1942, I lived on hunting

He said to the old woman, "Everyone is thirsty. How much do you want to sell me for this bowl of soup?" After the two sides agreed on the price, the antique dealer asked, "What should I do with this bowl?" The old woman said, "You can return it after you finish drinking it." The antique dealer said, "If you return it after you finish drinking it, I will miss the team. How about this? I will give you a price for this bowl, and you can buy a big new bowl." The old woman muttered, "It's so expensive to buy a new bowl now. It's a good deal to exchange a broken bowl for a new one." So the antique dealer gave the old woman the money for a new bowl, and the deal was done.

This colorful sea bowl is a porcelain made in the imperial kiln during the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty. It is very valuable, but it was exchanged for the price of a new bowl. Therefore, the most important thing for antique collectors is to have a good eye and level. Otherwise, you will not be able to survive in the antique market where real and fake items are mixed and it is extremely dangerous.

Li Hao is a complete idiot in the antique business. He doesn't even notice when someone puts a good thing in front of him. Instead, it's the things of the liar Lao Natou that attract his attention. After Lao Natou was dragged away, no one paid any attention to his pile of things, which shows that there is not a single real thing. Wasn't Li Hao still very happy when he saw them?

Mr. Yu taught Li Hao a way, which was to go to a trust store to buy. Although the things there were expensive, most of them were authentic. Isn't it better than Li Hao just buying blindly?

Li Hao was moved by the old man's words. What the old man said made sense. Why did he have to go to the black market to exchange things? Isn't it a kind of bargain for me to buy things in the trust store? I haven't been to the trust store yet, so I can go and take a look, just for fun.

Grandpa Yu didn't get enough rest last night and was a little tired now. Li Hao was also a little sleepy, so he discussed with the old man to wait until they had a good rest in the afternoon before going to the trust store.

The Yu family made cornmeal porridge in the morning, one bowl for each person, but no portion for Li Hao. Grandpa Yu and Li Hao shared a bowl, drank it, and went to rest.

Li Hao got up at about noon. Grandpa Yu's grandson was very considerate and helped Li Hao get a basin of water for washing. Li Hao rewarded him with a few candies, and the boy jumped up with joy. Grandpa Yu got up earlier than Li Hao. After getting up, he went to check on his old brother's condition and asked his daughter-in-law to stew chicken soup to nourish his old brother.

At noon, Li Hao still had lunch at Yu's house. There was meat in the bowl. When Yu's sister-in-law killed a chicken to make chicken soup, she saved the chicken intestines, chicken head, chicken feet and so on. At noon, she stir-fried them and stewed them with some cabbage, which gave the soup a meaty taste.

Li Hao ate two bites and stopped, giving the Yu family's little grandson a chance. He didn't mind that it was Li Hao's leftovers, and ate it with relish.

After dinner, Yu Lihao rode his bike and the old man showed the way to Caishikou. Caishikou is a famous historical place in Beijing. It was once the main execution ground during the Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China. When we watch pigtail operas, there are often stories about people being taken to Caishikou and beheaded for public display. This is what is being talked about here.

When the execution was to take place, the Infantry Command Office would dispatch hundreds of cavalry and infantry to surround the execution ground. The supervising official was an official from the Ministry of Justice or the Dali Temple. A dirt platform would be erected at the northeast corner of Caishikou, surrounded on three sides by large oilcloths. According to the rules, on the day of the execution, the supervising official would offer sacrifices to the shrine of the King of Hell and place incense burners and offerings. This was a rule from ancient times, indicating that an auspicious day should be chosen to behead the criminal.

In the middle of the execution ground, there are ten thick tree stumps. Why ten? They represent the ten kings of hell in the underworld. During the execution, the criminals put their heads on them and wait for the executioner to strike.

Before the execution, the prisoner must be well fed and well watered. Even if he becomes a ghost, he will not be a starving ghost. Once there are too many "starving ghosts", the world will be in chaos. If someone drinks wine and eats food at the door of someone's house, that person's family will be rewarded for their good deeds.

Most executions were carried out at "12: pm", which is now noon. When the time came, the timekeeper shouted loudly at the top of his voice, and the supervising official held a red pen and drew repeatedly. The executioners took their positions and beheaded from east to west. Because there were too many prisoners and too few executioners, they were short of breath and weak in beheading. At this time, someone brought a red tray with three large white porcelain cups on it: one cup of water, one cup of tea, and one cup of wine. The executioner first took a cup of water to rinse his mouth and spit it out; then he held the cup of wine in his mouth without drinking it and sprayed it on the blade of the ghost head; and finally, he had to drink the cup of tea.

After the prisoner was killed, his body was carried away. If a wealthy person paid a "farewell" fee, the executioner would shout, "Master! I will wait for you." He would cut off the neck with a knife, leaving a layer of skin attached to the head, so that the family could carry the body and sew the head on for a complete body burial. If the prisoner had no status and no money, he would be beheaded and then kicked the body. If the prisoner had no family, the vendors around Caishikou would raise money to find someone to bury him in a mass grave.

However, Li Hao and his companions were not going to see the execution ground. There was a miscellaneous trust store here, which was the largest trust store closest to Chao Shou Hutong. Li Hao and his companions wanted to see if they could find any treasures here.

Under the constant reminder of the old man, Li Hao rode his bike to the door of the trust store. After getting off the bike, Li Hao took out a big lock to lock the bike, and then went in with the old man.

There is a faint musty smell as soon as you enter the door. It is mainly because most of the goods here are old, so it is normal to have a little musty smell. There are two types of counters. There are low counters on both sides of the aisle, and the passage behind is where the staff walk. There is a row of high counters next to the wall. The counters are all made of wood and sealed with glass, which is convenient for people to see and choose goods.

There were quite a few people in the store, most of the men gathered around the counters selling watches and radios, while the women preferred to gather around the counters selling used clothes and handbags. In addition, there were some counters selling expensive items such as jade jewelry, cameras, and phonographs that were not used by ordinary people, and there were fewer people there.

Old Master Yu dragged Li Hao directly to look at jade jewelry. There were all kinds of jewelry in the cabinet, including phoenix hairpins, earrings, rings, brooches, necklaces, pendants, jade rings and jade pendants, and hand-held pieces.

Li Hao is responsible for seeing which one he likes, and the old man is responsible for asking the price. If he encounters an item that is beautiful but the price is not right, Li Hao will not insist on buying it, but will obediently put it down.

In the end, the two of them won two white jade pendants and a complete set of jade jewelry. Actually, Li Hao originally only wanted the two bracelets and necklace, but they wouldn't sell them separately, so he had to buy the whole set. The price was not expensive, a white jade Guanyin pendant was only more than 50 yuan, and the other jade Buddha was a little more expensive, but not more than 70 yuan. The complete set of jade jewelry was more expensive. The clerk said that it included more than pieces of jade jewelry of varying sizes. The whole set of jewelry was made of one piece of jade, which was very rare.