Back to 1984: Hunting in the Mountains

"sister in law!"

The child was shouting next door again, so Wu Meifen asked Yu Qiutang to watch the car over here and she went over to take a look.

Seeing how sincere Wu Meifen was just now, Yu Qiutang couldn't refuse directly, so he casually checked the motorcycle.

It looks like this car has been well maintained in the past.

It's almost new.

He checked along the way and suddenly found a pendant in front of the car. He pulled it over and saw that it was a peach-shaped accessory with a photo of Wu Meifen and a man about thirty years old inside.

At first glance, he felt that the man seemed a little familiar.

After thinking about it for a while, I realized that this person, from some angle, was somewhat similar to him.

This explains it.

He had never understood why Wu Meifen would take special care of him, a stranger, for no apparent reason.

He doesn't believe in the existence of such a thing as a one-time encounter.

It turned out to be the case.

He bears the shadow of Wu Meifen's ex-husband.

But even though they had known each other for such a long time, Wu Meifen had no intention of bringing it up at all. Sometimes he felt that Wu Meifen was staring at him while they were chatting, perhaps she could see some memories of the past on his face.

This also explains why she always seems to be very casual and fearless when talking to herself.

It’s like two people who have known each other for many years.

There is already a tacit understanding.

There's no need to explain anything to each other.

"Did you see it?" Wu Meifen stood at the door.

"Oh, it was an accident, not intentional. You won't blame me, right?"

Wu Meifen smiled.

“No, a few years ago, his stuff was everywhere, and I thought his shadow would be there wherever I went.

But in the past two years, I have gotten used to being alone. I feel that if I put him in front of me, I will only think of him again and again, and feel sad and distressed again and again. So I just packed up everything I should pack up... Let me ask you a question? "

Yu Qiutang asked: "You say."

"What does it take to know that you haven't forgotten someone?" Wu Meifen looked into Yu Qiutang's eyes.

Yu Qiutang didn't know whether she was looking at him or looking for a familiar shadow in the vaguely similar eyes.

He didn't evade the question, but thought for a moment, "Maybe, I should keep this person in my heart?"

Wu Meifen shook her head.

“I used to think that our relationship was so deep that I must not forget him. Even if he died, he would always live in my heart.

I don't know if this kind of thinking is right or wrong, but it is indeed very tormenting. Many times, I was tortured to the point of not knowing what to do and wanted to bang my head against the wall.

I feel guilty, you know what guilt is?"

Yu Qiutang nodded, then shook his head.

He actually knew, but he couldn't fully show that he knew.

He had also experienced a long period of time after Miali's death, and his mood and emotions did not remain unchanged during such a long period of time.

There were times when he was in a pretty good mood, but then he suddenly realized how he could be happy.

If I'm happy, it will be bad for Miali.

She has passed away, buried alone in the ground, and I am still alive in the world, and I am actually happy...

So, the happier he was, the more guilty he felt.

For a long time, he almost tortured himself with pain to gain psychological comfort.

Until later, he accidentally discovered that everyone was like this.

It's not just couples either.

Some people who lose their parents or children will also experience this kind of guilt.

It is as if when a loved one dies, the survivor should build a cage for himself and lock himself in it.

As long as you think about the colorful world outside, it is a sin.

Perhaps it was because of the reminder of her past that Wu Meifen leaned against the door frame and talked a lot about her ex-husband.

Until the little kid came in with a paper windmill, smiled, turned around, and ran out with a roar.

Wu Meifen's thoughts came back to her senses.

She looked at the child's back and said, "His name is Haohao. We are each other's only relatives left in this world.

Well, that’s all for today’s memories. I should thank you. It’s been a long time since I talked about these things with anyone, nor have I talked about them for such a long time.

Please drive the car away, it will be lonely just leaving it there.

He loved this car so much when he was alive that he would feel bad if he didn’t clean it for a day. He certainly wouldn’t want the car to be left here gathering dust all the time…”

Falling dust?

Yu Qiutang didn't understand what Luohui meant.

Looking at the dust on other things around him, the car was cleaner than his face.

"I only have one request, please take good care of this bike, clean it when you have time, and if you don't want to ride it anymore, return it to me and don't transfer it to anyone else."

Yu Qiutang was silent for a moment and nodded.

He decided to have this car.

Although this was not in his plan, having a car would make many things much more convenient.

I'll just repay her later.

Besides, since Wu Meifen brought him here to see the car, she naturally hoped that he could take over the car. If she refused, it would make her feel uncomfortable.

She had helped him so much, so even though the act of sending the car was a little unusual and had hidden meaning, he was still willing to take it over.

You are just being ungrateful after getting an advantage.

It's purely because of the inexplicable feeling that we are all wanderers in the same world.

"Just agree to get off, and I'll help you try again. If you have other things to do, go do them. Come pick up the car this afternoon."

Yu Qiutang said hurriedly: "I can ask someone to test the car, I can't..."

"Please ask someone, I will give it to you!"

Ok.

When Yu Qiutang was leaving, he saw Wu Meifen appearing in front of him dressed in worker's protection clothes, and he immediately felt that this woman was indeed not an ordinary person.

Since there is no need to buy a car here, Yu Qiutang plans to visit Lao Qin.

I have spent a lot of money recently on building a yard and a house, so it’s time to make plans for medical treatment.

The house was ready, and I had a permanent place to live, which solved my worries. Winter was coming, and there were no crops to harvest.

In the following time, I will have plenty of time to go into the mountains and make a lot of money.

If you are lucky, with a five-day cycle, you can get a few hundred dollars each time. In a winter, you can make at least 10,000 or 20,000 yuan.

It should be enough to cover medical expenses.

Of course, being able to get the stuff is one thing, but whether he can sell it and get the money back is another.

As the oldest wild animal dealer in town, Lao Qin naturally has a wide range of channels. He would first ask what the needs are and then target his efforts, which often results in greater gains.

But when he arrived at the wild market, he rarely saw Lao Qin. He looked around but still didn't see anyone.

This is a bit counterintuitive.

This is the peak trading period. If Lao Qin were here, he would definitely be wide-eyed and would not miss any opportunity to make money.

"Ask Lao Qin about where the Thirteenth Alley is."

When he asked the old man who was familiar with Lao Qin, he answered with a jealous and envious tone. After further questioning, the old man finally told him the whole story.

"Speaking of this old Qin, he is really lucky. A few days ago, he received a bag of silver dollars from a greyhound seller."

"You mean silver dollars?!" Yu Qiutang was surprised and immediately thought of something.

"That's right. There are silver dollars and Yuan Datou coins. There seem to be a lot of them. Many of them are valuable. It is said that there is one worth a lot of money. He treasures it."

Next, the old man basically just spouted some jealous nonsense.

It's nothing more than sour words like "don't give away money that doesn't belong to you" and "don't take money that doesn't belong to you."

It's funny anyway.

For a man who buys and sells wild animals all year round and treats killing as a daily routine, it is hard to be convincing when he says such things.

It really proves the saying of later generations.

I am afraid of my brothers’ suffering, and I am also afraid of...

Yu Qiutang left the wild market and headed directly west.

The so-called Thirteenth Hutong is actually just a very short alley, or half a road.

There used to be two rows of tung trees in the alley, but they were gradually cut down and only thirteen trees were left.

A few years ago, the town planning did not allow the tung trees to be cut down anymore, so they were allowed to grow quietly. Now each tree has grown very thick and is forty to fifty years old.

Every March and April, when the tung trees are in bloom, when you walk on the road, it's as if you can see countless blue trumpets blowing from the tree umbrellas, which is very beautiful.

So this alley gradually became known as the Thirteenth Alley.

At the innermost part of the alley, there used to be a Yaowang Temple. Later, the temple was demolished during a special period, leaving only an empty space. Later, the building was restored, but it was no longer a temple.

Become a screen wall.

Due to years of disrepair, the patterns and writings on the screen wall have gradually become mottled and blurred, and their original appearance can no longer be seen.

But because of the nurturing of these traditional cultures, a new function has developed here, that is, the trading of antiques.

In other words, the trade of weird and strange things.

As for whether Rongcheng has any ancient cultural heritage, of course there is.

It is said that there was once a branch of Zhou culture that flourished here, leaving behind many relics and cultures.

But in fact, the Zhou Dynasty is full of legends, and even if something really happened, it might not have survived to the present day.

What are truly worth buying and selling are things from the late Qing Dynasty and around the Republic of China.

Yu Qiutang is not familiar with this industry.

In his previous life, he had never even set foot in Hutong Thirteen. He only passed by the entrance of the alley occasionally when he went to his aunt's house and saw some people looking mysterious, holding their pockets tightly.

Sometimes you can hear some people crying and shouting.

What he was thinking at the time was that everyone wanted to make money by picking up bargains, but there were not so many good things waiting to be picked up.

In most cases, people either end up being cheated or losing all their money, ending up in a miserable situation.

When Yu Qiutang found Lao Qin, he discovered that he was squatting under a tung tree with a rosy face and holding a jade pendant high in his hand.

There were a lot of people around.

They were all pointing and talking.

Yu Qiutang stood behind the crowd and listened for a while. It seemed that he said that this jade pendant was once worn by a princess and had the princess' title on it.

"My friends, please take a closer look. This is genuine Hetian jade. Look at its transparency. It's as clear as a calf's eye.

Let me tell you, this is something that was worn by a princess, it must be very noble, otherwise, how could it be so bright, don’t you think? "

Lao Qin was shouting very loudly, and people around him were watching. From time to time, some people would put their heads closer to watch, but they just didn't say anything.

This made Lao Qin very disappointed. He happened to see Yu Qiutang behind the crowd, so he simply stuffed the thing into his arms and pushed his way out through the crowd.

"Brother Qiu, why are you here?"

Seeing that everyone was looking at them, Yu Qiutang pulled Lao Qin out of the Thirteenth Alley, pointed inside and asked, "What's going on? Why did you suddenly come here?"

"Why are you coming here? This is my job!"

"?"

Yu Qiutang stared at him in confusion.

Lao Qin smiled and said, "You don't know. Indeed, you have only been in this business for a short time. You don't know that people like us can't just rely on living things to make money."

"You mean, you would touch these things too?" Yu Qiutang pointed at the place where he stuffed the jade pendant.

"Hey, this thing is worthless!"

Old Qin casually threw the thing that he had just treasured to Yu Qiutang.

Yu Qiutang took it and looked at it over and over again for a long time, but still couldn't figure out what it meant.

Then handed it to Lao Qin.

"But I do have a good thing," Lao Qin looked around and found that no one around noticed it, so he pinched the corner of his clothes and squeezed out a silver dollar.

Old Qin carefully took the silver dollar in his hand and showed it to Yu Qiutang.

Yu Qiutang leaned over and found that there were four words on the front of the silver dollar: "Guangxu Yuanbao", surrounded by beads, and on the back was a coiled dragon pattern.

It looks like it is really good.

It's quite attractive.

But the problem is that Yu Qiutang doesn't know the value of this thing.

In his opinion, it was just a little bigger than a dollar in later generations.

Lao Qin was very disappointed to find that Yu Qiutang was not excited. He carefully stuffed the thing back into the corner of his clothes and said, "If you knew how much this thing was worth, you wouldn't be like this."

"Then tell me about it."

Yu Qiutang was indeed a little curious.

Compared to hunting, this thing does make money faster.

But the problem is, everyone knows about this thing, but how many people can actually make money from it?

Most people just join in the fun.

I guess you'll never get anything good in your lifetime, it's just a waste of time.

"At least this number!"

Lao Qin stretched out a finger.

"One hundred?" Yu Qiutang didn't dare to shout.

Lao Qin rolled his eyes.

"You'll give me a hundred?!"

Yu Qiutang then took it seriously, "You said it's worth a thousand?"

As soon as he said this, Yu Qiutang immediately felt that it was impossible.

If this happened in later generations, he would not be surprised. It is possible for an item to be sold for tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, or even millions.

But this was the early 80s, and people were still worried about a dollar or two. How could such a thing be sold for 1000 yuan?
"It seems that you have no idea of ​​the value of this thing. Let me tell you, this is something I haven't collected yet. If I collect it completely, it will cost more than a thousand. You have to give me at least ten times the price."

Lao Qin felt both proud and regretful.

He then said, "It's a pity that coins like this usually come in groups of seven. I only have one now, so it's hard to sell it at a high price.

So, you guess $1000 isn't too much. If I can find all the remaining six, I'll make a fortune."

Yu Qiutang remembered hearing the old man in Yeshi say that Lao Qin received it from someone accidentally, which meant that this thing only appeared now.

And judging from Lao Qin’s behavior, the person selling the item definitely didn’t know the price, and Lao Qin was just picking up a bargain.

"Lao Qin, can you tell me where did you get this thing from?"

Yu Qiutang was certainly not curious, he actually had a guess that needed to be verified. (End of this chapter)