Siheyuan: The romantic and suave Xu Damao

After everything was ready, Xu Damao pushed his bicycle slowly into the village.

"Collect——Old stuff!"

"Exchange old items for flour and salt!" With loud shouts, Xu Damao began his journey of collecting goods today.

Entering a small alley in another village, Xu Damao took another deep breath and suddenly opened his throat to shout: "Buying old things - buying back all kinds of old things at high prices -"

Along with his loud voice, he was seen holding the handlebars steadily with both hands, slowly pushing the somewhat worn-out bicycle, and walking slowly on the small road in the village.

Today the sky is clear blue and cloudless, it can be said to be a sunny day.

At this moment, just after noon, the sun was high in the sky, casting its soft and warm light on the earth, as if covering the entire village with a layer of golden gauze.

Although the temperature is still low, the warm winter sun seems particularly kind and pleasant, making people feel warm.

In the village, you can see many people sitting in their own yards or leaning against the doorways, basking in the sun leisurely.

Some of them squinted their eyes, enjoying this rare tranquility and comfort; others gathered in twos or three, chatting in low voices about family matters.

When Xu Damao pushed his bicycle past them, everyone's attention was drawn to him.

At this moment, an old man who was sitting at the door basking in the sun waved to Xu Damao and shouted, "Young man, come to my house and take a look. I have a few old things here. I want you to help take a look and see if you can exchange them for some flour and salt."

Hearing the old man's call, Xu Damao quickly responded: "Okay, old man, I'll be right over!"

After saying that, he pushed his bicycle to the old man.

Afterwards, Xu Damao didn't bother to be polite with the old man and followed him into the house.

After entering the house, the old man pointed to two four-legged high stools and a worn wooden table in the corner and said to Xu Damao: "Young man, come and take a look at this thing. Can it be considered an old item?"

Xu Damao walked forward, looked at the stool carefully, then shook his head and replied: "Old man, this is indeed an old item, it is several decades old, but it is not valuable and cannot be exchanged for anything. You should keep it for your own use at home!"

Xu Damao stood there, staring at the high stool and shook his head slightly.

"What kind of old things do you collect, young man?" The old man's eyes revealed a hint of curiosity and expectation.

Xu Damao thought for a moment and then replied: "Well... those old objects that look very beautiful, like porcelain, jade, jars, bowls, bottles and the like." After that, he raised his hands to gesture the shapes of these objects.

The old man just smiled and said, "Oh, I really have such a thing at home. Young man, please wait a moment, I will go into the house and get it for you." Before he finished speaking, the old man turned and walked into the main room.

However, when he walked to the altar in the center of the main room, he suddenly stopped and a hint of hesitation appeared on his face.

Finally, after some inner struggle, he reached out and carefully took a small and exquisite copper incense burner from the altar.

Then, the old man walked out of the hall quickly and came to the courtyard. He first poured out some debris left in the incense burner, then slowly walked towards Xu Damao and handed the copper incense burner to him.

"Young man, come and take a look at this thing. It is definitely a genuine old item! It has been in our house since I was a child."

As the old man spoke, he gently rubbed the surface of the incense burner with his fingers.

Xu Damao hurriedly stretched out his hands, took the incense burner respectfully, and then began to examine it carefully.

He looked over and over, not missing any detail. After a long while, he looked up and said to the old man with surprise, "Hey! Uncle, this thing of yours is really an old item! And in my opinion, this should be something from the Qianlong period, and the style is modeled after the Ming Xuande furnace. It's in good condition and well preserved!"

At this point, Xu Damao paused and then asked, "Uncle, I wonder what you plan to do with this thing? Do you want to exchange it for cash directly, or do you want to use it to exchange for some daily necessities such as flour or salt?"

The white-haired, wrinkled old man raised his head slightly, squinted his eyes and stared at Xu Damao in front of him, with a trace of doubt and vigilance on his face. He asked: "How much can this be exchanged for? How many pounds of white flour can be exchanged for? Young man, don't think of cheating me just because you think I'm just an old man."

Xu Damao waved his hand quickly and replied sincerely, "Don't worry, old man. I'm a fair trader. This thing of yours is a genuine old item, a copper incense burner from the Qianlong period, and is definitely worth more than ten yuan!"

After saying that, he picked up the copper incense burner and wiped it gently a few times so that the old man could see it more clearly.

Then Xu Damao continued, "How about this, old man? If you are willing to exchange, I have a bag of noodles and some salt in my car."

"Of course, if you want to get the money directly, I can also give you cash."

As soon as he finished speaking, he bent down, laboriously took out a heavy bag of white flour from the basket behind him, and placed it on the ground to show the old man.

The old man first looked at the bag of white flour carefully, then hesitated for a moment, and finally said slowly: "Well... Well, in that case, I don't want to make too much trouble. How about this, you give me five dollars in cash, and the rest will be exchanged for this bag of white flour and the salt."

Hearing this, Xu Damao nodded immediately and said, "Okay, no problem! Then where should this side be poured?"

At this time, the old man raised his hand and pointed inside the house, saying, "Come in, there is a noodle jar inside for storing noodles."

After saying that, he took the lead and walked into the house. Seeing this, Xu Damao quickly picked up the bag of flour and followed closely behind him.

As soon as he entered the house, the old man walked straight to a corner, opened the lid, and revealed an old but relatively clean flour jar.

Then, he turned to Xu Damao and said, "Here it is. Just bring all the noodles in."