After the company left, Longquanzhuang immediately became deserted.
Before the troops left, they not only cleaned every household's yard, filled the water tanks, and filled the pigpens with new soil, but also repaired the roads in Longquanzhuang.
The next day, Wang Ke took Gu Maolin around the village. Wherever he went, he was warmly welcomed by the villagers.
When I saw them, I thought of the company and the soldiers living in my own home.
So the day after the troops left, there was no one in Uncle Geng’s house. Everyone said they came to see Lao Geng, but in fact they just wanted to see Wang Ke and Gu Maolin.
Uncle Geng was also very happy. Just after the troops left yesterday, Wang Ke handed Uncle Geng the bag of white flour, five pounds of peanut oil, and a pot of large steamed buns stuffed with radish and meat.
This is a great gift.
"Platoon leader Xiao Wang, how can this be good?" So, after the company left yesterday morning, yesterday at noon and evening, and today at noon, Uncle Geng's family, including Wang Ke and Gu Maolin, had three meals of steamed buns in a row. My wife cooked some stick porridge and didn't even ask for the vegetables. She hasn't finished eating yet. It seems that she will have to eat another meal tonight to finish it.
"Platoon Commander Xiao Wang, no, you're going to get hurt."
Wang Ke was fine, but Gu Maolin was really in trouble. He ate a steamed bun and two bowls of porridge at noon. Any good thing eaten continuously will hurt people.
"Gu Maolin."
"arrive!"
"Go to the village below and buy something you like to eat." Wang Ke took out ten yuan.
Ten yuan was a lot of money in those days. Meat costs only seventy cents per catty, and rice is more expensive, costing less than two cents. Gu Maolin went away happily.
When he came back more than two hours later, he was crying. "Platoon leader, you don't have anything? I just bought a bottle of Laobaigan wine and some salted peanuts."
"Didn't you buy other vegetables?"
"There is no market today, and I went there in the afternoon. There was no one selling anything at all. But I bought some fruit candies for Uncle Geng's little Doudou."
"Then give it to Uncle Geng, and give me the remaining money." Wang Ke stretched out his hand. This bottle of wine, these peanuts, and this fruit candy can cost up to two yuan.
"Platoon leader, let's talk about it. Can you lend me this money temporarily?"
"Gu Maolin, please understand. You just received the allowance. This is our food expenses. What did you use it for?"
"Platoon leader, don't be angry if you tell me. I sent it home."
"Go away, stop lying to me. Are you sending it to your grandfather who died many times?"
"It's true, platoon leader, this time it's really for grandpa."
Gu Maolin, you really can’t spit out ivory from your dog’s mouth! You climbed up along the pole, Wang Ke couldn't help but look stern. "What on earth did you do?"
"I, I, I..."
"You won't tell me, right? If you don't tell me, I won't have any food for you tonight, so go back to the house and lock yourself up!"
"Platoon leader, I'll tell you, don't be angry."
"Am I angry with you? I won't! I'm too lazy to care about you."
After Wang Ke finished speaking, he breathed heavily "Hulking, Huffing". He was lying if he said he wasn't angry, but he was not worthy of being angry with someone like Gu Maolin.
At this time, Gu Maolin took out a piece of dark white cloth from his pocket, which was his handkerchief. It had not been washed for an unknown period of time. He carefully handed it to Wang Ke and said, "Originally, I wanted to give it to my two sisters-in-law. I want to give you a little surprise, but I can’t hide it anymore.”
"Stop? What two sisters-in-law?"
"Platoon commander, you can hide it from others, but you still want to hide it from me?"
"Gu Maolin, let's be clear. Why did you spend your money so much that you got me involved? Who are your two sisters-in-law? Tell me, what's going on?" Wang Ke was furious. Shi Han was exposed. The performance of the company came as a criticism, and now that Gu Maolin mentioned his sister-in-law, he thought he must be mocking him.
"Platoon leader, don't be angry first. Take a look at what's inside."
Wang Ke took the handkerchief from Gu Maolin's hand doubtfully, opened it and saw that it was a pair of bright red onyx bracelets.
"What does this mean? Did you buy it?"
"No, no, no, to be precise, they have been replaced." Gu Maolin swallowed, and continued: "This is called Royal Taozi Red, which is a treasure inside red agate. As a natural rare gemstone, red agate was called red jade in ancient times. It is one of the seven treasures of Buddhism. It symbolizes dignity, wealth and hope..."
"Wait, it seems you didn't say this. Where did you learn it?" Wang Ke interrupted Gu Maolin, who was attracted by the pair of bracelets.
"The platoon leader is still smart, and I am also learning now and selling it now."
"Stop interrupting and tell me what's going on?"
"Okay, I'll tell you, I'll tell you." Gu Maolin saw that Wang Ke was a little anxious and said quickly: "It's a long story. I have to talk about the nine altars built by the emperors of Kyoto first."
"You don't need to tell me this. Even if I ask you to tell me, you can't explain it clearly." Wang Ke knew that Gu Maolin couldn't learn it even with just these two lessons. "Is it the Temple of Heaven, the Temple of Earth, the Altar of Praying for Grains, the Altar of Morning Sun, the Altar of Xiyue, the Altar of Taisui, the Altar of Xiannong, the Altar of Xiancan and the Altar of Sheji? These are all places where emperors of the Ming and Qing Dynasties performed various sacrificial activities."
"Yes, yes!" When Gu Maolin heard that Wang Ke said it for him, he scratched his head and said, "This is the Jiutan, just like what he said."
"who?"
Wang Ke finally figured it out. Gu Maolin had gone around in such a big circle and now he got to the point.
"That's the old grandpa. You gave him food several times. Yesterday you asked me to give him two steamed buns and a steamed bun."
"You mean that old salesman?"
"right."
"Why is this related to the 'Nine Altar of Kyoto' again, and it even includes a pair of onyx bracelets?"
"Platoon leader, don't be impatient. Just listen to me and tell you slowly."
Gu Maolin walked over, picked up his water bottle, and drank a few big sips of "gudong" and "gudong" before turning his face and saying: "Platoon leader, do you still remember the small wine cup I picked up from the Chongling Tomb? Something? Mom’s, it turns out it also has a name.”
"Oh? What's the name?"
"This thing is called Qi, and it is one of the thirteen or fourteen kinds of sacrificial vessels in the Qing Dynasty."
"Is this what the old salesman told you?"
"Yes, yes, the platoon leader knows how to write the word '琖', right? It means adding two words next to your word "王"..."
"Gu Maolin, you don't need to explain. I know how to write this word. You go straight to the point."
"Platoon leader, if you only knew, you would save me the trouble of explaining it again. A 琖 is a sacrificial vessel. In life, it is a small cup, or a wine cup. It is really used for drinking."
"Keep talking." Wang Ke finally calmed down after seeing Gu Maolin talking tremblingly for a long time. He had always suspected that the old salesman had an agenda.
"Platoon leader, as soon as I left the village in the afternoon, I saw him under the tree on the roadside at the entrance of the village. This old man seemed to have been waiting for us."
"Oh, what did you say?"
"As soon as he saw me, he said hello. The rattle in his hand was very funny. Without further ado, he asked us what we were doing in Chongling that day."
"you said so?"
"said."
"What did he say?"
"He didn't say anything. He just listened to me explain what we saw in the tomb."
When Wang Ke heard this, he immediately got angry. This Gu Maolin was really a big mouth, and he dared to say anything he caught. "Oh, Gu Maolin, what's going on with these bracelets?"
"Well, as I was talking, I took out the broken wine cup from my trouser pocket. When he took a look at it, he told me that the name of this thing was '琖' and it was a sacrificial vessel."
"So you switched with him?"
Gu Maolin nodded and said: "The grandpa was very excited and kept saying it was a pity. If it didn't break, it would be valuable. So he took out this pair of bracelets and wanted to exchange them with me, and asked me to pay fifteen yuan for them."
"How much? Fifteen yuan?" Wang Ke shouted, and then said: "You were fooled."
"Platoon leader, I know I was fooled. But I think your platoon leader is kind to me. You came to Xishan, why don't you give something to Teacher Xiaoye and Nurse Wu in the division? How festive is this bracelet?"
Wang Ke's heart trembled. It turned out that Gu Maolin was also thinking about these two girls for him. But fifteen yuan is indeed too much. This pair of red agate bracelets is definitely not as good as the ink jade tiger head brand, Wada seed material and the pocket watch that I bought in the county town.
"Maolin, then you can't be so stupid. What does he say?"
"Platoon leader, I think he is quite pitiful. I think of my grandfather."
"Okay, is this old salesman still there? If I have time in the next few days, I will go and meet him." At this point, Wang Ke knew that Gu Maolin was really moved. After all, he still thought about himself, but...the two What's going on with this little sister-in-law? You can't talk nonsense. If the rest of the company knew about it, they wouldn't be able to explain it clearly even if they had a hundred mouths.
"It's probably gone. I didn't see it when I came back."
"Then keep this yourself."
"Platoon leader, aren't you swearing? I gave it to my two sisters-in-law."
"Go away! If you dare to say another word, I will put you in solitary confinement tomorrow, and don't go to the 'Interference Group' either."
"No! Platoon leader, I will change now and never call you 'sister-in-law' again."
Gu Maolin escaped, and Wang Ke looked at the pair of red agate bracelets in his hands and fell into deep thought. This old salesman is really a weirdo. Why does he care so much about himself and Gu Maolin? And judging from his performance, he was indeed following him, just because he saw him coming out of Chongling?
Also, since the old shopkeeper knew that Gu Maolin had a remnant item, even if it was worth some money, he wouldn't exchange it for these red agate bracelets to defraud Gu Maolin of fifteen yuan.
Wang Ke realized that what happened behind this might not be simple.
He took a closer look at the pair of red agate bracelets in his hands. His knowledge in this area was so lacking that he really couldn't explain why. So what if it was something stolen from the palace?
Alas, it would be nice if my godfather Wen was here.
Wang Ke bent down and locked the pair of red agate bracelets into the shell box. He would ask Godfather Wen for appraisal in the future. But now I have to recognize the fifteen yuan, and I can't let Gu Maolin carry it.
Thinking of this, he took out seven yuan, put it under Gu Maolin's quilt, and then walked out of the room.
Outside in the kitchen, Uncle Geng's wife was cooking. Tonight, I cooked a pot of porridge and fried two vegetables, one was scrambled eggs with chili peppers, and the other was lettuce that I had just brought back from the fields.
"Auntie, are there any guests today?"
"No, it's your Uncle Geng who asked you to entertain you. It will be ready in a moment. Your Uncle Geng will go to the neighbor's house next door and will be back soon."
"Oh, why did Uncle Geng go to the neighbor's house?"
"Actually, it's nothing. I want to discuss how to buy some sheep in the next few days. I'm still thirty yuan short, so I want to borrow some money."
"Borrow money?" Wang Ke lowered his head and said nothing. He was not rich these days. Thirty yuan of the more than 40 yuan in food and allowances received from the sergeant the night before yesterday had been spent, and not a penny was left of Gu Maolin's two-month allowance. Last time Wu Xiangyu brought him 50 yuan. In addition to the debt that should be paid off, there was still 30 yuan left. But it was half a month's food expenses. If Professor Ye and the others came, why should he receive them?
A penny stumped the heroic man, and Wang Ke did not dare to say a word.
