But he changed his mind when he saw Gu Qingyao earnestly making her selection, even taking out a torch to shine on them. He watched anxiously as Gu Qingyao made her selection. He had a feeling that she had chosen the most valuable pieces.
He felt that he was making a loss and his heart ached!
Gu Qingyao was over the moon!
Because she had discovered that like Chen Jin, Du Guobang knew nothing about antiques, and did not care about them either. He had clearly selected the best of the gems and precious stones for himself. Then he mixed some good pieces with the rest and let her choose from them.
But the antiques were a different story. This fellow was doing well in the city and he had many, many antiques!
She picked two enameled porcelain vases which were painted in vivid colors. Enamel work was known for its intricacy and elegance, and these were incredibly beautiful!
She also selected two well-preserved censers from the early Qing period.
Among the porcelain vessels, she was delighted to encounter another blue and white Yuan porcelain piece. This time, it was not a big platter, but a small vase. But it was similarly valuable.
This piece must have been taken from a landlord or from the collection of a capitalist. The things that these people left behind were certainly valuable, which was why there were so many treasures here.
Then there was a Yixing clay teapot in perfect condition, and three snuff bottles.
She also found many treasures among the paintings. Gu Qingyao selected a horse painted by Master Xu, and a prawn by Master Qi. These needed no explanation. Everyone knew how valuable they were. Gu Qingyao smiled gleefully.
Mo Beihan smilingly watched Gu Qingyao make her selection. He could not hide the affection in his eyes and Du Guobang winced to look at it.
Lastly, she chose two freehand brushwork paintings from the Song Dynasty and two works from famous calligraphers. One was in the free cursive style, and the other in the running script style.
In these times, these things had all been placed in the salvage station to be recycled to support nation building efforts. Otherwise, some ordinary citizen would use them as wallpaper.
There was no doubt that in these times, a person could really buy all these paintings from a salvage station for a few cents, and use them as wallpaper.
Gu Qingyao inwardly mourned when she thought of this. She selected another four landscape paintings before she stopped!
She had carefully examined each one before making her selection. Du Guobang felt incredibly uneasy as he watched her. He had a feeling that everything this girl had selected was valuable, and the rest were forgeries.
The young man who had gone to cook the dumplings had returned a long time ago, but Du Guobang was in no mood to try the dumplings. He only relaxed when he saw that Gu Qingyao was done.
The youth had only cooked two dumplings – a chive and egg dumpling, and a pork and cabbage one. He had also cooked a few wontons.
Du Guobang’s eyes lit up when he tried them. My God! These were the best dumplings he had ever eaten!
Seasoning and oil had been added lavishly!
There certainly were advantages to selling these. He thought of those old people who had been demoted. Even if you gave them flour, chives and eggs, they would not have the seasoning to make such good dumplings. Now, someone had already wrapped them. Wonderful!
The dumplings and wontons went a long way towards soothing Du Guobang’s aching heart.
Gu Qingyao smilingly took her things. “I like these. I’ll take them!”
She took a few cloth sacks from her bag and carefully wrapped them up. These were all treasures!
Her grandfather would be delighted when she brought them back!
She took out the bag of dumplings and wontons and handed them to Du Guobang. They carried their baskets away, having carefully placed their treasures in them and covered them with a cloth. Mo Beihan carried one on his back and another in his hand as he bid farewell to Du Guobang.