Chapter 36: Casual Cottage Occasional Writings (2)
"Hey kid, what's wrong? Is it because you think the money is too little? We can negotiate again."
The old man saw Song Wen seemingly hesitating and said again.
"No, sir, you've got it wrong." Song Wen hastily said.
He was a bit short of money, but he wasn't fond of wealth. He just found it strange that an old man would be interested in a tattered book and pay such a high price for it. He had originally thought the old man was a swindler, but looking at his demeanor, style, and attire, he didn't seem like the kind of person who would cheat people out of their money, so he felt puzzled and spaced out for a moment, not expecting to be misunderstood by the old man.
"I just wonder, for a book like this, how can the old man set such a high price? You said one thousand or ten thousand, maybe I would have sold it to you, why did he have to set such a high price?" Song Wen asked in puzzlement.
The old man smiled and said, "Perhaps in your eyes, this book is not worth that much, but to me it's priceless. One thousand, ten thousand can't match its value, even one hundred thousand seems a bit shabby."
One hundred thousand is a small change, that can be one million! Song Wen thought to himself, thinking that this was also a master who had too much money and nowhere to spend it.
But I still feel strange in my heart, and said: "Is this book an antique?"
"Although it's also an antique, what I treasure is not its identity as an antique, but the book itself?"
"What did you say?"
"To be honest with you, this book was originally my grandfather's notes, which were confiscated during the Cultural Revolution and disappeared along with everything else in our home. I never thought I'd see it again, so no matter what, I'll buy it. Young man, name a price, I'll pay whatever it is." The old man said magnanimously, looking like he was quite wealthy.
However, a gentleman loves wealth and takes it in a proper way. Ten million is obviously far beyond the value of this book. If Song Wen is still not satisfied, then he's being a bit too greedy.
"This book is actually useless to me, I just like the content inside. If you want to buy it, take it away, but I need to photocopy the contents." Song Wen bought this book mainly for the method of making tea and wine with bamboo leaves, as for the book itself, it has no significance to him.
The old man agreed to Song Wen's request and went to a nearby printing shop to photocopy a copy for him. After that, the old man made a phone call to transfer the money, and after Song Wen checked his account at the bank, the old man took the book and left.
Song Wen was a bit stunned, feeling that this money was like falling from the sky, and it seemed to have come too quickly!
The boss of the roadside bookstall saw the transaction between Song Wen and the old man clearly, and suddenly the two numbers "one hundred" and "one million" kept floating in front of him. He regretted it so much that his intestines turned green, and he couldn't help but slap himself in the face, closing the stall and going home.
From then on, as long as it was a book with brush-written characters, no matter whether it was printed or handwritten, he would collect them. Heaven rewards those who are diligent, and one day, he stumbled upon a rare treasure, which brought him a small fortune, but that's a story for later.
With the over 10,000 yuan originally on his card, Song Wen now has over 110,000 yuan. He wants to buy a four-wheeled motorcycle. Although it can't be driven on highways, he thinks it's okay to play with at home. Besides, even if he drives it on the highway, it's not a big deal - if someone tries to catch him, he'll just run away and worry about it later. The problem is that there are no four-wheeled motorcycles for sale in Nanzhou, so he can only wait until he goes somewhere else to buy one. But after buying it, maintenance will also be a big problem, which really gives him a headache.
Ever since he slipped and fell in the creek, he has been suffering from aquaphobia, fearing that he would slip again. He had always wanted to buy a four-wheeled motorcycle, but now that he has the money, he can't find one to buy, which is really frustrating. Unfortunately, he doesn't like driving cars either; otherwise, buying an old QQ to drive wouldn't be bad.
He wandered around for a while longer and when he saw it was already noon, he headed towards the old street corner where there was a century-old braised flavor old shop.
The old streets were demolished by the government, and now only a few are well-preserved. The street where the century-old shop is located has a Qing dynasty Shangshu gate, so it was fortunately preserved. Every time I come over, Song Wen will go there to eat braised food. This store's braised food is really good, almost the best in Nanzhou.
Arriving at the braised flavor shop, only to see that the sign "Old Root Braised Flavor Shop" had been smoked black, revealing a sense of vicissitudes, and inside was almost full of people.
A thick savory aroma wafted out from inside, and looking in, all he saw was a glass window display filled with all sorts of braised delicacies: duck wings, large intestines, chicken feet, rabbit, roasted meat and many more. Song Wen looked at it and couldn't help but swallow his saliva.
"What do you want."
As soon as Song Wen entered, a waitress holding chopsticks and a bowl of braised flavor asked him.
"Give me some braised pork belly, a leg of roast duck, two pieces of roasted meat, two strips of five-spice and a few duck wings, plus some duck intestines, and finally a bowl of old duck soup, that's it."
Song Wen was about to go in after finishing his order when he suddenly saw someone walk in, and it turned out to be the old man who had just bought a book.
"Old sir, you're also here for dinner!" Song Wen greeted politely.
"Is it you? It's really a small world!"
The old man was also surprised and smiled: "This is a hundred-year-old shop, almost every time I come back, I will come here to eat."
"I had a feeling you weren't from around here just by your accent, turns out you haven't lived here for a long time."
"When I was a kid, I moved out and now that I'm old, I miss the past. Every year, I come back to take a look, but unfortunately, all the places I used to live have been demolished. Now, only this place can still give me a little feeling of my childhood."
"Yes, in the past if this old street was preserved, it would have been very comfortable to look at. Now that the old has been demolished and new ones have been built, the whole place is all steel and concrete, and there's no interest in looking at it."
The two of them started talking at the door, but unfortunately it was mealtime now. They only talked for a while before blocking the people who were going to eat.
Song Wen looked and quickly pulled the old man to sit down at an empty table.
"Since the old gentleman has returned from afar, this meal is on me, as a way of welcoming him back and washing away the dust of travel."
"This isn't good, is it?"
"There's nothing wrong with it, just consider it as offering flowers to Buddha." After saying that, he didn't care whether the old man agreed or not and went ahead to order food.
The young man in front of him had just earned some money, so the old man didn't hesitate and agreed.
Soon, Song Wen walked over with two plates of pointed braised meat.
"How did you order so much?" The old man frowned and said.
"It's nothing, I'm afraid there won't be enough? Come on, eat it while it's hot."
Song Wen waved his hand and said indifferently, then he didn't bother to be polite to the old man either. He picked up a duck wing and started gnawing on it, occasionally slapping rice into his mouth with a "pa-la" sound.
In the blink of an eye, a third of the braised meat was gone. The old man's eyes widened in shock, and he finally believed Song Wen's words that there wouldn't be enough to eat. Seeing how deliciously he ate, the old man also felt hungry and started eating with his head down. In just a short while, a pile of bones appeared in front of the two of them.
