Fu Wan had just taken a sip of tea when she heard footsteps coming from the back door.
She quickly stood up and went to greet him, "Third Master Ning, it's been a long time. How are you doing?"
"Haha, it's not a matter of good or bad, but at least you won't die!"
Master Ning chuckled in response. Although he was blind, he could determine Fu Wan's location by sound.
"How's Comrade Xiao Fu doing lately? It sounds like you've brought a new friend over?"
"Haha, it's my cousin and my friend."
After Fu Wan finished speaking, Ye Lin and Fang Min greeted Third Master Ning in unison.
Master Ning waved for them to sit down, a rare smile appearing on his face.
“That’s great. It’s rare to have so many people in my courtyard. Afu, go and order a table of food. Have Comrade Xiao Fu and the others stay for lunch.”
Qin Fu responded and turned to give instructions to the others. Third Master Ning was straightforward, and soon after sitting down, he looked at Fu Wan with great interest.
"I heard from Afu that Comrade Xiao Fu brought me a gift. What's it?"
"Could it be that you've found ambergris again?"
Fu Wan was also helpless upon hearing this. This Third Master Ning really had a deep love for ambergris.
"Since we didn't find any ambergris, we've just brought some local specialties from home. We hope Third Master won't mind!"
Master Ning looked regretful, but still shook his head with a smile, "I don't mind, how could I mind?"
Back when I was sent down to the countryside, local specialties were like gold nuggets. It was then that I truly appreciated how delicious cornbread and sweet potato rice were.
"Sweet potato rice? Where were you sent down to back then?"
Fu Wan was curious, and Fu Ming and the others also became interested.
Several elderly people who had been sent down to the countryside also came to Fujia Village back then, but Fu Wan and Fu Ming were not even ten years old at that time, so they don't remember them very well now.
I only remember that they didn't interact much with the villagers. Although the old village chief wouldn't make things difficult for people, he still had to follow orders and make those who had been sent down go to the ancestral hall to be criticized and denounced every week.
At that time, Fu Wan and Fu Ming did not understand why this happened. Later, a typhoon hit, and the houses where those people lived collapsed. Two elderly people were hit by mud bricks and were left behind in Fu Family Village forever.
The others went back home after being exonerated. They even came back a few years ago, bringing two bottles of good wine for the old village chief and Grandpa Fu.
In fact, in those days, those who were sent down to Fujia Village were considered lucky. Many others who were sent down to other villages were not only bullied by the villagers, but also went hungry. After several years of hardship, they were no longer able to function properly.
They didn't even live to see their names cleared; they were reduced to small mounds of earth and could never return to their hometowns.
Fu Wan still remembers that back then, some children in the village would imitate those from other villages, chasing after the old people, throwing stones, and shouting "stinking intellectuals."
Unfortunately, Grandpa Fu saw them and immediately scolded the group of children.
The village chief saw this but didn't say anything. He just turned around, frowned, and called a meeting for the whole village.
Grandpa Fu served in the army, and the old village chief also delivered supplies to the front lines.
The two shared the same view: regardless of the arrangements made outside, those who had been sent down to the countryside were all Chinese, and no one should bully them.
So even if there were criticism sessions, they were just routine procedures. Old Village Chief Fu never deducted their work points. Those elderly people who had been sent down to the countryside also knew what was good for them. They secretly wrote teaching materials and asked the village chief to arrange for educated youth to teach literacy classes to the children in the village.
This is why many people of Fu Wan and Fu Ming's generation were educated and had a higher level of education than people in nearby villages.
"Me? I was sent to the south back then. It was poor there, but the scenery was beautiful!"
When he talked about his time being sent to the countryside, Master Ning's smile remained unchanged, showing that he hadn't suffered much during his time there.
What Fu Wan didn't know was that when Master Ning was sent to the countryside, his friends helped him a lot, and with Qin Fu's help, Master Ning didn't suffer much except for losing weight. He was exonerated in less than two years.
He was blind to begin with, so he couldn't do much work in the countryside, and naturally he would earn fewer work points.
Moreover, those farmers themselves are often hungry, with many eating only one meal a day. For Master Ning to occasionally have sweet potato rice is already a very good life.
After chatting for a while, Qin Fu seemed to remember something, turned around, went into the house, and came out with something.
"Comrade Xiao Fu, this is the list of attendees for this afternoon's auction. Take a look and see if there's anything that interests you."
Fu Wan took it. The auction looked very formal; even the auction catalog felt like it was made of high-quality paper.
Fu Wan opened the booklet and read it quickly, but couldn't help but sigh at the end.
Wow, this is the capital city after all. Even an ordinary auction has so many treasures.
The collection includes Ming and Qing dynasty vases and jade artifacts, paintings by Qi Baishi, numerous pieces of jewelry and clocks, and rare ancient coins.
It wasn't all Chinese; there were also European sculptures and paintings. Fu Wan looked around and finally found the gold needle she wanted on the first line of the last page.
A set of Nine Mysterious Golden Needles.
"So, what is Comrade Xiao Fu interested in?" Third Master Ning asked casually after taking a sip of tea. "I heard from Afu that Comrade Xiao Fu wants that set of gold needles?"
Fu Wan smiled and replied, "Yes, these gold needles are nice. I'd like to buy some as gifts."
Master Ning nodded. "Comrade Xiao Fu has a good eye. Of all the things in that booklet you have, only this pair of gold needles is somewhat interesting."
Upon hearing this, Fu Wan unconsciously asked, "Then, in Third Master's opinion, how much money should I prepare if I want to buy this set of gold needles?"
Master Ning reached out and stroked his gray mustache, pondered for a moment, and said, "I don't know much about this golden needle either. Don't be fooled by its mysterious name. According to the information we've received so far, this golden needle isn't from the palace, nor is it a burial item. It probably doesn't have any cultural value."
I suspect it was passed down from a family of doctors.
The value is at most twenty or thirty thousand; anything more than that isn't worth it.
Twenty or thirty thousand? That's so cheap?
Upon hearing this, Fu Wan's eyes lit up instantly, and she then asked, "Does Third Master know where I can get gold needles made? In case I don't get the right one, I'm planning to have one made."
After hesitating for a moment, Master Ning shook his head. "I know, but I don't really recommend you go. Golden needles are troublesome to do. After all, it involves acupuncture and you need the doctor's approval to pass."
Nowadays, there are no doctors in the capital who are qualified to treat patients with gold needles.
The only one, I wonder where the cat is in the world right now.
Thinking of his equally eccentric old friend, Master Ning felt somewhat displeased.
Seeing this, Fu Wan quickly changed the subject, talking about how she had recently gone out to salvage willow trees in Shanghai.
As expected, Master Ning's attention was immediately diverted. He had long heard that the Sun family had brought back a sea willow tree from outside, but he did not expect that it was Fu Wan who had retrieved it.
What was even more unexpected was that there was actually a red willow tree, but Sun Youjin had hidden it away.
Judging from his appearance, Sun Youjin is even more cunning than his grandfather; he's definitely got the makings of a businessman!
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