Back in the 1980s, hiking in the mountains was also a way of life

Chapter 1138 Antique Chinese Chess Set Made of Rosewood

It's clear that Shi Suo spent a considerable amount of time preparing for this meal to invite Wang An.

After the couple finished speaking in hushed tones, the sound of the door closing came from the outer room. It was Shi Suo's wife who had gone out to buy wine and groceries.

After a while, Shi Suo came into the house carrying a thermos in his left hand and a tea tray in his right.

To be fair, the tea trays and teacups in Shi Suo's house look quite proper and interesting.

Normally, tea trays should hold porcelain teacups, but Shi Suo's tea trays are filled with enamel mugs of various sizes.

Furthermore, these enamel mugs were also painted with the names of various competitions, including first prize, second prize, excellence award, and merit awards.

Therefore, it is obvious that none of the enamel mugs in Shi Suo's home were bought; they were all prizes awarded to Shi Suo for his meritorious service in competitions or at work.

Of course, this is enough to demonstrate the excellence of stone locks.

After placing the tea tray on the kang (a heated brick bed), Shi Suo swept through all the enamel mugs one by one, finally picking up a first-class merit enamel mug and rinsing it before pouring Wang An a glass of plain water.

At the same time, Shi Suo said to Wang An with a face full of apology:

"We're out of tea leaves at home, so we'll just have some plain water to tide us over, haha."

As he spoke, Shi Suo gave an awkward laugh.

Wang An acted as if he hadn't heard that, completely ignoring the comment and instead chuckled as he changed the subject:

"You've won quite a few awards, Brother Shi, but why are all your prizes just enamel mugs? Don't you have anything else?"

As expected, Wang An's decision not to engage in conversation was correct, because by doing so, he completely eliminated Shi Suo's embarrassment.

Upon hearing this, Shi Suo said with a speechless expression:

"It's really weird, every time I participate in a competition, no matter what place I get, the prize is always an enamel mug."

As he spoke, Shi Suo pointed to the largest enamel mug in the tea tray and said:

"This enamel mug was a prize I won a few years ago when I won first place in the bureau's long-distance running competition."

Then, Shi Suo pointed to another, slightly smaller enamel mug and said:
"This is from the push-up competition that year, where I got second place."

Shi Suo went on and on, basically saying that every time he won a prize in a competition or received a souvenir for his meritorious service, he would always manage to get a brand new enamel mug.

As for prizes like toothbrushes, soap, and enamel basins, Shi Suo has won them, but only very rarely.

After Shi Suo finished speaking, Wang An was stunned for several seconds. But then, Wang An burst into laughter, laughing so hard he almost passed out.

The fact that you can win an award every time is already quite rare, but to win an enamel mug every time is an absolute miracle.

After laughing, the two chatted for a while, and then Shi Suo's wife returned from outside.

Immediately afterwards, the sounds of washing vegetables and chopping vegetables came from the outer room.

That's how it is when two people chat; they run out of things to talk about. So, Shi Suo, as the host, worried that Wang An might be bored, so he took the initiative to say to Wang An:

"Hey bro, do you know how to play chess? I think we'll have to wait a while for our food, how about we play a game first?"

To be honest, because the Shi family was completely unprepared, the meal was taking a really long time to finish. And because the Shi family had limited resources, they didn't have any biscuits, peanuts, candies, or anything like that to tide them over. By now, Wang An and the others were getting hungry.

But since we're already here, we have to endure the hunger!
So when Wang An heard that Shi Suo wanted to play chess, it was exactly what he wanted. As the old saying goes, "idleness is hard to bear," and playing chess for a while can make time pass faster.

After Shi Suo finished speaking, Wang An said with a chuckle:
"Okay, let's go then. I'm not very good at this game, so please go easy on me, Brother Shi."

That's what they say, but in reality, Wang An is proficient in all kinds of games. He knows how to play everything – poker, mahjong, chess, Go, and so on – and he's skilled at all the different variations. Most importantly, he plays them all quite well. Upon hearing this, Shi Suo immediately grinned and said:

"We're brothers, don't worry, I'll definitely let you win, hehehe."

After Shi Suo found the chess set, Wang An was immediately taken aback by its appearance and material.

This chess set was made of huanghuali wood, and the sides and backs of the pieces were carved with auspicious clouds and four-clawed dragons.

It's easy to see from the carvings that the person who made this chess set was definitely a highly skilled craftsman.

The main reason is that Wang An was also a sculptor, but he believed that with his skills, he could not carve such exquisite and flawless patterns.

Most importantly, this chess set is quite old; it must be from the early Qing Dynasty, or even the Ming Dynasty.

In other words, this chess set is not only made of excellent materials and has superb carving techniques, but it is also a genuine antique.

Subconsciously, Wang An said:

"Brother Shi, you've been hiding your true abilities! You even have such an amazing chess set?"

Shi Suo was taken aback upon hearing this. He casually picked up a chess piece, examined it, and then said with a completely bewildered expression:

"What's wrong? Is there some special meaning to this chess set? It's just made of wood, isn't it?"

Wang An clicked his tongue, stared at Shi Suo's eyes for a long time before looking away. Wang An realized that Shi Suo seemed to really not understand what this chess set was all about.

Without answering Shi Suo's question, Wang An asked:

Has anyone seen this chess set before? Didn't anyone say they wanted to buy it from you?

Upon hearing this, Shi Suo replied without hesitation:
"Yes, quite a few. But, this chess set was given to me by my grandfather. They wanted to buy it for the meager sum they gave me, but I refused."

Clearly, if the buyer hadn't offered such a low price, Shi Suo would have sold the chess set long ago.

Wang An nodded and said:

"Yeah, it's right not to sell it. Your chess set is going to be really expensive in the future. If you sell it now, you'll be slapping your thighs until they're swollen."

While setting up the chess pieces, Shi Suo asked:
"Hey bro, what's going on? Is there some trick to my chess game? Tell me about it!"

Wang An didn't hide anything and explained how amazing this chess game was.

Upon hearing this, Shi Suo quickly asked:

"Brother, how much do you think my chess set is worth now?"

After thinking for a moment, Wang An said:
"Right now, it's worth at least half a year's salary for you, but who knows what it will be like in the future."

Upon hearing this, Shi Suo almost jumped up, his face filled with disbelief as he said:

"This wooden chess set is worth more than two hundred yuan?"

Wang An smiled calmly:
"So what? This thing is only worth this price. By the way, if you want to sell it sometime, just come to me. Don't sell it to anyone else."

　Thank you so much to "Reader 55 is so happy *!" for the donation!

　　Wishing you, brother, continued success and prosperity every day!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)