Description

The sky was still gray. Li Yu reluctantly opened his eyes from his sleep and looked at his watch. The hour hand pointed to half past five.

It was not that Li Yu wanted to get up at this time. The noisy sounds echoing back and forth in the cave had already disturbed Li Yu.

“Xiaoling, Xiaoyu.” After Li Yu called twice, he found that the two sisters had disappeared without knowing when.

“What are you doing so noisy?” Li Yu muttered.

After a while, when his brain was slightly clear, Li Yu remembered that the village chief had told him yesterday that a celebration of the harvest would be held today.

“It won’t be so early, at least let people sleep well, so that they have the energy to celebrate.” Li Yu got up very dissatisfied.

After washing up, Li Yu walked out of his house.

The scene in the cave was just like what Li Yu heard from the house, a busy scene, and most people were cooking.

After asking around, Li Yu learned that the meals for the next two days had to be prepared this morning, and no one would cook for the next two days.

“So that’s how it is.” Li Yu walked while accepting various foods handed over by the villagers.

In these two days, all families seemed to have opened their doors and welcomed others to eat at home. After a round, Li Yu felt very full. Although he couldn’t name many of the foods, they tasted pretty good.

“It’s time to find Xiaoling and Xiaoyu.” Although he didn’t know where they were, Li Yu guessed that it was very likely to see the two sisters at the village chief’s house.

The facts did not disappoint Li Yu. Xiaoling and Xiaoyu were indeed here.

“Village chief, good morning, Third Aunt.” Li Yu greeted and walked in.

At this time, the village chief, Third Aunt, Xiaoling and Xiaoyu were also busy cooking.

“Teacher Li, please sit down first. I don’t have time to greet you now.”

“Okay, okay, you are busy, don’t worry about me.” Li Yu found a place to sit down.

“By the way, village chief, what activities will there be in the village later?”

“Ancestor worship, then each family will perform a program, and finally everyone will dance and sing together.” The village chief repeated the main content of the activities in the past two days.

“Hey, that’s all, nothing! How great it would be if we could hold a no-holds-barred meeting in the whole village. I have been doing it with young girls recently, and I feel a little tired of it. There are several young wives in the village with great figures. If I can have sex with them once, it would be so cool.” Although Li Yu thought so, he couldn’t say it out loud, so he had to hold it in.

Just wandering around the village casually, the morning passed quickly.

In the afternoon, the ancestor worship activities officially began.

Under the leadership of the village elders, all the people in the village, including the elderly, women and children, walked towards the ancestral hall with offerings to their ancestors in their hands. All the people respectfully placed their offerings in front of the ancestral tablet, and then bowed three times devoutly, muttering something at the end. When one person left, the next person took over.

Soon, the small altar in the ancestral hall could no longer hold the things brought by the villagers, and the people who entered later had to put their things on the ground.

It took more than two hundred people about four hours to complete the worship.

At five o’clock in the evening, the celebration officially began.

On the only open space in the village, a stage was set up, and the people who performed the show went up to perform. Under the stage was a buffet.

Each household took out their own tables and chairs and put them together, and put their own food and wine on them. Whoever wanted to eat or drink could eat whatever they wanted. The whole scene was like a Chinese carnival.

“Oh, boring.” Li Yu leaned on the chair, his legs on the table, and sighed while eating melon seeds.

Having long been accustomed to the entertainment methods in big cities, it is difficult for Li Yu to arouse any interest in such performances in the countryside.

After dark, the old people in the village gradually became exhausted and went back to sleep, while the young people were very excited and had no intention of resting.

“Should we go back to sleep too?” Li Yu looked around, but did not find any trace of the sisters Xiaoling and Xiaoyu.

“Well, forget it, follow the local customs, I won’t sleep today either.” Although he said so, in fact, without the company of the two sisters, Li Yu really couldn’t sleep.

Standing up, Li Yu patted his clothes, shook off the melon seed shells on his body, and walked towards the village ancestral hall.

Of course, Li Yu didn’t want to steal the offerings.

As a graduate of the Department of Archaeology, Li Yu just wanted to use his expertise to see if there were any relics left in this village.

This matter was only remembered by Li Yu when the village chief and Li Yu talked about the future development of the village yesterday.

“How can we make the village rich quickly? Building roads is a must, but if we make money by selling agricultural products, it is estimated that in a few decades, the road to the outside world will not be built. Mining? Not to mention that there is no mining here, even if there is, it is impossible with the manpower and material resources here. So what else can make everyone rich in this remote mountain village?” Li Yu thought about it and thought of his old business.

“Yes, this village is so remote and the transportation to the outside world is not convenient, which means that there must be a lot of things left over from the past. Maybe there are some things that can be called cultural relics and can be sold at a good price.” Thinking of this, Li Yu decided to have a chance to talk to the village chief about this matter.

It happened that Li Yu felt that there was nothing to do at this time, so he walked to the ancestral hall to see what was inside.

All the people in the village went to participate in the celebration, and the ancestral hall was empty. Various offerings were still placed on the ground. Li Yu carefully walked around the things on the ground and walked to the front of the offering table. With the light of two red candles, he carefully looked at the things on the table.

“This porcelain plate… Hey, it’s from the Republic of China.”

“Look at this candlestick, um… It seems to be from the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China, hey, it’s not worth much.”

“This incense burner… It’s from after the liberation.”

Li Yu flipped through the offering table, but couldn’t see anything good.

“These paintings are authentic. They are indeed from the Qing Dynasty.” Li Yu looked at the portraits of the ancestors of the village hanging on the wall.

“However, no one would buy such things unless they were painted by a famous master. But then again, even if it is very valuable, I guess the people in the village will never sell their ancestors.”

Li Yu shook his head and continued to look.

After almost turning the ancestral hall over, Li Yu didn’t find anything valuable.

“Ah, it seems that it’s a waste of time to hope to find good things.” Li Yu sighed and was about to go out.

“Hey, Teacher Li, why are you here?” At the door of the ancestral hall, Li Yu met the village chief who was about to come in.

“Ah… this… nothing, it’s just that I… my old problem came back. I am studying archaeology, and I study any old objects carefully when I see them. Don’t be surprised, village chief.” Li Yu scratched his head embarrassedly.

“Yes, Teacher Li. You reminded me, why didn’t I think of it before. Every family in the village has some things left by the older generation. We villagers don’t know whether those things are valuable or not. Teacher Li, you know these things, so please help us take a look.” The village chief grabbed Li Yu’s hand fiercely, as if he had already grasped the road to prosperity for the village.

“Okay, okay.” Li Yu agreed.

After the autumn harvest celebration, the village chief called all the villagers together and held a meeting, asking each family to bring out the things left by their ancestors. So that Li Yu could identify their value.

As soon as the village chief made this proposal, the villagers below were in an uproar, especially the elderly village elders, who asked the village chief what he wanted to do.

“Everyone listen to me, listen to me.” The village chief yelled at Mike, and then suppressed the voices of the villagers.

“Do you want to get rich with me?”

“Yes… but you can’t sell your ancestors.” Many people echoed and shouted.

“Am I not born in Dongzi Village and belong to the village chief? Am I willing to sell my ancestors? But everyone knows that our village is poor. How can we become rich without capital? Those things left by the old generation cannot be eaten, worn or used. Every family treats them as treasures, but what can they produce in the end? Nothing. What I mean is to pick up a few of these things and sell them first. When our village becomes rich in the future, we can buy them back. What do you think is this?”

The village chief’s words were very appealing. More than half of the people who were shouting just now were silent, because what the village chief said was indeed reasonable.

Of course, people’s concepts will not change quickly because of a few words from others. Although there are fewer voices of opposition, many people have dispersed and do not buy the village chief’s account at all.

This scene was also expected by Li Yu. He did not continue to watch, but returned to school to attend classes.

This does not mean that he no longer cares about the cultural relics left in the village, but that he has changed his method.

He first asked his students what old things they had at home. According to the descriptions of these students, when he came across something that interested him, Li Yu would visit the student’s home. As the only teacher in the village, Li Yu was always treated with courtesy by the villagers. When he asked to see something, the owner was reluctant but rarely refused him. Using this method, Li Yu checked most of the so-called “heirlooms” in the village in two months. The result made Li Yu very disappointed. Except for one or two pieces that were still a little valuable, the rest were mostly counterfeit and some were even broken to the point of being unrecognizable.

“How is it, Teacher Li. Is there any progress?” The village chief quietly asked about Li Yu’s progress.

“Hey, don’t mention it, village chief. I think there is really nothing good in our village. There is a vase from the Qing Dynasty, which is acceptable. Unfortunately, it was made by a folk kiln and can’t be sold for tens of thousands of yuan.”

“Have you seen the treasures of most people in the village?” The village chief asked without giving up.

“Basically, there are a few things that I don’t even have the interest to see after listening to the students’ descriptions.”

“Ah, it seems that this road is not feasible. We have to think of other ways to make the villagers rich.” The village chief sucked on his pipe and started to think.

“By the way, village chief, every time I went to your house, I didn’t take a good look at what you have at home. Are you hiding something?” Li Yu teased the village chief.

“Look at what you said. You have been to my house so many times. What else can there be? To be honest, there are not many people like me in the village who have nothing left by their ancestors.” The village chief said.

“Yes, but what’s the use of the heirlooms left behind? They are all fake.”

“Oh, by the way, Teacher Li, if you didn’t tell me, I would have forgotten that there is a Japanese sword in my house. I always played with it when I was a child. Later, your third aunt thought that the sword was unlucky, so she threw it under the altar, and even pasted a talisman on it, saying that it could suppress the evil spirit of the Japanese devils. I think it’s pure nonsense. Teacher Li, do you want to see the sword?”

“Things from that time can’t be called cultural relics at all, but since there’s nothing to do now, let’s go and take a look.”

Li Yu and the village chief came to the village chief’s house together.

“Third aunt, cook.” Li Yu greeted.

“Oh, Teacher Li, come and eat with us later.”

“Okay, old woman, don’t talk about this for now. Teacher Li is not coming to our house for dinner. Go and get the Japanese sword.”

“What Japanese sword?” Third aunt looked at the village chief with a confused look.

“What are you talking about? It was the one you put under the altar decades ago when you said it was unlucky and sealed it with a talisman.” The village chief pointed to the altar at home and said.

“Oh my God, it’s been decades. If you hadn’t said it, I would have forgotten it. Hey, why did you think of this knife, old man?”

“Okay, stop talking nonsense. I told you to take it, so just take it quickly.” The village chief said impatiently.

Aunt San wiped her hands on her apron, walked to the altar, bent down, and dug around underneath. After a long time, she finally took out an oilcloth bundle.

“Here, this is it. This bundle hasn’t been opened for decades.” Aunt San kicked the bundle and went back to cook.

The village chief opened the bundle, took out a knife from it, and handed it to Li Yu.

Li Yu felt very strange from the moment he received the knife.

First of all, the knife felt very heavy, and it could be felt that the sheath accounted for a large proportion of the weight.

The scabbard of this knife should be made of agarwood, a heavy wood, which is not produced in Japan.

Secondly, the paint on the scabbard has been completely worn off. According to Li Yu’s own judgment, if this knife was left by Japan during the war of aggression against China, and it has been kept in the village chief’s house for decades, the paint surface would never be worn to such an extent.

“Village chief, do you know the origin of this knife?” Li Yu asked.

“I don’t know either. Anyway, I had it when I was a child, and I never asked. My father died early, and left me nothing except this room and this knife.” The village chief couldn’t help but sigh.

“Then how do you know that this is a Japanese sword?” Li Yu asked.

“Ha, Teacher Li, you are really a joke. Look at the shape of this knife. How can a Chinese knife be like this? There are often anti-Japanese TV series and movies on TV. Then every Japanese officer is equipped with this kind of knife. Can it be wrong?” The village chief said with a smile.

Li Yu did not answer.

“Swish.”

The knife was unsheathed, and the cold light remained.

“I didn’t expect it to be so sharp after being thrown under the table for decades.” The village chief gently scraped the blade with his thumb and said.

“This is not a Japanese sword…” Li Yu murmured, and at the same time, due to excessive excitement, his hands began to tremble.

“Teacher Li, don’t joke. This is not a Japanese sword. Could it be a Chinese sword?” The village chief looked at Li Yu and said in disbelief.

“That’s right, that’s right…”

Li Yu ignored what the village chief was saying, and turned the knife over and over to look carefully, as if looking for something.

Finally, he found what he was looking for under the hand guard.

“The first year of Zhenguan”

Four unclear small characters, but Li Yu knew the value of these four characters very well, and a thousand gold coins were not enough to describe the importance of these four characters. As a student graduating from the Department of Archaeology, it is enough to show off for a lifetime to have such a discovery in his lifetime.

“Tang sword, Tang sword, this is Tang sword… Haha, haha… I found it, I found it, it’s me, it’s me… Haha, haha… It’s me…”

“Gudong”, Li Yu, who was overly excited, fell to the ground with a black eye.

The village chief looked at everything in front of him blankly, not knowing what happened at all. The village chief was very surprised that Li Yu fainted with joy after seeing a Japanese sword, but turned a blind eye to the many heirlooms in the village. Now he has doubted Li Yu’s claim that he graduated from the archaeology department.

“Hey, Teacher Li, what’s wrong with you, old man, why are you in a daze, go call Doctor Wang.” If Aunt San hadn’t come over, the village chief would still be confused.

Because he fainted due to excessive excitement, Li Yu woke up quickly after being sprayed with some cold water.

“I found it, it’s me…” As soon as he woke up, Li Yu immediately returned to his extreme excitement