When I woke up, the ceiling was already illuminated by the dazzling light from outside.
The small breeze blown by the electric fan in the room moved the curtains, and the blurred window frames moved with the light flow, like a slowly moving train, taking Ning Weimin into the distance.
When he opened his eyes, he felt bored and couldn't help but continue lying on the bed in a daze.
The almanac hanging on the wall, with one page torn off every day, showed that today was already the fourth day after he returned to China - July 29, 1986.
But he still didn't want to do anything serious.
In order not to be disturbed, even the BP machine left in China was not turned on.
So he didn't really get up to wash up until he squinted in a daze for half an hour and then opened his eyes again to find that it was already ten o'clock.
There is an old saying that "people are cheap when they leave their hometown", and this is absolutely true.
Once a person leaves the place where he was born and raised and arrives in a new place far away, he cannot understand the words spoken and knows nothing.
It's inevitable that he will look stupid and stupid, as if he lacks any sense.
For example, when Ning Weimin was in Japan, he really felt this feeling.
Even if he has money, even if he is doing well, because he has only a limited understanding of the language, culture, and customs, he is always afraid of making a fool of himself in Tokyo.
Even though I am becoming more and more adaptable and have more and more wealth, after all, I am still living abroad and wandering in a foreign land.
Then a person will always be restrained, unable to relax, and there will always be a tension in his heart, making him always alert.
But after returning home, it was completely different.
The string in his heart suddenly relaxed and disappeared, and the pressure on his shoulders seemed to disappear out of thin air.
Only then can you truly feel the relaxation and relaxation that you have been away from for a long time, and only then can you truly let yourself go.
Therefore, Ning Weimin derived the second half of the sentence from the principle "people are lazy when they leave their hometown" - people are lazy when they return home.
After he came back, he just wanted to live a few days of laziness like a good-for-nothing, doing whatever he wanted without having to work hard.
He just likes to wander around like an unemployed young man all day long, eating until it is dark.
Perhaps for most people, living such a life without desires and pursuits will be regarded as hopeless and unambitious, which is absolutely unacceptable.
But on the contrary, for a successful man like him who had just returned from abroad, it was in turn an urgent need to recuperate and recuperate.
This is probably the principle that the more people lack something, the more they want it.
Of course, even from the perspective of material conditions, the capital city cannot catch up with Tokyo under any circumstances.
Especially the large courtyard in Shan'er Hutong, even the staff dormitories renovated by Ning Weimin using "Abato" in Japan cannot compare.
In addition, the summer weather has not yet broken out in Beijing at this time. Without air conditioning, it is so hot that people want to peel off a layer of their own skin.
But it's such a poor place, with so many families crowded into a large courtyard in the hot summer.
But there is a simple happiness that only people born and raised in the alleys of Beijing can appreciate, and a joy of life that requires a peaceful mind.
Yes, the weather is unbearably hot.
However, the unique way of spending summer in Beijing adds a lot of wonderful flavor to such hot summer days.
First of all, this hot summer season is also the season when the population of Beijing is the most prosperous.
There are not only red plums, jade plums, tiger-drawn carts, peaches, dasha fruits, and milk grapes that can be eaten.
Besides fruits, there are also melons.
At this time, there were many types of watermelons in the suburbs of Beijing.
What about "thrush", "black devil", "big three white", "green three white", "flower skin melon", "jinpi melon", "pillow melon", "black bunjiner", "six daojin"
Son" and so on.
Some are white, some are green, some are black, and some are yellow, white flesh with white flesh, yellow flesh with black flesh, red flesh with black flesh, golden flesh with red flesh, or they are integrated, or they have clear skin and skin.
Similarly, the types of cantaloupes are no less than those of watermelons, and their names are more vivid and interesting.
Like "Aries Horn Honey" and "Green Horn Honey", which are named after their shapes.
They are named "Han Sanbai", "Dashui White", "White Gourd Crispy", "Lantern Red" and "Han Jin Zhuo'er" because of their colors.
There is also the "Ha Toad Cake" who earned the nickname "Old Man's Joy" because of his bad mouth.
And because it tastes so doughy, it is often interpreted in the opposite way and mistakenly thought to be the "monkey face" of "Old Man Le Le".
In addition, there are also sweet melons and old melons.
Although these two melons have no sweet taste, they can only be used to quench thirst.
But if you eat it as a cold drink, it also has a refreshing taste that makes you feel fulfilled during the melon season.
To be honest, in Ning Weimin's personal feeling, the capital city in summer is comparable to Huaguo Mountain.
It is not difficult to rely on this land and water to feed the immortals who only eat fresh fruits but not fire food.
And this kind of blessing is enough to make the Japanese envious to death, because even ordinary people in the capital can achieve fruit freedom.
In addition, there are also wild fish and shrimps, crabs, lotus flowers, lotus leaves, water chestnuts, fresh lotus roots and chicken head rice in the Gaoliang River, Shicha Lake and Tongzi River.
As long as they know how to swim and are good at fishing, adults and children can take it by themselves.
Completely natural, green and pollution-free.
It is no exaggeration to say that the summer heat in Beijing can be cooled down by at least one-third with these seasonal fresh products.
Of course, summer meals may be simpler due to the hot weather, but these fresh products can basically make up for people's loss in meat.
People in Courtyard No. 2 often heard people say this, "It's so hot that I don't want to eat anything. I won't cook anything at noon today. I'll just wash some fruits, add some fresh garlic, and have a bowl of soaked noodles with soy sauce."
"
The eldest grandsons of the Luo family and the Bian family have already gone to kindergarten, and even these two idiots have made rhetoric similar to that of Sun Dasheng.
"If you want to eat three hundred peaches a day, even if you don't eat, I will do it!"
"Yes, if it's a big, red peach, I won't eat it if I don't eat it!"
So this doesn't make anyone feel aggrieved.
Maybe it seems a bit bland, but there are "boiled peanuts" and "boiled edamame" to spice up the taste.
Especially people like Ning Weimin who take advantage of the money in their pockets can go for a walk in the grocery store.
Cut up some garlic sausage, vermicelli sausage, some deboned meat, preserved eggs and peanuts, and you can appease the gluttons.
If you catch a hawker selling donkey meat from the suburbs of Beijing and come to the city, you can wander into the alley and hawk it again, you will get extra delicious food.
Anyway, Ning Weimin didn't hesitate to spend money, so he had to buy a few kilograms, cut it into thin slices, roll it into pancakes, and eat it with green onion dipping sauce.
Finally, to take a step back, there is still Kang Shude who opened a big wine vat to support the bottom.
Different from the business of Kang Shude and Zhang Dashao in winter, there are also seasonal foods unique to summer in summer.
The wine was added with chilled Bamboo Leaf Green and Yinchen wine.
The side dishes include peas and kidney beans boiled with Sichuan peppercorns and aniseed, deep-fried river shrimp, and tofu mixed with Chinese toon.
With these, add a bowl of shaved noodles or rotten pork noodles, and it will be a hearty meal to satisfy your cravings.
The most amazing thing is that "Zhang Dashao" has added Bing Wan'er, which is unique and has no other branches, to the big wine tank.
This is based on the practice of the "Huixian Hall" on the Shichahai Sea, one of the eight major halls in the capital.
Use a large bowl of crystal ice, covered with green lotus leaves, holding cantaloupe, fresh water chestnuts, fresh walnuts, fresh almonds, fresh lotus roots, lotus seeds with the core removed, and then mix with fresh hazelnuts and candied fruits, and finally sprinkle
Add some honey water and osmanthus sauce.
This wine and dish is not only fragrant, fresh, fresh, and slightly cold, but the dazzling colors of these fresh ingredients are enough to make people get rid of the heat and move their index fingers.
The key is that it also has a nice and auspicious name, called "Treasure Bowl".
That's not to say, Ning Weimin's eyes were opened while enjoying the delicious food, and he learned another skill.
I plan to put this Bing Wan'er on the summer menu of Tan Gong Restaurant from now on to rip off customers.
At least he can be sure that the little devil will definitely fall for this trick.
In addition, we also need to talk about living.
In the capital city these days, being backward actually has its advantages. At least in terms of the overall environment, there is no greenhouse effect.
This means that even in the dog days of summer when there is fire in the sky, steamers on the ground, and no place to hide, the capital is still quite cool both morning and night.
Even if the houses in the courtyard are simple and have no air conditioning, people can sleep peacefully most of the time.
Therefore, even poor people do not have to suffer too much and can still feel the loveliness of summer.
For example, if you get up early, open the door every morning.
When people in the courtyard come out to wash up, they can see the morning glories planted by Uncle Bian in the courtyard.
Blue, white, and red flowers with dew on them, with bell mouths with stamens pointing upwards. Sometimes there may even be a red dragonfly falling on these flowers. How pleasant it is to look at them?
Even if Ning Weimin doesn't have the habit of getting up early, he can hide in the Temple of Heaven Park to cool off when the sun is high and it's too hot to stay in the house.
The most numerous trees there are thousands of years old, green pines and cypresses, making it the best summer resort you can find in the capital in summer.
The palace there is very high and deep, and there is always a gentle breeze.
In particular, Ning Weimin also accumulated blessings for himself with his own hands.
The summer book market organized by him, the second-hand goods market at the gate of the Zhai Palace, the zoo outside the West Tianmen, and the newly built tea shed inside the East Tianmen are all great entertainment.
I went to the book market to buy some books, went to the zoo to feed the deer, and when I was hungry, I went to the food stall at the entrance of the Zhai Palace to replenish my appetite.
When I feel tired, I go to the teahouse to make a pot of tea, sit under the shade of a tree, eat sour plum cake, order melon seeds and peanuts, and listen to a few books.
He can live a comfortable life without revealing his identity at all.
When the sun turned to the west, he walked back slowly and bought some food on the way back to fill his stomach in the evening.
The two children in the courtyard are always under the big locust tree at the door, picking locust flowers and waiting for the adults in the courtyard to come back.
Ning Weimin loved playing with the two children and liked their cleverness and cleverness.
So almost every day I had to bring back a few pieces of candy, one or two pieces of pea yellow, or beef jerky to share with them.
Sometimes by chance, maybe at this time, there will be a grasshopper seller or a seller of small goldfish in the alley.
If he catches up, Ning Weimin will definitely call the hawker over.
For these two greedy children who dare not ask the adults for money, buy two grasshoppers or a few small fish with golden grass.
Since he is an uncle, he should act like an uncle.
It’s hard to let two neighbor’s children call each other “uncle” every day for free, right?
After entering the door at this time, there is shade under the west wall. Ning Weimin will move a small stool and sit under the jujube tree, sipping on mung bean soup or sour plum soup that he may have bought from a neighbor's house, and listening to the evening music.
Storytelling Broadcast.
To be honest, since Kang Shude didn't eat much at home after starting his business, Ning Weimin had more freedom in his dinner.
Instead of going to the big wine tank to join in the fun with his master, he would stay in the courtyard and share the table with the neighbors.
The neighbor's food and drinks may only be tofu mixed with Chinese toon, or pickled cucumbers with green onions, which are far less good than the meat dishes Ning Weimin brought back.
But Ning Weimin is never picky and never looks outside.
What he pictured was the excitement, the friendship, and the warmth of being close to neighbors and feeling like family.
After the meal, it is often not dark yet, so the most enjoyable and relaxing part of summer begins.
The habit of enjoying the cool air in Beijing has been around for a long time, but there are some differences between children and adults.
Children, especially boys, must have something to "cleanse their spine" by the adults at home after meals or before going to bed.
This kind of shower is different from taking a bath. There is no need to use the big wooden basin of "Two Mothers" to throw people in and scrub them.
There is no need for a bathroom, and you don't even need to take off your underwear.
All you need to do is ask the child taking a shower to take off his arms, stand directly in the yard, and collect the water with a ladle or basin. After a quick shower, he will be cool!
Those who are particular about it need to apply soap and wash themselves. For those who are not particular about it, they just need to wash it casually. It will remove the sweat from the body and avoid prickly heat.
By the way, the water also washed the ground in the courtyard clean and took away the heat. It definitely killed two birds with one stone.
As for the adults in the courtyard who don't have to take care of their children, they often bring out benches, mats or bamboo loungers from their homes and sit under the grape vine or loofah trellis in the courtyard.
Everyone was drinking jasmine tea, eating fruits and beans brought out by each house, and listening to the old people from each house shaking cattail fans talking about ancient times.
I could sit there until after ten o'clock in the evening, blowing the cool breeze in the courtyard, smelling the fragrance of tuberose flowers in the courtyard, and listening to the melodious sound of the oil gourds in the courtyard. It was so comfortable and comfortable.
That's not all. In addition, the alley outside the courtyard gate is a broader communication platform and a larger social place.
If you don’t want to stay in the courtyard, you can grab a bench or a horse and gather in an open space on the street to chat with neighbors from all over the alley in other courtyards, or use the dim street lights to chat.
Light, chess, cards.
The naughtiest boys actually love to hang out with adults at this time, listen to all kinds of social rumors, learn good things and bad things from them.
Think about it, how could Ning Weimin be willing to live such a down-to-earth life with plenty of fun?
To be honest, sometimes he really envies these ordinary people.
If possible, he really wished he could continue to be as leisurely as they were.
