My grandfather never mentioned my father to me from childhood to adulthood.
Aside from the name Duan Jinyan, I know nothing about him, and I don't even have a single photo of him at home.
Every time I asked about my father, my grandfather would scold me. But several times after I asked about my father, I found that he would secretly drink alone at night and shed tears.
At this point, Grandpa Wei brought up my father's affairs, which piqued my curiosity.
My bloodline is related to how I came into this world. I was ridiculed since I was a child because I had no father or mother, and this has become a deep-seated problem for me.
Thinking of this, I immediately changed my attitude: "Grandpa Wei, could you tell me about my dad?"
"You little rascal, your ability to change your stance with the wind is just like your father's."
Old Master Wei raised an eyebrow: "Want to hear?"
I nodded decisively: "Yes!"
"Very well, the four families share the same origin. The fact that your Duan family's Wangyunzhai still exists means that your grandfather has designated you as the heir of the Duan family. There are some things I should let you know."
Grandpa Wei took off his tobacco pouch and purse from his waist, sat down in the main seat of the sofa, filled a bag with tobacco, and began to tell me a story from the past.
In the late Qing Dynasty, the political situation was turbulent.
The imperial power was weak, foreign powers carved up the country, and the people suffered greatly.
Internal and external troubles loomed like heavy clouds over the heads of hundreds of millions of Chinese people.
In the autumn of 1910, on the eve of the Xinhai Revolution, a plague broke out in Northeast China, raging for half a year and affecting several provinces, causing huge casualties.
During this period, both Tsarist Russia and Japan, under the pretext of protecting their nationals, prepared to monopolize the epidemic prevention work, and even went so far as to send troops to threaten them, attempting to seize police power in the three northeastern provinces and further control the resource-rich Northeast region.
In Northeast China that year, starvation was rampant. Although it didn't reach the point of people exchanging children to eat, selling one's children had become the norm.
Fengtian was also affected by the plague, and many people lost their jobs as a result. The number of beggars on the streets increased exponentially.
A disaster, while leaving Northeast China in ruins, also brought about the rise of many industries.
The first to be affected were opium dens. At that time, the plague was raging and the daily death toll was stimulating the nerves of many people. Many wealthy people were afraid that they would also contract the plague, so they began to indulge in pleasure and live one day at a time.
Secondly, there was the pawn industry, also known as pawnshops, because people simply couldn't afford to live anymore. Apart from the clothes they had left, they sold almost everything they could.
At that time, the pawn industry in Fengtian City was divided into three categories: official pawns, private pawns, and small-scale pawns.
The so-called official pawnshops refer to the pawnshops that lend interest to the Qing government's national treasury and local reserves. In short, they were state-owned enterprises. These official pawnshops were mainly for wealthy gentry and merchants, similar to modern bank loans.
Private pawnshops, also known as private pawnshops, are privately owned and operated by individuals who cater to ordinary merchants and the general public. They would never dare to compete with government-run pawnshops. These private pawnshops offer extremely high interest rates and employ thugs, earning them a notorious reputation for exploiting people.
The term "small pawnshop" refers to a pawnshop that operates secretly without a name, signboard, or official license; it is essentially a black market pawnshop.
Small pawnshops are the riskiest type of pawnshop. Although they offer high pay, there is no guarantee. If they receive something valuable, they will most likely pack up and run away, leaving customers with nowhere to redeem their pawned items. Therefore, most people who go to small pawnshops end up with unredeemed items.
My ancestors were small-time pawnbrokers.
It was precisely through this industry that my Duan family was able to survive unscathed during that era of war, chaos, and widespread suffering.
Back in Fengtian City, there were four families with the best reputation in the small-time pawnbroking industry: the Qu family, the Duan family, the Song family, and the Wei family. They were known as the "Four Small Pawnbroking Families" or the "Four Small Doors".
Xiao Simen has a rule for doing business: they don't accept gold and silver jewelry or real estate deeds; they only accept antique calligraphy, paintings, and rare collectibles.
If any item is rejected by one of the three companies, the other three will certainly not accept it either. Therefore, it is widely believed that these four companies are actually a business of the same company.
Some people have said that the leaders of these four families are sworn brothers who swore a blood oath, and in earlier years, they were tomb raiders who explored caves together.
Because the head of the four families was getting old, he was afraid that continuing to raid tombs would damage his karma and harm the fate of his descendants, so he switched to the pawnshop business.
The reason they only accept unearthed antiques is that the people of Simen have been exploring the underground for so many years that they only recognize antiques and are skilled at appraising them.
There are many different theories about the origin of the four gates, and no one knows the truth.
Back then, the four major pawnshops in Fengtian City stood out from the rest, with an excellent reputation. Basically, anyone selling antiques would choose these four as their first choice.
As time went by, it was natural that they would attract covetous eyes. Back then, both officials and bandits coveted the wealth amassed by the Xiao Si Men. However, thanks to the protection of the Wei family, they remained safe and sound. This was because the eldest son of the Wei family was the chief bodyguard of Zhang Xiluan, the governor of Fengtian.
The world changes, time passes.
The Qing Dynasty fell, the Republic of China was established, Yuan Shikai was overthrown after proclaiming himself emperor, and the country entered an era of warlordism and constant warfare.
For the pawnbroking business, the more chaotic the times, the more prosperous the business. After all, in those days when human life was at stake, no treasure was as valuable as a bowl of plain porridge to fill one's stomach.
On the eve of the September 18 Incident, Fengtian had been renamed Shenyang. After years of development, the four families could be considered the true elite families of Shenyang.
The good times didn't last long. As the invaders' iron hooves swept into the country, all sectors of society suffered a huge blow.
In those turbulent years of war, it seemed as if a huge curtain was hanging over the vast land of China, plunging every citizen into panic and leaving them without hope.
At that time, taking advantage of China's open doors and national weakness, foreign powers plundered Chinese antiques and treasures from the people through cunning and force.
This was a heavy blow to the Simen, who specialized in the antique business. At the time, the Japanese invaders stationed in Shenyang also demanded that the Simen hand over all their treasures within a specified period.
That same year, my great-grandfather, facing the bullying of the Japanese invaders, decided to abandon his business and join the army to resist foreign aggression.
The night before my great-grandfather passed away, the four heads of the family gathered together.
At that time, the head of the Wei family was also a young man. Looking at the devastated land, he was filled with indignation and decided to join the army with my great-grandfather.
The head of the Song family decided to take his entire family to live with his nephew who was studying abroad, while the head of the Qu family prepared to migrate south to escape the war.
At that time, my great-grandfather tried to dissuade the head of the Qu family, saying that with foreign aggression looming, instead of hiding all the way, it would be better to go to the battlefield and kill the enemy, so that this beautiful land could be restored to peace. However, the head of the Qu family repeatedly declined, saying that as long as he ran fast enough, the flames of war would not be able to catch him.
On that day, my great-grandfather broke a priceless Warring States period dragon-patterned jade pendant. The heads of four families each received one piece, agreeing to reunite in Shenyang after the war subsided, meeting in front of the Fengtian Temple on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month each year, each with a fragment of the jade pendant.
That night, the four gates dispersed, and all the treasures that the Japanese invaders had specifically requested were sunk into the Hun River, and years of hard work went down the drain.
Even if it means mutual destruction, we cannot hand over our ancestors' legacy to the Japanese invaders.
This was a helpless situation, a radical one, and also the struggle of the four gates against the Japanese invaders.
After the liberation of the whole country, my great-grandfather returned to his hometown in glory, but the head of the Wei family was separated from him on the battlefield.
To keep his promise, my great-grandfather did not accept the job assigned by the organization, but instead returned to his old profession and set up the pawnshop again.
From then on, every year on the Double Ninth Festival, he would go to the Drum Tower to wait, with a cup of cloudy wine and a small dish of snacks, and sit there for a whole day.
Until the Confucian Temple was demolished and turned into the playground of Chaoyang Street Primary School, only the name of the Confucian Temple remained, and no one was ever seen coming to the other three gates.
Later, my great-grandfather passed away. Before he died, he repeatedly told my grandfather that he must keep the pawnshop running and protect the Duan family's legacy.
But my grandfather was also a restless fellow. As soon as the Korean War started, he closed his shop and joined the army.
In retrospect, my grandfather's choice was correct, because in 1956, the People's Bank of China held an anti-usury conference and banned pawnshops, which were considered an exploitative industry.
It wasn't until the early 1980s, with my country's economic reforms, that the pawn industry, which had been dormant for more than 30 years, miraculously revived.
That same year, my grandfather revived the Duan family shop.
After telling the story for a while, Old Master Wei fell silent, puffing on his pipe.
I took off the jade pendant fragment that my grandfather had left me, and it matched perfectly with the piece that Grandpa Wei had taken out.
However, my grandfather never told me about the history of the four schools, let alone the meeting at the Confucian Temple.
I looked at the jade pendant on the table, raised my head and asked, "Grandpa, why did you stop talking?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com