When the rattan suitcase was opened, Gao Mingcheng couldn't help but look sideways at the things inside.
Maozi had received a lot of goods from him before, but most of them were low-end and mid-range goods and not very valuable.
But this box of goods broke his previous understanding of the Russians.
Gao Mingcheng couldn't help but pick it up and look at it carefully.
The items in the box were quite mixed, including small pieces of porcelain and jade, ancient coins and Yuan Datou, and small bronze pieces, one of which was in the shape of a tiger. However, due to maintenance problems, the bronze was already covered with green rust, and the rust was very deep in many parts.
Gao Mingcheng carefully examined the tiger-shaped bronze artifact in his hand and thought that without a professional restorer, it would be impossible to remove the rust.
He put down the bronze tiger-shaped object first and then looked at the beautiful plates.
There are several plates, some are blue and white porcelain, and some are colorful plates with story characters. Judging from the craftsmanship, they seem to be from the Qing Dynasty.
There are also two snuff bottles, one made of porcelain and the other of jade, both are small and exquisite and extremely cute.
In addition, there are actually two paintings by Bada Shanren. One painting shows a solitary pine tree, and the other shows a dead tree and an eagle. The painting skills are very characteristic of Bada Shanren, but to ordinary people, they look quite ordinary.
Gao Mingcheng was holding a jade plaything of a green frog in his hand and exclaimed, "Not bad! Maozi, where did you find so many good things?"
Mao Zi saw that Gao Mingcheng was satisfied, and he immediately laughed triumphantly. He whispered, "These things were all collected from Jiuyangji!"
"Jiuyangji? You went to the next county?" Gao Mingcheng knew Jiuyangji. Jiuyangji was right next to Junshan Lake, and Junshan Lake was also rich in hairy crabs. In later generations, the hairy crabs farmed there were often transported here for sale.
Maozi laughed, glanced at the monkey's house next to him, and whispered: "Not long ago, someone asked Monkey to join the gang, saying that he was going to Jiuyangji to catch swans. As long as he caught a swan and sold it to the provincial capital, he could make a lot of money!"
"There are naturally more swans in Poyang Lake, but there are also more people there, so outsiders can't get involved. But there are fewer people in Jiuyangji, and the ones who recruit monkeys are the locals there. They are responsible for catching the monkeys and quietly sending them to the provincial capital, so that they don't attract attention and won't be discovered."
"Before Monkey left, he called me again. I couldn't get any good stuff around here, so I just went with him, helped him move the goods, and collected some stuff over there."
"Let me tell you, people here used to only know how to dig a hole and bury things, but they relied on the talents of the people near the lake, and actually hid the things at the bottom of the lake!"
"Some people hide things on islands in the lake. During the flood season, the islands are submerged in water. In autumn and winter, few people go to check on them. In recent years, the situation has improved, and some people have gone to find the things they had hidden before."
"But I was late. Those smarter families had already sold their goods to the provincial capital! Well, I collected these things bit by bit in the village."
As he spoke, Maozi let out a long sigh, his face full of regret.
Gao Mingcheng was quite surprised when he heard this. He hadn't seen Maozi for a while and didn't expect that he would do such a thing.
There are really swans in the Poyang Lake area now. In addition to swans, there are also many precious migratory birds. These migratory birds come here to spend the winter. They are active in the Poyang Lake area in late autumn and early spring every year.
There was a folk song that described it this way: "How many birds are there in Poyang Lake? When they fly, they cover all the clouds and the moon; when they land, the grass by the lake is invisible."
From this folk song, we can get an idea of the spectacular scene when migratory birds winter in Poyang Lake.
Since ancient times, wealthy people have liked delicacies from mountains and seas. For rich people, wild boars are not something they are willing to eat, as they think the meat is tough, rough and fishy.
The only wild game in the mountains that catch their eye are those with good taste, such as yellow muntjac and turtledove.
But the precious birds that migrate to Poyang Lake for the winter every winter become the first choice of the rich. Regardless of whether they taste good or not, the rarity of the ingredients makes them a point of showing off.
The swans in Poyang Lake are little swans. In addition, there are also white cranes, grey cranes, geese and ducks. These birds are all good-looking and rare food. Once caught, they fetch a very high price in the market.
If Gao Mingcheng wanted to get rich by hunting, then even if he hunted all the wild boars in Niuweiling, he would not get rich. But if he could go to Poyang Lake and catch birds for a winter, he would definitely become wealthy.
Because of the huge profits, the number of migratory birds has gradually decreased, and later on, human protection is needed.
Maozi didn't know what Gao Mingcheng was thinking, so he said, "Brother Mingcheng, I came back this time because I was worried about my family and I had no money left. I wanted to sell my things before going back there."
Gao Mingcheng asked in surprise: "Are you still going?"
Maozi said, "Of course, they are still catching birds now. I can go and help them and earn two bucks."
One part was the money for the help, and the other part was the difference between the price he earned from selling the antiques.
Gao Mingcheng thought for a moment and said, "I remember that the police there should be strict. You should be careful when you go there. If you get caught, you will go to jail."
Maozi didn't take it seriously and said nonchalantly, "What am I afraid of? I'm just helping to move things and deliver goods! The locals are the ones who catch the birds. I heard that they all have connections. Just be careful and don't make a big fuss."
Seeing this, Gao Mingcheng said no more.
However, Maozi's incident made him remember something belatedly.
It seems that hunting has been gradually banned since last year, and it was implemented this year.
However, the efforts on their side are not great. Although there are many mountains, it is not a hard-hit area for hunting, so the policy is implemented slowly. Gao Mingcheng most often hunts wild boars and rabbits.
Although wild boars have also become protected animals, they have strong reproductive capacity. After a few years of protection, they will become rampant and then come down the mountains to eat the crops planted by villagers. The conflict between humans and wild boars will escalate.
Therefore, wild boars were removed from the list of the three musts, and more and more cities allowed wild boar hunting.
As a result, Gao Mingcheng even forgot that he would soon be unable to hunt wild boars.
However, since ancient times, officials will not investigate unless the people report it. If you kill and eat an animal secretly and no one knows about it, then it's fine. The only thing to worry about is that if someone finds out and then uses it to prove a crime, it will be more troublesome.
This incident reminded Gao Mingcheng that he could still go into the mountains to hunt wild boars, but he had to keep the noise low and not let outsiders know.
After making the decision in his mind, Gao Mingcheng temporarily forgot about the matter and started to estimate the prices one by one.
He didn't let Maozi make an offer, but instead estimated it himself. If the price was right, he would do the deal; if it was not, he would talk about it later.
Maozi nodded at most of the prices. Sometimes he smiled, sometimes with a little reluctance. You could tell what he was thinking from his expression.
Because the goods were good, the total cost was about a thousand yuan.
This was the biggest gain for Maozi. He was smiling as he counted the money.
After such a delay, it was already one o'clock in the afternoon. Yangyang, who was hungry and had not eaten, was sitting aside with a look of grievance on his face. However, he did not make any sound to disturb them, but just swayed his body restlessly.
Gao Mingcheng glanced at his watch and said apologetically, "Go cook. I think Yangyang is hungry."
Maozi glanced at his younger brother, and Yangyang immediately gave him a look of grievance.
Maozi immediately reached out and touched his brother's hair, comforting him: "Yangyang, go light the fire, we'll cook noodles for lunch, and put eggs and meat in them for you! We'll cook dinner in the evening!"
"Yeah." Yangyang responded and went to light the fire with a smile.
Gao Mingcheng also closed the rattan suitcase and walked towards the tractor with it.
In order to make it easier to pack things, he also bought this suitcase, but because it was relatively old, the price was not expensive.
When Gao Mingcheng took the things and drove the tractor back to the store, Gao Shufang and the others were eating, but they left a portion for him, which was kept warm in a large iron pot.
This winter, food gets cold quickly, so Gao Mingcheng never asks them to wait for him to come back to eat, but lets them eat while it's hot.
Many girls helped to lift the lid of the pot and take out the warm food inside.
"Ming Cheng, why did you come back so late? Hey, did you buy apples?"
Gao Mingcheng held the suitcase in one hand and the apple given by Xiao Jinfeng in the other.
He handed a basket of apples to Xuanyue and said, "This is a gift from Brother Xiao. These are big apples grown in Shandong."
He saw a few pieces of grapefruit pulp on the table and the grapefruit peels soaking in the wooden basin next to it, and couldn't help laughing: "You guys are so quick to prepare the pickled grapefruit peels!"
Gao Shufang ate all the rice in the bowl in a few bites and said enthusiastically, "We're not going to make pickled pomelo peels this time. We're going to make something else! Aunt Hu learned this from her neighbor. She said the weather is good recently and it's suitable for drying in the sun, so she said she'd make some for us to try."
"Okay, it would be nice to make some new flavors to try." Gao Mingcheng said with a smile, then sat down and started eating.
After being busy for most of the day, he was really hungry. He ate two bowls of rice in a row and finished all the dishes. Then he put down his chopsticks in satisfaction and burped.
It is said that a cigarette after a meal is better than being a living god. In his previous life, he would have to light a cigarette at this moment and be in a daze for a while, but now, he chose to stand up and walk slowly to digest his food.
Although he moved to the new house, his room was still his, and there was a quilt on the bed for little Xuxu to take a nap.
When he carried the suitcase upstairs, Xiao Xuxu was already sleeping soundly, and Xuanyuemei was standing beside him. When she saw Gao Mingcheng coming in, she just smiled with a smile on her face, but didn't say a word.
Gao Mingcheng went to get a basin of water, preparing to carry out preliminary cleaning and maintenance of the newly received antiques.
Everything else is easy, but the rusty bronze artifact is a bit difficult to deal with.
Gao Mingcheng looked at it carefully. He didn't have any professional rust remover, and if he used vinegar to wash it, it would leave ugly yellow marks.
So after much thought, I decided to soak it in hot water to remove the earth rust in the bronze veins and the copper rust on the shallow surface first.
So Gao Mingcheng took the bronze ware downstairs again, found a separate small basin, and soaked it in hot water.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Gao Mingcheng called Gao Shufang to his side.
"Shufang, the day after tomorrow is your fourth brother's day off. I plan to give you a week off. Then I'll ask your fourth brother to take you back to Gaojia Village. You can stay at home and accompany grandma."
Hearing her second brother's words, Gao Shufang widened her eyes in surprise, her face full of disbelief and joy.
"Haha, great! Second brother, I really miss the village and my grandma!" Gao Shufang was suddenly as happy as a child. She had already started thinking about what to buy to bring back for her grandma and parents.
She also heard that her eldest sister-in-law had given birth to a niece, so the gift had to include a portion for her niece.
Seeing Gao Shufang's happy look, Gao Mingcheng didn't mention that Grandma Gao had Alzheimer's disease.
Because Gao Shufang is willing to accompany her grandmother from the bottom of her heart, as long as she goes back, this companionship will not be discounted.
But Gao Mingwan is different. If he is not told that Grandma Gao is becoming senile and confused, then Gao Mingwan will not think of going back to visit her.
This is the difference between men and women, and also the difference in emotional closeness.
Seeing Gao Shufang happy, Gao Mingcheng was also very happy.
Luo Li, who was pregnant, was more interested in the topic of whether the baby would be a boy or a girl. When she heard that Gao Mingcheng's sister-in-law had given birth to a daughter, she couldn't help but touch her belly, wondering whether the baby in her belly was a boy or a girl.
She was a little worried about the gender. After all, her mother gave birth to several daughters in a row, and only later did she finally give birth to a son.
Luo Li is not afraid of having more children, but she cannot have more children!
Family planning has been implemented for a long time. Here, ordinary people can have two children, but workers in the system and factories can only have one!
In other words, unless Huang Dazhi stops being a policeman, Luo Li can only have one child.
But Huang Dazhi had finally become a policeman, moved his household registration to the county, and bought land and built a house in the county. How could he bear to stop being a policeman?
So Luo Li was under a lot of pressure.
She was afraid that she would be like her mother, blooming first and bearing fruit later.
But my mother still has a chance to get results, but I don’t.
It’s just that it’s hard to say such things to others, so she can only bear the pressure alone.
In the morning, Gao Mingcheng was very busy, but in the afternoon, he was much more relaxed. He stayed in the store and looked at the accounts for a while. He estimated that it was time to get off work, so he prepared to go to the police station, talk to Gao Guobing, and then go home together, and give Gao Guobing some wild boar meat.
Since I have given gifts to everyone, I naturally have to give gifts to Gao Guobing!
It's just not easy to take it to the police station, and there's no need to do so. Now that our two families live close to each other, we can just deliver the meat directly to our home after get off work.
He hadn't been to the police station for a while, and as soon as he arrived, he was stopped by Huang Dazhi.
Huang Dazhi smiled when he saw Gao Mingcheng and said, "Mingcheng, you are finally back. Come, let's go to the side and talk."
"Okay." Gao Mingcheng readily agreed and walked with Huang Dazhi to a secluded place. (End of this chapter)
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