Silly Zhu's Moving: The Old Neighbor's Nightmare

Chapter 118 Old Master Qi

The old man smiled, shook his head, and waved his hand, saying, "No, our stalls are next to each other, aren't they?"

I just came over to check on your mutton soup. Hmm, it looks good, the broth is milky white.

"Zhu Zi, don't worry about me, you have a customer." The old man came over, took a look, and then went back to his stall.

Sha Zhu quickly greeted the guests who came over.

"Young man, how much is the mutton soup? And how much are your meat buns?" an older woman asked, holding the hand of a little boy, in front of Sha Zhu's stall.

"The large meat buns are the same price as elsewhere, 5 cents each; mutton soup is 1 cent a bowl, 3 cents for an ounce of mutton offal, and 7 cents a bowl for an ounce of mutton."

The prices were written on the wooden board next to us. "Auntie, would you like to rest here for a while and have two bowls of mutton soup?" Sha Zhu said with a smile.

"Could you get me two meat buns, a bowl of mutton soup with meat, and a bowl of plain soup?"

After the woman finished speaking, she took the child in her arms and sat down at a small table inside the stall to wait.

"Rain, hurry up and get two steamed buns over there," Sha Zhu called to Rain, urging him to get to work.

He grabbed a handful of mutton, weighed it, and showed it to the sitting auntie, saying, "Auntie, it's a good ounce."

The older woman quickly came over and stared at the scale in Sha Zhu's hand. Seeing her nod in approval, Sha Zhu directly put the mutton into a strainer and heated it in the mutton broth.

Yu Shui took a small bowl, filled it with two steamed buns, and placed them on the table where the guests were sitting. Then she returned to the steamer and continued chatting with the two little girls who had come with her.

In less than a minute, Sha Zhu brought two bowls of mutton soup to the table where the guests were sitting.

The older woman moved the mutton soup with mutton next to the little boy.

Watching the little boy wolfing down his steamed buns, she said, "Eat slowly, all the buns are yours. Here, have some mutton soup, don't choke."

This woman drank a bowl of mutton soup without adding anything.

Watching the woman's actions, Sha Zhu inexplicably thought of his mother from a past life.

At that time, I was about the same age as the little boy next to me. Whenever there was a fair or market in our village,

My mother would take me to the village stage to watch plays, and she would often find a food stall and buy me some snacks.

Watching herself eat while her mother ate nothing, she felt quite moved.

Sha Zhu looked at the old lady and said, "Auntie, it's a total of 18 cents. Would you like to pay now or wait a while?"

The older woman quickly took out a handkerchief from her pocket, counted out the money, and handed it to Sha Zhu.

Upon hearing that her brother was collecting money, Yu Shui quickly ran over and said to him, "Brother, I want to eat fried cakes."

"You're dreaming. We'll talk about it after we sell out," Sha Zhu said, ignoring his sister.

I grabbed a small handful of mutton offal, put it in the soup pot to simmer for a while, and then took it to the older woman.

"Auntie, you're my first customer today. Let me add some lamb offal soup for you to try."

The woman quickly and happily thanked him, saying that the young business owner was a nice person.

After seeing that her brother had finished his work, Yu Shui ran over and grabbed his arm, shaking it.

Pointing to the fried fish stall not far away, he said, "Brother, when they sell out, I want some fried small fish."

Sha Zhu looked in the direction the rain was pointing and saw that there was indeed a stall selling fried fish.

It's almost the end of the year, and the weather is nice today. The sunshine has dispelled the winter chill, and all sorts of small stalls have popped up.

There were vendors selling fried fish, fried meatballs, cut cakes, steamed cakes, and glutinous rice cakes, as well as all sorts of other snacks, their aromas enticing.

In the distance, the restaurants lining both sides of the street offer a wide variety of fried dough sticks, fried dough rings, fried crispy crackers, sesame paste cakes, horseshoe-shaped cakes, rice porridge, tofu pudding, millet porridge, soy milk... the aromas filling the air.

Sha Zhu agreed to Yu Shui's request and soon became busy, seeing off wave after wave of guests who came to taste the food.

Just as Sha Zhu sat down to rest for a while, the old man selling fried cakes next to him suddenly spoke to the customers in front of his stall.

"Hey, Mr. Qi, out for a stroll?" Sha Zhu looked over at the voice and saw two people standing in front of a nearby stall.

An old man with a full white beard and glasses was standing next to a woman in her 30s who was supporting his arm.

"Mr. Qi," Sha Zhu thought to himself, "Could this be Mr. Qi Baishi? The person supporting him must be Mr. Qi Baishi's family member."

Mr. Qi Baishi passed away in Beijing in September 1957 at the age of 93. He should be 87 this year. Sha Zhu listened intently.

"Hehe, old man Zhang, out selling cut cakes again. The weather's nice today, so I had my granddaughter accompany me for a walk," Mr. Qi said with a smile.

Mr. Qi greeted Mr. Zhang with a smile but didn't buy any cut cakes. He then continued walking towards his own stall.

Smelling the aroma of mutton soup in the air, Mr. Qi walked to his stall and looked around. Seeing Sha Zhu stand up, he asked, "Young man, how much is your mutton soup?"

Sha Zhu pointed to the wooden board next to the stall and said, "The prices are all on here. A bowl of pure white mutton soup costs one cent."

I simmered this mutton soup for over ten hours, adding my own secret blend of spices. I dare say no one in all of Beijing has the richest flavor of my family's mutton soup.

"Old sir, don't miss this opportunity! Would you like to come in and have a taste?" Sha Zhu said in a seductive tone.

"You're a young man, but you've got quite the nerve. Give me a bowl to try. If it's not good, I won't pay."

After Mr. Qi finished speaking, he sat down with his granddaughter at the table at Sha Zhu's stall.

He said to the woman who sat down next to him, "Xiaoxia, order whatever you want to eat."

Sha Zhu, who was busy nearby, heard Old Mr. Qi say he wouldn't pay if the drink wasn't good, and chimed in, "..."

“Old sir, I heard old Zhang calling you, Mr. Qi. Could it be that you are Mr. Qi Baishi?”

"Oh? Young man, you also know my name?" Old Mr. Qi said with a puzzled look from the side.

"You really are Mr. Qi Baishi! I've heard so much about you. I've loved painting since I was a child."

I've admired you since I was a child. At first, I couldn't believe I'd actually meet you, sir.

"But when I heard the old man say he wouldn't pay, I guessed it must be you, sir. I've heard you're a very stingy person," Sha Zhu said excitedly.

"Where did you hear that I'm particularly stingy?" Old Mr. Qi said without the slightest hint of anger.

"Just kidding, it's just hearsay. Please don't be angry, sir. I heard that the old gentleman paints for people."

If the price isn't enough, they'll just scribble a fly or a small fish on the painting, or even just a dead shrimp.

Old sir, I don't mind small fish and shrimp, nor do I care whether the shrimp are alive or dead. Could you please paint a picture for me?

I'll pay you, just draw more shrimp on it, I'll pay any price, I'd sell my possessions if I had to.

"This meal is on me, sir. If you like to drink, I'll let you drink for free in the future," Sha Zhu said, gesturing towards the rain.

"Rain, hurry up, bring five big meat buns over here." Sha Zhu brought over two bowls of mutton soup with meat.

"Sir, I've stewed this meat until it's very tender, so you can eat it without worry. There's salt, chili powder, chive blossom sauce, and other seasonings on the table."

"You keep watching yourself add the seasonings. These seasonings are also homemade; they're absolutely hygienic and clean," Sha Zhu explained from the side.

Just then, Yushui brought over the meat buns. Mr. Qi was initially a little unhappy...

Seeing the rain coming, he said to Shazhu, "And who is this young lady?"

Upon hearing Mr. Qi's question, Sha Zhu quickly and sincerely replied, "This is my sister, He Yushui. My name is He Yuzhu, and my father is He Daqing."

He's the one who, according to rumors, ran off with the widow. My master is Wang Yijun, a top-level chef at Fengzeyuan Restaurant.

The chef had hosted state banquets, and the martial arts instructor was Coach Li Xinggong from the martial arts academy. "Has the old gentleman met my sister?" Sha Zhu explained his connections in detail.

"I saw it. Last week, I was sunbathing in front of my house when I saw this little girl leading a group of children beating up the kids in our alley."

"At the time, I thought this little girl had some martial arts skills; it turns out she's from a master's school," Mr. Qi said, looking at the rain.

When Yu Shui heard the old man complaining to his brother, he put down the bun in his bowl, stuck out his tongue, and ran away.