To this day, I still remember those cold and warm nights, the snow falling all over the window, the moon hanging brightly in the night sky, the red flames in the iron stove, the smell of potato and beef stew wafting in the air, and listening to my grandfather tell the story of his experience while eating.

Such carefree days did not last long, and when I was old enough to go to school and the country also opened up the two-child policy, I returned to the arms of my parents and lived an ordinary life like an ordinary person.

Sometimes when I am idle, I will also think of this strange thing that happened to my grandfather in the mountains of Yunnan back then.

What is the origin of that mysterious archaeological team? Went to a group of people, why was only Grandpa the last person to come back? And where did the gold from the mountains come from? I think about the dead people who crawled out of the graveyard in that village, but I think about it, but I think it will slowly become a forgotten story as the years go by.

These doubts stayed with me in my childhood, until I grew up and gradually forgot about it, and finally after graduating from a university in another province, I stayed for a few months and did not find a suitable job, so I returned to my hometown without anything to do. My father saw that I was not a way to mix like this, relying on the family to deal in antiques, so he let me go to the antique shop in the ghost market of Panjiayuan in Beijing to be a shopkeeper, and he followed his second uncle to collect some antiques, because he was idle at that time, he first found a job to earn some money, but this time it was a full three years.

Over the years, since I took over the management of my own antique shop, I have gradually become interested in antiques under these influences, and I will take one or two and play with them when I have nothing to do, recalling the stories of each antique told by my grandfather when I was a child.

The shop is located in the west of Panjiayuan Bridge in the East Third Ring Road of Beijing, also known as the "ghost market", which is an antique street and the largest antique market in the country, and of course it can also be called a symbol of Beijing's old culture. In this antique furniture, the four treasures of the study, ancient books and paintings, jewelry and jade, Chinese and foreign coins, national costumes, cultural bracelets, as long as you can think of valuable antiques, there is everything here.

As for why it's called a "ghost market"? In fact, it has nothing to do with haunting. According to historical records, the "ghost market" in the Song Dynasty has become popular, and the "ghost market" in old Beijing can be traced back to the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China. "Ghost Market" is the night market, dispersed until dawn, also known as "Ghost Market", there are "Xiao Market" outside Desheng Gate in Beijing in the early years, "Dongxiao Market" outside Chongwen Gate, and Xuanwumen "Night Market" and so on.

At that time, the fortunes of the country were declining, and the families of high-ranking officials and nobles were in the middle of the road, and the children of large families stole the ancestral treasures of the family and sold them on the street. After all, this is a loss of identity, so I chose to trade with lanterns before dawn. The poor lit flints, the rich carried lanterns, and some unknown sellers shuttled, sometimes dark as ghost fires and lanterns, and slowly the "ghost market" of Panjiayuan was called.

Since it is a "ghost market", it is different from the usual market, and the things sold must be related to "ghosts" to some extent, and of course there are some funeral goods for the dead.

The shopkeeper in some shops can sell 300 yuan of antique calligraphy and painting to tourists who don't know how to do it for 30,000 yuan, but there are also some half-hung shopkeepers, who sell hundreds of thousands of jade pendants as glass products for hundreds of yuan.

The bright-eyed ones are like picking up a suite for nothing, but there are also many people who cry when they return home.

True and false, false and real, no one can tell, no one can understand.

Those who know how to do it know as soon as they open their mouths that those who don't understand can't enter this circle at all.

Today, although the "ghost market" no longer needs to hide and hide people's eyes, on the surface, Panjiayuan is still an inconspicuous thrift market, and the vendors selling daily necessities, snacks and toys are not visible to outsiders.

Business has been good these days, and the valuable treasures in the store have been bought by several bosses, and even some inconspicuous old objects have been dealt with a lot. I was lying on a chair in the shop as usual, blowing the air conditioner, drinking tea and smoking a cigarette thinking about things, thinking about how to get a few valuable treasures from there and put them on this empty shelf.

"How do you collect all the old things here?" A man outside the door pushed open the door and said.

My thoughts were interrupted by the person in front of me at once, I raised my eyes, carefully looked at this person, at the end of July, this person was wearing an outdated military coat, tightly protecting his body, although the clothes were thick, but the hot sweat on this person's head was from the inside out, and the clothes were wet, and the clothes were still covered with dirt outside, and a few footprints were stepped on on the floor when he walked into the store, and he looked a little stupid.

Although the climate in Beijing is not as hot as the weather in the south, in the hot summer, people in July are too late to wear short sleeves, either blowing air conditioning or drinking soda at home, some beautiful girls on the street are wearing suspenders and miniskirts, and some even have to wear clothes to go out, but the person in front of him is dressed so tightly, he doesn't look like a city person, but like a dead person crawling out of the ground, which is indeed a little weird.

"Collect, collect, but I need to look at the old things you brought first." With a happy look on my face, I hurriedly put down the teacup in my hand and walked over and said.

"It's too bright in this place, it's a bit dazzling, let's find a place to catch the moon."

As soon as I heard the spirit, this man actually knew the jargon in the old grave circle, and hurriedly locked the door of the shop, closed several roller shutter windows, invited the man to sit down in the inner room, took out the Pu'er tea sent by the second uncle from Yunnan from the drawer, made a pot, and poured a cup for the man.

"Then let's not waste any time, let's get straight to the point, are you from the south or the north?"

"To the south, thanks to the blessing of our ancestors, I got some old things from under the ground. Let the shopkeeper show you how much money it is worth, and if it is appropriate, I will put it on your side first. ”

The south side is the north side, which means to ask him whether he robs the tomb in the south or the north, and he said that the south, I don't see that the climate in the south is hotter than in the north, but the humidity under the south is much heavier than that in the north, and the people who often go to the tomb are heavy all year round in the underground have to wear military coats to protect their bodies, otherwise they will have rheumatism in their old age. There are also many dangers underneath the cemetery, and wearing thick clothes can better protect yourself.

This person's clothes should have just crawled out of the cemetery, but even if he wanted to sell antiques, why didn't he even have time to change his clothes? How urgent can this be? I was a little confused.

"So where do you go, alone or in a pot?" I took a sip of my tea and asked.

"Hey, go to the ground, don't mention our pot to sell antiques in Beijing, I didn't expect to be arrested by a few plainclothes yesterday, I have no choice, I have to find another way today."

Only then did I understand that this person was released pigeons, this pot was caught, there was no way to sell things for money, and the things were in hand and I was afraid of getting into trouble.

This pot is still alone, the so-called single, the meaning is obvious, it is usually a person who goes to the ground, that pot is powerful, there is a special master responsible for all the actions of this field, that is, the pot that this person said. Among them, there are many more doorways here, and the division of labor of the personnel who go down to the ground every time is very clear: stepping on the point, letting go of the wind, digging holes, getting guns, going to the ground, etc., this person just said that the ground is specifically responsible for taking treasure from the cemetery where the hole is dug, and I heard him say that the blessing of the ancestors, which is obviously that this person's ancestors are doing tomb robbery for a living.

What I said to this person just now is a black word in this industry, one is to inquire about this person's details, and the other is to test whether this person is a plainclothes policeman. Don't look at this discerning antique shop, but most of the things here come from the wrong way, and most of them are pulled out of the ground, that is, in the cemetery.

To say that the business of this line is different from other industries, the business in the antique industry, each family will have a few fixed customers, some of the good face is not bad money boss, that has to be the God of Wealth like the same offering, can not coax or deceive, every year the store can get the baby, that has to be kept for these God of Wealth, as long as these God of Wealth like, hobby, that is a penny will not be less than you, and so this year the valuable treasures are sold almost, the rest of the old objects that can be deceived can be deceived and cheated, This is called killing the living but not the ripe.

Although it is a business that makes a lot of money, it will not be opened for a year, and it will be open for a year, but there are many people who worry about you behind your back, and there are many people who want to harm you, so you have to be extremely careful, and maybe one day you will be caught in the bureau if you are not careful.

With this in mind, the tea was almost finished, and then he took out a piece of porcelain from the cowhide bag he carried in his arms and placed it on the table.

"Shopkeeper, you can make a price."