Chapter 1 Leaving Home
1053 Words
At that time, the village provided a subsistence allowance, which seemed to be more than 80 yuan per month, and there was also a special allowance for orphans, which was more than 100 yuan per month. It would not be an exaggeration to say that my family was struggling to make ends meet.
When I was in junior high school, CCTV’s treasure hunt program was on TV every day. I was particularly fascinated by it. Those bottles and jars that people didn’t take seriously before, turned out to be sold for tens of thousands by experts. They were antiques and could be exchanged for houses or houses. car!
I kept lying to my grandma, saying that the school asked me to buy study materials. Grandma gave me money, so I ran to the bookstore and bought all antique books.
The first book I remember reading was "Fifty Treasures of Ancient Springs", published by Mr. Dai, it was a very thick book.
Ancient springs are copper coins, which are called purple coins in our country. This book opened my eyes and made me crazy about antiques.
I rummaged through boxes and cabinets in our house, and deceived my classmates. Without reading, I fixed the price at 50 cents each, and asked them to steal copper coins from their own homes. They then sold them to me and I bought them.
I lived frugally and never ordered food from the canteen. Later, I sold a bunch of textbooks for seven yuan. I was too poor at studying. The teacher just kept sighing and said that this child is screwed. If he doesn't study hard, he will only be able to It is a cancer on society.
I dismissed the teacher's words at that time. I had a dream in my heart of getting rich. Even if I became a cancer, I still wanted to be a rich cancer.
In the third year of junior high school, when the high school entrance examination was approaching, I was 16.
Grandma had an accident while clearing snow in the yard and accidentally broke her leg. The total medical and surgical expenses cost more than 3,000 yuan.
Our family's situation was that we couldn't even afford 600 yuan at that time. I was deeply impressed. My grandma was lying on the kang, covered with a thick quilt, and would cry at night.
My eldest uncle opened several farmhouses in Mohe, Xuexiang. His business was doing well, so I went to his house to borrow money to buy medicine for my grandma.
Although I didn't say anything on the surface, I secretly overheard it once. My eldest uncle said that I was a bad guy and that our family was in a bad state. He said that the loaned money would be pawned. We come and go.
That winter night, it was more than 30 degrees below zero in Mohe. I sat on a stone for more than three hours.
He was young and frivolous, and his eldest uncle's words severely shattered a young man's self-esteem to pieces.
Holding the borrowed money tightly, I swore in my heart: "I! Xiang Yunfeng! I must get ahead!"
I dropped out of school on my own. Strictly speaking, I didn't even have a junior high school diploma. I was considered a primary school graduate.
Of the three thousand yuan, apart from the medicine for grandma’s surgery, there was still seven hundred and fifty-three yuan left. I kept this money secretly.
Not only did I collect copper coins, I also went to other people’s houses in neighboring villages to collect porcelain and silver coins.
Rural people only think that silver dollars are valuable, and most of them don't understand and don't care much about bottles, dishes, porcelain and the like.
I read books and treasure appraisal columns every day, and I gradually developed some basic eyesight.
I bought a pair of large navy blue chicken feather dusters from the late Qing Dynasty for 100 yuan, a few small salt shakers with pastel paintings of ladies from the Republic of China for less than 200 yuan, and three mid-Qing folk paintings for 180 yuan. Kiln blue and white bowls. Unfortunately, these three bowls all have chicken claw marks. They were not well preserved and all have big marks.
I also saved a small bag of copper coins before, about two hundred of them. Most of the copper coins are Song coins and Qing coins. Among them, Daoguang, Guangxu, Qianlong, Huangsong, and Yuanfeng are the most common. These coins exist in large quantities, and I know they are not very valuable. Among them, the most satisfying ones for me are three Yongzheng pieces in good condition. I knew that Yongzheng Tongbao was worth some money, but I didn’t know how much it was worth at the time.
After buying these things, I spent a total of more than 500 yuan, and I still had 240 yuan left. The average monthly salary at that time was just over 300 yuan.
I had a good relationship with a female classmate at the time. She helped me and lent me two 30-inch large trolley cases.
There were a total of 11 pieces of porcelain and a small bag of copper coins. I carefully wrapped them in quilts to avoid breaking them, and stuffed them with a lot of foam.
Finally, two large trolley suitcases and a backpack were filled.
Grandma didn't understand what I was doing, and said that I was not doing my job properly, and that she had raised me in vain. My eldest uncle also knew about it, and most of the people in the village also knew about it.
Many people pointed fingers at me behind my back.
Suffering from the glare and the incomprehension of others, I left Mohe with my things on the morning of the 17th day of the twelfth lunar month.
At that time, I thought in my mind that the people in Beijing were the richest, so of course the antiques I collected would be sold to the people in Beijing, not to mention that I had longed for the legendary place Panjiayuan.
There is no direct train from Mohe to Beijing. You can only take a train to Siping first, and then from Siping to the west of Beijing.
- Writer
