As old people say, the city of Beiping is divided into nine inside and four outside. It means that since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the city of Beiping has been closed by more than twenty city gates inside and outside. There is also a saying that the big alley has three hundred and six, and the small alley has three hundred and six.
Hutong is like a cow's hair, which refers to the large and small streets, densely packed, winding and crisscrossing, covering this area of water and soil.
Among them, there is a street in the south of the city that is different from other streets, called Liulichang. It can be traced back to the Yuan Dynasty when colored glaze was burned here. During the Yuan and Ming dynasties, this place was not prosperous and there were no people. During the Qianlong period, Sikuquanshu was compiled.
As a result, Liulichang's bookshops became close to each other and became a gathering place for literati. Over the years, a business of reading and curating antiques gradually developed.
The total length of Liulichang is about one kilometer. As far as the eye can see, there are all shops selling antiques and antiques. Among them, time-honored brands such as "Dai Yuexuan", "Yidege" and "Rongbaozhai" are famous all over the country.
As the saying goes, antiques in prosperous times and gold in troubled times are indeed true, but just as the feudal monarchy of two thousand years was gone, all the rare gadgets originally hidden in the deep palace courtyards were leaked out.
Where has everything gone?
Most of it naturally went into the various shops in Liulichang.
Wenhuiju is an inconspicuous shop in Liulichang. It mainly makes a living from calligraphy and painting. "Zi" refers to calligraphy and "painting" refers to paintings. The shopkeeper is Zhao Deyi. There is also an apprentice in the shop named Li Yan, who is Wang.
The second brother-in-law.
Zhao Deyi was originally from Hebei and had been in Beijing for more than 20 years. He worked as an apprentice in "Song Gu Zhai" for the first ten years and developed a good eye for calligraphy and painting. As long as the calligraphy and painting passed by his eyes, within a moment, he would
I could accurately tell the author and the year. After I left school, I packed my baggage and went to the house. This continued for another five years. I finally got a copy of Mi Fu's calligraphy and sold it for a big price, so I opened a shop in Liulichang.
In the antique industry, there is a popular saying, "Buying products from the East and selling them from the West all depends on one's eye." If you have seen it correctly, it will not matter if you make a fortune.
Zhao Deyi is a cautious person and will never sell anything unless he is sure of it. In this way, he can only make a small amount of money playing games. Compared with the high risk in the cultural and entertainment industry, it is much easier for foreigners to get around, so it is difficult to get involved in the industry.
Heartbroken.
However, there is a big trouble in the middle, that is, the communication between each other is not smooth. It should be noted that those who sell literature and entertainment rely on goods and words.
The goods of Zhou Dynasty are said to be the goods of Shang and Zhou Dynasties.
Once the money is delivered and the goods leave the store, we are not responsible. If the buyer finds something wrong and wants to return the goods, hey, I'm sorry for you. People who play with antiques rely on their eyesight. It's your fault that you don't have that skill.
, if you have nothing to do, just go and swallow it.
As soon as the day breaks, the streets are full of people, people coming from the south, people going north, bustling and bustling, people pulling carts, setting up stalls and shouting, and some mysterious people carrying a bag, greeting strangers when they see them.
, sneaking up and saying: "I'm here to take you some time. I have a relative from other provinces who dug out some strange things from the mud in my hometown. I would like you to open your eyes and give me some advice."
See if this sounds familiar. Outside the train station, a person sees you and sneaks up to you and says, "Brother, do you want a mobile phone? I just got the Apple mobile phone and I'll sell it to you cheaply."
Apprentice Li Yan yawned, unbolted the door, and opened the door to welcome guests. Shopkeeper Li Deyi opened the door curtain and stood outside the door, sweeping the dust from his body with a handful of squid, while paying attention to the foreigners on the street.
Suddenly, a rickshaw came from a distance and stopped at the door of Wenhuiju. Zhao Deyi was stunned for a moment, obviously not expecting it, but then a lotus-like smile appeared on his face. He picked up his clothes and trotted up to meet it, feeling warm.
shouted: "Charlie Mister, why are you free today? Didn't you promise tomorrow?"
Charlie is a Yingguo guy who works abroad. He just came to Peiping not long ago. His Chinese is average and he can understand a few commonly used greetings. He accidentally saw ancient Chinese paintings and he got out of hand from then on. Whenever anything happened, he would
After visiting Liulichang, Zhao Deyi became a long-term customer after several visits.
Zhao Deyi sold a pair of Jin Nong's "Autumn Chrysanthemums" last time. Charlie was very satisfied. Taking advantage of the situation, Zhao Deyi proposed to make an appointment for another day to collect a batch of calligraphy and paintings for Charlie to pick.
The date was scheduled for tomorrow, but Charlie had something to do tomorrow and came a day early. However, Zhao Deyi didn't know that he was in trouble now. Where could he find a translator at the last minute?
Zhao Deyi led Charlie into the store and took a seat, and brought tea. At the same time, he wanted Li Yan to go outside to find a translator, but in the blink of an eye, Li Yan disappeared.
Although there was no translator, the business that needed to be done still had to be done. In desperation, Zhao Deyi had no choice but to take out a few paintings that he had collected in advance and introduced them to Charlie with words and gestures. It was obvious that Charlie was confused.
Repeatedly, after a cup of tea, Zhao Deyi stared blankly, Charlie frowned, and no communication was achieved. Li Yan happened to come in from the backyard. As soon as they met, Zhao Deyi received a fierce scolding from Zhao Deyi.
"Where are you going to die so early in the morning?"
Li Yan didn't know what trouble he had caused, but he didn't dare to say anything. He buried his head and didn't move.
Seeing this, Zhao Deyi hurriedly urged: "Go to Mr. Zhang quickly and tell him that Mr. Charlie is here and it's urgent. Please ask him to come and everything will be easy to discuss."
Li Yan immediately understood what was going on and felt happy. Isn't this a coincidence? He thought for a while and said: "Shopkeeper, there is no need to go to Mr. Zhang. I have a man here who understands foreign languages and is waiting in the courtyard.
"
Zhao Deyi felt something was wrong as soon as he heard it. He still knew how much he weighed. These days, people who understand foreign languages are very scarce. Only those wealthy families who don't have to worry about food and clothing have the financial resources to send their children to study abroad. Someone who understands
Isn’t it nonsense that someone with a foreign language is waiting in his own backyard?
However, after listening to what Li Yan said, Zhao Deyi thought about it carefully and felt it was credible, and said: "Go and invite Mr. He."
He Qi did not expect that he would continue to live as soon as he arrived, but he felt a little unsure. This face-to-face translation is equivalent to simultaneous translation, which is the most difficult type of translation work. But at this level, he has to bite the bullet.
superior.
As soon as he entered the room, He Qi saw a chubby man in his forties with a happy face. He was wearing a gray mandarin jacket, a pair of glasses, short shaved hair, and a mustache. He must be from this shop.
The shopkeeper is the shopkeeper, and the other foreigner must be the buyer.
However, He Qi's outfit is really surprising. He is unkempt, wearing shabby clothes and patches. The most important thing is that he is barefoot. How can he look like he understands foreign languages?
Under the questioning eyes of the shopkeeper, He Qi calmed down and started the conversation: "Hello, I am a tor, and pleasure to serve you."
Although He Qi's accent was not satisfactory, Charlie could still understand it. After a few brief greetings, He Qi officially started the translation work, translating what the shopkeeper said to Charlie, and translating what Charlie said into Chinese.
To be honest, He Qi's translation is no worse than those of professional translators. But fortunately, both sides are not familiar with each other. If you don't know how to translate some words or encounter words that you can't remember, just vaguely explain them. That's it.
Once this happens, the translation work can continue with make do.
More than an hour later, Charlie left and spent 800 oceans to buy two paintings. Zhao Deyi packed them in two custom-made purple tremble wood long boxes, and even called a car to send them to the God of Wealth respectfully.
Out the door.
He Qi was left with a shocked look on his face, drinking bitter tea. It should be noted that Wang Laoer's bowl of wontons only costs 6 cents. One ocean can buy more than 30 kilograms of rice. Two oceans are enough for an ordinary family to consume in a month.
, I was sold to Zhang Maoer for 25 yuan, and for 300 yuan I could buy a large courtyard house with two entrances in Bada Hutong.
"Two paintings can buy 32 me's!" He Qi was confused, and the tea in her mouth became more and more bitter. Thinking about this, she felt even more uncomfortable.