As a result, the smudged bronze plaque bought from a street stall for ten yuan, the palm-sized snuff bottle from an old shop in the ancient town for a hundred yuan, the inkstone for a thousand yuan... the ancient painting for one hundred thousand yuan...
Bits and pieces, over twenty items in total, they had spent over three hundred thousand yuan.
These items filled the trunk of the car, so of which Sui Yi had carefully packaged.
In Lin Yun’s and another’s view, these things were complete junk, not understanding why Sui Yi would go here and there to select them...
The two of them started with curiosity, moved to puzzlent, and finally to numbness...
Considering that Sui Yi worked in this field, and they would follow him in the future, they might as well learn from the experience...
But it wasn’t just about buying these items. On the second day, around noon when the sun was just right, they arrived at Mao Bamboo Village next to Nanxun. Towering bamboo stalks stood sky-high, lush and green with casting shadows. After climbing the mountain trail for three or four hours, completely disheveled, Lin Yun felt revitalized at the sight...
But then, seeing Sui Yi and Li Jingyan all bright and spirited, her spirits dropped again.
"Hehe, the two of you have good stamina, especially Miss Sui," a middle-aged man dressed in simple clothing said. This was Mao Gang, the Party Secretary of Mao Bamboo Village. He had chanced upon Sui Yi’s group in town. After so conversation, and once Sui Yi knew his background, she took the initiative to visit Mao Bamboo Village, and then...
The three of them arrived here.
Mao Bamboo Village, an even older settlent than Pottery Kiln, had been inhabited for generations. The villagers lived by planting bamboo and selling bamboo carvings they crafted, but now, there were very few people left.
Mao Gang was a local who, though he had joined the Communist Party and beca a rural official, couldn’t shed the simplicity of village folk. He remained polite to Sui Yi’s trio, who were generous and obviously had so resources. After a long conversation, Sui Yi said she was also from a village, which eased so of his restraint, though deep down he didn’t believe her.
"Don’t look down on our place as just a small mountain gap; a hundred years ago, it was truly bustling," Mao Gang said, prompting Lin Yun to chuckle, "Mr. Mao, this place doesn’t even have proper roads. Surely, not many people could have traveled here before, right?"
The mountain path nearly killed her; she considered herself from a poor family, yet she had never faced such hardship.
"Who says there are no roads! This is the road!" Mao Gang said emphatically, stamping his foot.
Sui Yi laughed when she heard this, "I believe it. This place must have been very prosperous in the past, with many traders leading mules, donkeys, and horses here to do business with your ancestors... Perhaps, over a hundred years ago, this was a bustling street..."
Her words sounded like a storyteller’s performance, which surprised Mao Gang, who looked at Sui Yi in amazent. anwhile, Lin Yun was curious, "Really? Miss Sui, how could you tell?"
She instinctively wouldn’t doubt this person but simply wondered.
"On the way up the mountain, there were many paths, and the one we took was wide enough for three people to walk side by side. Such wide paths were generally for donkeys and humans, typical of poorly developed areas in ancient tis. If there were so many paths and wide ones in the mountains, then there must have been travelers or highly prosperous communities atop. Either way, the presence of rchants is certain. The reason I say there was a street is because of these stones; they’re red bricks that have now turned black and grown moss. Given their decay and ruin, the tiline seems to be over a hundred years ago during the Ming or Qing dynasty. From the start of our journey to about five or six hundred ters along the narrow path, we can see such architectural remnants. There must have been at least forty or fifty rchant houses here back then..."
After hearing this, Mao Gang’s eyes shone with excitent, while Lin Yun and Li Jingyan were all suddenly enlightened. Was she right?!
In truth, it didn’t require much logic, just attentiveness and professional insight; undoubtedly, Sui Yi had both.
"Over a hundred years ago, Bamboo Carving in Mao Bamboo Village was already able to form such a comrcial scale... Mr. Mao, I’m really looking forward to seeing the true bamboo carvings of Mao Bamboo Village. So, Mr. Mao, there’s no need to keep leading us in circles anymore... we an no harm."
As Sui Yi finished speaking, Mao Gang’s expression went through rapid changes, and then, with an awkward and apologetic rubbing of his hands, he said in an embarrassed tone as Li Jingyan’s face turned stern, "I apologize. I’ve also seen people who claim to be bosses co here before... those people were bad, always forcing the prices really low, taking advantage of the elders. They would take the bamboo carvings away for very low prices or even without paying... You don’t know, our village elders are so simple-hearted, they offer food and treats to visitors, they themselves go hungry, and yet they feed those people. In the end, they are cheated of money and items... So have even been injured. Just last year, one of my relatives was hurt by them, and those scoundrels ran away, and nobody knew... He died from the cold that very night, right on his own doorstep... And his funeral was barely taken care of; just a few of us old n dealt with it in the dark..."
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