Chapter 5: The Qin Dynasty Orchestra

  Lao Pan is attending his friend's daughter's wedding today, and the restaurant is not far from here, so he came over to take a look.

  Lao Pan is an ordinary middle-aged man, with sparse hair combed shiny and bright, a protruding belly, usually wearing T-shirts and casual pants bought at street stalls with his wife, shoes polished to a misty sheen, one or two suits of famous brands for show, wearing coffee-colored glasses, speaking concisely, like a small businessman who has made some money, or he can be said to be a small section chief in the municipal government.

  Actually, Lao Pan is not simple. He was a graduate of the second or third batch of China University of Geosciences, majoring in archaeology. The university students of that era were truly the pride of heaven, almost every one of them had exceptional skills, and Lao Pan was among the best. If he had continued to work in his profession, we would have definitely seen him on TV salvaging the "Nanhai No. 1" today. Unfortunately, Lao Pan couldn't resist the temptation of the big wave of going into business in the 90s. He thought that with his skills, he could be like a crab, moving freely and easily, but after losing money several times, he became like a turtle, shrinking back and being overly cautious. In my opinion, his losses were entirely his own fault: he abandoned his profession and followed two Fujian people to speculate in watches.

  After 2000, he returned to his original profession and started collecting and helping others appraise antiques. His monthly income was unstable but barely enough for a relatively comfortable life. He served as my deputy manager in name only and didn't receive a salary, instead taking a 2% commission from the appraisal fees.

  Lao Pan handed me a "Yuxi", I put the knife on the tea table and took it over, then lit it up. Before I could even take a sip, Lao Pan's eyes were already fixed on the knife - a Warring States period ancient sword was naturally attractive to someone with a deep archaeological background. He casually picked up the knife, then hunched over like he had been punched in the gut, one hand removing his glasses as if he wanted to dive into the knife.

  I quickly grabbed it and put it in my pocket, saying "fruit knife, what's the big deal?" Old Pan pointed his two yellow fingers at my nose: "Give it to me!" I noticed that his voice was slightly trembling. I took out Jing Ke's dagger and flipped it in the air a couple of times, jokingly saying: "You don't think this is an antique, do you?"

  It seems that Old Pan was finally bewildered by me, he wiped the sweat from his forehead and smiled self-deprecatingly: "Maybe I'm too sensitive, how could you possibly have something from the Warring States period? Although the style and texture are very similar, there's not even a hint of oxidation reaction, I must have been seeing things."

  I played with the knife, pretending to be nonchalant and asked: "If there really is a ancient sword from the Warring States period, how much can it sell for?" Old Pan adjusted his glasses and said in a teasing tone: "If you were to sell something from the Warring States period, no matter who you sold it to, you'd be breaking the law. If it left the country, I'm afraid I wouldn't see you again in this lifetime. The state stipulates that cultural relics before 1795 are strictly prohibited from leaving the country, can you calculate how many years ago the Warring States period was from 1795?"

  I said: "We're just kidding around, give me a quote."

  "Let me put it this way, a Ming vase can sell for ￡15 million at Christie's auction in the UK. Of course, let's not mention what goes on behind the scenes. In Hong Kong, a Qianlong imperial sword can fetch HK$400 million. Whether Qianlong himself ever saw this sword is unknown; a gold-plated sword used by Napoleon can be worth over RMB 50 million..."

  I chimed in: "If it's the dagger that Jing Ke used to stab the King of Qin..."

  Lao Pan gave me a glance and stood up saying: "I'm not going to bother with you anymore, I have to go."

  After Old Pan left, I stared blankly at Jing Ke's dagger, with only one thought in my mind: even if it were exchanged for coins, I wonder how many times it could kill me...

  I'm not stupid, I had thought that even if it's just a single hair from Jing Er's body, theoretically it could be considered an artifact. But I also vaguely felt that using this as material would be risky. Old Pan's words completely dispelled my idea. Not to mention whether it's illegal or not, if it really flowed out of the country, I'd become a sinner for eternity in no time. As the general manager of "Number X" pawnshop, making some blackhearted money by taking advantage of people is okay, but after all, our school had also sponsored a film about Yuanmingyuan when we were young, at least there's still some basic civic integrity...

  At noon, Bao Zi only had 20 minutes for lunch break. Usually, I would close the door and go find her to eat something casual on the street together. Today, I asked her to bring back a pound of buns. When Bao Zi rushed back, Qin Shi Huang was watching "Meteor Garden" with great interest. Bao Zi nodded at him as a greeting, then quickly found a stool to sit down and watch. I told her to eat, but she said she had already eaten and would leave soon after watching TV. The TV show was playing the scene where Dao Ming Temple, Hua Ze Lei, and Xiang Xin were being affectionate when it cut to commercial break. Bao Zi stood up and said to Qin Shi Huang: "Fatty, I'll come back this afternoon and you tell me the result, okay?"

  What I'm most speechless about isn't this, Qin Shi Huang actually spoke in a Taiwanese accent and said: "Alright lah, you're very long-winded leh."

  I dragged Jing Ke, who has been studying glass next door, to my house to eat baozi. So far, neither of them has caused me too much embarrassment. Jing Ke is quite silly and is already shy about asking questions about curious things. The things in my house are enough for him to study on his own for half a year. Qin Shi Huang came with a carnival mentality to enjoy life, maintaining an appreciative and naive attitude towards all new things.

  What I'm most afraid of is that one day, Ying Zheng and Jing Ke will suddenly realize they've been had by Yan Wang, and before taking revenge on him, they'll take it out on me first, especially after Qin Shi Huang finds out that I've been secretly calling him "Ying the Fatty" behind his back.

  I stuffed the clothes they had exchanged into the bottom of the cabinet, and a year later I had to let them take away all of it without missing a single piece. Honestly, my biggest concern about not daring to exchange them for money is that I'm afraid of getting into trouble. As far as I know, the black forces involved in smuggling antiques internationally are not much different from those involved in smuggling drugs and arms. If I were to sell a Warring States period sword, it would be hard not to be haunted by evil spirits. And relying solely on this brick in my hand, I estimate that the outcome would be more bad than good. Of course, I have to say "I'm really talkative" - I really don't want China's treasures to flow out of the country, and I suggest everyone just remember this one point.

  Jing Ke's dagger was washed clean by me and put in the toolbox, the most dangerous place is the safest.

  Baozi works the early shift this week, which means she goes to work at 10 am and gets off at 4 pm. In reality, she can't leave until around 5 pm. If it's a late shift, then she goes to work at 4 pm and can't come back until after 11 pm.

  Baozi has never asked me to pick her up when she works the late shift. It's not because she looks very "fierce". Baozi grew up in the dorms of the Railway School, and from a young age, she was always fighting with other kids on the railway. She's a true "daughter of the streets".

  When she was in her first year of middle school, she even whistled at a young teacher. Unfortunately, before she did that, she didn't know that he was their new English teacher who had just transferred there. Luckily, the young teacher didn't hear it. Unfortunately, their class advisor - an old lady - heard it.

  After many years of studying, Baozi only learned two lines of poetry: "The fragrance of plum blossoms comes from bitter cold" and "Let the wind blow and the rain beat down".

  So she can wholeheartedly accept my friends, today she brought a big basket of vegetables, she washed a cucumber and cut it in half to give to Qin Shi Huang, and chewed on the other half saying: "What happened in the end, didn't you guys finish the dish?"

  Qin Shi Huang understood the purpose of phones and cars in an afternoon through TV, and later I also told him what TV dramas are all about. He was amazed and asked me why people still watch them even though they know they're fake. All I could say is that it's like how he watched beauties from six nations dance to amuse himself.

  Jing Ke had found his beloved - an old, worn-out transistor radio. This simple-minded fool thought the voices inside were those of tiny people trapped in there and spent the whole afternoon trying to communicate with them.

  There are two people around me, I think it's necessary to give Baozi a preventive shot. I pulled her to the edge of the pool and pretended to help her wash vegetables, saying: "Those two brothers can't keep up with their reactions." I also tactfully told her, "They're not from our era." Baozi said: "The big one seems to be only a few years older than you, and the fat one is at most in his 40s."

  I scratched my head and said: "Rock and roll, no one has ever supported it, it's so stimulating that my brain is not working properly."

  As soon as I said this, Baozi immediately understood. For the time being, I didn't dare to tell her that these two people would be living here for a year.

  After the meal was ready, Baozi asked Qin Shi Huang on the dinner table: "Brother, what's your surname?" After I explained what it meant, Qin Shi Huang said with a smile: "I'm called Ying Zheng." When Baozi turned to Jing Er Chui, he suddenly reacted and said ahead of time: "My name is Jing Ke."

  Baozi was taken aback for a moment before bursting into loud laughter: "That's really creative! What's the name of your band?"

  Sweat dripping from my forehead, I hastily answered for them: "Qin Dynasty."