Master descends to earth

Chapter 205
"gourd?"

Su Yuan said with a smile: "You don't keep worms when you are old. Pan gourds are not as interesting as pans with walnuts. Back then, even Lord Qianlong played with walnuts, or..."

"Who said I don't play with worms?" Ling Junsheng said with a smile: "I used to play with them, but these years I've been running around to see a doctor, and I don't have the mind to take care of them. Now I have Hexiang to take care of my body, so I just bought a few and listened to them."

After speaking, he pulled Su Yuan and began to look at the gourd. There were quite a few people selling it, and this thing was also cheap, you can take it away with a dozen yuan.

Ling Junsheng had seen several of them, and came to a booth where dozens of gourds were placed in a big basket, and he was free to choose, depending on his eyesight.

"A good gourd must first be dry, well-shaped, and have a correct core. It should feel like it's falling into your hand. The heavier it is, the higher its density, so the gourd's growth period needs to be longer."

Su Yuan has never really paid attention to gourds. He knows something about Wenwan walnuts. He listened humbly to the old man's introduction: "When you pinch it with your hands, it should have a round and smooth feel. After all, if you want to hold it in your hand, the feel is very important. It needs bran, which is thick and elastic like a sponge pad, which is called porcelain bran in the jargon."

Ling Junsheng picked up a gourd plate and played with it: the top-grade skin color should be clean, without blemishes, and it should be as clean as water, which is called a puddle of water in jargon.Those pale-skinned gourds must not be taken, they must be soaked with water, you will lose their skins when you go back, and they will not be good for a lifetime! "

Ling Junsheng put down the gourd in his hand, not very satisfied, and continued to flip through it, and suddenly said pleasantly: "Gold in the grass!"

After speaking, he picked up a small gourd. Su Yuan looked at it curiously, and saw that the very small gourd was held in the palm of his hand, probably no more than three centimeters, delicate and cute.

"Haha, this is what players call Caolijin. The smaller the hand-twisted gourd, the rarer it is. About 2 centimeters is the most precious. If the shape is correct, it can be matched with a pair. There is no one in a hundred."

The old man couldn't put it down and said: "Look at this dragon head, it is thick and elegant, and it is full of energy, as if it is about to fly..."

"There is also a mouth, straight and straight...waist, uniform and slender...the most rare thing is the navel, which is the ring part at the bottom of the gourd. It is straight, round and smooth, without rotten navel and fried navel, top grade!"

The old man quickly found the stall owner and took down the 60 yuan. He was satisfied that today was not in vain, so he picked up a small leak.

Going forward is the stall for buying chirping insects. There is an endless stream of various insects singing, which are crisp and melodious, which makes people feel refreshed.

"Boss, how do you sell this worm?" The two came to the booth, and Ling Junsheng picked up a random one to ask the price.

The stall owner enthusiastically said: "Thirty, new clothes, strong and loud, you can get more cheap if you want more."

Ling Junsheng looked at it, picked up another one, and the stall owner quickly sold it: "You have good eyesight, this one looks like a good bug, and the price is a little expensive, three hundred ones."

"So expensive?" Su Yuan was a little surprised, Ming Chong was worth several hundred?Puzzled: "They all look similar, why can the price be ten times different?"

Ling Junsheng laughed out loud. It was a rare time when Su Yuan didn’t understand. He said with a smile: “Singing insects are divided into autumn insects and winter insects. Autumn insects refer to the singing insects caught from nature after the beginning of autumn. Such as gnats, etc. Winter worms refer to the song insects that are raised artificially in winter and listen to their singing."

"Singing insects can be divided into two categories in terms of entomology, that is, crickets: such as crickets, golden bells, oil gourds, clapper heads, and various flies in the south; In the first category, players refer to crickets, golden bells, oil gourds, and grasshoppers as the four major songbirds."

The old man picked up two grasshoppers, put them together, and began to compare: "The types and distribution of grasshoppers are also different, such as black grasshoppers and green grasshoppers. Most black grasshoppers are distributed in the Yanshan Mountains in northern Beijing, like Miyun, Fangshan and Pinggu are the source of black grasshoppers."

"There are five-character mantras for choosing a grasshopper, high, strict, wide, thick, and long! Width is the width of the grasshopper's arms; height, now everyone is playing with tube arms, so we must choose the one with high arms; strict The so-called tightness refers to the degree of fit of the shoulders, which is relatively moderate."

"Deepness is to see how deep the pressure of the bar is. The bar is directly related to the large friction area between the bladder and the bladder when the insect screams, so the insect's cry is also different. This is the difference between bright scream and sound!"

Ling Junsheng looked at the worms in his hand carefully and bargained with the stall owner: "Anzi is a little dark. The Hundred Days are not far away, right?"

The stall owner gave a thumbs up and said with a smile: "You are an expert, this one will last at least two months if you take it back, don't worry."

Ling Junsheng nodded, and finally bargained for a price of [-] and won it. You don’t need to buy a gourd. You have a ready-made one in your hand. He left the booth, pointed at the songworm and explained: “This kind of insect has a short life span, and it usually does not exceed a hundred days, so it is also called a hundred days. Insect. When choosing, you should look at the junction of the head and shoulders, which is called Anzi in jargon."

"The whiter and brighter Anzi is, the younger the worm will be. When it turns grayish white, the time will come soon, and the lifespan will be short."

"When you choose a grasshopper, you must take it out of the jar or gourd to listen to it. If the stall owner refuses to take it out, don't even buy it. The so-called real gold is not afraid of fire."

"Newly shed grasshoppers should be raised separately from those that are singing. They should not be whisked. The sound will be basically settled in about half a month. Newly shed grasshoppers should be picked with strong sounds. There should be no noise, nor can they just listen to the sound. For the front sound of opening wings, you have to listen to whether the back sound is clear or not."

The old man put the worms into the gourd he gave him and carried them into his arms. After a while, the worms rang out, melodious and clear. With the gold in his hand, he couldn't help laughing and said: "Isn't it just for a joke to live?" , the total is less than two hundred, so happy!"

The two walked forward again, and there were more and more stalls, as expected of the mahogany market in the capital, Su Yuan squatted down from time to time to pick up some small materials, and it would be a good idea to give them away, whether it's a car bead back home.

"Huh? This is..."

Suddenly, the tip of his nose moved slightly, and he picked up a piece of wood. The surface was mottled, dark and dull, very inconspicuous.While the stall owner was not paying attention, he took it at a low price, turned around and left.

"Hey, it's another little leak, black meat old Shantan!"

Su Yuan explained: "Sandalwood, which is mainly produced in India, is also known as Laoshan Sandalwood. Its heartwood is yellowish brown to dark brown, dense in texture, strong in luster, fragrant, and straight or wavy in texture. It has been favored by high-ranking officials and nobles throughout the ages. , the favorite of literati and refined scholars, top-grade incense materials."

"Strictly speaking, the top-level old sandalwood is an old tree that is at least 80 years old, and it has been aged for at least 20 years after felling. Ointment and animal fragrance, the aroma is pure, deep and long-lasting."

"My experience divides old sandalwood into three types: yellow flesh, red flesh, and black flesh according to its color. Sandalwood grows with age, from yellowish brown to dark brown to reddish brown, and black flesh is the rarest."

"The older the sandalwood, the more oily it becomes. As the age increases, it goes from non-sinking to sinking. It is an intermediate state when the head sinks and the tail floats. The oiliness of the sinking wood must be greater than that of the non-sinking wood. Of course, those that are not artificial Submersibility does not count if artificially added 502 or filled with lead, so whether it sinks can basically be used as a basic quality indicator."

Ling Junsheng picked up the old sandalwood with black flesh and sinking water. It feels lighter to the touch, far less than the red sandalwood made of piano material, but the fragrance is long-lasting, stronger than sea yellow, and more elegant than the sweet fragrance of red sandalwood.

Su Yuan said with a smile: "This piece should be top-grade old sandalwood, with uniform color and fine texture. It is a naturally weathered old wood produced in the deep mountains. The pulp is crystal clear, with the texture of rhinoceros horn, and the fragrance is more delicate and intoxicating."

(End of this chapter)