Siheyuan: The romantic and suave Xu Damao

The yellow mud had probably been stuck to the jade belt buckle for too long, and it was very difficult to brush it off, so Xu Damao simply put the jade belt buckle in a basin and brushed it with a brush.

After a few minutes of struggling, all the yellow mud was finally removed, and an exquisite jade belt buckle appeared before their eyes.

"The Canglong Cult's jade belt buckle has reached the level of mutton-fat jade in terms of whiteness and fineness! Beautiful! Really beautiful!"

Xu Damao reached out and played with the jade belt hook, carefully looking at the lifelike carving on it.

A big dragon head is looking down, and a small dragon is lying on the big dragon. The small dragon's posture is very cute.

The big dragon head is vigorous and majestic, and the beard on it is carved very vividly.

At first glance, I was stunned by the treasure from the Ming Dynasty. This thing has a very good gloss and it is obvious that most of it has been polished. It is considered a fine workmanship in the Ming Dynasty and only kings, princes and generals can achieve it.

After all, at that time, ordinary people could just tie it up with a rope and there was no need to use this thing.

This allusion is obviously about the story of a dragon teaching his son, and it comes from four sentences in the Three Character Classic:

"Dou Yanshan has a righteous way."

"Teach five sons and they will all become famous."

Dou Yanshan, whose original name was Dou Yujun, lived during the Later Jin Dynasty of the Five Dynasties. His hometown was Yuyang, Jizhou, which belonged to the ancient Yan State and was located in the Yanshan area. Later generations called him Dou Yanshan.

……

Dou Yanshan was a well-known local rich man, but he was not kind and ruthless. Because of his immoral behavior, he was still childless at the age of 30.

One night he had a dream in which his dead father said to him: "You have an evil mind and a bad reputation in heaven. If you don't mend your ways, not only will you never have a son, but you will also die young."

……

From then on, Dou Yujun repented, restrained himself and helped others, made many friends, and even opened a private school at home, inviting famous teachers to teach, and free of charge tuition.

Later, his wife gave birth to five sons in succession, and Yanshan also rose to the rank of Counselor and lived to be eighty-two years old.

……

Confucius said: "If one's conduct is upright, people will act accordingly without being told."

Dou Yanshan taught by example and words, and nurtured his five sons to become successful adults. People at that time compared Dou Yanshan to a blue dragon, and the five sons were called "the five dragons of the Dou family!"

……

Dou Yujun had five sons, Yi, Yan, Kan, Xi and Xi. Under his education and training, they all passed the imperial examinations and became pillars of the country.

……

They were called "The Five Dragons of the Dou Family" or "The Five Osmanthus of Yanshan" at the time.

Many of their scholars passed the imperial examinations and became role models for their righteous family traditions.

The then Prime Minister Feng Dao presented a poem in praise of the event, saying:

"Dou Shilang of Yanshan has a righteous way of educating his children."

"One old Lingchun tree, five fragrant osmanthus branches."

……

People competed to pass on the story. The idiom "five sons pass the imperial examination" originated from this, expressing people's hope that their sons would become successful and pass the imperial examination.

……

This is also the origin of the scenes of five sons passing the imperial examinations depicted in paintings by painters of successive dynasties and on porcelain.

"Hehehe, this treasure has a great meaning. I can't sell it. I'll keep it. When I marry Lou Xiao'e in the future, I'll exchange the points for potions. When she gets pregnant, I'll give it to her as a gift!"

Xu Damao thought of the pure appearance of Lou Xiao'e in the drama, and couldn't help but let his imagination run wild. He didn't know what Lou Xiao'e looked like in real life. Could it be that the daughter of a rich man really weighed a thousand pounds?

He took out the rosewood box and carefully placed the Canglong Sect's jade belt buckle inside.

Then he carefully picked up a yellow cup next to him, which was the one the bicycle stall owner used to drink water.

This thing is not actually a cup, but a "slag bucket."

When hearing the word "slag bowl", many people probably think it is a spittoon for garbage or spitting. In fact, it is not. Such an exquisite slag bowl was used by the emperor as a decoration on the desk.

The outside of this slag bucket is bright yellow. Although the whole device is small, it is extremely exquisite, beautiful and luxurious.

Xu Damao lifted the bucket and looked at the bottom.

A few small words "Made in the Tongzhi period of the Qing Dynasty" come into view.

This dregs bowl was made during the Tongzhi period, and is a top-quality product from a first-class official kiln!

The body of the bottle is painted with longevity peaches, longevity patterns and five bats, symbolizing longevity and good fortune.

Xu Damao could conclude that such exquisite porcelain must have been the batch produced when Tongzhi got married.

Why do I say this? Because during the Tongzhi period of the Qing Dynasty, the national strength of the Qing Dynasty declined seriously.

Apart from the batch of porcelain fired for his wedding, even the official kilns did not produce any better porcelain.

This further highlights the special features of this piece of porcelain.

Don’t underestimate it by its small size. This exquisite porcelain from the first-class official kiln is rarely seen on ordinary days and can only be seen occasionally at major auctions.

Xu Damao cut open his old clothes with scissors, carefully wrapped the trash can with cloth, and put it in the rosewood box. He then put it back into his personal space.

After lying in bed for a while, Xu Damao felt very bored and decided to go to the steel rolling mill to chat with some colleagues. So he got up from the bed and pushed the cart to the front gate.

When I crossed the middle courtyard, I heard bursts of noisy sounds coming from the front yard.

Xu Damao went closer to take a look and saw Qin Huairu, the second uncle Liu Haizhong, the first uncle Yi Zhonghai and Sha Zhu surrounding the third uncle and the bicycle in his hand.

"...My friend is really capable. I told him that I didn't have much money, so he asked me to help him get an old bicycle. Look! He delivered the bicycle to me within a few days!"

"Uncle San, you are really calculating. You are usually very stingy, but now you suddenly spend a lot of money to buy a car. Tsk tsk! Maybe it was stolen by someone else."

He Yuzhu stood aside, his strong arms folded over his shoulders, complaining sourly.

"Silly Zhu, what are you talking about! You said I stole the car! Go to the police station and report me! Keep your mouth shut! You can eat more, but don't talk nonsense. If you don't speak, no one will think you are dumb!"

Yan Bugui was still showing off, but when he heard what He Yuzhu said, he immediately became unhappy and directly refuted it.

"Uncle, that's not what I meant. I meant that this car might have been stolen and sold to you by someone else."

He Yuzhu's description makes things worse...

"Then didn't you say I bought stolen goods? You are such a disliked boy!"

"Okay, silly Zhu, if you can't speak, just keep talking."

Yi Zhonghai waved his hand to stop the two of them from arguing.

"Old Yan, you hide this really well. When we drink together every day, I always hear you talk about how difficult your life is and how you have to support a whole family with just one person's salary."

"I didn't expect you to quietly buy a bicycle at this time. You're the second person in our compound to buy a bicycle. It seems that Teacher Yan's family is very wealthy."

Yi Zhonghai glanced at Xu Damao with a sarcastic look, but Xu Damao would not tolerate him and glared back at him.

"What's the point of being well-off? I just helped a friend with a small favor and lent him some money to buy a bicycle through his connections."

Knowing what kind of person Xu Damao was, Yi Zhonghai ignored him.

"You may fool others with this, but you can't fool me."

"Oh, no, that's not the case..."

Yan Bugui hurried to explain.

"Hey! I'm the first one in our hospital to buy a bicycle, Uncle No. 1, stop talking about Uncle No. 3's bicycle all the time! Come on and talk about me."