Mom wore an apron and walked out of the kitchen with a kitchen knife in her hand and shouted: "Xiaoxiang, keep your belly. We will eat it at home tonight. I have stewed pig's trotters for you!"
Before I could say anything, my father grabbed the conversation and said, "Mom, don't interrupt us! Didn't you see that we are studying antiques?"
Mom's face gradually darkened, she raised the kitchen knife and said, "What do you mean?"
"I don't mean anything, my dear, thank you for your hard work."
After hearing this, my mother put down the kitchen knife, cursed and went into the kitchen again.
Dad immediately said: "Xiao Xiang, I generally don't know anything about women."
I thought to myself, you are just a rake, so there is no need to make excuses.
My thoughts were interrupted by my mother, and I continued to carefully look at the "head jar" in the brocade box.
"What can you tell? Last year I asked experts from the museum to identify this thing. The experts said it was not very old and said that this kind of vessel did not exist in ancient times and that it was a product of hysteria."
"Uncle, do you believe my words or the experts?"
"Xiao Xiang, my family says you are a real master! I definitely believe what you say."
I nodded and frowned: "This thing is very old, at least several hundred years older."
What the antique shop pays attention to is vision, but in addition to vision, it also pays attention to courage!
Some experts have never seen a certain kind of thing in their life, and one day they suddenly see it and dare not recognize it. I am different. Old things have charm. I believe that this "human head jar" is a special thing.
"Uncle, can I get my hands on it and take a look?"
"sure."
I carefully took the things out of the box. It felt cold in my hand. The material should be pottery.
The human head jar, as the name suggests, looks like a human head. It is made of black pottery. The facial features are made lifelike. There is a bald head on the top of the head, and strands of hair are carved on the back of the head. The Tianling lid has a button lid, and it can be removed by gently lifting it with your hand.
When I opened my mind, it looked extremely awkward and strange.
Think about it, who would use this kind of thing every day in ancient times? What was it used for?
There is a lyric that says "lift your skull", maybe this thing is the prototype.
Before I saw it, I thought it would be something like a terracotta warrior head, but I didn't expect it to look like this.
Dad asked me: "Xiao Xiang, what do you think this thing is used for?"
How do I know?
But I didn’t want to lose face, so I said, “This thing…maybe it was used by ancient people to store melon seed peels.”
"Put melon seed peels on?"
I nodded: "Yes, put melon seed peels on it, use it like this."
I sat on a chair to demonstrate, holding the human head jar between my legs, opening the lid, and doing a set of melon seed eating movements, which was very convenient.
"Uncle, how did you get this thing?"
Dad groaned and recalled: "The year before last, on Sunday, around five o'clock in the morning, I went to the antique market to visit the morning market. I saw such an item on Lao Xiong's stall in the market, so I spent three thousand yuan.
Money bought it."
"Then where did Old Bear get this thing?" I asked.
Dad shook his head and couldn't explain clearly, but unexpectedly he hurriedly said: "Old Bear is still setting up a stall in the antique market. It's not far. How about we go and have a look? Just ask him."
Things that I don’t even recognize must have a lot of background!
I was eager to find out what the human head jar was used for, so I went to the antique market with my dad to find the seller named Xiong.
In the early years, there was no antique market in Kangding. It was just a vegetable market, half of which sold vegetables and half of which sold antiques. When you come out of the market, you can see the Zheduo River. On the dirt road along the river, there are all old men and women setting up stalls to sell mushrooms.
.
After entering the market, my father led me around and around. He suddenly shouted: "Old Bear! Why are you closing the stall so early today!"
This old bear is in his fifties, with a belly as big as that of a pregnant woman, an unshaven face, and an image of a rough and unkempt man.
"Old Wang, why are you here when you have time? It's getting colder and colder today. No one is buying anything. It's better to close the stall early and go home to sleep."
I took a quick look and saw that there was nothing genuine in this old bear stall. They were all fakes, such as fake turquoise necklaces and rings, fake coral bracelets, various fake Tibetan toys, etc. It is estimated that everything added up,
The purchase price is no more than 500 yuan. How did such a low-end stall obtain such cans of human heads?
Dad said: "Don't be too busy closing the stall. I have something to ask you. I bought a personal head jar from you the year before last. Do you remember? It cost three thousand yuan."
"Fuck, you want to return it? It's been two years, but you can't return it."
"I'm not going to return it. I'm just asking you where the can of human heads came from. Did you collect it or pick it up?"
"Picked it up? You're kidding! Go pick one up and let me see it!" Lao Xiong put his hands in the sleeves of his coat and glared: "I spent 2,800 to buy that thing from a descendant of Guozhuang! I needed it urgently at that time.
I only earned you two hundred dollars!"
I heard a word, "Guozhuang descendants".
It sounds familiar, but I can't remember it for the moment.
Dad handed Lao Xiong a cigarette and asked which pot shop it was.
Old Xiong smoked as soon as he took the cigarette. All ten of his fingers were wrapped with white tape, probably chapped in the winter.
Old Xiong took a deep breath and blew out the smoke: "The stuff was sold to me by the descendants of the Bao Family Guozhuang in Luosburg. They have a lot of good stuff, but we don't have the damn money to take it."
"By the way, Lao Wang, the can of human heads I sold you had writing on it, do you know?"
Dad was immediately surprised and said: "The word "yes"? What word? It's impossible, I didn't see the word "you".
The old bear grinned and said with a smile: "So you don't know yet. There are words behind the skull in the jar of human heads. You can find a bucket at night, soak it in water, and you can see it by shining it with a flashlight."
"Okay, that's all I know. Mother-in-law is waiting for me to come home for dinner. Let's talk some other time."
Lao Xiong closed the stall and left, and we went back. Dad walked very quickly. It seemed that he was eager to try the method Lao Xiong said. As we walked side by side, I casually asked him about Guozhuang.
As soon as Dad explained it, I suddenly understood.
Outsiders may not understand it, but I believe friends in Kangding must know something about it, right?
During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Kangding was also called Dajianlu, and it was a must-pass on the Tea-Horse Ancient Road! At that time, a large number of tea merchants and horse merchants passed through this place every year. Over time, some local people opened inns, but the locals did not
Call it an inn or a Guozhuang.
With the development of time, these Guozhuangs have accumulated a lot of wealth, and their number has also grown from the earliest 4 to 48. This is the famous "Kangding 48 Guozhuang".
By the Qing Dynasty, these Guozhuangs no longer simply opened inns. They had their own horse teams and collected and resold large quantities of goods. When many merchants traveling on the Tea Horse Road came here, they simply sold the goods to a certain Guozhuang and took the goods themselves.
Went home with money.
Therefore, these 48 Guozhuangs can be regarded as the Kangding version of the Qiao Family Courtyard, where every family is rich.
But despite having money, they were still squeezed by the local chieftain king.
The Tusi King is the Tu Emperor recognized by the Qing regime. There is a local rumor that is not true or false, saying that the Tusi King is particularly fond of young virgins. There are 48 pot houses, and the number of girls who have been harmed by the Tusi King is more than a hundred! I think this number is exaggerated, but
There must be quite a few.
Finally, during the Republic of China, with the collapse of the Qing Dynasty, the chieftain system and the 48 Guozhuangs disappeared in the long river of history.
Lao Xiong said that he bought the human head jar from a descendant of a certain pot shop. I think it is very possible. Maybe the human head jar was a collection of a certain pot owner in those days, and was sold by his descendants, and finally ended up living in the
In dad's hand.
After one hour.
"Okay, I know, I won't go back tonight and will stay outside."
"Don't worry, our goods are safe. Now I'm just waiting for Liu Yuanning to get back to me."
"I called Xiaoxiang, come in and eat, everything is ready!"
"Auntie, you are too polite. How can I be embarrassed?"
Mom smiled and said: "Men from the Northeast, what are you embarrassed about? Eat it quickly and don't be polite."
Now that all the people's words have been said, I can't embarrass the Northeastern men by grabbing the pig's trotters and gnawing them.
The rotten paste stewed with mushrooms and pig's trotters will fill your mouth with flavor.
Mom was smiling all over her face. As for her, she was holding a small bowl of rice as big as her palm, biting her chopsticks and watching me eat it.
I was enjoying my meal when suddenly I heard my dad shouting: "Xiaoxiang Xiaoxiang! Don't eat it! Come and take a look! There are real words!"
"No, let's go after eating!"
Mom was dissatisfied and cursed loudly: "My dear son, I may throw away all your rags one day!"
"Auntie, don't be angry. It's too hot. I'll eat it later."
I ran over and saw my dad squatting on the floor of the bathroom, with the can of human heads soaked in the bucket. He shined a flashlight and saw that there were words on the lid of the can of human heads!
It's really strange. After thinking about it, I think it may have been written with some kind of special ancient pigment. In the past, similar methods were used to send secret messages during wars.
"Xiao Xiang, my eyesight is not very good. Look at what is written here."
I tried to read: "If you want to change the silver, it is an old custom in Xia. The time limit is three days. Anyone who violates it will be killed without mercy. God has given the etiquette and extended the order for four years."