Siheyuan: The romantic and suave Xu Damao

"Well... there's nothing wrong with the items. These two small yellow croakers are both items from the Republic of China period, and so is this golden bean. Little brother, are you really determined to sell them off?" The shopkeeper stared at the items in front of him, with a shrewd gleam in his eyes.

"Since they are already here, I naturally plan to sell them. Boss, for these two small yellow croakers and this golden bean, please give an honest price. If the price is fair, I will sell them to you." Xu Damao said in a firm tone, and he didn't seem to have much attachment to these treasures.

"You can't just quote a price for this thing. It has to be determined based on its weight. I must weigh it first before I can give you a specific price." The shopkeeper said as he looked at Xu Damao to see what he was thinking.

"Well, I wonder what unit of measurement your store uses? Is it the current standard of one catty equal to five hundred grams, or is it the old system of one catty equal to sixteen ounces?"

Xu Damao couldn't help but ask. He knew in his heart that in that special era of the Republic of China, although the government had issued regulations to adopt the standard of one catty and five hundred grams, due to the chaotic situation and poor government orders, in fact, most places still followed the ancient measurement method of one catty and sixteen taels.

At this moment, he also wanted to take this opportunity to test the shopkeeper's attitude and see if the other party would take the opportunity to lower the price.

In fact, since ancient times, we ordinary people have been using a measurement system where one catty is equal to sixteen taels!

Even after the founding of New China, this situation has not changed.

However, in 1959, the national government finally promulgated a new unified measurement standard. From then on, one catty was stipulated as ten taels, and the half-catty and eight-taels system, which had been popular for a long time and was familiar to everyone, was completely abolished.

"Hehehe, little brother, I didn't expect you to know so much about this stuff. It's really amazing! People like us who are in this business must know a thing or two about various different units of measurement."

"So, little brother, since this thing belongs to you, then the specific weighing and measurement are all up to you. Anyway, the final price will never change, so don't worry."

The shopkeeper said with a smile on his face.

"Haha, you guys who specialize in this are more professional. Let's do it your way."

"Hehehe, that's fine. I will start to weigh this item for you now. I will be absolutely fair and just. No matter if it's a child or an old person, I will never cheat in the slightest!"

As soon as the shopkeeper finished speaking, he reached out and gently opened one of the drawers, then took out a peculiarly shaped red flat wooden box.

This wooden box is larger at one end and smaller at the other. It looks very thin, about 30 centimeters long, and looks like a smaller version of a badminton racket box.

Then, he placed the wooden box steadily on the counter and gently opened the two small and exquisite wooden handle switches on the top with his fingers.

Then he carefully lifted the lid, and the contents of the box appeared in front of Xu Damao and Lou Xiao'e.

Surprisingly, there was an extremely delicate and small steelyard inside the box. The small tray seemed to be carefully cast from bronze, and its surface was covered with a layer of light green rust, as if telling the vicissitudes of time.

The delicate round weight is like a bright pearl, emitting a unique light. The white scale bar must be made of precious animal bones, exuding a mysterious and ancient atmosphere.

"Scale! Boss, if my eyes are not wrong, this thing should be from the middle of the Qing Dynasty, and it can be considered an antique."

The person who spoke was Xu Damao, and he spoke with a firm tone.

"Haha, you really have a good eye, brother! This treasure of mine is from the Qianlong period. I never thought you could recognize it at a glance."

The shopkeeper was all smiles, praising the other party while reaching out to gently pick up the scale. Then, he quickly grabbed a piece of small yellow croaker from the wooden box with his other hand and put it steadily into the tray.

Then, the shopkeeper became extremely cautious. He held the rope above tightly, moved the weight carefully, and began to weigh the small yellow croaker with full concentration.

At this moment, Lou Xiao'e at the side could not help but ask: "Why can't these three pieces be weighed together?"

Her face was full of confusion. She was obviously puzzled by the shopkeeper's weighing of a small yellow croaker alone. She seemed to be wondering why the two small yellow croakers and the golden bean were not weighed together on the scale.

"Miss, if you don't mind, we can weigh together. But the maximum weight that my scale can bear is only two taels. If it exceeds this weight, it may not be so accurate!"

The shopkeeper said this as he carefully placed the scales.

Then he picked up the small yellow croaker and placed it on the scale pan, carefully observing the changes in the position of the weight and the scale lines.

After a while, he looked up and said to the person next to him: "This small yellow croaker weighs exactly 1.23 ounces. Come and take a look, little brother. If there is no problem, I will record it first."

Hearing this, Xu Damao, who was standing nearby, walked forward, got closer, took a closer look, and then nodded slightly to show his approval.

This scale is quite impressive, and its accuracy is amazing. The scale can be accurate to a unit as small as centimeters, and one centimeter is equivalent to 31.25 milligrams! Therefore, using such a scale to weigh things is absolutely accurate and reliable.

It is said that there was once a scholar from Shanghai who went to a famous medical school in Europe for further studies.

On the eve of Christmas, which was filled with joy, he specially picked out a scale that he had easily bought in Suzhou at a low price, and gave it to the dean as a small token of his appreciation, along with a detailed instruction manual.

This instruction manual not only introduced to the director the high degree of precision demonstrated by the Chinese in using this scale to strictly control the dosage of medicines, but also mentioned the actual situation that in many hospitals in China today, Chinese medicine pharmacies still commonly use this traditional scale to dispense medicines.