Chapter 2, Chapter 2, Small Gold Characters
Shen Zhimin's betrayal had been brewing for some time.
She and Shen Zhimin both studied cultural heritage and museology, and when they were assigned to their jobs after graduation, they were both assigned to the Municipal Bureau of Cultural Relics.
She outperformed Shen Zhimin in every aspect, and because she was a woman, she was assigned to the Cultural Relics Appraisal Center, while Shen Zhimin was assigned to the Archaeology Team.
Shen Zhimin complained to her more than once that the archaeological team was out all day, exposed to the wind and sun, which was too hard.
Moreover, if he went to the archaeological team, the two of them would only see each other a few times a year, so he didn't want to go.
Tang Yanna's uncle works at the Cultural Relics Bureau and is rumored to be a leader. Shen Zhimin's purpose in getting involved with Tang Yanna is self-evident.
If Shen Zhimin had told her beforehand that they could part amicably, Yan Ruyi wouldn't have said anything, much less clung to him.
But Shen Zhimin was talking to her about a bright future one minute, and the next minute he was being all lovey-dovey with Tang Yanna the next.
It's clearly just as Luo Huihui said, that he's two-timing her and using her as a backup plan.
Seeing that his secret had been exposed, he lied again and said that the two had already broken up.
Yan Ruyi could not tolerate this.
She is usually mild-mannered, but that's because no one has crossed her bottom line.
This time, Shen Zhimin crossed her line.
She didn't argue or cry with Shen Zhimin.
If crying and screaming worked, what would be the point of having fists?
Yan Ruyi stepped forward and punched Shen Zhimin with both hands, leaving his eyes black and blue.
Shen Zhimin never expected Yan Ruyi to hit him. He was so stunned by the blow that he didn't even try to dodge.
However, knowing he was in the wrong, he didn't dare to utter a sound after being hit. Tang Yanna, on the other hand, wouldn't stand for it. She shielded Shen Zhimin behind her and shouted at Yan Ruyi, "Are you being unreasonable? Didn't you and Zhimin break up a long time ago? Why are you hitting him?"
Yan Ruyi said, "Now that we've broken up, you can pick up trash if you want."
It's basically a verbal engagement, a verbal agreement that can be broken off verbally, which is quite convenient.
After Yan Ruyi finished speaking, she pulled Luo Huihui away. On the way, she talked to Luo Huihui about her future work and even joked that she wished she could be like Sun Wukong, with fiery eyes that could tell the difference between genuine and fake antiques at a glance.
That night, she dreamed that she went to another world and developed a special ability: no matter how old something was, she could tell how many years ago it was just by looking at it.
I did it all night long, it felt just like the real thing.
She was in low spirits in the morning because she hadn't slept well last night due to having nightmares, and it really had nothing to do with Shen Zhimin.
It's clear that the impact of Shen Zhimin's infidelity on her was less than the impact of her casual joke.
But Ye Hongjuan and the others obviously didn't think that way. They assumed that she must be heartbroken because she had been hurt by Shen Shimin, otherwise she wouldn't look so haggard.
Yan Ruyi didn't explain much; whether she was hurt or not, she knew it herself.
Ye Hongjuan had been on duty all night and had rushed over with great energy, but now that energy had dissipated and she was exhausted. She yawned and said to Ye Hongzhen, "I'm so sleepy, I have to go back to sleep."
Ye Hongzhen said, "The food will be ready soon. Please eat before you leave."
Ye Hongzhen said, "Even if you put the most delicious food in front of me right now, I wouldn't be able to eat it."
She pushed the cart away, but turned back to Yan Ruyi at the door and said, "Wait for your auntie, I promise I'll find you an even better one."
After saying that, he got on his bike and rode off in a hurry.
Having just broken up with someone, Yan Ruyi had no intention of dating again for the time being, so she let Ye Hongjuan's words go in one ear and out the other, not taking them seriously.
She went back to her room to get a washbasin to wash up. After she finished washing up, Ye Hongzhen had already prepared the meal and even steamed a bowl of egg custard for Yan Ruyi.
Yan Minghe rushed in right at lunchtime, his head covered in sweat, his hair as wet as if he had just washed it. With a shake of his head, sweat splattered everywhere.
Ye Hongzhen slapped him and said disdainfully, "You've been running around all morning, you smell like a dog. Go wash your hands and face, dry your hair, and then come eat."
Yan Minghe looked down at the dining table and saw some steamed egg custard. He said to Yan Ruyi, "Sister, save some steamed egg custard for me!"
Yan Ruyi took a small bowl and gave Yan Minghe half of the steamed egg custard.
Ye Hongzhen said, "Why are you giving him food? He eats everything like Pigsy eating ginseng fruit, swallowing it whole without tasting anything."
Yan Minghe turned on the tap, wiped his hands and face haphazardly, then casually wiped his undershirt with it before coming over with a small bowl. "I'm giving this to Xiaohua."
Xiao Hua is a tabby kitten that Yan Minghe picked up. It's only the size of a palm and was chasing a leaf when it heard Yan Minghe call its name. It meowed and ran over, looking up at the ground, wanting food.
Yan Minghe held the small bowl in front of Yan Ruyi. Just as Yan Ruyi was about to put the steamed egg custard into the bowl, she suddenly saw a line of small golden characters flash across the bowl: 554.
Yan Ruyi thought she was seeing things, so she blinked and looked again. The line of small gold characters reappeared: 554.
The family started eating, and her second brother muttered that he hadn't eaten meat in a long time and was craving it. His mother slapped him and said, "You pay for it, and I'll buy you meat every meal. You can have whatever meat you want. I'll even get you dragon meat."
The second brother immediately shut up and buried his head in his rice, slurping it down.
Little Flower meowed on the ground. Yan Minghe urged her, "Sister, hurry up, Little Flower is hungry."
Everything was normal; clearly, only she had seen the words.
Yan Ruyi was somewhat stunned. How come this was exactly the same as what she had dreamed about last night?
Yan Minghe urged her again, and she finally came to her senses and said to Yan Minghe, "Give me this bowl, and you can go find another bowl to feed Xiaohua."
Yan Minghe didn't ask why; he just went along with whatever his sister said.
"Okay," he said, handing the small bowl to Yan Ruyi before running off to find another bowl.
Yan Ruyi looked at the small bowl in her hand. It had rained yesterday, and there were many mud spots splattered on the outside of the bowl. She wiped a small area with her hand, and the blue glaze was revealed, covered with fine white spots, like snowflakes falling on the blue water.
This is a typical characteristic of blue-sprinkled glaze from the Xuande period of the Ming Dynasty.
The Xuande reign of the Ming Dynasty lasted from 1426 to 1435, which is more than 500 years ago.
Looking again at the inscription on the bottom of the bowl, there are four characters in two lines of small seal script: "Made in the Mingde Year".
She secretly pinched her calf; it hurt, it wasn't a dream.
He was completely stunned.
Seeing that she wasn't eating and was holding a cat-feeding bowl with a blank look in her eyes, Ye Hongzhen thought she was heartbroken and obsessed with Shen Zhimin again, unable to eat. She pushed the steamed egg custard towards her and said with heartache, "Laibao, eat."
The nicknames given to the three sons of the Yan family were all chosen casually: Dahai, Ertao, and Sihe.
Yan Ruyi's nickname was much more formal. The family discussed it together for three days, and finally Yan Guoqiang made the final decision: "Let's call her Laibao."
As Yan Ruyi grew older, and with her second brother's classmates always teasing her and calling her "Shulaibao" (a type of storytelling), she became unhappy about being called by her nickname, so her family stopped calling her that.
Ye Hongzhen was so preoccupied with doting on her daughter that she forgot about this.
However, Yan Ruyi's attention was not on the name at the moment. Holding the small bowl, she asked Ye Hongzhen, "Mom, where did this small bowl come from?"
Ye Hongzhen thought for a moment, "Isn't this the bowl you took from your grandmother's? Have you forgotten?"
Yan Guoqiang: "How old was she back then? How could she remember?"
Ye Hongzhen said, "That's true. When you were three years old, I took you to your maternal grandmother's house. I don't know why, but you took a liking to this bowl and kept asking for it. Your grandmother gave it to you and put three eggs in it. You carried it all the way back home without letting go."
Yan Ruyi asked, "Where did my maternal grandmother come from?"
"Who knows? She probably picked it up somewhere. You know your grandma, she loves to pick up trash outside. Otherwise, she wouldn't have kept using it to feed the chickens. You insisted on using this bowl to eat, but that wouldn't do. It smelled like chicken poop. I coaxed you into letting it go. Later, I was afraid you would see it and start asking for more rice, so I hid the bowl. I forgot where I put it. Where did Sihe find it?"
Yan Minghe, “In the gap between the cupboard and the stove.”
Ye Hongzhen said, "You're really capable of managing to rummage through this."
Li Yan's eyes darted between Yan Ruyi and the small bowl, then she leaned over and asked Yan Ruyi, "What's wrong with this bowl? Is it special?"
Grandma has passed away, so there's no way to verify the origin of the bowl with her.
However, it's also possible that her maternal grandmother picked it up.
She heard that during the "Destroy the Four Olds" campaign, some people, fearing trouble, secretly threw away their old belongings.
Where there are people throwing things, there are people picking them up; her grandmother loved to pick up things outside.
She wasn't trying to take advantage of the situation; she simply felt it was a waste to throw away something that was still usable, so she picked it up and took it home.
And maybe there's something wrong with her eyes.
She still couldn't believe that the dream she had would come true.
Yan Ruyi said, "It's nothing, I just thought this bowl looked really nice. Second sister-in-law, do you want it? Here you go."
He then handed the small bowl to Li Yan.
Yan Ruyi is a student of cultural relics, and she was looking at the small bowl for a long time. Li Yan thought that Yan Ruyi had figured out something special about the small bowl.
She'd heard that old things are really valuable these days. What if this little bowl is an antique or something? Everyone who finds it gets a share, so wouldn't she be able to get a cut too?
The result was a small, filthy bowl for feeding chickens and cats. Yan Ruyi herself didn't want it, yet she wanted to give it to her. She wasn't a junk collector.
She firmly refused, saying with a look of disdain, "Grandma gave it to you, you can keep it for yourself. It's a little something Grandma left for you to remember her by."
Yan Ruyi said "Oh" and casually put the small bowl aside.
Seeing that Yan Ruyi casually tossed the small bowl aside, Li Yan became even more convinced that it was just a piece of junk, and she wouldn't even want it if it were given to her for free!
A note from the author:
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Yan Ruyi: "Second sister-in-law, would you like a small bowl?"
Li Yan: It's just a piece of junk, I don't want it!
Years later, Li Yan, having missed out on a small goal, frantically searched for a way to undo her mistake...
Add this to your favorites, and you'll have good luck just like Yan Ruyi!
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