I arrived in Shaoxing City in the afternoon of the next day.

Shaoxing is very close to Hangzhou, but it is only a hundred miles away, and there are many long-distance buses between the two cities. Compared with Hangzhou, the urban area of Shaoxing is not large, with narrow alleys and small bridges in the old streets, and there is a warm temperament of a water town in the south of the Yangtze River everywhere. When I entered the city, it was raining, and looking out the window at the drizzle, the old buildings around me were hidden in a faint mist, which calmed my irritable mood a lot, as if it had been washed.

Shaoxing is known as the "State of Cultural Relics", this "cultural relics" does not refer to the cultural relics we are talking about now, "Wen" refers to spiritual civilization, and "things" refers to material civilization, which means that both hands are very hard in Shaoxing regardless of cultural heritage or material life. You think, the history of this place can be traced back to three generations ago, and then it was in the core area of Jiangnan culture, and thousands of years of cultural immersion have made this small city amazingly thick.

Starting from Shun and Yu, ancient celebrities include Gou Jian, Xi Shi, Wang Xizhi, Lu You, Wang Yangming, Xu Wei, and Lu Xun, Zhou Enlai, Cai Yuanpei, Qiu Jin and other celebrities. Almost just take two steps, and you can come across the hometown of a famous historical celebrity. This kind of place where outstanding people gather has always been a hidden dragon and a crouching tiger, which should not be underestimated.

As the car slowly drove into the city, I regrouped my thoughts on the way. Professor Zheng was obviously dragged into the gang by the medicine, and then brainwashed by the old Chaofeng and sent here to destroy the "Sangu Thatched House" tank. So from this point of view, the Shen family should not be the people of the old court, otherwise they would be able to do it in Beijing, why bother to let Professor Zheng come to Hangzhou to go to great lengths.

Between the five veins and the old court, it is really intricate and difficult to distinguish.

Judging from the words of the medicine, there are two things that Lao Chaofeng still doesn't know. One is that I and medicine are not teaming up; The second is that I have the fragments of the "Three Visits to the Thatched House" jar on my body. Moreover, the medicine also implied that he would not tell the old courtier about our meeting, so why did he do this? Could it be that the interior of the old court is not monolithic?

In the final analysis, we have to figure out what is hidden here in Shaoxing. Otherwise, I was asked to come to Shaoxing, but I never mentioned the reason, leaving only a place name called "Bazi Bridge". I don't know if I need to meet someone, or find an object, or go to find a place? I don't have a clue.

Shaoxing this place, the most famous culturally there are two types of things, one is the calligraphy, next to Shaoxing is the Lanting, the birthplace of the famous "Lanting Collection Preface", and the hometown of the sage Wang Xizhi, the level of calligraphy inherited is naturally very high; The second is the furniture of the Ming and Qing dynasties, there are a lot of big families in Shaoxing, multiplying for generations, a family often has the scale of thousands of people, known as "36 patios, 72 sill windows", which means a big house, there are 36 families in a single courtyard, you can imagine how many utensils are used in daily life. What's more, they are also the identity of the gentry and eunuchs, pay attention to elegance and civility, and have high requirements for the quality of furniture.

Since he specially designated me to come to Shaoxing, the things or people he was looking for must be related to these two things.

Although the medicine is not repeatedly admonished, saying that you must not believe the clues sent to the door. But my instinct told me that the medicine would not have deceived me. But this is just a gut feeling, there is no evidence, if the medicine is not still around, it will definitely scold me to the blood.

"This bastard won't tell the whole story." I gritted my teeth and jumped out of the car. At this time, the light rain was still falling, and the raindrops fell on the neck with a slight coolness. I shrunk my neck, bought an umbrella to prop up, and walked towards the figure-eight bridge.

Before I left, I bought a Shaoxing travel brochure, which said that the Bazi Bridge was built in the Southern Song Dynasty during the Jiatai period, and it was a long time ago. It is located at the intersection of Baziqiao Straight Street and Guangning Bridge Straight Street. I searched all the way, and walked along the side street until I came to the end, only to see a low-key girder stone bridge in the slanting wind and drizzle.

This eight-character bridge is located at the confluence of three waters, and the main river of the main river flowing north-south across the main bridge span is made of granite stone. There is also a sub-bridge next to it that is stamped under the two sides, and it is divided into four directions to descend the slope. Looking at it from afar, it is exactly a "eight" character. Each of the two stampedes under the bridge has a square opening, which can accommodate the passage of two small rivers under the bridge. There is also a sidewalk that can be vaguely seen next to the river, which is estimated to be the road taken by the former slender man.

This shape, like the current overpass, extends in all directions, is suitable for water and land, and appears to be symmetrical and simple, it is really an architectural masterpiece. As I walked up, the bridge was undulating like a walnut skin, and the steps where I landed were almost smoothed. However, the lotus relief carved on the pillar of the Wangqiao is well preserved, and the lotus petals are clearly visible. On the side of the bridge near the water, the pothos is like a curtain, which adds a bit of quaint interest.

I stood at the top of the bridge, the top of the bridge was almost level with the roofs on the left and right, and the scenery was clear at a glance. On both sides of the river are white-walled Uwa houses in the south of the Yangtze River, and the terrain is lower than the Bazi Bridge. You can see a woman washing vegetables by the water in front of the door, a canopy boat floats leisurely, and a few young people by the river ride bicycles, happily riding through the narrow alley, startling two swallows to fly diagonally across the water.

The rain poured down from the umbrella, as if hanging a veil of tulle, making it all beautiful and mysterious. I held my umbrella and looked at it for a long time, but I couldn't get the point. The scenery in front of you is beautiful, but I don't know what the key is.

"The medicine is not, the medicine is not, what are you asking me to see?" I muttered to myself.

A young girl with a sketchpad on her back came from the other side of the bridge, stopped at the top of the bridge, propped up the sketchpad, and began to sketch against the railing. I walked over and held her the umbrella over. The girl was engrossed in drawing, unaware. It wasn't until a sketch had taken shape that she realized that there had been no rain above her head, turned her head, and smiled brightly at me.

This girl is fair-skinned, with long black hair and a silver-leaf headdress pinned to her head, and she is a typical Jiangnan girl. Let's just talk. I call myself a tourist from Beijing, and I came to Shaoxing for tourism.

The girl was very surprised, and said that the Bazi Bridge is not as famous as Luzhen, Lanting and other places, and few tourists from other places will come. I took the opportunity to ask her if there was anything particularly worth visiting in the neighborhood.

The girl tilted her head and thought about it for a long time, but she didn't come up with it. Bazi Bridge is not a tourist attraction, and the people living nearby are all residents of the old city, and there are no celebrities who have ever lived. I further inspired her that it doesn't have to be an attraction, as long as it is related to traditional culture, for example, it has something to do with antiques.

The girl's eyes lit up, and she said, "I know one."

I was overjoyed. She stretched out her arm and pointed under the bridge, "Well, there's an antique shop over there." "I looked that way, and in the distance I saw a large banyan tree at the corner of the creek, its trunk almost skewed to the water, and its whole crown was like an umbrella resting on the floor. A corner of the house can be seen faintly from behind the tree.

"Remember to thank me when you go back." The girl shouted generously.

I thanked the girl and went down the bridge and walked that way. The waterways around the Bazi Bridge are vertical and horizontal, and they often look very close, but they are blocked by the river when they come to the front, and they have to go far to pass. I made seven turns and walked several times to reach the door of the antique shop.

This house is a small two-story building in imitation of the Hui school, and it has only been built recently. On both sides of the roof are horse-head gables, and the forks and fists on the beam frame are cloud-shaped, hooking and circuitous. The wood under the eaves is carved into a variety of rare birds and beasts, which is quite exquisite. A couplet at the door: Reading is everywhere in the pure land, and the door is closed into the deep mountains. actually read a bit of the taste of the city hidden in the city.

There is also a plaque on it, which reads the words "Lanji Zhai". Lan is Lan Ting, Ji is Hui Ji.

I pushed the door in, the store inside is not big, there is a jujube wood pavilion on each side of the shop, on which are placed all kinds of antiques, bronze, jade, porcelain and some miscellaneous pieces, and there is a horizontal scroll transcript of the "Orchid Pavilion Collection Preface" hanging at the back. I glanced at it, the color of the goods can only be regarded as flat, the details are arranged very refreshingly, the windows are bright and clean, simple, and a stove of plain incense is burned.

The boss is a middle-aged man in his forties, with a long face and thin eyebrows, white skin without a trace of wrinkles, and a bit of a woman. He greeted him warmly, said you could take a look, and paced back to the back of the counter.

I noticed that the shop was not located near Lu Xun's hometown, which was the largest antique market in Shaoxing, suggesting that he was a car shop. The so-called car shop refers to the kind of antique shop in a remote location, which ordinary people can't find, and they are introduced by acquaintances, and most of them are knowledgeable. On the other hand, street shops are located next to tourist attractions or bustling markets, and they can be seen when you look up, and are mostly welcomed by tourists and laymen.

I didn't rush to speak, but walked around the pavilion a few times, and the objects inside were both new and old, mixed together. I took down a blue and white flower bird lotus seed jar from the shelf, and the bottom paragraph of the jar said "Qianlong Year of the Qing Dynasty". I looked at the bottom of the paragraph, smiled slightly, and knew what to expect. The bottom of the serious Qianlong official vessel, the word "year" is broken horizontally, called the broken year, and there is a horizontal stroke in the recess below the word "made". The bottom of this jar does not have these two characteristics, you don't need to look at the others, it must be fake.

However, this jar can be imitated, the flowers and birds and lotus seeds are decorated with clear lines, the glaze is wiped clean, and the brilliance is dazzling, which is a modern craft boutique. I didn't say a word, but took the jar and looked at it for a long time. At this time, the boss came over and said with a smile, "What do you think of this?" ”

I replied vaguely, "It's okay, it looks pretty good." The boss cocked his thumb: "I can't hide it, the things I put outside are more new and less old, fooling laymen." You pick out the only genuine item, and you're a connoisseur. I pretended to be smug and nodded my head repeatedly. The boss tugged at my sleeve and said in a low voice: "In my store, the real good things, in fact, you haven't seen them yet." ”

"Oh? Where is it? ”

The boss said, "I'll tell you, this is my personal collection." The two of us have an eye relationship, and I just made this exception, and the average guest comes, and they can't see it if they want to. As he spoke, he took out a large brocade box with a cloud dragon pattern royal blue silk bottom from the back room, and solemnly opened the box, which contained a Kangxi colorful dragon and phoenix porcelain pen holder. As soon as I took it out, my eyes were full of color.

Kangxi Wucai is painted on the porcelain surface, with red, yellow, green, blue, purple, black, etc., and it is also divided into shades, shades, thicknesses, so the effect is extremely eye-catching. This pen holder is painted with a dragon and a phoenix, the dragon body is beeswax yellow, the phoenix feather is melon skin green and jujube skin red, and the auspicious clouds, grass, flowers, forests, and mountains and rocks also have their own unique colors, making the picture look very lively.

"As the saying goes, a thousand gold is easy to get, but a soulmate is hard to find. I don't sell this thing, but when I meet someone who knows it, I always want to appreciate it together. The boss said softly, with sincerity in his eyes.

I touched the pen holder, but I sneered in my heart.

He's serving me vegetables.

Picking vegetables is a secret saying in the southern antique industry, and the spring point in the north is called a slot, which is a means for antique shops to hook people.

In some antique shops, the boss will deliberately put real and fake objects on the front shelves, and there are several brocade boxes in the back, which are all fake. If a guest picks up a fake and fiddles with it as soon as they enter the door, indicating that it is a mallet, the boss will deliberately tout that you really have an eye and make the guest flutter. Then he would say from the bottom of his heart that the goods in front were average, and there were a few treasures in the back, which were only for those who knew how to see.

When the guests listened, their vanity was satisfied, and they felt that the boss was very sincere, and they didn't realize it. What happens next, I don't need to say more.

Because this practice is to watch people put down dishes, it is called sandwiching dishes. The north is more vulgar, and the pigs are fed separately and treated differently, so they are also called separate troughs.

This boss saw that I broke in alone, and picked up the fake lotus seed jar and looked at it for a long time, so he defaulted to me as a mallet, and I didn't cheat for nothing.

In fact, I'm really a good mallet, and these knowledge are all temporarily learned from "Xuanci Chengjian". Fortunately, although my knowledge of porcelain is not solid, the essence of deception is the same, and it is enough to understand a little psychology and human nature.

For example, this Kangxi colorful dragon and phoenix pen holder, if it is left here alone for me to guess, I can't identify the ugly Yinmao. But now that I see the boss serving me food, I know that this thing must be fake. It's much easier to know the correct answer and deduce the flaws in it.

I picked up the pen holder, turned it in my hand a few times, and said casually, "Boss, this green color is a little wrong." People say that Kangxi Wucai is green and yellow, you see the green of this phoenix feather, but it is a bit black. ”

When the boss heard this, a smile froze on his face. I am definitely an expert in asking this question. He quickly smiled and said that maybe the light in the house was not good. I flipped over the pen holder and said that the utensils in the Kangxi period were fine, all glutinous rice fetal quality, slightly yellowed, why did this look white? The boss can't hold back this time, it's obvious that he is pretending to be a pig and eating a tiger.

"What are you talking about...... Well, not really. ”

I said the third sentence softly: "If you want to make a product of the Republic of China, it is indeed a fine product, and it will be over when it is broken into the Kangxi year." ”

Five-color porcelain only appeared in two periods, and it was popular for a while during the Kangxi period, and then because it was too colorful, it was gradually replaced by pastel. It was not until the Tongguang period and the early years of the Republic of China that the folk began to re-imitate the five colors. Many people use the new colors to fill the old colors and bluff the layman.

As for how to distinguish the difference between the two, one looks at the fetal quality, the second looks at the color material, and the third looks at the glaze color, which is particularly clear in the "Xuanci Chengjian". But how to actually use it, but the use of it is wonderful, and it is not something that can be solved by endorsement.

The boss snatched the pen holder back from my hand and said angrily: "I kindly think you fit your eyes, is it interesting for you to do this?" ”

The antiques world has a very strange mentality. There are many laymen who are insiders, and they are especially popular with businessmen and are easy to deceive; An insider like me will be despised and feel that he is deliberately teasing people and blocking other people's business.

In fact, the reason why I did this was not because I was idle and bored, but because I let the medicine be forced otherwise.

The medicine gave me too few clues, and I had to try it from place to place. But people's hearts are unpredictable, I don't know where to bury the pit, so I have to be careful. Probe the other party first, and feel that it is reliable, so that you can inquire about things.

This time, I really tried it. As soon as the boss of this Lan Jizhai saw the fat sheep, he did not hesitate to deceive. It can be seen that his character is limited, and no matter how elegant the layout of the shop is, it can't hide that it is a place to hide dirt and dirt. I am carrying the fragments of the "Three Visits to the Thatched House" character jar, which has a lot to stake, and I can't just show it to this kind of person.

"Do you buy it or not, if you don't buy it, please take care of it." The boss's face changed and he ordered the eviction.

I thought about it for a while, and finally asked, "Do you have a blue and white character lid jar?" The boss didn't have any special reaction, and he impatiently packed up the tea utensils: "No, no, never confiscated." I'm closing. ”

Hearing this answer, at least I can be sure that this is not the place that the medicine suggests.

It was useless to stay longer, so I quickly pushed the door and went out, standing at the mouth of the alley, a little hesitant for a while. There should be only this antique shop near the Bazi Bridge, if it weren't here, how would I find it?

There are many narrow alleys in front of me, stretching in all directions, like a maze, and the houses are densely packed, so I can't go door to door to ask, right? I walked along the alley for a long time in the rain, because I had no goal, so I had to turn around every corner. After wandering around like this for more than an hour, I found nothing, but my stomach began to growl.

I was too lazy to go any further, and when I looked up, I turned back to the edge of the Bazi Bridge. There is a small shop next to it, selling fried stinky tofu next to the river. The slight smell permeated the surroundings, mixed with the fresh air after the rain and the fragrance of river grass, which made people appetize.

I walked two quick steps and saw the shopkeeper scooping out three strings of stinky tofu from the oil pan, the pieces of tofu on top of which had been fried to a golden color. The shopkeeper knocked the oil on the side of the pot, and a customer next to him took it and started chewing it directly, which was squeaky and looked particularly fragrant. I was about to pay for it, when I heard a female voice shouting happily, "Ah, you are here to eat too?" ”

When I looked up, it turned out that the person waiting by the pot was the sketching girl who showed me the way in the afternoon. She wrote here at Bazi Bridge for an afternoon, and also came to eat stinky tofu. So we simply shared a table, ordered a plate of fennel beans from "Kong Yiji", asked for a plate of dried herring, and chatted while eating stinky tofu.

The girl introduced herself and said that her name was Mo Wish, and when I heard it, I almost didn't hold the chopsticks, isn't this unintentional? She asked me what my name was, and I said it was Wish. She was stunned at first, then laughed.

With such a layer of fate, the two of us chatted more freely. Mo made a wish to study art, a local. She said that the stinky tofu on the side of the Bazi Bridge is particularly delicious, and it is soaked in the original juice of amaranth stalks, and it is particularly fragrant when marinated. After saying that, she picked up an empty chisel, poked the fluffy skin of the tofu block out of the hole, and then scooped out chili oil and sesame oil from the small bottle next to her, and poured it into the hole.

After some disposition, she poked a piece and handed it to me. When I chewed it, it was really crispy and fragrant, and the smell was rolling, it was like a train of mixed tastes, rushing back and forth in my mouth, and it was very pleasant. After eating five pieces in a row, I stopped and ate some side dishes to relieve the taste.

Mo made a wish to say that she grew up next to this eight-character bridge since she was a child, and she was very familiar with every alley. She doesn't live here anymore, but she still comes to the bridge once a month, paints the nearby scenery, and then comes down for a stinky tofu meal. She said that she wanted to keep these memories, and the best way was to draw them, because painting goes to the heart, and when the heart arrives, the person will also arrive.

As soon as she said this, she began to gush. After talking for a long time, Mo Xuyuan suddenly consciously left me out in the cold, and I was a little embarrassed: "Hey, have you found that antique store?" ”

"Well, but nothing good, it came out."

"It turns out that you are still studying antiques, no wonder you look a little old."

This girl really can't talk...... I smiled and avoided talking about it. Mo Xu was very enthusiastic, and he tilted his head and pondered for a long time, but he really couldn't think of anything related to antiques near the Bazi Bridge.

"I'm so sorry, I can't think of it." Mo made a wish to fold his hands and said apologetically. After she finished speaking, she didn't hear me for a long time, and when she looked up, she saw me looking directly at her, and her eyes were hot.

The girl's face immediately turned red, and she was about to avoid her eyes, but I whispered, "Don't move! She immediately did not dare to move. I stretched out my arm to touch her face, but Mo Wishing was so frightened that I ducked to the side and almost fell out of my chair. I realized my gaffe at this time, and quickly retracted my hand, explaining that I wasn't looking at you just now, I was looking at your silver headdress.

Mo Xu took off the headdress from his head and put it in the palm of his hand, and handed it over: "Oh, you can see it yourself, don't look at me anymore." ”

In fact, I noticed at noon that she was wearing a silver headdress on her head, which complemented her long black hair, and it was very natural and elegant. However, I didn't pay attention to the details of the headdress at that time, and now that the two of them are eating at the table, I realize that the silver headdress is actually a lotus petal flower. I was fascinated by it, and it almost caused a misunderstanding.

I put the silver headdress in the palm of my hand and looked closely. Its process is actually very simple, that is, to chisel a pattern on the flattened silver cake, and then bend it into a piercing style. However, the shape of this lotus petal flower is very unusual. It is made of sixteen lotus petals in a circle, and between each two lotus petals, there is a bamboo branch, which gathers like spokes to the center of the circle, looking like a wheel.

This kind of lotus petal and bamboo branch shape has only been seen in one place in my life.

During the Republic of China, the Jingwei Academy in Shaanxi once customized a batch of cowhide notebooks and presented them to General Yang Hucheng. Later, three notebooks fell into my father's possession and became important evidence in the Buddha's head case. These notebooks are exquisitely made, the four corners of the book are inlaid with silver horns, the designer is ingenious, the silver horn is designed into the shape of lotus petals and bamboo branches, the lotus represents Buddhism, and the bamboo represents Confucianism, which is the characteristic of Jingwei Academy.

After passing through the Academy, this design was obliterated, and no one else used it again.

And I was in Shaoxing, and I saw this shape again, and I couldn't help but be surprised and happy. I grabbed Mo Xu's arms and asked her where she bought the silver jewelry.

Mo Xu saw that I seemed to have a nervous disorder, so he didn't dare to struggle, so he had to answer in a trembling voice: "Yes, it was made by Yin Silversmith of the Bazi Bridge." ”

"Who is he?"

"It's Yin's silversmith......" Mo Xuyuan said with a little grievance.

"Can you take me there...... Oh, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, it didn't hurt, did it? I quickly let go of her and hurriedly apologized. Mo Xu rubbed his arm, his mouth pursed slightly: "I can take you there, but I have to make it clear." ”

"You say what you say."

"I don't have feelings for you, you don't want to fall in love at first sight."

"Okay......"

There is a silversmith surnamed Yin who lives near the Bazi Bridge, who is not a local - but this so-called "local" concept is a bit long. According to China's standards, it is possible that four or five generations have migrated, and they are still treated as outsiders.

"Anyway, he's been here since my dad was a kid." Don't make a wish.

Silversmith Yin has a very small stall, which is open in front of his house. He charges a fair fee, and his craftsmanship is not bad, and the neighbors near the Bazi Bridge come here to make some longevity locks, silver bracelets and so on. In recent years, there have been fewer people making their own silverware, and Yin silversmiths have also begun to make some more popular jewelry to attract young girls. Mo wished to pass by his stall a while ago, and saw a well-hung headdress, so he bought it.

I nodded and asked her to show me around. Mo readily agreed, but she warned, "Silversmith Yin has a strange temper, so you can be mentally prepared." ”

Mo made a wish to take me through the streets and alleys, and walked around the labyrinthine alleys for a long time. At this time, the sky gradually darkened, she turned a corner in front of her, and said, "It's just ahead, today is lucky, he is out of the stall!" ”

I saw a narrow black alley in front of me, with high walls on both sides and uneven bluestone pavement on the ground. A light can be seen at the end of the alley. Probably because the wattage of the bulb is not enough, the light is slightly dim. When we get closer, we can see the raindrops hitting the blue lampshade with the paint off, and the light is flickering, flickering and dimming, which is really a bit of a rainy night in the alley saying "Liao Zhai".

Yin silversmith didn't have a shop, not even a signboard, but put a wooden workbench at the door of his house and covered it with a few pieces of glass. There is a bamboo frame in front of him, and there are many small silver ornaments of different shapes on it, which is very low-key, and if it were not for the reminder of Mo Wish, I might not have noticed walking in front of him.

As we approached, we could faintly hear the sound of a radio singing through the door. Silversmith Yin was nestled in the workbench, hunched over a piece of silver. There are all kinds of small tools scattered on the workbench, such as silver melting furnaces, hand hammers, chisels, iron scissors, crucibles, copper molds, and rosin, lime, borax and other materials are scattered on the floor next to it. This is a typical traditional folk handicraft workshop, and the only modern equipment is an acetylene blowtorch used to turn silver.

Mo Xuyuan shouted Yin Silversmith, he stopped what he was doing and raised his head. This is a bitter face in his fifties, with inverted eyebrows, his eyes narrowed into a slit because of years of careful work at the desk, and his cheeks are sunken, which can almost outline the shape of his skull. Only the forehead is very big, like an old birthday star.

"Introducing you to a business!" Don't make a wish to push me forward. Silversmith Yin glanced at me lightly and lowered his head again: "What do you want?" ”

I took out the lotus bamboo headdress that I didn't wish for: "This is what you beat, right?" ”

"Yes." Silversmith Yin nodded.

I leaned down and approached the workbench: "I want to ask you, the shape of this silver jewelry, are you walking hands or walking molds?" ”

My Xu family is mainly in charge of gold and stone, and gold and silver are also in charge, so I know a little bit about this. There are two types of silverware patterns, one is to chisel out little by little with a chisel, and the other is to pour silver juice with a ready-made mold. The former is suitable for customization, as the saying goes, it is called walking hands; The latter is suitable for mass production and is called a mold.

Hearing my question, Silversmith Yin took off his reading glasses and rubbed his fingers. His fingers were slender and slender, and they were covered with silver dust, and when he moved, there was a faint amount of dust flying, as if by magic.

"Don't ask if you don't buy it!"

The silversmith's tone was bored, as if he didn't want to talk to anyone. Mo Xuyuan secretly tugged at my sleeve and whispered: "Yin's temper is more eccentric, you can get the money, don't talk nonsense to make him angry." ”

I hurriedly took out twenty dollars and said that I wanted one like her. The silversmith took the money, counted it, threw it into the drawer under the workbench, and asked, "Do you bring your own material or do you want it?" ”

"You've got what you want." I replied.

The silversmith looked at me, got up and went back to the door, and after a while took out a silver plate, wiped the dust on his head with a rag, and cut a piece with a latte scissor, and began to melt the silver. His movements are orderly, melting, hammering, chiseling, and folding, all of which are very rhythmic. The piece of silver was obedient in his hand, like plasticine, and he could do whatever he wanted. The older generation of craftsmen has such skills.

In fact, I don't have to watch him do the answer to the question just now. The pattern poured out of the mold has smooth edges and a relatively shallow shape; The edges of the chiseled are sharper and the shape is clearer. Moreover, the precision of the mold in the handicraft workshop is not enough to handle too complex patterns. This lotus petal bamboo branch is so fine that even the bamboo knots of the bamboo branch can be seen clearly, and it must be carved by hand a little bit.

I mainly wanted to see the whole process of his production and make a confirmation.

The combination of lotus and bamboo is not a difficult setting to think of, and maybe any skilled craftsman can come up with it by coincidence. However, there is a characteristic of the lotus bamboo shape of Jingwei Academy, the bamboo is in front of the lotus, the lotus is under the bamboo, the two plants overlap before and after, and the bamboo and the lotus edge are cleverly used to express the position relationship. In order to achieve this effect, you have to chisel half of the lotus petals first, then carve the bamboo joints, then turn back and chisel the other half of the lotus petals, and finally the bamboo body. This order must be followed in order to have the same effect.

If Silversmith Yin is operating in this order, then the source must be Jingwei Academy. At this time, there is no need for the other party to speak, as long as he finishes playing something, a lot of information can be leaked.

I stood at my workbench and watched Silversmith Yin in the dim light. He lay down on his stomach, rested the silver blank that had begun to take shape on the anvil, and began the most complicated process—chiseling. I stared intently, he was so familiar with this, his fingers and tools flying alternately in square inches, without a hint of hesitation, sometimes pounding and filing, and occasionally teasing with a blowtorch. Soon a brand-new lotus bamboo headdress took shape, and the hand speed was really fast.

I let out a breath from my throat, and he did a certain amount of simplification, but the order of processing was exactly the same. This silversmith definitely has a doorway!

Silversmith Yin didn't see me, he clamped it with tongs, threw it into the pickling liquid next to him, and then threw it into the basin of clear water. This is because the silver jewelry has just been beaten at high temperatures, and the surface will be blackened, and it needs to be pickled to make it shiny and bright.

Taking advantage of this moment, I opened my mouth and asked, "This lotus and bamboo ornament is good, where did you see it?" Silversmith Yin didn't answer, and concentrated on washing the silver ornaments. I thought he hadn't heard, so I asked again. Yin silversmith clamped up the silver ornaments, wiped them clean with a piece of millet skin, and said firmly: "The ancestral style." ”

"Where are your ancestors, where are you from?" I asked again.

"Take it." Silversmith Yin threw the silver ornament to me, ignoring the question.

I simply made it clear: "Is there a relationship between your ancestors and Shaanxi Jingwei Academy?" ”

Silversmith Yin took off his glasses and began to clean up the scraps on the workbench. I was unwilling, so I leaned closer and almost leaned into his ear: "Have you heard of the five veins?" Silversmith Yin snorted coldly and put the tools together in the small wooden box one by one, which was a posture to close the stall.

Mo Xuyuan whispered beside him: "He has this temper, he doesn't want to say it, and it's in vain if you ask." Let's play silver, and try not to talk to him as much as possible. ”

I saw that he looked like he didn't eat oil and salt, and he was also very helpless, it seems that he can't ask anything today. Fortunately, since he has been locked, all that remains is water grinding kung fu and grinding slowly.

But if you think about it carefully, although this silversmith is suspected to have something to do with Jingwei Academy, it seems that it can't be hit with the five cans I want to trace. From the lotus bamboo pattern to the meridian flavor, from the meridian to Yang Hucheng's notebook, from the notebook to the Buddha head case, from the Buddha head case to the five veins, and then to the blue and white jar - this logic is too far-fetched, and it has gone around many times.

But for now, with such a clue, I have no other choice.

Yin's silversmith was almost finished cleaning up, and I saw that it was getting late, so I didn't want to delay the little girl's time, so I turned around and wanted to leave. Before leaving, I glanced at the workbench again, and frowned, as if something was wrong. When I looked closer, my eyes were locked on one of them.

It was a slender iron pen about ten centimeters long, the thickness of a brush shaft, and a bamboo sleeve with a thin copper wire around the handshake. The bamboo sleeve is yellow and black, and it has been for many years. The end of the pen is a flat tip with a groove on the top.

This tool is called a fine drill and is used to make holes in the silver surface. Depending on the need, the pen end can be fitted with different drill bits to drill holes of different shapes and sizes in silverware.

However, this fine drill is not the same as ordinary fine drills. This subtle difference gave me a glimmer of hope that the situation would be broken.

I stopped Yin's silversmith and said word by word: "You are not a silversmith, you are a baked porcelain craftsman." ”

When Silversmith Yin heard this, his eyebrows shook suddenly, and the whole person looked like a firecracker that had been lit. He bent down and took out twenty yuan from the money box, threw it back to me, and then snatched the lotus bamboo silver ornament from my hand, threw it back to the workbench rudely, and smashed it with a hammer.

"Shrugging eggs! Shoot the giant! Silversmith Yin scolded in the local dialect and waved his palm vigorously, as if I had touched some taboo on him. I also want to explain that Silversmith Yin directly copied the blowtorch, and raised his eyebrows, as if he had seen the enemy who killed his father.

The blowtorch could dissolve even metal, and it was easy to deal with flesh and blood, so I quickly shrank back.

I wanted to show him the porcelain fragment in my arms, but I didn't dare to insist when he was so determined. Silversmith Yin pushed the workbench back into the house, slammed the door shut, and then the lamp hanging from the roof went out with a "snap".

Mo Xu Yuan complained: "Look, let you stop asking questions and let people come out, right?" I looked at the closed door and asked curiously, "Listening to his accent, it's not much different from the locals." When did he come to Shaoxing? Mo made a wish and said that she didn't know, anyway, since she was a child, this silversmith has been setting up a stall here.

"And who's in his house, you know?"

Mo Xuyuan shook his head and said, "You have also seen that this person has a strange temper and rarely talks to people. There are people in the neighborhood who want to introduce him to someone, but no girl can stand him, so he has been single until now and has no friends. In the early years, he had an old lady in his family who died very early, and now lives alone. ”

I asked, "Under what circumstances does he lose his temper?" Mo made a wish and said: "He doesn't seem to like people asking him about his past, and when he asks, he is in a hurry, and he doesn't even do business." The neighborhood committee also once doubted whether he was a fugitive from another province, but later the public security came to investigate, but no, and there was no follow-up. ”

"Isn't it written on the family register?"

"Then I don't know, I'm not checking the household registration." Mo Xu Yuan asked curiously, "Why did you ask in such detail, it can't be from the Public Security Bureau, right?" I smiled and didn't answer.

"Thank you so much for today." I said goodbye and prepared to go back to the hotel.

Mo Xuyuan's eyes widened: "Huh? Shouldn't you treat me to an ice cream and a cup of tea or something? Then she shook her head again, "Forget it, after I finish my sweets, you will definitely offer to send me home, and then you will know the address of our house." I still have to invite you to sit down, it's so late, you can't go back if you talk too late, and you have to stay at home, it's too easy to get into trouble - I don't feel for you, it will be very troublesome. ”

I shook my head and smiled bitterly, this girl has really read too many Qiong Yao novels.

To avoid misunderstanding, I didn't dare to send her home. We found an ice cream parlor in the city, and she had three balls of joy before breaking up.

"Hey, can I ask one last question?" Don't make a wish.

"Say, if it's an emotional matter, forget it."

"What do you mean by that? What kind of baked porcelain maker, why is he so atmospheric when he hears it? ”

"That's ...... But that's a long story. I narrowed my eyes and said in an old-fashioned tone.