The day it happened was my thirtieth birthday.

When I was a child, a fortune teller said that my life grid was "cut in the mountain road". What does that mean? It's like a mountain road in the first half of my life, walking up and down, very bumpy, halfway through, suddenly "click", the mountain road in front of me was cut off by something, no. If you move on, there will be a drastic change in fortune - whether this upheaval is a blessing or a curse, a good fortune or a bad one, the fortune teller didn't say, and I didn't ask. Anyway, what he meant was for me to be careful when I was thirty years old.

I never expected him to be right.

Oh, by the way, introduce yourself first. My name is Wish, I just turned 30 years old this year, a small worm in the brick cracks of the city wall under the root of the imperial city, and my profession is to turn antiques.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the antique industry was silent for more than 30 years, until after the reform and opening up, the cultural relics and collection market heated up. It turned out that the traders who had been dormant in the old days were like toads in early spring and March, kicking their legs, picking up the dirt, and starting to come alive again. Relying on a bit of ancestral craftsmanship, I opened a small pocket shop in the small place of Liulichang, which is called Si Cheng Zhai.

Occasionally, a guest points to the plaque and asks which four regrets they are. I told them that it was repentance, repentance, repentance, and repentance. This is my father's last words when he committed suicide during the "**" period, he and my mother were criticized and fought because of the problems left over from history, and I couldn't think about it for a while, so I followed in the footsteps of Lao She and threw myself into Taiping Lake.

On my thirtieth birthday, it was probably a joyous business, and the business was really good, and I gave out a string of jade toad pendants and a private seal of horns in the late Qing Dynasty, all of which were sold to Guangdong guests, and the money I earned was enough to pay for a month's rent for food, drink, water and electricity, which was a happy event for my struggling shop.

Seeing that it was already dark, I didn't think there would be any guests coming, so I decided to close early and go to Yuesheng Zhai to eat something to treat myself. I closed the store a little, and was about to lock it out when I heard a strange noise outside.

At first, I thought it was the landlord urging me to ask for rent, and I was in arrears for a few months, and I never paid it, but I soon found out that the voice was wrong.

The voice was low, like the rustle of silkworms eating mulberry leaves, slowly from far to near, and the tiger floated over. The window glass vibrated lightly, and the jade Buddhas and Pixiu resting in it trembled slightly as if they had seen a nemesis, and they moved away from their original positions, and the dust around them jumped. I quickly pressed my thumb on the window pane to stop vibrating, so that the jade objects would not fall to the ground and break, and I muttered a little in my heart. The Buddha moved the nest, but it was a bit unlucky. There was a black rumbling outside, and I don't know where the sound came from.

After a while, the sound was gone. I was about to peek out when the door creaked open and two people walked in.

One of them I know is Xiao Jiang, a film policeman in this area. Standing next to Xiao Jiang was a man in his forties, dressed in a police uniform, with a thin and dark face that barely made a sound when he walked.

As soon as I saw him, my eyes narrowed. Although I dare not say that there are countless readers, at least I have the ability to observe. The human temperament is like an antique pulp, which is inexplicable, but it can be felt at a glance. This person's popularity is introverted, not leaking, not Xiao Jiang's film policeman who has not yet grown the hair on his mouth, nor is he like the old criminal policeman whose eyes are as sharp as knives, his bearing is not like a public security officer at all, and the whole person gives people an impeccable sense of mystery.

Xiao Jiang said to me, "Da Xu, someone is looking for you." Before I could answer, the man reached out his hand: "Is it Comrade Wishing?" My name is Fang Zhen, Xiao Jiang's colleague, hello. ”

I hesitated to shake his hand, then smiled: "You have been a soldier, and at least for more than ten years, and you have fought in the Vietnam War?" ”

"Oh?" Fang Zhen's eyebrows raised slightly.

"When you shook hands just now, you had a callus on your hand, and the position of the cocoon was on the four fingers and the tiger's mouth, this is not a pistol, but a trace of holding ***. And your steps are all the same length, I can't imagine any other profession with such literacy. ”

If you play antiques, you can't make a mistake in your eyes, this is a basic quality. My shop has a small capital, and I lose all of it once I look at it, so I can only work this.

Fang Zhen seemed to see that I wanted to take the initiative, but he just smiled, didn't say anything, and paced around the store with his hands behind his back, casually scanning my collection. I took the opportunity to drag Xiao Jiang aside: "Who is this person?" Leaving the police here, doesn't that prevent me from doing business? Xiao Jiang scratched his head: "Maybe don't ask me." It's a task from above, and it's my job to bring him to you, and I don't know anything else. ”

I also wanted to ask, Fang Zhen had already come back from a circle, and said to me, "Can you take a look at your ID card?" Oh, not to suspect you of anything, it's the rule. ”

I took out my ID card, Fang Zhen took it and looked at it carefully, returned it to me, and saluted. I said unceremoniously, "Well, let me see your papers, too—it's not that I suspect you of anything, it's just that I'm seriously suspicious." ”

Fang Zhen was slightly stunned, and took out a blue plastic notebook from his arms, with three bronzing letters on it: "Work Permit". I opened it and saw that the work unit written in it was the Eighth Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security, but the specific position was not written.

My heart shrank. I heard from a veteran cadre that there are two bureaus of the Ministry of Public Security that have a particularly mysterious status, one is called the Ninth Bureau, which is under the guidance of the Ministry of Public Security, but directly under the General Staff and is responsible for the security of the *****, also called the Central Guard Bureau; There is also a bureau, the Eighth Bureau, where Fang Zhen is located, which is responsible for the protection of deputy national leaders, high-level foreign guests, and some important figures.

can be as famous as the Central Guard Bureau, the origin of this eight bureaus, you can imagine how big it is. Aside a few hundred years ago, it was the four guards with knives and brocade guards in front of the palace!

I returned my work card to him and changed my smile to him: "Comrade Fang, do you want to buy or sell?" Fang Zhen said: "Please come with me tonight, someone wants to see you." ”

I was stunned: "Who?" Does it have to be tonight? ”

"It has to be tonight, it's an order from above, so please come over." Fang Zhen said, his tone was very polite, but very tough.

I frowned, this is too strange to be careful. I don't really have any eye-catching treasures in this little shop, but I have to be careful.

"Then you must tell me whose order is from above, right?" I asked.

Fang Zhen pointed to the sky: "Anyway, it's not low, but I can't say, this is the rule." ”

"What are you looking for me to do?"

"Can't tell."

“……”

If it weren't for Xiao Jiang's desperate eyes beside him, coupled with the certificate of the Eighth Bureau, I really wanted to ask him, how could he talk like this.

Fang Zhen raised his wrist to look at his watch, stood at the door, and made a gesture of please. The deterrent effect of the eighth game is too great, and ordinary people like me really have no choice but to go out hard.

"I'll lock the door first, the shop is afraid of being burglarized." I muttered, took out the key, locked the door, checked all the anti-theft measures, and then went out. As soon as I went out, I saw a black Hongqi CA771 sedan parked outside the door, and I dared to feel that this was the reason for the vibration in the store just now. My store is not on the main street of Liulichang, but in a sloping alley inside, the concrete floor is being renovated, and the ground is full of sand. The rustling sound came from the tires rubbing against the sand.

I didn't expect Fang Zhen to drive the Hongqi car into the alley in a big way and stop in front of my shop. At that time, although the red flag had been discontinued, it was still a status symbol, and not many people in Beijing had the opportunity to sit on it. I really don't know if he was trying to take two steps less for me, or if he was deliberately putting pressure on me.

This Hongqi car is a bit old, but it is spotlessly washed, and it is like a ** stone beast in the dark. Fang Zhen opened the rear door and motioned for me to get in the car first. I noticed that Fang Zhen pulled the door open with his right hand, and his left hand blocked the upper end of the door to prevent my head from hitting the frame.

This is definitely a veteran of foreign affairs reception work!

A veteran soldier, a veteran of foreign affairs reception, and an operator of the Eighth Bureau. I was amazed by his triple identity. I'm just a mortal ordinary person, and I can't afford to follow the gods, so follow it obediently.

The rear row of the Hongqi car is particularly spacious, and the seats are also soft. When I sit in, I can stretch my legs outstretched. Fang Zhen also got into the car, he diligently closed the purple flannel curtains on both windows, and then patted the driver's shoulder.

The driver didn't speak, skillfully lit the fire, and drove out of the alley with a dozen steering wheels. Fang Zhen raised the wooden partition between the two rows, and then smiled at me: "I'm sorry, the rules." ”

Well, I can't see anything this time. It suddenly occurred to me that in the villain book I read when I was a child, the bandits took the PLA scouts to their lair, and they were led all the way blindfolded.

Fang Zhen sat straight in the car, his spine was close to the backrest, his hands were on his knees and his eyes were closed, and he looked like he had received special training. I wanted to ask him a few times where we were going, but when I saw him like that, I swallowed all the words back, and simply closed my eyes and rested.

After about twenty minutes of driving, the car finally stopped. Fang Zhen, who had been closing his eyes, opened his eyes with a "swish".

"We're here."

"This is the Eight Great Places, right?" I said it lightly. Fang Zhen was a little surprised, but he quickly restrained himself, glanced at me meaningfully, lowered the front baffle and the left and right curtains, and motioned for me to sit in the car, but he got out of the car himself.

By this time, it was already dark, but the street lights around were very bright. I looked around and saw that the place where the car was parked was a deep path. The path is lined with lush poplar trees on both sides, and there are no particularly tall buildings around. At the end of the path was a very walled compound with no sign at the entrance, but two heavily armed guards stood guard, and the light green gate was closed.

I saw Fang Zhen get out of the car and walk straight towards the guards. The two of them said a few words, and Fang Zhen raised his hand to signal in this direction. The driver started the car and drove until it stopped in front of the door, the guards looked at me vigilantly on the window, Fang Zhen said something, Fang Zhen pointed at me and nodded. Unfortunately, the car was soundproofed and I couldn't hear what they were saying.

I have heard that in times of turmoil, some veteran generals and cadres are suddenly taken by a car in the middle of the night to an unknown place, where the interrogators are already on standby, and they have to confess their past crimes without psychological preparation.

I closed my eyes and thought about the business I had done before, whether it was one that touched the law of the country, or whether I didn't know Taishan and annoyed the senior leaders of Weifu's private interview. I was pondering when the gate silently opened to the sides, and the car drove into the yard at a low speed. I suddenly noticed that Fang Zhen did not return to the car, he stood outside the yellow line at the guard's feet, folded his hands, lit a cigarette, and watched us in.

It seems that this is a place that even he doesn't seem qualified to enter. I was shocked, it seemed that this thing was far more strange than I had imagined.

The car drove for another two or three minutes before finally stopping. A man who looked like a secretary was waiting outside, and he made a follow-up gesture to me, without saying a word. I obediently followed him into a tall, light-gray Soviet-style building, with wide, eerie corridors, green lights overhead, and a carpet so thick that it would not make a sound when a cannon was thrown.

Soon we were in front of a conference room. The secretary knocked on the door and pushed it to let me in.

When I entered the house, the first thing I saw was two yellow gold seals.

These two gold prints are the size of a palm, mottled in color, and the indunger is a flying bear, which is very interesting. Strangely, the two of them were identical, at least I glanced at them and didn't see any difference, as if they were in front of a mirror. They are carefully encased in a glass enclosure with a crimson brocade carpet on the bottom. Around the glass cover stood about a dozen people, most of them gray-haired old men, who gathered around the golden seal, whispering from time to time.

I was stunned when an old man in a tunic got up from the sofa and walked up to him, followed by a soldier behind me.

"You just made a wish, didn't you?" The old man's tone was kind.

"Yes."

The old man looked at me with a smile: "Very young! How old is this year? I replied respectfully, "Just thirty." The leader said: "It's just three rounds younger than me, so you can call me Liu Ju." Seeing that I was a little restrained, he patted me on the shoulder: "Don't be nervous, I called you here today, not for anything else, but to ask you for a favor." ”

With such a big leader, what can you do to help me?

He didn't wait for me to speak again, he dragged me directly to the table and pointed to the two gold seals on the table: "Can you see what this is?" ”

It turned out that such a big pomp was just for me to identify antiques. I'm a little relieved, it's an area I'm familiar with. My family handed down a book, dedicated to gold, stone and jade, called "Su Ding Lu", which contains enough knowledge for me to eat for a lifetime, and is the foundation of our four confessions.

I watched it for a while, and I knew it in my heart, but when I saw a circle of old experts around me, I was a little hesitant. Treasure appreciation, sometimes it's not the treasure, it's the person, and several authoritative people around haven't spoken, and you are stunned and jump out and say that it is true or false, which is called arrogance.

Liu Ju saw my hesitation and waved his hand: "It's okay, you say it boldly." ”

"This gold seal, I think it's a Chinese product, I don't know if it's right." I'll be careful with my words.

"I'll tell you. The two seals are one real and one fake, one of which is genuine and the other is a fake that has recently appeared on the market, but the two are too similar to each other to be identified. We suspect that there is a counterfeiting syndicate active in the market, and if you can verify the authenticity of both, it will be of great help to the country. ”

Liu Ju gave me a meaningful look, took out a pair of rubber gloves for me to put on, and then stuffed me with a brand new magnifying glass.

The people around us heard our conversation and turned their attention to it. When they saw that Liu Ju actually asked me to pick up the golden seal to look at it, they all showed surprised and puzzled expressions. An old man wearing tortoiseshell glasses said: "I said Liu Ju, this is a cultural relic, you call a hairy young man, isn't it a child's play on national affairs?" ”

Liu Ju sat firmly on the Diaoyutai and waved his hand: "Ambition is not old. It is necessary to be good at listening to the opinions of all parties in order to brainstorm ideas, and it will also be helpful for the current on-site identification. ”

Putting aside these complicated thoughts, I took a deep breath, picked up the two golden seals, and carefully observed them with my eyes and then with a magnifying glass.

Counterfeiting and palming are the eternal themes of the Tibetan ancient world. I have been in Liulichang for so long, and I deeply feel that Jianbao is like conquering a fortress, the besiegers are desperate to find flaws, and the defenders are desperate to cover up the flaws.

These two gold seals are the great city built by an unknown forger. How many veterans have died here, and now it's my turn to be the vanguard of the firehead army.

This flying bear button is very exquisitely made, the bear body arches into a bridge-shaped, the limbs climb out of the corner of the Indian side, and the two ribs stretch out a piece of wings, close to the body, which can not only reflect the state of soaring, but also will not affect the use and carrying of the seal. I flipped the gold seal over, this side of the seal engraved with the four characters of "Feixu's seal", "Feixu" is Zhuwen, "Zhiyin" is white, the font is Miao seal, the writing is simple and rigorous, and the outline is very upright.

"The regulations, the ornamentation, the chisel marks, the material, and even the dirt particles on it, we have all tested it, and there are no flaws." An old expert angrily reminded me that he didn't believe I could make any new discoveries.

Liu Ju raised two fingers, and the soldier simply handed over a special panda cigarette roll and lit it for him. Soon the smoke enveloped his face, and it became ambiguous: "Make a wish, can you identify it?" ”

My answer was beyond everyone's expectations.

"Yes."

Faced with the astonished gazes of the people around me, I made a request: "Can you give me two threads?" It doesn't need to be too long, thirty centimeters is fine, and it must be equal in length. ”

Liu Ju asked suspiciously, "Are these okay?" If you want any precision instrument, I can call it up. ”

"No, no, cotton thread is enough."

Although Liu Ju didn't quite understand, he still turned around and ordered, and soon the soldier took two black cotton threads, which should have been torn off the blanket somewhere.

I tied the two cotton threads to the noses of the two gold-stamped flying bears, then lifted them up high, grabbed the thread on the other side with my fingers, and suddenly let go. An expert let out an "oops" and hurried forward to pick it up. I saw that the two gold seals were hung in the air by the cotton thread, dripping and turning a few times, and then standing still.

"Are you crazy? This is a first-class cultural relic! The expert reprimanded. Liu Ju also frowned. They probably thought my hand was juggling, and it didn't make much sense.

"Can you see it now?" I grabbed two cotton threads and hung them in the air for them to look closely.

After my prompting, they saw that the two gold seals hanging in mid-air were tilted at different angles. The one in the left hand is tilted forward, but the one in the right hand is right. The difference is so small that it's easy to ignore without looking closely.

"The No. 1 seal on the right hand is a fake, and the No. 2 seal on the left hand is genuine." I made my judgment.

There was silence in the room, and no one believed what I said. The expert asked me, "What is your basis?" I shrugged: "Bureau Liu just asked me to make a judgment, you are an expert and should know right from wrong." ”

The experts looked furious, probably thinking that I was too arrogant. This is what I did on purpose, and my craft, like money, cannot be easily revealed. I put the golden seal back in its place and looked back: "Liu Ju, can I go?" ”

Liu Ju stood up and waved his hand: "Let's talk in the next room, Xiao Fan, you can greet a few experts." The secretary who brought me in quietly opened the door to the conference room and motioned for us to leave.

I followed Liu Ju to a room at the end of the hallway. This is an office, with a thick desk in it, two large bookshelves on both sides that occupy two walls, and various party and government books and periodicals on it, as well as some small antiques. I glanced at it, and there was nothing of value, either a road or a fake.

"Looks like you don't use this office very often." I took the initiative to speak.

Liu Ju smiled at me: "You have good eyesight, this is just a temporary place to stay, and it is not well arranged." "At this time, I noticed that this time even the military bodyguard who was not leaving him was gone, and the whole room was just the two of us.

The two of us looked at each other for a long time, and I tried to see through Liu Ju's intentions, only to find that he behaved in a drippy, polite and thoughtful manner, but elusive. Liu Ju looked at me, but it seemed to know everything, which made me feel very uncomfortable.

Finally, he spoke: "Xiao Xu, I heard Fang Zhen say, you guessed where this place was just now, how did you do it?" ”

"Quite simply, I judge the direction and speed of the car by the swaying of my body. The car went north from Liulichang all the way, almost to Chang'an Avenue and began to go west, and then compared with the map of Beijing, as soon as the car stopped, I knew that it was near Xishan. I tapped my temples and said it was all in my head.

"But how do you know where to go?"

I smiled slightly: "There are a lot of traffic lights on Chang'an Street, but after this car got on Chang'an Street, it has been moving at a constant speed, never slowing down or accelerating, let alone stopping." It must have privileges that I could not imagine, and the people who have such privileges are either the military or the government. And near Xishan, there are only eight places that are enough to receive this level of privileged cars. ”

Liu Ju high-fived and praised: "It seems that you are very smart and cautious." ”

I replied, "You know, I'm a small trader, and if I don't pay attention to it, let alone buy and sell, even people have to fold it in." ”

Liu Ju looked at my cautious appearance and laughed: "As soon as you enter the door, look at people first, and then speak, I will know what kind of character you are." This is very good, those who are engaged in the antique industry are not smart enough, there is no suspicion, and it is not good - by the way, you were not willing to say in public the origin of the 'hanging silk diagnosing the pulse and cutting off the gold in the air', do you have any concerns? ”

As soon as I heard Liu Ju's words, my cold sweat came down. Just now I used the silk thread to weigh the gold seal, which is called "hanging silk to diagnose the pulse, breaking the gold in the air" in that "Su Ding Lu". But how did Liu Ju know these eight words? You know, "Su Ding Lu" is not a Xinhua dictionary, and it is sold in every bookstore - it is a handwritten notebook, and we have one at home.

In this mysterious government compound, a high-ranking official with an unknown background suddenly told my family's unique secret, and my heart suddenly became unsteady.

"Xiao Xu, don't be nervous, I just know those eight words. But can you tell me what the hell is going on? ”

I weighed it for a moment and said, "Actually, to put it bluntly, it's nothing special, the principle of my judgment is very simple, that is, the center of gravity. ”

Liu Ju seemed to have an understanding, and I immediately explained: "The Han Dynasty used the casting method. In this process, when casting complex shapes with many curved surfaces, it is easy to mix with air, resulting in bubbles and hollowing. The more complex the shape, the more hollow. The most delicate part of this seal is the bear-shaped seal, so the metal inner content of this part will contain a lot of cavitation.

"The master of forgery obviously didn't know this detail, he made the part of the flying bear button real when he forged it, and there were no bubbles, and the result was that the center of gravity of the fake chapter had changed compared to the real chapter, which was a horse foot at the level of junior high school physics common sense.

"Just now I took the cotton thread to hang the print, which is to judge the position of the center of gravity of the two. The real Flying Bear Newgold Seal should be light on the sunk, easy to restore, and only fakes will be justified and impartial. Sometimes antique appraisal is like that, not so mysteriously fancy, it's a matter of piercing a layer of window paper. ”

After hearing this, Liu Ju smiled and said: "Looking mysterious, it turns out that it is the level of junior high school physics." I nodded, not denying it.

"I've already told you a secret, now it's your turn to give me a secret, right?"

Liu Ju laughed: "You really don't want to suffer." He took out a sandalwood tea tray from the drawer, on which lay five small white porcelain tea bowls with lotus petals. I'm not very familiar with porcelain, and I feel like it's from Dehua kiln, but it's estimated to be a late Qing Dynasty or a high imitation, and it's not a treasure.

Liu Ju picked up a bamboo tea tong and arranged the five tea bowls in a cross shape, one bowl in the middle, and the other four in the four directions of southeast, northwest, and north. Then he turned the tea bowl to the west and clasped it up, and looked up at me.

I stared at him inexplicably, not knowing what he meant. I know this set of methods, obviously a tea array, I used to hear people say that in the old society, such as the Cao Gang, the Red Gang and other party sects, would use this set of things as a contact code. But I, a young man born in New China and grew up under the red flag, how can I understand these things.

I looked at Liu Ju for a long time, indifferent, and Liu Ju was a little disappointed: "It seems that you don't know anything." ”

"It depends on how much you let me know." I said a sentence in my hand.

The two of us looked at each other for a long time, and Liu Ju suddenly asked, "Where did you learn this appraisal kung fu?" I replied honestly: "Half of it is to read and study, and half of it is to ponder it when I am doing business on my own." ”

"No one taught you?"

"Nope."

"What about your father, Xu Heping?"

I suddenly felt in my heart, it was the big leader of the government, and I even inquired about my father's name clearly.

"My dad never let me touch this business, saying it was dirty, and he never touched it himself. It wasn't until he died that I began to get in touch with Jinshi, and I learned something from people for a long time. ”

As I spoke, I secretly made up my mind that if he wanted to ask about the book "Su Ding Lu", I would insist on it and refuse to admit it. The husband is not guilty, but he is guilty, and I can't get into trouble.

After listening to me, Liu Ju showed a thoughtful expression: "No wonder...... The names of these four confessions are well deserved. ”

"Do you know my father?"

"I don't know, but I've seen your 'suspensory pulse diagnosis' before."

My dad was always cautious and never seemed to be in contact with anyone other than his colleagues. Liu Ju said that he had seen the diagnosis of the suspensory filament, which must have been calculated from my grandfather's generation. My father never told me, I didn't know anything with a black eye - it is estimated that it has to be traced back to the Republic of China, and it is even more confusing, who knows what grievances and entanglements there are, it is better to say less.

Liu Ju slowly tapped on the table with his fingers: "You don't have a family heirloom, and you can actually 'diagnose the pulse with a hanging filament', it seems that family learning is not completely abandoned." Very good, I'm relieved. If it weren't for that, you wouldn't be in my office today. He pointed to the table: "This tea array, with your observation ability, you might as well try to guess." ”

I frowned, this was a real problem for me.

Liu Ju said lightly: "If you can see through this tea array, let's talk about it." If you can't see through it, it means that your fate and I end here, and you don't need to know anything else. I'll send you back, and you'll be paid a lot of money, and you can go about your business. ”

Hearing this, I really wanted to just leave. But Liu Ju has something to say, just now he saw through the "suspensory pulse" eyesight, and said my father's name, which made me feel very unsure, he must know a lot of things, he didn't say it, and these things seem to have a lot to do with me.

I have a hunch that if I leave like this, I am afraid that I will miss an opportunity. I decided to settle down and get rid of this tea formation.

An old man who had been on the beach in the old society once said to me that the tea array was used by secret societies such as Hong and Cao Gang to communicate, and most of these societies were green-skinned gangsters with a low level of education, so this tea array was not very deep, and it mostly used homophony, metaphors and other techniques, with some rough slang formulas. The formation either corresponds to the five elements of yin and yang, or corresponds to the celestial phenomena and stars, all of which have certain rules.

The arrangement of this tea bowl is obviously arranged in the shape of a cross in the five directions of east, south, west, north and center. The five directions correspond to the five elements of gold, wood, water, fire, and earth. Now that the tea bowl in the West has been buckled, the West belongs to gold, which shows that the first meaning of this tea array is the lack of gold in the five elements.

Thinking of this, I got stuck.

It's hard to think about any further downstream. There are many meanings in the lack of money, but it's not that a leader like him plans to borrow money from me, right? Liu Ju couldn't help but be happy when he saw me scratching my ears and cheeks. He poured a little tea into the tea bowl: "My tea bowl, five in duplicate, the average appearance." One bowl is upside down, and four bowls are facing the sky, which is a trend of incomplete five elements. I've been out of it for a long time. He pointed to the tea bowl and then to the wall behind me, as an extra hint.

I glanced back at the wall behind me, and my heart suddenly moved. The walls of this office are the most common white, similar to the tire color of a tea bowl.

By the way, it should have something to do with color.

The five elements of yin and yang cover a very wide range of meanings, corresponding to the five directions, five flavors, five tones, etc., and also correspond to the five colors of Xuanbai, red, yellow and blue.

The color corresponding to the gold line happens to be white, and white is also known as plain. Don't...... I looked up in surprise, did he mean that what was missing in this tea array was my "Su Ding Lu"?

"What you want, this book?" I deliberately vaguely blurred the title of the book, and I took a bit of a chance.

Liu Ju laughed when he heard this: "You kid, you have a lot of eyes." Let me tell you, the Han seal just now was tested by your teacher, and this tea array was tested by your insight. You say I want a book, and you're only halfway right. But you didn't know anything about it, and it wasn't easy to understand this layer with your knowledge - your book has a plain word in it, right? ”

I had no choice but to nod. This Liu Ju is very artistic, he controls the situation from beginning to end, and the questions he asks have a preset position, which has a jargon in the ancient Tibetan world, called "word rake", which means that the tongue has three hooks and six teeth, and three or two sentences can rake out the bottom of the person.

"Look at what scares you, I won't ask for your book."

"It's useless if you ask for it, the book is encrypted, and I know the password alone." I muttered, but Liu Ju just smiled.

Liu Ju turned the tea bowl in the west again, and suddenly sighed: "The power of the five elements lacks gold, in fact, what is lacking is not your book, but what is hidden behind that book." After saying that, he started to rearrange the five tea bowls into plum blossom shapes, and then looked at me thoughtfully, and saw that my hair was straight.

I glanced at the five tea bowls that were piled up again, and couldn't help but speak: "Five-petal plum blossom array? This meaning couldn't be more obvious, the plum blossom five petals are a gathering, which means to tie the knot or gather together - Liu Ju is planning to combine the hidden thing behind "Su Ding Lu" with the other four petals.

Liu Ju got up from the chair, walked to the windowsill with his hands behind his back, pulled the curtain in, and his expression became solemn: "Xiao Xu, what is the most important thing in the antique industry?" ”

"Don't buy fakes."

"Not bad. The line of antiques is varied, but in the end, it is a spinning on two words: one is 'true' and the other is 'fake'. For thousands of years, the antique industry has been a dispute between authenticity and falsehood, and a debate between right and fake. ”

After speaking, Liu Ju slowly rubbed the tea tray with his hands: "Some people are old, and some people are palmed." Someone was hit in the eye, and naturally someone helped to smash the pulp. These five tea bowls represent the source of the five treasures. These five veins have been inherited for a long time, and the palm is the eye of the entire antique industry, and it is the heart of the treasure circle. As long as it passes through their hands, the authenticity is decided, and they will be recognized wherever they go in the whole world. Therefore, the five veins are put together, and it is also called 'bright-eyed plum blossom'. People who play antiques go to appraise treasures, and when they hear these four words, they are convinced. ”

"Why haven't I heard of it?" I've been trading myself for several years, but I've never heard of the so-called "five veins". The more I listened to Liu Ju's words, the more suspenseful I became.

"So have you heard of the Chinese Society for the Study of Antiquities?"

"I've heard that." I nodded. Those who play antiques have heard the name of this society more or less. Although it is not a state institution, it can be regarded as a private professional appraisal agency, but it is relatively low-key, and only occasionally appears in some important appraisal meetings or auctions, and I can't reach it at my level.

Liu Judao: "This society is the integration of the five veins of the inheritance, and I don't know if it doesn't mix to a certain level." It represents an identity, a status. You don't know, you just don't know, no one will tell you. ”

"I thought that after liberation, the privileged class would have been broken and broken......" I muttered.

Liu Ju said with a straight face: "These five veins do not bully the market, and the other does not buy and sell, relying on the ability to recognize the true and the false, and has always carried the palm of the whole circle, and has never been ambiguous." This is technology, which is protected by the state. Although the five veins were affected a lot in the "**" catastrophe, the qi veins were still there, and they rose up from time to time to establish the Chinese Society for the Study of Antiquity. You see that after the reform and opening up, the antique industry is so prosperous, and there is a credit behind the bright plum blossoms. Do you know what it depends on? ”

"Really."

I only said one word. Authoritative appraisal institutions have such a principle: never fake. Just imagine, an appraisal agency relies on the credibility of impartiality and neutrality, if it also falsifies, isn't it equivalent to being a referee for itself? Moreover, those who authenticate antiques must be familiar with counterfeiting techniques, and if they are fake, the harm will be endless.

Therefore, a good treasure connoisseur will never dare to touch a "fake" word - as long as there is such a crime, the brand can be completely smashed.

Liu Ju nodded with satisfaction: "Removing the false and retaining the true is exactly the principle of the Ancient Appreciation Society." ”

I asked, "Why are you saying this to me?" ”

Liu Ju seemed to smile: "Don't you still understand? Your Xu family is the tea bowl that is turned over. Five-vein plum blossoms, only you are missing. ”

My brain boomed, what is this?

I don't remember my family having a slight connection to antiques. My family is the most ordinary kind of family, living in the school compound, two bedrooms and one living room, the house is either potted plants or the complete works of Maenres Mao, there are a few calligraphy banners hanging on the wall, all of which are written by my father himself on Sundays, and the people who usually come and go are ordinary faculty and staff - no matter how you look at it, it has nothing to do with a group of antique dealers in the courtyard of the deep house. After they died, I sorted out their belongings, and apart from the book, there was not a single pre-liberation object.

But I can't help but believe Liu Ju's words. My impression of the Xu family is actually only the impression of my father's generation, as for how the Xu family was before liberation, who my grandfather was, and what he did, he never told me. If I hadn't accidentally discovered that there was such a book of "Su Ding Lu" hidden at home, I might not have set foot on such a road.

Now it seems that it is much more complicated than I originally suspected. Liu Ju just put on the shape of a five-plum gathering in the tea array, is this planning to call me to Liangshan again? Listening to Liu Ju's tone, Mingyan Plum Blossom is a non-governmental organization hidden in the depths of the ancient Tibetan realm, so why would he, a government official, get involved? Also, was it just the time for me to identify the Han seal, or was it the examination room they had arranged earlier?

A lot of thoughts rushed into my mind like an enema, and I didn't know what to say for a while.

At this time, there was a sudden knock on the door, and the secretary walked in and said, "Bureau Liu, the time is almost up, they are all waiting for you to come over." ”

Liu Ju raised his wrist to look at his watch and said to me: "I came to you not to talk about the past, but to have a national event that needs your assistance - but today I have some other urgent matters." I'll ask Xiao Fang to send you back first, and when the time comes, I'll send someone to find you. ”

For some reason, I breathed a sigh of relief. I've heard so much tonight that I'll have to digest it, or my brain will explode.

I originally wanted to ask him if this appraisal could be a bit hard work, but looking at the heroic spirit of others, I was embarrassed to speak. Liu Ju turned to leave, and I was taken out of the building by the secretary, and sure enough, Fang Zhen was still waiting at the door. He saw me coming out and handed me a cigarette. I said no, and he didn't force it, so he picked it up and opened the door of the red flag car.

We went back the way we came, staring out the window of the car all the way, silent. I couldn't help it and asked him, "What kind of unit is Bureau Liu?" Fang Zhen's answer was very simple: "Relevant departments." ”

"What department is it related to?"

Fang Zhen shook his head: "What should be said, the leader will tell you personally; I can't say what the leader thinks should not be said. ”

Since people refused to say, I couldn't continue to inquire, so I had to close my eyes and recuperate. But I couldn't calm down at all, and my mind was all about those five tea bowls going around.

For the next three days, it was calm, as if Liu Ju had never seen me. Fang Zhen also disappeared, but I guess this guy must be hiding in some corner near the Liuli Factory, watching my family's every move with a blank face.

In the past three days, the business was the same as before, four or five groups of people came every day, asking more than buying, and the landlord came once in the middle, and I worked hard to do ideological work for him, and finally earned another week. Despite these mundane affairs, but my state of mind is very different from before, as soon as I see a person come in, I wonder if this person knows whether the "bright-eyed plum blossom", I have not heard of the source of the five veins, and I dare not ask, the whole person is almost stunned. After three days, I didn't make a single deal, which is really distressing.

Of course, what I think about the most is our family's business. My dad must have hidden something from me, otherwise he wouldn't have said anything about the past. I remember asking my grandfather where he was when I was a child, and when I mentioned it, my father got angry and beat me on the buttocks, so I didn't dare to ask - unfortunately he was dead and couldn't crawl out of the grave to tell me the truth. We didn't have any relatives in our family, so I really had nowhere to visit for a while.

On this day, I opened early in the morning, sitting bored behind the counter, flipping through the ledger, thinking about how to settle the rent this month. Suddenly two people came in from outside the store, one old and one young. I know the old one, it was the expert who participated in the identification of the Han seal that day, and Liu Ju called him Professor Zheng; The youngest one is about my age, wearing a pair of sunglasses and a floral shirt.

As soon as Professor Zheng saw me, he immediately nodded: "That's right, it's him." I was stunned for a moment, and before I could say anything, the young man stepped forward, looked me up and down, and asked very impolitely, "Are you making a wish?" ”

"What's the matter with you two?"

Professor Zheng was about to speak, but was stopped by the young man: "You kid is not very old, and his ability is not small, and he has refuted my teacher's face." It's really a hero from ancient times. ”

I listened to his tone flowing, a little unkind, not like a compliment. The young man took out a jade pendant from his arms, gently rested it on the glass counter, and pointed with his ring finger: "Dude, I am also a teenager, and we two teenagers will not talk about old words." My surname is medicine, but it's called medicine. Aren't you dealing in gold, stone and jade here? Dude has something in his hand, see if you can take it. ”

I chuckled in my heart, thinking that it had come. His move is called "Doukou" in the antique industry. The word doukou was originally a term for flag people to play birds, which means that doukou does not fight hands, and does not play really. Later, it evolved into the antique business, and it became that the seller did not really want to sell things, but to test the eyesight of the person who collected the treasure. This kind of temptation is blatant, it can almost be regarded as a provocation, and generally only the seller has a deep hatred with the treasure collector, and he is determined to smash people's signboards, so he will do this.

But what enmity can I have against him? It is estimated that the old professor was cut face, so he found his own students to smash the field.

Otherwise, seeing my hesitation, he sneered: "If you don't dare to accept it, buddy can take it back and feed it to the dog." ”

I listened to his words full of thorns, and knew that I would definitely not be good today, so I stretched out my hand, and also pointed at the jade pendant with my ring finger, and moved it to the inside of the counter, which was the next bucket for him.

Seeing that I should come down, he simply put his hands on his chest and stood outside the counter staring at me. Professor Zheng was a little old, so he found a chair next to him and sat down.

Otherwise, the jade pendant I brought was a Tongzi holding a lotus, half the size of a palm, I glanced at it and threw it back to him: "You can keep it yourself." ”

"Yo, it's pretty good."

The medicine was a little stunned. He thought I would take a magnifying glass and then boil the jade to get out of the ashes, but he didn't expect me to throw it back so quickly. He lifted his chin and waited for me to continue. You must know that what is fighting is not true or false, but why it is false, and you have to tell the truth.

I politely told him: "Your piece of jade is not even a new piece of oil, so you can only call a dog to make vinegar." ”

Oil extraction is the ancient method of giving jade color, the Song Dynasty called the old oil, the Ming and Qing dynasties called the new oil, the raw material used to color in modern times is dog blood, dog blood is thick and black, so it is also called dog vinegar, worthless.

"Why do you say that?"

I patiently picked up the jade, pointed to the chicken blood thread and said: "You see, all the jade pieces that are 'dog vinegar' must have blood bumps on the Qinbian, look carefully at the edge, like a straw rope tied with a few knots, easy to recognize." ”

Otherwise, I didn't expect that I didn't have much effort to recognize it, and said continuously: "Okay, good, sure enough, there are two hits." He was also refreshed, took the jade back with both hands, and knocked his index and middle fingers lightly on the counter like Cantonese people drinking tea, which was considered to be recognized. It dawned on me. Before the mouth, the lottery should be set. I hurriedly responded, but I forgot to ask for the lottery, and I lost a bit.

Otherwise, he took out a piece of jade from his bosom and threw it to me. This piece of raw jade is not big, but it is a genuine Hetian seed jade, which feels warm to the touch, soft but not soft.

"This thing is worthless, buddy has more than 10,000 yuan hidden at home, you can take it and play with it." Otherwise, I don't know if he is really generous or fake, and he is not polite, so he directly put the jade piece in his pocket. This thing is sold enough to pay two months' rent.

Otherwise, seeing that I couldn't wait to take the jade away, his face was disdainful, he whistled lightly, and threw the "dog vinegar" over: "This piece is also given to you, and if you encounter a big wrong, you can also make a profit." ”

But I threw him back in the same way: "Since I entered the antique industry, I have set a rule for myself: never counterfeit, never sell counterfeits." ”

"Okay, okay, count yourself decent. Do you dare to compete with your buddies again? ”

I smiled and said, "I still have to do business, so I don't dare to spend it here with you." The medicine was unconvinced: "It's just a small shop with a big needle nose, and after the two rounds of trading, the buddy can directly take it down." Professor Zheng glared at him, but he closed his mouth stupidly.

Professor Zheng saw that I was a little annoyed, and hurriedly comforted: "Xiao Xu, Xiao Yao, this person is a little unobtrusive. I'm going to pay for it here. I propped my hands on the counter: "I see...... Not necessarily, right? I'm afraid you two are here today for other reasons. ”