Siheyuan: The romantic and suave Xu Damao

Yan Bugui cursed inwardly in his heart, but on the surface he still maintained a pleasant expression.

"This object has a very long history, at least thousands of years old!"

Yan Bugui suddenly interrupted, his words were carefully chosen, showing his strong language skills...

"Well, I think it's almost a thousand years old, so it should be worth some money."

Xu Damao responded, but he couldn't help but feel suspicious in his heart.

These items are obviously from the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, and they are absolutely authentic without a doubt! It has been more than 2,000 years since now, and I don’t know who Yan Bugui heard that these things are only a thousand years old..."

Xu Damao thought to himself as he casually fiddled with the cups and plates on the table.

Suddenly, he noticed an amazing detail: the ear cups were almost exactly the same, as if they had been carved from the same mold.

Xu Damao couldn't help but frown, with doubts in his heart. He picked up three golden bronze ear cups and carefully stacked them together.

Surprisingly, the three ear cups fit perfectly with each other, tightly and seamlessly, as if they were one and the same. This degree of fit reminded him of the five metal spoons he had bought in a supermarket in his previous life - they also fit together so tightly.

At this moment, a flash of inspiration flashed through Xu Damao's mind like lightning, and he suddenly realized, and an idea came to his mind.

"Could it be... that kind of thing? If that's the case, then old fellow Yan Bugui must have held back and not shown all his treasures! He only took out a few of them for me to see. Damn it, this cunning old fox!"

Xu Damao cursed inwardly.

However, he had been pretending to be a rookie in front of Yan Bugui and must not easily reveal his true intentions.

It seems that the only feasible plan at the moment is to go to his so-called mysterious friend in person! After everything is settled, he will return to tell Yan Bugui that these items are incomplete and of limited value.

Only by putting together a complete set can its true value be demonstrated and sold at a high price, otherwise its value will be greatly reduced.

In this case, Yan Bugui would definitely take out the entire set without hesitation!

"Da Mao? Da Mao?"

Yan Bugui stared at Xu Damao, who was lost in deep thought, and couldn't help but call him twice in succession.

"Teacher Yan, what can I do for you?"

Hearing Yan Bugui's cry, Xu Damao came back to his senses as if awakened from a dream.

"In your opinion, what is the value of these treasures? Should we first send them to your friend's house and ask him to take a look and appreciate them before deciding the price?"

Yan Bugui opened his mouth cautiously and tested the issue.

"So what is Mr. Yan's ideal price?"

Xu Damao took the initiative and asked.

"It's a long story. These treasures were entrusted to me by a friend and he asked me to sell them on his behalf. But it's hard to say how much they'll cost, since my friend didn't even say a price..."

"Why don't you ask your friend what price he is willing to offer for it? I will also ask my acquaintance what price he hopes to sell it for. What do you think, Damao?"

"Hmm... that's fine. I'll show these things to my friend tomorrow and ask him how much he wants them for. Don't worry, Mr. Yan. Whatever price he says, it's what it is. I, Xu Damao, will never quote a price at random. Otherwise, I won't be able to do this business for long!"

After Xu Damao finished speaking, he couldn't help but complain in his heart, what an old fox!

"Teacher Yan, look, these things are really similar to the ones you mentioned before! They all have a thousand-year-old sense of vicissitudes! How about this, two yuan each? There are nine treasures here in total, I'll give you an integer - how about twenty yuan? I can buy them directly from you."

Xu Damao pretended to buy these items at a low price and then resell them to his friends to make a profit from the difference. He acted very seriously and acted as if he didn't care about the price.

"Oh, no! You'd better take these things to your friend and see what price he can offer. And I will also ask the acquaintance I know. To be honest, if the price your friend offers is too low, I may not plan to sell it..."

"Okay, Mr. Yan, time is tight. I will go talk to my friend tomorrow and give you an accurate reply the day after tomorrow."

As Xu Damao finished speaking, he caught a glimpse of Yan Bugui taking advantage of his inattention and quietly stuffing the uneaten melon seeds in his hand into his pocket.

Then, he pretended to have just finished eating sunflower seeds, picked up a handful of new sunflower seeds from the table, and continued to eat them with relish. The whole set of movements was done in one go, naturally and smoothly, as if he had practiced it countless times.

However, Xu Damao pretended not to see it and continued chatting with Yan Bugui without changing his expression...

"Da Mao, I have something to tell you, but you must not tell anyone else."

"Teacher Yan, don't worry. I'm a tight-lipped person."

"I heard that the characters we usually write will be greatly changed from next year! It seems that they will be simplified a lot. You know, I am a Chinese teacher, and I will have to use these simplified characters to teach children to recognize characters in the future."

"What? Is this true?"

Upon hearing the news, Xu Damao was so shocked that his jaw almost dropped.

Recalling that the first simplification of Chinese characters did start in 1956...

I didn't expect that I would talk about this with Yan Bugui. The feeling of being involved in history made Xu Damao feel a little dazed for a moment.

"Alas, this is not a good thing. These characters left by our ancestors have been around for many years. How can we change them just like that? I have also seen those simplified characters. Although they are much simpler and have fewer strokes, they are still ugly!"

Yan Bugui frowned tightly, with a look of deep sorrow on his face.

"Da Mao, you know that every year during the New Year and other festivals, I will help everyone write couplets. You know how ugly it would be if I used simplified characters to write them on red paper! It's simply a kind of... a rejection of traditional culture!"

Yan Bugui became more and more angry as he spoke, and in the end he even cracked several melon seeds in a row out of indignation, as if this could slightly ease his dissatisfaction.

At the same time, he quietly stuffed the remaining half handful of melon seeds into his pocket while no one was paying attention...