Looking at his grandfather's face that said "I want to eat", Yang Jing had an idea. He opened his backpack, searched inside, and took out the Yudian-style Duan inkstone and inner-painted snuff bottle that he had bought from Huang Benchu ​​at Alfie Market in London, as well as the brush washer that Old Huang had given him, and placed them in front of his grandfather.

These three items passed through security check without any danger. The security personnel at Heathrow Airport saw these three items, but unfortunately they did not understand Chinese antiques and were fooled by Yang Jing's claim that they were "artworks worth dozens of pounds."

Sure enough, when the three old objects appeared in front of my grandfather, his originally confused eyes suddenly lit up.

Grandpa reached out and picked up the inner-painted pot, turned it over and looked at it, then looked up and said in surprise: "This pot is not bad. Judging from the workmanship and patina, it should be an old item from the late Qing Dynasty. It is not made by a master, but it is rare to be preserved so well."

Hearing the old man say this, Yang Jing and his uncle looked at each other in surprise. His uncle asked anxiously, "Dad, can you still recognize these things?"

The grandfather glanced at his son with great disdain and said unhappily: "Why couldn't I recognize you? Do you think I'm stupid?" The look and tone did not sound like that of a patient with brain trauma at all.

As the old man spoke, he put down the inner-painted pot and picked up the Yudian-style Duan inkstone. He rubbed it for a while before nodding with satisfaction and said, "This is a good inkstone! With the inscription from Yudian and the material from Mazikeng, this inkstone must be worth at least 70,000 or 80,000 yuan! If it is kept for a while, the value of this inkstone will increase. It has more potential than that snuff bottle!"

Yang Jing was happy when he heard this, really happy. All three items belonged to him, so he certainly knew the value of them. Although this Yudian-style Duan inkstone was not as valuable as the inner-painted pot when he bought it, everyone knew that with the current appreciation trend of miscellaneous antiques in China, within five years, the value of this Duan inkstone would definitely far exceed that of the inner-painted pot.

Just now, the old man said that this Duan inkstone was worth 70,000 or 80,000 yuan. That must have been seven or eight years ago. At that time, the old man had not yet fallen ill, so the value of this inkstone could be seen at a glance. During the seven years that the old man was ill, he certainly did not know the price trend of domestic antiques, but he was able to accurately tell the price seven or eight years ago, which just proves that the old man still has some memory of the time before he fell ill.

In my grandmother's words, the three things my grandfather loved most in his life were playing with cats, fishing, and collecting antiques.

Not to mention hunting cats, as long as the weather permits, my grandfather would go out every weekend. The reason why my grandfather was in such good health before was largely related to hunting cats once a week. After all, every time he went out, he would ride a bicycle back and forth for nearly 70 kilometers, and sometimes it could reach a distance of 100 kilometers. In addition, my grandfather would hunt cats after he arrived at the field, so the amount of activity in a day was quite large.

My grandfather learned how to fish after he retired. As long as he wasn't out hunting cats or going to the antique market, he would spend five hours a day on the eastern bank of the Grand Canal, rain or shine.

As for antiques, that goes without saying. My grandfather’s ancestral home is in the capital, Yanjing, and it is said that his ancestors were quite well-off. Therefore, my grandfather, who was born before the liberation, followed the adults in his family to visit the West Imperial City, Chaoyang Gate, Beixiao Market outside Desheng Gate, Xixiao Market outside Xuanwu Gate, and Dongxiao Market outside Chongwen Gate when he was very young. He visited the eight ghost markets in the city countless times...

After that, he joined the army and started working, and there was a period of silence. It was not until the early 1980s when a spontaneously formed ghost market appeared in Tianqu City again that my grandfather resumed his old business.

The earliest ghost market in Tianqu City is located in Diling Village in the northeast corner of the urban area. At that time, the ghost market was opened on the fifth and tenth days of the lunar calendar. These days were also the days when Diling Village held a big market, which lasted six days a month.

Later, when the Yandiankou Antique Market, which was closer to home, emerged, my grandfather had already retired and had plenty of time, so whenever the antique market opened, my grandfather would stay there from opening to closing.

These things were told to Yang Jing by his grandfather when he was young. Moreover, when Yang Jing was young, his grandfather often carried him to the antique market. This is also the fundamental reason why Yang Jing likes antiques so much.

Obviously, my grandfather, who now suffers from Alzheimer's disease, still remembers his antique collecting days, and he remembers them quite clearly, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to describe every detail of the process so clearly.

My uncle also laughed so hard that you could see his back teeth.

Grandpa didn't care about how the father and son were laughing. He fiddled with the Duan inkstone, then picked up the inner-painted pot and looked at it carefully, appearing to be completely focused.

The uncle gave Yang Jing a wink, and the father and son went to the next room.

The uncle said with a smile: "You are really good, you have solved a big problem for me this time!"

As he said this, my uncle sat down on the bed, looking very happy. "Your grandpa has become more and more lazy in the past two years. Originally, this old man eats a lot and sleeps a lot. Now he weighs more than me. This is not a good thing. So I have been thinking about what to do for your grandpa on a daily basis. But I can't find any good ideas."

"With your grandpa's current physique, he can't run even if I drive him out to hunt cats. As for fishing, let alone, what if your grandpa dives into the river? So I've been worried about him for the past two years."

My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It’s even more exciting later!