Lin Dalang was about to go berserk, but he remembered what his father said the day before when he finally bought some paper: "The Xuan shop is not a simple one. It took over three shops at once. The shop manager in Beijing said that the owner lives in the Zhongwu Marquis's mansion... There must be someone powerful behind him."
Lin Dalang was enduring so hard that the corners of his mouth twitched.
Fang Shusheng wanted to laugh secretly, but he didn't dare to.
Lin Dalang caught sight of Fang Sheng and immediately took out his anger on Fang Shusheng: "Aren't we going to the second floor? Can we go there? We've been standing here for so long and we haven't seen him go up! Don't brag too much or you'll end up blowing your own trumpet!"
As soon as the words came out, the mahogany door at the outer staircase creaked open. The copper joints were not oiled, as if this sound was needed to highlight the simplicity and maturity.
A young lady in a dark peach satin skirt came downstairs with a smile on her face, and bowed to greet them: "Gentlemen, please follow me up this ladder. My last name is Zhong, and you can call me Madam Zhong. I am the person in charge of your 'Ascending to the Heaven' today."
The ladder to the second floor is called the ladder to the clouds, and the mysterious second floor is called the heaven.
The edges of the stairs are inlaid with gold and jade, and the tall vermilion lacquered pillars are painted with beautiful auspicious clouds and various patterns. All the wood exudes a heavy atmosphere, and even the tiles built into the walls seem to have heavier weight.
The downstairs already looks expensive.
But the way leading to the second floor, just this staircase, gives people the illusion that gold coins will explode if they step on it.
There is a saying that goes, there is only life and death without any class. Everyone will die, this is beyond doubt and everyone is treated equally. Everything else, including food, clothing, transportation, firewood, rice, oil, salt and tea, are clearly divided and strictly hierarchical.
The classmates looked at each other - they were all of a group that was neither high nor low, not poor, but definitely not prominent. Even the most prominent Lin Dalang, who was born into a noble family, was just an idle person with a title but no official position...
Downstairs, they still had some confidence to shop around, but they couldn’t buy much.
On the second floor, they...I'm afraid they won't even look at it...
Everyone followed behind him consciously, leaving the sharp corner position for Fang Shusheng.
At this moment, Fang Shusheng's feelings for "Xuan" broke through the simplicity of buyer and seller, broke through the unfamiliarity of a new arrival, broke through the straightforwardness of the transaction, and reached a peak: he didn't know how to say it, but he really felt grateful to "Xuan" from the bottom of his heart.
It's quite strange.
Obviously, he was the one who paid, but he really wanted to kowtow to "Xuan" now.
Fang Shusheng walked in the front.
At the end of the stairs, a gilded embroidered screen of the Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea stands in front of the stairs.
There were three or two shadowy figures behind the screen. Their faces and shapes could not be seen clearly, but for some reason they gave off a sense of relaxation.
Everyone stopped in front of the screen. Madam Zhong, the highest-ranking steward mentioned by Steward Qi, said with a smile: "...At this moment, there is a customer from Shangchongtian tasting wine. You all are so many and young and promising. It is a great honor for Xuan to meet you gentlemen today."
Aunt Zhong paused and continued with a smile: "The first floor is spacious, but the upper floor is a little cramped, and the echo is loud. Please come and taste the paper." Aunt Zhong's eyes swept across Lin Dalang's face, and her smile did not change: "If you really have a profound understanding and must talk about it, please splash ink and write in the hall and express your feelings on paper! If you are not satisfied with expressing your feelings with pen and ink, please go to the empty space and show your power."
He almost pointed at Lin Dalang's nose and yelled, "You are uncivilized! You are making trouble! You are talking loudly in public! I give you a notebook to clean up your words! If you can't finish nagging me like this, then I'm sorry! Go to the open space and go crazy by yourself!"
Lin Dalang caught Aunt Zhong's gaze and felt so angry that his back teeth were itching.
The upper heaven is indeed elegant and quiet.
It was still the curious classmate who poked his head out to ask, but his voice was much softer: "Who is the guest inside...?"
Aunt Zhong smiled and folded her hands on her stomach, looking like a boss. "Xuan doesn't know the origins of customers. Once you walk through this door, I will treat you all the same. We are all honored guests, regardless of your status."
Then what are you doing? It is well known that what businessmen say and do are basically double standards. Even if they check their mouths and hands for a whole day, they still can't make up their minds!
The classmate swallowed the words.
About twenty young scholars followed Aunt Zhong in an orderly manner.
In stark contrast to what Aunt Zhong said about being "cramped and narrow", the space on the second floor is the sum of the three courtyards downstairs, namely "Feng", "Ya" and "Song" - the branch courtyards on the first floor are all connected on the second floor and divided into several areas by screens, water features, flower rooms and museum shelves, and the ceiling is very high, more than twice that of an ordinary house.
The first thing that catches your eye is a very wide and large wall covered with colored glaze.
There's just a piece of paper on the wall!
This piece of paper is extremely wide, as long as a dozen strong men stretching their arms and holding hands at the same time, and as high as the floor to the roof beams. There are paintings hidden in the interlayer of the paper, with dozens of lifelike cranes flying with wings spread, or standing on the beams, shops, and fields...
"The crane is coming to Wei!" Someone has heard: "It was last year's tribute! It was also the national gift during the negotiations between Wei and Japan!"
Aunt Zhong smiled and nodded, "Yes, this young man is very knowledgeable. I have reported to the Director of Rites that there is a small-sized rice paper version of 'Crane Over Dawei' in Shangchongtian. If you are interested, you can take it home, but you need to report your name to the Director of Rites for record."
Can I buy a smaller version of the tribute?
ah!
I want it so much!
The classmates' eyes lit up, but they didn't dare to ask the price!
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