Courtyard House: Starting by inheriting the tradition and suppressing the barbarians.

Yan Bugui's death only caused a small ripple in the Hongxing Courtyard.

It calmed down quickly.

His children sold the old house to Li Xuan and happily divided the family property with the money.

As for the despair his father felt before his death, it had long been dispelled by the joy brought by those stacks of banknotes.

This is human nature—so cold-hearted it chills you to the bone.

Li Xuan didn't comment on anything.

He ordered the two rear-facing rooms in the front yard to be thoroughly disinfected and repaired, and then stopped paying attention to them.

At this moment, his gaze turned to the wider world.

In 1982, the atmosphere in Beijing changed.

Besides the increasing number of floral shirts and aviator sunglasses on the streets.

Another place is quietly emerging – that is Panjiayuan!

At that time, Panjiayuan was not yet the well-regulated antique market it would become later.

It's more like a spontaneous ghost market.

Every weekend in the early morning.

The crowd included landowners from all over the country, down-on-their-luck elderly and their descendants, and peddlers dealing in secondhand goods.

Everyone gathers here.

A stall is made by spreading a tattered cloth on the ground, placing a few pieces of porcelain covered in mud, and a few yellowed old books on it.

......

Weekend, early morning.

Li Xuan changed out of his meticulously dressed dean's uniform.

He was wearing a plain Zhongshan suit, a baseball cap, and holding two walnuts in his hands.

He strolled into Panjiayuan like a casual slacker.

Despite his busy schedule as dean, he has a secret hobby—collecting national treasures!

Having memories of the future, he knew all too well what was happening now—these things were being thrown on the ground and sold as junk.

Decades later, those will be billion-dollar treasures that people will fight tooth and nail for at auctions!

Moreover, after he began cultivating immortality, his five senses became clear.

He could vaguely sense a unique aura in those old objects that had truly weathered the test of time.

"Take a look! A chamber pot from the Qing Dynasty! A luminous pearl from the Ming Dynasty!"

"Buying old books! Buying old newspapers!"

The market was chaotic and dusty.

Li Xuan's gaze was calm, seemingly nonchalant, but in reality, he was carefully perceiving the situation.

He slightly extended his spiritual energy, and the items on the surrounding stalls seemed to have a different temperature in his eyes.

Unfortunately, most of it was cold and lifeless.

Those are modern imitations, or perhaps worthless civilian goods.

Li Xuan shook his head and continued walking forward.

Suddenly, he stopped in an inconspicuous corner.

It was a stall selling waste paper and old books, and the stall owner was a farmer who looked honest and simple.

At this moment, he is squatting on the ground smoking a dry cigarette.

A pile of yellowed thread-bound books was haphazardly stacked on the stall.

There were also several scrolls wrapped in newspaper, covered in dust.

But Li Xuan sensed that a warm and mellow "qi" was flowing within that pile of rubble.

That's the scent of ink intertwined with the fragrance of time!

"Boss, how much is this painting?"

Li Xuan squatted down and casually picked up a scroll.

He didn't rush to open it, but simply ran his fingers lightly along the edge of the paper.

The texture and thickness of this paper clearly indicate that it is top-grade aged Xuan paper!

The stall owner tapped his pipe, looked up at Li Xuan, and said, "That was collected from the scrap yard."

"I originally planned to sell it as waste paper pulp."

"You can take it for a dollar!"

One dollar?

Li Xuan's heart stirred slightly.

He quietly unfolded a corner of the scroll.

Then, a few strokes of ink, varying in shade, came into view.

The shrimp whiskers flowed gracefully, as if swimming in water.

This is Qi Baishi's brushwork!

With his knowledge from his previous life and the eyesight he had honed in this life, Li Xuan recognized it as an authentic work at a glance!

That kind of masterful spirit can never be imitated by imitations.

In later auctions, a single shrimp by Qi Baishi could fetch a million!

There are at least five or six shrimp in this picture, that's worth millions!

Now it's only one dollar?

This is practically free!

"One dollar is a bit expensive."

Li Xuan feigned disgust and curled his lip, "This paper is all yellowed, it's questionable whether it can even be hung up."

This is called the "bargain hunting" rule; only those who are dissatisfied with the goods are the buyers.

"Then how much will you say?"

The stall owner was getting a little anxious, "This is good paper, it's Xuan paper!"

"How about this?"

Li Xuan pointed to the messy pile of scrolls next to him.

"I'll buy all these volumes. Here's five yuan for you."

"How about I take it back for my daughter to practice calligraphy?"

"Five yuan?" The stall owner's eyes lit up.

He only spent a few cents collecting these junk items, and then made more than ten times that amount!

"Okay! Take it, take it!"

Fearing that Li Xuan might change his mind, the stall owner quickly found a tattered sack and packed the scrolls of paintings into it.

Li Xuan took out a brand new five-yuan note and handed it over.

Then, he took the sack, felt its heavy weight, and a slight smile appeared on his lips.

Based on that unique feeling he had just experienced, he knew that there were not only Qi Baishi's shrimps inside, but also probably other masters' original works!

This isn't a sack, it's a moving gold mine!

Immediately afterwards, Li Xuan continued his stroll.

As he passed a porcelain stall, his eyes were drawn to it again.

This stall had a lot of impressive-looking bottles and jars on display.

The stall owner was enthusiastically telling a story to a tourist from out of town: "This was used by Emperor Qianlong!"

Li Xuan didn't fall for his lies.

Because he sensed an extremely pure aura, even one that carried a touch of vitality.

He followed the scent and his gaze fell on the stall owner's feet.

There was a small, dirty bowl covered in mud.

There was half a bowl of murky water inside, and a mangy dog ​​was lying there drinking it.

Despite the bowl being covered in grime, Li Xuan still managed to catch a fleeting glimpse of the glaze.

It is warm and smooth like jade, thick and delicate.

Is this Chenghua Doucai porcelain?

Li Xuan took a deep breath, suppressing the excitement in his heart.

Chicken cup!

This is a legend in the world of porcelain!

In later generations, a chicken cup was auctioned off for a record price of 2.8 million!

Now it's being used to feed dogs?

Li Xuan walked over and pretended to look at the "Qianlong Vase".

"Boss, this bottle is nice."

"Wow, you have a great eye! This is from the imperial kilns..."

The stall owner perked up immediately when he saw a customer.

"Alright, stop fooling around."

Li Xuan smiled and said, "I'm just watching for fun."

"However, I recently got a cat, and I just happen to need a water bowl."

Li Xuan pointed to the dog bowl on the ground, "This bowl looks pretty sturdy, how much did it cost?"

"I'll buy it to brush for my cat."

The stall owner glanced down at the dog bowl, then kicked it in disgust: "That's just a broken bowl I picked up from the countryside, it's worthless."

"If you buy that big bottle, I'll give you this bowl for free!"

"I don't want the bottle, it's too expensive."

Li Xuan waved his hand. "I just want this bowl. Give me a straight answer: will you sell it or not?"

The stall owner's eyes darted around, thinking that this person was well-dressed and probably a wealthy man.

Five yuan!

The stall owner demanded an exorbitant price, saying, "Although this is a broken bowl, it's still an old item!"

"Okay, five yuan it is."

Without saying a word, Li Xuan took out the money, grabbed the bowl, and left.

The movements were fluid and graceful, without the slightest hesitation.

They continued until they were far away from Panjiayuan and were sure no one was chasing them.

Li Xuancai found a deserted alley, took out the dirty bowl, and wiped the dirt off the edges with a handkerchief.

It revealed the smooth, jade-like body beneath, along with the lifelike doucai rooster pattern.

Turn it over and look at the bottom mark—"Made in the Chenghua period of the Ming Dynasty".

The handwriting is both gentle and firm, and the blue and white porcelain has an elegant color.

It's definitely genuine!

Li Xuan couldn't help but laugh out loud.

For five yuan, I bought a national treasure worth 2.8 million yuan.

If that stall owner found out, he'd probably hang himself on the spot!

Back home, Li Xuan stored all these treasures in the system space.

He wasn't just looking for bargains for the money.

After all, for Li Xuan now, money is just a mundane thing.

The main problem is that in this era, most Chinese people are still unaware of the value of cultural relics.

Many national treasures were sold abroad as scrap and lost overseas.

Since Li Xuan has come, and since he has the ability!

Then we must preserve all these treasures left by our ancestors!

"These will be the centerpieces of my private museum when I open it in the future!"

......