Chapter 38 Yan Jiecheng's surrender
"Well, I like these old things. Since he is from the same courtyard and the price is reasonable, I bought it."

"When he saw that I was interested in these things, he said that he had a lot more at home. If I wanted them, he could continue to sell them to me~"

"So I wondered what kind of family this was. How could there be so many antiques and artworks? Could they have come from some shady source?"

"So I wanted to do some searching and find out the details..."

Yan Jiecheng heard this and thought, "So you like these old things. I can help you with this." So he rolled his eyes and came up with a plan.

"Brother Liu, we are familiar with Guan Dapeng. We are childhood friends. But he has been a weird person since he was young."

"After graduating from junior high school, this guy let himself go. He spent all day hanging out with some ruffians and playboys..."

"We gradually stopped communicating..."

"But what he said should be true. His ancestors were really that wealthy...they fell into decline only after Yuan Shikai came to power."

Then he said cautiously, covering his mouth:
"I heard that there was a branch of their family that was once very popular in Manzhou Country for a period of time, but I don't know if it's true or not~"

Liu Zhiye frowned, thinking that this family was becoming more and more interesting. It was not just the old and young who were left behind, but also had something to do with the Japanese/Puppet regime.

"That's right, Guan Dapeng has caused a lot of trouble. How can he still be here peacefully until now?"

"Is there no such thing as taking it to court, or is the government not involved?"

Yan Jiecheng became more and more excited as he spoke, spitting as he said:

"Brother, listen to me~ Every time he gets into trouble, there are actually some big things that can't be handled. It's always his father who finds someone to come forward and settle them and save them~"

When Liu Zhiye heard this, his eyes lit up and he asked hurriedly:

"Do you know who that person is?"

Yan Jiecheng looked at Liu Zhiye in surprise, wondering why he was suddenly so interested in this person.

But he didn't ask any questions, and continued:
"I don't know who that person is, but I heard him bragging once that he has relatives on his mother's side. He knew some people and it was all because of that person who helped him~"

Liu Zhiye's heart skipped a beat. He suddenly wondered if this person was Wang Guangyuan.

Thinking of this, he calmed down and said, pretending to be nonchalant:
"Oh, forget it. Since this kid didn't lie, I feel relieved."

Then he told the two of them not to go out and tell anyone, as he was afraid of alerting the enemy.

"Pretend you didn't hear anything you heard tonight. Don't let Guan Dapeng's parents know about it. After all, he was the one who stole the money and sold it."

"Understand?"

Sha Zhu and Yan Jiecheng patted their chests and said,

"Don't worry, I'll keep what I said tonight to myself and won't tell anyone a word of it~"

Then Yan Jiecheng said in a very flattering way:
"Brother Liu, if you like old things, I can help you~"

Liu Zhiye smiled and nodded at him.

"How to say?"

Yan Jiecheng:
"Brother Liu, you know I'm a temporary worker at the scrap yard."

"In our streets, the homes of ordinary people have all kinds of things: broken copper and iron, old tables and chairs, pots and pans, old books and newspapers, broken copper and iron, rags, waste glass, etc. Anything that is no longer useful can be sold."

"There are some good old items in here, and they are not worth selling as scrap for just a few cents."

"If you're interested, I'll keep an eye out for you. If there's anything you like, I'll buy it at the original price. How about that?"

When Liu Zhiye heard this proposal, he thought it was a good one. The scrap recycling stations of that era were not comparable to the rag collectors of later generations. They were all state-owned.

In 1955, the "public-private partnership" was widely promoted in Sijiu and the whole country, and scattered private enterprises in various fields were integrated in the form of state-owned enterprises and collective ownership. As for the waste recycling industry, in 1957, Sijiu City established the Sijiu City Waste Company, which was led by the Sijiu City Supply and Marketing Cooperative System and began to carry out waste recycling work as a city-level unit.

Private individuals are not allowed to buy waste materials at will. Any waste materials that the common people cannot use should be sent to recycling stations for recycling.

Since most people lack knowledge about antiques, cultural relics and artworks, many of them are treated as junk.

If there is someone who is here to help with recycling, this is also a way to obtain antiques, cultural relics and artworks. Thinking of this, Liu Zhiye became more and more satisfied with Yan Jiecheng.

"Well, thank you for that, Jie Cheng. This way, I won't let you work in vain. If there's anything you like, I'll give you 30 cents for each one as a reward for your hard work."

Yan Jiecheng was overjoyed and thought to himself: Look, this is the benefit of being a big brother. If I help big brother with something, the benefit will come naturally.
----

A few days later, Liu Zhiye came to the scrap collection station at Jiedaokou.

This waste recycling station is a full-time department-level unit, and the station director is at the same level as Liu Zhiye.

When I walked to the gate of the scrap collection station, I saw an old man guarding the gate.

Liu Zhiye came forward and said hello: "Hello, uncle. Can you help me find Yan Jiecheng?"

This old man was as thin as a bamboo pole, with no extra fat at all, and looked a little haggard. He was wearing a blue work suit and a pair of reading glasses.

Hearing this, he glanced at Liu Zhiye. Seeing that Liu Zhiye was dressed in a suit, he didn't look like an ordinary person. He spoke politely:
"Okay, just wait, I'll call you right away~"

After a while, Yan Jiecheng and a middle-aged recycling station worker came out together.

Introduced this person next to Liu Zhiye:

"Brother Liu, you are here. This is my master, Master Hou."

"The old items you asked me to find were also selected by the master~"

Liu Zhiye looked at the man carefully. He was in his early forties and wore ragged clothes on purpose. Lun looked like him. Not to mention, he looked a bit like Jia Jiecheng's father. It was hard not to say that these two people were destined to be together.

Master Hou was not a talkative person and he just nodded at him coldly as a greeting.

He took the lead and motioned for everyone to follow him. Yan Jiecheng, who was behind him, looked a little embarrassed. He explained to Liu Zhiye:

"I'm sorry, Brother Liu. My master doesn't like to talk much and doesn't care about anyone."

"But he is really capable and knows how to identify antiques. He can find treasures among this pile of junk. People give him the nickname - Junk Prince."

"Hiss" ~ Why is the nickname "Broken Hou" so familiar?

After a while, the three of them came to a warehouse where sundries were stored.

There were many wooden boxes in the warehouse. Straw was placed inside the boxes to prevent them from being bumped, as well as some calligraphy and paintings, calligraphy stickers, four treasures of the study, bottles, bowls, plates, bamboo, wood, ivory, horns, lacquerware, embroidery, bronze, Buddha statues, gilded objects, bracelets, walnuts, jade beads, various jade bracelets, various jade hairpins, jade pendants, sets of ornaments, various jade rings, gold-inlaid jade products, jade belts, Xiuyan jade, agate, dense jade, lapis lazuli, chicken liver stone, malachite, Donglin stone, coral, crystal, rhodonite, wood opal...

Liu Zhiye was dazzled by the dazzling array of artifacts. Where did they come from? So many cultural relics and artworks.

"There are so many old things. You are really amazing, sir~"

Master Hou glanced at him and said arrogantly:
"To be honest, I have liked these things since I was a child, and I also collect them myself. I can't say anything else, but when it comes to appreciating cultural relics and artworks, I am no less afraid than those people in Panjiayuan~"

"Some of these were bought from various scrap collection stations in the past year or two. Some were collected from the streets in the name of scrap collection."

"I have never been willing to hand it in. I don't have that much money to collect so many things. I can only leave them here to gather dust."

Liu Zhiye's eyes lit up as he picked up one item after another to look at.

Not every piece can be said to be a fine product, but all are well preserved.

"Master Hou, I believe Brother Jie Cheng has told you the reason for my visit."

"I really like these things of yours. Please tell me how you sell them~"

Master Hou was silent at first, and then after a long delay he said a few words:

"To be honest, if I wasn't strapped for cash and didn't have any extra money to buy it, I wouldn't have let you get it for free."

"As for the price, I won't ask you for much. After all, my purpose is not to make money. I told Jie Cheng that if you are willing, just give him some hard-earned money."

"My dear, let me say one more thing. It seems that you really like these old things. I hope you can treat them well and not resell them."

Finally, he reluctantly took a look at these things, and said as he staggered:

"In this world, a person's height is no more than seven feet, and his life span is no more than a hundred years. There is no distinction between noble and humble. A rag-and-bone person is a rag-and-bone commodity. People are not humble, and commodities are not rag-and-bone."

Yan Jiecheng, who was standing next to him, said with a somewhat uncomfortable look:
"My master is really passionate about antiques. In his own words, he collects antiques not for money, but for fun."

"He believes that this is a kind of culture that needs to be inherited and promoted. He is also stingy with antiques. Once someone wants to take his antiques, he instantly turns into a Pixiu."

"Today, maybe because of my face, or maybe because I have a very good impression of you, I am so generous as to let you buy them."

Liu Zhiye was overwhelmed by the number of things in front of him. He was afraid that others would notice his mistake, so he could only take the ones he liked first and let Yan Jiecheng keep the rest and come back to get them later when he had time.

I bought more than 100 antique artworks of various sizes, and spent only about yuan in total. It was really a great bargain.

Yan Jiecheng was also given 10 yuan as a reward for his hard work, and he was so happy that the corners of his mouth were about to crack to the back of his head.

Ride your bike to a deserted place, take out the things in the box, and throw them all into the space.

"Ding Dong! The system detected the antique artwork - the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, a famille rose hollow "Auspicious and Abundant" revolving vase (made 200 years ago), and gained space energy. Yes/No to expand the space?"

"Ding Dong! The system detected the antique artwork - the Qing Kangxi pink enamel flower bowl (made 267 years ago), which has obtained space energy. Yes/No to expand the space?"

“Ding Dong! …”

……

(End of this chapter)