After lunch, Fanning went to the dormitory, where four students lived in one room, and students could choose roommates.

Fan Ning naturally lives in a dormitory with Liu Kang, there are only three people in their dormitory, and the other two are Wujiang students, who have their own small group and don't usually talk much.

In the afternoon, there is usually no main class, mainly to practice calligraphy, and school is out at about three o'clock.

It looks easy, but if you really enjoy this ease, then don't think about taking any imperial examinations, and you can't even pass the county school.

Since ancient times, it has been the master who has led the door, and the cultivation is in everyone, and almost all the scholars who can be admitted to the imperial examination have studied hard since childhood.

Little Lori Zhu Pei didn't come in the afternoon, Fanning occupied a table alone, and suddenly felt a lot more comfortable, he suddenly found that it was not bad to sit at a table with Little Lori, and he could often dominate a table.

As soon as Shen Shi arrived, the bell rang for the end of school, and the students immediately cheered and rushed out of the classroom, but many students still continued to write seriously and were not affected by the end of school.

The two walked out of the school, and Liu Kang asked with a smile, "Where do you want to go?" Is it a casual walk, or is there a goal? ”

Fanning thought for a moment and asked, "Where is there a quality warehouse around here?" ”

The quality warehouse is a pawnshop, for the people of the Song Dynasty, it is a very common thing to go to the quality warehouse, and the useless things at home can be taken and sold, and they often go to the quality warehouse to buy some second-hand items back to use, which is very convenient.

Liu Kang runs a grocery store at home, and he often deals with the quality warehouse.

There is a quality warehouse diagonally opposite the school, and the two walked into the quality warehouse, Liu Kang said with a smile: "The quality warehouse generally relies on credibility to eat, and it will not pit people, you don't have to worry." ”

Fan Ning took out a piece of white jade and handed it to Liu Kang, "You help me sell it, I'll learn it from the side!" ”

Liu Kang smiled and said, "This piece of jade is good, it should be able to be sold for a good price." ”

He stood in front of the counter and handed Yu Pei in, "Uncle Lin, how much can this piece of jade be sold for?" ”

"You little rabbit cub, the copper basin had a crack last time, it's not worth that money, call your daddy over."

"Uncle Lin went to him by himself, it's none of my business, help me see if jade is serious!"

The shopkeeper inside took the jade and looked at it, "The high-grade mutton fat white jade, the quality is not bad, the market price is about five yuan, according to the rules, I charge four yuan, do you sell it?" ”

Liu Kang looked at Fan Ning, Fan Ning knew that the outsider would not give him something too expensive, but he couldn't take it if it was too cheap, and the price was relatively fair.

He nodded, "Silver!" ”

"Uncle Lin, that's the price! Can you give me the silver? ”

Four small silver nudes were handed out, and Fanning took them, he didn't expect the quality warehouse to be so convenient.

The two came out of the pledge warehouse, and Liu Kang asked with a smile: "You have money in your hands, where do you want to go next?" ”

"I want to go to Wang Zhuangyuan Bridge!"

Liu Kang laughed, "I'm still thinking about when I will have time to take you to go shopping, it's really interesting over there, and if you're lucky, you can find some good things." ”

"You go often?"

"Of course you go often, come with me!"

Liu Kang was in high spirits and walked towards Wang Zhuangyuan Bridge with Fan Ning.

Wang Zhuangyuan Bridge is located in the northwest corner of Mudu Town, not far from the school, and it is only accessible by walking half of the incense.

In fact, this is the largest flower and stone distribution market in the Taihu Lake area, with hundreds of small vendors, and some big stores are also operating flower stones, such as the Strange Stone Pavilion, which is the largest store here.

Close to the Xujiang River, there is a special wharf, and in the open space in front of a row of shops, there are all kinds of huge Taihu Lake stones, all of which are worth a lot of money.

Fan Ning saw at a glance the strange stone pavilion that Zhou Yuanwai said, among more than a dozen shops, it was one of the largest in scale, but Fan Ning also found that there was another small shop named Strange Stone Pavilion.

This made him look at the shop signboard again, only to find that there were two small characters on the three big characters of 'Strange Stone Pavilion', 'Xu Ji', the full name of the original store was Xu Ji Strange Stone Pavilion.

At this time, two people walked out of the store, an old man about sixty years old, wearing a Confucian robe, wearing a crown on his head, and looking like a crane-haired child, quite a bit of fairy wind and bones.

Next to him was a young man of eleven or twelve, dressed in a green deep coat and wearing a scarf on his head, with a tall and thin figure and a very handsome appearance.

A middle-aged man who looked like a shopkeeper was followed by him, nodding and sending them out.

"Look at those two!"

Liu Kang pulled Fan Ning aside, pointed at the old man with a childish face, and said, "That's Xu Daru, the chief professor of Fuxue, I heard that he has a shop in our town, and it is estimated that it is this strange stone museum." ”

Fanning was more interested in the young man, and asked, "Who is that young man?" ”

"You don't know him?" Liu Kang looked surprised.

Fanning was at a loss, why did he know him.

Liu Kang saw that Fan Ning really didn't know him, so he explained: "He is the best student of our Yanying, the head of the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Forest, called Xu Ji, two levels older than us, and a real prodigy. ”

"Since he is also surnamed Xu, the old man next to him is his grandfather!"

"Exactly, not only does he have a learned grandfather, but his father is also a high-ranking official in the imperial court."

Hearing that it was the son of an official eunuch, Fan Ning thought of the son of the servant of the Ministry of Rites who compared couplets with him, and he felt a trace of disgust in his heart.

"Forget it, let's go see the stones!"

Fanning turned his interest back to Taihu Stone.

Although more than a dozen shops sell good things, but often dozens of taels of silver, ordinary people will not go, for ordinary people, a long alley behind the store is a Taobao resort.

This alley was originally called Wizard Alley, but now it has been renamed Strange Stone Alley, and an alley that is a mile long is densely packed with hundreds of small stalls.

Not only sell Taihu stone, like Yuhua stone, Shoushan stone, Qingtian stone are all here, but still Taihu stone, the alley is particularly lively, bargaining one after another.

The Song Dynasty was not as explosive as the information of later generations, and it was easy to get a fair price for an item, and in this era, the value of an item often depended on who the buyer was.

The reason why big stores are called big stores is that they have channels, they can reach big customers with money, and things can be sold at a high price.

For example, the double hole dawn that Zhou Lin bought spent thirty taels of silver in the Strange Stone Pavilion.

The same thing can never be sold for thirty taels of silver in the hands of a small vendor, at most one or two dollars, and ordinary scholars, who are willing to spend thirty taels of silver to buy a stone.

And the big store buys the stone in the hands of the small vendor, that is, the price of one or two dollars, and the high profits are all earned by the big store.

For a rich man like Zhou Scale, they only need high-quality Taihu stone, and a few dozen taels of silver is really nothing to them.

The literati of the Song Dynasty were obsessed with viewing strange stones to the point of a pathology, no less than the obsession with tea.

In order to seize the strange stones in the south of the Yangtze River, he did not hesitate to levy the flower stone gang, how many rich and noble families went bankrupt, and the rich Jiangnan was ruined to the people's livelihood, and finally triggered the rebellion of Fang La.

Fan Ning went to Zhou Yuanwai yesterday and the day before yesterday, and Zhou Lin told him some basic methods of distinguishing jade from stones.

Zhou Lin also promised him that if Fan Ning could come up with a boutique like Seven Stars and Moon Gaze, he would give him a good price.

Of course, this price is the collection price, not the market price of the Strange Stone Museum, let alone the price of a small vendor.

Fanning had this idea, to find one or two fine pieces at a stall, and then sell them to Zhou Liang at a collection price, even if Zhou Lin didn't want it, he could introduce it to other friends in the circle.

Of course, Zhou Lin's vision is very high, and it is not easy to make his money, only real boutiques can he look at, but this kind of boutiques can be met but not sought.

"Fanning, that stone is good, you see, it looks like a camel!" Liu Kang pointed to the Taihu Stone on a stall and said in a low voice.

Fan Ning laughed, whether a piece of Taihu Lake stone is good or not, it is not just about the appearance, but also about the inner lines, the appearance is thin and wrinkled, exquisite, and clear, and it is best to connect the inner holes to be a fine product.

Fortunately, the counterfeiting in the Song Dynasty had just begun, and it was not very serious, and it was only after the Ming Dynasty that large-scale counterfeiting began, forming an industry.

Later, there is no real Taihu Lake stone formed for hundreds of millions of years, almost all of them are man-made Taihu Lake stones, and Taihu Lake stones fell off the altar and entered the homes of ordinary people, so that a few pieces can be seen in any park.

Fan Ning stepped forward, the stall owner was a very shrewd old man, he hurriedly smiled and said: "Little official, look at this camel, it's in good condition!" It was only fished out of Taihu Lake yesterday. ”

Fanning picked up the camel and looked at it, it was a good Taihu stone, but it was a bit rough, and the quality was very average, and it belonged to the inferior grade.

He shook his head and went back to the next one.

"Fanning, I think it's good! Why do you feel bad? ”

"A senior told me that looking at Taihu stone is like looking at people, to be delicate and beautiful, although the stone just now looks like a camel, don't you think it's a little stupid?"

Liu Kang scratched his head, it was obviously a very good camel stone, where was it stupid?

Fanning didn't explain anymore, this kind of beauty is actually a kind of experience, which can only be understood, but cannot be conveyed, and only when you see more beautiful things can you realize it.

Fanning didn't know how many famous paintings, sculptures, photography, and designs he had seen, and the sense of beauty had a thick precipitation in his heart.

After walking several stalls, Fanning could not find the kind of Taihu Lake stone that made his eyes shine.

At this time, there was a sudden quarrel not far ahead, "I went to the Strange Stone Pavilion and asked, your stone is fake, return the money to me!" ”

The surrounding people rushed over to see the excitement, and Fan Ning and Liu Kang also walked over with the crowd.

The quarrel was a short scholar, wearing a flat scarf and a wide-fitting linen shirt, holding a Taihu stone in his hand.

Fan Ning's eyes suddenly stared at the Taihu Stone in the scholar's hand, and the Taihu Stone in the scholar's hand turned out to be a cylinder, covered with small holes like pineapple lattice, which looked like a finely carved hollow pen holder.

Fanning has seen more than 100 miniature Taihu stones in Zhou Yuanwai's mansion, but he has never seen Taihu stones of this shape.

The stone vendor was a fat black man with a face full of meat, his arms in his arms, leaning against the wall and looking at the scholar in annoyance.

"I thought you were a scholar and would be sensible, but I didn't expect you to be a scoundrel!"

The scholar was furious, "Make it clear, where am I a scoundrel?" ”

The black fat man snorted, "If everyone is like you, buying and returning it, will my business still be done?" ”

"If you don't sell me fake Taihu stones, will I return them?"

"If it's a real Taihu stone, I'll sell it to you for two dollars?"

The people around laughed, and a few stall owners next to him persuaded: "Young man, forget it, if you are a real Taihu stone, you will need at least ten yuan, and two yuan will definitely not be able to buy it." ”

"We don't have a return rule here, otherwise who will we go to if we suffer a loss?"

The people around you say a word, they all ridicule the scholar for wanting to take advantage of the fact that he didn't take advantage of it, and he wanted to return it.

The scholar's face turned red and white for a while, and he said hatefully: "Even if I look away, whoever wants this stone, I will sell it to him for 500 yuan cheaply, and I will always sell it to him for 500 yuan." ”

The surroundings are quiet, since they know that it is a fake Taihu Lake stone, who would want it?

At this time, Fanning suddenly said: "I want the money!" ”

Liu Kang was taken aback, and hurriedly pulled Fan Ning, "Don't be stupid, fake Taihu Stone is not worth a penny!" ”

The scholar saw that Fanning was willing to buy it. He hurriedly grabbed Fanning, for fear that he would run away.

"Little brother, the money has always been too little, add another three hundred Wen!"

Fanning held out a tael of silver in his hand, "I only have a tael of silver, or forget it." ”

"One or two will be one or two, let you take advantage of it, and sell it to you."

The scholar was afraid that Fan Ning would regret it, so he stuffed the Taihu Lake stone to him, grabbed a tael of silver and ran away.

The people around talked about it, this little official was a little stupid, and a tael of silver was thrown into the water in vain.

Liu Kang sighed, "Fanning, the fake Taihu Stone is really worthless. ”

Fanning smiled slightly, "It's not bad for me to use it as an ornament." ”

At this moment, someone shouted, "Shopkeeper Li is here!" ”

Everyone dodged out of the way, only to see a rich middle-aged man walking quickly, Fan Ning recognized him at a glance, it was the shopkeeper he saw at the door of the Strange Stone Pavilion.

The shopkeeper Li was followed by the scholar just now, looking at Fan Ning with a resentful expression, and holding a tael of silver that Fan Ning gave him in his hand.

Shopkeeper Li stared at the Taihu Stone in Fan Ning's hand at a glance, and said with a smile: "This young man, can you identify the Taihu Stone in your hand to me?" ”

How could Fan Ning be fooled, he pulled Liu Kang and ran, shouting from afar: "Shopkeeper Li, your double hole dawn is not worth thirty taels of silver." ”

Shopkeeper Li originally wanted to catch up, but when he heard Fan Ning's words, he immediately stopped, and wondered in his heart, "How could he know about the dawn of the double holes, does he know Zhou Lin?" ’

This shopkeeper Li is Li Quan, the big shopkeeper of the Strange Stone Pavilion, in order to get the rare Taihu Lake Stone in the hands of the scholar, he deceived him that it was a fake Taihu Lake Stone, and when the scholar was desperate, he sent a guy to buy it at a low price.

Unexpectedly, he killed a Cheng biting gold halfway, and intercepted the Taihu Stone with one or two silvers, which made Li Quan angry and anxious, and hurriedly chased after him.

As long as the Taihu Stone is in his hands, Fan Ning will not want to take it back.

How could Fan Ning be extremely slippery, and it was the best policy to go, and he threw Zhou Lin out, so that he didn't dare to mess around.

Fan Ning had already run away without a trace, and he couldn't catch up if he wanted to, Li Quan was full of regret in his heart, so he had to stomp his foot fiercely and return to the Strange Stone Pavilion with a belly full of anger.

There was a lot of talk around them, and they didn't understand what was going on?

At this time, an old man who set up a stall gently stroked his beard and said meaningfully: "That Taihu Lake stone is probably real." ”

The people around exploded, "Impossible! That stone is fake no matter how you look at it. ”

The eyes of the people around looked at the stall owner black fat man, the black fat man's face turned into a purple eggplant, and he said for a while: "I collected it from the countryside with fifty yuan, I don't know if it's true or not." ”

The scholar was furious, "You actually sold me two yuan for fifty yuan, and you give me back the money!" ”

"I can give you the money back, but you have to give me the stone back first."

The two immediately looked at each other, everyone laughed, and the scholar felt a burst of remorse in his heart, so he had to leave dejectedly.

The black fat man has no regrets, in their line of work, things often happen, but the shopkeeper Li maliciously identifies it, which is despicable.

"Phew!"

He spat heavily on the ground, "It's also a strange stone pavilion, my heart is darker than Lao Tzu's face!" ”