With the mentality of not caring about the loss, Gao Mingcheng decided to destroy the umbrella when he returned. He wanted to see if there was anything hidden under such a heavy umbrella.

However, the main focus now is to collect old things, so Gao Mingcheng put the umbrella under his feet and ignored it for the time being.

For the next three days, he and Wang Xun walked the streets of Tongzhou, using the excuse of collecting waste to open up the situation, and then asking the scrap sellers if they were willing to sell their old items.

However, as early as the 1980s, when the domestic economy began to improve, some far-sighted cultural relics dealers had come to Tongzhou again and again.

Now it is the 1990s, and people either no longer have the old stuff, or they keep it to themselves and won’t sell it easily.

Therefore, Gao Mingcheng and Wang Xun stayed here for three days and did not find any big bargains, but they still gained something. The purchase price was not low, but after bringing them back to the capital, as long as they found the right buyer, they could still double the money.

Wang Xun bought a rosewood armchair, a pair of teak boxes, and a Ge kiln plate.

Gao Mingcheng had money in his pocket, but he didn't buy big things, so he didn't want Huanghuali furniture.

He and Wang Xun came across a flea market selling antiques here, so they bought a Tianhuang stone seal, several ink sticks, and several paintings by modern painters.

These paintings are not very expensive nowadays, but as antique auctions become legal and compliant, their prices will go up.

Gao Mingcheng decided to collect it for about ten years and then sell it based on the situation.

He bought small items that were easy to carry, and most of them he was not planning to sell right away.

Three days later, he and Wang Xun returned to the scrap yard in the evening.

Because they had called the scrap yard before leaving, there was a steaming hot meal waiting for them when they returned home.

Deng Wanwan was more attentive and brought them a basin of hot water and a towel so that they could wash their faces.

He was exhausted from the journey and his face was indeed covered with dust.

So the two of them washed their faces one after another, and then sat down to eat. After they were full, they told their family members about what they had seen and heard along the way.

But what Wang Xun was most concerned about was the old umbrella that Gao Mingcheng originally bought.

"Ming Cheng, now that we're all home, how are you going to open that umbrella? Are you going to burn it or chop it open with an axe?"

Before Gao Mingcheng could speak, Wang Xun said, "It's not safe to burn it with fire, right? What if there is something precious hidden inside?"

Gao Mingcheng already had an idea, and said to Wang Xun: "Go get an axe, I'm going to chop the umbrella handle!"

Although it was night, the lights in the room were on, so there was plenty of light. After Wang Xun brought the axe, Gao Mingcheng propped the old umbrella on the ground, then supported it with one hand and swung the axe with the other.

He had good eyesight and controlled the force of the axe very well, so the axe blade only split a few inches.

The several-inch cracks were all made of solid wood and were not hollow, which made Wang Xun feel that it was as expected.

He looked at the umbrella from front to back many times. Although the handle was thick, it was a whole piece and had no hidden mechanisms or secret boxes.

In Wang Xun's opinion, this umbrella has no artistic value and is inconvenient to use. Its only use may be to be used as firewood. After all, it is made of sufficient materials and can be used to start a fire.

After one blow of the axe, there was no result, but Gao Mingcheng was not discouraged.

He continued to chop, this time with a little more force, and a long crack immediately appeared on the umbrella handle.

With these two cuts, there was no need for the axe anymore. Gao Mingcheng put down the axe and pried it open with his hands. When he completely pried it open, the true appearance of the umbrella handle was completely exposed to everyone.

"There's something inside!" Deng Wanwan shouted in surprise. Even the two children stopped watching TV and stood by to watch. When they saw that the umbrella handle was really hollow and there was something hidden inside, everyone's breathing became heavy.

Deng Zhiyong and his wife didn't know anything about antiques, but they were very excited at this moment because they felt that Gao Mingcheng had made a profit.

"Is it cotton?" Wang Xun picked up a piece of white silk-like substance and recognized that it was ordinary cotton.

Gao Mingcheng also saw the exposed cotton, then reached out and dug into the cotton ball, and his fingertips immediately felt something hard wrapped inside.

After all the cotton was removed, the true appearance of the contents was exposed to everyone.

It was a piece of jade the size of a thumb!

Gao Mingcheng continued to work, searching for the wrapped objects from other cotton balls, and finally found a total of eighteen pieces of jade.

Each piece of jade is only the size of a thumb, but the quality of these jades is very good, including ice type, glass type, glutinous type, and one piece is Huanglong jade.

It is impossible to make large jade pieces of this size, but it can be used to make gem ring faces, necklaces and earrings.

As long as the quality of the jade is good, it can be sold at a high price even if it is not big.

These eighteen pieces of jade are all rare fine products.

Wang Xun has some research on antiques, including ancient jades. However, he cannot get his hands on those ancient jades that have been passed down in an orderly manner. The ones he can get his hands on are of average quality.

At this time, he was studying the jade and found that although these jades were not large in size, they had all been polished, so each piece of jade looked watery.

Gao Mingcheng found a flashlight and shone it on the jadeite. He discovered that the inside of the jade was very clean, without any cloud patterns or cracks. It seems that although these jadeites are small in size, they are all the best of the best!

Wang Xun was amazed as he looked at the jadeite, but what amazed him most was the umbrella handle that contained the gem.

He took the cracked umbrella handle and studied it carefully again.

The umbrella handle is clearly hollow, but from the outside, there is no sign of this at all!

Gao Mingcheng noticed Wang Xun's confusion and said with a smile: "Some containers have mechanisms that can be opened and closed, which makes it convenient to take things out. But some containers have mechanisms that cannot be opened and closed. If you want to get the things inside, the only way is to destroy the container."

"These things were stuffed in from the tip of the umbrella, so there is no problem from the handle. You can see traces of charcoal inside. I guess they used a red-hot iron rod to burn the middle of the umbrella handle little by little, and then poured out the dust. After it was completely burned out, they stuffed it with cotton and jade."

Cotton is worthless, it is only used for wrapping.

During the Qing Dynasty, merchants from Tengyue Prefecture usually brought two kinds of goods to Beijing: one was naturally jewelry, and the other was cotton.

They wrapped the raw jade in cotton bags and then transported it by mules and horses, traveling thousands of miles to the capital to sell it.

This ordinary umbrella contains a tiny gem, probably to protect the umbrella from being robbed by thieves along the way. Thieves usually rob money and goods, but they may not care about this seemingly ordinary umbrella.

As long as the merchant can save his own life, he can rely on the things hidden in the umbrella to turn things around again.

Of course, these actually all come from related stories that Gao Mingcheng had read in his previous life. This is the first time he has actually encountered them.

"Ming Cheng, you are so lucky. There is really a treasure hidden in here!" Wang Xun was very envious of this, but he was not jealous.

He was the first one to see this umbrella, and he thought there couldn't be anything inside it, so he gave it to Gao Mingcheng. Gao Mingcheng bought it and then discovered a treasure in it. That was all Gao Mingcheng's vision and luck.

Gao Mingcheng also felt that he was lucky.

People nowadays are getting smarter. The handle of this umbrella is very thick and heavy, so the person who got it must have been worried. However, since the handle is integrated, there is no flaw and there is no reaction after checking with a metal detector. But the owner of the umbrella was reluctant to use it as firewood, so he wanted to try to sell it for a good price.

For the seller, selling an old umbrella for twenty yuan is indeed not a low price.

But for the buyer Gao Mingcheng, he made a profit of tens of thousands of times with an initial investment of twenty yuan!

Wang Xun said, "Ming Cheng, although these jades have been polished, they have not been carved, so it is difficult to tell whether they are ancient jade or new jade. However, jade is not divided into ancient and new, as long as it is well-grown, it is valuable. Do you plan to keep these jades for yourself or sell them?"

What Wang Xun said was not particularly correct. Some ancient jades with an orderly inheritance, even if they are not of good quality or well carved, are still national treasures and have a role in historical research.

But ordinary ancient jade is indeed worthless, just like the ancient porcelain from the Tang and Song dynasties, which are produced by folk kilns, are also worthless.

Gao Mingcheng said: "Keep it for now, we don't need the money for anything for now."

Gao Mingcheng said this in a tone that sounded like "I don't like money, money is useless." This made everyone smile.

Although he said so, Gao Mingcheng had a plan in mind. He planned to take out a few pieces of jade, ask someone to make a set of jewelry, and then give it to many beauties.

All women love beauty, and Xuanyue is no exception. To be honest, he has never specially given Xuanyue jewelry to her.

So Gao Mingcheng decided to give Xuanyuemei a gold necklace and a gold bracelet when he returned this time!

As for rings, he didn't like to wear them, and neither did many beauties, saying that they got in the way and made it difficult to work.

After returning from Tongzhou, the weather was nice and the next few days were good. The temperature also rose. When it was hot at noon, Gao Mingcheng could just wear a short-sleeved shirt, and others only needed to wear a long-sleeved shirt.

So we decided to take advantage of the beautiful spring weather and go on a trip as a family!

As an ancient capital, there are many famous places in the capital. Apart from other places, the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square and the Great Wall are places you must visit!

The things Wang Xun bought in Tongzhou also allowed him to make a small profit, so he was in a good mood. The scrap yard hired people to do the work, and as the boss, he could do it or not. So for the next few days, he served as the host and brought his family and Gao Mingcheng to have a great time.

It was rare for Gao Mingcheng to go out for fun. He looked at the capital in the 1990s and thought about the capital in the future, and his mood was particularly excited.

Such a big change was created by the Chinese people together!

As the country's strength grows, people's lives will get better and better, and everything will move towards a better future!

Now Gao Mingcheng has money in his pocket and some treasures, but he has no plans to buy a courtyard house.

With today's prices, you can buy an old and dilapidated courtyard house for 500,000 yuan. After spending a lot of money to renovate it, it looks nice, but it is actually not comfortable to live in.

There is really no point in spending money on a property that you cannot live in.

After owning the small villa, he is no longer so interested in real estate in the capital. Next, he plans to wait for better commercial housing to be launched and then buy two more. Commercial housing is suitable whether for self-use or rental.

Gao Mingcheng stayed in the capital for another ten days and finally visited all the scenic spots.

At the end of April, the weather was getting better and better, and people in the city had already put on their spring clothes. The clothing stores and restaurants in the capital were doing a booming business.

Gao Mingcheng also ate KFC here.

In later generations, KFC is just an ordinary foreign fast food, but now, KFC is synonymous with rich people!

Because KFC at that time was really expensive!

Inviting people to eat at KFC is really an honor!

There are even trendy people holding their weddings at KFC!

Gao Mingcheng looked at the people queuing up in front of KFC and remembered that the 1990s was a period of development for the catering industry. He couldn't help but wonder whether he should open a restaurant.

If you want to open a restaurant, should you do it in your own county or go to a big city?

As soon as the thought came to his mind, Gao Mingcheng stopped thinking about it further, because... he had never worked in a restaurant in his two lives. Even though he knew that the catering industry was developing well throughout the 1990s, he did not have superb cooking skills and did not understand the catering industry. Even if he participated in it, he might not be able to make a lot of money!

Forget it, just be content with a small fortune.

He should just go home and hug his wife and children!

With Wang Xun and Deng Wanwan seeing him off, Gao Mingcheng, carrying his luggage and the ticket he had queued for three hours to buy, boarded the train to the provincial capital.

After entering the carriage, Gao Mingcheng quickly found his bed. This time he was lucky and bought the lower berth!

As the train rumbled by, the scenery outside the window slowly receded, and the ancient capital city and its fashionable people gradually disappeared from Gao Mingcheng's sight.

After a train ride of more than forty hours, Gao Mingcheng got off with the crowd and bought a ticket back to the county town. After waiting, getting on the train and driving, Gao Mingcheng arrived at the county town on the afternoon of May 1st!

The train station in the county town is very small. After getting off the train, you can exit the station very quickly. As soon as you exit the station, Gao Mingcheng sees Gao Mingli sitting on his tractor waiting for you!

When he saw Gao Mingcheng, Gao Mingli immediately waved to his second brother and said loudly: "Second brother, I'm here!"

Before Gao Mingcheng set off, he had already called home. After arriving in the provincial capital and buying a ticket, he called home again.

He has been away from home for so long, not only does he miss his wife and children, but his wife and children also miss him. Therefore, making the time of return home clear can also make his family feel more at ease.

But Gao Mingcheng didn't expect Gao Mingli to come to pick him up.

Gao Mingcheng strode towards the tractor and asked, "Mingli, aren't you going to work today?"

Gao Mingli smiled and said, "Second brother, today is Labor Day!"

Gao Mingcheng was stunned for a moment, then he remembered that Labor Day was a holiday. He was so confused on the bus that he even forgot the date. (End of this chapter)