HCB Chapter 498 Panjiayuan
Chapter 498 Panjiayuan
Early the next morning, just as they were setting out their dishes for breakfast, Lanlan came over with a bowl of noodles.
Lin Panpan glanced over casually and saw three round poached eggs in Gu Mobai's bowl, but her own bowl was empty.
Gu Mobai frowned and without saying a word pushed his bowl in front of Lin Panpan: "Eat more today."
Lan Lan immediately screamed, "Brother Gu, I cooked these noodles especially for you, how could you give them to someone else?"
Gu Mobai raised his eyes, his expression turned cold:
“This is my home, what’s wrong with me sharing a bowl of noodles with my wife?
Also, this is not your home, don't come here casually."
Lan Lan's eyes instantly turned red, and her voice trembled: "I grew up here since I was a child, how come it's not my home anymore?"
Aunt Zhang rushed forward, her grip like an iron clamp gripping Lanlan's wrist tightly, her nails almost digging into her flesh. "You idiot girl! I told you so many times not to cause trouble, and now you're going to destroy my job?"
Lanlan shook her head stubbornly, tears rolling down her red eyes:
"Mom! You've worked in the Gu family for twenty years, and I grew up here too!
Why can she marry in, but I can't even step foot inside?"
With a crisp "pa" sound, Aunt Zhang's slap landed heavily on her daughter's shoulder, causing Lanlan to stagger half a step.
She lowered her voice, her voice trembling with anger:
"What nonsense are you talking about! This is the wife, the mistress of this house!
What kind of hysteria are you having? How dare you even talk about giving up your position?"
He dragged me towards the door and said, "Get back with me right now! When your dad comes back, he'll break your legs!"
Lanlan wanted to struggle, but her mother held her tightly and dragged her out of the yard.
She turned back unwillingly and cried to Gu Mobai through the carved iron gate: "Brother Gu! I..."
Before he could finish his words, Aunt Zhang covered his mouth, and the two of them stumbled and disappeared at the alley.
Gu Mobai withdrew his cold gaze and turned around to see that Lin Panpan had put down her bowl and chopsticks, with some oil stains on the corners of her mouth.
The corners of his mouth curled up slightly, and he reached out to wipe the grease off her face and said, "Are you full? Let's go to Panjiayuan to find treasures."
He took her hand, his rough palm conveying warmth: "I heard that there are a lot of good things hidden there recently. Let's try our luck."
In the early morning of 1977, Panjiayuan was still shrouded in a light mist.
Low gray brick houses are arranged in a staggered manner, with scattered honeycomb coal and dew-soaked vegetable baskets piled in the corners.
A worker in blue work clothes hurried past pushing a 28-inch bicycle.
There are several breakfast stalls at the entrance of the alley. The steam rising from the steamers is wrapped with the aroma of bean juice and fried dough rings. The stall owners call out in a Beijing accent to attract customers: "Come on! Freshly baked sugar-coated cakes!"
Not far away, a few old men with cloth bags on their shoulders were squatting against the wall, discussing the newly released model opera movies in low voices, with enamel pots in their hands emitting wisps of steam.
Walking further into the alley, you can see a few street vendors here and there.
On the canvas were some old books, chipped porcelain bowls, or tin toys with peeling paint.
Someone secretly took out a yellowed thread-bound book, looked around cautiously, and then lowered his voice to bargain with the squatting buyer.
In the corner, an old man in a patched cotton-padded jacket was stroking a copper incense burner with his rough hands, the copper green glowing faintly in the morning light.
Several young people nearby stretched their necks, whispering to each other from time to time, their eyes full of curiosity and temptation.
There was another person huddled in the corner with a snakeskin bag in his hand. Gu Mobai pulled Lin Panpan over.
The man looked around and said in a low voice, "Brother, this is freshly dug out of the pit and has definitely never seen the light of day!"
He deliberately moved the snakeskin bag closer to the two men and said, "You two are both knowledgeable. Give me a fair price. Would you like to be friends?"
Gu Mobai, holding a cigarette in his mouth, sneered:
"A raw scam? Don't try to fool people with fake stuff soaked in medicine.
This Panjiayuan handles more things every day than you have ever seen. Are you trying to fool me?"
The man gritted his teeth anxiously and opened the bag. "Please look carefully! The green rust on this thing is only found on old things. It can't be faked to look old!"
Half of the bronze artifact was exposed, its surface covered with a thick layer of bluish-green copper rust, and some dirt on the edges.
Lin Panpan moved closer and gently brushed her fingers across the surface of the object. "The lines are quite clear, and the rust color looks real. It really is something."
She turned to look at Gu Mobai, her eyes filled with questions: "What do you think?"
Gu Mobai stared at the bronze artifact, nodded, and asked, "What's your price?"
The man rubbed his hands together and lowered his voice: "The price is 2000. You two can take it."
Gu Mobai laughed out loud:
"2000? Do you know how much a worker earns a year these days?
This item is at most from the Ming and Qing dynasties and is worth 500 at most.
If you're willing to sell it, we can do the deal right away. If not, forget it."
The man's eyes turned and he nodded hurriedly: "Okay! 500 is 500!"
He took the money, stuffed the bronzeware into the snakeskin bag, turned around and squeezed into the crowd and disappeared.
Lin Panpan clutched the bronze vessel, still a little dazed: "You bought it right now?"
Gu Mobai pulled her out of the alley and said in a low voice:
"Don't think 500 is too much. It's good enough to get rid of something of unknown origin.
Panjiayuan looks like a flea market, but in fact many people sell stolen goods here.
These tomb robbers only target small tombs, dig up some old items and sell them here.
We can pick up some bargains, but we shouldn't get too involved with them."
He glanced around warily, and only breathed a sigh of relief after confirming that no one was watching: "Let's go! Let's send these things back first."
Gu Mobai and Lin Panpan had just stuffed the bronzeware into their bags and were about to go back, but before they reached the alley, they were stopped by four sloppy men.
The leader, with dyed blond hair and a cigarette dangling from his lips, approached with a playful grin, "Hey, don't leave, you two! We have some good stuff, too, and it's guaranteed to be even better than that one!"
Lin Panpan frowned. These people had shifty eyes and half of their tattoos were exposed on their arms. They didn’t look like good people.
Gu Mobai stood in front of her and shook his head simply: "No, we won't buy it."
"Hey wait!" Another man with a thick face held out his hand to stop them. "Why do you buy his things but look down on ours? You look down on us, don't you?"
Several people took half a step forward and trapped the two men in the corner.
Gu Mobai frowned and glanced at the bulging snakeskin bags in their hands:
"I'm telling you the truth, none of this shit is real.
The bronzeware is rusty and the inscriptions on the bottom of the porcelain are all painted on the spot. They may fool laymen, but they won’t work on me.”
After saying that, he pulled Lin Panpan and tried to walk away.
"You!" The yellow-haired man's expression changed instantly, and he reached out to grab the man: "How dare you ruin my business?"