Fu Shu was asked by Chen Lan to re-examine the pawnshop's account books carefully and to keep the few antique items that Shopkeeper Tong had brought out. Fu Shu agreed and went to the front to work on the accounts.
When Chen Lan saw Fu Shu leave the storeroom, she turned and collected all the wooden boxes from the shelves in the storeroom into the system's warehouse. Then, she went to the side room and collected all the antique items that Shopkeeper Tong had introduced.
Chen Lan walked to the front and asked Wen Rou Niang if she liked these jade pendants and jade bracelets.
Wen Rou Niang nodded and said, "They look alright. Keep the jade pendants; they can be given to the children in the future. As for the jade bracelets and these other jade items, hand them over to your father-in-law. Ask him to help sell them and get some things in return."
Chen Lan nodded, greatly agreeing with Wen Rou Niang's arrangements.
After packing the items into boxes and storing them in the system's warehouse, she bid farewell to Fu Shu. Fu Shu stood up and saw the mother and daughter out of the pawnshop.
As they walked, Chen Lan said, "Why hasn't Brother Xiang Dong come yet? Has something happened at home?"
While saying this, Chen Lan began to worry. "Mother, we need to hurry. Something must have happened at home."
Wen Rou Niang said calmly, "What could have happened? Fu Shu coming to the pawnshop means that Hong Xiu (Mama Liu) and Yu Zhen have already gone home. With them there, what could go wrong?"
Chen Lan was still uneasy. Wen Rou Niang could only follow her and quicken her pace towards home. When the mother and daughter, out of breath and sweating, appeared at the doorstep, they were already panting.
The mother and daughter quickly went to knock on the door. No one answered, but they faintly heard a child crying. After knocking for a long time, someone finally opened the door. It was Wen Qi, whose eyes were red and who said aggrievedly, "Mother, Big Sister, why are you only back now?"
"What happened? Did something happen at home?" Chen Lan and Wen Rou Niang asked simultaneously.
"No, nothing happened? It's just..." Wen Qi replied anxiously.
"Just what? You child?" Wen Rou Niang grumbled.
Chen Lan patted Wen Qi's head, took his hand, and quickly said, "Mother, let's go in quickly. We'll know once we're inside."
As the three entered the living room, they saw Xiang Dong and Xiang Xi, each holding a baby and trying to feed them. However, the two babies turned their heads left and right, crying and refusing to eat. Xiang Dong and Xiang Xi were both sweating, either from anxiety or exhaustion. Wen Kai, standing beside them, was also on the verge of tears.
Seeing the mother and daughter enter, the three breathed a collective sigh of relief. Wen Kai ran over, crying, "Mother, Big Sister, why are you only back now? Wah!"
"Look, Jia Yao and Jia Hui have been crying and crying!"
Wen Qi also started crying.
Suddenly, the house was filled with crying. Chen Lan felt a buzzing in her head.
At this moment, Xiang Xi also shouted, "Quick, Xiao Lanzi, my dear mother! Save me! Little ancestors, stop crying! This is killing me!"
Chen Lan smiled and took Jia Hui from Xiang Xi, gently patting her back and coaxing her. The little one was still crying. Chen Lan vaguely smelled something unpleasant and knew what the problem was.
It turned out the little one had pooped, no wonder she wouldn't eat and kept crying.
After a flurry of activity, fetching hot water, clothes, and basins, the two little ones were finally settled. After eating, they were put to bed. Perhaps they were tired from crying, so they fell asleep without any fuss.
Chen Lan walked into the living room and saw Xiang Xi slumped in a chair. She teased, "Little Watermelon, didn't you say there's nothing you can't do?"
Xiang Xi didn't argue and cupped his hands at Chen Lan, "I concede defeat, I concede defeat! Oh, my dear mother! This is truly killing me! It's more tiring than carrying sacks of rice!"
Mama Liu couldn't stand his show-off demeanor and retorted, "You can't even do a small thing properly, and you're crying and wailing. You're quite accomplished, aren't you?"
Chen Lan stopped teasing him and said, "Now do you know how difficult it is for Mama Liu and Yu Zhen at home? You used to look down on women!"
"Alas, Xiao Lanzi, who looks down on women?"
"Hmph, I won't say more to you. In short, you must remember today's events and what you said today." Chen Lan said proudly.
Chen Lan turned to Xiang Dong and whispered, "Brother Xiang Dong, Mother and I bought candied hawthorns on Qianmen Street today, on the stretch from our fabric shop towards the pawnshop. There was a hawker there, and he's a spy."
"How do you know he's a spy?" Xiang Dong asked urgently.
"My father-in-law told me. His name is Duan Yunhai, a KMT agent. My father-in-law said he was responsible for the bombing attempt on the mayor's house a year ago."
"You know about this bombing incident, right?"
Xiang Dong nodded. "That incident caused a huge stir at the time. It was said that the mayor was unharmed, but his teenage daughter was killed in the blast."
"Brother Xiang Dong, please report him!"
"Why don't you go?" Xiang Dong asked.
"I don't know how to explain it. I can't say my father-in-law told me. Others won't believe me like you do. If I say it, won't they think I'm crazy? If anything goes wrong, and they arrest me for research, won't that be like a birthday star eating arsenic and seeking death?"
Xiang Dong nodded and replied, "Okay! Don't worry about this. Leave it to me. I need to think carefully about how to say it best."
In the following days, everyone at home became busy, except for Chen Lan, of course.
Fu Shu, Xiang Dong, and Xiang Xi were busy with the donation of the shops. Xiang Dong also took time to report Duan Yunhai to the disciplinary team. Chen Lan didn't ask how he explained it to them.
Wen Rou Niang, Mama Liu, and Yu Zhen were busy making thick cotton quilts, cotton-padded jackets, cotton shoes, and cotton trousers for the whole family's trip to Jilin. This was a huge undertaking.
The two younger brothers were doing the homework assigned by Chen Lan. The homework was bought by Chen Lan from the system and might be different from what the brothers were currently studying. Now, both of them were scratching their heads together.
The two babies were only responsible for eating and sleeping every day. They were currently sleeping soundly.
Chen Lan felt that this kind of life was quite good! She liked this kind of peaceful and quiet life!
Finally, the day arrived for Chen Lan to deliver the goods as arranged with Shopkeeper Tong. Chen Lan was very excited.
At 9:30 AM, Shopkeeper Tong arrived as scheduled. Chen Lan invited him into the living room to sit down. Shopkeeper Tong took out a scroll from the large cloth bag he was carrying and handed it to Chen Lan. "Miss, please take a look?" Shopkeeper Tong said.
Chen Lan took the scroll and gently unrolled it. What greeted her eyes was green mountains and clear waters, with birds flying among the mountains and rivers. In the foreground were shady trees and a pavilion, and in the distance, rolling hills. She then looked at the signature and seal, "Zhang Daqian." Chen Lan couldn't believe her eyes and quickly and secretly opened the system's selling function with her mind.
It was correct. The painting depicted blue-green rivers, distant mountains and hills, gulls by the river, and a pavilion under the shade of trees. She confirmed it again. This was news she had seen just a few days before crossing over. Zhang Daqian's imitation of Wang Ximeng's "A Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains" was painted by Zhang Daqian in 1947. In 2022, at the Hong Kong Spring Sotheby's auction, it was sold for 320 million yuan, setting a new record for the highest auction price for Zhang Daqian's paintings.
Seeing that Chen Lan had been looking at it for a long time without speaking, Shopkeeper Tong then took out a hollowed-out large vase from the large cloth bag he had brought. Chen Lan scanned it with the system, and the system displayed:
Qing Dynasty, Qianlong period, Imperial Kiln Famille Rose Rouge Enamel Carved Porcelain Hollow Double-Eared Large Revolving Vase (Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix), sold for 266 million yuan.
Chen Lan's heart began to pound rapidly. She took a deep breath to calm her nerves and asked Shopkeeper Tong how much these two items would cost.