Chapter 1

" Selling jujube rolls, sugar cakes, and white sugar steamed buns! "

" Almond tea is really good, with plenty of green silk and rose petals. Come and buy it, it’s great! It has a osmanthus flavor! "

" …… "

Zhou Hexuan wandered aimlessly through the narrow alley, listening to the cries that had echoed through a century. He wished that all the scenes before his eyes were just a dream.

However, it was all real.

A moment ago, he was in the bustling modern city, and in the blink of an eye, he found himself in a narrow and dark alley. In the 21st century, Tianjin could not possibly have such a well-preserved cluster of ancient residential buildings.

Zhou Hexuan, like a headless fly, wandered through several alleys but still couldn't return to the modern world.

A peddler carrying a pole came toward him. The man was wearing a faded short jacket, and his cloth shoes had large holes. His face, etched with deep wrinkles, bore the marks of a hard life. He glanced at Zhou Hexuan and asked in a flattering tone, "Sir, would you like to buy some fried dough twists? They are filled with a variety of flavors, tasty and not sticky."

"How much are your fried dough twists?" Zhou Hexuan tried to strike up a conversation.

Seeing a potential customer, the peddler immediately put down his pole and said, "Six cents per pound."

"Can you give me a discount?" Zhou Hexuan looked into the peddler's pole, where a stack of old newspapers was placed on top of the fried dough twists. The newspaper header read "Year 15 of the Republic of China."

Year 15 of the Republic of China, which translates to 1926. He really had traveled through time!

Zhou Hexuan, dressed in a suit and leather shoes, looked like a wealthy man. The peddler smiled and said, "Sir, I have a small business. If you are sincere about buying, I can give you a price of 5.5 cents per pound."

Zhou Hexuan pretended to take out his wallet, which contained only bank cards and RMB. He held up a green bill and said, "Do you want dollars?"

The peddler replied, "What you say, sir. Buying some fried dough twists with foreign money? Even if you give me the money, I can't change it for you."

Zhou Hexuan lied, "I just returned from abroad and only have foreign money. Where is there a bank in this city? Or a pawnshop would also work, please show me the way."

The peddler smiled and said, "So you are a returned student. No wonder your Mandarin is so good. If you want to exchange foreign money, it's best to go to the concession area in the southeast, where there are the most foreign banks. If you are looking for a pawnshop, go east from this alley, and you will find a Lin Family Rice Shop, which is easy to find."

"Does a rice shop also do pawn business?" Zhou Hexuan asked in surprise.

The peddler explained, "That rice shop also does small pawn business."

Zhou Hexuan asked a few more questions and finally understood. A small pawn shop, without a sign or a name, operated secretly. Such shops could pawn more money but charged very high interest, suitable for dead pawns. If one wanted to redeem the item later, it was better to go to a regular pawnshop.

After thanking the peddler, Zhou Hexuan finally found his way out of the alley and arrived at the Lin Family Rice Shop.

"Sir, would you like to buy rice?" the clerk asked enthusiastically.

Zhou Hexuan said, "I want to pawn something."

Upon hearing this, an old man in a long robe came out and said in a low voice, "Please come inside."

Zhou Hexuan couldn't take out his smartphone, so the only valuable items he had were a wristwatch and a necklace. He followed the old man into the shop, took off his wristwatch, and said, "This is a Swiss handmade mechanical watch. The hands are made of gold, and the dial is inlaid with diamonds. Give me an estimate."

"Wow, such a foreign watch is quite rare," the old man said, unsure of its value.

He saw that the watch band was bright and shiny, reflecting an attractive luster, seemingly made of stainless steel. The dial was intricately designed, far more exquisite than the pocket watches popular at the time. As for the gold hands and diamond dial, they would need to be disassembled to verify.

Regardless, this foreign item should be quite valuable. The old man held up two fingers, "20 silver dollars."

Zhou Hexuan pretended to be angry, snatched back the watch, and said, "I bought this in London for 100 pounds!"

Sigh!

The old man gasped. 100 pounds was roughly 800 silver dollars, enough to buy a small courtyard house in Tianjin. He was unsure and said, "I apologize for my poor eyesight. For such valuable items, sir, you should go to a larger shop."

"How much can you give me at most?" Zhou Hexuan asked.

The old man, seeing Zhou Hexuan in a suit and not like a fraudster, thought for a moment and said, "At most 30 silver dollars."

The deal was not made. Zhou Hexuan then asked for directions and visited two more regular pawnshops, but the highest offer was 60 silver dollars.

It was already noon, and Zhou Hexuan, who hadn't eaten breakfast, was starving. He finally chose a living pawn, with a 100-day term and a 3% interest rate. He pawned 60 silver dollars but only received 58.2 silver dollars, as one month's interest was deducted.

If Zhou Hexuan didn't come back to redeem the watch within 100 days, the watch would belong to the pawnshop.

The money was put in a bag, 58 silver dollars with Yuan Shikai's head on the front and "ONE DOLLAR" on the back. There were also 60 copper coins, yellow and marked with "TEN CENTS," similar to the 50-cent coins of the Republic of China but slightly larger.

The bag was heavy and made a jingling sound when shaken. This was all he had now. Zhou Hexuan sighed as he walked out of the pawnshop, feeling utterly lost. Time travel was too bizarre.

Zhou Hexuan was an orphan. His parents died in a car accident when he was in high school, leaving him with several hundred thousand yuan in compensation and a house. Later, he was admitted to Peking University's history department with excellent grades. Just before graduation, his beloved girlfriend died unexpectedly.

After suffering these consecutive blows, Zhou Hexuan's personality became carefree and indifferent to life. He abandoned his studies and chose to travel the world, selling his property. His girlfriend's wish was to travel the world, and he felt he should fulfill this wish for her.

He traveled to the United States, France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Russia, Australia, Japan, South Korea, and more. Over five years, Zhou Hexuan visited every corner of the world.

The inheritance from his parents was quickly spent, and Zhou Hexuan had to work while traveling. Along the way, he enjoyed the scenery, learned local languages, studied their history and customs, and wrote travel diaries and read books when he had free time. His life was carefree and fulfilling.

But when he returned to China after his journey, he found himself in 1926 Tianjin!

Sigh, one step at a time, Zhou Hexuan had long learned to go with the flow.

After leaving the pawnshop, Zhou Hexuan found a restaurant and sat down.

The meal was cheap, with a bowl of noodles costing only 5 cents, and the portion was large enough to satisfy an adult male.

"Boss, I just arrived in Tianjin. Do you know where I can rent a house?" Zhou Hexuan asked while paying.

This was a habit he had developed from years of travel. When arriving in a new place, the most important things were to secure "food" and "lodging."

"Renting a house, that's easy," the boss suddenly shouted to a customer, "Hu Laosan, someone wants to rent a house."

"Coming!" Hu Laosan, who was eating noodles, put down his bowl and ran over, asking, "Sir, what kind of house are you looking for, short-term or long-term?"

Is this a real estate agent from the Republic of China?

"An ordinary single room, just somewhere to live," Zhou Hexuan asked, "What's the usual price?"

Hu Laosan, experienced in his business, said, "The cheapest old houses rent for one or two dollars a month. Small Western-style buildings are more expensive, with a single room starting at 10 dollars. Since you look like a cultured person, you probably wouldn't be comfortable in a poor house. How about a courtyard house? The rent is between 3 and 10 dollars a month, depending on the house and location."

Zhou Hexuan nodded and said, "Alright, take me to see some houses."