Taiping Village was only ten minutes away by bike.
To be honest, the construction of the city was pretty good back in 1979. There were quite a few five-story buildings, but the countryside was basically filled with old houses, some of which were quite simple.
When they arrived at Old Wu's parents-in-law's house, they saw that it was still a two-story brick-and-tile new house with a few old houses connected behind it. His father-in-law and mother-in-law lived together with the old man. It seemed that the bold craftsman had made a good income in the past two years. This house was one of the best in the village.
As soon as Old Wu explained her intentions, everyone gave Qin Shi a warm welcome. Old Wu's in-laws were surnamed Chen, and they were going to take him to visit a few relatives and acquaintances in the village later, but there was a condition: "Little Master Qin, there are a few shops in the village that should have some old items that they should be able to sell. When you see the time, can you pay with money first, and then I'll return the money to you first when we come back, and then use food stamps to calculate?”
"No problem, let's do that." Of course he agreed. This way, he wouldn't be exposed.
While chatting, they learned that the Chen family's ancestors had been small officials in the late Qing Dynasty. Their in-laws 'fathers had even worked as bank managers in the warlord government during the Republic of China. They had even bought land in their hometown. Later, during the warlord era, there were too many wars and the world was in chaos, so he moved back to the countryside and became a landlord. After that, of course, he was unlucky.
He felt that the opportunity to make a fortune had come. Although he had many years of experience as an antique dealer, it was rare to meet such a master. Usually, they would not run away empty-handed. Moreover, they had a favor to ask of him, so he had to seize the opportunity.
However, the ideal was very rich, but the reality was very skinny. Although he had the foundation of a capitalist and a landlord, he could not stop the looting. In fact, he only hid a few hundred pieces of silver coins of various colors, which were buried underground and dug up in the past two years. There was not even a single piece of old porcelain left. It turned out that the four old ones were all copied and smashed.
The villagers were also more practical. They brought Zhang Nan around and looked around. There was nothing in the new house that caught their attention. However, they saw a few trouser belts in a small wooden box in the old house behind. They should be from the Republic of China or even the Qing Dynasty. The patterns and weaving skills were first-class.
Belts. There was no belt in the past. Pants had to be fastened with a belt or a belt woven from various cotton threads. In some places, many women had this skill, but the style, color, and width were very different. In many areas, it was one of the necessary dowries for girls to get married. Usually, it was prepared by the mother.
As the belt would be made very long, for the sake of aesthetics and convenience, it would usually be tightly wrapped around a round wooden stick that was 20 to 30 centimeters long and wrapped in red paper in a certain way. In the end, it would even be wrapped into a super big club with a diameter of more than 10 centimeters! When they needed to use it, they could just cut off a piece. This kind of belt could last a family for decades.
However, even after 30 years, this kind of thing was not particularly valuable. It could not even be considered an antique. It could only be considered a unique old craft and a famous antique. This craft was even designated as an intangible cultural heritage in some places.
Qin Shi had seen a few of such " wooden sticks " in Brother Han's house, and they had all been passed down in the family. He wasn't very interested in the wooden sticks in the box, but because the design was full of the unique style of Jiangnan, he picked one up to take a look.
However, Qin Shi knew that there was something wrong with the hand." It was too heavy!
The tightly wound belt was very heavy, and anyone in the family who had this kind of habit would know that. However, Qin Shi, who had seven or eight years of experience in antiques, knew that there was something wrong with the club in his hand as soon as he touched it, because he had heard of this situation a few times in his previous life and had even encountered it personally once.
There were about seven or eight of these wooden clubs in the wooden box, along with a pile of old cloth and other miscellaneous items. He picked up one and put down another. Soon, he had passed through all the belt tubes. When no one was paying attention, his thumb and fingernail scratched hard on the concave core in the middle of all the belt tubes.
He had an idea.
He held a wooden club and said to the people beside him,"The design of this belt is very unique to your place. It's different from ours.”
The few people on the side were still worried that this rich man didn't like the things at home. When they heard that he seemed to be interested in these pants that few people used in recent years and could only be used as decorations, Old Chen immediately said,
"These are all passed down from the previous generations. The craftsmanship is definitely first-class. The new house even has the children's mother who brought them over. Why don't you take a look?"
"It's only interesting if it's from before the revolution. This thing is an old folk custom for collectors. No one wants it in the market. Don't you think so, Old Wang?" It was possible that Old Chen's wife had made her own belt, and it must have been something that had been made after her release. Qin Shi didn't even bother to look at it.
Also, he couldn't show too much interest at this moment. Earlier, in the main room of the new house, Qin Shi had seen two pictures of the old man hanging on the wall, as well as a few old portraits. There shouldn't be any old man left in this house, so it was very likely that Old Wang and the others didn't know that there was something wrong with the belt sleeves. The old man probably didn't even tell them when he passed away.
Seeing that Zhang Qinshi was interested, Old Wu thought about it and said,"Although this thing isn't very useful now, it takes a lot of time to make it. Little Qin, you're also a practical person. If you like it, I'll take it for 8 yuan each.”
It was hard to calculate the price of these things. A wooden club cost one silver dollar. Decades ago, it would have cost three silver dollars. Thirty years later, it would cost 1000 dollars for a wooden club. Qin Shi was not sure if anyone would want it. However, he was too lazy to bargain. Three yuan for a club was not considered expensive, right?
There was no need for anyone else to do anything. There were a total of seven belt sleeves, and they were all stuffed into the cloth bag he had brought.
These old houses had already been used as warehouses and kitchen for storing items. There were also some useless sundries. After a careful inspection, he found that there was a broken wooden cabinet that was not bad. It was made of mahogany. If he bought it in his hometown, he would at least earn a month's salary. But now, he could only look at it. He had no choice. He couldn't bring it back.
When they returned to the new house, Old Wu and his wife took out a large bag of rusty silver coins. There were a total of five to six hundred!
"You guys are really capable. You even hid it.”
He truly admired Old Wu's family. It was not easy to hide these few hundred silver dollars.
Speaking of the Tibetan family, Old Wu's family was full of grievances. They had lost so many good things back then.
Before Qin Shi's rebirth, he had seen a family that could fork out thousands of silver dollars. However, this was the first time in his previous life that a family could sell you hundreds of silver dollars in one go.
However, Qin Shi didn't have the 10,000 catties of food stamps to give them at the moment. Even if he used money to buy them, he wouldn't be able to afford it. He said that he would pick some, so he wouldn't be able to get rich. If you were unlucky, you wouldn't even be able to find a single rare item among tens of thousands of silver coins.
As expected, there was not a single rare species among the hundreds of them. He only chose thirty or so pieces of Dragon Ocean of various colors that were of good quality.
Using food stamps to settle accounts, Qin Shi had no more bargaining chips.
"Old Wu, Old Chen, I didn't come here to collect antiques. I only have a few kilograms of food stamps left. We still have to eat on the way back.”
Old Wu thought for a moment and said,"Little Master Qin, you're also a practical person. Are you still coming to our place for a business trip this year?"?”
"I should be back before the end of the year, or maybe early next year.”Of course, he couldn't tell the truth.
"Why don't you leave an address? There are a lot of people working here in my hometown, and there's a shortage of food stamps in the country. I'm going to visit my son again in a few days. If you can get the national food stamps, we can even eat ten thousand catties. Just the people from the few villages nearby can use it. And to be honest, even if we sell it in the black market, we can still make at least ten cents per catty.”
"You're all using old items to exchange?" Qin Shi understood.”
" Money is fine too, but I don't think you're willing to do it, Little Qin. Hehe…" Old Wu was also good at joking.
"That's right. I might as well go there myself.”
"Little Qin, leave me your address. I'll send you a telegram when I get back from Tianjin earlier." If you come again, I'll keep a few dozen and sell the rest to you. If it's not enough, I'll get the old woman to ask around for you. I can't guarantee you valuable bottles and jars, but it's not a problem to find another few hundred silver dollars.”
Qin Shi had already made up his mind. With the four to five hundred silver dollars in front of him, he would be able to earn at least 2000 dollars in profit by pouring in and pouring out the money with food stamps.
"Alright, I'll send you a telegram before I come. It's at least 10,000 catties.”
"Good, this feels good!"
After both parties left their addresses, Old Wu brought Qin Shi to a relative's house." This family also had quite a lot of silver coins. It seemed that the relatives of the landlord were also landowners and had quite a lot in stock. As they were preparing to build a new house next year, they were prepared to sell a batch and promised to bring money next time. Old Wu was " generous " and even took the initiative to help Qin Shi bargain for an old Hetian jade bracelet with 30 yuan in cash.
Qin Shi understood that this jade bracelet could not be exchanged for food stamps.
After chatting, drinking tea, and strolling around the house, Old Wu's wife had already prepared dinner when they returned to Old Wang's house. She insisted that Zhang Nan stay for dinner.
In fact, it was still early, not even five o'clock yet. However, since she was so enthusiastic, Qin Shi didn't hold back. There were chicken and fish dishes on the table. It was a sumptuous meal, especially the dish of ginger, scallions, garlic, papaya, radish, and lemon. It was very famous in the city at this time!
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。