The second is about the uncle of the Hong family.

Yuntae entered Beijing this time to attend his nephew's wedding, and inadvertently brought two benefits.

One is that he has restored contact with his old classmate Smith, which not only gives the young people of several relatives a window into the outside world. It also made them realize before most Chinese people that there may be a way to study abroad in life.

On the afternoon of the wedding reception, Mr. and Mrs. Smith stayed at Hong's house for a long time.

This old American man told the younger generation with great interest about the colorful way of life in the Western world and developed countries. Not only did he strongly encourage everyone to find an opportunity to go out and have a look. It also revealed a series of very important information about studying abroad.

Originally from January 14, 1981, the official promulgation of the Republic of China "Interim Regulations on Self-funded Study Abroad", the road to study abroad has actually been opened.

At present, the official government of the United States and the Republic is also communicating to prepare for the first "Test of English as a Foreign Language" test in the Republic.

Smith then explained in detail, saying that the English abbreviation of this test is "TOEFL" in Chinese. It is an English proficiency test provided for students from non-English-speaking countries who apply to study in colleges and universities in the United States, Canada and other Western countries.

And said in public that if anyone wants to study abroad, they can pass this exam. He is willing to provide them with a series of help within his capacity, such as applying for schools, applying for visas, and even providing financial guarantees.

To tell the truth, Smith's words were more to Zhaoqing, the son of the Wanyan family, who sincerely hoped that the children of his old classmates could go abroad and receive a more advanced Western education.

It's a pity that the speaker has the intention, but the listener has no intention. Zhaoqing is desperately guarding Xiaoqin to live, and all he thinks about is the unborn child. How can you have such a heart?

What I didn't expect was the unintentional insertion of willows. Shou Jingfang's son, Shou Xu, was touched by a sensitive nerve. On the spot, he hurriedly began to ask if he could go to the United States to study medicine.

Even if he later learned from Smith that to study medicine, he had to obtain an undergraduate degree in the United States first, and then he had to take relevant professional exams. I was not disappointed, but I was high-spirited and energetic.

It can be seen how important he regards studying medicine, and he seems to have made up his mind and wants to give it a try.

But then again, although this is a good thing, Shou Jingfang also showed a trace of worry because of this. I don't know if I don't want my son to travel far away, or if I'm worried about tuition fees......

In addition, Yuntai himself did not get any good things for Hong Yanwu.

Because Yuntai knew that Hong Yanwu was rare and old, and heard from his family that this nephew "made a windfall" with stamps. So in the days when the Hong family lived, he was not completely idle, and went out for a few trips, but he really found that there was a Xiao City in the capital again.

The so-called "Xiao Market" is a spontaneous market that mainly deals in old goods, and the trading time is concentrated in the early morning. The market opens before dawn and closes at dawn, hence the name.

Some people call it a "ghost market". This is mainly aimed at the characteristics of night trading of "a Kong Ming lantern, which does not shine on people". As for the colloquial call for "small market", it is a fallacy.

Speaking of the history of this kind of market, it has actually existed since the Ming Dynasty. The old legend has a family down, thinking of the movable property Yi Michai is shameful for people, because of the early morning to carry the old things to a remote place and formed.

But in fact, although the things sold in Xiaoshi are mainly old goods, there are all kinds of new, shoddy and counterfeit goods, and stolen goods.

It is precisely because the source of the channel is unknown, from which "there is a lot to find" (jargon, which means to make more money by reselling). Xiaoshi was one of the main purchase channels for many antique shops before the liberation.

In the old days, this kind of market has always been distributed in remote places near the city walls such as Xuanwu Gate, Desheng Gate, and Chongwen Gate. Because the Xuanwu Gate is close to the glaze factory, it is mostly antique. Desheng Gate has many old furniture, and Chongwen Gate is based on clothing estimation.

However, after the establishment of the republic, as the new government organized the industrial and commercial and public security departments to vigorously rectify the situation, the establishment of a market management office to strengthen management, ban unlicensed traders, and investigate and deal with illegal acts of speculation. The scale of the thrift market is gradually shrinking. The second-hand goods business has also been gradually replaced by state-owned trust companies and public-private joint trust stores.

Then almost by 1957, the "Xiao City" in the capital had completely disappeared and should have ceased to exist.

But it was precisely the advent of the "movement" that led to the scattering of many cultural relics. Ten years have passed, after the implementation of the refund policy, many people who do not know the goods have a lot of old things in their hands, and those who are in a hurry to realize them have a sharp majority.

In addition, after the reform and opening up, the management of private transactions among the people has gradually been relaxed. As a result, this kind of market has been revitalized and resurrected due to the comeback of some of the original "practitioners".

It's just that there is a difference between the current "Xiao City" and the past "Xiao City". Taking Chongwenmen as an example, because there is no city wall, the original Dongxiao City was moved to Hongqiao.

In addition, not all of the stalls are former professional sellers, and many are new entrants. Or test the waters for profit, or sell the idle items at home.

As a result, unprofessional verbal bargaining has emerged, and the categories of goods have decreased.

Nowadays, almost all of the goods sold are semi-old antiques and old goods, and there are no other miscellaneous items. Such as the "tiger work" and "smashing goods" of daily necessities.

In this way, there will be no more the old behavior of using lights as a barrier, borrowing ecstasy to palm the steel mouth, and using "nursery" to deceive people. On the contrary, the market has been improved, and the market has become much purer.

(Note: Tiger work and smashing goods both refer to the use of old goods to scrub and pass off as new.) The difference is in the degree. The goods can still be used, and the tiger "eats people", and it is almost a waste to buy it back. For example, for example, there used to be fake roast duck sold in Xiaoshi, using the duck rack received from the roast duck shop to mix mud and paper and brush with oil, the amount and appearance are not fake, but I am afraid that the buyer will eat it at the time, this is the standard tiger work. The card word watch made of handicraft splicing, although it is also more ruthless, but because the timing function is not lost, it is for the sake of the goods. ）

In this case, Yuntai knew that he would not stay in Beijing for a long time, so he was too lazy to choose slowly, and then slowly bargained for the goods. He used the "running hammer" buying method with the highest efficiency in grasping goods.

It is to "choose more, run diligently, pay less, buy fine goods, do not bargain, save time" as the criterion, go shopping next to the stalls, and only give a "fixed price" to the goods that catch your eye. Once the seller refuses, he will turn around and leave, and he will never be nostalgic.

This way of buying is completely contrary to other buyers who are calm and selective, and slowly grind slowly. The trick is to rely on superhuman eyesight, clear gold in the sand, and win with more. It can "sweep" all the valuable goods in the shortest possible time, and never return empty-handed.

And because he only uses his eyes to scan things with his eyes, except for calligraphy and painting, he doesn't even touch his hands, and he doesn't entangle the price, he is completely reckless as a layman, so he is not afraid of buying surprise to the other party. No one believed that he was really knowledgeable and had eyes.

This leads to two situations, one is that the seller can't bear it and stops him, so he buys it with money on the spot, and there is nothing else to say. The second is that it was really missed, and it is never a pity.

Anyway, there is a next one besides this stall. And I can't stand him coming almost every day, "stretching" the seller for a day, and then coming to pick up the stubble is this price. The other party knew about his problem, and he was happy to sell it next time.

In short, Yuntai uses this method, and almost every time it is a bumper harvest. Almost all of them are used for the price of a bag of tea to buy authentic works, good posts, ancient porcelain, and expensive knick-knacks.

Like calligraphy and painting, it is more rare, there is a large hand scroll painted by Song Ma and the painting of "The Book of Poetry, Lu Mingzhishi", and Song Ta's "Collection of Wang Xi's Book of the Tang Dynasty Sanzang Holy Order". Ming Tang Yin painted "Water Moon Guanyin Statue" and "Ladies" each one. Master Hongyi painted a picture of "Shakyamuni" and handcopied a volume of "Prajnaparamita Heart Sutra".

Like porcelain, there is a porcelain bowl of Yue kiln in the Song Dynasty, a pair of Yongzheng chicken bowl cups in the Qing Dynasty, and a pair of porcelain bottles in the Qianlong Dynasty in the Qing Dynasty. Qing Qianlong ancient Yuexuan porcelain bottle, Qing Qianlong material color bottle each one, Ming Wanli blue and white plus purple porcelain bowl one.

There are also such as the Ming and Qing imperial ink, the Jin Dynasty phoenix foot red gold crown, the Jin Dynasty "all to control the seal" Tian Huangshi seal, the Ming Xuande furnace, the Han Dynasty ancient jade, jade snuff bottle, Hetian white jade wrench, Zhao Ziyu's cricket jar and other small pieces.

It's probably a bunch of things, and there are seventy or eighty pieces. They are all treasures that can enter the museum level and are officially prohibited from being sold. In total, it only cost Hong Yanwu six or seven hundred yuan.

Of course, after all, the environment is dim, and it is a hasty purchase. So there are times when you are unlucky and look away.

For example, once Yuntai bought a Mi Fu's "Four Ancient Poems", only to go home and find that it was a fake for people to copy.

But fortunately, there were no real modern products in these years. In the end, it was found that the person who copied it was Prince Aixin Jueluo Yongzhen, the eleventh son of Qianlong, and it was not a complete miss.

This should be regarded as a special market dividend in this era.

The second group has been opened, group number: 608640021

(End of chapter)