Chapter 67
Shen You chose a fan with a drooping begonia pattern and turquoise pendant.
Even in the evening with poor lighting, she could still see the lustrous sheen within the silk tapestry on the fan surface.
Having seen many fine things, she couldn’t help but sigh: what the ancestors passed down was truly luxury goods.
The transfer and division of the fire-washed cloth was personally handled by Master Jiang, who confirmed the donated portion with Shen You and discussed the details.
Master Jiang said he would have her requested items ready within half a month. Facing such rare treasures, he was also eager to try and demonstrate his abilities.
After both parties went through the procedures and signed documents, it was already late at night, but the people at the studio were still particularly excited.
When Shen You and Xu Jiayan walked out together, they could barely keep their eyes open.
After the fatigue of travel, the habit of staying up late had indeed become honest.
Outside the courtyard’s alleys, the lights were brilliant. Xu Jiayan glimpsed the fair profile of the girl beside him.
Perhaps because the surroundings were too quiet and the autumn coolness was just right, he secretly wished in his heart that this road could be a little longer.
They rarely walked side by side so quietly like this. Just as he was about to speak, Shen You’s phone rang.
“We’re heading back now, we’re on the road.” Shen You replied.
It was close to 12 o’clock, so her parents inevitably felt uneasy and called to check.
After hanging up, Xu Jiayan didn’t say what he had intended to say in the end, only asking tentatively, “How many days are you planning to stay in the capital this time?”
“Probably two or three days.” Shen You yawned. “Having come such a long way, I might as well visit the antique streets and museums here.”
She had wanted to come see them before but had no time and insufficient funds, so she had kept postponing it.
The capital’s museums had many treasures from the palace, all rare to see.
“That’s good. Uncle and Aunt have a tour group the day after tomorrow. How about we spend tomorrow together, along with Fu Xicheng?”
Shen You thought for a moment and nodded. Tomorrow, people from the silk museum would go to the studio, and she and Xu Jiayan would also need to go meet them.
“We’re making you all be tour guides, so I’ll pay for the expenses. Otherwise, let’s just spend the day after tomorrow together.”
With her three people, she definitely couldn’t let others pay.
Xu Jiayan’s expression paused slightly, then he smiled helplessly. “Fu Xicheng and I will arrange the day after tomorrow.”
With that settled, they returned to the hotel, and Shen You first went next door to reassure her parents.
Seeing the fan Shen You brought back, Mother Shen praised it repeatedly. Although she didn’t understand silk tapestry, she could see whether something was beautiful or not.
“Can we bring some of these fans back as souvenirs for family?”
Shen You shook her head quickly. “This was a gift from them – we can’t buy them. The cheapest silk tapestry fan in the studio costs 28,000 yuan at market price, and this kind of unique pattern would cost forty to fifty thousand.”
Hearing it was such an expensive item, Mother Shen was shocked, then carefully pushed the box further into the table, afraid it might fall.
They had thought fans were just a few dozen yuan, never imagining they could be so expensive. The two didn’t dare mention buying them as gifts anymore and didn’t reveal half a word about Shen You’s affairs to relatives.
Shen You returned to her room and lay on the bed, scrolling through videos before sleep. Unexpectedly, she came across a video introducing Beijing courtyard house real estate sales.
The single-shot tour showed both the location and courtyard were impeccable, but compared to Master Jiang’s, it was still lacking and was about half the size.
Opening the comments to check the price, it indeed didn’t disappoint her – nine digits.
It wasn’t that she didn’t have the money, but considering it was too far from Jiangcheng, such houses needed people to maintain them, and she would need to compare more options.
Shen You put down her phone and went to sleep.
The next morning, everyone had breakfast in the buffet restaurant, and Shen You and Xu Jiayan first rushed to the studio.
Cheng Yanling, whom they had met before, and two other bigwigs from the silk museum were also there. After formulaic pleasantries, they followed the same donation process as last time.
Taking photos and giving commemorative gifts.
The museum people praised Shen You extensively, and Master Jiang divided the cloth into two parts – one-third for donation, with the remainder belonging to Shen You personally.
With official business completed, the next arrangement was sightseeing. Their first stop was a famous temple in the capital.
Shen You wanted to see the ancient architecture, while Fu Xicheng was already praying with scratch-off tickets, scratching while praying and muttering something.
This operation left Shen You stunned.
If she remembered correctly, he was from a intangible cultural heritage family – even the biggest prize wouldn’t be something he lacked.
Just as she was waiting to see if this approach could win prizes, a phone call came in. Seeing the familiar yet strange name on the screen, her expression changed slightly, and she answered.
“You’re back?” Shen You lowered her voice.
“Yes, as soon as I entered your courtyard, I saw the shop closed and the message.”
A voice with a low laugh seemed to carry some grievance.
Others didn’t have permission to enter, so the message could only be for him.
Wen Zhi didn’t know what was wrong, but his heart always felt something was off. After making this call, the vague stuffiness in his chest seemed to improve considerably.
Shen You thought he was calling about food.
“Didn’t I leave you the barbecue grill and seasonings? You can use them in the courtyard too.”
Speaking of this, Mother Shen excitedly came over with incense. “Xiao You, I heard the marriage stone over there is very effective. Why don’t you go pray?”
Before Shen You could speak, the person on the phone spoke first, seeming puzzled and making a ‘tsk’ sound. “You believe in these things too?”
Shen You looked around and said quietly, “I believe in myself. Praying to gods and Buddha isn’t…”
Before she could finish saying “isn’t as good as relying on myself.” She heard Fu Xicheng happily shout, “I won 50 yuan!”
Shen You reacted quickly, immediately took three incense sticks, rushed to the God of Wealth hall, and knelt down devoutly, while continuing into the earpiece microphone.
“So praying to gods and Buddha still requires doing it yourself!”
“I’ll be back in a few days. If you have nothing urgent, I’ll continue praying for wealth.”
Only the man’s steady breathing could be heard through the earpiece. After a few seconds, a slightly deep voice responded, “You really know how to believe in yourself.”
Of course – worshipping the God of Wealth was traditional culture. Look at how seriously everyone here was praying.
Mother Shen hadn’t even recovered from her daughter’s lightning-fast transformation.
Not only did she pray, she also went to the circulation office and bought over a thousand yuan worth of prayer beads and safety amulets.
Fu Xicheng and Xu Jiayan were also shocked.
If they remembered correctly, she ran an antique shop, and prayer beads were everywhere on antique streets.
The agarwood on her own wrist was of good quality.
“But this one blesses wealth-making – it’s for good luck.” Shen You explained.
Fu Xicheng had indeed won fifty yuan, but he had bought three tickets for thirty yuan.
When Father Shen and Mother Shen asked what to bring back as souvenirs for everyone, Shen You directly chose several of the cheapest amulets at 20 yuan each.
Learning from those people – showing the thought was enough, but spending too much money wouldn’t do.
Her money needed to be spent on herself.
Their next stop was conveniently the antique street. Worthy of being in the capital, this antique street truly had everything. Stalls even claimed to sell King Goujian of Yue’s sword for 5,000 yuan to take home.
Xu Jiayan was very familiar with this place, knowing where to buy genuine items and who the master counterfeiters were.
The genuine items displayed openly were actually mostly Qing Dynasty mass-produced common goods with little collectible value. Small hairpins could be had for a few hundred yuan.
After looking around, none of them found anything that caught their eye. Finally, in a shop behind closed doors, they did see good items – mutton-fat jade, but expensive.