Liu Yumin was puzzled: "I understand that every place has its own rules. Sister Fuya, just tell me what you want to say."
Tan Fuya sighed and said, "The country now implements a unified purchase and sale system and prohibits the buying and selling of grain. Although the country is backing us up, the people still can't get enough to eat, especially those capitalists and landlords from before liberation. Although their property has been confiscated and they have been criticized and struggled against, they have no land and do the hardest and most tiring work, but their wages are less than half of what normal people earn."
Actually, some of them are quite decent; they have some possessions. To survive, they have no choice but to trade these things. They only want food, so…”
Strictly speaking, this is illegal. She felt a connection with Yumin, but forgot that she was a state cadre who was determined to resist these things. If she wanted to report it, the entire antique market would be implicated.
She wanted to share the secret with her girlfriends, but in a moment of carelessness, she forgot that it involved national policy, and now she's starting to feel scared.
Liu Yumin was silent for a moment: "Sister Fuya, I am just an ordinary old lady now."
She knew the hardships of life at the bottom of society. The country prohibited the buying and selling of grain because of food shortages. When grain was available, there was a frenzy of buying, and some people even hoarded it maliciously. Economic fluctuations and social instability caused the country to implement a system to prevent hoarding. As a member of the Communist Party, she should strictly abide by the system.
However, as long as it doesn't cause panic due to price gouging and can solve the problem of people not having enough to eat, she feels that she can turn a blind eye, especially since antiques are the crystallization of the wisdom of our ancestors.
For the starving, exchanging antiques for food was a viable way to survive. For the collectors who acquired the antiques, waiting for the new society to develop and let them witness their glory again was also a good option. It was better than having them collected and sent abroad. She had heard that some people were selling antiques abroad, but they did it discreetly and were not discovered. The country had not caught those people.
Tan Fuya was relieved: "Yumin, it's not that I don't trust you, it's just that I'm familiar with them all, and I can't crush their hopes. They're really waiting for these things to be exchanged for food to save their lives."
If it weren't for Old Fu's foresight in supporting the Red Army, the Fu family would probably be in the same situation now. They're not too strapped for cash right now, so they'll help out as much as they can. She won't haggle as long as it's not excessive.
A trip to the antique market should have been a happy one, but when Liu Yumin returned to her room to rest, she felt extremely sad. The country was still not prosperous enough; in times of peace, antiques were valued, but in times of chaos, gold was valued. The country was still not truly prosperous.
The next day, Liu Yumin and Tan Fuya planned to go together, but Zhu Fanfan kept crying and Xu Jie couldn't soothe her. She was fine as long as the two of them held her. Helpless, the two of them had no choice but to take Zhu Fanfan with them, and only then did Zhu Fanfan stop crying.
The antique market is located on the edge of the city, bordering the suburbs, and is even in a forest, where it is supervised from all sides.
Tan Fuya explained, "The rule here is to pay an entrance fee of 100,000 yuan, and you are absolutely not allowed to reveal the location. If you hear a whistle, run immediately, it means the police are coming to check."
Although Liu Yumin wasn't short of 100,000 yuan, she was still shocked: "100,000 yuan entrance fee?"
Zhu Fanfan was also stunned. 100,000 yuan? Is this a robbery? In modern times, it would take her a long time to save up 100,000 yuan. She wondered if she was hallucinating.
Tan Fuya explained: "We are the buyers, each paying 100,000 yuan. The sellers, as long as they confirm that the product is genuine, will have to pay a handling fee of 10,000 yuan if it is sold, or the equivalent price of grain. If it cannot be sold, they will have to pay a fee of 1,000 yuan."
Seeing that Yumin was still having trouble accepting it, Tan Fuya explained: "The fee is to prevent some onlookers from coming to watch the spectacle, and also to keep the police on guard against coming to investigate. We have some money, so it's a good thing to be able to get the antiques back, so they don't end up outside."
Liu Yumin said nothing more. In the early days of the People's Republic of China, everything was waiting to be developed, and there were naturally many things that the country had not considered. Antiques were one of them. Before liberation, the reactionaries smuggled all the things passed down from our ancestors out of the country, and they could not be recovered. Now the country was worried about food, and antiques were really not as important as food. It was good that they ended up in the hands of patriots like Brother Fu.
Tan Fuya paid the money and was led to a room. After they left, Tan Fuya locked the door: "Yumin, change your clothes!"
After saying that, she took out a set of black clothes, which were quite large, like a theatrical robe. Liu Yumin couldn't help but laugh. Tan Fuya said, "We'll cover our faces later, so no one will recognize us."
Liu Yumin knew that her identity was not suitable for being recognized, so she did as she was told. Zhu Fanfan's stroller was also pushed over. As long as the stroller was well covered, no one would recognize her. Fanfan loved to cry and laugh, but she wouldn't make a fuss after she was full, nor would she distract them.
After they were both dressed up, they came out. Once there, Tan Fuya was like a fish in water, showing Liu Yumin around and even explaining the authenticity of the antiques and which ones were suitable for collection. At this moment, Tan Fuya seemed to be shining, and she was particularly dazzling.
The rooms aren't clustered together; they're spaced quite far apart. Each person has something in front of them, so you can't hear each other when you talk. The privacy is excellent.
Zhu Fanfan could only see the roof of the car above her head. Her grandmother had protected her very well, so no one could see her. She really wanted to see it too. As she was thinking, she seemed to "see" a row of small stalls in front of her, and even their shapes were very clear. Zhu Fanfan suddenly felt very magical. She was sure that this was not her imagination.
Regardless of what happened to Zhu Fanfan, Tan Fuya went to each stall and started looking at things. She would look at one stall and then another, flitting about happily like a butterfly. Liu Yumin thought that such a girlish demeanor was not at all out of place for an old lady.
As she walked, she saw an old man with a large box in front of him. As a doctor, she smelled a faint fragrance of medicine, so she went up to him and asked, "What's in your box?"
When the old man saw someone asking, he didn't answer but instead asked, "Are you a doctor?"
Liu Yumin answered honestly, "Yes."
The old man breathed a sigh of relief and opened the box. Liu Yumin stepped forward to look and found an ancient and sturdy medicine cauldron.
Although the cauldron is rusty, the exquisite carvings are still visible. It is one meter high and more than one meter wide. The faint medicinal fragrance comes from the cauldron. The mottled marks represent the erosion of time. If it were still in good condition, it would be a top-tier collectible.
The old man said, “This is my family’s ancestral medicine cauldron. The legendary elixirs are made from this cauldron. However, no one in my family has the talent for alchemy. Now that my family is in financial difficulty, I don’t want to sell it casually. If you are a doctor, there are some medical books with it. I will give it to someone who is destined to receive it.”
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