Qianmen Street on the south side of Tiananmen Square has been a bustling commercial district since ancient times, lined with dense shops.

In the implementation of public-private partnerships, more than 800 private shops, large and small, such as silk shops, porcelain shops, barber shops, taverns, and restaurants, have been turned into state-run units, whether they like it or not.

Xu Jingli's home is on a street where Gate Street turns towards Dashilar, a set of two-entry courtyard houses on the street, and two upside-down houses in the front yard have been torn down and replaced with shops facing the street, which is the tavern that the Xu family now operates.

The original street gate of the courtyard was also included in the tavern, so the Xu family carved out a wall gate from the west wall of the alley next to the alley.

This kind of door is embedded in the wall, so there is neither a pillar nor a ridge, although it is a little simple, but the courtyard where the ordinary people live is not too particular, and practicality is always the first.

From a distance, Li Tong found Xu Jingli standing in the alley, the little girl was tilting her head and stretching her neck to look at the entrance of the alley, and waved her arms happily when she saw Li Tong appear.

"Li Tong, why did you get there! I've been waiting for you for a long time. ”

Li Tong raised the only two strings of crabs left in his hand, and said with a smile: "It's not to run home to get crabs for you, for these crabs, I have been nagged by my brother and sister a lot, and this journey is even harder." ”

That's right, the crabs that Li Tong took out of the virtual farm for the second time were half less along the way.

"Ah, these crabs are so big!" Xu Jingping, who was combing his long braids, jumped out from behind Xu Jingli, and looked curiously at the crab that spit out foam with a pair of big eyes.

Before Li Tong could explain, a hearty woman's voice sounded behind Sister Xu Jingli.

"You two kids, don't block the door. Jingli, let your classmates into the house to drink saliva first, and dinner will be ready soon. ”

"Why don't I carry it for you first?"

Xu Jingping looked at Li Tong with expectant eyes, Li Tong shrugged his shoulders, and handed her the crab in his hand that was bigger than Xu Jingping's fist after being tied with reeds.

"Then it's hard for you."

"It's not hard, it's not hard."

Xu Jingping excitedly turned around and ran into the house with the crab, shouting: "Mom, look, the big crab brought by the eldest sister!" ”

Xu Jingli glanced at her sister-in-law angrily, and led Li Tong into the Xu family.

The courtyard house of the Xu family is a house with private land deeds for old residents in the capital, unlike the large courtyard where many households live in Li Tong and his family.

The quadrangle courtyard of the two entrances sits in the north and faces south, and the front yard is the front yard when entering the door, there are two main rooms, with a platform in front of the door, and there are two east and west wings on each side.

The courtyard is surrounded by grass and trees, the east and west sides of the main house are planted with tall old locust trees respectively, the flower garden in front of the stairs is full of chrysanthemums and osmanthus, and there are oleanders, golden cinnamon, silver cinnamon, azaleas, gardenias, etc. in the flower pots on the staircase.

Li Tong can imagine that in the middle of summer, the old Huaiyin house, the courtyard is cool, the cicadas are singing on the trees, taking a break in the shade, and the surrounding fairies such as morning glory, Fusang, and marigold compete for beauty.

In your spare time, you can make a pot of tea, hold a book, stand against the door, sit in front of the window, and enjoy the joy of the world in the quiet and isolated courtyard.

Or sit on a chaise longue in the courtyard with your parents in the breeze, watching the dappled sunlight under the shade of the trees, chatting and laughing.

Xu Huizhen, who was standing on the steps, looked at Li Tong standing in the courtyard with her eyes, needless to say, her appearance was a standard beautiful boy, very outstanding.

He was wearing a white-washed blue cloth shirt, with two obvious patches on his trouser legs, and his shoes with black edges on a white background looked very old.

A handsome boy with an ordinary family background who loves cleanliness, this is Xu Huizhen's first impression of Li Tong.

This year, he was willing to take duck eggs to make apologies to his classmates, and he also knew that he should take a gift for the first time, and the gift was not light, Xu Huizhen speculated that Li Tong's family should be a family with a bit of cultural heritage and background.

Xu Jingli stood aside and was secretly angry, the bad table didn't know what hysteria was, walking the yard was like losing his soul, and his mother even beat him in and put a smile on his face and didn't speak.

My sister carried the crab and pushed my father to the kitchen, and I guess she was now figuring out whether it would be delicious to steam or stir-fry.

No one came out to take care of the two people in the courtyard, so Xu Jingli pushed Li Tong hard in anger.

"What do you think!"

Xu Huizhen also realized her gaffe, and awkwardly rushed back to Li Tong, who had come to her senses, and beckoned: "It's cold in the yard, hurry up and go into the house with Auntie." ”

"Hmm."

Li Tong peeked at Xu Jingli, who was beside her with a cold face, and pulled her clothes with a red face, and then the two of them followed Xu Huizhen into the main room.

As soon as he crossed the threshold and entered the house, Li Tong immediately felt what a solid family was, the spine of the ash tube and the ceiling at the wellhead on his head, and he didn't have to say anything about it when he raised his thumb.

The furnishings in the house are even more unusual, with long case strips, flower stands, Taishi chairs, tables, official hats and chairs, all of which are arranged in an orderly manner with the center line of the hall on the left and right.

There is a beautiful wireless radio on the case, and the appearance should be the Shanghai Feile brand radio just produced the year before last, and the second uncle in the backyard is a baby-like radio at home, which is better than it.

Fish eyes to pearls, tile urns to porcelain.

The painting in the middle hall hanging above the case is a six-foot landscape painting, with mountains and rivers layered on top of each other, with deep brushwork and majestic momentum.

Li Tong doesn't know how to appreciate landscape paintings, but he can intuitively feel that the ink in the painting is deep and dripping, overlapping and not chaotic, the more you look at it, the more you look at it, the more flavorful it is, the black in the black, the black in the white, and the changes are strange.

Li Tong can think of a four-word word: rich and lush!

Seeing Li Tong looking up at the ink paintings on the wall with his little head up, Xu Huizhen asked curiously: "Children, can you understand the paintings on the wall?" ”

With his right hand clenched into a fist against his chin and his elbow resting on his left hand, Li Tong, who pretended to be an adult, nodded and said, "Auntie, I don't know how to paint, but I like the charm in this painting very much, the brush and ink are thick and penetrating." ”

"Ouch, you kid don't drop." Xu Huizhen was surprised, "Little friend, tell Auntie, is there anyone in the family who can paint landscape paintings?" ”

Xu Jingli was confused.

What a heaviness

That's it

It's not incomprehensible at all, okay!

As soon as Li Tong briefly introduced his family background to Xu Huizhen, he saw Cai Quanwu walking in with a plate of fried vegetables and a basket of three-way noodles steamed buns.

"Don't talk, let's eat first, the crab has been put on the pot, and it will be eaten in fifteen minutes."

"Where's Jingping's girl?"

"Look at the crab in the kitchen, I'm going to call her back."

Li Tong and the five members of the Xu family sat around the Eight Immortals table, and the specifications of this dinner were quite unusual.

There are four dishes, one soup, two meat and two vegetables on the table, a bottle of liquor is owned by Xu Huizhen and his family, and several children each have a bottle of Arctic Ocean orange soda.

Xu Huizhen raised her glass and said: "Come, everyone raise a glass, on behalf of the Xu family, I welcome Li Tong's children to come to the house as a guest today, cheers!" ”

"Dost, Hello!" Xu Jingtian, who was wearing two pigtails, winked at Li Tong.

"Dost, Hello!" Xu Jingping covered her mouth and smiled secretly.

"Dost, Hello!" Xu Jingtian jumped and jumped happily.

Li Tong was messy, and the thank you speech he had prepared to thank his uncle and aunt was shattered by the peculiar Dost.

Li Tong imitated the strange tone of the three sisters and hesitated: "Chop him to death, Dawa Lux?" ”

His peculiar and weird pronunciation immediately amused the Xu family present, Cai Quanwu, who usually doesn't smile, also grinned, and the initiator Xu Jingping even laughed back and forth.

Xu Jingli touched her tears and explained to Li Tong, "Dost and Tavalis are Russian, which translates to 'Cheers, Comrade'. You said chop him to death, Da Wa Lishi, who is Da Wa Lishi? Who is he going to chop to death? Ha ha. ”