nucmednet Chapter 296 Chance Encounter
Chapter 296 Chance Encounter
"What did Bao Xuan say to you just now?"
Before leaving the private restaurant, Bao Xuan pulled Gu Jiu aside and said something to him. Lin Shu was very curious about it.
What would two grown men talk about in private?
"Nothing. A friend needs us to go and hold a meeting. You and the kids can rest in the hotel tomorrow. I'll go out for a while in the morning. If possible, I'll come back at noon to have lunch with you guys."
Gu Jiu didn't explain the specific details, perhaps because it was a friend's private matter and it was not easy to reveal too much.
Lin Shu didn't ask any more questions: "Okay, don't worry about me and the children."
The next day, Gu Jiu went out after breakfast. Lin Shu and the children saw Gu Jiu off and took a walk in the garden on the first floor of the hotel.
Unfortunately, the hotel’s small garden could not satisfy the two children, especially the second child, who played in the small garden for a while and then kept pointing outside the hotel, wanting to go out shopping.
Lin Shu was troubled by the second baby and had to go back to the hotel room to bring along a water cup, a sweat towel and other things for going out.
It is impossible for an adult to take care of two two-year-old children outside.
There was no other choice but to buy a double-seater stroller from the system mall, let the two children sit in the stroller, and then push them out. At least this way it would be easier to go shopping.
Speaking of lively places, Lin Shu thought of Fuchang Street. Although it was a bit far away, he could take a taxi there.
Last time I went there I only picked out some furniture. Today I have nothing to do, so I might as well go look for other second-hand goods and see if I can find some bargains.
I did it as I thought. I hailed a taxi on the road and headed straight to Fuchang Street.
Apart from old furniture, there are many other stalls on Fuchang Street, selling a wide variety of goods. There is nothing they can't display, unless you can think of it.
Lin Shu pushed the two children to a stall and stopped. He squatted down and picked up a jade-like claw-like object on the stall. "What is this?"
The stall was run by a middle-aged man in a Tang suit, his thin body like a pen holder. He looked at Lin Shu, and scratched his head with his five fingers. "Head scratcher, you can massage your head, relax your scalp, and make your hair healthier."
"There is such a thing. How much is it?"
Lin Shu took out a small flashlight from her cross-body bag and shone it on the jade. The quality was good and it was very transparent.
"If you want it, give me fifty and take it."
"Fifty? This is not something you can eat or drink. I bought it just to have something rare. You said fifty, but I think five dollars is about right."
After Lin Shu finished speaking, he put down the jade artifact, picked up other jade artifacts nearby and began to observe them.
"Fifty is too expensive? Do you know who uses this thing?" The stall owner looked disdainful, but he was very happy in his heart. He met a young man who knew nothing and it was easy to fool him.
"Who has used it?" Lin Shu looked up and glanced at him, "You're not going to tell me that the emperor and the prince used it, are you?"
"Hey, you are so smart. You guessed it right. It was once played with by a prince in the capital. Otherwise, the color would not be so clear and warm."
"You're just empty talk. Who knows whether what you said is true or false?" Lin Shu looked disbelieving of his words.
Not long after, she picked up a jade ring and asked, "How much is this?"
"This is forty."
“This one’s also five bucks.”
"I don't think you come here to buy things on purpose, but you come here to cause trouble for me on purpose!" The stall owner's tone was not very good.
Looks a little angry.
Lin Shu put the things down and clapped his hands: "If we can't come to an agreement, forget it. I'll go to other stalls to have a look."
The system just said that the jade is real jade, but it is not an antique and is not worth much money.
The stall owner saw Lin Shuzhen pushing the stroller and leaving, and he became anxious, "Add a little more, thirty-one for you to take."
Lin Shu was unmoved and insisted on his price: "Five dollars, it's not worth more than this. After all, it's just a second-hand product."
"Okay, okay, take these two for ten bucks." The stall owner looked painfully embarrassed, as if he had lost so much that he was left with only his underwear.
"Don't be so angry. You agreed to sell them to me so readily. These two jade articles don't look valuable. I just entered this street and haven't looked at many shops yet. Now I regret that I bargained so quickly. Maybe I can find better goods if I go in."
"I have the best goods here. You know I'm an old resident of No. 5 Fuchang Street. This used to be a place where only royal relatives were qualified to live. The things on the stall are all my family's belongings. I thought they were useless, so I put them out to sell and exchange the money for oil, salt, sauce and vinegar."
Tsk, you are just bragging without thinking.
Lin Shu turned around reluctantly and picked up the two jade articles, and then casually picked up an inconspicuous snuff bottle next to it, "This is a gift, I'll take it for ten dollars."
"Oh, you women just like to take advantage. You think this is a vegetable market. If the scale is not enough, do you want to give me an extra green onion?"
The stall owner looked like he was about to cut the meat, but he waved his hand reluctantly, "Take it."
The snuff bottle was very dirty and had previously been thrown into a drawer at home as an inconspicuous item. If this place had not become a flea market, he might have thrown away this dirty snuff bottle long ago in order to enrich the items in his stall.
Lin Shu remained calm, found ten yuan, stuffed the three things into the bag, and left with the child.
A small street less than 100 meters long cannot be walked for long. However, if you are immersed in the joy of shopping, you can spend a whole day in this small street.
The children sat in the stroller and watched the passers-by coming and going. They were quite quiet, but when they were hungry or thirsty, they would point at the bottle hanging on the stroller and ask for water or biscuits.
At that time, ordinary people earned a salary of a few dozen yuan, which was barely enough to support their families, and no one had the spare money to buy these old things that were not suitable for eating or drinking.
Therefore, although there are many stalls on this street, there are still very few people who actually make purchases. Of course, the second-hand furniture business is better.
After all, if some families in the city want to buy new furniture and they are not well-off, they will consider old furniture first.
It was the early 1980s and the second-hand market had just emerged. The cultural relics department had not yet taken it seriously. In the following years, some people reported that the second-hand market was suspected of reselling cultural relics. The market was regulated and it became difficult to be so free again.
Lin Shu squatted in front of a stall and followed the system's instructions to pick up a porcelain bowl that was not very bright in color.
[System, you said this bowl is a porcelain from the Yuan Dynasty? ]
Lin Shu was very curious that this plain-looking, ordinary old bowl was actually a porcelain from the Yuan Dynasty, and the pattern used the underglaze red that is very characteristic of Yuan Dynasty porcelain.
[Strictly speaking, it is blue-and-white porcelain underglaze red, which is a brown color. 】
Lin Shu didn't know much about antiques, so since the system said it was porcelain from the Yuan Dynasty, she believed it and asked the price. The stall owner didn't expect Lin Shu to buy it, so he casually quoted a price: "Two dollars."
Lin Shu was slightly surprised and took out two dollars from his pocket to pay.
Seeing that Lin Shu paid so quickly, the stall owner thought he had quoted a low price. However, he saw Lin Shu casually throwing the broken bowl into the cloth bag under the cart. This casual action made the stall owner think he was overthinking.
"Lin Shu?"
Suddenly hearing someone calling his name, Lin Shu was stunned for a moment. He looked in the direction of the voice and saw someone standing not far away looking at him with surprise. Lin Shu frowned slightly.
How did I meet him here?