Not long after, the loudspeakers in the residential area announced that a training meeting would be held that evening.

Song Ma took leave due to threatened miscarriage, and Song Yan attended in her place.

He Xiaofen, He Changshun's wife, and Song Cheng and his wife looked disheveled after what had happened that afternoon.

The four men stood in a row, with Song Laoda and He Changshun being the closest to them, the ones who would be given a close-up education.

The first item on the agenda was for them to admit their mistakes. To Song Yan's utter surprise, they all burst into tears, including Song Cheng, who was crying uncontrollably. Song Cheng cried as he recounted his errors.

They took turns reviewing their mistakes, and there were also some speeches from staff members. The educational meeting lasted nearly two hours. During those two hours, the four people didn't dare to raise their heads; their heads were practically bowed to their chests.

The education conference has ended today; the notice says it will continue tomorrow. These people were also taken away.

Song Yan felt quite relieved, but she didn't realize that this was just the beginning.

At the education conference the next day, these individuals not only kept reviewing their mistakes, but even knelt down to beg for the understanding of the working people.

At the conference the day after tomorrow, their attitude became even more humble. They practically cast their dignity into the dust.

The families of factory workers hadn't experienced many educational conferences; they usually only heard about them from other places. This time, they witnessed it firsthand, and the hall was completely silent. Even Song Yan himself kept his mouth shut, not uttering a single word.

Upon returning home, Song Yan's first action was to instruct his parents not to discuss anything related to the education conference or the Song family.

When Song Ma heard about what happened at the conference, she was also a little scared, and she nodded in agreement with everything Song Yan said.

Song Yan went to the library and bought some study materials to take home. She also went to the supply and marketing cooperative building to buy some things for her family. She spent the rest of her time with her mother.

The day before Song Yan was to leave, he went to see Cao Zhang. Cao Zhang had no money left, but he had some old objects with him.

Cao Zhang took out each item and showed it to Song Yan.

There was a small wooden box with exquisite patterns and brass-bound corners. "What is this?"

"This thing is beautiful, it's called the Linglong Ball." Cao Zhang opened it and showed it to Song Yan.

Inside the box was a beautifully carved sphere, with spheres within spheres, its material as smooth as jade. Song Yan tried to remain calm. This was probably ivory, also called a "devil's work sphere." If it was real… "How many layers does this sphere have?"

Wearing gloves, Cao Zhang fiddled with the sphere within a sphere using his fingers. "Sixteenth floor. It and that jade carving are the most expensive of these items."

Ivory is no longer allowed to be sold in Songyan's area, and the craftsmanship alone is valuable.

Several of the jade pieces are also exquisitely carved.

Regardless of the quality of the jade, the carving is exquisite.

A long, thin bag, seemingly made of cowhide, lay tossed aside. Song Yan asked, "What's this?"

"This isn't worth much; it's a fake, not very valuable. If you like it, I'll give it to you," Cao Zhang said nonchalantly as he opened it.

The seal was actually that of the painting master. This painting master lived in a prosperous dynasty. Very few of his works have survived to this day.

"This is a Zhong Kui painting, isn't it? Since it's a replica, I'll take it home to ward off evil spirits," Song Yan said casually. However, Song Yan felt that even if it was a replica, it was a very high-quality one. His own painting was exquisite even to this layman.

"This exquisite ball and this jade carving came from the same family. I felt his asking price was a bit high, so I wasn't really interested in buying it. The descendants of this family are spendthrifts, and they pestered me for several days. In the end, to get me to agree to his offer, he gave me this family heirloom. When his grandfather was alive, he said that this thing was a fake and worthless, but it was effective in warding off evil spirits, and it had been blessed by a high monk."

A high-ranking monk consecrated Zhong Kui? Zhong Kui is a Taoist deity. Can a Buddhist monk consecrate a Taoist object? Who are you kidding...? Song Yan's thoughts were churning.

Song Yan put on gloves and examined each item Cao Zhang took out in the order they were presented, taking out the first items he thought were the most valuable.

"Have you had these things checked by someone?" Song Yan asked casually.

“Of course! I’m an amateur, so I need to find an expert to take a look,” Cao Zhang said proudly.

"You looked at this one too?" Song Yan asked, pointing to the Zhong Kui painting. Song Yan had a vague guess.

"This old man is no ordinary person. If he says it's fake, then it can't be real. Why should I bother asking someone else to check?"

He had some connection with me when he was alive, otherwise I wouldn't accept his descendants' belongings at this price.

When I saw that he had taken out all the items meant to ward off evil spirits, I decided to keep them!

"Look, there's one more, that makes eight guardian beasts in total." That spendthrift son of a bitch stared blankly as he dug one out of the ground and gave it to me.

"In the ground?" This is clearly a roof ridge beast, a Qilin.

"This thing wasn't originally in the ground, of course. It just happened to be born in this era."

The father went to great lengths; I heard he's quite knowledgeable about feng shui. He said that placing these things in the house to ward off evil would surely bring him wealth. What a pity… this lump of iron is probably only worth two or three yuan. Even if it fulfilled the old man's wish, he shouldn't have taken it out.

He was trying to get me his things. He was even stingy with money for something that only cost a few dollars.

Ugh! What would I do with this piece of junk? He didn't touch the other seven, no matter how much I told him I didn't want them.

But who knows, maybe one day we'll have to squeeze that money out of him too.

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