Chapter 126 Error Daily Report?
The place was bustling with music and crowds of people.
The crowds were like a surging tide, bustling, noisy, crowded, and chaotic.
Yet it exudes a strong sense of everyday life.
Ye Anning followed Lin Sicheng, her gaze filled with curiosity and longing. The chubby boy put his hands into Lin Sicheng's pockets, gripping the bottom of the pocket tightly, his eyes rolling around.
Lanterns cast a glow, a paper-cutting stall is set up on an eight-immortal table, and the old artist's silver scissors fly between his fingers.
Fragments of paper fell like snowflakes, and the chubby little girl lifted her tiger-head shoes, the tips of which were covered in red light.
The old man paused with his scissors, then gently touched the tip, and the eight-inch square "Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix" suddenly came to life, with the magpies adorned with gold powder appearing lifelike.
The little girl took it and beamed with joy.
Next to it was a sugar painting stall, where sugar syrup bubbled in a pot, the aroma of caramel mixed with floral fragrance, swirling into the crowd amidst a misty haze.
The old craftsman's sleeves were stained with sugar, and his withered fingers gently tapped a bamboo skewer on the cutting board. The flames licked the copper spoon as it poured out amber-colored sugar strands.
With a sudden flick of the wrist, the sugar strands spun in long arcs, and with a quick twist of the bamboo skewer, auspicious patterns instantly took shape. Excess syrup dripped down, gradually spreading out. After a slight solidification, a bamboo knife gently sliced through, and the sugar sheet curled into the shape of a carp's swaying tail.
The chubby boy stared wide-eyed, licking his lips incessantly, then turned to look at Ye Anning.
Ye Anning smiled, pursing her lips: "Why are you looking at me? I didn't bring my wallet!"
Wang Youjian squinted at him: "Then why won't you let me bring it?"
"What are you bringing? There are so many people and it's so chaotic, you wouldn't even know if someone stole it!" Ye Anning laughed. "But what are you afraid of? Your senior brother definitely brought some!"
It's better not to bring them, there are indeed too many people, but Lin Sicheng suspects that Ye Anning did it on purpose.
When she went out, the bag was clearly on her clothes. She took her coat and then hung the bag back up.
Without thinking much, Lin Sicheng took out his wallet: "One rat, one ox, make it small!"
"Okay!"
The old man responded, and with a flick of his copper spoon, the sugar strands were torn into golden threads.
A few minutes later, the siblings each licked a sugar painting, but after taking only a few steps, Ye Anning stopped moving again.
The press, which had been used for at least ten years, was covered in oil. With a strong press from the master craftsman, thin buckwheat noodles were slowly squeezed out with a "creaking" sound.
Steam rises from the soup pot, a strainer made of bamboo slats is placed over it, and mutton sauce is poured on top, releasing a fresh and fragrant aroma.
Ye Anning kept swallowing her saliva, Wang Youjian didn't eat, and Lin Sicheng only took a small bowl.
Continuing onward, Ye Anning couldn't resist trying every stall she saw, selling steamed rice cakes, mirror cakes, fried cakes, noodles, jelly, and baked flatbreads. She didn't care whether the food was good or not; she just had to try a little bit.
The chubby boy was the complete opposite; he didn't like to eat much, but he wanted to buy anything unusual he saw.
Wave drums, iron hoops, clay dogs, bib monkeys... In no time at all, the bag was half full.
As they walked further, the sanxian (a three-stringed plucked instrument) suddenly sounded. An old man from Qinqiang opera appeared, swinging his white beard, his hoarse roar making the bowl of mutton soup tremble slightly.
Ye Anning paused for a moment, then continued eating and reading.
On the other side, a strong man threw the crimson banner high into the air. The banner unfurled in the wind, and the copper bells jingled.
The burly man did several somersaults, and by the time he got up, the banner had fallen.
But perhaps the wind was too strong, the three-zhang-tall banner was blown off course quite a bit. Suddenly, the man looked panicked, sometimes moving forward, sometimes retreating, trying to find a place to land.
The banner brushed past my face, about to hit the ground, when suddenly a foot stretched out and kicked the end of the pole with force.
The banner shot upwards and landed firmly on the man's forehead.
It was quite a spectacle.
The chubby boy remained motionless, his eyes shining.
Lin Sicheng was both amused and exasperated.
You think he was trying to play tricks?
He wanted to be that banner...
Further ahead, a crisp "clinking" sound rang out. An elderly woman with white hair was using a chisel to engrave four characters on a silver bracelet: "Eternal Happiness".
Ye Anning stopped walking and just stared at the bracelet.
The chubby boy stopped walking and blinked his eyes.
Of course he wasn't going to buy it; he was just curious: no wonder Ye Anning didn't bring any money, she was waiting here!
I wonder if my senior could think of that?
Of course, Lin Sicheng isn't stupid.
But just like when buying fried cakes, paomo (pita bread soaked in mutton soup), or huoshao (baked flatbread), Lin Sicheng's posture when paying was exceptionally natural.
After measuring the size, one was carved. Ye Anning put it on and shook her fair wrist, the bright silver bracelet jingling.
Her eyes narrowed into slits with laughter: "Lin Sicheng, isn't it handsome?"
Lin Sicheng nodded: "It looks good!"
The chubby boy nodded, and was about to say something when he got a tap on the head.
Without even guessing, Ye Anning knew what he wanted to say, a hint of threat hidden in her smile: "Wang Youjian, I wasn't asking you!"
Wang Youjian glared at him angrily: Ye Anning, you deserve to be single.
Ye Anning sneered: What do you know?
If you just shut up and obediently follow along, you'll be the best shill...
Continuing forward, past the central hall, everything suddenly became quiet.
The courtyard was huge, with the side doors wide open.
The side rooms and under the eaves were filled with people, each carrying at least one object. They were of different sizes, shapes, and types, some in boxes, others in cloth.
A parasol was set up in the courtyard, and more than a dozen experts lined up in a row, with the old man sitting near the eaves.
This is the best spot; you can get sunshine in the morning and shade at noon.
Upon closer inspection, Hao Jun and Guan Xingmin were also present, along with Chairman Ding, all seated in the expert section.
Since the child's ticket was free, Lin Sicheng bought two express tickets.
A regular ticket costs fifty yuan, and you can only wait in a side room. A medium-sized ticket costs one hundred yuan, and you still have to wait, but you can sit under the eaves to watch.
The expedited service costs 200 yuan. Once you're in, you can get an appraisal done, choose an expert, and even have your image reviewed after the appraisal.
But there were still many people, and almost every seat was taken.
Ye Anning asked curiously, "Do we need to buy tickets?"
Lin Sicheng nodded: "We weren't originally going to buy tickets, but there were too many people on the first day. Just the day before yesterday, tourists got into several fights, and the stalls were overturned. Two people even had to be hospitalized. So we had to sell tickets to reduce the flow of people."
Ye Anning then realized that the eaves were full of security guards and several police officers.
After entering, the three of them walked down the steps outside the eaves. They had only gone halfway when they heard a few "hey hey hey" sounds.
"Hey hey...where are you going? Lin Sicheng, I'm talking to you..."
Hao Jun stood up and shouted loudly. Seeing Ye Anning, his eyes paused for a moment, then he waved vigorously, "Come, come, come over here first!"
Lin Sicheng smiled and walked over: "Senior brother, I only have one ticket!"
"I'm speechless. What kind of ticket are you buying? You go first..."
As he spoke, he said something to his assistant beside him, and the assistant got up and left.
Guan Xingmin and Hao Jun were standing next to each other, and Ye Anning, along with Wang Youjian, greeted them one by one.
Lin Sicheng then joked, "Director Guan, with so many cases at the bureau, how do you still find time to provide support?"
"It was booked a long time ago, and I had no choice but to come no matter how busy I was!"
After exchanging a few words, Hao Jun's assistant ran back with two guest passes in his hand.
Lin Sicheng had already bought the tickets and wasn't planning to take them, but Hao Jun insisted on giving them to him, saying, "It's okay, you'll definitely have to sit for a while longer at your grandpa's!"
Lin Sicheng glared at him, while Hao Jun chuckled.
After sitting for a few minutes, Lin Sicheng and Ye Anning got up.
Watching the two figures walk away, Hao Jun asked thoughtfully, "Old Guan, what do you think?"
"It's hard to say!" Guan Xingmin pondered for a moment, "but that girl has an upright air about her!"
Hao Jun scoffed, "Why don't you just become a fortune teller? What are you doing as a policeman?"
"You don't know anything!"
The two whispered to each other as Lin Sicheng and Ye Anning went to the eaves.
Lin Changqing's place had the most people, with the regular number queue stretching to over fifty, and two security guards were specifically there to maintain order.
The security guard brought them over. Lin Changqing was looking at something. The two of them stood quietly without saying a word.
About three minutes later, the collector stood up, and Lin Changqing looked up. He was about to say "sit down" when he subconsciously paused.
With a smile on his face, Lin Changqing flipped the sign over: Pause.
"Grandpa, this is Cousin Ye, my teacher's nephew. This is Youjian, my teacher's child... My teacher and his wife are away on a business trip, so we came out for a stroll!"
The siblings greeted each other in unison: "Hello, Grandpa!"
"Okay...okay!" Lin Changqing smiled. "Sit down!"
Lin Sicheng shook his head and put the tickets on the table: "I won't sit down, Grandpa, you go ahead with your work, let's go take a look at the back hall!"
"Alright, you guys go ahead and shop!"
The old man nodded and stood up.
Ye Anning and Wang Youjian politely took their leave.
The conversation lasted only three to five sentences, even shorter than the time spent with Hao Jun and Guan Xingmin.
Ye Anning smiled gently again, pursed her lips, and followed behind Lin Sicheng.
The silver bracelet on her wrist kept spinning.
Watching the two figures walk away, Lin Changqing's eyes gleamed. After a slight pause, he waved his hand: "That's enough, time to go home!"
The assistant quickly gathered up the items.
...
It was very quiet; no one spoke, and everyone was silently looking at the exhibits.
The two silver rings occasionally collided, producing a remarkably crisp sound.
Wang Youjian blinked, looking left and then right.
Lin Sicheng rubbed his head: "What do you want to eat tonight?"
The chubby boy glanced at Ye Anning and said, "Senior brother, my opinion doesn't count!"
Ye Anning glared at him.
Lin Sicheng laughed again: "Don't worry, you're in charge today. Let's browse around first, there are quite a few stalls, we'll go after we're done!"
Ye Anning then realized that they had already finished touring the exhibition hall in the back.
There were several exhibition halls with a lot of tea sets and other cultural relics, but she had no recollection of what she actually saw.
Looking further ahead, sure enough, there were many stalls.
This is the latter part of Dongyue Temple, next to the city wall, and separated by the wall from the Ring Park.
The area was huge, but now it has been completely fenced off, marked with squares, and even has square benches and parasols set up.
There were many tourists and many stalls. Some had a lot of items, around a hundred or so, while others only had one or two items on display. But without exception, all of them, like this one, displayed newly issued certificates of authenticity from the organizers.
After looking around for a while, Lin Sicheng saw an old face.
That used bookstore stall was the same one where he bought "Yanhuang Chunqiu" from. It was from buying that internal reference book from his stall that he met Wang Qizhi.
Upon seeing this person, Lin Sicheng knew that those stalls with an abundance of items were all brought over from Xiaodongmen by the Municipal Cultural Relics Center (the organizer) to attract tourists.
It's quite a coincidence.
Lin Sicheng walked straight over.
More than a month had passed, and the boss had long forgotten about him. Seeing that the man and woman were handsome and well-dressed, he quickly greeted them, "What would you two like to see?"
"Just browsing!"
Lin Sicheng sat down.
Seeing that all the books were newspapers and magazines, and all of them were from after the founding of the People's Republic of China, Ye Anning didn't sit down but stood to the side.
"My uncle really likes these things!"
"Yeah?"
Lin Sicheng smiled.
No wonder Professor Wang recognized that internal reference book at a glance.
He quickly changed his mind and casually flipped through the pages.
I must say, it's much better than last time; at least the stuff is much older.
However, few of them have collectible value, and even fewer are rare.
After taking a quick look around, Lin Sicheng decided to move to another spot. Just as he was about to get up, he narrowed his eyes again.
In the center of the stall was an old envelope, slightly larger than a regular envelope, more like a document bag.
It's very thick inside; it's probably filled with newspapers.
Looking at the cover again: the paper is yellowed, and it bears two black postmarks: one on the seal and one in the lower right corner. In the middle is a line of handwriting in the style of Mao Zedong: Please forward to Comrade □□阝.
The name should be in the very center, but it's probably been soaked in water, so only the side of the ear remains.
The text itself was nothing unusual; what Lin Sicheng found strange were the two stamps on the envelope:
A large circle encloses a smaller circle, with "BJ" on top, "Seventeen (Branch) Jia" below, and the year, month, and day in the middle: 1964…10…17.
It looks ordinary, like the stamp of some post office in Beijing, or even the seventeenth branch.
But only a very few people know that the place where this stamp is located is inside the Forbidden City.
Internally, it was called the "Zhongnanhai Post Office," but externally it was only known by code names such as "Department 1 of a Certain Place," "Department 10 of a Certain Temple," and "Unit 1 of a Certain Certain Place."
All official stamps are referred to as "BJ·Number", with the most important type being "BJ·Seventeen".
Then, depending on the specific unit, they are further distinguished by "A, B, C, D". Moreover, the earlier the character appears, the higher the level.
What if it's the character "甲"?
A certain general office of the Central Committee!
Lin Sicheng's spirits lifted: Who could be the recipient of the letter, the one whose name was blurred on the envelope and only had the radical "阝" left?
Who could be the person who sent the letter?
It was just four characters, and in a cloned font, with only the ear radical remaining of the recipient's name. To be honest, Lin Sicheng couldn't recognize it at all.
Of course, if it were the full name, even if very few people recognized "BJ·Seventeen Branch (A)," the envelope would not end up on a street stall.
With a hint of suspicion, Lin Sicheng opened the envelope.
It was indeed a newspaper, but not a full-page one; it was a special edition. The headline was very eye-catching: China's first atomic bomb was successfully detonated.
If I remember correctly, this should be the second special edition of the People's Daily. However, because it was a complimentary copy and was distributed to government agencies at the county level and above nationwide, its circulation was extremely large, resulting in a large number of surviving copies.
From the perspective of collecting and appreciating antiques, its value is not high.
In addition, four characters are written in pen at the top of the back: "Unwavering determination, human will can conquer nature".
This time it became a copy of Shu style, clearly the handwriting of another person, with a neat structure and a spirited style.
Unfortunately, he still couldn't recognize him.
Lin Sicheng frowned: So, in that case, the only value of this item is the two stamps on the envelope?
It seems there's more than that?
He wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but he felt like something was off, like he'd overlooked something.
But it's not good to just sit there and keep reading this newspaper, otherwise even the dumbest boss will suspect that there's something strange about it.
And to be honest, those two stamps alone are enough. If you encounter a collector with a keen eye, like Professor Wang, he wouldn't even bat an eye at 50,000 yuan for one.
After pondering for a moment, Lin Sicheng waved the envelope and asked, "Boss, how much is this envelope?"
"That newspaper was an extra edition, five hundred!"
Lin Sicheng immediately laughed: "I may be young, but you can't treat me like a Japanese and rip me off, twice in a row? Even if it's an extra edition, it's not worth five hundred..."
"Huh?"
Upon hearing the voice, the shop owner suddenly remembered: this young man had bought a magazine from his stall.
He initially asked for three thousand, but ended up selling it for thirty...
He smiled and said, "Why didn't you say so earlier? Fifty!"
Lin Sicheng quickly took out his money.
The siblings exchanged a glance.
Regardless of the item's value, Lin Sicheng's bargaining method is truly unusual.
After paying and glancing around briefly, seeing nothing else particularly eye-catching, Lin Sicheng stood up.
But instead of continuing forward, they turned back.
Wang Youjian was completely confused: "Senior brother, shall we go eat now?"
He hadn't even finished digesting the dumplings he ate at noon, and Ye Anning had stuffed him with a belly full of strange and not very tasty food. He still felt bloated.
Lin Sicheng smiled and said, "It's still early for dinner... let's find a quiet place."
Ye Anning's eyes lit up: Lin Sicheng has gotten another bargain?
The three of them, two adults and one child, walked to the base of the wall connecting to the back hall of the museum, where Lin Sicheng took out the newspaper again.
Ye Anning glanced at it: "Should we get a magnifying glass? I'll go ask Grandpa for one..."
"Sister Anning, we don't need it for now!"
Lin Sicheng shook his head and unfolded the newspaper.
What's wrong?
He looked at it carefully twice, from top to bottom and then from bottom to top. When he saw the title again, Lin Sicheng was suddenly stunned and exclaimed, "Ha!"
What about the date?
The People's Daily article, which should have included the specific date, is now completely blank.
Haha... A daily newspaper, a daily newspaper, without a date, what's the point of calling it a daily newspaper?
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