Tianjiao four drums, the handlebar type set the iron hoop cart, along the moat to the north to the west, Bendesheng outside the gate.

Outside the Desheng Gate, there are two markets before dawn, one is called the human market and the other is called the ghost market. The two cities are next to each other, and people often mess around, saying: "Go to Desheng Menxiao City!" In fact, the content of the two cities has nothing to do with each other. The human market is a place where labor is bought and sold, whether you know how to carpenter, bricklayer, or nothing but have the strength to find a job to do, come here before dawn. Whether you want to repair a house, make a stove, or make a dowry - although there were no wine cabinets and sofas at that time, the fact that you had to put furniture for marriage has the same interest as contemporary people - you also come here before dawn. Someone stood at the corner of the street and said, "I use two bricklayers and a small worker!" The hard-working people immediately gathered around and asked, "What price?" "This is how the employment contract is negotiated. At that time, clocks and watches were not yet popular, and there was no eight-hour working day, and all of them worked at sunrise and rested every day. This transaction must be carried out as soon as possible, roughly around the time of the mao, and the people who do this work are called "maozi sellers".

The ghost market is a different set of transactions. There are no fixed stalls here, and there are no categories of goods, from the queen mother's tie rope to the dog beating stick that asks for rice flowers, and there are people who buy and sell everything. Not only that, but you can also order goods when necessary, and even ask for things by name. You put the money on your left shoulder, hold your chin up with your right hand and stand in a prominent place, and someone will come to greet you: "What do you want to catch?" "The jade pendant that comes with the funeral can have a blood halo." "Yes, yes, the price is high!" "The price of the goods is high, see you first!" This is a business that can be made for a lot of silver. Of course, there are bargains. "What are you grabbing?" "One of the five brass buttons on my coat has fallen off." "Really!" "How much does it cost?" "Sensei gave the money, roll the two donkeys in your hands and return them to me to eat!" It's a deal. You have to be good-tempered to do business here, don't get angry at what price you want, and he won't be angry about how much money you pay. "How much does this tin wax skewer cost?" "Tin's? Look again! Cupronickel! "How much?" "Ten taels of silver!" "Don't!" "How much to give" "One or two!" "Add more." "Don't add!" "Sold." Why do you sell it so cheaply? The wax skewers are stolen, just take them off, and it is more dangerous to sell them later for a while. For this reason, you can't ask where something important is coming from. And for this reason, there are people who have bought bargains here. I used the money to buy a vinegar bottle to buy a blue and white jade pot spring, and I also used to buy a copper spitting tube to buy a bronze statue of the Shang Dynasty; On the other hand, there are cases where you spend money on ginseng and coriander root, and you can buy papier-mâché Mongolian boots with the money you pay for satin boots. But at that time, the people of Beijing were more quaint than some people now, and they were cheap to show off everywhere, revealing their own cleverness! Most of the losses are stuffed in the stomach, lest they be ridiculed. That's why people hear about taking advantage of the ghost market. More and more people who think they are not stupid come up here with money for an early walk. Some people saw this, spent a small amount of money to buy a bottle, grinded, painted old, and took it to the market to hide it, sneakily and deliberately pretended to steal it, and only looked for the fake connoisseur who was full of jargon in the dimly lit place to talk about business. If the flag man is noble, while talking, he also pretends that he doesn't want to sell anymore and is eager to dodge, and in the end he will always sell it at a high price of agate and nephrite. After dawn, the buyer saw the flaw, and the ghost market had dispersed. In order to save face, it will be kept secret for life.

Four more days, Usebo and the shopkeeper took a big car to the West Pagoda Courtyard of the Yellow Temple. The handlebar style told him that this tower courtyard was the Yin'an Palace of the Empress Dowager Xiao back then, and Wu Shibao lingered for a while. A few years ago, at a meeting in the Qingwang Mansion, he heard Yang Yuelou's "Mother Visit" once, and the Empress Dowager Xiao played by Mei Qiaoling. He imagined that the fat Empress Dowager Xiao would go in and out of this courtyard, but it was a little desolate. Because at this time, the center of the Yellow Sect in Beijing was moved to the Lama Temple, and the Yellow Temple had been neglected.

The shopkeeper led Usebo to the west, and when he turned south, he saw the ghost market with beans and people in the distance, and heard a noise. They hurried a few steps, and in a moment they came closer. Although it is a market on the street, it is extremely untidy, there are hanging horn lamps on the stalls, there are hanging paper lamps, and some people hang a very valuable and very dilapidated glass wire applique lamp. The things on the stall can't be distinguished by color in the shadow of the lamp, but the shape can be distinguished. pots and pans, tables, chairs, benches, pianos, chess, calligraphy and paintings, swords, guns, swords, halberds; Suo Zijia, fishing rod, big smoke lamp, Tianjiu card; porcelain, materialware, bronzeware, lacquerware; the bottom of the Manchu woman's flower pot, the pleated skirt of the Han noblewoman; Complements, pipes, beads, caps...... Someone is holding a bear cub that has just been born, someone is holding a night owl, everything is messy.

Wu Shibao asked: "We didn't bring a lamp, how can we set up a stall!" ”

The shopkeeper smiled, "When you get here, you should talk less!" Just look at me and don't get lost. ”

The shopkeeper walked to a stall and stopped, crouched down to look at the goods on the stall. This stall is not big, and on a piece of blue cloth there are two pen washes, an inkstone, a few wine glasses, and three or four porcelain cigarette bottles. The shopkeeper picked up a pot with a dragon pastel and asked, "How much?" The man who sold it stretched out four fingers. The shopkeeper put it down and stood up. The man asked, "How much do you give?" The shopkeeper said, "Can the three-clawed dragon be sold for money?" The man immediately said, "Speak well!" Then he took out a money bag from under his leg, took out a tissue paper bag from the money pair, opened the paper bag lightly, and took out two cigarette bottles wrapped in cotton. Wu Shibao stretched out his head to take a closer look, and saw that one was Ma Shaoxuan's inner painting pot, painting a costume portrait of Tan Xinpei fighting Changsha; The other is actually a "fire avoidance map" engraved with color. The shopkeeper asked about the price of the pot. The seller said, "Twenty taels less will not be sold." Because it's a blank, if it's a crystal blank, you can't buy it if it's doubled! The shopkeeper said, "Do you sell two or two?" The man said, "Well, I made a joke early in the morning, and I was glad to see when I looked up." The shopkeeper winked and beckoned Usebo to move forward again. They walked a few more stalls, and when they saw the cigarette bottle, they asked the price, and then walked to the big stall under the street lamp, and the shopkeeper whispered: "I just inquired about the downward market, you have a bottom, right?" Let's say that this pot can be sold for fifteen taels of silver. Usebo pretended to sigh, but he was very happy. He bought this tea crystal pot for ten taels of silver. In his life, he always had to lose a little more than the purchase price when he sold something, but this time he was able to earn a few taels, which changed his style.

In this big stall, most of the decorations are cultural relics: there are several pastel hat tubes, bucket color bottles, marble inserts, embroidered piers of the official kiln, several sets of stone seals, some jade pendants, and a few cigarette bottles. Two of them are painted with barbarian ladies (Gengzi had only passed at that time, and people called the Westerners in the paintings still called barbarians). At this moment, a tall, lanky, hunched man was squatting on the ground and weighing the two barbarian pots. The seller is fifty taels, and he gives three taels and one. The seller fell to forty taels, and he added half a tael to each pot, and bought a pair for seven taels of silver. In the end, he bought this pair of pots for fifteen taels of silver. The man paid, wrapped the pot in a handkerchief, and left. The shopkeeper followed closely behind. After walking four or five feet away, he took a step forward, stood sideways beside the man and said, "This master, I watched it for a long time just now, and I saw that you are a person who really wants to buy goods, how about you take a look at what I have here?" After speaking, he did not wait for the man to answer, but took out the cigarette bottle from his waist and handed it over. The man held it in his hand and stroked it up and down with his thumb, looked at it roughly, and said perfunctorily: "Good pot, good pot!" How much does it cost? The shopkeeper said, "Don't make a price, you give twenty taels of silver!" "Value, value! You look for someone else. Good things, don't be afraid that they won't sell! With that, he shoved the cigarette bottle back into the shopkeeper and continued walking. The shopkeeper followed a few steps and said, "Look at this thing again, don't worry, make a price!" The man was helpless, stood up again, took the cigarette bottle in his hand for the second time, and took a more serious look, only then did he see that there was an inner painting on the wall of the citrine bottle. He held it up and looked at a wind lamp on the side of the road, and asked seriously, "How much does it cost?" ”

"I just said, don't ask for a price, twenty taels."

"It's worth it if you have a seal, but if you don't have a seal."

"You give eighteen taels!"

The man raised the cigarette bottle again, and suddenly there was an "oh", and after a careful look at it, he asked urgently, "Where did you get this pot?" ”

"Where did it come from? Do you really not understand the rules here or are you heckling? ”

The man clenched the pot tightly and asked, "Don't get me wrong." Tell me where this pot came from? ”

"It doesn't matter where it came from, it didn't just steal it!"

"I didn't say you stole it! Where did you come from, I ask? This pot passed through my hand and I sold it. I'm looking for this buyer! ”

At this time, Wu Shibao broke out of the shadow of the black light, grabbed the man and said, "Uncle Shou! I looked at you, but I didn't dare to recognize it, and I watched it from the back for a long time. ”

"You? Uncle Wu, why didn't you give me a word when you came out? I won't see you today, I'm going to go to the Criminal Department to inquire! ”

Wu Shibao took out a handkerchief to wipe his eyes: "I was looking for you!" But look at my appearance, can I go on the street! That's when I decided to sell something and change my outfit......"

Shou Ming asked where the cigarette bottle came from, which startled the shopkeeper, he thought that the pot was indeed stolen by Usebo and was about to slip away. Now seeing that this is not the case, he came out of the black ground again: "Oh, the two of you have known each other for a long time, and we are very happy to meet again after a long absence!" ”

Usebo busily introduced the shopkeeper to Shouming. After hearing this, Shou Ming asked Usebo: "Do you still have things stored in the store?" Usebo said, "No." Shou Ming took out a large sum of money from his arms and gave it to the shopkeeper and said, "We brothers have never seen each other, I will take him to live with me for a few days." You have worked hard for my friend, so let's use this money for a bowl of tea! ”

The shopkeeper thanked him and was not upset. thought that this Shouming was an antique dealer, and he saw that the cigarette bottle was profitable, so he poached Wu Shibao to make money for his own use, and robbed him of the opportunity to earn commissions.

Usebo asked, "Why did you come to the ghost market today?" ”

Shou Ming said: "I am a regular ritual. ”

Usebo said, "You have a good time. ”

Shou Ming said: "What do I eat if I don't make some money? You've been in for more than a year, and I don't know what's going on outside, so let me tell you slowly! The state wants to give the foreigners Gengzi compensation, and our banner people's money and grain are discounted. People are in a panic, and no one holds a church to invite ticket holders, and I can't make this deal. Flag people are also people, what will I eat if I don't buy and sell? ”

Usebo said, "Do you know about my family? ”

Shou Ming said: "I know everything. This is not the place to talk, I'll talk to you slowly when I get home. ”