Xu Damao's Thirty-Six Stratagems in Siheyuan

"Brother, I want to ask you something. Does your recycling station usually collect a lot of porcelain and old furniture?"

"Da Mao, why are you asking this? Want to shop on Taobao? Of course there are some, but in my opinion, there's nothing good about them. Besides, those old things are not worth eating or drinking, why would you spend that money!"

"Brother, maybe these old things will be very valuable in the future. Even though they are not valuable now, you can achieve great things with a small amount of money. Brother, you should pay attention to them. If there are porcelain, calligraphy and paintings, old furniture, etc., you can help me buy some of them?"

"You like these things, fine, but I don't have any spare money to give you. You have to give me working capital. Otherwise, your sister-in-law will chop me up if she sees me bringing back those junk."

"That's fine. I'll give you 50 today. If you find something good, just bring it back here. I'll also leave you a key to this door. Is that okay with you?"

"Da Mao, do you really want to take that junk?"

"Well, yes, I think there is a way. Although I don't really understand it now, I will try to learn it. As long as the price is not too expensive, I would rather receive ten items by mistake than miss one."

"I really admire you. Okay, I'll keep an eye on it for you. Don't give me the money first. I'm afraid that if I have money in my pocket, I will just buy a roast duck and waste it."

"That's fine. Once you eat it, it's yours. Brother, it's settled. Pay attention to it. Especially when you're walking around the streets. I'll treat it as learning a new skill and practice it first."

"Okay, it's your expense anyway. Let's stop here for today. We should go back too."

Xu Damao and Zhang Lingyun walked together and returned to the compound.

Today, many people in No. 95 Courtyard are still secretly discussing the matter because an old man is still angry about him adopting a godson.

Xu Damao didn't have time to deal with these trivial matters and went straight back to the backyard.

"Da Mao, you're back. It seems that the uncle is dissatisfied with you today. He said that you were not here for such an important event today. It seems that he is saying that you don't give him face."

"What does he have to say? It's not an important matter. It's important to him, but to me it's just an insignificant matter. You're not going to participate, but he's still talking so much nonsense. Ignore him. He just accepted a useless person to support him in his old age. Maybe one day he will find out that he is nothing, which will be enough to make him very angry. He still cares about everything and whether others participate or not."

"I also think he's making a fuss out of nothing. I took a closer look at Jia Dongxu today, and he's really not that good. He has a mean and snobbish look. Damao, wash your hands and have dinner. I'm not having dinner today, and I haven't digested what I ate at noon yet."

"Why, do you have any delicious food today?"

"It's not bad. There are eight dishes, three of which are meat dishes. The portions are quite filling. This time, the people in our compound can be said to have had a good meal."

Xu Damao didn't care whether Lou Xiao'e had dinner or not. It didn't matter. He could just cook whenever he was hungry.

"Xiao'e, next time, ask your father or mother if there is a teacher who knows about bronze, stone, porcelain, and antique furniture, and if they can introduce me to them?"

"Da Mao, why, do you want to learn antique appraisal?"

"I had this idea. Actually, I was thinking that antiques like gold, stone, and porcelain are not valuable at the moment. I should take advantage of this opportunity to stock up on more genuine items. Maybe they will be valuable in the future. Right?"

"You still have this idea. Actually, my family has a lot of porcelain, calligraphy and paintings. My father should know about it. I'll ask, but even if I ask now, they may not be able to teach you. It seems that you can't learn it just by wanting to."

"You don't know until you learn. It's okay to learn a little bit, but it's definitely unrealistic to become an expert. Besides, I don't have that much spare money to buy stuff."

"Don't worry about the money. If you need it, I have it."

"No, your money is yours. How can I spend my wife's dowry? The dowry is your private property and cannot be touched casually. In the old days, if you used your wife's dowry, you would be sued."

"It's not that serious. I'm happy to spend it on my man, it's no big deal. Besides, money is meant to be spent."

"Okay, I'll ask you if I need anything. I learned a new technique from Senior Brother Lingyun today, so I mentioned it to him and asked him to keep an eye out for it. I really want to collect some good stuff, maybe it will be valuable in the future. These antique porcelains are becoming less and less, and things are valuable because they are rare. I just want to give it a try."

"Da Mao, if you do something serious, I will definitely support you. I will go back tomorrow and ask my dad to recommend a teacher for you."

"That's great. Moth, you really don't want to eat dinner? The food today is pretty good. It would be a shame if you don't eat the meal you made."

"I'm not really hungry. When I get hungry, just give me some noodles."

Spring in Kyoto is gradually arriving as Xu Damao completes his 50-movie mission. After April, the breath of spring is in the air and everywhere is full of spring.

With Lou Zhenhua's introduction, Xu Damao finally met Hu Tianhua, a professor in the History Department of Kyoto University.

Hu Tianhua couldn't save face for Lou Zhenhua, so he readily agreed to Xu Damao's request for a meeting.

"Hello, Professor Hu. I am Xu Damao, the son-in-law of the Lou family. I am sorry for being so abrupt today. Thank you Professor Hu for taking the time to take the time."

Hu Tianhua looked at the young man who was very methodical in his actions and thought it was worth it for him to meet him.

"Young man, why do you want to see me? You should know that what you want to learn is a systematic project. It is not something that ordinary people can learn just by wanting to learn it. It requires a lot of knowledge accumulation and experience of seeing real objects before you can get started. Otherwise, forget it."

"Professor Hu, I'm a high school student. I have some knowledge and understanding of the history of five thousand years. But I just had a sudden idea and wanted to learn about the knowledge of cultural relics identification. To put it in a more decent way, it's called protecting the essence of Chinese culture. In fact, it's just a bit of speculation. Now that antiques and cultural relics are in a downturn, I'm collecting some good stuff appropriately, hoping that they will appreciate in value in the future. It's a bit of a money smell. But life is only when your pockets are full, you can consider things like cultivating your sentiments. When the granaries are full, you know etiquette. The smell of money is not necessarily bad. As long as one day you come to your senses and find that you have really received one or two rare treasures and leave them to future generations, even if it smells of money, isn't it a good story?"

"Oh? You also know about 5,000 years of history? Then I have to test you."

Hu Tianhua and Xu Damao went back and forth and discussed in detail some very obscure historical events, and the more they studied, the more frightened they became.

He really didn't expect that a high school student would have so much historical knowledge. How could he know that Xu Damao had the knowledge reserve of a postgraduate degree in history from the later generations, which was not comparable to that of an ordinary high school student.

"Xu Damao, that's your name, right? You have such a wealth of knowledge, why don't you take the college entrance examination and study in a higher education system?"

"It's not that I didn't pass the exam."

The more Hu Tianhua talked, the more he liked this straightforward young man.

"Xiao Xu, how about this? Come back next Sunday. Our school's archaeology courses are just right for you to study now. I'll prepare a set of textbooks for you. Come and get them. Study on your own first. If you have any questions, come and ask me at any time. Is that okay?"

"As long as I can study with Professor Hu, I will do whatever you ask me to do. But don't worry, Professor Hu, I will definitely work hard."