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Chapter 129
Chapter 129. Food screen
"Food screen?"

Upon hearing this, someone immediately reacted.

This is a gadget invented by the literati in the Song Dynasty, and it is often used on the dining table.

For example, at a banquet, the table of the Eight Immortals is filled with seven dishes and eight bowls, some are meat and vegetables, some are cold and some are hot.

At this time, several food screens are placed to isolate the hot and cold meat and vegetables and divide them into several sections. Guests can sit according to their own preferences.

From today's perspective, this kind of thing is somewhat superfluous.

But it was different at that time. It must be known that the Song Dynasty was the most prosperous dynasty in the history of China's economic and social development. Correspondingly, the catering culture also reached its peak.

Many literati and doctors had nothing to do and invented these things, which could be said to be tableware or decorative ornaments, used for entertainment.

There are many records of this kind of food screen in ancient books, but due to the age, there are very few people who have actually seen it. It is no wonder that even many scholars dare not recognize it.

"It's rare. It's a surprise to find such an elegant thing here."

"The literati of the two Song Dynasties really pursued elegance down to the mechanism, and actually invented such a creative thing. Although it is a bit flashy, it is actually quite helpful for our study of history and culture."

"That's right, this thing is rare, and I didn't dare to recognize it at first. After all, Teacher Tu is well-informed."

While there was a lot of discussion, many scholars started to praise it together.

The teacher Tu they mentioned was originally named Tu Wenxiao. He is the Dean of the School of History at Nantah University and the main person in charge of the judging panel. Regardless of his status or reputation, he belongs to a very high level in the field of history.

But at this time, he categorically denied everyone's praise, and still looked at Ren Ping with a smile on his face.

Ren Ping couldn't laugh or cry, he didn't know how to divert everyone's attention, but soon, even Tong Jian and others gradually knew the origin of this food screen, and it was even more difficult to end now.

The Jiang family and his son were naturally overjoyed when they learned that an ornament they had collected at random turned out to be quite rare.

Su Rui frowned:
"Why did you suddenly get involved in this thing, could it be..."

Seeing that Ren Ping nodded slightly, he was immediately taken aback. He never thought that the copy of "Tokyo Menghualu" would be hidden in this kind of thing.

She believed that Xin Ping's judgment could not be wrong, but the problem still remained, given the current situation, how to get the things without any trace?

At this time, Jiang's father and son were overjoyed, and they were talking nonsense, telling scholars how they collected this rare treasure.

Tu Wenxiao knew that the father and son were not telling the truth, so he ignored them:

"Xiao Mister hasn't answered me yet, do you know the origin of this thing, otherwise how would you recognize it at a glance?"

Ren Ping was speechless, and suddenly had a plan:
"The old man is over the prize. The boy does recognize this thing, but he didn't recognize it at a glance, but he did a lot of homework."

"Oh? How do you say it?"

"Isn't it because of Mr. Tong?"

Ren Ping pointed at Tong Jian as he spoke, which made the latter stunned: "Me?"

"That's right, Mr. Tong, did you forget that when we met last time, you asked me to find you some rare gadgets like paperweights and water bottles that you are willing to pay a high price for? Didn't I just find them? "

"So, you were referring to this food screen just now?"

Tong Jian came to his senses and thought that it was because of this thing that Ren Ping specially lured him to the Ninth Five-Year Court.

Although he felt a little confused, but seeing his nervous expression and winking, he had no choice but to nod:

"Forget it, this thing is considered rare, so I'll take it. Mr. Jiang, please give me a price."

"what?"

Jiang Rui was stunned when he heard this.

"I said I want this thing, and the price is whatever you want. Why, you don't want to give it up?"

"Of course not. Mr. Tong is willing to like it. That is our blessing, but..."

Jiang Rui was still uttering words, but Jiang Jinwen on the side couldn't help it:

"Mr. Tong, aren't you buying and selling by force? The things belong to our family, but we never said we would sell them!"

"Shut up! Enter the text!"

"Dad! What are you afraid of him for? Am I wrong? Whoever says they want to sell it can just ask for whatever price you want? Besides, this thing happened to be from the Northern Song Dynasty, so keeping it will be good for our review meeting! "

Because he was thinking about the revenge of the slap just now, Jiang Jinwen was not afraid of hatred and said whatever came to his mind.

In fact, what he said was indeed true. Today, Mrs. Jiang put in all her efforts to hold this review meeting, in order to invite these experts and scholars to endorse the Ninth Five-Year Palace and further flaunt her title of high-end antique.

It is naturally more beneficial to have this accidentally discovered cultural relic.

However, since Tong Jian proposed it, it is not easy to refuse it directly, one must find a decent excuse.

"Mr. Tong, forgive me. Since you like this thing, you should give it to you with both hands. However, as the old saying goes, a gentleman does not take what others like. If you have treasured this thing for many years, you can say that you can't put it down."

"How about this, other than that, if you pick any thing here, it's Jiang's apology for what happened just now, how about it?"

Having said this, although Tong Jian has a bold personality, he can't really bully others, so he just shook his head and said it.

At this time, a sneer suddenly came from the side:

"Huh, what are you saying that you have treasured for many years and love it so much that you are blind? If it weren't for someone else to identify it for you today, I'm afraid it will still be dusty here?"

"Bastard! Who is talking nonsense here!"

Jiang Jinwen was furious. He turned around and saw Su Rui, who had been silent just now. Suddenly, all his anger was vented:
"Little girl! What's your name, where do you come from, how dare you speak nonsense here!"

"What? Did I say something wrong? You originally recognized this food screen?"

"none of your business!"

"It's none of my business. It's just that I'm a straight-talking person. I can't see that some people are just blowing their minds here. What kind of ancient culture inheritance review meeting is going to be held? It's really shameless!"

Su Rui's face was full of ridicule without giving in.

Everyone else was curious, why did this little girl suddenly look like she had a deep hatred for the Jiang family and his son?

Only Ren Ping knew that the deep hatred was true, and more importantly, she wanted to take the opportunity to change the subject. Otherwise, they would never get the food screen and the replica of "Tokyo Dreams" inside!
"Hahahaha!"

At this time, Jiang Jinwen was extremely angry and laughed. He looked Su Rui up and down several times. Seeing that she was dressed like an ordinary college student and came in here because she had a relationship with Tong Jian for some unknown reason, he felt even more contemptuous:

"Students nowadays really overestimate themselves. They think that they can understand everything after studying in school for a few years. Seeing that you are only 20 years old, you know what ancient culture has been passed down? How dare you criticize here?"

"I don't understand anything, but I have done some research on the ancient culture of the Song Dynasty."

Su Rui glanced at the antique decorations all around, pretending to be contemptuous:

"It's just mere, it's just mere."

Jiang Jinwen knew that she was aggressive on purpose, so he narrowed his eyes and looked at Tu Wenxiao:
"Teacher Tu, is this a student from your School of History at NTU?"

"No, none of us knew her."

Tu Wenxiao and other scholars shook their heads together.

"That's it. I think this kind of ignorant student is not worthy of studying at Nanjing University. Little girl, you said that our [-] court does not understand the culture of the Song Dynasty. You'd better tell the truth. Otherwise, don't blame us for not letting you easily. Get out of this door.”

Jiang Jinwen spoke in a low tone, obviously agitated.

Su Rui frowned slightly. She knew she knew nothing about the culture of the Song Dynasty, but seeing that she was forced into this situation, she really had to have an explanation, otherwise it would be difficult to accept the next words.

At the moment, I had no choice but to take the risk and pointed to the food screen again:

"Here, it's this thing. Does Mr. Jiang know how much it's worth?"

Jiang Jinwen was taken aback for a moment, and pondered for a while:

"The cultural relics in the Northern Song Dynasty are extremely rare, and there are always no less than a million."

"Haha! Wrong, wrong, how can it be so outrageous!"

Su Rui's mind flicked through some relevant auction records of Han Hai Xing, and after a glance, he saw Ren Ping's sneering expression, and at the same time stretched out three fingers on his right hand without a trace, and he already knew it in his mind:
"30! This thing is only worth 30 at most!"

As soon as the words fell, Tu Wenxiao on the side smiled and nodded:

"That's right. Although I'm not in the collection circle, I have dabbled in it. Although this item is rare, its quality is average, which affects the valuation,"

"Secondly, tableware belongs to miscellaneous items. Compared with popular items such as porcelain and jade, the upper limit is not high. If this item can be sold at an auction house, if it can sell for 30, it will indeed reach the top."

Jiang Jinwen's face turned red when he heard this. He knew that he had made a fool of himself. If he had known that this thing was not very valuable, he might as well have let the man named Tong take it and pull it down, at least it would be a favor.

Su Rui sneered and asked again:

"Regardless of the market price, Mr. Jiang must know which ancient book the food screen comes from?"

"I don't know, do you know?"

Su Ruizao looked at Ren Ping again, and saw him pointing at the food screen and kept making gestures. At first, he didn't know what it meant, but then he had a flash of inspiration and suddenly realized:

"From the notes of the old man Meng Yuan in the Northern Song Dynasty, "Tokyo Menghualu"!"

Snapped!Snapped!Snapped!
There was a burst of applause in the reception room, obviously Su Rui was right.

In fact, not only is it right, this ancient record is considered very unpopular. Among the scholars present, only a few people such as Tu Wenxiao knew about it. After hearing this, they all admired the little girl's profound knowledge.

"She is right. There are many ancient books that record eating screens, including "Capital Chronicles", "Mengliang Lu", "Old Martial Arts", "Ru Meng Lu" and other works,"

"However, these works are all after "Tokyo Menghualu" and have more or less references, so it is quite appropriate to say that they come from "Tokyo Menghualu"."

Su Rui snickered to himself, with Ren Ping's trick, and these old scholars backing him up, there was nothing to be afraid of, and his expression became even more serious at the moment:
"Hmph! You don't know the value of this thing, and you don't even know its origin, so you have the nerve to say that you have treasured it for many years? And you still brazenly say that you are familiar with the culture of the Song Dynasty? The [-]th Palace is really thick-skinned!"

"you--"

Jiang Jinwen was furious, but there was nothing he could do if he was forced to such an extent.

It's a small matter of embarrassment. If today's judging meeting is ruined because of this, it will be a big loss.

Now staring at Su Rui, I don't know why she deliberately made things difficult for the ninety-five court.

Jiang Rui on the other side was also paying attention to her. After a while, he suddenly smiled:
"Are you Miss Su from Hanhaixing? Why, is your grandpa in good health recently?"

(End of this chapter)