After leaving the alley and coming outside, there were many pedestrians on the road at this time.

Looking at the shops on the side of the road, they had already opened one after another, and he went straight into a hardware store.

Coal stoves (12 yuan and 5 jiao), aluminum kettles (7 yuan), iron pots (3 yuan and 5 jiao) each bought one.

Naturally, he bought a large iron pot, just right to use together with the other pot, and spent more than twenty yuan.

After buying the things and coming out, he hung them on the bike and went to nearby stores to buy soap, toothbrushes, toothpaste, and 3 thermos flasks.

It's more convenient to drink water in a cup, so he bought an enamel basin.

He spent more than twenty yuan again.

Seeing the vegetable market open, he went in and bought all the tofu tickets exchanged last time, and also bought some spices such as star anise and cinnamon.

The spices are indeed not cheap, costing more than one yuan per jin.

Looking at the things in the grocery store, the peach pastries don't need tickets, and the price is not expensive either, 54 cents per jin, so he bought five jin.

After buying everything, he was ready to go for a stroll nearby.

The car stopped at a shop, and he went in.

Commissioned store.

The reason why he knew about this kind of store was because of Zhang Laohan.

The commissioned store is a place Zhang Laohan would go to every time he comes to the capital to purchase goods.

There is no dedicated second-hand recycling market in the capital.

The commissioned store is a place to recycle all kinds of old things.

Originally, it was to help neighbors sell valuable furniture, but later, the common people also sent over clothes, pots, and pans to sell on their behalf.

There were too many people sending things, and it was inconvenient to register and manage.

After it grew in scale, it gradually became a place to buy at a low price and then sell, and they no longer accepted the business of selling on behalf of neighbors.

It's also a place that families in the capital must visit.

After parking the car, he went straight in.

As for losing the car, he wasn't worried about that.

Nowadays, bicycles are equivalent to cars in later generations, and once they are lost, it's a big deal.

There is a steel stamp on it, and it would be unlucky if the source is unclear.

He even got a receipt when he bought it from the repair shop!

After coming in, the place was not small, about two hundred square meters, with a lot of things placed inside.

An old man in the store was looking at plates with a magnifying glass at the counter, and there were two women in the hall sorting things.

There were already quite a few people inside, picking and choosing things, and they looked like families with financial difficulties.

As for him coming in, the few people just glanced at him and didn't pay any attention.

As long as they made sure he didn't steal anything, it was fine.

After Yang Xiaole came in, he looked around.

On the left were furniture and the like.

Old wardrobes, tables, benches.

The things were still usable, but they were quite old, and the paint on the furniture had mostly peeled off, making them look a bit mottled.

In the middle were some common items, old radios, alarm clocks, watches, pots, pans, thermos flasks, basically everything...

These things were either unwanted by wealthy families, or they were sold when moving.

Because there was frequent movement between cities these days.

It is said that most of the skilled workers in the first textile factory were female workers transferred from the textile factory in the coastal city.

After all, the capital has never been developed in industry since ancient times.

It only started to develop after the founding of the nation.

He was curious when he came to the furniture section.

What did he do in his past life?

In order to deceive those people, he really studied hard, not to say he was proficient, but at least he could talk about most of it.

In front of knowledgeable people, he was just showing off.

But in front of ignorant people, he was an expert.

Most of them were ordinary wood, and although the paint had peeled off, he still couldn't tell.

There were also two redwood armchairs.

It's a pity that they were somewhat damaged, and it's not very valuable chicken-wing wood.

After looking around, he left.

Coming to the middle, the old man was still looking at the plate from before.

And on the shelf behind the old man, there were still many bottles and jars, with many good things inside.

He lowered his head and looked at the inscription.

Instantly, he knew what this thing was.

"Qing Dynasty blue and white entwined lotus pattern plate."

Suddenly, it was tasteless.

There are very few imitations nowadays, so this should be the real thing.

But although this is official kiln porcelain, and it's blue and white, it's not as valuable as one would imagine.

Mainly because of the poverty during the Qing Dynasty!

The craftsmanship requirements for the production of high-end vases and jars were too high, and they could only be produced in small quantities, mainly producing this kind of bowl and plate with a relatively large quantity.

In later generations, there were only about ten thousand of them.

It's not that he looks down on these ten thousand.

It's just that it's not very meaningful to get these things so early, and it wouldn't be a problem to collect one or two in the future.

If he wants to collect now, he would only collect fine pieces. The space is only so big, and it would be a pity if there's no place to put them!

The old man probably heard him muttering the name of the flower plate just now, and glanced at him, "Hey, little kid, do you know that the characters on it are from the Qing Dynasty?"

Of course!

The characters now are all traditional characters, and it was only two years ago that simplified characters began to be popularized. He has learned to read them!

Besides, did he practice calligraphy for nothing in his past life?

"Oh, it seems like the bowls used by the family to eat noodles are of this kind."

After speaking, he looked at the shelf. There were some good things, but he didn't need them now.

But he still asked, "Grandpa, how much is this selling for?"

"Oh, this? It's 3 yuan and 5 jiao, do you want it?"

"Thank you. I was just asking."

After that, he didn't look anymore and walked towards the daily necessities section.

He's not in a hurry now, and he'll have a lot of these things in the future.

The old man watched him leave and continued to look at the plate in his hand, and finally carefully placed the item on the shelf.

This thing still needs to be sent to those high-end restaurants!

He strolled over to the old books section.

There are also bookstores in the city, and there aren't many books here.

There were already several young men and women picking and choosing.

He came over for a look.Wow, there are quite a few good things here. I've been in this world for so many years, and I've only been to school to read some comic books to pass the time.

There aren't many comics here.

But there are quite a few published books.

There are old books from the mainland, such as Water Margin and Romance of the Three Kingdoms, as well as some modern novels.

There are also many translated foreign books.

"War and Peace," "Anna Karenina," "The Red and the Black," "How the Steel Was Tempered," "Crime and Punishment," "A History of Russian Society"...

There are many different kinds.

I casually flipped through them and asked the lady next to me with a smile, "How much is this book?"

The lady didn't speak, and a teenager next to her spoke up:

"The prices vary. Thinner ones are a few fen, thicker ones are two to three mao, and foreign books are more expensive, around 50 fen. It depends on what you want."

"Ah, thank you!"

Yang Xiaole happily thanked her and started to pick out books.

Overall, the prices are less than a tenth of the price of new books.

He picked out about twenty books in a row, feeling like it would be enough to keep him busy for a while, and then stopped.

He put the books aside and went to look at the old clothes.

The clothes here are actually made of durable fabric, although they are old, most of them don't have patches, or have very few patches.

He didn't bother with these old clothes.

The floral clothes for women have given him quite a few, so there's no need for men's clothes.

It's too much trouble to explain, and it's better to buy some good food and drink for the family.

He came to the area selling old iron pots, all of which were greasy and almost scrap iron pots, and they were the kind of small pots used in the city.

He wasn't planning to buy any.

Yang Xiaole thought of the task at school, where everyone had to hand in a portion of ironware, and these old iron pots were just right for the task. He took two small iron pots.

Grandpa looked at him and asked, "Are you sure you want to buy them? Where are your parents?"

"Oh, my dad went to my eldest aunt's house. I want these."

The old man didn't say anything more after hearing this.

He fiddled with the abacus beads and said, "This book is 22 jiao, this one is 13 fen, this one is 61 fen... two iron pots, 1 yuan and 2 jiao... a total of 8 yuan and 38 fen."

Yang Xiaole nodded, it's okay, the books he picked are all relatively thick.

An average of around 30 fen per book.

He paid the money and didn't leave.

Instead, he watched the old man hesitate.

"What's wrong? Is the money not right?"

The old man saw that he didn't leave and stared at him, so he adjusted his glasses and asked strangely.

Yang Xiaole came back to his senses, "Oh, nothing, Grandpa, I just wanted to ask, do you recognize these characters?"

After speaking, he took out a piece of paper with three characters written on it.

It was the jumbled characters he copied from the book titles.

"Huh! Seal script?"

Seeing himself on the paper, the old man was surprised and quickly picked up the paper, adjusted his glasses, and looked carefully.

Hearing the name called out by the old man, Yang Xiaole was overjoyed.

It really is seal script.

"Shen, Yang, I don't recognize the last one at all!"

The old man muttered intermittently.

After listening to the name uttered by the old man, Yang Xiaole was a little puzzled.

Is it a method of nourishing life? Or a secret of nourishing life?

Is it used for nourishing life?

What's the use of this thing?

After the old man finished reading the characters, he put the paper down and said to him, "Look, this is 'nourish,' the 'nourish' of 'nourish,' this is 'body,' the 'body' of the body, this should be barely recognizable. I'm not sure about the last one. Where did you copy this from? After the unification of the Qin Dynasty, the characters were unified into small seal script, which is this kind of script."

Yang Xiaole took a look.

It turned out to be not nourishing life, but nourishing the body.

After the Qin Dynasty?

Could it be the method of immortality that Qin Shihuang practiced back then?

He couldn't help but sneer in his heart.

But after hearing the characters spoken by the old man, he really felt that they were quite similar. The character 'nourish' looks a lot like the shape of a cockroach, and the two protrusions look like the antennae of a cockroach.

The 'body' of the body is also quite obvious.

It's just that the last character is very complicated and has no reference at all.

Looking up, he said to the old man, "I saw this on a carving. I just wanted to ask, do you recognize many small seal scripts like this?"

Since it's from the Qin Dynasty, it definitely can't be said to be seen in books.

It can only be said to be seen in carvings.

After the old man finished reading, he quickly asked, "Do you know where the thing is?"

"I know, but the thing is gone, but I copied the characters on it. I'm just curious about what's written on it."

After speaking, he took out a notebook.

This is what he has organized in the space over the past few days, taking only one of the repeated characters, so no one knows the meaning of the characters. In fact, there are still a few that he can guess.

But just to be safe, he copied them all down.

The old man took the thing and looked at it, flipping through it casually.

Then he closed the notebook and handed it back to him, saying, "I only know a few simple ones, and I don't recognize most of them on here."

After hearing this, Yang Xiaole felt a little disappointed. He thought he had met a master!

"Do you know anyone who is an expert or professor who recognizes this kind of script?"

The old man thought for a moment and said, "I'll introduce you to someone. You can go find him. He's very interested in this. Give him this thing, and you might even get a reward."

"Oh, who is it?"

Yang Xiaole was a little wary.

Don't let him get caught!

The old man wrote an address and a number on the paper and handed it to him: "Professor Chen Fuhai of the Inscription Exhibition Hall of the Gu Gong Museum. He is very interested in this. Call him before you go. It's Sunday today, and he's not at school, so he should be at the museum."

"How much is this?"

As he was lost in thought, someone came over to pay.

At this point, the old man didn't have time to talk to him and went to check out the person next to him.

"Grandpa, thank you!"

Yang Xiaole took the things, took a look, said thank you, and left.

After leaving the consignment store, he hesitated for a moment outside, wondering whether to go or not!

How do I explain it later!

After thinking about it, he decided to go and take a look.He had already figured out what to say.

Everyone knew where the Museum of Ancient Works was located.

Glancing around, he spotted a post office in the distance and decided to make a phone call to inquire.

Upon arrival, the place was bustling with people shouting loudly.

There was no helping it; the communication equipment was outdated, and one had to shout to be heard unless they were very close.

This wasn't an issue when calling within the city.

After waiting for a while, it was his turn. The operator looked at him and asked, "Where are you calling?"

"The Museum of Ancient Works."

Upon hearing this, the operator nodded and began operating the switchboard.

The call connected shortly after.

But no one answered the phone.

Two minutes later, someone finally picked up: "Hello, who are you looking for?"

"I'm looking for Professor Chen Fuhai, is he available?"

"Oh, that's me. What can I do for you?"

"Oh, you're Professor Chen! I have some items with Small Seal Script that I'd like you to take a look at, if you're interested."

"Small Seal Script?"

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Interest was immediately piqued in his voice.

"Yes, Small Seal Script!"

"Where are you now?"

"I'm over at Xidan, where can I find you?"

"Let's do this, come to Xihua Gate, I'll wait for you at the entrance."

"Alright, I'll be right there."

With that, Yang Xiaole hung up the phone and asked the operator, "How much?"

"Fifteen fen."

Yang Xiaole handed over the money upon hearing the price.

The basic charge was fifteen fen for three minutes, regardless of whether the call lasted that long.

After leaving the post office, he asked for directions to Xihua Gate and rode his bicycle towards his destination.

Ten minutes later, he arrived at a bridge next to the city wall, beside which flowed the Tongzi River that encircled the entire Museum of Ancient Works. It was rumored that many antiques and coins were thrown into this river in later years.

But that was a story for another time.

Crossing the stone bridge, he arrived at a city gate where many people were buying tickets to enter.

He immediately spotted a man in his fifties, a small elderly figure looking around.

The man was dressed in a blue-gray short jacket and gray trousers, his frail body adorned with a pair of presbyopic glasses.

"Are you Professor Chen?"

Yang Xiaole approached and inquired.

The old man sized him up: "That's me. Are you the one who called earlier?"

"Yes, that's right!"

Hearing this, the old man nodded, his voice betraying his surprise; he had thought it was an adult on the phone!

He hadn't expected a child.

But he didn't dwell on it and quickly asked, "Where's the item you mentioned? Did you bring it?"

Yang Xiaole hurriedly handed it over.

"I didn't bring the item, but I copied down its contents. Can you take a look and tell me what it says?"

The old man frowned as he looked at what was handed to him.

After flipping through it, he closed it and said, "You copied this down? Where's the actual item? I want to see it!"

What use was a copy to him?

He wanted the actual item!

"It's been smelted!"

The old man was puzzled. "Smelted? What do you mean?"

"Oh, I saw it at the Commune. It was dug up from the riverbed while they were excavating sand. They thought the greenish-black substance might contain iron, so they threw it into the furnace."

Hearing Yang Xiaole's words, the old man clutched his chest.

He urgently asked, "Do you know what it was?"

"A stele inscription!"

The old man became agitated: "How could they smelt it! That green is verdigris, can't they tell copper from iron? Such a waste of a treasure, a waste of a treasure!"

He shook his head; there was almost no awareness of cultural relic preservation among these people.

But no one could be blamed!

He carefully put away the notebook he was holding.

The item was destroyed, but it was a valuable find; perhaps some information could still be gleaned from it.

He was interested in the history recorded within.

Seeing his reaction, Yang Xiaole quickly said, "Hey, Professor Chen, I want to know what's written on it. Can you translate it for me?"

Realizing the situation, Professor Chen remembered that the item wasn't his yet!

He then asked, "Comrade, what made you think to record this? Can you give it to me? I'll give you five yuan."

"Oh, I like practicing calligraphy and am quite interested in this. You don't need to pay me; I can give it to you, but I want to know what's written on it. Is that okay?"

Hearing his words, the old man frowned.

There were so many characters, probably two to three thousand!

After thinking for a moment, he said, "Let's do this, come inside with me."

Having just received the document, he too was eager to know what was recorded.

Yang Xiaole found it strange; shouldn't this be something to be examined slowly?

Why was he being taken inside? Could it really be deciphered so quickly?

Despite his confusion, he quickly agreed, parked his bicycle in the shed, and paid a parking fee of two fen.

Meanwhile, Professor Chen Fuhai had already handed him a ticket.

"Let's go, let's go inside."

With that, he led the way into the museum.