Siheyuan: Big City, Small Love

Chapter 360: The Porter

However, He Lai quickly adjusted his mood, took out a flashlight, and walked towards the first stall.

I don’t know if he was a little scared, but as soon as He Lai arrived at the location, he shone the flashlight on the stall owner’s face.

Following the light of the flashlight, He Lai saw the old man staring at him motionlessly. He was so scared that his hands shook and he almost dropped the flashlight on the ground.

"Hey, old man, can you please make a sound?" He Lai mustered up the courage to speak.

"What are you doing here at such a young age? Stay away and don't disturb the old man's business! You don't know any rules!"

The old man saw that He Lai was a young man and thought he was someone from the black market nearby, so he drove him away.

"Damn, are you so arrogant? Just go away, I'm not going to buy anything from you." He Lai cursed in his heart.

Then he came to the next stall, and before He Lai raised the flashlight again, a voice came from the opposite side.

"Don't take photos of my old man's face."

"Uh." He Lai was stunned for a moment. If you don't want to take a photo, then don't take a photo. You old man, do you think I want to see you?

I had to put down the flashlight and look at the things on the stall.

Various bracelets, bangles, purple sand and ceramic tea cups, teapots, etc. are all small items.

He Lai fell in love with a jade ring at first sight.

"Hey, sir, can I pick up this ring and have a look at it?" He Lai handed over a big front door, then pointed at the jade ring and spoke.

"Well, for the sake of the cigarette, you can take it and have a look. But be careful."

The old man took the cigarette, put it on his right ear and said with a smile.

He Lai agreed as soon as he heard it. He picked it up immediately, shone the flashlight on it, and examined it carefully. Although he didn't know what was an antique or not, he wanted to play with it.

"Okay, you little brat, can you really understand this? Just stay away, this is not the place for you to play."

When the old man saw He Lai's actions and expressions, he knew that He Lai was an amateur and didn't understand the ins and outs of this at all.

"Hey, you old men, you are all the same. You are selling something here, but you are chasing away the customers."

He Lai was a little angry. This happened again and again. Although it was only the second time, He Lai didn't want to endure it anymore.

"Wow, you're still angry. The jade ring in your hand is from the Qianlong period. How can a little brat like you afford it?"

The old man looked at He Lai with disdain and laughed.

"Tsk! I'll give you a broken ring. What's so great about it?"

He said this and handed the jade ring to the old man.

"Hey, little kid, you don't know the rules, you can't pass the jade in your hands! After you've looked at it, you have to put it away. I'll pick it up and look at it again. How can you give it directly from your hand to mine?

If this falls to the ground, it's hard to say whether it was intentional or I was careless. Don't break it by accident. If it's damaged, you'll have to buy it. No matter what it is, it will become yours."

The old man explained patiently.

"Oh, then I'll put it away for you, is that okay?" Hearing this, He Lai could only squat down and gently put the jade ring back to its original place.

"Okay, little brat, go play somewhere else. The old man is just kind-hearted, otherwise he wouldn't let you get anything."

The old man sighed.

"Damn it, you little old man, believe it or not, I will buy all of your junk for you!"

He Lai also got angry because he was seen through again and again!

"Oh, you are so arrogant, okay, here are more than 20 items, I will give you a package price of 1,000 yuan! How about it? Brother, do you have money?"

"I..." He Lai almost wanted to take out the money to buy it, but he calmed down in an instant. Antiques from this era are not worth this price. What's more, some of the things on this stall are real and some are fake. He can't be a sucker!

"Young man, I have plenty of money, but the things on your stall are not worth the price, right? I think they are all worthless goods."

He Lai took out a stack of money from his pocket and showed it to the old man, indicating that he had money, but the thing was not worth it, which was a disguised way of saying that the thing was fake.

"Hey, you think this is the old imperial city of West City, don't you see what kind of people are here? We are just arguing, this thing in the pile of dead bodies, are you serious?"

The old man immediately understood what He Lai meant, that his things were fake, and he got furious.

"Lianggan" means to carry a pole for the dead. In the past, when a person died, they would put the coffin in the coffin and carry it to the grave with this pole. "Lianggan" for the living means to carry a sedan chair.

The old man was a pallbearer, who specialized in carrying the dead. The people who came after him learned how to rob tombs, or become the legendary grave robbers.

"How do I know if what you said is true? If you say it is true, then it is true?"

He Lai added nonchalantly, it turned out to be a group of tomb robbers!

"Should I show you the mark on the old man's shoulder? See if it's real! You little brat, you're here to cause trouble!"

The old man stood up and showed his shoulder to He. Sure enough, there were deep marks on his shoulder.

"Uh... don't be angry. I understand. Anger is bad for your health. Come and smoke, smoke."

He Lai took a look and quickly stuffed a pack of Daqianmen cigarettes from his pocket into the old man's hand and apologized.

The old man took the cigarette and his expression immediately eased. He didn't expect this kid to be so generous! He gave him a pack of Daqianmen cigarettes right away!

"You are a smart kid. Do you know that if this ring was put in the early years of the Republic of China, it would be worth at least several thousand dollars!"

The old man then sat down again and said triumphantly.

"Then why didn't you sell it then!" He Lai muttered softly.

"You!" The old man was about to explode when he heard this! He was only about ten years old at that time. How could he get this thing? If he had been born a few decades earlier, he would have made a fortune.

"Oh, I was wrong. Can't I just stop talking? Are you still going to sell this thing? Tell me a fair price." He Lai said helplessly.

The old man glanced at He Lai and then said, "If you have food, I can give it to you at a lower price."

"Hey, old man, if you keep dithering I'll go to another one, tell me how much!"

He Lai didn't want to waste time with him. It had been a long time and he hadn't even opened yet! He was still thinking about buying everything here!

"Do you have food?" the old man asked doubtfully.

When He Lai heard this, he turned around and was about to leave.

"No, no, little brother, don't go. You can take all the 300 kilograms of flour or 900 kilograms of corn flour!"

The old man didn't care about the rules and quickly ran over to stop He Lai.

"Old man, your price is too high. Although I don't know much about these things, I still know a little about other things. Food is so precious now!

You have about twenty things, and if you weigh them, they only weigh about four kilograms at most. You want me to exchange them for several hundred kilograms of food. You are really a toad yawning and boasting. It is impossible!"

He Lai had no choice but to stop and say.

He Lai knew a little bit about it. During the three-year natural disaster, small antiques were only a few dollars or even a few cents each. Large items were probably only a few dozen dollars. It was impossible for them to be so expensive! Small things like the old man's were only a hundred dollars at most. He was sure to get it!

This old man treated He Lai like a pig and killed him.

"Then why don't you bargain for a price? Maybe you can get a deal!" The old man held He Lai tightly and refused to let go. Obviously he knew that He Lai was a rich man, so he must have food!

He Lai held up five fingers.

"Isn't five hundred kilograms of corn flour a little short?"

"What are you thinking about! It's just 50 kilograms of flour! You can sell it or not!" He Lai said speechlessly.

The old man let go of He Lai's arm and sighed, "No, no, it won't close. Please add a little more, add a little more. There are still six or seven people in my family waiting to eat!"

After a lot of arguing, it finally became 50 kilograms of flour, plus 50 kilograms of cornmeal! At least it was a deal.

"Okay, I'll go to the black market and get you some food." He Lai breathed a sigh of relief, finally managing to get one done.

"Hey, you little kid, you bought food on the spur of the moment! Let me tell you, food on the black market is very expensive!"

When the old man heard that He Lai didn't bring any food, he immediately reminded him.

"Okay, just pack the things for me, I'll be back in a bit."

He left the ghost market after saying this. He entered a dark alley, took out a bag of flour and a bag of cornmeal from the space, and got out an extra five pounds of meat, to see if he could find this old man as a breakthrough point and let him help him deal with these old men.

I went back to the stall and placed the two bags in front of the old man.

"Old man, take a look, is the food right?"

"Okay, okay!" The old man ran over happily to look at the food.

Just now he was a little suspicious that He Lai was playing a joke on him, but he didn't expect that he really brought food.

"Hey, you old man, why didn't you pack my things for me!"