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

Chapter 1139 Chess in Hand
After Wang An finished speaking, Shi Suo stared blankly for a long time, holding a chess piece. Then, Shi Suo suddenly put down the chess piece, jumped off the kang (a heated brick bed), and scurried out into the outer room.

To be honest, it was incredibly fast, just like when someone has diarrhea and is rushing to the toilet.

Wang An uttered an "Ah!" and was about to speak when Shi Suo had already disappeared into the room.

Just as Wang An was admiring the exquisite carvings on the chess pieces, Shi Suo returned, carrying a flat wooden box in his hand.

As soon as he entered the house, Shi Suo couldn't wait to say:
"Brother, can you help me take a look? I have a chess set here, do you think it's valuable?"

As he spoke, Shi Suo opened the small box.

Wang An glanced at it and his eyes lit up instantly. From the tiny gold stars scattered on the chess pieces, it was easy to tell that this was a genuine sandalwood chess set, and made of very high-quality sandalwood.

Wang An casually picked up a chess piece and looked at it. This chess set also had carvings on it and was also an antique. Although it was not made by the same craftsman as the huanghuali chess set, it was in no way inferior in terms of craftsmanship.

To be honest, when Wang An looked at this sandalwood chess set, he suddenly felt that it was a waste of such fine sandalwood to make chess pieces.

The main thing is that this sandalwood is just too damn beautiful. Even when Wang An was at the height of his power in his previous life, he had never seen such beautiful and flawless sandalwood.

After playing with the chess piece for a while, Wang An smacked his lips and said:

"Brother Shi, this chess set wasn't given to you by your grandfather, was it?"

But Shi Suo shook his head and said:
"No, this was given to me by my great-grandfather."

Wang An stared at the stone lock for a while, then suddenly asked:

"Brother Shi, how many grandfathers do you have? Did each of them give you a chess set?"

Shi Suo, too lazy to answer Wang An's ignorant questions, waved his hand impatiently and said:

"Oh dear, where did all these grandpas come from? You still haven't told me whether this chess set is valuable or not?"

Wang An picked up another chess piece, admiring it while nodding and smiling, and said:
"It's valuable, comparable to that huanghuali wood piece, or even more expensive."

Of course, Wang An didn't know whether it was expensive or not, but in his eyes, this sandalwood chess set was indeed much more beautiful than the rosewood chess set.

Putting everything else aside, the countless tiny gold stars on it are incredibly charming and captivating.

Shi Suo simply pushed the small wooden box forward and said very generously:

"Here you go, brother. This chess set is yours."

It's clear that Shi Suo wasn't just bluffing; he genuinely wanted to give the chess set to Wang An.

Wang An was startled upon hearing this, mainly because Shi Suo's sudden outburst was truly surprising.

You should know that this chess set was worth more than 200 yuan in those days, which was quite a valuable item. But given Shi Suo's family's financial situation, he gave it away without hesitation.

Therefore, although Wang An liked it, he still immediately refused:

"Come on, this chess set is worth half a year's salary for you. Do you think I would accept something so expensive? Besides, Brother Shi, what were you thinking? Why would you give me something so valuable?"

Shi Suo said with a sincere expression:
"Whether it's valuable or not is up to you, brother. Anyway, no one else has ever offered me this price. Besides, if it weren't for you, brother, I'd still be a company guard. Seeing how proud you are of this thing, I'll just give it to you."

Wang An continued to decline, saying:
"I already said, you don't need to thank me for the competition. Everyone wanted to win, including me. Our victory was entirely due to everyone's hard work. Don't keep putting the credit on me. Anyway, I definitely can't accept this chess set. It's so expensive, are you kidding me?" Shi Suo said, getting a little impatient.
"Let's not talk about the competition. Given our relationship, why don't I give you a chess set? It's just that this thing isn't very useful to me anyway. I already have another one, so it's good to have something to play with."

And so, the two of them went back and forth refusing for a long time, one insisting on giving and the other insisting on not taking, and neither of them could convince the other.

Finally, seeing Shi Suo's stubborn look, Wang An had a sudden inspiration and said:
"Here's what we'll do, Brother Shi. If you really want to give me this chess set, then let me pay for it. In my opinion, this thing will definitely become more and more valuable in the future. If I give you money, I'll feel better when I make money in the future. Otherwise, it would be inappropriate to just give me such an expensive thing for free."

Wang An simply refused, and Shi Suo was at a loss for what to do, so he said with a helpless expression:

"Okay, then just give me three or five yuan."

Wang An's eyes widened, and he said with an incredulous expression:
"What the hell? You want me to give you three or five yuan for something that costs two or three hundred yuan? Are you kidding me? 500 yuan, Brother Shi, if you're okay with that, I'll pay up."

Stone Lock Road:
"No, I can only give you 10 yuan at most."

Wang Andao:
"Then I'll compromise and give you 490 yuan."

Stone Lock: "."

Wang An: "."

To be honest, the way these two negotiated prices was quite bizarre. The seller was very reluctant to raise the price, while the buyer didn't want to lower it.

After much haggling, the two finally agreed on a price of 280 yuan.

The main reason is that the price is slightly higher than Wang An's target price, so Wang An believes that Shi Suo is not at a loss.

After all, antiques don't have a fixed price, and antique chess sets are even more so.

To those who love it, it is a priceless treasure; but to those who dislike it, it is just an ordinary chess set—valuable, but not particularly valuable.

Furthermore, prices vary from era to era. It's pointless to compare prices from later times with those of today. Back then, a regular employee's monthly salary was only around 30 yuan, while in later times, a regular employee earns more than 30 yuan per hour.

To be honest, dealing with someone as stubborn as Shi Suo is actually quite unpleasant.

In Wang An's view, he and Shi Suo were not close; their relationship was merely that of teammates or classmates during training.

If they interact more often in the future, their relationship will get better and better. But if they interact less often, their relationship may come to an end, just like the other soldiers in the company during training, who at most just greet each other when they meet.

The transaction was successful, and Wang An was quite happy. He picked up each chess piece and examined them carefully, showing great affection for them.

Shi Suo's expression was rather unpleasant, mainly because the chess set was clearly intended as a gift for Wang An, but it was sold to Wang An in a muddled manner, and at a high price.

Because of the haggling between the two, Shi Suo's wife had already prepared the meal before they even started playing chess.

The staple food is rice, and the dishes are ordinary home-style dishes: braised pork belly with pickled cabbage and tofu, stir-fried eggplant with pork, stir-fried eggs with scallions, and peanuts with aged vinegar. As for the alcohol, it is bottled Beidacang liquor.

In Northeast China, the custom is to drink alcohol and eat food first, and then serve the meal after the alcohol is finished.

So Wang An and Shi Suo each took an enamel mug and started eating and drinking.

(End of this chapter)