Erhu, fuming, hugged the half-burnt piece of wood and muttered, "They can't bear to part with all that rotten firewood outside, yet they're always thinking about burning my rosewood..."

The old man called out to Erhu from across the fence, "Erhu, come here, come here~"

Erhu muttered to himself as he walked towards the old man.

As they got closer, Li Xiangdong heard him say, "When I was taking apart the furniture, the old woman from that house said, 'This is rosewood, it's worth a fortune, you can't burn it...'"

This Erhu is probably a bit silly!

Erhu twitched his nose. "Smells delicious! A meatball bun!"

The old man laughed heartily and handed him a steamed bun. "Here, have some. You have such a keen sense of smell; you can tell what kind of filling it is just by smelling it!"

Erhu took the bun with one hand and finished it in a few bites. "Is there any more?"

The old man hid the steamed buns behind his back, saying, "They're all gone!"

Just kidding, I have my little grandchildren waiting for me to have a treat!

"Erhu, this young man wants to buy purple and yellow furniture. Don't you have some? Once you sell them, you can buy a whole steamer of meatball buns with the money!"

The large steamer basket used for steaming buns and dumplings is 1.5 meters in diameter!

Erhu imagined hundreds of meatball soup dumplings and swallowed hard. "How much are you offering? That old woman said this wood is worth a fortune!"

Li Xiangdong thought that although he was in his twenties, he spoke like a child. Could someone like that really rob someone else's house?

The old man noticed Li Xiangdong's confusion and leaned close to his ear to say, "Erhu used to be fine, but he was injured in the head a few years ago. Now he talks and acts a bit like a child, and he's a bit stubborn."

He pointed to his head as he spoke.

No wonder!

Li Xiangdong smiled at Erhu and said, "Brother Erhu, can I see the wooden stick in your hand?"

Erhu gave him a wary look. "Come here and take a look."

That's really stubborn!

Erhu clung to the piece of wood and refused to let go, so Li Xiangdong had no choice but to go over and take a look.

The piece of sandalwood was a deep purplish-black color with a dense texture. The grain on the entire board was delicate and vivid, as fine as cow's hair, with endless variations. Each pore (the duct of the wood) contained sparkling gold flecks, resembling a sky full of stars under the morning sunlight.

Li Xiangdong tapped the wooden board with his middle finger, producing a clear and melodious sound, like the clash of metal and stone.

"Brother Erhu, weigh it for me?" Li Xiangdong asked tentatively.

Erhu looked at him for a while, then hesitantly handed him the piece of wood he was carrying.

As soon as Li Xiangdong picked up the wood, he felt its weight; this piece of rosewood was very dense.

Soon, Li Xiangdong returned the wood to Erhu.

"Brother Erhu, I want to buy this piece of wood from you. Do you have any other pieces? You can sell them all to me."

Li Xiangdong felt it was almost certainly true; in this day and age, no one has realized how rare sandalwood is, so the chances of finding a genuine piece are still quite high.

After hearing Li Xiangdong's words, Erhu hesitated a bit, "You're going to buy them all? How much are you going to pay? The old lady said they're very valuable..."

The old man sighed and told Li Xiangdong, "Erhu is a pitiful kid. He used to be a very spirited young man, but later he followed a bunch of thugs and ransacked houses everywhere. He injured his brain in a fight. They took all the valuables and left him with a pile of wood, telling him that it was all very valuable."

“He just remembered this, and he treated the wood like a treasure every day. At first, his mother thought it could be sold for money, but in the past year or two, no one has bought it.”

Li Xiangdong thought to himself, those people really weren't lying to him; this wood was indeed very valuable.

As the group was talking, Erhu's mother came out carrying a fire poker. "Erhu, aren't you coming in to eat?"

"Hey, Uncle Qin! What are these three doing here?"

Erhu's mother had a particularly loud voice, and her big eyes looked Li Xiangdong and the other two up and down.

"Erhu's mom, this young man wants to buy your scrap wood. Name your price!"

Grandpa Qin asked Erhu's mother directly, "Erhu is a bit simple-minded and can't make decisions at home."

Erhu's mother's eyes darted around, and a smile crept across her lips. "Uncle Qin, those aren't just pieces of wood. My Erhu said they're... bullets! Worth a fortune!"

This middle-aged woman in her forties possesses her own kind of wisdom honed in the everyday world.

Li Xiangdong was familiar with this tactic: ask for an exorbitant price, then negotiate on the spot!

Before Li Xiangdong could even speak, Grandpa Qin objected, "Erhu's mom, what kind of bullets are these! If they were really valuable, would you be using them to start a fire? The kid genuinely wants to buy them, so don't try to fool him!"

"If you manage to swindle the buyer away, you won't get a single penny! You can keep the wood and keep burning it!"

Grandpa Qin spoke without any politeness, and his barrage of words made Erhu's mother's face turn awkward.

Erhu's mother quickly adjusted her expression, "Oh dear, Uncle Qin, what are you saying! We've been neighbors for so many years, don't you know what kind of person I am?"

Grandpa Qin snorted, "Give me a fair price. Once it's sold, vacate the house so your Da Hu can find a wife!"

Li Xiangdong asked, "Auntie, how much of this kind of wood do you have left? Let me take a look!"

Erhu's mother readily led them into the house. She couldn't let such a sucker get away.

These are three small brick houses. Upon entering, there are two stoves on the east and west sides, an eight-immortal table in the middle, and several low stools on the sides.

A young man who looked similar to Erhu was sitting at the table drinking porridge. When he saw his mother leading several men in, he frowned and asked, "What are you doing here?"

Erhu's mother beamed with joy, "Dahuzi, they're here to buy that pile of wood! The money from it will be just enough for you to renovate your house and get married!"

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