Every time I pass by Panjiayuan, I can’t help being attracted by the mess of gadgets there and staying for a while. What attracts me the most is those small shops selling antiques. They usually use the ground floor of the old-fashioned wing as the pavement. Although the facade is small, there are often several entrances. The shop is dark and old, and there are often unexpected strange things. Display them.
Usually I’m just as a spectator, because not everything in the antique shop is priced, and those seemingly ordinary things are by no means ordinary. However, these small shops also understand the psychology of customers. Usually, the objects with low prices are displayed in the first entrance hall of the shop. The second entrance may be more expensive. If you go inside, the objects will be more noble, so , Customers like me can look around in the first shop with peace of mind.
One day in December, I chatted with my friends and talked about the coming year is my birth year. Someone suggested that I buy an ancient coin and use a red silk rope. String it up and tie it on your wrist, saying it can ward off evil spirits. I didn’t care about it at first, but I couldn’t withstand all kinds of superstitions from my friends. I thought there were so many such coins in Panjiayuan, so I might as well take the time to find one.
Something delayed me that day, so that it was very late when I passed by Panjiayuan. The stalls along the street were long gone, and the small antique shops were all closed. There was only my footsteps in the winding alleys, and I couldn’t help walking fast. Suddenly, I saw a small shop on the corner of the street that I had never noticed. The door was half open, and some lights were faintly shining in it, and it seemed that it hadn’t closed. There were three seal characters “Yi Nian Zhai” written on the door lintel. I was a little surprised and hesitated at the door for a while, wondering if I would get the boss’s wink if I only entered for a small coin.
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“Come in,” an old man’s voice came from the door, “Come in and have a look.” Now that I greeted me, I quickly stepped into the entrance barrier. An old-style oil lamp was lit on a table by the side of the store. Under the dim light, I saw that the one who greeted me was indeed an old man, a very old old man. The wrinkles on his face are so dense that I suspect that his age is probably longer than many things in this shop. Under the trance light, the old man’s face seemed a little gloomy, but he still greeted me warmly, “What do you want, young man?”
“Ah, I want to see ancient coins “
“Really?” The old man pointed his finger to the back of the shop. “There are many ancient coins in the past. You can go in and choose slowly.”
“No, no,” I know he thinks I am a collector of ancient coins, “I just want to buy a small coin casually, tie it in my hand with a red string, the kind that ward off evil spirits in my birth year…”
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“Ah, yes,” the old man said slowly, “then look over there,” He pointed to a corner of this hall where a very old rattan basket was placed with hundreds of coins piled up in a mess. “There are things that are left over by others and are worthless. Choose the one you see, it only costs 10 yuan each. “Somehow, I feel that when the old man said these things to me, his eyes shone slightly, as if he was expecting something from me? “For a 10 yuan business, he can’t kill me, right? “I think.
There are a lot of copper coins in the Lanzi, and some of them are rusty. I flipped it casually. Suddenly, a dark golden copper coin leaped into my eyes. I picked it up and took a closer look. A very strange ancient coin, with a traditional Chinese copper plate pattern on the inside and outside, but there is no Chinese character on the front and the back. Some tadpole-like fonts are engraved on the front and two on the back. I don’t know what kind of flower it is. The copper coin in the basket is so weird, I can’t help holding it in my hand and look at it.
“I’ll string you silk thread. “The old man stood silently behind me, and suddenly started to startle me. He seemed to know that I liked the old coin very much, and he was looking at me with a red thread in his hand.
“Okay, okay,” somehow, I think the old man seems to want me to buy this ancient coin, as if the thing I’m buying is a big business for him, “Here you are money. “I handed him the money, turned and went out to the door.
“You go well…” As I stepped out of the door, I heard the old man say goodbye, turned my head and wanted to see him back. However, he found that he had disappeared in the dark back shop, and only the oil lamp on the table was flashing when he first entered the shop.