The time was probably close to noon, to be precise, 12:00 Beijing time, Beichizi Street.
In the near autumn season, the locust trees planted on both sides of the street are intertwined with gold and green. The layers of complex colors cover up the skylight, revealing only a vertical strip of light. The locust trees extending to the left and right form a strip in the center.
In the cold tunnel, you can occasionally see birds jumping on the branches and pecking at their feathers.
Lin Nian was sitting at a stall on the street waiting for his lunch, with one foot on the bronze box under the table and looking sideways at the locust trees on Beichizi Street.
"Here comes the pot." The stall owner put a white towel around his neck and put on his waist, looking like an old waiter in a movie.
Take a few burnt rings out of the hot oil and put them on a plate, then bring a small plate of pickles to serve with them.
"Thank you." Lin Nian politely thanked the boss, rubbed his hands, picked up the focus ring and took a bite.
But immediately I saw the boss waved his hand and said that he was wrong. He had to take a sip of bean juice as an appetizer before eating the jiao rings, or dip the jiao rings in the bean juice and eat them together to be authentic.
Lin Nian has always been a person who listens to advice. He took a sip of the soy milk according to the boss's instructions. Maybe this thing was too similar to the soy milk he drank in the south. Generally, soy milk is sweet and delicious, so Lin Nian took this first step.
The mouthful was a bit too stuffy, causing him to squirt out some of it, but fortunately he quickly held it in, covering his mouth and nose, bending down and coughing violently.
"Aren't you used to eating? You just came to Beijing? Are you traveling or studying?" The boss could tell that this young man wearing a gray polo shirt and sweater with the word "college student" written all over it was from outside, and the locals were always happy to see him.
The outsider's face was filled with pain because of the bean juice, so he happily handed him a tissue and put a bottle of mineral water next to him.
"Five dollars." The boss reminded Lin Nian as he stretched out his hand to touch the mineral water. Then he saw Lin Nian's outstretched hand retracted. He couldn't help but feel a little disappointed on his face, but he was still encouraging, "Young man, you can't hold on anymore."
Hold on, drink some water and rinse your mouth."
"It's okay." Lin Nian finished coughing and took a deep breath... His mouth was filled with the smell of bean juice, "I can handle it."
"Young people are just stubborn." The boss regretfully took the mineral water back.
"One more question, is this what the soy milk tastes like, or did you accidentally make it bad?" Lin Nian asked with a frown while holding something that looked like soy milk, but was completely different.
"What do you think it tastes like?" the boss asked.
"Gushui." Lin Nian said truthfully, not afraid of offending anyone.
"That's right. This proves that my old skills have not fallen behind." The boss happily turned around and continued to entertain other guests, leaving this boy who was reluctant to spend five yuan to buy a bottle of mineral water where he was.
Keep savoring that sour taste.
Lin Nian sat at the stall and frowned, taking a sip of Jiaohuan and a sip of bean juice, occasionally picking up some pickles. The bean juice was a low-calorie drink and could not satisfy his energy for a day's activities, so he added two more plates of Jiaohuan and sesame seeds.
Qiu, I had to eat a lot of fried food before the bowl of bean juice bottomed out.
After drinking the bean juice, Lin Nian sat there and was sullen for a while before coming back to his senses. The boss next to him was happily selling mineral water to the out-of-town couple tourists who were also suffocated by the bean juice. At the same time, he was explaining why Beichizi Street was called Beichizi Street.
, not because there is a pool or anything, but because there was Nanchizi Street first. In the Ming Dynasty, the emperor's imperial garden there was called "Xiao Nancheng". Pudu Temple, Huangshicheng and Changpu River were all there, and Beichizi Street was there.
There is nothing worth talking about on this side of the street. To put it bluntly, Beichizi is named after the geographical location of Nanchizi. It is separated from the Forbidden City by the Tongzi River. It was also considered a forbidden area in the imperial city during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. You can see it everywhere
The red walls and cornices are proof.
The young couple was stunned by the talk of the eloquent old man. They sat down in a trance and took a sip of bean juice and a sip of mineral water. After drinking it, they bought another bottle, which made the old man happy. Compared with
Stingy college students who can't get enough of money are still easy to fool couples and tourists. After a while, they may even take them to the photo shop of an acquaintance and rent them a palace dress to kill them.
Lin Nian was sitting at the stall under the locust tree, reading old BJ's free historical stories while looking at the scenery of locust trees embracing each other. If he had nothing to do, Beijing was really a good place to travel. Inner Ring Road
Just pick a place by the Forbidden City and sit down to tell a story. A story can pass the day.
The old man talked about the Forbidden City from Beichizi Street, and then from the Forbidden City to the British and French Allied Forces. He was filled with righteous indignation. Then he talked about the secret history of the palace, with a little saltiness and color, which made the young couple blush and cry.
Out of curiosity, I almost talked about all the big and small things in Beijing's past, and also gave me some travel routes recommended by locals.
At the end, the old man seemed to have nothing to say anymore, and began to complain that housing prices in Beijing have risen again in recent years. Not to mention courtyard houses, even Xiaoping's old house in the third ring road can be sold for a sky-high price of several million, and even the license plate
Things are getting more and more difficult. Previously, his son wanted to buy a car, but the queue for the lottery was not until the second half of the year... The young lovers looked sad again.
The old man reminds the young people to work hard and see that the real Zhenghuang Banners in old Beijing now live in courtyards near the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven and the Summer Palace, highlighting a long history and culture and a quiet environment. Take this Beijing
Take the courtyard house on Chizi Street as an example. Did you see it? It’s the second courtyard diagonally opposite. Don’t look at it, it’s just the second courtyard. This location is close to the Forbidden City. It’s not an ordinary wealthy person to be able to afford it! I think I was in this kind of place back then.
The old Jianghu who has had tea in the courtyard, can own such an apartment, tsk tsk! So, young man, if you work harder, maybe you can bring your girlfriend to live in it?
The old man frightened the young couple into a daze, thinking that the old man setting up the stall must be some kind of hidden positive and yellow flag to experience life... Then Lin Nian over there ordered another plate of Jiao.
Circle, the old man immediately stood up and walked to the frying pan. He was happy that although the young boy had picked a little, he could at least eat it. After eating a few more plates of fried circle, he would not care about the other party not buying mineral water.
.
"Hey, look, someone is coming out of that courtyard." The girl in the couple pulled her boyfriend's sleeve and pointed to the second courtyard opposite where the uncle used to encourage young people to strive, and the slowly rising garage on the side.
A matte iron gray Aston Martin was driven out. The model was DBS. The owner was very low-key and did not open the convertible in the nice weather. The dull light under the shade of the locust tree reflected on the matte surface of the car.
A matte texture.
"This car is pretty good, it should cost half a million yuan." The man in the spotlight turned his head and glanced at the artistic sports car and sighed.
The boyfriend in the couple looked at the uncle in a daze. It seemed that the uncle had exposed something inadvertently. The admiration he felt before because of the uncle's talk seemed to have dropped a little bit...
"Uncle, please have another bean juice and a charcoal ring." Lin Nian glanced at the Aston Martin idling out of the garage across the street.
"okay!"
A portion of bean juice and two plates of coke rings were placed in front of Lin Nian's table. Lin Nian took a piece and put it in his mouth, glanced at the watch, and then waited for the Aston Martin opposite to slowly drive around in the street.
I drove slowly to a roadside stall and stopped.
The couple sitting in the stall looked at each other, thinking that the old Beijingers seemed to really love the drink of bean juice. Even the owner who lives in a courtyard and drives a top-notch sports car can't escape from drinking a bowl of bean juice to rinse his mouth before going out at noon?
The Aston Martin's privacy-protecting window was lowered. Lin Nian, who was chewing on the focus ring, glanced inside and was surprised to find that the girl in the driver's seat with one hand leaning on the steering wheel seemed to have changed.
A suit of clothes?
Through the car window, Lin Nian waved to her and told her to come and sit down. The couple at the table next to him looked at him a little strangely, as if they were wondering what kind of trendy flirting and chatting skills this was.
What I didn't expect was that the Aston Martin actually turned off. The door on the other side opened at a 45° angle. The young female car owner got out, closed the door, walked around in a circle, and walked straight towards Lin Nian.
In front of this table.
Lin Nian, who was sitting on the low table, couldn't help but look up at the girl again. Instead of wearing the casual large T-shirt and sneakers before, she put on a rather decent white coat, with the hem hanging down to her knees.
A pair of khaki high-top boots. The waist of the coat is loosely pinned to the waist. From the unbuttoned collar, you can see the same-color one-piece collar and off-shoulder makeup. It is very...mature and sexy,
You can vaguely see a silver drop necklace hanging down to the middle of the collarbones on both sides.
If the other person had always given him the impression of a rebellious high school student before, then now the high school student seemed to have become mature and intellectual all of a sudden because of the way he dressed... giving people a sudden sense of reality...
Reminiscent of the exaggerated impression of the dragon-slaying swordswoman in the past, this kind of Beijing rich girl in a boudoir compound makes people feel more human and close to life.
Or maybe it's feminine? You can say that, but at least it's the same thing.
"..." Lin Nian looked at Li Hueyue in front of him with a focus ring in his mouth, as if he got to know her again, but he did not comment on her dress, and just motioned for her to sit down.
"I've already eaten." Li Huanyue said as she looked at the jiao rings and bean juice prepared for her on Lin's table.
"A question." Lin Nian asked.
"Say." Li Huanyue looked at Lin Nian on the low table and waited patiently.
"Are you used to eating soybean juice?" Lin Nian pointed to the untouched bowl of soybean juice prepared for Li Hueyue.
"I don't hate it, and I don't like it either," Li Huoyue said.
"real or fake?"
Just after Lin Nian finished asking this question, he noticed that Li Hueyue was staring at him for a few seconds. He did not avert his gaze and looked at the girl... Then he found that the girl seemed to have some makeup on? According to what Su Xiaoqiang taught him
Judging from those makeup skills, it should be eyeliner and eyebrows, right? It seems that there is also some blush? In short, this girl who looks cold and indifferent no matter how she looks, has a little more... girlfriend atmosphere?
Stop it.
The old man and the couple next to him were all stunned. They were not sure about the relationship between Lin Nian and Li Hueyue. Could it be that the real secret was this college student who was not willing to buy five yuan of mineral water to rinse his mouth?
Lin Nian stared at Li Huoyue for a long time without saying anything. Then he noticed that Li Huoyue bent down and picked up the bowl of bean juice on the table. He drank it all in one go without any expression. He put down the empty bowl and stared at him and said, "
Can we leave now?"
Lin Nian subtly noticed that Li Guoyue seemed a little impatient? No, it was more impetuous than impatient... It was like she was uneasy from the bottom of her heart, but why was she uneasy? People like her would really be
Is she feeling uneasy? Is it because the subsequent meeting with the orthodox senior officials made her nervous?
No...something's wrong.
Lin Nian took another look at Li Hueyue's outfit, but what he didn't expect was that Li Hueyue actually asked a question that he thought was impossible for this girl to say.
"What do you think... of my outfit?" Li Huoyue asked.
He picked up the focus ring and brought it to his mouth, then put it down again. He glanced at Li Hueyue strangely and found that when the other party asked this question, there was no so-called "shy" or "dodge" look on his face. At most, there was just some
After hesitation and impetuosity, I felt a little more at ease. It seemed that my identity as a "hybrid succubus" (a nickname Lin Nian was ridiculed by his classmates in the Night Watch forum) was not that scary.
"Okay, it suits you very well. It's much better than the previous one." Lin Nian gave Li Hueyue's "new skin" a high degree of approval, perhaps because he himself liked this kind of intellectual and mature dress.
"Isn't it awkward? It's on me." Li Hueyue asked.
Lin Nian silently swallowed a swollen mouthful of coke and didn't dare to ask the other party why he changed his clothes. Why did Bingshan pretend to be a girlfriend? It was better to keep the bad words that he almost blurted out in his stomach. Sure enough, and
Lu Mingfei still had some side effects from talking all night.
There is no way I would wear something so nice just to meet my parents.
"No, I should say it's just right. It looks pretty. Did you pick the clothes yourself? You're very discerning." Lin Nian has rich experience of accompanying Lin Xian to shopping malls to change clothes but not buy them. The same situation happened to him.
Having been through it countless times, you naturally know how to deal with it.
"That's good." Li Huanyue nodded lightly. After receiving Lin Nian's approval, she actually relaxed a little. After a moment of silence, she suddenly said, "Xiao Sheng helped me pick it."
Xiaosheng...that Zhao Xiaosheng? That commissioner from Langjuxu whom I met at the airport?
Li Huoyue took a hundred-dollar bill from her pocket and handed it to the boss. She also took a bottle of mineral water, which seemed to be used as a mouthwash, and reminded Lin Nian, "Get in the car, we are going to be late."
"It's still early. I'm looking at the watch. Are you sure you don't want to eat something?" Lin Nian probably thought that Li Hueyue was lying to him when he said he had eaten.
"No." Li Huoyue saw Lin Nian pick up the bronze sword case under the table and stand up. He also turned and walked towards the Aston Martin. "It is basic etiquette for juniors to arrive early when meeting their elders."
Lin Nian didn't say anything. He simply got up from the low table and walked towards the Aston Martin carrying the bronze sword case. But he paused halfway and turned back to touch the old man's bottle of mineral water.
After a meal, I met the Aston Martin's co-pilot with admiration. The engine roared slightly, and the iron-gray beast disappeared in the golden-green tunnel of locust trees.