Chapter 11: Antique Tea Bowl Lid

That evening, Jiang Ning hastily ate something, then took out the tea bowl lid and cleaned it with a simple wipe to remove the dirt.

Under the light, she saw a layer of smooth glaze. Although there were chips on the edges and a small crack, she was certain that it was a Qing Dynasty Qianlong-era red-glazed lidded bowl.

Because of the chips, it wasn’t in good condition and wasn’t a complete set, just a single lid. The price it could fetch depended on the current market conditions.

During her time filming, Jiang Ning had also come into contact with some materials unique to this era.

In the first few years, antique shops didn’t pay very high prices for items, barely enough to break even.

But now, antique markets and black markets were booming, with prices rising steadily.

The policy of large-scale cultural relic recovery remained the same as before, but the free market had already formed its own judgment.

This is why the intricacies of antiques, jade, and other cultural relics were so deep, with fake and real items mixed together, counterfeit goods being passed off as genuine, and schemes to inflate prices. Even Su Chanzi occasionally participated in these activities.

After all, this industry was considered highly profitable. What was lacking was not good merchandise, but people who truly knew their stuff.

Jiang Ning never imagined that the things she had learned from childhood curiosity would one day be useful, even becoming a skill. At least, it would allow her to make a living in this unfamiliar era.

She found a piece of velvet cloth, carefully wrapped the tea bowl lid, and put it away. She would take it to the city the day after tomorrow.

Next were the books.

They were clearly old, having been damaged and hidden away. The covers were faded, some even torn at the edges, but they were mostly intact.

Since they had been unbanned for several years, most of the “banned books” from that time had been circulated, so they weren’t very valuable. Su Chanzi didn’t have much knowledge or culture, so he didn’t care about these books.

He usually sold old books for 50 cents or a dollar at most.

The four books Jiang Ning had collected included two that seemed to be old university textbooks, one titled “Fundamentals of Mechanical Manufacturing Technology” and the other two were Soviet novels.

She carefully flipped through the textbooks first. She didn’t understand the engineering aspects, but upon closer inspection, she noticed notes written in the books. The handwriting was very elegant, and the title page only had a surname, “Liang.”

The owner of these books might have been a student or a teacher.

She didn’t rush to read the novels.

Instead, she found a small knife from home, flipped to the back cover, and gently rubbed it. A gap opened up, and she used the blade to gently pry it open.

That’s right, when Jiang Ning was rummaging through Su Chanzi’s things, she noticed something slightly unusual about the back cover of this book. She guessed there was a hidden compartment, so she took it along with the other books.

Su Chanzi, lacking in culture, was too lazy to carefully examine the books. As long as they weren’t rare or valuable editions, he just piled them aside and ignored them.

Seeing that the compartment had indeed opened, Jiang Ning carefully opened it with a mix of excitement and caution.

A thin, square piece of drawing paper fell out, only half the size of a book page.

The drawing on it was still very clear.

It was a portrait of a great man!

And this painting, unlike something someone would casually sketch, showed the artist’s skill in the form and expression of the figure.

The drawing paper was brittle, but the portrait was lifelike, especially the expression on the face and the eyes, which seemed to be filled with both majesty and compassion.

Jiang Ning looked at the painting for a while, deeply impressed by the artist’s skills. She then noticed a faint inscription in the lower right corner.

“Ningshan.”

Was this the artist’s signature?

She didn’t recognize the name.

Although the hidden compartment in the book didn’t contain any rare or precious paintings, she felt that she liked this portrait. It was a lucky find, and she wouldn’t lose anything by keeping it at home for now.

She put the portrait back into the hidden compartment of the book and neatly organized all the books, wrapping them up and putting them away.

She would ask around about this artist later, after all, the owner of this painting had gone to great lengths to preserve it.

After packing up her things, Jiang Ning went to take a shower.

It was so nice to be alone in the room. That night, Jiang Ning lay on the bed, rolling around, listening to the radio, and soon fell asleep.

The next day, she woke up a little earlier.

She wanted to go downstairs and buy some buns. The buns she had bought the previous morning were particularly delicious, and she had been thinking about them.

She had spent a lot yesterday, and now she only had about thirty yuan left, enough to last her for the next month.

If the tea bowl lid could fetch a decent price at the antique shop in the city tomorrow, she would sell it. That money would be her startup capital for her future business, and she would use it for that purpose only.

It was only a little past eight o’clock, but when she got to the street outside the apartment building, she saw that a bun shop was already preparing to close.

It seemed like they were doing very well.

Jiang Ning hurried over, and luckily, they still had two buns left. They were going to save them for their own children, one plain and one meat. They were willing to sell them to her.

Jiang Ning paid and said with a smile, “Thank you, sister!”

It seemed like she would have to wake up even earlier if she wanted to eat buns in the future!

The buns were warm and fragrant in her hands. With one bite, the chewy, thin skin instantly oozed with oil.

Ah, it was so satisfying. Isn’t life all about this kind of enjoyment?

People in the apartment building were leaving for work and school, heading out in all directions. Some people were riding their old-fashioned bicycles, swaying back and forth. Jiang Ning walked back home alone, eating her buns and looking around. She thought that the simple life here was pretty good.

This era had a strange sense of stability and vitality.

She went upstairs, finished her buns, and then realized that these buns were good, but they weren’t the kind with the crispy bottom like the ones she had yesterday.

Maybe she had gone to the wrong shop. She would try a different one tomorrow.

As Jiang Ning opened the door to her apartment, the door opposite hers also opened a crack. She heard an argument coming from inside.

“Mom, you just said my face looks like a mess! How can I go out like this? It’s like a ghost drew on it! How can I even take the exam? I might as well just give up!”

A middle-aged woman’s voice comforted her, “What are you worried about? I think it looks pretty good. It’s definitely better than that little Jiang next door, right? Her face really looks like a ghost drew on it!”