Chapter 555: Healthy Food

Su Xinghui said: "This street is called Nanmen Street. In ancient times, this street led to the South Gate of the county town. There is a horizontal lane near the end of Nanmen Street, which is the Zhuangyuan Lane you want to see. After liberation, the city walls of the county town were demolished, and there is no South Gate, but the name Nanmen Street remains."

Su Xinghui pulled the two women to dodge a shed of asphalt felt and continued: "This street was considered quite wide in ancient times and could pass two carriages. Now, this street is no longer the main road of the county town, and there are not many people walking. Therefore, the residents on both sides of this street built sheds. In previous years, no one in the county managed it, and after so many years, it became like this."

Yu Sister Sister Ruoqiu frowned and said: "These wires are crisscrossing, and these sheds are all made of asphalt felt. Isn't this dangerous? If a fire starts, the fire truck can't get in!"

Su Xinghui nodded: "It is indeed dangerous, but it can be considered lucky. For so many years, there hasn't been a big fire."

Su Xinghui sometimes felt strange. In such a small county town, there were many illegal buildings and many cases of private wiring, but he really rarely heard of any big fires in his previous life, and he couldn't explain the reason.

Lu Xiaoya said: "It's so dangerous, don't you manage it?"

Su Xinghui said: "How can we not manage it? But these illegal buildings have been here for so many years and have become a *fait accompli*. Many families live in these illegal buildings, and it is not easy to tear them down. Now the county is planning to carry out old city renovation on this street and is collecting plans. It is estimated that it can start in the first half of next year."

Yu Sister Sister Ruoqiu and Lu Xiaoya then nodded. They were indeed worried about this street, but after hearing Su Xinghui's words, they felt relieved.

Nanmen Street is not too long. After a while, the three walked to the entrance of Zhuangyuan Lane. There was no street lamp here, but with the light coming from the houses on the roadside, the four big characters "Zhuangyuan Mansion" on the white marble archway could still be seen.

Lu Xiaoya said in surprise: "There is such a big archway here?"

Su Xinghui nodded: "Yes, this was set up by the then Prefect. After hundreds of years of wind and rain, it is not easy to be preserved until now! The county annals say that during the War of Resistance, the Japanese devils wanted to transport this archway away. It was the common people in the county who hid the stone tablets on the archway. These stone pillars were too heavy, so they were not transported away. It was not until the victory of the War of Resistance that the archway was reassembled."

Both women nodded, and they passed through the archway and walked towards Zhuangyuan Lane.

Zhuangyuan Lane in the night looked very quiet and beautiful. The ground paved with bluestone slabs was very hard to find in the current city, which made the two women feel very novel.

Because it was night, there was no one in the lane, and the courtyard doors on both sides were closed. Looking at the high walls and large courtyards, Lu Xiaoya was very curious. Su Xinghui saw her curious look, stopped in front of a courtyard door, and knocked on the door.

Lu Xiaoya was startled by him and said: "Do you know this family? Knocking on someone else's door late at night?"

Su Xinghui said: "I don't know them. Isn't this because I want you to see the courtyard in this lane?"

Yu Sister Sister Ruoqiu said: "This lane is similar to the hutongs in our capital. I guess the courtyard is similar to the *Sihe Academy* in the capital."

Su Xinghui nodded: "It should be similar. There are also side rooms and main rooms in this courtyard."

While talking, a voice came from the courtyard: "Who is it?"

Su Xinghui recognized it as Hou Dali's voice, and he laughed: "Uncle Hou, it's me, I'm Su Xinghui!"

Hou Dali's voice became joyful: "It's Little Su, why did you come to my house so late?"

The door opened with a "creak," and Hou Dali turned on the light in the door. Looking at the light, it was really Su Xinghui, and two beautiful girls. He laughed: "It's really Little Su, come in quickly."

Taking advantage of Hou Dali's turning around, Lu Xiaoya gave Su Xinghui a white look. Just now she asked Su Xinghui if he knew this family, and Su Xinghui said he didn't know them.

Su Xinghui smiled, took the two into the courtyard door, and Hou Dali turned around and latched the courtyard door. Hou Dali's wife said: "Dali, who is it?"

Hou Dali said: "It's Little Su, who drank at our house last time."

Hou Dali's wife said: "Then come to the house and sit."

Yu Sister Sister Ruoqiu saw that the layout of this courtyard was much the same as the *Sihe Academy* in the capital, but the architectural style was a bit different, mainly due to the north-south difference. There was also a stone table and several stone stools in the courtyard. She asked: "Can we sit in the courtyard?"

Hou Dali hesitated: "Is it a bit cold sitting in the courtyard now?"