Li Xiangdong headed straight for the South City scrap yard!
It was the same old man from last time. He had a good memory; wasn't this the young man who gave him half a pack of cigarettes and 50 cents last time?
here we go again!
The old man came out of the small house and greeted Li Xiangdong warmly, "Young man, here to look for plates and bowls again!"
Li Xiangdong smiled and took out a pack of Golden Leaf cigarettes from his pocket, then handed two cigarettes to the old man. "Yes, sir, do you have any nice plates or bowls lately?"
The old man skillfully took the cigarettes, lit one and put it in his mouth, and tucked the other behind his ear.
He took a deep breath and said, "There's no porcelain lately, just rotten wood and broken furniture."
Li Xiangdong perked up. "The furniture is great!"
"Grandpa, please take me to see this!"
In the southeast corner of the junkyard, there were many rickety tables, cabinets with missing doors, and collapsed beds, with a strong smell of rotten wood hitting the nose.
It was getting dark, and Li Xiangdong carefully examined each piece of furniture with the flashlight the old man had given him.
Under the dim beam of the flashlight, dust and small flying insects swirled around.
This is red pine, this is elm, this is boxwood, this is walnut...
Li Xiangdong looked at them one by one, and they were basically all common wooden furniture found in ordinary households, with simple and rough workmanship and no collectible value.
"Sir, is there anything else?"
Li Xiangdong was a little disappointed.
"They're all here. What do you need? A bed, a kitchen cabinet, or a wardrobe?"
"I want something pretty. Do you have any purple, yellow, or carved ones?"
Nowadays, ordinary household furniture is either painted with black lacquer, tung oil, or red lacquer.
The old man thought for a moment, "Purple and yellow, there is no such furniture."
Li Xiangdong smiled and nodded. "You can't find sandalwood and rosewood so easily!"
He spent a long time looking at the scrap porcelain and scrap iron areas, but found nothing of value.
Looks like this trip was a waste of time!
Li Xiangdong went to the old man's house and washed his hands in a basin of water.
The two chatted for a while, and then Li Xiangdong asked the old man, "If you see any beautiful and intact plates, bowls, or furniture, please keep them for me. I'll buy you some Guandong cigarettes later!"
Guandong tobacco, also known as Piaohe tobacco, is tobacco produced in Piaohe Village, Jiaohe City, Northeast China. It has several varieties, including "Red Flower Iron Dwarf", "White Flower Iron Dwarf", "Big Green Vein", and "Big Ear".
Because Piaohe Village is located in a canyon basin with fertile soil, abundant rainfall, and a suitable climate, it is very suitable for growing tobacco. The Guandong tobacco produced here has a rich aroma and is not harsh on the throat; it was once a tribute to the emperor.
The old man was clearly an expert; he was delighted upon hearing this, "That's great! Northeastern tobacco is fragrant and smooth!"
After talking for a while, Li Xiangdong got up to say goodbye, as the bus was about to stop running.
The South City scrap yard is dozens of miles away from the hotel; walking back by foot would be too tiring.
The old man saw him to the door and suddenly grabbed Li Xiangdong.
He looked around to make sure no one was watching before cautiously saying, "I actually do know where to find purple furniture."
"where?!"
The old man pulled Li Xiangdong into the house again and closed the windows and doors. "Our neighbor Erhu, they ransacked our house before and took a lot of those old-fashioned furniture pieces, which are now piled up in the house."
"His family only had two small rooms, and six people lived there. His mother wanted to burn the wooden planks he had piled up as firewood. Erhu was unhappy about this, saying that these wooden planks could be sold for money!"
"Hey! These days, people can't even get enough to eat, who would spend money on his broken wooden planks! The mother and daughter argue every day because of this!"
Li Xiangdong's heart skipped a beat. Since it was confiscated from a house, it must contain valuable items.
"Sir, I'd like to see what kind of planks they are. Could you help me connect them and build a bridge?"
"No problem. If that thing can really be sold, it'll be a good thing for us neighbors! Erhu's mom curses all the time, day and night, it's driving us crazy!"
The old man works two days on and one day off. Since he happens to have tomorrow off, the two of them agreed to go to Erhu's house together at eight o'clock tomorrow.
...
Luo Yonggang and Bai Yulong woke up one after the other in the middle of the night. When they looked at each other, they were both a little confused!
Where are we?
It took them a while to realize that they were in Dongfang City. The two of them were completely drunk at the dinner table!
The three met early the next morning.
Luo Yonggang scratched the back of his head. "Xiang Dong, we were both drunk yesterday, how did you end up taking us to a hotel?"
"Hey, Uncle, you two have such a low alcohol tolerance! You were completely drunk after just two bottles of Lao Xue. It took me ages to get you both back!"
Bai Yulong smacked his lips, as if savoring the taste of Lao Xue from yesterday, "That taste was so good that you couldn't stop drinking it! It's much better than the corn liquor from our hometown!"
"You two still can't stop! You've both blacked out!"
The two men looked at each other, bewildered. "What does 'drunk to the point of blacking out' mean?"
Li Xiangdong laughed heartily.
After breakfast, the three of them headed straight to Erhu's house.
The old man and Erhu lived in a cluster of small bungalows on the outskirts of the southern city.
The houses in this area are all made of blue bricks and red tiles, but they look very dilapidated. There are stacks of firewood and chicken coops and duck sheds in front of each house.
The road in front of the gate is a dirt road, full of potholes, and many children are playing and frolicking there.
In short, this is a vibrant and down-to-earth neighborhood.
The three waited at the intersection for about half an hour before they saw the old man from the scrap yard swaying over with two fried dough sticks in his arms.
Li Xiangdong quickly went up to the old man and handed him a bag of steamed buns, saying, "Grandpa, have some steamed buns!"
The old man happily took it, first picking up a bun and popping it into his mouth. After chewing for a moment, he swallowed and exclaimed, "Delicious! Delicious!"
"Grandpa, where does Erhu live?"
"Come on, I'll take you there!"
The old man led the three people deeper into the alley, saying, "Be careful, don't step in dog poop or chicken poop!"
As they approached a fence gate, a loud, scathing shout suddenly erupted from inside: "What's wrong with me burning some wood? How am I supposed to cook if I don't light a fire? What are you going to eat?!"
Then a young man came running out angrily, carrying a half-burnt purple piece of wood in his hand!
Li Xiangdong has excellent eyesight; his pupils contracted as soon as he saw that piece of wood!
The piece of wood is dark purple, covered with gold flecks and threads, and glitters in the sunlight as you walk on it.
When the resin secreted by small-leaf sandalwood accumulates and blocks the woody ducts, it forms gold flecks.
The key point is!
The burned part still emitted a rich sandalwood fragrance!
What a waste!
Rosewood has been a royal tribute since Zheng He's voyages to the West during the Ming Dynasty, and in the late Qing Dynasty, it became the wood reserved for emperors.
Rosewood grows extremely slowly, taking five years to grow one annual ring and eight hundred years to mature.
Furthermore, sandalwood is often hollow, meaning that very little of it is actually usable for furniture.
As the saying goes, "An inch of sandalwood is worth an inch of gold, even if it's only a hundred years old
Erhu's mom actually used sandalwood to start a fire for cooking!
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