Chapter 1: Wanli's Bulldog

  The warm sunshine of May envelops Jiangnan City, making people feel comfortable and want to pull a rattan chair, invite two or three old friends, sit under the tree, have a pot of hot tea, play cards or a game of Go.

  Jū ān has been living in this city in Jiangnan for eight years, and his university was also located here. After graduating from university, he entered a foreign trade company in Jiangnan, which is already the fourth year since graduation. Since entering school, he has witnessed that the house prices in Jiangnan City have risen first, followed by various things soaring, and the only thing that has remained strong for four years is his own salary.

  At 5:01, I packed up with colleagues and prepared to get off work.

  "Old Lu, Old Li, Old Qi, don't forget tomorrow, gather at my doorstep at 10 o'clock in the morning!" A thin young man shouted while packing his things.

  "Are you going horseback riding again tomorrow?" asked Zhang Li, the company's female accountant.

  "Zhang Dami, what's up? We're going horseback riding for the first time this month. Why don't you come tomorrow too? I'll teach you, Li Ge!"

  Old Li said with a smile. Old Li's full name is Li Jin, and according to himself, he was one of the first batch of people in Jiangnan who played horse riding. When the first equestrian arena opened, he started riding horses, and Quan An, Qi Ai Jun, and thin boy Wang Dong Yu all liked horse riding under his influence.

  "What's fun about horse riding? Tomorrow I'm going shopping with my boyfriend, and the day after tomorrow I have a hair appointment, nothing else to do." Zhang Li replied.

  "Ah! Pity your boyfriend, the whole two days are ruined!" Old Li shook his head.

  "Li Ge, you and Qi Ge are married, but these two are still single, why don't you take them along to have some fun?" Zhang Li said with a smile.

  "Zhang Jie, I actually don't like horse riding. Do you have any acquaintances who are girls that you can introduce to my younger brother? I'll draw a clear line with them, I love going shopping." Wang Dongyu said with a flushed face.

  "You traitor translator" Ju An and Li Jin directly extended their middle fingers at Wang Dongyu.

  A few people chatted and laughed as they arrived at the company building. Ju An bid farewell to them and headed towards the bus station.

  The bus station is one stop away from the company of Ju'an, and you need to cross the antique market in Jiangnan City to take a direct bus to the community. This so-called antique market is just a big alley. It's a half-large road with its back against the palace wall of Jing Tian Palace, which was formed slowly in the 1990s. Now it's still dominated by street stalls, and many old street vendors from the 1990s have made some money and rented large storefronts nearby. However, various legends have been left on this road.

  The antique market business is not good during this period, and the small vendors are scattered around the stalls, chatting with each other while smoking, or gathering together to play cards.

  Strolling slowly, while strolling and sizing up the stalls on both sides of the small road, these small stalls have piles of copper coins, porcelain, and even some small bronze tripods, which are jokingly called "fake goods market" by Jiangnan people.

  Suddenly something small caught Ju An's attention. A small stall was displaying piles and piles of copper coins, with a ceramic little dog placed at the corner of the stall.

  "Boss, how much is this copper coin?" Ju An squatted down, picked up a copper coin and looked at the stall owner.

  "Hey little brother, take a look at this, my best item is this coin. Check out that patina, it's an authentic Qianlong-era copper coin. I'll give you a good price, just 500 yuan." The vendor said, pointing to the copper coin.

  "Boss, I'm just over there going to work, I didn't come to Jiangnan for a tour." Ju An pointed in the direction of the company.

  "Cough, cough, this is really an old item, I won't cheat you, since you're nearby, let's just say we're neighbors. You give me 320 yuan, and you can take it away. Today, I'll consider it a good start." The peddler smiled somewhat awkwardly.

  "How much for this porcelain dog?" Ju An pointed at the small porcelain dog that was pressed on the side.

  "You're talking about this, little brother? Let me tell you, I just got this thing, take a look"

  "This piece, made in the Wanli period of the Ming dynasty. Just look at the quality of the glaze and the color. I got this from a rural area, and the local villagers told me that it was excavated from a large tomb when they were digging a reservoir. Along with many other antique porcelain pieces and gold and silver artifacts, its discovery immediately alerted the government. Luckily, the villager acted quickly and managed to get his hands on this piece." The peddler carefully explained the origins of the item to Ju An.

  "Boss, you're really something. Did China have bulldogs during the Wanli Emperor's time? Don't just talk nonsense." Ju An nodded towards that ceramic dog.

  "Whoosh!" The little vendor beside him laughed and said "I told you, Old Wu, this young brother understands dogs."

  "Go away, I'm doing business here. What's wrong with you?" The street vendor glared at the stall owner below.

  He casually pulled out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and handed one each to the peddler and the stall owner, then lit one for himself.

  "Haha, Golden South, good tobacco!" The vendor next to him praised.

  "This thing was collected by me when I first went to the countryside in '92, didn't have much of an eye for it at the time, just picked up this little trinket." The peddler took a heavy drag on his cigarette. "These mountain folk are all cunning and clever, I was completely taken in. Brought it back and showed it to some experts, and they laughed at me for half a year straight."

  Holding the porcelain dog carefully, it's a sitting bulldog with a collar around its neck, and there are some broken things that seem to be nail-like on the collar. The dog's mouth is slightly tilted downwards, with a hint of a smile. On the bottom, in small blue characters, it's written "Wanli year made".

  "Boss, I think this dog looks quite interesting, planning to buy it back and put it on the table to see. This is probably just a decade or so, just a handicraft, give me a honest price." Put down the ceramic dog.

  "Give me fifty and take it away"

  "Fifty is too expensive, a ceramic storage jar only costs over ten bucks, which is much better than this. It can also save money. This thing can only be looked at, look, the nails on the dog collar have all fallen off. I'll give twenty bucks for it, if you agree, I'll take it away, if not, then forget it."

  "Little brother, I got this for over 40 back then. I'm only making a few bucks off you. You see if I sell it to you for 40, I'd be selling at a loss." The peddler revealed a bitter smile, seemingly reluctant to part with it.

  "Twenty, can't be higher. The porcelain shop sells new ones for no more than forty yuan. This broken one is too expensive at forty yuan. Either count it together with the copper coins from earlier as forty yuan." Ju An nodded towards the copper coins she had put down earlier.

  "Big brother, aren't you talking nonsense? This copper coin is not even forty, and with this little money, I wouldn't even sell it for three hundred." The peddler hurriedly waved his hand.

  "Never mind, I still have a train to catch." Ju An stood up and made as if to leave.

  "Alright, twenty bucks and it's yours. I'm really losing money on this one. I'm telling you, if we hadn't opened for business yet today, I wouldn't have been willing to part with it. This thing may be new, but for me, it's a costly lesson. Here, let me put it in a box for you." The vendor hastily called out to Ju An and handed him the ceramic dog in a small paper box.

  I almost burst out laughing when I heard this, it seems like you're here just to take advantage of me.

  He took out 20 yuan from his pocket and handed it to the vendor, took the box, turned around and was about to leave.

  "Hey big brother, come take a look here, I've got all good porcelain, all antiques. You want Yuan Qinghua, I've got it." The stall owner next to him seems to think this foolish customer is not bad.

  I heard that yuan qing hua is available, and I almost fell over when I saw the price. "I said to the boss, 'Is your yuan qing hua affordable? Even if you sell it to me, I won't be able to afford it'".

  "Big brother is being honest with the price, one hundred and fifty yuan for this vase, you're also letting me make a sale." The stall owner smiled at Ju An, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth.

  "You can keep that vase with the peony pattern, I won't delay my business." Holding the box, he quickened his pace and headed towards the train station.

  "I said Old Wu, you just arrived and started selling already, where did that rotten thing come from?" The stall owner elbowed Old Wu with his elbow.

  "That thing was indeed a bargain, but it's just a match, the small bottle of Daoguang year that I sold to Baoshengzhai last time, when I went to Lao Mountain, as soon as I entered the door, I saw that bottle, placed together with that thing from earlier, the family said they were all from underground, how could I believe it, I haggled with them for half a day, spent a total of 130 yuan, and that bottle was resold for over 3,000 yuan, that dog didn't want to sell it originally, threw it at home, today when going out couldn't find my square stone, brought it out instead." Wu Tou said proudly.

  After taking a bus for almost an hour, I had dinner at a small restaurant at the intersection and returned to my rented small house. The small room of over 10 square meters costs more than 400 yuan per month, excluding toilet and kitchen. The toilet is shared, and there is no kitchen. This is what they call a rental house in the urban village.

  The house is a large room divided into two small rooms by the landlord, with only a few layers of wooden boards in between. If there's a couple living on the other side, you can hear everything they do at night, including their entertainment activities, very clearly.

  If you want to live in a small district suite, at least 700 yuan per month is required. With the salary of Ju'an, basically about one-third will be contributed to the landlord. Originally, Ju'an thought it was just for sleeping, but now he thinks that if he works harder and saves more money, he can have his own house in the future and live comfortably. Now he doesn't even have a girlfriend, so what's the point of being particular about this?

  In the past few years, I still thought about having my own house, but just a few years have passed and I don't dare to think about it anymore. Why? The housing prices in Jiangnan are like rockets soaring upwards. Even in the suburbs, the housing prices are around 17,000 or 18,000 yuan per square meter. With Jiu'an's salary, even if you save up for a year, it's not enough for one square meter. After buying a house, you still have to pay off the mortgage for several decades. By the time you finish paying off the money, who knows, the 70-year land use right might be up, and you'll have to pay again. Those evil real estate developers!

  After entering the door, put the paper box on the table, take out the ceramic dog from the box, and place it next to the computer. The computer is still an old antique from four years ago. As my friend said, this computer can only browse the web, play solitaire or minesweeper, and do nothing else.

  Zhai Yujun said what a farting netbook, others have been using netbooks for years, I think Anzi can sue them for infringement.