Siheyuan: Relieve stress and relieve worries

Chapter 493: Settling Down in Keyuan

Xiao Jin is too clingy to Yan Jiekuang now. He never leaves his feet for even a minute. No matter who holds him, he will run to Yan Jiekuang as soon as he gets a chance. Yan Jiekuang also dotes on him and now takes him and Nannan with him wherever he goes.

Nannan can crawl now and stand up with the help of the wall, but like Xiaojin, she will always stare at Yan Jiekuang as long as he is around, and stretch out her two little arms when she finds the right opportunity. Now Nannan is no longer as thin as before, and her face has baby fat. Liangzi and Fangfang have also recovered.

But Liangzi always wanted to learn martial arts from Yan Jiekuang, and Yan Jiekuang did not object, so he taught him the martial arts he learned when he was a child. Since Chen Liang followed Yan Jiekuang, he cherishes his hard-earned life now, and studies and practices martial arts very hard. Whenever he has time, he helps Yan Jiekuang with housework within his ability. The cautious nature of his first time was slowly changed by his new brothers and sisters.

Chen Fang is the darling of the family. Her brothers and sisters, as well as her grandparents, love her the most. Otherwise, Yan Bugui would not have given her so many flowers and plants. Whenever Chen Fang goes to the west wing, she is willing to stay by his side. The two of them take care of the small garden together. Yan Bugui also teaches her some knowledge of planting with great interest.

Yan Jiekuang took the children to the west wing. Today was July 1st, and Yan Jiekuang received a call from his father early in the morning, saying that someone wanted him to see something and asked him to go there no matter what. Yan Jiekuang had no way of refusing his father, so after breakfast he took the children to his parents' place.

As soon as they entered the yard, Xiao Jin circled around Yang Ruiping. Xiao Jin was a little bigger now, and looked round and fat, like a Chow Chow. Yang Ruiping kicked Xiao Jin away, took two steps instead of three, came to the stroller, and picked up Nannan. Nannan giggled, and Yang Ruiping kissed her and took the children to the backyard.

Yan Jiekuang also followed him to the backyard and pushed open the door of the study and walked in. Yan Bugui was drinking tea while admiring a painting he had taken from Yan Jiekuang. The author of the painting was Wang Fu, and the name of the painting was "Appreciating the Moon in the Bamboo Forest". He was also a master of calligraphy and painting in the Ming Dynasty. But what was strange was that apart from Wang Fu's three seals, this painting did not have any inscriptions or collector's imprints.

As soon as Yan Bugui saw Yan Jiekuang coming in, he said, "You are here. Sigh, I don't know what to say to you. Why didn't you tell me earlier that you have so many paintings so that I can learn more? These are all national treasures. Look at this painting, it is definitely a masterpiece of bamboo forest. I even checked the history books, and they have a very high evaluation of Wang Fu. It is said that not many of his paintings are circulated."

As soon as Yan Jiekuang came in, Yan Bugui started talking about his research results. Yan Jiekuang quickly stopped talking and said, "Dad, who is coming to our house today?"

Yan Bugui said, "It's an old friend, I met him in Shichahai. He said he has an item he's not sure about, so he wants you to take a look."

"How did he know about me? Did you tell me?" Yan Jiekuang asked.

Yan Bugui said embarrassedly: "I let it slip that day, and I told everyone about you. He also knows that all these things of mine are yours. He said that you must be an expert among experts."

Yan Jiekuang waved his hand and asked, "Don't brag about me. It's just this once. There are too many things going on here. By the way, when will he come?"

"He said it would be in the morning, so he should be here soon. I'll go to the front yard and keep an eye on him." After Yan Bugui finished speaking, he carefully put away the paintings and put them away. Yan Jiekuang glanced at the cabinet where his father kept the paintings. Wow, there were more than ten scrolls.

It was agreed that he would just take a few things. Considering that he only borrowed and never returned them, Yan Jiekuang looked at his father's back and made up his mind. Forget it, his father is old, so just let him do what he wants.

Yan Jiekuang heard something scratching at the door. He walked over and opened the door of the study. He looked down and saw Xiao Jin coming in, wagging his tail. This little guy could find him no matter where he was.

Yan Jiekuang took him out of the study and went to the backyard to see his mother and children. Yan Jiekuang sat in the pavilion, lit a cigarette, and was thinking about what to eat for lunch when Yang Ruiping called out, "Third brother, your father is calling you, didn't you hear it?"

Yan Jiekuang came back to his senses and said, "Mom, I was just thinking about what to eat for lunch and didn't pay attention. Okay, I'll go right away."

Yan Jiekuang put out his cigarette. He was quite puzzled. Why didn't Yan Bugui take this person to his study room when he came? Why did he receive him in the front yard?

I walked to the front yard and looked up. I realized that there were more than one person coming. There were four people at once. The gray-haired old man who was chatting with Yan Bugui should be his father's old friend, but who were the three people in tattered clothes following behind him? They were dressed like farmers from the northwest, and their faces were so dirty that you couldn't tell what they looked like.

The older one among them was carrying a sack. Yan Bugui called out, "Third brother, come and meet your Uncle Qi. He lives in Houhai and is my good friend."

Yan Jiekuang walked over, clasped his fists respectfully and said, "Hello, Uncle Qi. I'm the third brother. Please come in." "Hello, third brother. It's better to meet you in person than to hear about you. I finally meet you. I'm sorry for your hard work today. Please do me a favor." Uncle Qi said.

Yan Jiekuang smiled and said, "Okay, my dad told me, let's talk in the reception room, who are these three?"

Uncle Qi quickly introduced it, saying, "I found this in the small market. It's theirs. I just don't understand it, but I like it very much. That's why I beg you to come. Boss Zhao, second and third brothers, please come in quickly."

The three men looked at each other and walked in reluctantly. Yan Bugui invited them to the reception room in the front yard, which was spacious and bright. After the three men sat down, Yang Ruiping came in with teacups and teapots and said, "Pour them yourselves. Don't be polite. I have children in the backyard." After saying that, he put them down, turned around and left.

The three men came in but didn't walk inside. They just squatted at the door, behaving like typical Northwestern men. Yan Bugui quickly poured tea for them and offered them cigarettes, giving Uncle Qi enough face.

Uncle Qi said, "Boss Zhao, this is a friend of mine. I'm not sure about your stuff. Can I let you take a look? If there's no problem, I'll go to the bank to get the money for you. Is that okay?"

Boss Zhao stood up and said while smoking a cigarette, "Okay, I'll get it out for you right away."

Yan Jiekuang frowned, and Boss Zhao began to dig into his sack and took out things one by one, four items in total: a jade pendant, a bronze tripod, a lid of a divine bird, a pottery jar, and a bronze dagger.

Yan Jiekuang looked at Uncle Qi and asked, "Did you ask where he came from?"

Uncle Qi shook his head and turned to look at Boss Zhao. At this time, Boss Zhao said, "I dug this out from the ground. It's in our field. Some of it is in pieces so I didn't bring it here."

Yan Jiekuang picked them up carefully and looked at them. After a long time, Yan Jiekuang sighed. Among these things, only the broken pottery jar was real, but it was also an item from an ordinary family in the Qing Dynasty. The others were all made to look old.

Yan Jiekuang put down his things and said to the three men, "Brothers, we are all in this business. Let's stop here today and pretend that you have never been here, okay?"

When the three heard this, they stood up at once and looked at each other. The leader, Boss Zhao, smiled and said, "Brother, you have a sharp eye. Okay, we're done today. Second brother, get the things and let's go."

At this time, Yan Bugui and Uncle Qi, who were stunned, suddenly realized that they were almost tricked. Uncle Qi's eyes blurred and he staggered. Yan Bugui quickly supported him. The three men loaded their things, turned around and left without any reluctance.

Uncle Qi broke out in a cold sweat and said, "Thanks to your third son, otherwise I would have gone bankrupt."

Yan Jiekuang consoled him, "Alright, Uncle Qi, don't do this kind of thing in the future. Even if what he has is real, it would be illegal if you buy it. Fortunately, these people are just scammers."

"I also treated them to a meal of Old Beijing mutton hotpot, and I also paid for their hotel stay." Uncle Qi was so angry.

Yan Bugui also tried to comfort him at this time: "Every failure is a learning experience. Just treat this as paying tuition. It's just a few dollars. Forget it."

Seeing his father persuading Uncle Qi, Yan Jiekuang said hello and went to the back with Xiao Jin. He had not decided what to do for lunch yet, how about having mutton hotpot too? Once this idea came to his mind, he could not suppress it. He went back and told his mother that they would have mutton hotpot for lunch, and then took Xiao Jin out to buy vegetables.

(End of this chapter)