Chapter 198: Chapter 198

Once the house is purchased, it’s time to tidy up. The location of this courtyard is much better than Grandpa Li’s place. There’s a road behind it, and if the back is turned into a garage, then having two gates, front and back, would be very convenient for coming and going.

Qin Xi couldn’t bother with collecting junk at the moment and had Sister Xing’s husband find over a dozen people to tear down the courtyard walls, build them higher in the middle, and slowly fix up the rest behind closed doors.

Three days passed with these arrangements, and early in the morning, Qin Xi got up to cook some porridge.

Li Xianglu heated up some steamed buns, then prepared some pickled vegetables, shredding them and splashing on some cooked oil.

Qin Zhen was groggy from watching TV until after one the night before, and when he heard they were still going to collect junk, he incredulously asked, "You guys are still going?"

Li Xianglu nodded and said, "Some of the furniture we collected in the past few days includes a few very good-looking Huali wooden chairs. In up to ten years, one chair could be worth twenty or thirty thousand. Think about it, isn’t this like picking up money?"

Qin Zhen’s sleepiness was instantly swept away by Li Xianglu’s get-rich scheme. He reached out to touch her head, and Qin Xi slapped his younger brother’s hand away, "What are you doing!"

Qin Zhen said aggrievedly, "I’m checking if she has a fever. Why is she talking nonsense in broad daylight?"

Qin Xi said impatiently, "Don’t be a disbeliever. Remember when Grandma Su came by the other day? She said that nowadays, these precious wood furniture pieces are really expensive in Hong Kong, and in a few years, the prices here will rise too. You just stick with it over the vacation, and when these things are sold, I’ll give you a share."

Having never seen his brother lie, Qin Zhen was stunned and then asked in amazement, "Is this really true?"

Mr. Li took a bite of his steamed bun before saying, "In times of chaos, gold; in prosperous times, antiques. Your brother and sister-in-law won’t be wrong in this prediction, and how much can picking up some junk cost anyway?"

Seeing that even Mr. Li said so, Qin Zhen stopped doubting. Besides, would resisting even make a difference? His brother is, after all, the Great Demon King.

After finishing their meal, it was nine o’clock, and the three of them set out again. This time, Li Xianglu rode her bicycle alone, even affixing a metal horn and calling out, "Collecting junk here!"

Along the way, quite a few people came out to look. Some sold a bit of iron, some had old books and newspapers, and so on, but they didn’t have the same luck as before.

Li Xianglu wasn’t picky; since they were out collecting junk, they couldn’t just pick up antiques and ignore the waste.

However, nowadays waste needs to be taken to the state-run procurement stations, so their activities were technically illegal. If it were still 1977, they would have been caught by the Hong Guards, but now it’s already July of 1979, almost 1980. They were simply a step ahead.

The entire morning’s collection amounted to some scraps of copper and iron, some old damaged books, all acquired for just three yuan and filling a tricycle.

On the way back, Qin Xi rode a bicycle, carrying Li Xianglu, while Qin Zhen sullenly pedaled the tricycle.

Li Xianglu glanced at Qin Zhen behind her and mischievously scratched Qin Xi’s waist. He responded with a low "Hmm?" from up front.

Li Xianglu then grinned and said, "Do you think this counts as exploiting child labor?"

Qin Xi squinted up at the spots of light in the treetops, a smile forming lazily on his lips, "He’s already 19!"

Alright then, Li Xianglu cheerfully decided to keep things as they were.

At noon, Li Xianglu cooked a meal, and since everyone was tired, plus the windfall of Foreign Exchange Vouchers, the family started eating meaty dishes again.

They had braised fish in soy sauce, dry-fried string beans, chilled cucumber salad, bottle gourd and pork rib soup, stir-fried gizzards, and steamed a large pot of red bean rice.

All of Qin Zhen’s grievances were vented on this meal, and it wasn’t until his stomach was full that he finally felt a sense of relief.

Li Xianglu couldn’t understand this kind of hostility towards food. Didn’t he think about the feelings of a belly full of these dishes?

In the afternoon, they all went to sleep for a while. After waking up, Qin Xi and Qin Zhen set off again, while Li Xianglu, wearing a mask and arm sleeves, started to sort through the day’s collected junk. She grouped the scrap metal together and laid out all the books on a table they had brought over from a nearby siheyuan, perusing them as she organized.

The books and newspapers contained all sorts of things; a hodgepodge really. Some were handwritten quotations, some were received letters. In short, they had everything.

Li Xianglu smiled as she flipped through a big pile of newspapers and found an old, tattered book bound with string.

When she held the book in her hand, Li Xianglu’s heart almost stopped. She removed her gloves and felt it with her hands; the paper was not from modern times.

It wasn’t even from the late Qing period. The feel of the paper left Li Xianglu choked up, unable to speak, yet her hands trembled uncontrollably.

The book had no cover, and excitedly, Li Xianglu began to search until she found a faded green cover among the pile of waste paper, with a red label on its side bearing four big characters: "Kangxi Dictionary"!

Li Xianglu was thrilled, and with trembling but careful hands, she wrapped the book in its cover, counting the pages to ensure none were missing. Only the cover was damaged. The first page of the book had several seals and markings denoting its age.

Today was indeed a lucky day. Judging by the paper and the era indicated by the writing, it seemed this was a handwritten copy from the Kangxi Era. It wasn’t clear who had copied it, but the handwriting was quite good. In thirty years’ time, it could be worth at most a hundred and some thousand, but having it at home was also wonderful, a symbol of cultural accumulation.

Li Xianglu packed all the old newspapers into a large hemp bag, and arranged the old books neatly on the table.

They didn’t return until six o’clock in the evening. Qin Zhen was filthy and started clamoring for a bath as soon as he entered the door. Li Xianglu had no choice but to help Qin Xi unload the items from the tricycle, then she talked about finding the Kangxi Dictionary that morning.

Qin Xi was very happy to hear it, and took a dirty bowl out of her small bag, saying, "Take a look at this bowl. I bought it because it looked odd."

Li Xianglu took it, glanced at it, and ran to rinse it under the faucet. Once the mud was washed away from the outside, the delicate crackling pattern on the bowl was revealed.

As Qin Zhen washed his hair next to them, he stood up, saw the bowl, and joked, "Have you lost your minds? Getting excited over a broken bowl!"

Li Xianglu ignored him and examined the bowl closely. It had an ice-crackle pattern, and there was a marking on the bottom. In the center of the bowl, there was a branch pattern, quite elegant indeed. But it probably wasn’t from an official kiln, as those would have markings specifically identifying them as such. So, this bowl could only have been made by a private kiln, not very valuable, but still nice as a collectible or decorative piece. After all, it was not as valuable as the Kangxi Dictionary found that morning.

Nevertheless, it was still a good find. Considering the afternoon’s haul, it hadn’t been a bad day at all.

After dinner, Li Xianglu carefully applied aloe vera gel on Qin Xi’s face in her own room. It was aloe from Grandpa’s garden, as Qin Xi’s face was a bit sunburned, which upset Li Xianglu greatly.

Qin Xi, touched by the concern, smiled and said, "It’s okay, it will heal in a few days." With that, she sat down on the bed, but something hard poked her. She reached under her and pulled out a shiny gold key.

ps: Don’t worry, this Chapter came quickly, didn’t it? Actually, it was written together with the last one, but I just corrected some typos. So embarrassed, I make so many! My eyes get blurry, and I can hardly see; even after two rounds of corrections, there are still typos.