Period drama: Old Cao's carefree life

Chapter 141 So I'm still a penniless pauper after all.
In Beiping, food stalls are clustered in places with high foot traffic or in wide alleys. The fried tofu stall was located in a small alley.

The two sat down and ordered two bowls of fried tofu. Fan Wu had just picked up his bowl and hadn't even eaten yet when he noticed a problem.
"Boss, wait a minute, why don't you have any shrimp oil?"

"I'm so sorry, Fifth Master, we just ran out of shrimp oil today." The stall owner quickly apologized. "Please don't take offense. In this day and age, it's not easy to get anything. The amount of shrimp oil we have each day is really limited. Please bear with me."

"Tsk, without shrimp oil, can this stuff even be eaten?" Master Fan always liked to show off, and now that Cao Weida was beside him, he was even more eager to show off. "Let me tell you, don't blame me for not paying you after you finish eating."

The stall owner smiled apologetically, "Fifth Master, you can go now after you've finished eating. I didn't serve you well today, so please come again tomorrow!"

Cao Weida smiled inwardly. This boss was quite shrewd; his words were insightful.

He figured the small business owner was just saying nice things.

Of course, even if they don't pay, the loss isn't significant and can be easily compensated, but the emotional gain is definitely substantial.

That's because he got the era wrong. If it were in later generations, with his silver tongue and high emotional intelligence, he might not be able to expand his business to a huge scale, but his business would definitely be doing well.

He clearly knew Fan Wu and his temperament. In addition, he had brought the two of them with him. Given Fan Wu's pride, how could he really refuse to pay?
cant!
"Let me tell you, it's not that I'm picking a fight with you."

Seeing that Master Fan was about to start again, Cao Weida stopped him with a wry smile, "Alright, alright, Master Fan, why are you arguing with a mere merchant?"

"No, Master Cao, it's not that I'm being unreasonable. If I don't argue with him, people will think I've never eaten!" With that, he pulled a silver note from his pocket and slammed it on the table.

“You have to be reasonable, but I’m not the kind of person who doesn’t pay for meals.”

"Alright, if I don't accept it, I'll be slapping Fifth Master in the face. I'm sorry for today. Next time, next time you come, I'll definitely prepare the shrimp oil for you."

"Alright, I'll remember that. If I come again next time and you're not prepared, don't blame me for not paying."

After dismissing the stall owner, Master Fan, chewing on fried tofu, spoke up without waiting for Cao Weida to ask:

"Didn't you ask me to keep an eye out for good stuff for you? In Beiping, besides those antique shops, the only ones that come close are the former imperial relatives."

“I’ve been keeping an eye out for you these past few days, and here I am, I’ve got you in touch with one.”

“The Prince Rui’s Mansion was the residence of a prince when the Qing Dynasty was still in power. Even someone of our status had to submit a formal letter before going there. It was a very prestigious place.”

Prince's Residence?
Cao Weida couldn't help but nod. Anyone who was called a "Beile" was a core member of the imperial family's peerage system, second only to a prince or a duke. They were at the top of the social hierarchy in the Qing Dynasty.

Such families are naturally more likely to bring out antiques and calligraphy.

Upon hearing that it comes from the Prince's mansion, there are bound to be plenty of good stuff!
Thinking of this, he suddenly had a flash of inspiration and asked in surprise, "You just mentioned the Rui Beizi Mansion. Does the mansion have a second wife named Ru Qiulan?"

"Oh, Master Cao, you really have amazing connections! How did you know that the second wife of the Prince's family lives a secluded life?" At this point, Master Fan winked and teased, "Master Cao, you wouldn't happen to have feelings for her, would you?"

"But it's no wonder, the second wife of the Prince's family is as beautiful as a flower."

When Cao Weida heard the name Ru Qiulan, her image immediately came to mind, and he felt a stirring in his heart.

That's a spicy phoenix! Just thinking about it makes me excited!
When watching TV dramas, he especially loved following Ru Qiulan and had a deep understanding of her fate.

Compared to Feng Lazi in "Dream of the Red Chamber", Ru Qiulan in "Fragrance of Locust Flowers in May" also has a tragic fate.

As a princess, she was of noble status and had a beautiful, plump figure. Both her appearance and temperament were very attractive.

However, it seems that God cannot bear to see such beauty.
She was a descendant of the Manchu Plain Yellow Banner. From a young age, her father, who had climbed the social ladder, betrothed her to Prince Rui's mansion as his second daughter-in-law, becoming the second prince's child bride.

Unfortunately, the second prince died young, and she became a widow at a young age.

Without a man to support her, life was difficult for this weak woman in the Prince's mansion; she suffered all kinds of bullying.

After Old Man Rui's death, her situation became even more miserable; she was directly kicked out of the house.

Fortunately, Prince Rui had a conscience and secretly gave her a lot of antiques, which she secretly took out two boxes of cultural artifacts and escaped from the Prince's mansion.

Otherwise, she wouldn't even have to wait until later; she would have suffered from the very beginning.

Her romantic life was also full of ups and downs. She was bold in love and hate. She first fell madly in love with the actor Meng Xiaolou and squandered money on him. Then she was tricked into becoming addicted to drugs by her heartless nephew Suoba and was finally abandoned by Meng Xiaolou.

She later married Tong Fengquan, and their married life was full of ups and downs.

Later, she offended Lord Lu, her house was burned down, and Ru Qiulan disappeared. Later, Tong Fengquan learned from Xishan that Ru Qiulan had died. Such a beautiful woman, a princess of noble status, died so tragically.

He developed a strong liking for Ru Qiulan when he watched the TV series.

Let me state upfront that it was absolutely not because he was lustful, but rather because Ru Qiulan happened to be beautiful and was his type.
"Ahem." Cao Weida coughed twice tactically and said awkwardly, "Fifth Master, please don't talk nonsense. I just heard about her by chance and admired her, that's all."

"So you just admired it from afar?" Master Fan teased, chuckling.
"Let me tell you, I used to have a long-standing relationship with Old Master Rui's family. It's just that I fell on hard times and became too embarrassed to visit them, so we stopped seeing each other as often. But my friendship with Old Master Rui has never wavered."

“Old Beizi Rui once told me that he is now old and open-minded. His second wife serves him every day and is much more filial than his sons and daughters. He treats his second wife like his own daughter.”

"He knows that he's still around and can keep those bastards in check, but if he ever lets go, his second wife will definitely be bullied terribly."

"So, he told me that if he could find someone he was satisfied with, he wouldn't mind marrying Ru Qiulan off."

Cao Wei Da's eyes lit up as he listened, his gaze becoming incredibly bright and alert.

Seeing this, Master Fan chuckled and teased, "Master Cao, I've spoken of you to Prince Rui, praising you to the skies. He's quite interested in you. Are you sure you don't want to consider it?"

"If you really don't want to consider it, then I'll have to ask Prince Rui to turn you down."

"No!" Cao Weida quickly stopped him. How could he not consider such a good opportunity?

Even if you have to charge headfirst, you should still give it a try!
"Fifth Master, you're not joking with me, are you? Don't try to fool me, I'm young and my heart can't take any excitement!"

Master Fan couldn't help but laugh out loud, "Look at you, getting anxious, huh? I told you you wouldn't be without ideas."

"It's only because I think you're to my liking, Master Cao, that I wouldn't have thought of you for such a good opportunity."

He patted Cao Weida's shoulder hard twice. "Don't worry, I'm not kidding you, it really happened."

“When Old Prince Rui mentioned it to me, I immediately thought of you. Since Old Prince Rui has this intention, it’s better to let you benefit than to let someone else benefit.”

"At least I know your character and personality. I have a past relationship with Old Master Rui, so I should at least take care of his second wife."

"If we give this to an outsider, who knows what kind of temperament he might have?"

"Oh my, thank you so much, Fifth Master! This is truly wonderful news!" Cao Weida exclaimed excitedly, bowing repeatedly. He never imagined that he would have the opportunity to marry Feng Lazi!
"Don't worry, no matter what happens in the end, I will not treat you unfairly, Fifth Master!"

"If things go well, I will absolutely treat Ru Qiulan like a treasure and spoil her, no less than the other two families!"

"I believe you. I know your character. Otherwise, I wouldn't have dared to say those things." Master Fan straightened his back, finally regaining his dignity.

Regardless of whether this matter succeeds or not, this is good enough for Cao Wei to repay!

"However, I'm not just here to see you today as the second wife of Old Prince Rui. There's another matter. Don't forget why I went to Old Prince Rui's house. He said that seeing your sincerity, he'll give you a Yongle blue and white plum vase with a ruyi-shaped shoulder and a design of flowering branches and fruits!"

"Let me tell you, this is a treasure. I've examined it for you, and it's absolutely genuine. It represents the highest level of blue and white porcelain from the imperial kilns of Jingdezhen during the Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty. It's incredibly beautiful, the patterns are exquisitely detailed, and the blue color is incredibly rich and vibrant!"

"It's only because I'm short on money that I would have wanted to take it home!"

Cao Wei Da didn't understand these things very well, or it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say he knew nothing about them.

Professional matters should be handled by professionals. He wasn't one to pretend to be knowledgeable, so he simply asked, "Fifth Master, I know nothing about these things. Could you give me an estimate? How many silver dollars would it cost to acquire it?"

"It has to be this amount." Master Fan held up nine: "Nine thousand silver dollars less, don't even mention it."

"Let me tell you, we just happened to be lucky to be here. If it were before the Japanese came in, let alone nine thousand, even doubling that would be too little."

Due to the war, many people were eager to flee in disguise, resulting in a large influx of antiques and paintings into the market. Meanwhile, those with purchasing power saw their assets shrink or sought refuge from danger, leading to a sharp decrease in demand and an oversupply, causing the prices of ordinary antiques to plummet.

Although the blue and white porcelain from the imperial kilns of Jingdezhen during the Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty can be considered exquisite, its price inevitably dropped significantly due to the impact of war.

But high-quality products are still high-quality products and retain their value to a certain extent, so the price drop is not too outrageous.

"Hiss~~ Nine thousand!" Cao Weida couldn't help but gasp, his teeth aching.

He used to think he was a rich man, with the silver dollars in his space almost piled up like a mountain, giving him the feeling of a nouveau riche.

But now he realizes that, setting aside the gold, all those silver dollars he had could only buy about ten pieces of Ming Yongle imperial blue and white porcelain from Jingdezhen.
Damn, I thought I was rich, turns out I'm still a penniless pauper.
(End of this chapter)