At the dining table, the two cousins finalized the home purchase and chatted and laughed for a while longer. Considering they still had to go to the compound in the afternoon, they cleaned up and headed out.
Meanwhile, Xu Changqing got off her bus at a stop along the way. From there, she hopped on another bus bound for the Eastern Market.
"The city's new markets are vast and grand, / making shopping a simple, carefree task. / But to see the most bustling spot of all, / you must go to East An within the city."
Such was the description in the *One Hundred and Two Bamboo Branch Poems of the Capital*. The "East An" mentioned here is today's Eastern Market, one of the most bustling markets in Beijing.
At this time, the Eastern Market wasn't a single building, but rather a complex of interconnected markets. It was covered by a giant corrugated iron roof, giving it the appearance of an old-fashioned factory.
