The next day, the family got up very early.
Mrs. Zhuang yawned and moved closer; she insisted on coming along today.
The group ate breakfast at a state-run breakfast shop at the street corner, and then walked to the Forbidden City.
Tickets to the Forbidden City were cheap back then, only one cent per person. Since Dandan and Qingqing were young, they didn't need to buy tickets.
Once inside the Forbidden City, Lu Fangfang felt like she couldn't take it all in.
It's not like in later times. Many precious cultural relics are just laid out naked for you to see. She felt like she could steal a few of them.
It seems that several thefts of cultural relics from the Forbidden City actually occurred in later generations.
The methods used to steal were also very simple.
She shook her head and continued taking pictures with her camera.
After visiting the Forbidden City all morning, around noon, Zhuang Mingcheng invited everyone to Quanjude to eat Peking duck.
Eight yuan a duck is incredibly expensive these days.
However, Lu Fangfang thought the roast duck tasted alright, much better than the ones from later generations.
After lunch, everyone went to the Cultural Palace in Zhongshan Park, where the tickets were even cheaper, costing only five cents per person.
They didn't return home until it was getting dark.
After a day of walking, Lu Fangfang and Zhuang Mingcheng, carrying their two children, didn't feel tired at all.
Zhuang's mother was in a terrible situation; the next day, she refused to go with them no matter what.
Lu Fangfang was secretly pleased; it was much quieter without Zhuang's mother.
Over the next few days, Zhuang Mingcheng took his wife and children to the Summer Palace, the Temple of Heaven, Beihai Park, Prince Gong's Mansion, Shichahai, and various traditional hutongs, exploring and eating their way through Beijing.
Lu Fangfang had used up all the film she bought, so she had to go to the department store to buy some more.
After so many days, the two children are exhausted.
Let them stay home and keep the old man company while he rests.
That morning, Lu Fangfang asked Zhuang Mingcheng to take her to the nearest trust store.
A trust shop is a place where secondhand goods are sold and bought on consignment.
Lu Fangfang stood in front of the Dongdan Trust Store, quite shocked.
She thought the trust store was just a small shop, but she didn't expect the storefront to be more than ten meters long, with several tricycles and handcarts parked in front of the store, which looked like they were for delivering goods.
It seems that the secondhand market is quite booming these days.
"Mingcheng, do a lot of people come here to buy things?"
"Yes, there are quite a lot. This used to be a pawnshop, but after the public-private partnership, it was converted into a trust shop. Many people who are short of tickets come here to browse and see if they can buy the scarce items."
As Zhuang Mingcheng spoke, he led his wife into the store.
Lifting the thick curtain, Lu Fangfang was surprised to see two glass counters displaying various watches and cameras.
These are all in high demand items; I never expected to find so many in the trust store.
She leaned closer to take a curious look at the price, then suddenly froze on the spot.
This price... is really expensive.
That watch in Shanghai, which looks 90% new, is priced at 120 yuan, almost the price of a new watch. It's really not cheap.
Lu Fangfang thought about it and understood.
You don't need a receipt to buy secondhand goods here, just money, so it's normal for them to be a bit more expensive.
If this were taken to a place where supplies are scarce, people would fight over it even if it were sold as a new product.
However, she only thought about it; she couldn't do anything speculative or profiteering.
After browsing in the trust store for a while, Lu Fangfang discovered that the variety of secondhand items was quite impressive, including secondhand clothes and mattresses.
After looking around for a while, Lu Fangfang followed her husband to the place that sells secondhand furniture.
A large stack of old tables and chairs were haphazardly placed together.
Lu Fangfang stepped forward and took a look, and found that they were all labeled as mahogany furniture.
The prices aren't too expensive either; a usable square table, regardless of style, costs eight yuan, and a chair costs five yuan.
"Comrade, feel free to pick any of these furniture pieces; they're all at this price?"
After looking at it for a while, Lu Fangfang asked the sales clerk out of curiosity.
"Yes, these are all items we collect and sell in our shop. The ones over there are consigned by individuals, and the prices are all written on them. Comrade, if you want to buy, a pair of chairs and a square table will only cost sixteen yuan."
Lu Fangfang paused for a moment, then turned to look at the old furniture.
Among this pile of old furniture, she spotted several pairs of antique official's hat chairs, clearly quite old, yet they were so cheap...
That's not even enough to cover the cost of the timber and labor, is it?
The sales clerk glanced at Lu Fangfang and Zhuang Mingcheng, then smiled and said:
"Comrades, if you think they're too old-fashioned, we also have some nearly new electroplated folding chairs. The seller is in a hurry to sell them, and they're only eighteen yuan, which is almost half the price of a new one."
Lu Fangfang turned around and saw the salesperson carrying a red leather folding chair.
She found it somewhat familiar; it looked like the kind of red leather folding chairs that every household in Hong Kong movies from the 80s and 90s had.
"This chair costs eighteen?"
"Yes, I can tell you've only been married a short time. This electroplated folding chair would be so festive in your home. If you really want it, I'll contact the seller and we can talk about it..."
Lu Fangfang quickly waved her hand.
She's gone mad. Instead of buying antique furniture, she buys industrial products from this era, not to mention they're so expensive.
It seems that old furniture from this era is really not popular, and not many people have the awareness to collect it. If you sell your old furniture and buy an electroplated folding chair, you will regret it to death in twenty or thirty years.
She couldn't help but look again, then shook her head and called her husband to pick out the old furniture.
Zhuang Mingcheng has used furniture made of huanghuali wood since he was a child, and he is very familiar with this type of wood.
In no time, he picked out several pairs of huanghuali official hat chairs and grand master chairs, as well as several square tables.
In previous years, due to the Great Leap Forward's steel production campaign, many mature rosewood trees in Hainan were burned, which is why the price of rosewood has increased slightly; otherwise, it would be even cheaper.
"Fangfang, five pairs of chairs and five square tables, that'll be exactly eighty yuan. Is that enough?"
Lu Fangfang touched her thick pockets and quickly shook her head, "Mingcheng, pick as many as you want. As long as you see something good, we'll buy it all. Even if it's missing an arm or a leg, it's fine."
The day before yesterday, she asked the old man, "In Beijing at this time, most houses were allocated by work units. They couldn't be bought or sold, and there were no people selling them."
With her plan to buy a courtyard house shattered, she decided to exchange all the money she had brought for valuable items.
These huanghuali furniture pieces can increase in value many times over in less than twenty years. For the sake of Dandan and Qingqing, we can't miss out.
"Oh, right, I also saw some wooden beds over there. See if they're made of rosewood. Let's buy a few."
Zhuang Mingcheng smiled helplessly.
My wife has made a lot of money drawing comic books in the past two years, and it looks like she's going to spend it all today.
He rolled up his sleeves and continued picking at the baskets as his wife had instructed.
The sales clerk next to them looked quite surprised.
Are these two here specifically to collect junk?
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