Zhuang Rui, somewhat impatient and even a little rude, pushed aside the letters and notes in the box, revealing two scrolls about fifty centimeters long at the bottom. Without looking closely, Zhuang Rui eagerly took out the scrolls, but he was still quite careful. At this moment, these two scrolls were undoubtedly the most important things in his mind.
You see, ever since that spiritual energy appeared in his eyes, Zhuang Rui has been trying every means to increase the amount of spiritual energy. After two uses, the spiritual energy is already very thin, and there is no way to replenish it. Although he can now control whether the spiritual energy is output, in the past few days, when Zhuang Rui is in contact with people, his eyes are always wandering, for fear of accidentally releasing spiritual energy. If he really exhausts the spiritual energy in his eyes, then he will be in tears.
It had been a long time since he had felt this way. Holding the two scrolls in his hands, Zhuang Rui didn't know whether they were paintings or banners, but he could feel his heart pounding as if it was about to jump out of his throat. Without bothering to wipe the dust off the scrolls, Zhuang Rui carefully placed them on his bed, then went to the bathroom and washed his face with cold tap water before his mood calmed down.
Back in his room, Zhuang Rui didn't open the scroll. Instead, he sat on the bed, placed the scroll on his lap, and stared intently at it. A flash of blue light appeared, and spiritual energy left his eyes, reflecting onto the scroll. However, the result disappointed Zhuang Rui, because the amount of spiritual energy returning to his eyes did not increase again. The experiment was the same as his previous attempts to see through ordinary books; he could only see the objects below the scroll.
"Where exactly did things go wrong?"
Zhuang Rui was slightly disappointed, but he could accept this result. After all, the amount of spiritual energy had indeed increased. Now, what he needed was to find the right way to increase the spiritual energy in his eyes. He had not expected to be able to repeatedly absorb spiritual energy from these two scrolls.
Zhuang Rui got up, found a clean towel, wiped the dust off the two scrolls, then unrolled them and laid them flat on his bed.
Upon opening the scroll, Zhuang Rui discovered that it contained two pieces of calligraphy. One read: "How can one know that the phoenix is inferior to me?" and the other: "Let us eat clams and ask the heavens." The inscription on both read: "Dafang." Below the inscription was a red seal with four characters: "Dafang Explanation."
These two pieces of calligraphy are written with vigor and freshness, unrestrained and vigorous, with a touch of free and unrestrained style. Although Zhuang Rui does not understand calligraphy, he knows that the author has a deep foundation. He can see that the paper used for these two pieces of calligraphy has turned slightly yellow, and the two sides of the wooden scroll have also faded a bit. Since they are from his grandfather's collection, they should at least be works from before the founding of the People's Republic of China.
Zhuang Rui had never heard of Da Fang before, but figuring out Da Fang's background wouldn't be too difficult. If he didn't know, he could ask Uncle De.
Thinking of this, Zhuang Rui immediately picked up the phone and called Uncle De. As soon as the call connected, Uncle De's strong voice came through: "Is this Xiao Zhuang? Are you home? I was just about to call you these past few days. How are you feeling? Are you alright..."
Zhuang Rui blushed slightly upon hearing this. He hadn't even called to let others know he was safe after returning home, only thinking of them when something happened. He quickly said, "Uncle De, I'm fine, and I'm healthy. I'll try to go back to work as soon as possible after the New Year. I called to put your mind at ease." "That's good. No need to rush back to work. Rest at home for a while longer. I've arranged everything at the pawnshop, so don't worry. Please give my regards to your mother for the New Year. I'll hang up now; a bunch of my apprentices came to wish me a Happy New Year..."
It's a bit noisy at Uncle De's place. He's a well-known figure in the antique world of Zhonghai, with a large group of apprentices and disciples. His house is always bustling with activity during the Chinese New Year.
"Uncle De, I do have something I'd like to ask you..."
These two pieces of calligraphy were of great importance to Zhuang Rui, so he didn't bother with formalities.
"Oh? Then wait a moment, I'll come out and answer the phone..."
Uncle De was somewhat surprised. This kid wasn't interested in anything he knew. They had been together for a year, and he had never heard him use the word "ask for advice."
"Uncle De, here's the thing. My old family house is going to be demolished, and I was sorting through my grandfather's belongings when I found two calligraphy scrolls. They read: 'How can you know the phoenix is inferior to me? Let's eat clams and ask the heavens.' The signature is 'Dafang.' As you know, I'm only half-knowledgeable about these things, I'm completely clueless. I must ask you, sir..."
Zhuang Rui then told Uncle De the dimensions of the two calligraphy pieces, feeling quite uneasy, fearing that Uncle De might not know the origin of the calligraphy either.
After hearing what Zhuang Rui said, Uncle De burst into laughter and said, "You good-for-nothing brat, you made all sorts of excuses when I asked you to learn something from me before, but now you know that having more knowledge is never a bad thing..."
Zhuang Rui naturally apologized repeatedly and promised to learn more from Uncle De in the future, which finally helped him figure out the identity and background of the generous man.
Da Fang, also known as Fang Dishan, was born in 1873. His original name was Fang Erqian, and his courtesy name was Dishan. He was from Jiangdu (now Yangzhou City), Jiangsu Province. He was born into a scholarly family (his father, Fang Peisen, was a Juren in the Dingmao year of the Tongzhi reign of the Qing Dynasty and had been in charge of local education for many years). He was skilled in calligraphy and couplets and was a famous scholar, calligrapher, and couplet writer in the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China.
Fang Dishan was intelligent and talented from a young age. He was skilled in calligraphy and had a wide range of knowledge in epigraphy, painting, and ancient book editions. His calligraphy was vigorous and had a mountain and forest spirit. He was frivolous and humorous and did not care about his appearance. He passed the imperial examination at the age of 13 and later taught at the Beiyang Military Academy. He became a close friend and in-law of Yuan Kewen, the second son of Yuan Shikai. He also became a close friend of Zhang Daqian, a painter who was not famous at the time.
Fang Dishan was skilled at composing couplets, especially those embedding names and humorous couplets. He followed the style of Xie Jin of the Ming Dynasty and Ji Yun of the Qing Dynasty, emphasizing ingenuity and cleverness. His name-embedding couplets were all impromptu, never drafted, appearing perfectly natural, with exquisite wording and often seamlessly integrating allusions without any trace of artifice. They were truly exceptional, earning him the title of "Couplet Saint" of the Republic of China era. "Uncle De, does our pawnshop have any works by Fang Dishan?"
After listening to Uncle De's introduction, Zhuang Rui realized that Fang Dishan was a master in the field of modern calligraphy. However, he now wanted to find another work by Fang Dishan to see if he could draw inspiration from it.
“Our pawnshop doesn’t have that, but…”
Uncle De pondered for a moment, then said, "Fang Dishan's works have been passed down to the present day, and some collectors in Zhonghai have them. You want to ask about the price, right? Because many of his works have been passed down, the price of his works is not very high. Your two pieces are a couplet, and the price should be between eight thousand and fifteen thousand. You should keep the things left by your elders. If you need money, just tell Uncle De, and I can lend you some."
Seeing that Uncle De had misunderstood him, Zhuang Rui quickly said, "Uncle De, that's not what I meant. I just saw the things left by my elders and became interested in Fang Dishan. I also wanted to know what other works he had. When I return to Zhonghai, please take me to visit someone who has his works in their collection."
Since this couplet could no longer absorb any spiritual energy, Zhuang Rui wanted to see if he could absorb any spiritual energy from Fang Dishan's other works.
"No problem. Bring that couplet over later, and I'll take you to meet some fellow collectors to exchange ideas."
Uncle De was delighted to hear Zhuang Rui's words. In the antique world, character is of utmost importance, and Zhuang Rui was honest and kind. Uncle De had a very good impression of Zhuang Rui and had always wanted to bring him into the business but had not been able to. Now that Zhuang Rui had come to him himself, Uncle De was more than happy to have him.
Chapter 010 Best Friend
After calling Uncle De, Zhuang Rui felt relieved. Only then did he realize that his stomach was growling. He checked the time and saw that it was already past 2 p.m. In his excitement, he even forgot to eat lunch.
Looking out the window, Zhuang Rui saw the cold wind howling and the snow falling even heavier. He had no appetite to go out for dinner, so he went to the kitchen, opened the refrigerator, took out a bag of frozen dumplings, put them in the pot, peeled a few cloves of garlic, crushed them with a mortar and pestle, added sesame oil, vinegar, and other seasonings, and ate them while they were still hot after they were cooked.
"Ring ring..."
Zhuang Rui had just finished eating and cleaned up the dishes. He was about to continue sorting through his grandfather's letters to see if he could find anything good when the phone rang.
"Hey, Woody, you're not being a good guy. You've been home for two days and didn't even tell your buddy. Come to my shop later, we'll have a drink tonight, and then I'll take you to the sauna to cool off. This weather's freezing..."
Zhuang Rui had just picked up the phone and hadn't even put it to his ear when he heard a roar coming from the receiver. Without asking, it was definitely Liu Chuan. He always yelled when he called. Last year when he went home, Liu Chuan called, but his mother answered the phone and later called him over and scolded him for a long time.
Liu Chuan's mother and Zhuang's mother were colleagues. From the third grade of elementary school to high school graduation, they were classmates with Zhuang Rui. One of them was impulsive and competitive, while the other was calm and steady. No one expected that the two of them would get along so well. The elders of both families did not treat each other as outsiders. If they made mistakes, they would still be punished. When Zhuang Rui was young, he was often disciplined by Liu Chuan's father. However, when they met, he would still call him godmother and godfather. He also often ate at Liu Chuan's house.
Liu Chuan's father transferred from the military to work at the Pengcheng City Public Security Bureau when Liu Chuan was eight years old. Growing up in a military compound, Liu Chuan's personality was very similar to his father's. When encountering disputes, he would usually use his fists to explain the reasoning. He was far more interested in street arcades than in studying.
Strangely enough, from elementary school to high school, Liu Chuan and Zhuang Rui were almost inseparable. Zhuang Rui spent just as much time playing as Liu Chuan, but his academic performance was always among the top in the class, never falling out of the top 3. Liu Chuan also frequently came in third place, though always from the bottom. He was even forced by his family to finish high school. Judging from their relationship, the saying "one is influenced by one's company" is not entirely true.
After graduating from high school, Liu Chuan's father found him several jobs, but he couldn't hold down any of them for long. He either couldn't stand his boss or got into fights with his colleagues. Later, when the Pengcheng Flower and Bird Market was rebuilt, Liu Chuan, who had loved raising dogs and cats since he was a child, simply persuaded his family to buy a shop there. He became his own boss and started selling pets. He dealt in everything from cats and dogs to crickets, turtles, and tortoises. Over the years, he made quite a bit of money. Every day, he looked like a respectable man, holding his mobile phone and driving a used Toyota. No one would guess that he was a dog owner.
In recent years, cricket fighting and gambling have become popular in Zhejiang and other places in China. Liu Chuan went to rural Shandong to collect a lot of crickets. A few months ago, when he went to China to deliver goods, he even squeezed into Zhuang Rui's rented room in China, which was cool in winter and warm in summer, for a few days. As he put it, "It's not that I can't afford a hotel, but when you're at your brother's house, there's no reason for you to stay outside."
After hanging up the phone, Zhuang Rui left a note for his mother, put on the woolen hat his older sister had knitted, tucked a pack of Zhonghai cigarettes into his pocket, locked the door, and went out. Because of the heavy snow, there were many people trying to hail a taxi, and Zhuang Rui couldn't get one even after standing on the roadside for a long time. So he simply opened his umbrella and strolled slowly toward the flower and bird market. Anyway, it wasn't far; it would only take about ten minutes to walk there.
As the year draws to a close, although it is snowing heavily outside, there are quite a few pedestrians on the road. After walking around and looking around, I soon arrived at the street where the flower and bird market is located.
Pengcheng's flower and bird market is connected to the antique market. It is divided into several sections, including pets, birds, flowers, antiques, jade, calligraphy and paintings, books, and stamps. Well-established merchants either rent or buy shops, while some enthusiasts set up stalls in the passageways on both sides of the shops. They only need to pay a small management fee to the market management office every day.
Zhuang Rui had been here several times before, and each time it was always bustling with crowds, so crowded that it was hard to move. However, due to several days of heavy snow, most of the individual vendors had stopped setting up their stalls. Only a few people had set up stalls under shops they were on good terms with, and everyone had taken shelter inside the shops to keep warm. It was much quieter than before.
When Zhuang Rui arrived at Liu Chuan's pet shop, he noticed an elderly woman standing at the entrance. She was around fifty years old, dressed simply but cleanly, carrying a floral cloth bundle in her hand. She seemed to have a hint of worry on her face. Zhuang Rui didn't pay any attention to her and simply pushed open the glass door and went inside.
Liu Chuan's pet shop is about 20 square meters. He bought it for only 70,000 to 80,000 yuan. Now, if he were to sell it, people would be scrambling to buy it for 300,000 yuan. This is only four or five years ago, which shows how much the housing prices have risen.
The few cages scattered around the pet shop were all empty. With the Lunar New Year approaching and heavy snow falling for days, he probably wasn't in the mood for business. There was a stove burning inside, and the temperature was a good 27 or 28 degrees Celsius. As soon as Zhuang Rui entered the shop, he immediately felt his face, which had been stiff from the cold, warm up.
Liu Chuan, that kid, was bent over in front of the computer, fiddling with something. Hearing the glass door open, he didn't even look up and shouted, "We're out of stock. Tell me what you need first, and come back for it after the New Year."
"Do you have a Great General? I want one..."
Zhuang Rui joked that when Liu Chuan went to Shanghai last time, he kept talking about it to him for several days, saying that when he was collecting crickets in Shandong, he was a few days late and someone else had snatched one of his best crickets. He looked even more dejected than if his wife had been stolen.
"General? I want more... Damn it, it's you, go sit down and have a smoke, I'm finishing this game..."
When Liu Chuan saw it was Zhuang Rui, he tossed him a pack of cigarettes. Zhuang Rui leaned over to take a look and couldn't help but laugh and cry. This guy was actually playing Super Mario, an old-fashioned game, and it was rare that he was actually enjoying it so much.
"Damn it, you didn't finish the game again. I'm telling you, you're back and you didn't even report to me. If I hadn't told you, I wouldn't have known. I heard you got shot a while ago. Are you okay? Let me see you..."
Liu Chuan threw down the game controller in his hand, walked over to Zhuang Rui, snatched the cigarette from Zhuang Rui's hand, and insisted on seeing the wound on the back of his head.
"I'm not that delicate. My injury is almost healed. You're so comfortable. I wish I hadn't gone to college. It would have been so much better if I had worked with you. You're even using a computer now. I didn't realize you were so trendy."
Zhuang Rui lit a cigarette, pushed Liu Chuan's hand away, and lay down on the sofa in the store. He wasn't a heavy smoker; he only smoked when he was in a good mood or depressed. Sometimes he wouldn't finish a pack of cigarettes in four or five days.
“If you don’t go to university, even my father might not let you off the hook. By the way, my mother said you have no conscience. You come here but don’t even visit her at home. Why are retired people so nagging? I came to the store because I couldn’t stand it.”
Liu Chuan first poured out his grievances, then his eyes lit up and he said, "You should quit your job. If you keep doing it, you might lose your life one day. Seriously, brother, come work with me. We haven't been together for the past few years, and I feel like I'm not doing anything right. You're smarter than me. If you come into this business, I guarantee our shop will be the only one of its kind in Pengcheng."
Chapter 011 Broken Book
When Zhuang Rui had just graduated from university, Liu Chuan encouraged him to join the business. However, Zhuang Rui felt that he shouldn't waste his four years of university education, and Liu Chuan's business was already on track. He felt that joining would just be taking advantage of what Liu Chuan had already done, so he never agreed. Now that the pawnshop was going to promote him, he had given up on the idea and didn't respond to Liu Chuan's suggestion.
"You scoundrel, you're all warm and cozy inside, while an old lady outside is taking shelter from the snow. Why don't you let her come in and warm up? You grew up learning from Lei Feng, but now you've become like Huang Shiren. I'll tell my mom when we get back, and I guarantee you won't have a good New Year."
Through the glass door, Zhuang Rui saw the old woman shivering in the cold wind and felt a pang of pity, so he spoke up.
"Huh? There was no one at the door just now. I didn't know that. Please don't tell Mom, or she'll scold me again. I'll invite them in right away."
Although Liu Chuan had a fierce-looking face, he was actually kind-hearted despite his cold exterior. Upon seeing the old lady outside, he quickly pushed open the glass door.
"Auntie, come in and warm yourself up. Wait until the snow lightens up before you leave. It's too cold outside."
Liu Chuan's voice rang out, but perhaps because his face was quite distinctive, the old lady stared at Liu Chuan for a moment and then shook her head firmly.
Seeing this, Zhuang Rui also went out and said, "Auntie, come in and warm up. The snow is still falling, and we're not bad people."
"Well... thank you."
When the old lady saw Zhuang Rui, the wary expression on her face relaxed a lot. After hesitating for a moment, she agreed. Liu Chuan was extremely annoyed. This shop was his, but Zhuang Rui was the one being thanked. This guy had always been the good guy since he was a child. It was really unfair.
With outsiders in the shop, Zhuang Rui and Liu Chuan were no longer as unrestrained in their conversation as before. After leading the old lady to the stove to warm up, Liu Chuan started playing his Super Mario game again. His clenched teeth and furious expression made him look anything but a good person. The old lady clutched her package tightly and carefully moved her stool further away, as if she would only feel safe if she kept a distance from Liu Chuan.
"Auntie, what brings you here on such a cold day? Are you buying a pet for your child?"
Seeing that the old lady was a little reserved, Zhuang Rui asked.
"Young man, don't joke around. We don't even have enough chickens and ducks to raise in our village. How can we have time to raise these things? Isn't this just a waste of money?"
The old lady knew what the shop sold when she saw the pet pictures on the walls.
Upon hearing the old lady's words, Liu Chuan grimaced, wanting to say something but not uttering it. However, he was definitely unhappy. If everyone thought like the old lady, he wouldn't be able to continue his business.
"Then what is this...?"
Zhuang Rui poured a cup of hot tea and brought it to the old lady.
The old lady already had something on her mind, and now that she had met Zhuang Rui, she spilled her beans and told him everything.
This old lady was originally from Jiaxiang, Shandong, and her surname was Wang. According to her, her family used to be a wealthy family, and her ancestors had produced high-ranking officials. However, they had declined in the past. In the 1970s, she married into Tongshan County, Pengcheng. Her husband was a skilled carpenter, and although the family was not rich, they were able to make a living.
The family's two sons are both promising. The elder son is a senior in Nanjing and will graduate in a few months after the New Year. The younger son also passed the college entrance examination this year. However, with two college students to support, the family's finances have become strained. They have accumulated a lot of debt to relatives and friends. They have managed to scrape together the tuition fees for both sons by borrowing from all sides. But in order to earn more money, her husband went up the mountain to steal timber. However, he was discovered by the forest rangers and fell down the mountain in a hurry, breaking his leg. Not only was he injured, but he also had to be fined 5,000 yuan, which plunged the family into distress.
When the old lady married into the family, her family didn't bring much as a dowry, only a few old books. They said these books would have been very valuable in prosperous times, so the old lady treasured them. She hadn't even taken them out when her sons were in school. Now that her husband is in the hospital and they don't have the money for treatment, he might lose a leg. That's why she secretly took out the few books that were hidden at the bottom of her trunk and came to Pengcheng to see if she could sell them.
After arriving in Pengcheng, she asked a few people and learned that the book should be sold in the antique market. The old lady braved the heavy snow to come, but she did not expect the market to be deserted. She went to several shops to ask, and after looking at the book, they all said that it was not worth much, only five yuan a copy, take it or leave it.
The antique market is covered in snow, so you can't set up a stall. The old lady didn't know what to do. It was already afternoon, and she was thinking of finding a car to go back to Tongshan County in a while. Just now, she was standing in front of Liu Chuan's shop, blaming herself for not getting things done and spending more than ten yuan on a bus ticket.
Upon hearing that the books were family heirlooms, Zhuang Rui's heart stirred. His own couplet was also a family heirloom. So he said, "Auntie, may I take a look at your books?"
The old lady was there to sell books. After hearing Zhuang Rui's words, she opened the package in her hand, took out two books with yellowed pages and worn edges, and handed them to Zhuang Rui.
Zhuang Rui carefully took the book. In order to prevent the old lady from seeing the strange phenomenon in his eyes, he held the book horizontally in front of his eyes to block her view. Then he focused on reading it. To his disappointment, there was no change in the spiritual energy. He withdrew the spiritual energy from his eyes and then began to examine the contents of the book.
The two books were a set of two volumes, titled "On the Thought of the Wei and Jin Dynasties," and the author was Liu Dajie. Zhuang Rui glanced at the publication date; it was published by Zhonghua Book Company in December 1939. They weren't rare or valuable ancient books; at best, they were just relatively early printed materials. Some large libraries had them in their collections. Zhuang Rui wasn't interested in these kinds of books. Since they couldn't enhance his understanding of spirituality, they were useless. Shaking his head, Zhuang Rui prepared to return the two books.
"Young man, I have another one here. Those people were being unreasonable, so I didn't show it to them. Do you think this one is valuable?"
Seeing Zhuang Rui carefully examining the book in his hand, a glimmer of hope ignited in the old lady's eyes. She then carefully took another book out of her package and handed it to Zhuang Rui.
Zhuang Rui first placed the two books he was holding on the table, then took the book the old lady handed him. He frowned before even looking at it, because the book was so worn out that the words on the cover were almost illegible. Zhuang Rui could only vaguely make out the four characters "Xiang Zu Bi Yan," which should have been handwritten with a brush. There was no signature on it. It was quite like the scene in the TV show where "insects and rats have eaten away at the book, leaving it tattered."
Since looking at it wouldn't consume any spiritual energy in his eyes, Zhuang Rui didn't open the book. He simply focused on reading it, though he didn't have much hope.