Courtyard House: The Chef's Intelligence System

The next day at the same time, Li Jiuzhou was already waiting for his father-in-law at the entrance of the trust store.

Seeing that he hadn't arrived yet, he went in and wandered around. It was Li Jiuzhou's first time there, and he found it quite an eye-opener.

Decades later, there are items worth hundreds of millions. The Ru ware from the Song Dynasty is a treasure among treasures, with very few remaining.

Yet these very items are displayed conspicuously on the shelf.

The price was clearly marked: 2600 million. And this is celadon glaze, my goodness!

2600 million is just 2600 yuan!

Don't be confused, this is the official price!

According to available data, Ru ware from 1954 ranged in price from several thousand to ten thousand yuan.

In later generations, the increase was tens of thousands of times.

Just as Li Jiuzhou was admiring the treasure, an old man wearing a Zhongshan suit walked over.

"Young man, you like this thing?"

Li Jiuzhou almost blurted out: "Ru ware from the Song Dynasty, is there anyone who doesn't like it?"

"Hahahaha..." The old man burst out laughing upon hearing this. He hadn't expected Li Jiuzhou to say such a thing, and then said irritably:

"Liking it is useless; this is the purchase price from the public. You can't buy it even if you have money."

Upon hearing this, Li Jiuzhou felt somewhat regretful, but he also understood the situation. How could the country possibly sell top-tier cultural relics?

Some of the cultural relics here can be sold, while others cannot.

For example, I'll sell calligraphy and paintings from more recent periods, but forget about Ru ware and official kiln pieces; just dream about them.

Li Jiuzhou saw another notice on the wall, which read: "Only sells 'non-national treasure level, duplicates, and ordinary secondhand items'."

First- or second-class cultural relics (Song Dynasty paintings, Ru ware, Shang and Zhou Dynasty bronzes) are only accepted and not sold.

The antiques available for purchase include blue and white porcelain and famille rose porcelain from the Ming and Qing dynasties, made in the Ming and Ming folk kilns.

In short, the store sells Ming and Qing dynasty folk kiln wares, ordinary old paintings and calligraphy, miscellaneous small items, and Republic of China era antiques, with prices capped at a few hundred yuan; national treasures such as Song dynasty paintings, Ru ware, and Shang and Zhou dynasty bronzes are not available for purchase.

Not long after, my father-in-law came over and bought two paintings and calligraphies by Qi Baishi.

Li Jiuzhou also casually bought two items; since he was already there, spending a little money made him feel better.

It's a bit of a pity; he would be overjoyed for days if he could buy a piece of Ru ware.

Li Jiuzhou's treasure hunt has been put on hold, but he still visits Liulichang whenever he has free time.

As time slowly passed, it came to September. On a day off, Sha Zhu invited Li Jiuzhou to go to Qinghua Pool for a scrubbing.

Li Jiuzhou happened to have nothing else to do, so he agreed.

The two rode their bikes to Qinghua Pool and parked them.

As soon as I parked, I heard someone talking in the corner, and the voice sounded quite familiar.

The two brothers exchanged a glance and then decided to go and take a look.

Sure enough, it was an acquaintance; Xu Damao was groping a girl.

Sha Zhu lowered his voice and said, "Damn it, that bastard Xu Damao harassed an innocent woman."

"Shh, don't speak, take a look first," Li Jiuzhou said.

Xu Damao spoke, his tone lecherous:

"Plum, I've missed you so much these past two days. Let me have a bite of your fragrance, just one bite."

Su Mei held down Xu Damao's mischievous hand:

"No way, you said it smelled good last time, and now you're never stopping..."

"Holy crap!" Sha Zhu muttered under his breath.

The two brothers' expressions were priceless. They hadn't expected Xu Damao to pull such a stunt! Ugh!

The two decided they couldn't bear to watch anything more, and before leaving, Sha Zhu threw a rock at the two scoundrels to scare them away.

Hearing the commotion, the two quickly slipped away and ran deeper into the area.

Sha Zhu meant well; who knows what might happen if someone else saw him.

The two brothers went to the bathhouse, where they soaked in the water and then scrubbed themselves.

"Hey, Shazhu, Zhou-ge, you two are here too?" Xu Damao from the pool saw the two of them and happily came over to greet them.

Li Jiuzhou was enjoying a relaxing soak when he groggily opened his eyes and nodded.

Sha Zhu, on the other hand, is quite energetic, immediately throwing out a winning combination:

"Yeah, Da Mao, weren't you kissing? Why are you taking a bath?"

Upon hearing this, Li Jiuzhou opened his eyes wide, surprised that Sha Zhu was so open about it.

Upon hearing this, Xu Damao slipped and sank to the bottom of the pool, choking on several mouthfuls of bathwater.

After he got up, he asked Sha Zhu with a strange expression:

"Silly Zhu, what did you see?"

Sha Zhu said irritably, "What else could I see? I'd see you smelling... you know."

Xu Damao was devastated. It was too embarrassing to have this seen. Sha Zhu's words had made him break down.

He doesn't care if he himself is seen naked, but he wouldn't be happy if Meizi was seen naked by Shazhu.

Then his eyes turned red and he let out a scream like a pig being slaughtered:

"I'm going to gouge out your eyes so you can peek!"

After saying that, he went over to pry open Sha Zhu's clothes.

How could he possibly outmaneuver Sha Zhu? He was forced to drink several mouthfuls of water after his head was pressed down.

"You just wait, I'll get you sooner or later." Xu Damao had suffered a loss, but he was still unconvinced and continued to utter harsh words.

Li Jiuzhou then said:

"Alright, Da Mao, Zhu Zi and I didn't see anything. We even threw stones to warn you."

"Why are you in such a hurry? When you're old enough, marry Su Mei and you'll have plenty of milk to eat."

"If someone sees you and reports it to the neighborhood committee, you'll be in big trouble. They might charge you with hooliganism, but you could also end up in jail."

Upon hearing this, Xu Damao felt a chill run down his spine and was filled with regret. He repeatedly promised that he would never do it again.

After the matter was resolved, the three of them continued to enjoy a relaxing bath.

Sha Zhu said with his eyes closed:

"Hey Da Mao, I reminded you today, you'd better treat us to lunch."

"No problem, let's go eat roast duck at the cheap restaurant." Xu Damao readily agreed.

After soaking for a while, Li Jiuzhou suggested that they get a scrub. In his previous life, he had spent less time in the north and had hardly ever been to a public bathhouse.

No matter whether you shower every day or not, the masseur can still scrub off the dirt from your skin.

The masters at Qinghua Pool said that even fairies could be covered in mud if they came.

So, my fellow men reading this, your goddess's feet might not smell as good as you imagine!

When the three brothers stepped out of the bath, Xu Damao couldn't wait to look down and glance at Li Jiuzhou and Shazhu.

Li Jiuzhou was in the middle. Xu Damao glanced at him and his mouth twitched. He cursed him inwardly for being inhuman.

He then quickly took two steps and looked towards Sha Zhu's direction again.

He laughed when he saw it. It didn't matter that he couldn't compare to Li Jiuzhou, as long as he was better than you, Sha Zhuzi!

Sha Zhu naturally noticed Xu Damao's unusual behavior, and kept his head down, his eyes switching back and forth between the two of them.

He hadn't taken a bath with Xu Damao for many years, and he never expected that this scoundrel would change so much after all these years, and that he was even a little stronger than him.

He was extremely unhappy. Losing to Xu Damao in other areas wouldn't have bothered him, but losing here was a different story, and his displeasure was clearly written on his face.

Upon seeing this, Xu Damao burst into laughter: "Hahahaha, you silly Zhu, I, your patriarch, am much better than you!"

Sha Zhu immediately retorted:

"So what if you're better than me? You've never eaten meat before, you're still too green for that."

"Uh..." Sha Zhu's words hit Xu Damao's sore spot:

"Hmph, I'll be eating meat soon, you little idiot Zhu!"