Knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock. The sound of knocking came from outside the door. The young clerk who was packing things in the yard walked out.
Liu Er wiped the sweat off his face. His limping figure didn't make his upright posture look pitiful.
"Who could it be on such a hot day?"
"Look at you, clerk. You're too relaxed. How can the boss be the one minding the store out front?"
The fat guy muttered discontentedly, "You're running a store. Why does it seem so strange when a customer comes?"
I knew what the fat guy meant and felt a bit helpless. "It's just that hardly any customers come to my antique store on a normal day."
The store door was usually closed. Liu Er, who had just come in from the backyard, walked in all sweaty. As soon as he felt the temperature of the air - conditioner, he let out a sigh of relief.
Seeing the fat guy there, he didn't mind the fat guy's sarcasm. He showed a simple and honest smile. "Hey, isn't this the fat master? You're here to see our young boss again."
Liu Er limped over to open the outside door. It was the courier, coming to deliver two packages.
"Boss, have you been shopping online again?"
Liu Er was a young man in his twenties. He used to be under my second uncle. It was said that he was the child of my second uncle's old comrade - in - arms, the only survivor of his family.
I didn't understand at that time. Since he was the only one left in his family, why didn't my second uncle give him some money to study abroad? After all, my second uncle was never short of money.
But strangely enough, neither my second uncle nor Liu Er seemed uncomfortable about him staying here to watch this store with little business for me.
Well, it was true. He got three or four thousand yuan a month just to watch the store and didn't have to do anything else.
Just pack some parcels, receive some deliveries, and open the store... Okay, thinking about it like this, it was really an easy job.
"Brother, seriously, you've got it too easy. If the fat master gets tired of drifting outside, I'll come here to retire next time."
The fat guy always joked that I was back home to retire, and I didn't care. I rolled my eyes at him and looked at the packages Liu Er had brought in.
Although Liu Er limped because of his leg problem, he was still a young and strong man under 30.
On his dark face, a pair of bright eyes looked full of vitality. He grinned and plopped the packages on the table.
He smiled at me happily. "Boss, I've fetched your stuff for you!"
"What's this? It's so heavy. It seems to be some porcelain?"
I took out a paper - cutting knife. Looking at the anonymous sender on it, I suddenly felt a sinking feeling in my heart.
Even in the antique business, many people now use the mailing method. But I generally didn't accept packages like this with no sender's name.
The address of this antique store wasn't the one I usually used for online shopping. Who sent this to me anonymously?
The fat guy was quick - witted. While I was in a daze, he snatched the paper - cutting knife from my hand.
He swiped it down on the cardboard box with a "snap". The rough force made me twitch the corner of my mouth.
I glanced at the fat guy. I didn't know what to say about him. He was too rough.
What if it was some fragile map or silk book? One cut from him would surely ruin it.
Liu Er also twitched the corner of his mouth but didn't say anything. He found a wooden stool and sat down beside it, looking quite curious about the things in the package.
Liu Er and I exchanged a look. Both of us were quite puzzled.
Who would send something to the store? It wasn't any of the regular trading partners who came to deliver goods. Who could it be?
The box was opened. As soon as it was opened, a very exquisite wooden box inside was immediately revealed.
There were some broken porcelain shards in it. When they saw those porcelain shards, all three people present were stunned.
The fat guy was the first to speak. "Damn it, what's going on?"
The shards wrapped in the delicate wooden box were none other than the shards of a bottle exactly the same as the jade bottle the fat guy had brought.
When I saw the shards of the jade bottle from the fat guy, I knew that if the jade bottles were intact, they should be a pair. But who would have thought that both of the pair of jade bottles were broken?
One ended up in the fat guy's hands, and he gave it to me, while the other was sent here so mysteriously.
There were rules in the antique industry. We wouldn't easily take in items of unknown origin.
Moreover, this whole thing seemed so strange. My face looked a bit ugly. I turned to stare at the fat guy. "Who on earth was the person who sold you the bottle?"
Although the fat guy wasn't as sensitive as me, he also realized that something was wrong. He scratched his big head and said in a very confused way, "I don't know either. It was just an old man who said his family was short of money and wanted to sell something."
"I saw it was a good thing and bought it at a high price. I didn't cheat the old man."
"So what's the deal with this bottle? Who's being so kind as to give it to me for free?"
I sneered. The thing had come to me for free, but I never believed in such good things that fell from the sky.
Although I hadn't been involved in the proper antique - dealing business, I knew very well what my previous generation in the family did.
This thing clearly looked like it was unearthed from the ground. It had the smell of a tomb. Who would believe it wasn't from tomb - raiding?
If it had proper trading procedures, it would be okay. After all, this was the era of network information, and it would be traceable. But the other one was dangerous.
I directly told Liu Er to take out his phone and find someone to contact and send this thing to the lost - and - found. But just as I was about to make the call, I suddenly stopped.
I thought of my second uncle's reply, which seemed hasty but was actually quite anxious: "We'll talk after the ancestor - worship ceremony."
Next week was the ancestor - worship ceremony. Based on my understanding of him, if he wasn't interested in this bottle, he probably wouldn't even have replied to me.
Could it be... I suppressed my doubts in my heart. I put away the phone I was about to use to call the lost - and - found. I closed the lid seriously.
I almost overlooked my second uncle's personality. Since he said we'd meet then, he must be interested in this bottle. Maybe my second uncle could explain what these two bottles meant.
"Don't call yet. I know what to do," Chen Mu stopped Liu Er, who was about to call the lost - and - found.
"If the young boss says he has a way, then there must be no big problem," Liu Er trusted Chen Mu very much. He thought Chen Mu was a very capable young man with courage. "Then I won't bother you anymore, boss. I'll go back now."
Liu Er had completed his task of bringing the things to Chen Mu. Now that the things were in Chen Mu's hands, he was ready to leave. Seeing that Liu Er was about to leave, Chen Mu didn't want him to make a trip for nothing. He took out two hundred yuan and stuffed it into his hand. Liu Er understood and didn't refuse. He took the money and left.