Chapter 109 Dashilan
Lin Yan did not spend the National Day with Song Yuanchao because she had to go home to be with her parents.
It has been a long time since I went back home, especially since I have to get past my mother Chen Yuqin. It is not a good idea to keep avoiding her. Since Lin Daoyuan had officially met Song Yuanchao yesterday, Lin Yan felt more confident and planned to go back and comfort her mother and make some preparations for bringing Song Yuanchao home in the future.
On National Day, Song Yuanchao got up before dawn because he had promised Li Xiaoyun that he would take her out for a good tour in Yanjing, but he had not been able to spare the time since school started. So yesterday evening Li Xiaoyun came to remind Song Yuanchao, and Song Yuanchao promised to take her out today.
After breakfast, Song Yuanchao rode his bike and took Li Xiaoyun to the flag-raising site in the future. The formal flag-raising ceremony had not yet been fixed, and there was no sign of the majestic flag-raising team of the future.
But even so, there were still many people gathered under the flagpole in the square. When everyone looked at a fluttering red flag slowly rising to the sound of music, everyone's eyes were filled with emotion and tears as they followed the flag fluttering in the wind.
Leaving the square, a Dongfeng truck with ribbons and red flowers and colorful flags on both sides slowly drove past them. On the truck stood several sturdy workers, some holding drumsticks, some playing gongs or cymbals, all of them in high spirits, just as a certain Dandan described in a skit in later generations: "Red flags fluttering, gongs and drums roaring."
Seeing this scene, Li Xiaoyun was so excited that she even urged Song Yuanchao to ride his bike to catch up. She wanted to take a good look at this lively scene.
Song Yuanchao had no choice but to ride his bike with her all the way, until the little girl had had her fill and then stopped panting.
Just after wiping the sweat off his forehead, before Song Yuanchao could catch his breath, Li Xiaoyun's eyes suddenly lit up. She jumped off the schoolbag rack and ran to the side. It turned out that there was a vendor selling candied haws over there. He was holding a target in his hand, which was full of bright red candied haws. There were many children watching nearby, looking up and looking expectantly at their parents.
"Uncle, how much are these candied haws?" Looking at the candied haws, Li Xiaoyun's saliva was about to flow. She tilted her head and asked the uncle who was selling the candied haws.
"Five cents a string."
"Five cents? I remember it was four cents a string?" Li Xiaoyun asked.
The old man selling candied haws said with a smile: "My candied haws are different from those in state-owned stores. Look, the top and the ingredients are all top quality. It's a craft passed down from my ancestors. If you don't believe me, buy a bunch and try it. If it doesn't taste good, I'll give it to you for free."
"Okay, give me two strings!" Li Xiaoyun took out a Mao bill from her pocket and handed it over generously. Then she looked at the candied haws on the target and specially picked two strings that she thought were the best.
After receiving it, she took a bite and immediately smiled with her eyes narrowed. She gave a thumbs up and said, "It tastes so good, uncle. Your candied haws are so delicious!"
"Of course! My great-grandfather has been setting up stalls on the flyover, relying on this craft. How can the ones sold in state-owned stores compare with mine?" The old man selling candied haws was very proud. After boasting about himself, he shouted at the top of his voice: "Candied haws, candied haws, craftsmanship passed down from our ancestors, authentic candied haws from Old Yanjing, five cents a string..."
Holding two strings of candied haws in her hands, Li Xiaoyun walked back to Song Yuanchao without caring about her relatives under the gazes of many envious children.
"Here, please have some candied haws." Li Xiaoyun generously handed a string of candied haws to Song Yuanchao. Song Yuanchao actually didn't like eating this thing very much. When he was with Lin Yan, Song Yuanchao would only buy one string at most, and most of them were eaten by Lin Yan. He would just taste a few.
However, since Li Xiaoyun was treating him, Song Yuanchao couldn't refuse. He took it with a smile and took a small bite. It turned out that the candied haws were really well made, with solid ingredients and authentic craftsmanship. They were much more delicious than the ones they bought in the state-owned store some time ago. Even Song Yuanchao, who didn't like them very much, couldn't help but take a little more bite.
While eating, I glanced at the old man who was selling candied haws, as well as several other vendors not far away. Today is a special day, not only is it National Day, but it is also the day when the whole society begins to acquiesce to the free operation of small vendors.
Although there was no official notice, this trend started to spread a month ago. Yanjing was the best place to live under the emperor's feet, and ordinary people were well-informed. Such tacit consent spread from one person to ten, and from ten to a hundred, and it didn't take long for the news to spread.
Tomorrow, the day when the country begins to allow individual business registration, the most important group since reform and opening up - the self-employed - will soon make their debut.
In the early days of reform and opening up, self-employed individuals will become an extremely important supplement to the national economy and market, and this group will be remembered by everyone.
Although it is only one day away, the real appearance of self-employed individuals actually started from today's National Day, just like those vendors not far away.
Song Yuanchao was eating the candied haws, seeming to be lost in thought. At this moment, Li Xiaoyun seemed to have seen something rare again. She ran over happily and squatted there with a few other children, watching intently.
Song Yuanchao looked over and burst out laughing, it turned out that she was looking at sugar paintings.
An elderly man was sitting on a small stool with a shelf in front of him with an iron plate on it. He was holding a spoon with hot syrup in his hand.
The old man held the spoon high, and the syrup flowed down the gap of the spoon like a line. With his skillful and quick movements, the syrup dripping on the iron plate was depicted by him like a painting. In a blink of an eye, a vivid and spirited dragon was born in his hand.
After finishing the painting, the old man took a peeled bamboo stick, scooped a little syrup to stick the bamboo stick and the sugar painting together, and then used a small spatula to gently shovel, and the whole dragon peeled off the iron plate.
"So beautiful! This sugar painting is amazing. Old man, how much is it for?"
"The dragon and phoenix are all 1 cent, these are 5 cents, and these are 3 cents." The old man pointed to several sugar paintings on the side and said, the price is really not cheap, you know, a string of candied haws is only 5 cents, but the old man's craftsmanship is beyond reproach, these sugar paintings are all vivid and lively, where has Li Xiaoyun seen such beautiful sugar paintings? She immediately paid for one.
Holding a beautiful phoenix in her hand, Li Xiaoyun was so happy that she couldn't close her mouth. However, she couldn't bear to eat such a beautiful sugar painting. She looked at it left and right in her hand, her face full of pride.
Originally, Song Yuanchao wanted to take Li Xiaoyun to visit the Forbidden City, but Li Xiaoyun had different ideas from ordinary people. She felt that the Forbidden City could be visited at any time, and today on National Day there were too many people and it would be boring to visit, so it would be better to go somewhere else.
They were not far from the famous Dazhalan, so they simply parked the car nearby and followed the crowd to Dazhalan.
Today, Dashilan was also decorated with lights and the whole street was bustling. The shops were bustling inside and outside, and there were stages set up in several places. Although there were no big operas, there were some performances. Li Xiaoyun and Song Yuanchao squeezed in the crowd and watched with interest for a while. When the performance was over, they cheered enthusiastically with the crowd.
"Brother Yuanchao, do you think this place looks like the City God Temple?" The weather was a little hot and there were a lot of people around. Li Xiaoyun's face was flushed but she was still in high spirits. She looked around, looking for some places of interest, and couldn't help but said to Song Yuanchao beside her.
"It's a bit similar. It's both lively and bustling, but without the Nine-Curve Bridge and steamed dumplings." Song Yuanchao replied with a smile.
"Hehe, it's okay. Look what's over there? It looks delicious." As she walked, Li Xiaoyun stretched out her hand and pointed forward. As she spoke, she was suddenly bumped into by someone passing by, and the sugar painting in her hand fell directly to the ground.
"My sugar painting..." Li Xiaoyun exclaimed and hurried to pick it up, but by then the beautiful phoenix had already been smashed into pieces on the ground and could no longer be put together.
Looking at the shattered sugar painting, Li Xiaoyun's eyes suddenly turned red and tears welled up in her eyes.
This was a sugar painting that cost her a dime, and what was more important was that she hadn't even tasted it yet before it was ruined. She looked up and saw the person who bumped into her continuing to walk forward without noticing. Li Xiaoyun, who always had a hot temper, could no longer bear it and rushed up to grab the other person.
"Stop! You're running away after you hit someone? Pay me for the candy painting!"
