Chapter 10: Are We Going To Pick Up The Pieces Again?
The day of harvest is undoubtedly a pleasant feeling. With the joy of harvest, Wang Ke and Liu Gang said goodbye and rushed to their rented residence.
He picked up two pieces of equipment for 250,000 yuan and sent 50,000 yuan to his parents at home. Now there are still 200,000 yuan left in his bank account.
Two hundred thousand!
This was a huge fortune for him who had been poor all his life.
He was thinking to himself, whether he should rent a better place to live. The house he currently rented was in a dilapidated courtyard with eight tile-roofed rooms, two of which were occupied by the landlord's family, while the others were all rented out.
"That kid is quite obedient, every day he's very honest and down-to-earth. If not, I'd have to drive him away too. But, ah! Young people these days are just too useless, every day they come back and lock themselves at home. Humph, that Wang Ke kid is also just a good-for-nothing who sits around waiting for death..."
Just as he walked out of the courtyard gate, Wang Ke heard a woman's voice with a slightly hoarse tone.
His face suddenly turned gloomy, and there was a middle-aged couple living in the same yard as him. The woman looked slightly better-looking, but her mouth was too cheap, and her man was rough and tattooed, a very arrogant ruffian. In the past, the residents of the same yard had discussed that the man was a gangster, so everyone didn't want to provoke this middle-aged couple.
Even if it was that middle-aged woman who stirred up trouble all day, speaking ill of others behind their backs, everyone had the idea of not wanting to provoke them and avoiding them, and they hadn't had any conflicts with the couple.
Wang Ke looked down on the middle-aged couple, and the residents of this courtyard thought that since they had a broken van, they were superior to others and often showed off in front of people.
He pushed open the courtyard door and walked in with a blank expression, Wang Ke glanced at the middle-aged woman but didn't bother to respond to her, lifting his leg to head towards his own room.
A middle-aged woman saw Wang Ke return, her face slightly raised, with a look of disdain on her face, and stepped in front of Wang Ke, saying: "I'm telling you, young man surnamed Wang, don't just go back to your room every day. How much money can that meager salary bring? You're still young, why not go out more often, find ways to make a fortune? I really look down on you now, so young and yet you don't know how to work hard, how will you live in the future? Where's the money for dating and finding a wife?"
Wang Ke's eyebrows slightly furrowed as he said lightly: "Whether I make money or not, whether I find a wife or not, has nothing to do with you, right?"
The middle-aged couple was stunned, she didn't expect Wang Ke to dare to play dumb with him. Suddenly, her face turned red with anger, and her fingers were about to point at Wang Ke's nose. She shouted loudly: "You little brat, you're getting too bold! What kind of attitude is this? I'm showing concern for you, but you don't appreciate it. If we weren't all neighbors, I wouldn't care if you lived or died! With your current appearance, you won't amount to much in the future. You just look good now, but who knows, maybe you'll end up being a pretty boy..."
Wang Ke looked at this loudmouthed woman with indifference, unmoved by her clamor.
He bypassed the middle-aged woman's body and changed his mind, walking straight towards the landlord's room.
The middle-aged woman saw Wang Ke's appearance and was even more convinced by him. Looking at Wang Ke's back, she felt even more relieved.
"Little Wang, something up?"
The landlord was a very honest middle-aged man, and when he saw Wang Ke arriving, a hint of puzzlement appeared on his face.
Wang Ke nodded and said: "Landlord uncle, it's already the end of the month. I won't be renting this house next month."
The landlord's expression was stunned, and then a bitter look appeared on his face. He quickly glanced at the long-tongued woman, then invited Wang Ke into the room, closing the door before asking: "Little Wang, is it that long-tongued woman who disturbed you?"
Wang Ke shook his head and said, "No, for other reasons."
The landlord nodded silently, took out a cigarette from his pocket, lit it and puffed on it for a few mouthfuls before saying bitterly: "If you're also moving out, then this month will be the third household to return the house. If this continues, there'll be no one left living here."
Wang Ke understood what the middle-aged landlord meant. Due to the relationship between the gossiping couple, two households had already moved out this month.
"Little Wang! You came to my place just in time, let's have a chat. Alas, don't even mention that you're moving away, I'm also barely holding on. My son is taking the college entrance exam this year, and as the days get closer to the exam, he can't study at home. You know how it is, those two old folks play music loudly every night, it's so loud it's almost shaking off the roof! And they often have those hoodlums coming over to drink and gamble, making a ruckus and disturbing our sleep!"
"Little Wang, you're a straightforward young fellow. Although you don't talk much usually, you're definitely a thoughtful young man. I also know that you won't be staying here for too long. There's a saying: 'A golden unicorn is not something to be found in a pond; when it encounters the winds and clouds, it transforms into a dragon.' That's exactly what's going on. Today, my heart isn't feeling right, and I've been holding it in for a long time. So today, I'll tell you something."
"That couple, they lived in my place for two and a half years, and still owe me two years of rent. You also know the situation at my home, we're so poor that we can barely afford to cook meals, and on top of that, we have to support our son's education. I've asked them for the money many times, but they always make excuses saying they don't have any. Sigh...I've thought it through, let my wife and son move out for a few days, create a good learning environment for the kid. Then I'll be left here alone, stuck with them."
Wang Ke looked at the middle-aged landlord with a silly appearance, and at this moment, the bitter and helpless expression on his face was not pleasant to see.
Every family has its own difficulties, and he wanted to offer some words of comfort to the middle-aged landlord, but when it came to speaking, he didn't know where to start. He understood that all his comforting words would be so pale and powerless to the middle-aged landlord.
Watching him puffing on a low-quality cigarette, Wang Ke let out a soft sigh. With a glance around the room, it was clear that the middle-aged landlord's life was quite difficult.
Suddenly, his gaze paused for a moment, and then lit up.
On the old Ba Xian table, a censer was placed. He sensed something unusual from that antique censer. In these six months, he had been dealing with antiques all day long. Although he didn't dare to say he was proficient, he could still tell good from bad to some extent.
"Landlord, can I take a look at the incense burner on that Eight Immortals table?" Wang Ke asked.
The middle-aged landlord was taken aback for a moment, then waved his hand and said, "Look! It's just an old broken incense burner."
Wang Ke walked a few steps to the front of the Eight Immortals' table, stretched out his hand and grasped the incense burner, carefully examining it for a while. The more Wang Ke looked at the incense burner, the more he felt that it was unlikely to be an ordinary object, and it was very likely to be an antique.
Tripod incense burner, this Qinghua incense burner is composed of three sections. The upper part is a long and wide rectangular basin shape, the middle abdomen is square, and the lower part is the belly foot, with four feet outwardly curved. The modeling is majestic and thick, the Qinghua pattern decoration is smooth, and the carving technique level is extremely high.
Can't see any flaws, can't see any signs of forgery.
Wang Ke's heart was somewhat excited, he couldn't confirm 100% that this was an antique, but deep down in his heart, he felt it was a genuine antique, a kind of mysterious feeling, very mystical, and he couldn't say why he had such a feeling.
Who knows, this might be a magical artifact!
Wang Ke's idea had just emerged and could no longer be suppressed.
Is it really good luck? Did I let myself take advantage of it again?
Today, the heterochromatic eye can no longer be used, which makes him slightly regretful. If he could use the heterochromatic eye, he would be able to easily determine whether this incense burner is a magic instrument or not.
He moistened his lips, and after a moment's hesitation, Wang Ke turned to the middle-aged landlord and said: "Landlord, how about selling this incense burner to me? I think it should be a good thing, but I'm not sure."
The middle-aged landlord was taken aback, his eyes becoming somewhat strange. He knew that Wang Ke was an apprentice in the antique shop, but this incense burner that had been placed in his home for decades, could it be something good?
"Little Wang, could you be mistaken? This thing has been placed in our house for decades, it's just an ordinary incense burner!" The middle-aged landlord feared that Wang Ke was wrong, so he kindly reminded him.
How many decades?
So this incense burner is not a replica from recent decades?
Suppressing the excitement in his heart, Wang Ke said: "Landlord, to be honest, I really can't tell. You know that I'm just a small clerk in an antique shop, and I don't have much experience. Moreover, I was fired by my boss today. However, if you are willing to sell it to me, I am willing to pay more."
In this world, no one can get by without money, and even a honest landlord is no exception.
After hesitating for a moment, the middle-aged landlord asked: "Xiao Wang, how much can you give for this incense burner?"
Wang Ke thought for a moment and then stretched out his hand, saying: "How about 500 yuan?"
The middle-aged landlord's heart skipped a beat, and with almost no hesitation, he said loudly: "Alright, I'll sell it to you for 500 yuan!"
Wang Ke nodded, today he got back 1,500 yuan in cash from Zhou Pi's boss, and so far he hasn't spent much, so he quickly handed over five hundred-yuan bills to the middle-aged landlord, then smiled: "So this incense burner is mine!"
He had already made up his mind in secret that if this incense burner was genuine, or even better, a treasure, he would definitely return half of the money he earned from selling it to the landlord. In his opinion, making a fortune also required integrity. The landlord was kind and honest, with no ulterior motives, and his family's living conditions were extremely difficult, so returning half of the money to them would make him feel more at ease.
A few minutes later, Wang Ke returned to his room with the incense burner. His buttocks had not yet warmed up on the bed when loud rock music came from the next room of the long-tongued couple.
Wang Ke's face slowly darkened, he had endured the couple for a long time, and recently they had become even more unscrupulous.
What can be tolerated and what cannot be tolerated. This time I will leave anyway, so let's warn them once! By the way, also help the middle-aged landlord.
Wang Ke made up his mind, so he stood up, put the incense burner in his hand on the bedside table, and walked out of the room with big strides.
Tomorrow, Monday, Xiaobu's new book will be launched, and the editor has given a death order that if it doesn't get first place, Xiaobu will be in big trouble. So Xiaobu is begging everyone to lend a helping hand and vote for him starting from tonight. If not, Xiaobu will really be tortured by the editor! To thank everyone, this book will have its first explosive update tomorrow with four updates: the first at 12:00 AM, the second at 8:00 AM, the third at 12:00 PM, and the fourth at 8:00 PM. Brothers and sisters, please use your votes and clicks to support Xiaobu!!!
