. When He Daqing was alive, the living standard of the He family was very high.