Affection for Sidaogou during the Famine

Because of Mr. Guan’s outrageous behavior, several old men no longer want to go fishing with him!

Looking at the more than 300 kilograms of fish at home, Han Zhaozhao was very puzzled. Why were most people in Beijing at that time so uncivilized and had no sense of business?

Like Grandpa Guan, like her grandmother...

We have so many fish at home and we can’t eat them all in the short term, so it would be great to sell them in the free market. No matter how much the income is, it is at least some income!

But they couldn't think of this!

A good neighbor gave me some, and I pickled some at home. The whole yard is filled with dried salted fish, and the house smells like salted fish, but I just don't take them to the open market to sell.

There was no other way, Han Zhaozhao could only sell the fish herself! Who told her that she was a fish seller in her previous life?

It's not that she has no other choice, she just doesn't want to give up fresh fish and eat salted fish.

Han Zhaozhao sold more than 100 kilograms of fish for two consecutive days, but did not take home a few cents. She exchanged all the money for chickens, ducks and geese in the market.

At first, her grandmother even nagging her: "You said you, if you want to eat chicken eggs, just exchange them for duck eggs!

"You brought these creatures back home, but what do you feed them with? There's not enough food for people to eat, and you're going to let them eat dirt?"

In fact, Han Zhaozhao also regretted it. She forgot that raising these live poultry was not enough just with cabbage stalks, and they had to be mixed with some grain bran and husks so that they would lay eggs.

Two days later, Han Zhaozhao had no choice but to "sell" these chickens, ducks and geese again and sent them all into the space in exchange for a basket of pheasant eggs and a basket of wild duck eggs.

Anyway, she thought about it and decided that if she no longer received money for feeding her, she would also bring things home.

Her space gradually produced output, and she would no longer be short of food, vegetables, eggs, and fruits. She could go fishing and sell fish, and then exchange them for other supplies. It made sense!

Just as Han Zhaozhao was busy adding all the supplies that could appear in the space to his home like an ant moving house, winter came and the capital city welcomed the first heavy snow in 1957.

Looking around from a height, the entire capital was covered in white. The pavilions, towers, and the magnificent Forbidden City were all covered in a thick white cloak.

On the afternoon of the third day after the snow, Han Zhaozhao followed Grandpa Guan and climbed up a tall city wall that he had long admired.

The old man pointed to the desolate old city after the snow and said, "Zhao Zhao, look, that direction used to be the Arrow Tower. That location, see? It has been demolished into a mess. It was the Wengcheng, and that was the Gate Tower. They have all been demolished!

Beijing's ancient city wall in 1907

It has been there for more than 600 years, since the Yuan Dynasty! When it was built, it took so much manpower and material resources. It was really the power of the whole country. It took three dynasties and many years to build it into what it is now.

Sometimes, I really don’t understand why they should be demolished. They are the cultural heritage left by our ancestors.

They are in the way of everyone, they must be removed!"

There was still some sob in the old man's voice, his brows were tightly furrowed, and deep disappointment and regret were conveyed to Han Zhaozhao through his already cloudy eyes.

Han Zhaozhao was also helpless. She knew clearly that this was wrong, but she was just a little girl, like a blade of grass on the ground or a drop of water in the ocean. Even if she had the ability to foresee things, what could she do?

So many world-class architectural experts and leaders cannot preserve these monuments, so what is the point even if she disagrees?

Han Zhaozhao didn't understand the feelings that old Beijingers like Grandpa Guan had towards the ancient city, but since she came from later generations, she understood that in this passionate and inflated age, people did not attach importance to ancient architectural culture.

The leaders did not fully realize the value of the city wall in terms of cultural relics and other aspects, nor did they correctly understand and handle the relationship between the city wall and Beijing's urban development.

It is not easy to build, but it is easy to demolish. Since 1952, the policy direction has changed. The capital's transportation improvement project has made great strides forward. The city walls, gates, and archways are considered to be the remnants of feudal society.

The year 1957 was also a year of large-scale demolition of Beijing's ancient city walls and buildings. The experts who argued for their rights were criticized so much that they could not say anything, and the demolition of the ancient city walls was further accelerated!

The ancient city wall of Beijing being dismantled in 1957

In just a few months, the old city wall that stretched for more than 30 kilometers was demolished to pieces.

The twin towers on West Chang'an Avenue were demolished; Chaoyangmen was demolished; Fuchengmen was demolished; Yongdingmen was demolished...

Only eight years after the founding of the People's Republic of China, many ancient city gates and walls have been demolished one after another.

Some of the ordinary people who were born and lived here blindly followed the instructions of their leaders and worked very enthusiastically on the demolition work.

Swinging sledgehammers and picking picks, bricks and wood were quickly dug up and removed from the city walls and towers. They believed that after demolishing the old, they would have brand new asphalt roads and tall buildings.

However, some ordinary people strongly disagree. They feel that while demolishing the ancient buildings, they are also demolishing the memories and sense of identity in their hearts.

There are many people like Mr. Guan!

But so what? Who can stop the torrent of history?

Han Zhaozhao could only helplessly comfort Grandpa Guan: "Grandpa Guan, don't be upset!

The first thing the government and the people will think of is how to expand new cities, build more factories, and ensure that everyone has a job and food to eat.

As for the others, they cannot be used as food and will definitely be demolished if they hinder construction.

When the country has money, it will definitely build new ones. Isn't it said that now that the population has increased, high-rise buildings must be built in the city?

By then, every household will have a house to live in, and there won’t be so many people who have nowhere to live and have to live in sheds in the city.”

Grandpa Guan looked at Han Zhaozhao for a long while and said self-deprecatingly: "Me too, I have lived for so many years in vain, and my thoughts are not as clear as a child's!"

For a newly established poor country that has experienced a century of turmoil, isn't the first thing that the authorities think of developing the economy, building more factories, and ensuring that the people have food and clothing?

Inheriting ancient culture is the spiritual food that only comes after one has no worries about food and clothing.

If you are not in your position, you will not seek political power!

He is a little old man who can't even earn enough for his own food and clothing. He is a useless person who relies entirely on the government for care. He can't contribute anything to the country. Who is he showing off his sadness here?

The old man sighed and said, "Oh! I was wrong and worried for nothing! Let's go, it's too cold up here, let's go home."

This incident also gave Han Zhaozhao a lot of inspiration. Throughout the winter, she went to the scrap collection station whenever she had nothing to do.

She was not limited to the scrap collection station where her grandmother worked, but had also visited several larger scrap stations in Beijing.

In the past, she always thought that there would be nothing good in the scrap yard until the most chaotic decade.

But now she found out that she was wrong. There were not many other things in the scrap yard, but there were quite a lot of broken old furniture and discarded old books.

Nowadays, many ordinary people have never been to school and have little knowledge. Most young people like new furniture and progressive books published in recent years.

Ordinary people don't care much about furniture, as long as it can be used. Some old-fashioned furniture is broken, and it takes a lot of wood and labor to find someone to repair it. Ordinary carpenters can't do it. If it is really broken and can't be used, they will just sell it to scrap collection stations as broken wood.

Han Zhaozhao found quite a few bargains at several scrap collection stations, including square and round stools with missing legs, dressing stools, antique shelves and canopy beds with broken frames, wardrobes and wooden boxes with copper locks removed, and chairs, tables and beds that had been severely damaged...