"Thank you." Yang Liufang walked through the rows of bookshelves and found the spiral staircase leading to the second floor. He walked to the north area and found bookshelves 101-108 according to the serial numbers of the bookshelves. He looked over them row by row. Sure enough, they were all the same. Very professional furniture books.
Seeing so many books, Yang Liufang became even more confused. From "Woodworking Practice", "Chinese Civil Engineering Lovers" to "Dovetail Tenon"... Yang Liufang, who originally only wanted to buy a professional book like a dictionary, was a little overwhelmed. I wanted to ask the staff for some advice, but found that there was not even a single person in this section of the huge Xinhua Bookstore.
After going through the eight rows of bookshelves, I didn’t buy a single book. It's been a long time, so we can't delay the transportation of the goods in the market, and also affect Boss Chen and others from get off work. Yang Liufang became even more panicked as he thought about it. At this time, I unknowingly turned to the bookshelf No. 103 for the second time, and saw a book "Chinese Furniture" on the top shelf, author: An Siyuan. Next to this book are "Appreciation of Ming Style Furniture" and "Research on Ming Style Furniture" written by Wang Shixiang.
I don't know who An Siyuan Yang Liufang is or which dynasty he was born in, but since "Chinese Furniture" is named after "China", it must be all-inclusive, so he moved a stool over and stood on it to take down the book. But Wang Shixiang was different. When he was studying at Master Yang Liugen's house, in addition to telling the story of his ancestor Lu Ban and the exquisite wooden works created by Lu Ban such as "Luban Lock" and "Wooden Kite", the master talked about Wang Shixiang the most. . This master, who is also from Jiangnan, has conducted in-depth research on Ming and Qing furniture, the basic combination of mortise and tenon structures, and the selection of furniture materials. Therefore, although he has not read the content, Yang Liufang believes that buying his book will not go wrong. . After selecting, take these three books and walk downstairs to the counter to check out. The waiter skillfully wrapped him in brown paper, then tied it with a thin gray hemp rope-like thread and handed it to Yang Liufang.
Yang Liufang picked up the book and walked out of the Xinhua Bookstore. There was a bus stop not far away. After waiting for a long time, he saw a bus with red, blue and white stripes coming slowly. But unlike the buses he had taken before, this bus was packed with people. The car stopped, and there were people going up and down. Yang Liufang followed the crowd and squeezed upward, squeezing forward and backward. Yang Liufang was squeezed into the car holding his book, and his feet could not reach the ground. The flight attendant even stuck his head out of the window and shouted: "Take your belly in, keep your belly in, you can get one more!"
Finally, the car closed the door and started to leave the station. The conductor shouted, "If you haven't bought a ticket, buy a ticket quickly!" But everyone was crowded together and had the same questions, and couldn't turn around at all, so it was just a matter of buying a ticket. Just empty talk. There are still up and down stations below, and it's fine when getting off, but when people squeeze into the car, the car body shakes, as if it's about to be overturned. Yang Liufang recalled the scene of squeezing into the train to come to Xizhou. He felt the same as in the train carriage.
After stopping and walking, when they arrived at the market, it was already closed. Boss Chen and Boss Zhou were riding on the yellow croaker cart and waiting for him at the entrance of the market. Yang Liufang apologized to them in shame.
"It's okay, Xiao Yang, you caught up with the evening rush hour."
"Evening rush hour?"
"It's the time when people get off work in Xizhou City. There are a lot of people and cars at this time, and you are taking a main road, so congestion and slowness are normal."
"oh I got it."
"There are no buses now. It seems we can't leave today. Let's go eat together, then find you a hotel to rest for the night, and then take the goods with you tomorrow. The goods are all prepared for you. in the shop."
"Okay then, I'll invite my two brothers."
"No, you are a guest in Xizhou. We treat you. What do you want to eat?"
"I really don't know what to eat. I've been eating beef noodles since I arrived. I went to the village twice to eat a large plate of chicken. Then I just eat potatoes or tomatoes and melons when I'm hungry."
"Then let's go eat steamed buns. Come and get in the car."
The three of them walked along Zhanzhan Road and arrived at Xiguan Cross. This is an old commercial street with various shops. They parked the yellow croaker car and walked straight into a halal restaurant. When they entered the restaurant, there were antique square tables and benches. The kitchen was also very simple. Two large pots stood side by side, with a six-layered cage on top of one, which was pouring out. White steam. Next to it was a large pot of soup that was boiled like milk. Attached to it was a chopping board about 1 meter wide and 2 meters long, on which were placed large slices of mutton and haggis. On the shelf in the corner are soaked vermicelli, garlic sprouts, coriander and the like.
The three of them chose a table and sat down. A male waiter wearing a blue denim suit and a white hat came over with an order book.
"Hey, Boss Chen, Boss Zhou, welcome you two, what would you like to eat?"
"Three bowls of steamed buns, and another pound of steamed buns, half a pound each of mutton and beef." Only then did Yang Liufang understand that what was steaming in the basket was steamed buns.
"Do you want mutton or haggis for the steamed buns?"
"Mutton, mutton."
"Okay, three bosses, wait a moment."
Yang Liufang looked over and saw that the chef behind the chopping board first placed three large blue bowls and put them in order: vermicelli, garlic sprouts and coriander, and then placed large slices of mutton on top. He picked up the bowl and took it out of the pot. Scoop out the white mutton soup, then use a slotted spoon to remove the soup, then scoop out the soup from the large pot and continue to blanch it three times, and it's done. The finished bowl of soup is then placed on a tray. He then took a bamboo plate-like utensil and placed two pancakes like pot helmets inside. A portion of mutton steamed buns was completed, and the waiter brought it over. The three of them showed humility to each other, and finally placed it in front of Boss Zhou.
After a while, Boss Chen and Yang Liufang were also served, and finally two large plates full of steamed buns were served. Yang Liufang picked up the bread and took a bite. He found that it was a yeast bread. It had the original aroma and fermentation taste of flour. Yang Liufang, who rarely eats white flour when he came to Xizhou, thought it was delicious.
"Xiao Yang, like this, eat it while soaking." Boss Zhou showed Yang Liufang, breaking the cake into pieces and putting them into the mutton soup. Yang Liufang followed suit.
"Oh, that's right, mutton steamed buns! Come on, let's have another mutton bun."
"Thank you, Brother Zhou."
"Thank him? No need. He didn't understand better than you when he ate for the first time. He poured out all the soup and ate the soup base as a dish with the cake."
"Aren't you the same? You only know how to eat meat and don't eat fans." The two joked with each other. Maybe they also came from doing business on the streets of Xizhou and witnessed each other's history.
Yang Liufang turned the broken dough over and put it into the soup. After it was soaked, he took a bite. The taste of the mutton steamed bun filled his mouth. It was really delicious. Then eat a large piece of mutton and chew it slowly. It's delicious. I tasted two bites of the vermicelli and it was smooth and delicious. I took one bite of the thin-skinned steamed bun with lots of mutton stuffing and the feeling was beyond words.
Seeing that there was less soup, Boss Chen called the waiter: "Xiao Ma, give us more soup for each of us."
"Brother Chen, I, I don't want it anymore."
"It's free to add soup. Silly boy."
"Oh, I'd better take it then. This soup is really delicious."
"That's a secret recipe passed down from our ancestors, a soup that has been cooked for hundreds of years." The waiter surnamed Ma brought over three bowls of soup and took over the conversation. After hearing this, Yang Liufang was even more reluctant to waste it.
"And our beef and mutton steamed stuffed buns have been popular here since the Western Zhou Dynasty. Look at the many restaurants on the street, and ours is the most authentic. When Lafayette fled to Shaanxi in the Qing Dynasty, our beef and mutton soup was listed as a tribute. "My great-grandfather also went to Xi'an to make soup and steamed buns for her elderly family." Xiao Ma said that his mutton soup was really good, like a gourmet.
Yang Liufang ate six steamed buns, one steamed bun, and finally drank all the mutton soup. By this time, he was so stretched that he couldn't bend down. Yang Liufang wanted to check out, but was stopped by Boss Chen.
"Brother, as promised, we will treat you."
"That's right, when you make a lot of money, treat us to some finger food." Boss Zhou agreed.
"What's a hand grab?"
"Handshou" refers to the place where Xizhou and Ningxia meet. Lambs that grow to three months old on the Gobi Desert are eaten with herbs. After slaughtering, they are boiled and then steamed using a secret recipe. The mutton with ribs is served on a large plate. Eat the ribs, gnaw on the mutton, dip it in salt and pepper, eat big chunks of meat, not to mention how delicious it is.”
"Brother, don't listen to what Lao Zhou says. He likes to eat. Let him treat you later. Are you ready? If not, please give me some more."
"You're full, brother. If you eat more, you can see it when you open your mouth."
"Hahaha, just be full. Lao Zhou, you go back first. I'll find a hotel for Xiao Yang to sleep in near the market."
"Let's get together, it's so late."
"Okay!" The three of them followed each other out of the hotel, and Yang Liufang still got on Boss Chen's yellow croaker cart and returned to the market.
