Reborn in 1977

After placing a bamboo mat on the table, Chen Fan carefully carried the clay pot by its handles, using a rag to protect his hands. He set it down and removed the lid, instantly intensifying the chicken aroma that already filled the room tenfold.

He set out two wine bowls and turned to rummage through the cupboard.

Grandpa Lu picked up his chopsticks and said slowly, "It's gone."

Chen Fan turned around, his eyes widening involuntarily. "Huh? Really?"

"Heh heh."

Grandpa Lu chuckled and glanced at him, smiling. "Do you think an old cripple like me can hide away a lot of good stuff? That tiger bone wine was just one jar. You've been coming over every other day to freeload these past six months. You've drunk it all up. Where would I get more medicinal wine?"

Chen Fan shook his head regretfully and could only pick up a basketball-sized earthenware jar from the bamboo basket beside him, carrying it back to the table.

This was white wine he brewed himself, infused with over twenty medicinal herbs to relax muscles and joints, dispel wind and dampness, and promote blood circulation to remove stagnation. It had miraculous effects on numbness in the limbs for middle-aged and elderly people, and young people could drink it to invigorate their blood and strengthen their bones.

Besides internal use, it could also be used externally, with effects comparable to Honghua oil. If you bumped or bruised yourself somewhere, you could take some medicinal wine, rub it in your palms to generate heat, and then vigorously massage the affected area. It would heal in two or three days at most.

Unfortunately, no matter how good this wine was, it was useless to a martial artist like Chen Fan who needed internal refinement. He could only drink it as strong liquor, which was even more enjoyable.

He still needed highly nourishing medicinal materials such as tiger bones, deer antlers, ginseng, and lingzhi mushrooms to be of any use to him.

And the set of tiger bones he had bought internally from the prefectural health department had only been soaking for a few months. The medicinal effects hadn't been activated yet, so it would be a waste to drink it now. He would have to wait at least a year.

Carrying the large earthenware jar, he removed the wooden stopper, and a rich aroma of wine burst forth.

He lifted the earthenware jar as if it weighed nothing, as if he were holding a small wine cup. With a slight tilt of his wrist, a thin line of amber wine flowed from the mouth of the jar, slowly falling into the wine bowl without splashing a single drop.

A trace of amazement flashed in Grandpa Lu's eyes. When he was in Shanghai, he interacted with celebrities every day and had seen many capable martial artists. Some wealthy businessmen would have their guards pour wine for guests to show off, just like this moment.

But those people were all seasoned practitioners who had been training for over twenty years. How about Xiao Fan? Even if you started counting from when Xiao Lie Wen taught him the basics, it would only be a year at most! Could it be that Leader Lin, who looked like he had fought his way out of a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, really passed on such amazing skills to him?

After Chen Fan placed the wine bowl in front of him, Grandpa Lu picked it up and took a sip, savoring it first, then nodded in satisfaction. "Good wine, well-matched herbs. It's perfect to drink at this time."

After drinking a mouthful of wine and then eating a piece of chicken, his body immediately warmed up.

After savoring it for a few seconds, Grandpa Lu picked up a book from the corner of the table and said, "This book is 'A Guide to Antiques' written by Zhao Ruzhen, a collector from the Republic of China. He was from the Northeast and served as a Vice Minister in the Qing Dynasty's Supreme Court. In the 1920s and early 1930s, he was the principal of a private middle school in the Xicheng District of BJ. He was quite knowledgeable.

"But his character was not good. He was once a traitor. At the end of 1936, his student served in an important position in the puppet government of eastern Hebei and concurrently served as the president of the Bank of eastern Hebei. He invited him to become a supervisor of the bank, and he climbed up to the Japanese and made a fortune.

"Zhao Ruzhen originally liked antiques, but he didn't have the capital. After becoming a traitor, he had the capital and power, so he began to buy antiques in large quantities.

"He took over 'Zunguzhai', which was located east of Rongbaozhai in Xiliulichang and had been involved in the selling of stolen artifacts from the Eastern Tombs by Sun Dianying. He prepared it in 1937 and opened it in 1938, naming it 'Cuizhenzhai', with the signboard inscribed by the epigrapher Shou Shigong.

"However, the antique business is not something that can be established with money and power alone. It emphasizes experience, qualifications, and authority. In order to accumulate experience and enhance qualifications, he devoted all his learning and wrote this 'A Guide to Antiques'."

Seeing Chen Fan listening attentively, Grandpa Lu stopped, took another sip of wine, and without eating any food, continued, "This book widely introduces the knowledge of antique appraisal. These things were originally passed down from the master craftsmen of various antique shops. It was rare for someone to make them public, so it was sought after by everyone. The first issue of 500 copies sold out on the same day, and it was reprinted continuously later."

Grandpa Lu suddenly shook his head as he spoke. "But Zhao Ruzhen himself was a self-taught person and lacked understanding of many things. The descriptions were also too superficial. For example, Yuan blue and white porcelain was originally a treasure, but he wrote in the book, 'The Yuan Dynasty was ruled by the Mongols, who invaded China and did not value literature and art. Moreover, the country did not last for a hundred years and was completely engaged in conquest and suppression, with no time for enjoyment. Therefore, the Yuan Dynasty's porcelain industry made no special progress... Yuan ware mostly imitates Jun ware'.

"He also said, 'There was very little official porcelain in the Yuan Dynasty. The wares included blue ware, white ware, printed ware, carved ware, and sculpted ware. The wares presented to the emperor were also very exquisite, and all the wares were burned with the mark of 'Shufu'."

Hearing this, Chen Fan couldn't help but smack his lips. "Then why did you still give me this book to read?"

Grandpa Lu waved his hand with a smile and said, "Although this book is superficial, it is perfect for beginners, as long as some of the errors are corrected."

He ate a mouthful of food and continued, "After this book was published, it was ridiculed by many experts in the industry because there were too many errors. Zhao Ruzhen was determined to improve and wrote 'A Continued Guide to Antiques', revising and adding a lot of content to the original 'A Guide to Antiques'.

"After that, he wrote 'Doubts about Antiques' in 14 chapters, the contents of which were: 'Ancient People's Research is Not All Reliable', 'Discernment of Authentic Calligraphy', 'Discernment of Ancient Rubbings', 'Discernment of Ancient Paintings', 'Discernment of Ancient Bronzes', 'Research on Ancient Coins', 'Research on Ancient Mirrors', 'Discernment of Xuande Incense Burner Catalog', 'Research on Porcelain Discernment', 'Discernment of Ancient Jade', 'Discernment of Yin Ruins Oracle Bones', 'Miscellaneous Discernment', etc.

"By this time, Zhao Ruzhen had entered the industry, and there were basically no more errors in the book. Counting the several books he wrote, from entry-level to mastery, and even introducing the techniques of imitation, forgery, and splicing, it has a certain reference value for antique appraisal research."

As Grandpa Lu spoke, he placed several books in front of Chen Fan.

Then he picked up another book. "Zhao Ruzhen's character is not good, but his books still have some use. As the saying goes, despise the person but use his skills. It's just like when our troops captured the little devils' weapons and then used them to defend our country. They are all legitimate actions. You don't have to worry about it."

Chen Fan nodded in agreement. He fully agreed with this point and would definitely not worry about it.

Seeing that Chen Fan only nodded and didn't speak, Grandpa Lu put the book in his hand in front of him. "Zhao Ruzhen's books can help beginners get started, but antiques are something that cannot be experienced without going through all things. Currently, there are no antiques available for you to study, so this 'Daguzhai Ancient Evidence Record' can be used as a substitute.

"This book is from Huo Mingzhi. He was from Shaoxing, Zhejiang, and was a great collector in the early Republic of China. He first worked under Zhang Xun, so he had a lot of contact with the remnants of the former Qing Dynasty, and most of the antiques he handled came from these people."

After Zhang Xun lost power, he opened an antique shop in Beijing called 'Dagu Zhai'. Because most of the antiques he handled were treasures, it soon became famous at home and abroad, and many antiques were collected by museums of various powers in those years.

After the founding of the country, this person resolutely handed over more than 10,000 treasures he had collected to the state.”

As he spoke, he pointed to the book in Chen Fan's hand, "This book is a picture album of the precious antiques handled by Dagu Zhai before 1930. It lists the antiques seen by Huo Mingzhi in categories in the form of pictures and texts, and explains how to identify the authenticity and methods of counterfeiting."

Chen Fan was flipping through the picture album, thinking about whether he could activate his appraisal skills.

But it was useless.

However, he didn't care. It was the same as when he first learned Chinese medicine. Although he knew the 'Barefoot Doctor's Manual' by heart, he still had to learn the basics of pharmacology and medical theory from Fourth Master Lu before he could successfully activate it.

Anyway, he now has a high number of mental strength points, so memorizing these books shouldn't be a problem. When the museum reopens, he can go there for a couple of rounds to grind experience.

At this time, there was only the last book in front of Fourth Master Lu. He picked it up and said, "This book is an essential reference book for appreciating ancient books, 'Sui Ya Zhai Book List'. It was also published by Liulichang and is divided into four parts: classics, history, philosophy, and literature…

(Sui Ya Zhai Book List)

After introducing all the books, Fourth Master Lu picked up his chopsticks again and ate and drank slowly and methodically.

Of course, he also chatted, "The way of antiques seems simple, but it has always been a skill highly valued by literati, even surpassing the skills of playing the qin, playing chess, calligraphy, and painting. The reason why it is not listed as the 'way of literati' is because learning antiques is too energy-consuming, the content is too miscellaneous, and it does not conform to the 'Confucianism-based' way of civil officials, so it is listed as a side door.

But the knowledge in it is very profound, so it is listed as 'friend of literati', and has always been respected by literati of all dynasties.

In fact, to learn antiques well, you must first read history books thoroughly. If you don’t even understand the past five thousand years of dynasties, how can you talk about researching antiques?

This is the first point. Secondly, there are many categories of antiques. For example, porcelain, its craftsmanship must have evolved. This evolution is closely related to the humanities, customs, technology, and even historical events of the time. If you understand the meaning, you can get a glimpse of the history of that year.

So precious antiques are not just utensils, but a piece of history.

I am teaching you these things, and I hope you can understand the principles in them. Don't put the cart before the horse, and plunge into money, while ignoring the meaning in them."

Chen Fan raised his head and nodded solemnly, "Understood."

Fourth Master Lu smiled again, "I said this not to let you only buy but not sell. The antique world has always had the rule of 'supporting collecting with collecting'. You can grasp the measure of it yourself. If you can do both without fail, then it is excellent."

Chen Fan pondered for two seconds, "Did you see that I just made some money before you were willing to teach me this skill?"

Fourth Master Lu's face stiffened slightly, but it flashed past. Then he coughed dryly and calmly picked up his wine bowl, "Drink, drink."

Chen Fan smiled and picked up the wine jar, "Come, fill it up."

Fourth Master Lu, "Are you trying to kill me with alcohol?"

Chen Fan, "That's impossible. I haven't found… uh, I mean you are still strong, what is this little bit of wine, drink."

Fourth Master Lu, "…?"

……

The Lu Jiawan transportation team only delivers goods once a day, and Zhang Wenliang's wedding date is not urgent, so Chen Fan waited until the next morning, took the Lu Jiawan No. 2 large wooden boat, went to the prefectural committee to drive the small jeep onto the boat, and transported it back by boat.

When the car drove over the dam, people from each team ran out to watch the excitement, and many people ran to the dam. People in the villages that had passed craned their necks to look, and those who hadn't arrived were excitedly preparing to welcome it.

Many children ran back and forth on the dam, making noise.

Although the commune government has two small jeeps, which are also the only two cars in the Nanhu Commune, they are only for the commune and have nothing to do with Lu Jiawan.

This car is different, this is Teacher Chen's car!

What?

Assigned to him by the machine factory, not his own?

So what?

The car assigned to Teacher Chen is Teacher Chen's car! How many employees in the city units don't live in houses allocated by the public? Can you say that the house doesn't belong to these workers?

See if they don't beat you!

Chen Fan slowed down, drove slowly on the dam, and waved to the commune members when he passed by each village.

However, some people with thick skins also wanted to hitch a ride.

When landing at Team 7, Captain Tang Xianjun didn't even attend the reconciliation, opened the car door and got in. With him was the captain of Team 8, who was the deputy captain of the transportation team.

When passing Team 9, Captain Zhong Zihong followed suit, and militia squad leader Wu Fengfei followed behind on a bicycle. I don't know what he was doing here?

So when they arrived at the brigade headquarters, Chen Fan's car was already carrying 10 team leaders, only Team 6's Captain Yang, who hadn't passed by, and Team 5's Captain Zhang, who was with the brigade headquarters, weren't inside.

What?

How many people can a small jeep hold?

Look at what you are saying, a five-seater jeep can only seat 5 people.

But most people these days are relatively thin, especially the strong laborers who work, they really can't find a trace of fat all over their bodies, plus the space of the GAZ-69 is relatively large, they sit on each other's laps, and didn't even move the trunk, easily fitting in 10 people.

Not counting the driver Chen Fan!

Behind the car, there were also twenty or so bicycles, they didn't even go to the "driving school", they just wanted to come and watch the excitement.

Chen Fan drove the car off the river bank and drove along the dirt road to the entrance of the brigade headquarters.

When they arrived here, almost all the people from Team 5 squeezed over to watch the excitement. The last time there were so many people was the last time Chen Fan came to teach them how to kill turtles and make turtle dishes.

The reason for saying "almost" is that Fourth Master Lu didn't come. If he had come, everyone would have been there.

Didn't you see that someone's wife even brought her baby who was less than a month old!

When Secretary Yang and Captain Xiao walked out of the yard, they saw the team leaders getting out of the three car doors.

One after another, 10 people came down!

Zhang Changjiang widened his eyes, "What are you doing here? There's no meeting today!"

Team Leader Su Yujun, the last to come out, twisted his stiff old waist and laughed, "What meeting? We are here for a ride."

He pushed Zhong Zihong away, touched the car with both hands, and his eyes were shining, "A small car is different, it is much more comfortable than the commune's bus."

The corners of Chen Fan's mouth twitched slightly. What are you squeezing into, and still comfortable?