I trade in both worlds

Xu Ziqi looked at his sister's determined eyes and felt helpless.

"But how do we solve the silver problem?" He raised another difficult question. "Every time we go to ancient times to buy furniture, we need a lot of silver. If we buy a lot of silver in modern times, it will definitely attract official attention."

Xu Ziqing smiled and said indifferently: "Brother, have you forgotten that we can bring things from modern times to sell? Besides, there are still many good furniture in ancient times. If we hand them all over to the auction house, it will cause unnecessary trouble."

Xu Ziqi was silent for a moment, his inner struggle was obvious, and what Xu Ziqing said made sense.

He sighed and said, "It's a good idea, but..."

Xu Ziqing interrupted, "Brother, I understand your concerns. However, if we do nothing, those furniture will sooner or later be reduced to ashes in the war. Some woods are hard to find in modern times, and I want to preserve them to the best of my ability."

Looking at Xu Ziqing's determined eyes, Xu Ziqi gave in: "Okay, since you insist, I can only support you."

Xu Xu watched from the side for a long time, and when he saw the result, he smiled and asked, "Where do you plan to open a store?"

Xu Ziqing thought for a moment and said, "I think we should choose a place with a rich cultural heritage, which will make it easier to attract people who are interested in antiques."

Xu Ziqi nodded in agreement: "That's right, and it would be best if that place has a lot of traffic, so that our store can have more exposure opportunities."

"The rent in those places won't be very cheap, right?" Xu Xu asked.

Xu Ziqing nodded: "The rent of places like Antique Street is not cheap. Fortunately, I made a lot of money from selling jade stones before, so I can still support myself for the time being."

Speaking of raw stones, Xu Ziqi thought of the gifts from Liu Fu and said, "Xiaoqing, take out the gifts from the Liu family and give some to Xuxu."

"What gift?" Xu Xu asked curiously.

Xu Ziqing replied as he searched: "Before we came back, Chief Steward Liu sent two pieces of raw stone, two boxes of brushes, inkstones, two sets of head ornaments, and two boxes of donkey-hide gelatin."

Xu Xu frowned and asked, "These things are probably not cheap. Why did the Liu family send such expensive things?"

Xu Ziqing sighed and said, "At first, we didn't know what the Liu family gave us. Later, we found out that it was too expensive and we didn't dare to accept it. But since we accepted it, it's not easy to return it."

Xu Ziqi continued, "Go online and buy some rare items as a return gift."

Xu Xu nodded, thinking that this was a good idea: "Good idea, but this is a gift from the Liu family, I don't want it."

"It's definitely not just for the two of us." Xu Ziqi pointed at the headdress and said, "Look at this headdress, it's obviously something you guys wear at your age. And those two boxes of donkey-hide gelatin are also for you."

Xu Ziqing also nodded: "Yes, they also want to buy the recipes of Snow Mei Niang and Egg Yolk Pastry from you, and the gifts they sent are also to establish a good relationship with us."

"Why do you want to buy a house from me?" Xu Xu looked at her puzzled.

Xu Ziqing looked at her proudly and said, "You should thank me for this. I told Chief Steward Liu that you made those snow meringues and egg yolk pastries yourself."

"I thought you would support several children to take the imperial examinations, so you should earn as much as possible. Now the Liu family wants to spend 10,000 taels to buy these two prescriptions."

"Ah?" Xu Xu was stunned: "But I don't know how to do it either."

"Just learn it. There are many tutorials on the Internet. It will be a very easy thing for you," Xu Ziqing replied.

"Okay, then I'll buy the materials and make it myself later." Xu Xu didn't hesitate. How could he not be enthusiastic about making money?

Xu Ziqing nodded and said, "When you learn it, give some to Sister Feng and ask her to help take a message to Chief Steward Liu."

Seeing that they had reached an agreement, Xu Ziqi continued, "You and Xuxu should divide these gifts in half."

Xu Xu refused, "I don't want these, you can sell them, and I won't share the money for the pastry recipe with you."

These were all given to Xu Ziqi and Xu Ziqing by the Liu family. It would not be appropriate for me to take them.

"That won't work." Xu Ziqing rejected it, "You are the one who researched how to make the pastries. This recipe was originally yours, and you also have a share of these things."

Xu Xu thought for a moment, picked up two boxes of pens, inkstones, and said, "Then I'll take these two. They're just right for Xiao Jin and Xiao Zhun."

Xu Ziqi smiled, picked up a piece of raw stone and a set of gold headpieces, and handed them to Xu Xu: "This is also for you, and the rest belongs to us."

"No, I don't want the raw stones. I have enough money here. I don't need too much. You should keep it. We will need a lot of funds to open a store." Xu Xu refused.

Xu Ziqing couldn't help but feel a little amused when he saw the two of them pushing each other.

She patted the table gently and said, "Okay, okay. Let's each have one share and stop pushing the issue back and forth. The gems and wood we brought back this time are no less valuable than these two rough stones."

"Not to mention the red sandalwood official leather box, its price is much more expensive than the raw stone in your hand. So, take it, we won't lose anything."

Hearing this, Xu Xu thought about it and finally nodded: "Okay, then I'll accept it."

Xu Ziqi looked at the time, stood up and said, "Okay, I'm going back now. Xiaoqing, do you want to go back with me?"

Xu Ziqing hesitated for a while and said, "Okay, I'll go back with you. Let's rest at home for two days before looking for a shop."

"It's up to you to find a store. I need to prepare for the qualification exam. By the way, you can ask Lin Feng first when looking for a store. He has a lot of connections." Xu Ziqi said as they walked.

"Got it." Xu Ziqing replied.

Two days later, Xu Ziqing and her boyfriend Lin Feng walked hand in hand on the antique street.

Antique shops are lined up on both sides of the street, and every exhibit reveals traces of history and cultural charm.

They moved among the crowd, carefully observing the location, decoration and customer flow of each store.

After circling several times, they finally arrived at the innermost side of the street.

There is an inconspicuous small bungalow hidden here. The house is hidden behind a tall sycamore tree and looks particularly inconspicuous.

When I got closer, I saw that the outer wall of the house was mottled, and the traces of time were revealed between the blue bricks and black tiles, making it look particularly shabby.

The carvings on the door lintel are already blurred, but one can still feel the exquisiteness of the past.

Xu Ziqing stood at the window and looked inside. A musty smell hit him in the face. The room was dim and damp, with miscellaneous items piled everywhere.

There were several cracks in the wall, the floor collapsed, the windows were dilapidated, and the tiles on the roof were broken in several places. It was obvious that no one had taken care of this place for a long time.