Riding the wind of rebirth

The small building was painted red, as if to cover up its age and dilapidated atmosphere. However, when walking into the building and looking at the wooden stairs and creaking floor boards whose colors had become darker with age, Zhou Zhi suddenly felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity.

"It looks like the eldest lady's small wooden building." Mai Xiaomiao suddenly said this.

"Ah... I was wondering why it was so familiar." Zhou Zhi now knew where this feeling came from. This was exactly the case with the small wooden building where the lady lived next to the Rongshan Town Central School. It had grown old quietly with the years and the owner inside.

The first floor seemed to be a small room that had been rented out. Today everyone had gone to participate in the charity sale, so it was very quiet. When we went up to the second floor, there was a small hall where an elderly woman was sitting next to a small sofa, doing needlework.

The sunlight shone in obliquely through the window with blue velvet curtains. A very soft and elegant fragrance was wafting through the room. The scene seemed particularly peaceful.

"Grandma! We're back!" Rose ran over happily, holding two paper boxes in her hands: "We also brought you some delicious food made by the big brothers and sisters!"

"Hello, Ms. Elizabeth." Zhou Zhi took one look at a picture on the wall and guessed where the two bottles came from. "I'm George, who was on the phone with you. This is my companion Lily. We've sent Rose and Martin back."

"They're not being naughty, are they?" Elizabeth put down what she was holding and said, "Forgive me for having to get up. Please sit wherever you want. Rose, go get the coffee box. I'll make coffee for the guests."

"Don't worry." Zhou Zhi reached out and grabbed Rose, pulling her to sit down with him: "Actually, we came to see you for something else."

"Big brother, have some apples!" Martin also pulled Mai Xiaomiao to sit down, and handed the apple on the coffee table to Zhou Zhi: "But you have to peel it yourself."

"Then wait for brother to wash his hands." Zhou Zhi smiled.

When they came back from washing their hands, Rose and Martin had already started chattering about what they had seen at the charity sale.

Zhou Zhi picked up the apple and peeled it while listening to their explanation. The two children gave Zhou Zhi face and kept praising him for his beautiful singing and being a good cook.

Elizabeth listened carefully: "It can be seen that George is an expert cook."

"Huh? Auntie, how did you know that?" Mai Xiaomiao couldn't help but feel curious.

"Look at the way he peels the fruit."

When everyone looked, they found that the peel Zhou Zhi had peeled was indeed very thin and fine, but it hung down into the fruit plate without breaking.

"Wow! Big brother is so awesome!" Rose clapped her hands.

After peeling the apple, Zhou Zhi put it in his hand and cut it into pieces and handed them to everyone. Elizabeth immediately said to Rose and Martin, "George is very skilled in using a knife. You must not do this. You will hurt your hands."

Zhou Zhi then realized that he had set a bad example: "Hey, this is learned from handling potatoes. Usually, you cut them into pieces after peeling them. Grandma is right. Rose and Martin should not learn this."

Elizabeth picked up the apple and took a bite. Zhou Zhi felt that the action was very elegant. He felt that the old woman in front of him must have had a good family background and education level.

"Originally I should have gone to the charity sale, but unfortunately all the candles I made recently were reserved by customers. My two children insisted on going, so I gave them a pair of old candlesticks to try their luck. I didn't expect to meet you."

"Are the people in that photo your family?" Zhou Zhi pointed to a yellowed photo on the wall. "That's my husband. This photo was taken when he was working in China."

Zhou Zhi asked, "He was a member of Chennault's Flying Tigers, right?"

"Oh yes! How did you know?" Elizabeth was surprised.

Zhou Zhi said: "He was wearing an air force jacket from World War II, with a bandage on his elbow, and the people taking photos with him were all Tibetans... So I guess this was a photo of him when his plane broke down while flying over the Hump Route and he was forced to land in a snowy area. He was taken in by local residents and waited for the government rescuers to find him."

"You are absolutely right." Elizabeth nodded. "I thought no one in your country remembered that history."

"No." Zhou Zhi shook his head seriously and said, "We will always remember anyone who has helped China. Our country has a lot of historical materials recording their achievements."

"So you came here today because of him?" Elizabeth asked.

"That's not the reason." Zhou Zhi took out the pair of bottles with a smile and placed them on the coffee table: "That's why we came here."

"Is there something wrong with this pair of candlesticks?" Elizabeth asked doubtfully. "This is what Tom brought back from China after the war. It was supposed to be a pair of vases. Since I often make scented candles, Martin blocked the mouths of the vases with a pair of wine glasses and turned them into candlesticks. They are quite practical."

"I exchanged them for a lunch and packed them for a dinner," said Elizabeth. "According to the principles of the bazaar, they should belong to you now."

"We only accepted the pair of small wine glasses that Martin used to block the bottle mouth." Zhou Zhi briefly explained the activity: "For four dollars, we can exchange it for four lunch boxes. We also donated the four dollars as a contribution for the two children and the charity funds we raised to the foundation..."

"Yes! We got second place!" Rose was very excited: "The bald grandfather even took a picture of us!"

It was impossible for Rose and Martin to get second place with just the four dollars. This was clearly Zhou Zhi's trick to coax the children. Elizabeth understood it and was very grateful to Zhou Zhi for making the children feel the significance of this event.

Zhou Zhi smiled and handed Rose another piece of apple. He continued to say to Elizabeth, "As for the pair of bottles, they are not included in the charity sale. We came here this time to trade with you individually."

Elizabeth finally understood that the pair of bottles might be worth a lot of money. If they were traded directly, the transaction amount would become charity donations, which would be a huge loss for her and Rose Martin. Therefore, Zhou Zhi adopted this method to avoid on-site transactions.

"What is the history of this pair of bottles?"

"This pair of vases is a typical snowy area artifact. It is not a candlestick. Its full name should be 'Qing Qianlong Famille Rose Eight Treasures Pattern Benba Vase'."

Such a long word in English contains many professional terms. Zhou Zhi had to explain to Elizabeth: "The Qing Dynasty was the last feudal dynasty in China. It was originally a nomadic tribe. It was named in 1616 and perished in 1911. It experienced twelve emperors in the middle. Qianlong was one of them. At that time, China's national strength was the strongest and a large number of exquisite porcelains were produced."

"Throughout the Qing Dynasty, there were eight trips to Tibet to strengthen control. In order to avoid the abuse of falsely identifying reincarnated spirit boys, Emperor Kangxi, the grandfather of Emperor Qianlong, designed the golden urn drawing system. The reincarnation of high monks in the snowy areas had to be identified by drawing lots from the golden urn at the Jokhang Temple and the Lama Temple."

"The bottle is called Benba in Tibetan. It was originally used to hold water for Buddhist rituals. 'All Buddhas pour water on their heads.' So the earliest Benba was actually a pot with a spout but no handle. When using it, the neck of the pot was held by the hand, and one person served another." (End of this chapter)