Taking a puff of his cigarette, Zheng Zheng smiled self-deprecatingly and said, "At that time, I was still young, and I had just come into contact with archaeology and antique identification. And when I saw this bronze balance in that antique shop, I thought it should be an antique, a rare work of art, so I bought it back from the shopkeeper at a great price. But ......"

Zheng Zheng shook his head, changed his words, and said: "Later, after my many verifications, this bronze balance is not an antique, but just an imitation. I was devastated when I learned about the result, but it was already like this, and it was useless for me to regret it. Since then, I have carried this bronze balance with me as an ashtray and to warn myself that I must be careful when appraising antiques, and I must be careful and careful not to make such mistakes again. ”

"Oh......"

Anna nodded with a clear look on her face and said, "I see...... Sometimes it's inevitable that you have the wrong vision, which is a normal thing, and you don't have to take it too seriously. ”

Zheng Zheng smiled and nodded, and said, "It's not that I take this matter to heart, it's just to remind myself so that I don't make the same mistake again." ”

"Good. Anna nodded, picked up the wine glass and gestured to Zheng Zheng, who also raised his glass and took a shallow sip of tea.

Zheng Zheng is very clear about the truth of "don't say bald donkeys to monks". So for the origin of the bronze balance, Zheng Zheng arranged it in his heart before he came. If Zheng Zheng said that the bronze balance was just a handicraft, and he recognized it when he saw this handicraft, then it was tantamount to silently slapping Anna on the side in the face, although he felt that Zheng Zheng didn't know about it, but he wouldn't feel comfortable in his heart when he heard it.

However, if he changed this matter a little and turned himself into a victim who was deceived by a fake bronze balance like Anna, then Anna would certainly not feel uncomfortable when he listened to it again, right? It is very likely that he will think like this: I am not the only one who has been deceived by this kind of bronze scale, and this young man has also been deceived, so it seems that the mistake I made is not a very low-level mistake......

As long as he thinks so, or even a little bit of this thought in his heart, then when he looks at Zheng Zheng again, he will feel that Zheng Zheng is more cordial. Why? Because the two of them had a "common encounter". Why are they called the four irons? It is not because of how specific the thing itself is, as long as they have done one of them together, it is considered an iron relationship, but because of the key to "together", to put it bluntly, it is still a sense of closeness generated by a "common encounter".

Now, Zheng Zheng and Anna have been pitted by fake bronze balances, which can be regarded as a common encounter. Although it can't be compared with the "Four Irons", for strangers who meet for the first time, even a little bit of distance is a great progress.

And when Zheng Zheng said this, he used some skills. You think, Anna is a rich man who was cheated, this is understandable, after all, this is just a hobby, and no one has studied it professionally. But you, an archaeologist who conducts professional research in this area, have been cheated by this kind of thing, doesn't that prove that you, an archaeologist, are actually at the same level as a hobbyist?

Therefore, when Zheng Zheng spoke, there was a sentence like "I was still a young ...... at that time". This is to tell Anna in a way that is similar to a hint that Zheng Zheng was not professional when he was pitted by the Bronze Scale, because he was also new to the industry, but after going through that incident, after he "used this to warn himself all the time", Zheng Zheng is now very professional.

It can be said that before Zheng Zheng met Anna, the conversation between the two had actually begun. After Anna met Zheng Zheng, although Zheng Zheng has not made any active moves, nor has he taken the initiative to guide him on the surface, Anna's thinking has been controlled by Zheng Zheng, and his ideas are advancing and developing little by little according to Zheng Zheng's ideas.

To be honest, thinking about it like this, calculating, and quietly manipulating other people's thinking, Zheng Zheng himself is actually quite tired. However, this matter is so important that Zheng Zheng can only go all out and strive to achieve the best results in the shortest possible time. Since there is a need for this calculation, Zheng Zheng will not hesitate, anyway, he is not here to pit Anna, calculating Anna is not bad for Anna, and Zheng Zheng can't talk about any uneasiness in his heart.

The two put down their glasses, and Anna lit the cigar. He is in a much better state now than before, and he seems to be more relaxed, which is what Zheng Zheng wants.

As soon as this person relaxes, he will talk more, and what was inconvenient to say before is now convenient to say. Anna took a puff on his cigar and then asked the question he had always wanted to ask: "Mr. Zheng, I see you have a ring on your hand...... Looks like it's wooden?"

After Zheng Zheng went to get the cigarette on the table, Anna noticed the ring on Zheng Zheng's finger. He noticed that it was a wooden ring without any ornamentation or carving.

Rings made of gold, silver, copper, iron, and even jade and agate, Anna has seen a lot, and there is nothing unusual. As for the wooden ring, Anna really didn't see much. He also knew that there were some wooden rings on the market, but they were just the playthings of eighteen or nineteen-year-old children, and there was nothing to say. Although the young man in front of him was only in his twenties, Anna felt that the ring that could be worn by an "archaeologist" on his hand should not be a simple thing.

Anna was eager to find out what the ring was about. It's just that they just met, and the two are still separated, and Anna is not so presumptuous to ask Zheng Zheng what happened to the ring on his hand. Now the two have been chatting for a while, and because this young man has the same experience as herself, Anna feels that there is not so much between the two, so if this was not easy to ask just now, she will ask it now.

Hearing Anna's question, Zheng Zheng smiled slightly, and said in his heart, "You can be regarded as asking about this." How does Anna know why Zheng Zheng always habitually uses his left hand when he takes out the bronze balance in the middle, whether he takes a cigarette or goes to the cup. Zheng Zheng is not a left-handed person at all, and he did this completely to make Anna notice this ring, so that Zheng Zheng's prepared words can be said outside, right?

However, when Anna asked this, it was not something that Zheng Zheng could control, so Zheng Zheng could only wait. If he hadn't asked, Zheng Zheng would have led the conversation to the ring on his hand. But in that case, it may seem that Zheng Zheng is deliberately showing off, and if the timing and atmosphere are not very good, the effect will not be good.

Fortunately, Anna asked, otherwise Zheng Zheng would really have to take a risk.

"This ring itself doesn't have any peculiar origin, it's just a piece of wood that I found in good condition during archaeology before, and then made it out of that piece of wood, and its value is not high. ”

Zheng Zheng took off the ring and twisted it, changed his words, and asked Anna on the side, "Mr. Anna, how much do you know about Chinese culture?"

"Oh...... This ......" Anna smiled embarrassedly, shook her head, and said: "Chinese culture is as vast and profound as the ocean, I just know a little bit of common sense at best, and I am not a China expert." ”

Zheng Zheng nodded and said, "In traditional Chinese culture, there is a set of five elements theory composed of "gold, wood, water, fire, and earth" as elements. In traditional Chinese culture, it is believed that the world is made up of these five elements. ”

"Oh! Five Elements...... I know a little bit. ”

Anna cleared her throat and said in a somewhat stiff Chinese, "Gold, wood, water, fire, earth...... Wu Xing. ”

Zheng Zheng praised Anna in two sentences at the right time: "Mr. Anna's Chinese is not bad." ”

Anna smiled and said in English, "I can say a little, but I can only speak, and I don't know much. ”

Zheng Zheng nodded and said, "Then I'll try to explain it as briefly as possible...... In the five elements, wood represents everything that has the attributes of wood. And in the gossip, Xun hexagram and Zhen hexagram also belong to Muxing. In the traditional Chinese way of thinking, except for water and fire, everything else has two sides, yin and yang. Therefore, the Xun hexagram and the Zhen hexagram each represent the yin and yang sides of the wood line, where the Xun hexagram is the yin wood and the Zhen hexagram is the yang wood. Reflecting on the specific image, the Xun hexagram represents the wind, and the shock hexagram represents the thunder. ”

Zheng Zheng said that it was a simple explanation, but what he said was not simple at all, and in just one sentence, it covered the five elements, gossip, yin and yang. Not to mention Anna a foreigner, even if he compares these with a Chinese who does not know much about traditional culture, he basically does not understand Zheng Zheng's meaning.

Hearing Zheng Zheng say this, Anna looked confused, and she didn't understand anything at all. Sometimes, however, people are particularly interested in things they don't understand, and even if they don't understand them, they want to hear more. Seeing that Zheng Zheng was silent, he urged Zheng Zheng instead: "Mr. Zheng, please continue, I have always been interested in ancient Chinese culture, please continue." ”

"Okay. ”

Zheng Zheng nodded and continued: "The wind represented by the Xun hexagram can be said to express a kind of thought that can be integrated into any object. This may be difficult to understand, but the general meaning is that no matter how small or bad the environment is, the wind can be present in it. To put it simply, it's an attitude of being in the face of adversity. Although the kun hexagram in the gossip also represents a certain sense of suppleness, it is different from the Xun hexagram......"

Speaking of this, Zheng Zheng stopped talking and said to Anna with some embarrassment: "I'm sorry, Mr. Anna, I seem to have taken the topic away. ”

"No, no, no......" Anna hurriedly said, "I have rarely seen someone like you who has such a deep understanding of Chinese culture, please explain it to me in detail." ”