Chapter 20 Tsinghua
Comfortable!
Ning Weimin has never had such a comfortable meal!
From hot pot to chopped green onions, there is nothing that does not bring joy.
After eating and drinking, Ning Weimin's mouth was smooth and smooth with the mutton soup with a layer of oil star and green coriander leaves.
His nasal cavity was also filled with puffs of flue-cured tobacco, making him feel as happy as a cloud.
Even his thoughts have changed a lot, almost subverting his original values.
Yes, life has meaning only when there is oil and water in the stomach.
It is said that food is the most important thing for people, but the belly is in the middle of a person.
This is life, this is the truth!
It did cost a bit, but the money was not spent unreasonably.
Not to mention that I should have spent it for Master.
Just like this mutton-shabu and mushroom mutton pot soup, they are destined to become extinct in the future.
That’s probably no different from eating caviar and black truffles, there’s nothing to be reluctant about.
But to be honest, I don’t think I’ve eaten so beautifully yet.
But there is still one step left before becoming a real little fairy.
Because in the words of Old Man Kang, your stomach is full, but you have to take another shower before it is perfect.
After the restaurant, you will find Goldfish Alley.
Kang Shude and Ning Weimin crossed the street with a bag of fried butter cakes they bought from the nearby "Fengfenggong" and headed straight to the west.
In fact, you don’t have to go far, just a few steps.
Because when you look up, you can see that at the northwest corner of the busy Bamiancao intersection, there is a front door with a high step. That is the bathhouse where the master and the apprentice are going - Tsinghua Garden.
Speaking of the bathhouse industry in Beijing, it has a long history.
As early as when Dadu was built in the Yuan Dynasty, there were bathhouses.
But during the Yuan and Ming dynasties, only palaces, temples, and government offices had bathrooms, which were not accessible to the common people.
It was during the Qing Dynasty that the bathhouse industry in the capital truly flourished.
Due to the emergence of private bathhouses, bathhouses are everywhere in the capital.
Especially at the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, not only were traditional bathhouses with ponds and Guantangs spread across the capital, but also more comprehensive services such as scrubbing and pedicures were developed.
There are even "new bathhouses" built in the style of Shanghai and Hainan, with running water, boilers, electric lights, heaters, and fans.
This triggered a quite vigorous wave of industrial upgrading.
Since then, bathhouses in the capital have also been divided into "Beitang" and "Nantang".
Like the three-story, brick-and-wood structure Tsinghua Garden Bathhouse at Bamiancao Intersection.
In the fifth year of the Republic of China (1916), Dong Mutang, a member of the Cao Kun military government, spent a huge amount of money to demolish the original "Beitang" - Dongxingyuan Bathhouse, and then built it according to the Western-style buildings in the Jinmen Concession. The rebuilt "South Hall" style.
Another interesting thing is that it is actually within a hundred steps of the residence of Ning Weimin and Old Man Kang.
There is also a two-story bathhouse with an equally loud name that is easily confused with this one - Qinghua Pool.
Yes, this is where the person who talked about cross talk in the future got his "Tsinghua" degree.
It's just that at this time, Tsinghua Pool was still at its original location - north of Zhushikou West Street.
That is, it is opposite Fengzeyuan Restaurant, and it has not yet moved to Huguang Guild Hall.
It can be seen that the famous "university scholar" who taught the universe and shook the world was at most a graduate of the "Tsinghua" branch.
And it is very likely that his qualifications are shallow, and he may not be "roughly proficient in writing" until he is over thirty.
So when Ning Weimin walked to the door of the bathhouse and before he entered, he became happy when he saw the stone carving plaque with red letters on the white background.
Turn around and follow Kang Shu De Pian.
"Old man, look at this font size, what a coincidence. Our door is Tsinghua Pool, and here is Tsinghua Garden. Isn't this confusing? I don't understand, these are both bathhouses Son, other than a little bigger or a little, what’s the difference?”
Unexpectedly, the exit was blocked as soon as I asked.
"What other difference is there? Let me tell you, the difference is huge. This is like eating hotpot mutton. That in Dashilan is a 'one-stop', and here it is a 'come with the wind'. Although it is similar, it is They cannot be equated, one is a restaurant, the other is a restaurant. The same goes for bathhouses, which are also divided into three, six, and nine grades. "Originally, the largest bathhouse in the capital was the Dongshengping Bathhouse on Yangmeishu Xiejie. Unfortunately, after the founding of the People's Republic of China, the government So it was converted into the No. 1 Hotel. So this Tsinghua Garden is now the best and largest bathhouse in Beijing.”
"You see, this is a prosperous place in the city center, so this Tsinghua Garden is not only old, but it has always hosted bureaucrats and wealthy men from Dongcheng. Tsinghua Pool is incomparable."
" The Qinghua Pool in front of our house was a halal bathhouse. It was originally called "Xiao Canglang" and was very small. It was not until the 1930s that the two buildings were purchased and converted into a medium-sized bathhouse by Ningxia warlord Ma Fuxiang. "
"The customers who went there used to go south after visiting Dashilan and Bada Hutongs, or they were businessmen living in the south. It was the same after liberation. Here were all cultural people and officials. Yes, there are only peddlers and foot soldiers in the south. Do you understand? The difference is that the location is different and the quality is different. "
"Let me tell you, I won't take you with me to save trouble. Come here. Of course I know that it is more convenient to eat hotpot at Yilong and take a bath in Qinghua Pool. The reason why I brought you here is to open your eyes.”
"It's hard to come out and spend money to enjoy yourself. If you want to eat, let's eat comfortably. If you want to wash, let's take a shower today. Right? Come on, come in with me. If you treat me to a meal, I'll treat you Take a shower..."
Hey, the old man actually despised me.
To be honest, Ning Weimin was really dissatisfied.
Who is he? What bath center have you never been to? What health care project have you not tried before?
In order to settle the relationship, he also invited hundreds of thousands of guests to the most luxurious places with full sets.
He didn’t believe it. Is there any room for him to open his eyes here?
Aren’t they all bathhouses? He understands the so-called old Beijing tricks!
So, as he followed Kang Shude inside, he kept mumbling.
"Old man, I admit that what you said is right. But it is precisely because this is Wangfujing and the location is so good that I am worried."
"Look here, there are so many What if we have to wait to take off the basket later? Will we have to wait in line for the berth? "
"I think it's better. It's better to go to the door. There will be an acquaintance to take care of you, and the waiting time will be shorter. Really, it's just a little bigger and a little smaller. What's the difference..."
What Ning Weimin said was mainly that "bathing is difficult".
This problem is not only real, but also long-standing and deeply rooted.
Since the 1950s, although the government has tried its best to expand the pond and build new bathrooms, it still cannot keep up with the expansion of the capital's population.
Except for large offices and factories that have internal baths, other people can only solve the problem of bathing in public baths by relying on the welfare bath tickets issued and the bath tickets purchased by themselves.
This is equivalent to hundreds of bathhouses, responsible for millions of people in the capital.
In addition, the price of bathing is too low, and the price of a bathing ticket of 26 cents remains unchanged all year round.
The operating conditions of the bathhouse industry are also quite embarrassing.
In fact, the more people take a bath, the more the government will pay, roughly 10 cents for each person taking a bath.
This has resulted in limited financial resources in the industry and the inability to replace outdated equipment. It has also caused the industry to shrink and the number of existing bathhouses has been reduced.
You can imagine what the bathhouse will look like every weekend or holiday, especially at the end of the year.
Naturally it was overcrowded.
We often have to queue for an hour or two to take a shower.
It is precisely because of this that all bathhouses gradually began to "take off the basket".
The bathhouse purchased a kind of basket used for picking rice in the south, so that people who didn't want to line up for a bunk could finish washing first and leave first.
But even so, there are still long queues in the bathhouses. Especially in recent years, the educated youth have returned to the city, which has aggravated the situation.
That is to say, Aunt Bian's eldest son Bian Jianjun happened to be burning a boiler in Qinghuachi, and an acquaintance was taking care of him.
The neighbors in Courtyard No. 2 of Shan'er Hutong don't have to worry too much about taking a bath.
So, it cannot be said that Ning Weimin's concerns are not justified at all.
Because people like Kang Shude who regard "bathing" as a hobby are reluctant to take off the basket.
What Ning Weimin didn't expect was that the old man snorted a few times rather contemptuously and ignored him at all.
He walked straight past the shoe shine stall at the entrance, then entered the second door, and came to the window selling bathing tickets, and queued behind a queue of three or five people.
The most surprising thing is when buying tickets.
Ning Weimin was still rushing to pay fifty cents. Unexpectedly, the old man blocked his hand and handed over the two yuan inside.
“Here’s a pair of pots. Four tickets.”
The person standing behind the old man couldn’t help but let out a loud “ooh”.
(End of this chapter)