"Madam, how many families live in this courtyard?"

The woman put down the child in her arms, walked into a room, and quickly brought out a bowl of water and handed it to Chu Tian, ​​"Six households, four in the front yard, and two in the four rooms at the back."

Chu Tian took the water and drank two sips, blinking and saying, "Did you live so much before?"

The woman laughed. "How is that possible? This is the courtyard of the landlord Zhu's house, a courtyard specially reserved for his concubine to live in!"

Chu Tian was surprised, "Concubine? Shouldn't they live together?"

The woman nodded. "Yes, Landlord Zhu has too many concubines, four or five in total. But because the mistress has a bad temper, she was afraid that living together would cause a lot of trouble, so she made all the concubines live in the outer courtyard. It is said that those who live in this courtyard are the most favored, so the courtyard is also the best."

He paused and continued, "The houses on our street and half of the street next door were all his in the past..."

“···”

Chu Tian thought again, what kind of luck did he have?

The woman was stunned for a moment, then looked at Chu Tian in confusion, "Brother, why are you asking this?"

Chu Tian thought about it and said with a smile, "I'm just curious."

The woman breathed a sigh of relief. "That's not bad. I thought you were a concubine or a relative of the landlord Zhu..."

Chu Tian was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter, "How is that possible? If I were a relative of any of them, how could I still be fine now?"

The woman smiled and said, "That's true!"

Chu Tian finished drinking the water in the bowl and handed the empty bowl to the woman. He then took out two White Rabbit milk candies from his pocket and handed them to the child who had been sucking his fingers and staring at him curiously, and said with a smile.

"For you to eat..."

The child's eyes lit up, but he still didn't dare to go forward to take it. Instead, he looked back at the woman hesitantly.

The woman was stunned for a moment, then quickly said, "Oh, how can this be? No, no, it's just a glass of water, why are you being so polite?"

Chu Tian smiled and said, "It's okay, give it to the child! My little girl is about the same age as him!"

Seeing Chu Tian's sincerity in giving, the woman said to the child, "Uncle gives this to you, so just accept it."

Upon hearing this, the child carefully grabbed the candy from Chu Tian's hand and called out sweetly, "Thank you, Susu..."

"Be good, eat."

When Chu Tian heard the unclear pronunciation of his Shusu, he thought of his children at home and smiled more gently.

"By the way, why aren't those families here?"

Seeing that her grandson had already taken the candy into his hand, the woman stopped being polite and began to answer the question he asked.

"Ah, the six families living in this courtyard are all workers in the city's garment factory. They all go to work at this time."

"and you?"

The woman smiled and said, "I came from the country to take care of my son and his wife's children."

Chu Tian nodded in understanding, "Then you are really a good mother-in-law."

The woman sighed, "There's nothing I can do. My son and daughter-in-law both have jobs, and they don't want to let the child live with me in the countryside, so they have no choice but to let me take care of him here. I can go back once he starts elementary school."

After chatting for a while, when the woman had completely let down her guard against him, Chu Tiancai finally spoke out his purpose.

"Auntie, are those two flower pots at the gate yours?"

The woman looked at the two pots of green onions at the gate and nodded in confusion, "Yeah, what's wrong?"

Chu Tian looked embarrassed when he heard this. "I think the flowers painted on it are nice. My wife likes flowers and birds. Look, can you sell me those two flower pots?"

The woman was stunned, then slapped her thigh and laughed, "Oh, that one is beautiful? It only has two flowers painted on it, what's so good about it? I think the enamel basin sold by the supply and marketing cooperative is better looking..."

Chu Tian nodded, "The enamel basin is better looking, but this one looks pretty good too..."

"What do you think? How much can you sell it to me?"

The woman waved her hand and said generously, "It doesn't matter whether it's for sale or not. If you like it, just take it away!"

"Those two pots were originally from the yard. I had been keeping them in the house until I realized they were useless, so I took them out and planted some green onions..."

“·····”

Chu Tian thought to himself, what a waste of natural resources! He hadn't entered the yard the whole time because he was observing these two flower pots. When no one was around, he secretly looked at the bottom and saw a seal clearly stamped with the Kangxi era seal. If they were preserved for decades, they would be worth a fortune...

In fact, Chu Tian did not expect that he would encounter antiques from the Kangxi era in Sichuan. He thought that these porcelains could only be found in Beijing.

Although the woman in front of him didn't know the goods, he was embarrassed to take advantage of her because she didn't know the goods. That would be too conscienceless, so he still persuaded her, "No, Madam, you should take some money, otherwise I would be embarrassed to ask..."

"If you don't want money, I can exchange it for something else!"

The woman looked Chu Tian up and down, wondering if he was stupid. It was just two pots of shallots, not worth much.

After thinking for a moment, the woman thought it would be a waste to refuse it. Anyway, she said she gave it to him and it was he who didn't want it. Turning around and looking at her grandson eating the candy sweetly, she spoke tentatively.

"Then, what about five candies in exchange for one?"

Chu Tian was confused, "What?"

Seeing Chu Tian's reaction, the woman thought he thought it was too expensive, so she smiled embarrassedly and said, "I see my grandson really likes the candy you gave him, so..."

Before he finished speaking, Chu Tian immediately took out ten candies and put them on the stone table in front of him.

"I'll change!"

Now it was the woman's turn to be surprised. Then she reacted, slapped her thigh, stood up and said in surprise, "Oh, then I'll go get you the flower pot and the green onions inside, too?"

Chu Tian waved his hands quickly, "Auntie, I don't want the shallots, and I don't want the soil inside..."

The woman didn't take it seriously. Instead, she went outside and quickly brought the flower pots back from the yard. She quickly pulled out the green onions inside and poured out the soil. After thinking for a while, she went to the well to fetch some water and cleaned the two flower pots.

Chu Tian looked at the flowerpot in front of him, no, it should be called a flowerpot, it should be two small jars. He didn't know what it was used for, but looking at the lifelike peonies on it, Chu Tian liked it very much. He thought that even if it was not a real ceramic from the Kangxi era, it was worth it in exchange for ten milk candies!

Seeing Chu Tian couldn't let go of it, the woman thought for a moment and asked tentatively, "Little brother, I have some bowls and plates with flowers like this at home. Do you want some?"

Chu Tian's eyes lit up and he nodded repeatedly, "I want it, I want it. Besides the bowls and plates, I also want things like vases..."

“It’s OK if it doesn’t have flower or bird patterns…”

"But it would be best if it were the things from the landlord Zhu's house that you mentioned before..."