Literary Master 1978

When we arrived at the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the tour guide explained the history of the Hall of Supreme Harmony to the foreigners, but unfortunately it was in English and we couldn't get in touch.

Lin Chaoyang could only tell his parents by himself. Lin Erchun didn't know what the Hall of Supreme Harmony was, but when he mentioned the Golden Throne Hall, the two of them immediately became excited.

"This is the Golden Throne Hall!"

"Yes, look at the chair on the Sumeru throne in the middle, that was the emperor's throne in the past. When the emperor ascended the hall in the future, the incense burners on the left and right were burning Tibetan incense, and the whole hall was filled with smoke, solemn and solemn."

"Burning incense, isn't that the same as in the temple?"

Zhang Guiqin said without any awe, but her eyes were still wandering on the dragon chair. The dragon chair is a round chair with three dragons on four columns in an arc shape. The front is high, the armrests on both sides gradually decrease, and there is a dragon on each of the two columns on the front. The back of the chair is flatly carved with positive cloud dragons, and the seat surface is connected to the base, and the base is the Sumeru throne.

"It's really a dragon chair, all dragons." Zhang Guiqin muttered again.

After walking around the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the three of them continued to walk inside, passing the Hall of Central Harmony and the Hall of Preserving Harmony, and then went to the Hall of Ancestors, which displays clock collections.

When they left the hall, there was a big bowl of tea for sale. The three of them took a break and drank a bowl of tea each.

"This business is good. A bowl of tea costs 10 cents. Wouldn't we make hundreds of yuan a day?" Lin Erchun said after calculating in his mind while drinking tea.

At this time, the commercial service facilities in the Forbidden City are very simple, mainly selling food and beverages, an introduction to the Forbidden City, and taking photos for souvenir delivery.

Because the place is too large, the service points are scattered in several squares and at the entrance of the hall.

Basically, they are open-air with a parasol, setting up stalls when working and closing them after get off work, which is even simpler than the small shops outside.

However, although it is simple, the business is still very good. As Lin Erchun said, just selling a big bowl of tea can make at least 1,800 yuan a day.

After drinking tea, Lin Chaoyang continued to visit with his parents. When they arrived at the Imperial Garden, the foreigners walked to the southwest corner under the guidance of the tour guide.

Lin Chaoyang and his family followed the crowd and saw a two-story pavilion-style building with yellow glazed tiles and a corner hip roof, facing east and west.

Yangxingzhai.

The name of the building was written on the plaque at the door, but Lin Chaoyang was more interested in the plaque added later on the right hand side of the door.

"Foreign Guest Service Department?"

Lin Chaoyang came to Yanjing in 1978. At that time, he visited the Forbidden City with Tao Yushu, but he really didn't find such a place.

Yangxingzhai is the original name of the building, and the Foreign Guest Service Department is its current function.

There are seven rooms in the front of Yangxingzhai, with three rooms on the left and right. Looking down from the air, it is in the shape of a concave character. A plaque with the words "Foreign Currency Exchange Office" is hung on the door of a room on the east side.

Lin Chaoyang stood at the entrance of Yangxingzhai, and heard the voice of the tour guide introducing foreign tourists. A series of English words were automatically converted into Chinese by him.

"The Forbidden City is a famous historical site in the world. Many international friends and overseas Chinese have bought some items with the characteristics of the Forbidden City as souvenirs or gifts for relatives and friends after sightseeing.

Therefore, in order to better serve the vast number of international friends and overseas Chinese, our Palace Museum established the Foreign Guest Service Department in the past two years.

Here you can choose a variety of exquisite handicrafts, replicas of ancient calligraphy and paintings, appreciate the exquisite skills of ancient Chinese calligraphy and paintings and handicrafts, or take a break here and enjoy the poetic and picturesque garden scenery around you."

Listening to the introduction of the tour guide, Lin Chaoyang understood that this Foreign Guest Service Department should have been opened after he and Tao Yushu finished visiting the Forbidden City.

Lin Chaoyang watched the tour guide lead the foreign tourists into the Foreign Guest Service Department. He wanted to join in the fun, but he was stopped by the security guard at the door.

"Comrade, I'm sorry, this is the Foreign Guest Service Department, which only receives foreign guests and overseas Chinese."

The security guard stopped the family, but his attitude was very polite, so Lin Chaoyang didn't know what to say.

He turned to the security guard and said, "Comrade, from your accent, you sound like you are from the Northeast?"

"No, I'm from Yanjing, but I worked in the Northeast."

"Oh, then we are half fellow villagers!"

Lin Chaoyang chatted with the security guard for a few words and learned the information he wanted to know.

The security guard's name was Li Tianbao. He was assigned to the Second Commercial Bureau Park Service Management Office when he returned to the city two years ago. At that time, the Forbidden City was going to set up a Foreign Guest Service Department, so he was transferred here.

In the past two years, several Foreign Guest Service Departments have been established in the Forbidden City, but their functions are different. For example, the Jiangxuexuan in the southeast corner of the Imperial Garden has a similar architectural style and scale to Yangxingzhai, and is used as a reception room for foreign guests, providing tobacco and alcohol services.

Yangxingzhai is mainly based on handicrafts and ancient calligraphy and paintings.

"There are all kinds of handicrafts, calligraphy and paintings here."

"Calligraphy and paintings? Are they all originals?" Lin Chaoyang asked in surprise.

"How can that be? They are all replicas and imitations from our Palace Museum replica factory, as well as some stone carvings and rubbings."

It turned out that all the items sold were replicas, and Lin Chaoyang was a little disappointed.

"Oh, by the way, if you want to talk about originals, there are also quite a few paintings by Li Keran and Wang Xuetao, but they are not valuable, only a few dozen yuan per painting, and some are cheaper at ten or eight yuan."

Huh?

Lin Chaoyang felt that this world was a bit magical. Li Keran and Wang Xuetao's paintings were not valuable?

But he thought about it again. It was only the early 1980s, and the domestic art collection industry had not yet emerged. As for foreign guests, they had no interest in traditional Chinese calligraphy and paintings, which led to the fact that many contemporary calligraphers and painters had basically no premium for their works.

Many of the reproduction works produced in the Forbidden City Reproduction Factory are even the work of contemporary famous artists. They paint imitations of famous ancient paintings, but sell them for higher prices.

"RMB?"

"That's not the case, it's a foreign exchange certificate." Li Tianbao pointed to the foreign exchange exchange office next to him, "Did you see that? That is the business branch of the Bank of China. If foreigners want to buy something, they must first go and exchange foreign exchange for foreign exchange certificates. , to come in and buy something.”

Lin Chaoyang nodded, saying this was quite credible.

Foreign exchange certificates are nominally equivalent to the RMB, but in fact the purchasing power of the foreign exchange certificates is lower than that of the RMB. First of all, this thing cannot be exchanged for RMB, you need to have foreign exchange. Secondly, you can buy a lot of in-demand supplies and imported goods with foreign exchange coupons without the need for tickets.

Lin Chaoyang thought about his own situation again. He didn't have the conditions before, but now he has some spare money, and it seems that he can invest in art appropriately.

He looked into the Foreign Guest Service Department, but unfortunately only foreign guests were accepted here.

Li Tianbao said: "The things here are not suitable for eating or drinking, and only those stupid foreigners are willing to spend real money to buy things."

Lin Chaoyang looked at him deeply, the young man was still too young!

Although he really wanted to go into the foreign guest service department and do a sweep, Lin Chaoyang was neither a foreign guest nor had foreign exchange coupons, so he could only shelve this idea.

He chatted with Li Tianbao for a while, and then took his parents towards the Shenwu Gate.

The Imperial Garden is the last attraction on the Forbidden City tour. After walking around for a while, you have to leave the Forbidden City through the Shenwu Gate.

After leaving the Forbidden City, it was already past one in the afternoon. Lin Chaoyang took his parents to Quanjude again, ready to eat roast duck.

As a result, when Zhang Guiqin came in and saw the prices on the menu, she pulled him out and said, "I won't eat it, I won't eat it, it's too expensive!"

"fine."

Lin Chaoyang pressed the old couple on the seats and said: "Your son, I bought a courtyard house that cost several thousand yuan, and you can't afford a meal? You have been in Yanjing for several months, and we haven't eaten out. Let’s take this as a farewell treat for you two.”

"If you don't have enough food, you won't have enough clothes. If you don't calculate it, you will suffer poverty." Lin Erchun muttered, "Everywhere in Yanjing is good, but everything costs money, and eating is so expensive."

"Dad, people in Yanjing call this place 'China's Best Food'. It's a century-old restaurant. Comrade Wu Hao has received countless foreign heads of state here. When we eat here, we enjoy a state banquet."

Hearing Lin Chaoyang's words, Lin Erchun and his wife were in awe. He looked at the prices on the menu again.

Well, it's quite approachable.

When ordering, Lin Chaoyang ordered a roast duck, a dish of sliced ​​meat and tofu, and a dish of braised sea cucumber. Lin Erchun and his wife were frightened when they saw him. Seeing that he wanted to order more, they quickly stopped him.

"Okay, okay, that's enough."

"One meal is almost enough for us rural people to do two months of work..." Lin Erchun muttered something similar to the expression of a monk who wants to save the souls of the dead.

"This Yanjing roast duck is really delicious. No wonder Comrade Wu Hao loves it." After the roast duck was served, Lin Erchun forgot about the "transcendence" just now and ate more happily than anyone else.

After eating, Lin Chaoyang planned to take the old couple to buy some specialties. Zhang Guiqin said: "No, Yushu bought so much yesterday, I can't even take it."

She rejected Lin Chaoyang's idea of ​​buying specialties, but said, "Take me and Dad to the bookstore."

"Why are you going to the bookstore?"

Lin Erchun snorted, "What else can I do? It's a shame!"

Zhang Guiqin wanted to go to the bookstore, of course, to buy books.

In the past, Tao Yushu would always send her a copy of every work written by Lin Chaoyang. Now that she has been staying in Yanjing for several months, she has to bring back some of Lin Chaoyang's books. This is the best thing about Yanjing. specialty.

"Isn't it different when I go back to the county town to buy something?"

"No, the Xinhua Bookstore in the county town doesn't have all the books. Some books are not available."

Zhang Guiqin had obviously already passed the point, so Lin Chaoyang had no choice but to take her to Wangfujing Bookstore. This is now the bookstore with the largest business area in Yanjing and the most complete range of books available.

"This is too much, can you take it?"

Zhang Guiqin and Lin Erchun had arms full of books, at least forty or fifty.

"Not many. There are only a few copies of one book. It will be gone when you go back and divide it among the others."

Zhang Guiqin ran to the counter to check out. These books cost a total of thirty-one-two dollars. She didn't blink, and even Lin Erchun, who always loved scheming, didn't say anything.

When I returned home in the evening, Tao Yushu had just returned from school.

Talking about this day's itinerary, Zhang Guiqin beamed, "I went shopping, played, and ate."

"Mom, there are many interesting places in Yanjing. When you come back, I will take you out." Tao Yushu said.

"Good girl!" Zhang Guiqin held Tao Yushu's hand, filled with joy.

Before going to bed at night, Lin Chaoyang asked: "How much savings does the family have now?"

"More than 21,000 yuan, but I have to give Lin Fugui 3,000 yuan in a few days, so it should be more than 18,000 yuan.

Why did you remember to ask this? Need money? "

"Nothing. I'm going to the Forbidden City today..."

Lin Chaoyang recounted what he had experienced during his visit to the Forbidden City today. Tao Yushu asked, "Do you think the price of antique calligraphy and paintings will increase in the future?"

"Antiques in prosperous times are gold in troubled times. As long as our country's economy continues to develop steadily, the value of artworks will definitely continue to rise in the future."

Tao Yushu knew nothing about antique calligraphy and art collection, but he felt that what Lin Chaoyang said made some sense.

"Then you want to buy some and keep them?"

"I'll study them later."

"Okay."

The next morning, Lin Chaoyang sent the old couple on the train.

It was Sunday. In the evening, Lin Chaoyang and Tao Yushu went back to Tao's house for dinner. Hearing that Lin Erchun and his wife had already left for their hometown, Tao's father said, "Why didn't you tell them that you should have dinner with your in-laws before leaving."

Lin Chaoyang smiled and said, "Dad, they are not coming here just this time. There will be plenty of opportunities to eat in the future."

Tao's father nodded and stopped dwelling on this topic.

Tao Yucheng asked at this time, "Chaoyang, I heard that you had a conflict with the people from Yanying Studio?"