Ning Yuan looked at Uncle Fang with an innocent expression: "Don't worry, Uncle, I just deal in food and drinks. I only need some food flavorings to run my small shop. The amount is not large."
With current limited productivity and production technology, these chemical raw materials all require permits to obtain.
Anyone who dares to resell these things will be severely punished if caught.
Uncle Fang frowned: "What are you doing in the food and beverage business? Where can an outsider like you open a shop?"
Even a little bit of food flavoring is a chemical raw material!
Although it has been opened up, it is still dominated by state-owned stores, and individuals who want to open stores cannot obtain licenses.
Most people, like Ning Yuan, are self-employed—running street stalls, something that is looked down upon by the unemployed and vagrants.
Many people want to supplement their income, and since they live on the ground floor, they secretly hang a sign at their door to do some work, which they treat as a shop. He did the same thing.
Ning Yuan coughed lightly: "Although I am not from Shanghai, my godfather is from Shanghai, and he was allocated a dormitory room on the first floor where he could sell some things."
Of course she remembers that the first business license in Shanghai was issued in 1980, and she wouldn't go out of her way to make a scene now.
Mr. Tang was from Shanghai. After returning to China, they lived in Shanghai for many years and were then sent down to Grandma's hometown for reform.
Now that my benefits have been restored, the school has allocated me a two-bedroom apartment on the first floor. It would be such a waste not to make use of it!
Upon hearing Ning Yuan's words, Uncle Fang frowned for a long time, then looked at the bracelet in his hand.
Ning Yuan remained silent, waiting patiently.
Her ambitions certainly don't stop there, but you can't get fat in one bite.
The clock on the table ticked for fifteen minutes before Uncle Fang finally put the bracelet in his hand on the table.
He stared at the bracelet for a while: "Take the item back first. I'll let you know if I can get the approval slip."
As Ning Yuan expected, it was a good thing that he was willing to help come up with a solution.
She carefully put away the antique bracelet made of agarwood, then pointed to the jade chili pepper: "Could you take a look at this one and tell me its origin?"
Uncle Fang's mind was already captivated by the precious agarwood antique bracelet that Ning Yuan had taken out.
At that moment, he glanced absentmindedly at the jade chili pepper, picked it up casually, and examined it through his glasses.
"This jade chili pepper is exquisitely carved, with a grape-like flesh color. Its translucency is so good that it has become rigid, and it has a strong fluorescence. Is it... a modified bracelet?"
Uncle Fang is knowledgeable and has a complex background. It's perfectly normal that he could see at a glance that the jade chili pepper was made from a broken bracelet.
Ning Yuan nodded: "That's right, yes, it's said that the bracelet was modified after it broke into three pieces."
“If the bracelet were still intact, it would be worth quite a bit of money, but it’s broken into three pieces. If it were made into a carving, the price would drop by at least half, or even more.” Uncle Fang shook his head.
Ning Yuan wasn't asking him to collect jade; she just smiled and said, "I see the jade chili pepper is exquisitely carved. I'd like to ask which school of carving master made it, and whether it's valuable."
Upon hearing this, Uncle Fang put on his glasses and examined it more closely: "This... there's a very small bell-shaped carving on the jade chili leaf. It's the work of the master carver Zhong Ling! This is indeed valuable!"
Ning Yuan's big eyes lit up; a clue to her past had appeared!
She asked calmly, "What's the story behind this Master Zhong Ling?"
Uncle Fang said calmly, "Zhang Youyi, the first wife of Xu Zhimo who was abandoned because she was uncultured, became a highly educated banker. This Master Zhong Ling was originally named Zhong Ling, and she was also an illiterate woman from the mountainous area of Henan Province."
Zhong Ling was born beautiful and was taken by a landlord as a concubine. After becoming pregnant, she was almost beaten to death by the landlord's wife, and she also lost her child.
Just then, during the war, bombs were dropped from the sky, and the family fled. Taking advantage of the situation, Zhong Ling absconded with a lot of the landlord's wealth and came to Shanghai.
Ning Yuan gave a thumbs up: "Impressive, you're a smart person. You even managed to run away with the money. What happened next?"
"Later, she became the woman of the leader of the Green Gang in Fujian, thanks to her beauty. She became obsessed with reading and writing and also developed a love for carving."
"At that time, there were no women working in the jade carving industry nationwide. Women were not allowed to participate in jade carving competitions. She changed her name to Zhong Ling and participated as a man. Only after winning the championship did she reveal her true identity, which caused a sensation in the entire jade carving industry."
"The sculpture she won at the time was called Liang Hongyu Breaking the Formation. It was purchased by the British ambassador and presented to the king at the time. From then on, Master Zhong Ling became famous at home and abroad."
As Ning Yuan listened to these tales of old Shanghai, she couldn't help but sigh with emotion—
"Women change when they broaden their horizons. So where is Master Zhong Ling now...?"
"That gang leader from the Green Gang died, so she went to Guangdong and Guangxi, and I heard she joined a local wealthy family, surnamed..." Uncle Fang suddenly looked at Ning Yuan.
Ning Yuan smiled with her big eyes crinkling: "Whether my surname is Ning or not, I was the child of a servant in the Ning family. This thing was taken from the master's house by my maternal grandmother."
Uncle Fang looked Ning Yuan up and down with a strange gaze—
"Master Zhong Ling retired after arriving at the Ning family. Only the head of the Ning family received two or three of her works as a reward. I heard that the old man of the Ning family cherishes them like treasures. What is your grandmother's status that she was able to obtain these things?"
Ning Yuan's heart stirred. The head of the Ning family had just received Master Zhong Ling's work and cherished it like a treasure.
But... Grandma said this thing wasn't expensive for the Ning family, so she guessed that she was a burden left behind by a branch of the Ning family when they went to Hong Kong after their family fell into poverty.
Why did my grandmother lie to me?
Ning Yuan felt conflicted, but her face remained impassive as she smiled broadly.
“My maternal grandmother was the wet nurse of the young master and young lady of the Ning family. At that time, things were very chaotic when she went to Hong Kong... so she just grabbed some things to keep herself safe, you know.”
Uncle Fang chuckled, said nothing more, and saw Ning Yuan off.
But when he returned, he took out paper and pen and slowly sketched the jade chili peppers he had seen, then thoughtfully put them into the drawer.
The waiter brought in an iron, and seeing that he seemed lost in thought, frowned and asked—
“Master, that little girl always asks for this and that every time she comes. This time she even dared to ask for a permit. She's really pushing her luck. If you ask me, why don't you just give the bracelet back to her? Perhaps…”
A fierce glint flashed in the waiter's eyes, and he made a knife gesture.
Uncle Fang said calmly, "Old Liu said that this little girl is strange and has an unfathomable background. We don't know which faction she belongs to, so don't act rashly."
Besides, that agarwood bracelet is indeed worth a lot of money!
In addition, the jade carvings by Master Zhong Ling may reveal Ning Yuan's background.
Thinking of that bracelet, a greedy glint flashed in Uncle Fang's eyes.
...
Ning Yuan rode her bike back to school right on time—it was exactly 5:30!
She washed her face in five minutes, looked at herself in the mirror, and her long, curly princess-style hair was still in place. As for her bare face—oh well, let it be while singing nursery rhymes!
Eating is the most important thing!
Ning Yuan rushed to the student cafeteria, looked around, and then rushed into the area with the most boys.
Sure enough, Chu Hongyu and Yan Yangyang were sitting there eating.
Wherever Chu Hongyu is, there will inevitably be a group of boys trying to sit as close to her as possible, because she is so charming and beautiful.
Of course, some people were also after Yan Yangyang.
She has a different kind of beauty that's very popular these days: a square face that exudes peace and prosperity, and, well, long legs too.
Upon seeing Ning Yuan, Chu Hongyu greeted her softly, "Ningning, you're here! The food is ready. Today we have fried yellow croaker, which you like!"
Yan Yangyang rolled her eyes at her, then put two four-happiness meatballs into Ning Yuan's lunchbox: "Xiao Ning is from Guangdong and Guangxi, eating too much fried food can easily cause internal heat."
Chu Hongyu rolled her eyes charmingly: "Hmph! You're just being pretentious!"
Ning Yuan quickly sat down with a smile, saying, "I like them all, I like them all, my sisters are the best!"
Ning Yuan was stuffing four-happiness meatballs into her mouth when a tall, slender figure in military green suddenly sat down in front of her.
Then, the other person placed a lunchbox in front of her: "What do you like? I remember your favorite is perilla and meat pie."
Ning Yuan suddenly looked at the aloof and handsome face in front of her, and he was looking at her too.
Her expression instantly turned strange and comical, and she really wanted to spit the dumpling in her mouth onto his face.
No, bro, what are you doing?!
Didn't you say you wanted to keep our relationship a secret? I was prepared for you to leave and for me to reappear, which would mean divorce. Now you're acting like we're having an affair. Are you out of your mind?
Ning Yuan looked at Rong Zhaonan, and for some reason felt a sense of...
Hmm, I have a bad feeling this guy is about to turn into a dog!
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