Chapter 8: Visiting the Pawnshop to Check the Price of Pens on the Bustling Streets of Shanghai
"I know, I'll teach you when we get back."
Zhou Chunhua looked at the sample that Shopkeeper Qiu had brought out. It looked like a small, unfamiliar design, but it was actually the old style with a cross pattern at the bottom, and it wasn't difficult to make.
"Grandma, you can do this too?"
Yao Tianrui looked at Zhou Chunhua with some amazement. Straw hats and straw sandals are not the same thing; this is genuine craftsmanship.
“I helped someone before, and she was grateful to me, so she taught me how to weave straw hats.”
Zhou Chunhua spoke casually, but Yao Xiaoyu knew it wasn't that simple. This era wasn't like the information-rich future. To learn anything, you had to formally become an apprentice, kowtow, give gifts, and do odd jobs for three years, even pouring out the water for washing feet. And even then, you might not be able to get the basics down.
Things have only gotten better in recent years. The apprentices in the city have become trainees. Although they still have to work, they can earn two cents a month. It's not much, but it's enough to take a bath, get a haircut, and change or mend torn shoes and socks.
In this master-apprentice environment, Zhou Chunhua was able to learn a craft. How busy was that?
Yao Xiaoyu followed Zhou Chunhua's footsteps, but her thoughts had already drifted away, weaving several stories in the blink of an eye. In an era where everyone can pick up a pen, she was able to stand firm on her writing career, which was not only due to her stable daily output but also to her rich associative abilities.
That corner of the world that was mistaken for a dream was indeed real, but it lacked sufficient skill and could not be translated into words that readers could accept.
As Yao Xiaoyu carefully stored away her inspiration, Zhou Chunhua also recalled her own learning process.
That happened more than 30 years ago.
Zhou Chunhua's family had always been consistently poor. Although they weren't starving, they still had to go up the mountain to dig for wild vegetables every spring. Even after the first spring thunder, the weather was still very cold. One day, when Zhou Chunhua went up the mountain, she found an old woman who had fallen down the slope and couldn't get up.
Zhou Chunhua knew the old lady. She was also a woman surnamed Zhou who had suffered a lot. She had four sons, but only one grew up. After finally getting married, he was conscripted into the army. His wife stayed with her grandson for three whole years without receiving any news.
The old lady couldn't bear to see her daughter-in-law living with a kitchen knife every night, so she persuaded her to remarry. The two of them depended on each other for survival. The old lady owned land but couldn't cultivate it, so she rented it out to acquaintances and made straw hats and baskets to supplement her income.
Thinking of the old lady's thin son, Zhou Chunhua took pity on her and carried the old lady home down the slope. Two days later, the old lady brought a small basket of eggs to thank her and quietly asked Zhou Chunhua if she wanted to learn how to weave straw hats.
Zhou Chunhua was stunned by this surprise. She asked the old lady and learned that when she went down the mountain, she had alerted the snake and managed to drive it away. Including the time she carried it down the mountain, she had saved people twice in total.
The black-banded rat snake, also known as the pheasant neck snake, is almost always fatal if it bites you.
"arrive."
Zhou Chunhua stopped at the entrance of the alley. Although the shouts inside were somewhat indistinct, she could still clearly hear that they were about fountain pens.
The three of them went inside, and soon a child of about seven or eight years old led them in. The pens on the table were packed in different boxes. Zhou Chunhua didn't even glance at the fancy designs, but only asked which of the two silver coins were the discounted ones.
Upon hearing this, the old man wearing the melon-shaped hat realized they weren't big spenders, so his attitude became less enthusiastic. He pointed to three pens on the side and told them to choose for themselves.
These pens are the same model and look old. One of them even has a broken cap, but the nibs are all intact. Yao Xiaoyu tried writing a few words and found that they were not difficult to use.
"Grandma, rent this one."
Yao Xiaoyu held up the pen in her hand and said, "This one looks the best."
Zhou Chunhua trusted Yao Xiaoyu's judgment, took out two silver coins to pay the deposit, and rented the place for a week. The old man took out two contracts, one that was either copied or printed, filled in information such as the type of pen, price, deposit, and rental period, and had Zhou Chunhua put her fingerprint on them.
"Grandma, shall we go to the pawn shop and check the prices of used fountain pens?"
Seeing that it was still early, Yao Xiaoyu took the initiative to speak.
Renting pens is just a temporary compromise. Once they save up enough money, they will still buy pens. Not only Yao Ping'an, but also Zhou Chunhua, Wenrou, and Yao Xiaoli will have their own pens.
Right now, we don't have the means, but once things get better, Yao Xiaoyu will absolutely not allow another illiterate person in the family!
"Okay, I also need to ask about the price of winter quilts."
Pulling a rickshaw didn't earn much money, so Zhou Chunhua didn't want to pawn anything. Hearing everyone's rumbling stomachs and thinking about the unpaid rent, she pawned Yao Daniu's belongings one by one, which she wanted to keep. Now, the only thing she could still cherish was the bamboo whistle around her neck.
This was made by Yao Daniu himself, and it can still be played to this day.
"Our family...should ask about it."
Yao Tianrui originally wanted to ask why he was asking about the price of the quilt, but he shut up after seeing Yao Xiaoyu.
There were enough blankets, but when her younger sister fell ill, the family only had one set of thick clothes and four thick blankets left for each person. Zhou Chunhua pawned three blankets to pay off the medical expenses.
The cost of medicine and consultation was not too much, but my sister was weak, so the doctor added ginseng to the prescription to keep her alive, which cost more than ten silver dollars per ounce.
"And the price of kerosene..."
As Yao Xiaoyu pondered her lack of knowledge about prices, her brows furrowed deeper and deeper, fearing that the pawnshop owner would get annoyed by her questions and kick her out.
"I know the price of kerosene, no need to ask."
Zhou Chunhua chimed in from the side, not finding it strange at all that Yao Xiaoyu didn't know about prices—studying is mentally taxing, not to mention that her granddaughter skipped grades, so it's not surprising that she didn't know about daily necessities.
Yao Xiaoyu turned to look at Zhou Chunhua, her eyes immediately lighting up.
Contrary to her expectations that kerosene lamps and kerosene were very expensive, a genius introduced a scheme where you could buy kerosene and get a lamp for free. Kerosene lamps weren't that expensive, and a good one wouldn't cost much.
Yao Xiaoyu was tempted when she heard the price, but considering her family's financial situation, she decided to make it herself using an ink bottle first.
The ink bottle I brought for the exam is still in my room.
As for the price of kerosene—the transportation cost in Shanghai was cheap, and the competition was fierce, so kerosene wasn't expensive. It was generally about 1.8 yuan for 30 jin, which was equivalent to seven to eight copper coins for a jin. But this was a discounted price only for bulk purchases. If sold in bulk, a jin would cost 10 copper coins. [1]
However, even the brightest kerosene lamp costs only three coins per hour. Even if a lot of kerosene is wasted each time it is lit and extinguished, it can still burn for more than thirty hours, which is equivalent to spending one copper coin per day to burn for more than three hours. [2]
Buy it, wait until she gets some more copying work, then buy it!
...
"This lid is cracked, so it's extra cheap, only one yuan and fifty cents."
Yao Xiaoyu came out in a daze, with only one thought in her mind: fountain pens really hold their value well.
"Let's save up some more money. If this pen is still here next time we come, we'll buy it for Dad."
After leaving the pawnshop, Yao Xiaoyu tried her best to motivate the two of them. The two, who had been discouraged by the price of the thick quilt, gradually regained their spirits. Yao Tianrui even looked around and observed the roadside vendors.
With the pressure of his younger sister skipping a grade, Yao Tianrui rarely went out with his classmates. A few days ago, he was so busy looking for a job that he didn't pay any attention to the scene on the street. Now, suddenly dazzled, he realized that there were people everywhere on the street.
"It's so lively!"
This was the first time Yao Xiaoyu had ever truly seen the streets of Shanghai during the Republican era. Just as farmers busy with the harvest had no time to observe how red the maple leaves on the mountain were, Yao Xiaoyu, busy making a living, also couldn't see the bustling streets.
Having completed all of today's tasks and feeling a little relieved, Yao Xiaoyu finally took in the scene on the street.
Before the cheongsam became popular, women mostly wore tops and skirts, while some still wore the old-fashioned tops and trousers; men wore suits, undershirts, leather shoes, cloth shoes, and straw sandals; foreign women with curly hair wore Western-style dresses, and rickshaw pullers had white towels draped around their necks... But the most lively place was the street full of all kinds of trades.
"Pearl rice, steaming hot pearl rice—"
The vendor, carrying an insulated lacquered basket, darted into one alley and then emerged from the other. Yao Xiaoyu initially thought he was selling rice, but after asking Zhou Chunhua, she learned that he was selling a staple of modern breakfast: boiled tender corn.
It's not surprising. When cabbages from the north arrive in Zhejiang, they're tied with red string and become "Jiao Cai" (a type of cabbage), as described by a literary figure who lost a fight with a pig.
"...Licorice, sour plum, Coptis chinensis stems, and weird-tasting dried radish..."
Another vendor slipped into the alley. Zhou Chunhua told Yao Xiaoyu that they were selling snacks. It wasn't busy yet. Before the plum rain season, there would be vendors selling sugared plums, but the vendors selling fried ginkgo nuts hadn't arrived yet.
"Watermelon, watermelon—"
"Oh! It's cold! Ice cream for sale..."
"Ice cream, ten copper coins a cup—"
Before Yao Xiaoyu could finish watching the excitement on one side, the shouts over there had already perfectly caught her attention. A watermelon seller was pulling a cart, and she could buy whole or sliced watermelons. A group of teenagers were selling ice cubes, and the ice cream was not much different from modern ice cream, except that the cups they were served in were only the size of small wine glasses.
"ravioli--"
A vendor passed by Yao Xiaoyu, carrying a whole wonton stall on his shoulder. In front of him was a stove and an iron pot, and behind him was a cupboard with wonton wrappers and fillings in the drawers. She could almost imagine the workflow—when a customer called, he would stop to wrap and cook the wontons on the spot, and soon a steaming bowl of wontons would be ready.
"Shoe shine, shoe shine—"
"Newspapers, newspapers! Witness the epic romance between the dancer and the warlord—"
"Sir, would you like a rolled cigarette?"
On one side, a child carries a small box, diligently soliciting business; on the other side, a newsboy reads out various attractive headlines, hoping to attract customers; across the street, a child carries a basket similar to that of a shoeshine boy, but he's selling cigarettes.
"Madam, would you like to buy a flower?"
The little girl stopped timidly beside her, looking at Yao Xiaoyu with her big, dark, bright eyes, but Yao Xiaoyu only noticed her withered yellow hair, her bloodless face, and her outstretched hand, which looked like a reed stick.
Yao Xiaoyu's smile froze.
A note from the author:
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Below is the calculation process for the burning time of a kerosene lamp. You can skip this if you don't want to do math problems.
[1] The price of kerosene lamps comes from the book "Energy in the Republic of China: Foreigners Use Low-Price Dumping to Monopolize Lighting Oil, and Ordinary People Can't Even Afford to Light a Lamp" in the personal library, which will not be summarized here.
[2] There are two sources for the burning time of kerosene lamps. The first is that a kerosene lamp burns 10ml per hour, but when I searched the web, I found that this data is often used as a question and does not have much authenticity.
The second burning time comes from the Douyin platform's "Xiao Zhang's Camping Diary". You can find it by searching the keyword "kerosene lamp" on this person's homepage. The specification is 340ml and can burn for about 20 hours. Taking the minimum value as the ideal situation, the 340ml is filled and used up completely, which is exactly 20 hours of burning, that is, 17ml of kerosene is burned per hour.
17 > 10, so we take the higher value. That is, assuming the main character uses the brightest light, the amount of kerosene used in one hour is 17 ml.
Then, a ratio conversion is performed between ml and jin (a Chinese unit of weight, approximately 0.5 catties). The density of kerosene is p = 0.8 kg/L.
Given m = pv = 0.8 kg/L × 1 L = 0.8 kg = 1.6 jin (approximately 0.8 catties),
Therefore, 1 liter of kerosene weighs 1.6 jin (approximately 0.8 catties).
17ml = 0.017l
The dosage for each use is 0.017 x 1.6 = 0.0272 jin (approximately 0.0272 catties) = 0.0272 x 500 = 13.6 g.
For ease of calculation, let's assume that each burning and extinguishing wastes 1.4g of kerosene. Then the usage per hour is 15g. 1 qian = 5g, that is, the usage per hour is 3 qian. One jin can use 33.3... an infinitely repeating decimal (unit: hour).
That's all I can do. If any readers can calculate it in more detail, I'll post your calculation process here if you allow me.
(I reject AI; it makes things up, and many of the cited sources don't even exist. I've tried several times, but I still have to browse through web pages one by one.)
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