60s: I have a store

Chapter 174: Wood in the Cave

Zhou Yimin certainly knew that Huanghuali wood was a good material.

He guessed that someone had bought it before and hid it in the cave. For some reason, it had never been taken away, so Zhou Dachun got a good deal.

"A lot?" Zhou Yimin asked.

Zhou Dachun nodded slightly: "There are still dozens of them, and they are relatively large. I can't carry them alone."

This one was the smaller one. After he brought it home, his father saw at a glance that this material was special, so he asked him to bring it to Uncle Sixteen.

His brother's admission to Doctor Chen's school was a blessing from his uncle Sixteen. Their family was well aware of this.

When Zhou Yimin heard so many examples, he became more convinced of his ideas.

During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, a large number of precious woods were cut down, not only in our country, but also in the entire Southeast Asia and even South Asia, such as huanghuali, golden nanmu, small-leaf red sandalwood, etc.

Red sandalwood and huanghuali grow slowly, and even after a hundred years they are still only a few feet thick enough to be held in one hand. Due to the predatory logging by the rulers of the Ming and Qing dynasties, the raw materials became increasingly scarce by the late Qing dynasty, and are now extremely rare.

As a result, during the period of great Western naval expeditions, people could not find decent wood despite plundering everywhere.

Little did they know that almost all the usable materials had been taken away by China.

"My father said that these woods might be from the Qing Dynasty," Zhou Dachun continued.

"How did your father know?" Zhou Yimin was surprised. Could it be that your father could also appraise treasures?
"He said that someone from our Zhoujiazhuang used to work as a purchaser in the palace. These materials might have been embezzled by that person," Zhou Dachun revealed.

Ah! Is there such a thing?
Zhou Yimin was very surprised.

It seems that I have to go back and talk to my grandfather to find out the situation.

"Let's go back to my house first."

Zhou Dachun carried the huanghuali wood with great effort and followed Zhou Yimin.

When they got home, Zhou Yimin asked Zhou Dachun to put the wood next to the house. Then he invited him to eat inside, because after all, this was a great gift from someone else!

Zhou Dachun held the piece of shachima and was reluctant to eat it. After all, he was a married man, and whenever he saw something delicious, he would think of his wife first.

Shaqima is a kind of sweet pastry with Manchu characteristics, also called "Sachima".

It is made by frying the noodles, mixing them with sugar and then cutting them into small pieces for consumption.

This thing is beige in color, soft and crispy, sweet and delicious, with a strong aroma of osmanthus honey. It became popular in Beijing after the Manchus entered the country, and it is listed as a Beijing-style four-season pastry along with vine cakes, rose cakes, and mung bean cakes.

"Eat it! There's more! Take a box back when you go back later." Zhou Yimin said.

He also knew the character of the villagers, and even that of most Chinese people, who would think of their families first when they saw something delicious.

Zhou Dachun quickly waved his hand and said no.

Only when the old man glared at him did he behave himself.

"Grandpa, I heard that there was someone in our village who worked as a purchaser in the palace. The wood that Dachun found might have been stolen by that person and hidden in that cave." Zhou Yimin asked the old man.

The old man tried to recall for a while and said, "There was such a person."

"In that case, wouldn't those woods have an owner?" Zhou Yimin thought.

The old man was stunned for a moment, then shook his head: "What master? That man entered the palace to become a eunuch, and he has no offspring."

"What about his brothers and the like?" Zhou Yimin asked again.

"Our ancestor is his brother. However, strictly speaking, many people in the village can inherit this legacy."

Many people in the village have the same ancestor from more than two hundred years ago.

After hearing this, Zhou Yimin thought about it and decided not to monopolize it. He notified the villagers and asked them to bring out all the materials, estimate the price, and finally hand them over to him for processing.

No matter what, it ended up in his hands.

He took advantage of the situation and let the villagers benefit from it.

"Dachun, take these back, and inform the old branch secretary and the team leader, and ask them to come to my place." Zhou Yimin took out a box of Shaqima, a bag of flour, and the opened box of Huazi, and asked Zhou Dachun to take them home. Zhou Dachun was shocked, isn't this too much?

Just as he was about to refuse, the old man glared at him and he swallowed his words back instantly.

"Then I'll go back first."

He was still happy in his heart. This bag of flour must be more than 20 kilograms, right? It was enough for their family to eat for a while, and there was also a box of Huazi. Just thinking about it made him happy.

"Yeah! Go ahead!"

Zhou Dachun put the box of Huazi in his pocket, and left with flour in one hand and the box of Shaqima in the other. When he was almost home, his steps became more swaggering.

After entering the house, I saw my grandma, grandpa and others.

Everyone is there except his younger brother Zhou Daqiu.

Zhou Zhicheng's face darkened: "You took your sixteenth uncle's things again?"

Zhou Dachun: "I don't want it either, but Uncle Sixteen still gave it to me. If I don't want it, I'll be scolded."

All right! Zhou Yimin's grandfather was brought out, and Zhou Zhicheng had no choice.

Then he put down the bag of flour and shaqima.

"Grandma, Grandpa, Xiaofang, these pastries are delicious, you should try them." He greeted the two elders and his wife.

I was planning to "eat" that box of Huazi myself and didn't even mention it.

His grandfather smiled and said, "This is Shaqima, it's really good."

After all, I'm quite old now. Even though I'm from the countryside, there's no reason why I haven't seen this kind of pastry that was once common.

Xiaofang was happy because her husband's family had never treated her badly since she got married. The food here was much better than at her parents' home. At her parents' home, the village canteen was almost non-existent and there was no food at all, so everyone had to go home to eat.

Zhou Zhicheng noticed the cigarette on the boy's ear.

He waved his hand: "Did your sixteenth uncle give you a cigarette?"

Zhou Dachun's heart skipped a beat, forgetting that he had one stuck in his ear, and he regretted it. He wanted to get away with it, so he took the one off his ear and handed it to his father with both hands.

"Hmm?" Zhou Zhicheng glanced at the boy's pocket and there was obviously something in it.

Zhou Dachun's face turned pale, knowing that he could not keep the box of Zhonghua cigarettes, so he took it out and tried to get a few more cigarettes out of it before giving the box to his father.

Unexpectedly, Dad said "Hmm?" again.

Zhou Dachun handed over the whole box of cigarettes with great heartache.

Zhou Zhicheng took the cigarette and nodded with satisfaction: "Yeah!"

His grandmother opened the bag and found that it was actually Fuqiang flour. She was slightly surprised: "It's Fuqiang flour, and you gave me so much."

Zhou Dachun said: "Grandma, let's have noodles for lunch!"

"Okay! Grandma will make it for you." said the old lady with a smile.

She was very satisfied with her life at her son-in-law's house. As for the youngest daughter, the two old people no longer had any hope. A few days ago, the youngest daughter brought her husband to Zhoujiazhuang, wanting to ask for money from the two old people, knowing that they still had some money for their coffins.

However, before they even entered the village, they were stopped at the entrance and could not get in at all.

My little daughter was raised in vain.

Zhou Zhicheng said, "Take out 5 kilograms and let Xiaofang take it back to her parents' home someday."

He knew that his in-laws were in a difficult situation.

Thanks to zsx木啄鸟 and 08a for the 100 yuan reward! I said I would resume 5 updates, but I didn't do it. I will keep working hard!

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(End of this chapter)