Living on the old streets of North Ganyu County is all about the rich. Living on the old streets is about the mind and playing with the means. A storefront opens the day before and closes tomorrow, which is not uncommon. Look at the magnificent courtyards on the old streets, which one has not changed a few surnames? If you don't have any skills, do you still want to live in the old streets? Go cool off!

Take the "Li Ji Furnace Metallurgical Workshop" at the east end of the street as an example. Previously, it was a shop selling antique calligraphy and paintings. The owner of the shop was surnamed Zhang.

The thing was like this: Shopkeeper Zhang, who made a living by tossing antique calligraphy and paintings, was blinded by a few fake calligraphy and paintings, and lost the shop, but the lawsuit was not won, and the person was also angry. The person who plotted against him was named Li. On the day Shopkeeper Li came to collect the shop, Shopkeeper Zhang's son hugged Shopkeeper Li's legs and begged him with snot and tears, but Shopkeeper Li threw him outside the door. Shopkeeper Li changed the shop into a "furnace smelting workshop", giving people some cigarette bags, soup cans, incense burners, farm implements, and gold and silver items. When he met a master who didn't care, he mixed some fake goods, or shortened it by a few taels. This was Shopkeeper Li's unique skill.

In the early winter of this year, a bearded and strong man came from the west bank of the river, wearing a broken leather hat and a torn jacket. The man was tall and powerful, and his steps were powerful. He couldn't see the shadow as big as his thumb from a distance. He lowered his head and took a puff of smoke, then looked up, and he was already in front of him.

There was no button on the man's broken jacket, it was tied with a straw rope, and his hands were inserted into the sleeves, revealing a little copper-colored skin. The man in the workshop asked him what utensils he was playing with, and as soon as the man reached out, he threw a white hard thing on the table, and the hand instantly put it back into the sleeve, as if it had not been thrown by him, but fell from the sky. The man said angrily, "Don't buy things, sell things."

Shopkeeper Li listened and took a cigarette bag in his mouth. He walked over and took a look, then asked expressionlessly, "How much is it?" The man said, "Two hundred dollars."

Shopkeeper Li knocked on the cigarette pot and said, "It's just a tin piece, a hundred dollars." The man nodded, and it was a deal.

As soon as the man left, Shopkeeper Li immediately took the tin block back to the back room with small steps. In fact, what kind of tin block is this, this is a broken silver ingot, about ten taels! At that time, the poor used only a few copper plates in their lives, how could they have seen this thing? So Shopkeeper Li said it was "tin block," and the man believed it.

A few days later, the man came again and brought a bigger "tin block"!

After the transaction, shopkeeper Li calmly said, "This kind of tin is of good quality. My daughter needs to make a tin present when she gets married. If she still has it, remember to sell it to me." The man nodded again.

So, two more transactions were made. One day, shopkeeper Li asked where the tin came from, and the man whispered to him, "I picked it up in the reeds, and there are still a few sacks at home, each bag is heavier than the old sow."

The shopkeeper Li's eyes lit up, and he pretended to be calm and said, "It's so troublesome for you to run all the time, just sell it to me once, and I'll give you a price!"

The man smiled slightly and said, "Then wait for me under the big tree on the east bank of the river tonight. If you bring enough money, I will sell it all to you."

Shopkeeper Li was secretly happy, turned around and went back to the house, took out the bottom of the house, and packed the money in a sack. When night fell, he drove the carriage all the way.

Shopkeeper Li arrived at the riverbank, and when he saw that the man had arrived, Shopkeeper Li pointed to the sack and said, "Here's the money, where's your tin?" The man whistled, and six people jumped down from the big trees everywhere, all of them holding big knives and not speaking. They rushed up and gagged Shopkeeper Li's mouth and tied him to the tree. Then the group took the money and left.

At the same time, on the east bank of the river, there was a boatman who had been waiting for a long time. After a while, several figures walked over, and it was the man and the others who came.

The night was dark and foggy, and the things that the boat could hold were limited. The boatman told the man that it was very dangerous to cross the river at this time, bringing so many people and heavy objects at one time, and he had to be approved to cross the river. The night was long and dreamy, and the man felt that this place could not be for a long time, so he discussed with the thieves, and he took the money to cross the river first, and the thieves agreed.

Halfway through the boat, I can't see the lights on the east bank, and I can't hear the voices of dogs. The boatman took advantage of the man's lack of defense and overturned the man in the river with an oar.

At that time, it was the middle of the night in early winter, and the river was wide and the water was cold. No matter how good the water was, people would never get out if they fell in. The man was not used to water, so he wanted to call for help, but he choked on ice water with one mouth, so he had to flutter in the river.

The boatman lit his cigarette bag and smiled at the man in the water, "The first time you crossed the river, I saw that you were a bandit. It's no wonder that there are many rich people in the old street, and it is easy to be missed by thieves. In the evening, you want to rent a boat to take people across the river. I guess you must have stepped on someone's business. After several years, I hope to turn over this time!" After listening to this, the man was so angry that he survived a few times in the water and sank.

The thieves on the shore waited all night without waiting, thinking that the man killed the boatman and ran away with the money, because according to their original plan, after landing on the shore, they would kill the boatman to avoid future trouble. So they all gritted their teeth and scolded the 18 generations of the man's ancestors a thousand times, but there was nothing they could do. How could they know that at this time, the boatman was counting money at home?

This boatman was no one else. His father was the one who had been deceived by the shopkeeper Li "Furnace Metallurgical Workshop" in the past, and the shopkeeper who died of anger later, surnamed Zhang.

That night, Shopkeeper Li, who was tied to a tree, almost froze to death, and was not found until dawn. After returning, he was angry and hated, closed his business, and soon died of illness at home.

Shortly after Shopkeeper Li died, the boat family surnamed Zhang went ashore and bought back the shop that used to belong to their old Zhang family. It is said that on the day of the opening, a firecracker was dropped from the street to the end of the street. But who would have thought that many years later, the shop would become the old Li family's, and the Zhang family would fall again… This is another story for the future.

Ten years in Hedong, ten years in Hexi, it's not easy, who let you hang out in the old street?