Siheyuan: The romantic and suave Xu Damao

Lou Xiao'e stood behind Xu Damao, ready to watch how he bought things.

"Oh, it's too expensive. I don't have that much money. Let's look at something else."

As Xu Damao spoke, he put the bracelet down, then picked up another jade bracelet and looked at it. This bracelet was only half green. Xu Damao took it in his hand and shook it at the stall owner.

"This one is cheaper, just give me a hundred."

The stall owner was not impatient, and he knew very well that such buyers were the real buyers. He was afraid of those customers who would just turn around and leave without bargaining after he finished quoting the price...

"It's still a bit expensive, can you make it cheaper?"

"This is already the cheapest price. How about this? I'm not making any money, I'm just making friends. Ninety dollars! It can't be any lower!"

"Alas, it still doesn't work. I don't have that much money in my pocket. Boss, do you have any cheaper bracelets?"

Xu Damao looked worried.

"There are a lot of them there, priced at five or ten yuan, but the quality can't be compared to the one you have, it's much worse."

"Okay, I'll pick some."

Xu Damao was delighted and immediately took out a bracelet with a hint of emerald green and shook it at the stall owner.

"This is just a little green, give me ten dollars!"

The stall owner waved his hand.

"Isn't this too much? Look at it..."

"Brother, why don't you just pick another one? I'll give you ten bucks."

"OK then."

Xu Damao first took out a big unity and handed it to the boss, then picked up a black bracelet.

"That's it. It's one black and one white."

"Okay! Now that you have it, you can't change it!"

When the stall owner saw Xu Damao took the black bracelet of the worst quality, he was afraid that he would change his mind, so he hurriedly said.

"That's all I want. Goodbye!"

Xu Damao stood up and left. Seeing this, Lou Xiao'e immediately followed him.

"Da Mao, are these two bracelets good?"

"Hey, can I walk that fast? These two bracelets are much more beautiful than the two I just picked up."

"Tell me about it!"

"It's pitch black now, I can't see clearly, I'll talk to you when it's light, I'll set up a stall, now that I'm here I can't come in vain."

"So what are you going to sell?"

"These are just some small things I found before. There's an open space in front, so let's go there and put them up."

As Xu Damao spoke, he pushed the cart to the open space.

He parked the car, took off the torn straw mat, took out a bundle, spread it out on the mat, took out the things inside one by one and placed them on the mat.

"Xiao E, look there's a stall selling lanterns, go buy me one."

"Oh, well, I'll go buy a lantern."

Lou Xiao'e walked in the direction Xu Damao pointed.

After sending Lou Xiao'e away temporarily, Xu Damao turned around and looked around. Seeing that no one was paying attention to this side, he took out a few things from his personal space and placed them all on the stall.

"for you."

Lou Xiao'e walked over and handed the lantern to Xu Damao.

"Sit down, take a rest, and wait for customers to come."

Xu Damao put the lantern away, took out a small stool and handed it to Lou Xiaoe.

Lou Xiao'e was not polite and sat behind the stall with the attitude of a boss lady.

"Hey, are we just going to wait here like this? No need to shout?"

"Xiao'e, have you seen anyone shouting along the way?"

"I really didn't see them, but weren't these the things you just took from the guy selling bicycles?"

"Yes, let's see how I can sell it for a good price later."

"I don't believe it. Let me take a look first. Forget about the inkstone, it's just a small antique. How much are these two things of yours worth?"

"I'm not sure about this ink, but I can be sure about this ink box."

Xu Damao placed the two things he got from the bicycle stall owner under the lantern and looked at them carefully. He casually put away an ink stick and then took the ink box in his hand.

"What is the origin of this ink box?"

"An ordinary blue and white ink box from the mid-Qing Dynasty is worth a little money. I want to see what the ink inside smells like. It smells really good. You can smell it."

Xu Damao opened the ink box and placed it under Lou Xiaoe's nose.

"Yes, there is indeed a fragrance."

"anything else?"

“I don’t understand this.”

"Don't you find that this ink is very sticky? This ink is more valuable than this blue and white ink box."

"What kind of ink is this? It looks similar to other ink pads, all red."

"Although this lantern is not very bright, I can tell that this is the extremely precious Longquan ink!"

“Is it different from other ink pads?”

"Xiao'e, think about it, this box is from the Qianlong period, so this ink was probably made during that time."

"The production process is complicated and the materials used are exquisite, including cinnabar, rhinoceros yellow, musk, pearl powder and other precious materials."

"It does not leak oil in summer, nor freeze in winter, has a fresh and harmonious color, a fragrant smell, does not melt when soaked in water, leaves no marks when burned, does not dry up in dry weather, and does not mold in rainy days."

"Look, this box of ink is at least a hundred years old, and the color is still so bright. Ordinary ink would have changed color or deteriorated and cannot be used."

"Oh, what you said makes sense, young man. I am becoming more and more interested. Show the ink pad to the old man."

Xu Damao had just finished explaining to Lou Xiaoe when he attracted the interest of an old man who was standing in front.

"Here, old man, feel free to take a look. You can also test whether what the boy said is a lie."

"Okay, then I'll try it. If it's real, I'll buy the ink!"

After the old man finished speaking, he took the ink box and took out a seal from his waist.

He opened the lid of the ink box, gently dipped the ink in the box with his left and right hands, and then took out a palm-sized piece of paper.

Tearing the paper into two pieces, the old man began the experiment.

Press the seal on the paper for more than a second, then pick it up, and a red seal will be left on the paper.

It was too dark, and apart from a hint of red, Xu Damao and Lou Xiao'e couldn't see clearly what was written on the seal.

Then the old man took out a box of matches, took out one and lit the paper in his hand.

He threw away the ashes in his hand, took out a kettle, and gently poured the water on another piece of paper with a seal. Then he observed it carefully for a while, and a smile appeared on his face.

"It won't melt in water and will leave marks when burned! Good! Good! My dear, I really like this box of ink. Name your price!"

"As long as you like it, Grandpa, this box of ink weighs about two taels, and this box is also a fine blue and white porcelain from the Qianlong period. Grandpa, take a look at the pattern on it..."

"It can be seen that the old man really likes it. How much do you think it is worth?"

"Longquan ink, one ounce of ink is worth one ounce of gold. I won't take advantage of you, old man. I'll use this to buy your ink!"