Chapter Fifty-Seven: Digging Up the House

  "After dinner, Zhou Wenping said to Chu Chen and the others: 'Why don't you all take a rest at my place this afternoon? We'll go dig up the house tomorrow. However, conditions are limited at home, so I hope everyone will excuse us!'"

  Everyone said there was no problem and they all took out various gifts. Just now, because of the rush, they didn't have time to take them out yet.

  Seeing Zhou Wenping's family pushing and shoving, Chu Chen said: "Uncle and aunt, it's just some supplementary products and whatnot, nothing valuable. If you don't accept these, how can we still have the face to come bother you next time?"

  Zhou Fu and Zhou Mu couldn't refuse, so they had to accept it. However, Chu Chen was also thoughtful and had prepared gifts for Zhou Shu's parents as well, who happened to be there, so he gave them the gifts together.

  Although the train journey was lively, it was indeed tiring. However, once they arrived at a new and unfamiliar place, the excitement hadn't worn off yet, and everyone couldn't help but want to do something. So Zhou Wenping took them on a stroll around the nearby area, which could be considered a small experience of the local customs and culture.

  The next day, Chu Chen got up early and prepared to practice his fist in the courtyard. Unexpectedly, he found that Chu Yulan had also gotten up and came to the courtyard as well.

  Chu Chen smiled and asked: "Xiao Lan, what's wrong? Are you homesick?"

  "No, I slept very comfortably. It's just that I'm used to getting up at this time every day to exercise. Brother Chu, are you practicing boxing? Won't I disturb you?" Chu Yulan asked with a smile.

  "Well, in that case, since you also want to exercise, let's start together then."

  After finishing speaking, they looked at each other and smiled for two days, then started practicing separately.

  Chu Yulan's exercise was also practicing boxing, but hers was a kind of military boxing. What made Chu Chen strange was that this boxing seemed familiar in his memory, but he couldn't remember where he had seen it before.

  After both of them stopped, Chu Chen asked: "Xiao Lan, I don't know where you learned your boxing skills from, but it seems to look a bit familiar."

  Chu Yulan heard this and was stunned for a moment, then smiled and replied: "This is Jun Ti Quan, it's what my family taught me, it should be a very ordinary fist method, so that's why you think it looks familiar, right?"

  Chu Chen felt a bit relieved after hearing the words, and smiled: "Oh, I see. You're done practicing too, let's go back, I think breakfast is almost ready, I can smell the aroma."

  He finished speaking and turned around to walk towards the hall. What he didn't see was that after he turned around, Chu Yulan let out a big sigh of relief.

  Zhou Shu's hometown is not far from Zhou Wenping's home, it only takes a 30-minute walk, but because of the children, no one chose to walk. Coincidentally, there was a tractor in the village that was going in that direction, so they hitched a ride.

  The first time sitting on a tractor was quite novel, but after a few minutes it felt like nothing special. Fortunately the distance was short, otherwise due to road conditions, our buttocks would have been unbearable.

  Zhou Shu's home looked a bit worse than Zhou Wenping's, because Zhou Shu only had one daughter and no other children to help out. Also, due to Zhou Shu's illness, her family spent a lot of money on medical expenses, so they didn't have enough money to repair the house.

  Zhou Shu's parents warmly welcomed them into the house. After sitting for a while, they left Zhou Shu and the two children behind, and Zhou Shu's father took Chu Chen and others to their destination this time, the home of the second uncle that Zhou Shu had mentioned.

  On the way, Zhou Shu's father also briefly introduced the situation of that second uncle's family.

  That Second Uncle's name is Ma An, he is 76 years old. His family used to be landlords, but before the founding of New China, his family had already begun to decline. Ma An was not well-educated when he was young, and because of his family background, he also became a wastrel, and didn't get married until he was over 40.

  Although his daughter-in-law gave birth to a son for him, that son is not a good person either. He doesn't do anything good and has done many bad things like stealing and thievery. In the past, when his daughter-in-law was still alive, he was somewhat better behaved, but in recent years after she passed away due to illness, this young man became even more out of control and lawless.

  Maybe it's retribution, last month his son stole someone else's chicken, don't know what happened, fell off the wall and got a half-paralyzed body, wanting to cure it, the money spent is not a small amount.

  Ma An had no choice but to prepare to sell some of the things left behind by the older generation at home, so he begged Zhou Shu.

  After finishing speaking, Aunt Zhou's father warned them: "Ma Anjia says good things, should be reliable, but this person is not easy to believe, you must be careful when trading later."

  Under the leadership of Aunt Zhou's father, everyone came to a Guanzhong-style residential building. Although the house is a bit old, it looks very majestic and can be guessed that the original owner's family should not be bad.

  "Second Uncle, are you at home?" Zhou Shu's father knocked on the door and shouted loudly.

  After he shouted a few times, the big gate of the house opened and an old man in his seventies or eighties with a thin face and disheveled hair came out. This person should be Ma An.

  "It's Guozhong after all, and who are these people?" Ma An looked at Chu Chen and others and asked.

  Zhou Shu's father smiled and said: "Not long ago, didn't you ask Erniang to help you find a buyer? These few people are guests from the capital."

  "Please come in, please come in!"

  Ma An smiled all over his face after hearing this and welcomed everyone in.

  Upon arriving at the hall, after mutual introductions, Ma An invited everyone to sit down, poured a cup of water for each person, and then said: "You all wait, I'll go get the things right now."

  Everyone waited for five or six minutes before Ma An appeared, carrying a stone slab-like object and a brocade box. He walked in carefully and placed them on the table, then said to everyone:

  "You should also know the situation of our family, I won't say much more, just hope you can take care of me a bit later. Don't worry, these are all good things, passed down from my ancestors, you definitely won't lose out if you buy them."

  Chu Chen smiled and replied: "Don't worry, Master Ma. As long as the goods are good, we definitely won't let you lose out on the price."

  At first glance, everyone saw that thing that looked like a stone tablet. As soon as they entered their eyes, Chu Chen and Zhou Wenping knew what it was, and they shook their heads one after another.

  Ma An looked at their expressions and became anxious, hastily asking: "What's wrong, is there a problem with the thing? This thing was already here when I was young! My father handed it over to me and told me to take good care of it."

  Chu Chen smiled and said: "This thing is a land deed, it should be from the Ming Dynasty."

  Ma An let out a sigh of relief and asked in surprise: "Since it's from the Ming Dynasty, why are you still shaking your heads?"

  Chu Yulan and the others also showed curious expressions, this being from the Ming Dynasty, it's considered an antique, right? Moreover, the lines between the characters are all vertical, and the carved characters are very neat, so the value shouldn't be too bad.

  "Well, Master Ma, you might be a bit disappointed when you hear what I have to say next."

  Chu Chen first gave him a preventive shot: "This land deed is also called 'tomb separation' and 'land deed'. It evolved from the land purchase contract, and every dynasty from the Eastern Han to the Ming and Qing had it. However, it differs greatly from the land contract, as it is used after a person's death to buy land for the deceased, and must be buried underground with the dead person to prove that this grave belongs to him."

  "It mainly writes on it to buy a house in the nether world for the deceased, asking the officials of all levels in the underworld not to harm the soul of the deceased, and the ghosts of the dead should not return to the human world to haunt, and those who are reborn."

  Ma An listened and was somewhat disappointed, but still looked at Chu Chen with hopeful eyes and asked: "Although it's for burial, many of the antiques you're talking about now are also for burial, right? This thing is at least from the Ming Dynasty, isn't it worth some money?"

  Chu Chen's face was apologetic as he replied, "Master Ma, I'm really sorry about this. This thing has some use for us in understanding ancient funeral culture, but in terms of value, ordinary people wouldn't buy it. Moreover, after reading the inscription on it, I think the owner of this tombstone should be your ancestor, so..."

  Chu Yulan and the others heard this, and their eyebrows furrowed in surprise. They thought to themselves, "Could Ma An be so greedy for money that he would actually dig up his ancestors' graves?"

  Ma An's face also changed color when he heard this, and he didn't expect that what he had thought was a treasure turned out to be the deed to the land his ancestors bought after they died. He was at a loss for words for a moment, and it wasn't until he calmed down that he opened the brocade box and said to everyone:

  "Let's not mention that thing just now. This thing is definitely a good thing, decades ago, I even let an old professor see it, and he said it was a good thing."

  Everyone looked into the brocade box and was shocked, including the two girls, because inside the box was a Tang Sancai large horse.

  After inquiring with Ma An, Chu Chen put on gloves and carefully picked up this piece of Tang Sancai to appreciate it.

  This Tang tri-colour large horse has a white body with brown-red glaze. The head is raised, the horse's head is small, while the neck is long, the two ears are straight up, and the eyes gaze forward. The leg muscles are prominent and strong, standing on a long rectangular base that is slightly curved upwards in the middle.

  The horse's mane is white, with a clipped forelock and tail tied up, and the bridle and saddle are complete. On its chest and hindquarters, it has green leather straps with green apricot leaves attached. The saddle is covered with a green blanket, and it can be said that the decorative craftsmanship is extremely exquisite, with every detail handled meticulously. The whole horse looks lifelike, especially spirited, leaving people with an aftertaste that lingers on.

  Although the horse's shape is lifelike, and from the fetus, opening, and wrapping aspects, it looks exactly like a real one. However, after Chu Chen took it in hand, although his abilities reacted, he still felt that something was not quite right. After careful observation, he indeed found several fatal flaws. After using his abilities, he felt regretful and had a hint of doubt.