Chapter 747: Only given away, not sold
If the unexpected harvest during the banquet made Ning Weimin feel elated and overjoyed.
Then the extra gain that he didn't expect after the banquet was a bit touching to his soul and made him feel so sad.
That was a precious gift that he had never cared about. It was given to him by Master Chang Yuling, a descendant of Putao Chang.
This old lady, who is over seventy years old, is really calm.
Today she came in a car and saw Ning Weimin who greeted the guests in person and exchanged polite greetings with each other.
Then when the awards ceremony started, Ning Weimin invited all the old craftsmen to the stage, introduced them to the guests one by one, and asked them to accept everyone's applause.
At the beginning of the banquet, Ning Weimin came over to toast the old craftsmen and gave each of them a handsome bonus.
She has always been calm.
Finally, by the time the banquet was over, most of the guests had left, and the old craftsmen were also put on the car one by one by Ning Weimin.
As the last person to leave her table, she had to get into the last stall of the car as long as she took one step out of the courtyard in front of the Sacrifice Pavilion.
The old man suddenly stopped and pulled Ning Weimin to a remote place.
Then he took out an object wrapped in brown paper from his bag and handed it to Ning Weimin.
A conversation began that only the two of them knew about.
At that time, I didn’t know whether it was because of coldness or excitement, but the old man’s hands were shaking a little.
Ning Weimin didn't think much about it, knowing that Chang Yuling must have something to say, so he took the things over first.
When I opened it, I found a small box inside, which should be made of camphor wood and embedded with mother-of-pearl.
It’s just that over the years and poor storage, a lot of mother-of-pearl has fallen off.
Moreover, the wooden box is also cracked and is considered half-used.
"Master Chang, what are you..."
"Open it..."
Ning Weimin took action again.
The objects inside turned out to be some notebooks with yellowed pages written in small regular script.
There is also a round jade ring, glass, imperial green...
“This is a gift from the Queen Mother of the West.”
Ning Weimin didn't allow Ning Weimin to take a closer look. He was immediately surprised by what the old lady pointed at her finger.
"Is this an item passed down from your ancestors! Or is it a gift from the emperor?"
Ning Weimin then cast his eyes eagerly on the jade ring.
Although experts who like antiques know that there is a taboo in this industry, never believe the stories and only recognize the things.
But Chang Yuling's personality and the green color of the finger made Ning Weimin believe that this was true almost immediately.
"Hey, this thing has been in our family for over a hundred years. It was passed down from my ancestors. Didn't our family's grapes become famous because they were given to the Queen Mother of the West for her birthday? The old Queen Mother gave them to her back then. A plaque saying "Heaven's Righteousness Is Everlasting" was given to our family, and my great-grandmother was given the orally-written saying "Wealth and honor are always here", and she was even given a ring like this."
"Oh..." Ning Wei. People were fascinated when they heard it, and when they looked at the finger ring carefully, they had to admit that the psychological reasons were very important.
Anyway, after knowing this legend, he felt more and more that this thumb ring was noble and green.
But that’s not all there is to the legend about this ring.
“Thanks to the good fortune we got from the Queen Mother, our grapes got the title of Royal Grant, and they became famous all of a sudden. Many people came to buy them, and our family became rich. Soon after We moved into a big house and had our own dedicated Buddhist hall. At that time, all the things given by the emperor had to be enshrined. In addition to enshrining Buddha statues, our family's Buddhist hall also enshrined this ring finger. My great-grandmother accidentally touched it because she was old and had difficulty moving. As a result, it fell into the incense burner. ”
"You should know that this is a serious crime of disrespect. So the whole family immediately panicked. My grandfather Han Qiharib hurriedly stepped forward and picked it up from the ashes of the incense burner. Unexpectedly, he saw that there was a layer of incense ashes stuck to the finger. , It actually looked like a frost-covered grape. My great-grandmother was very happy at that time, saying that it was a good grape that the Buddha and Bodhisattva had blessed us with, and it would be even more true if we added a layer of frost.”
“Now do you understand? In fact, the inspiration for our Chang family’s frost came from here. Of course, the recipe for this frost is not as simple as rolling incense ash. The incense ash is too rough. I can’t stop it, it’s just a bit like that. It took at least three generations of our Chang family to continuously improve the formula and color matching, and we have the recipe for coloring and frosting that does not fade and is extremely realistic today. . ”
“No, the original manuscripts of our coloring and frosting recipes are here. There is also a copy that I copied and summarized. The proportions, ingredients, and processing methods are all clear. Following this recipe, you can make grape-like frosting."
"We are destined, Manager Ning, I am really lucky to know you in this life. I have to thank you very much for helping our street production company reopen, so that our Changjia grapes can be brought back to the world. They are going to be buried. From now on, they are all yours.”
The origin of Chang Yuling’s unique method of frosting grapes originally surprised Ning Weimin.
As he listened, he thought to himself, no wonder they say things are impermanent. Many things in this world are indeed incredible.
But what surprised him even more was the last few words in which Chang Yuling addressed him from "you" to "you".
He never thought that Chang Yuling would give such a valuable thing to him.
"What? You want to give these things to me? But this...is this your family heirloom? Especially these secret formulas! Aren't you supposed to pass it on to the Chang family? I remember You have relatives..."
Chang Yuling immediately sighed, "You have relatives, but it would be a waste to entrust these things to them. To be honest, our Chang family is in trouble. No one in this generation has learned this, but they still look down on the ancestral craftsmanship.”
"My nephew works in administration and is willing to let his children go to school and eat public food. As for my two nieces and nephews, let alone studying, they have disliked my painted hands since they were young, and they are afraid of becoming like me. Like. Probably because I mentioned it once and wanted them to learn this from me, they have been scared to come to my door for the past two years. "Tell me, if I don't give these things to you, what can I do?" What's wrong? I'm so old. Should I burn these things with me when I'm gone? That would be a shame to my ancestors. . ”
Indeed, this kind of thing is not uncommon in this era.
What can people say?
There are so many treasures of real gold and silver that many descendants of wealthy families don’t even recognize them, let alone such things as secret recipes handed down from their ancestors.
Ning Weimin was very considerate of the old man's mood.
"Okay. Master Chang, I thank you for thinking so highly of me. But I can't ask for such a valuable thing from you in vain..."
"That's what I said. What kind of expensive thing is it? It’s just a ring, it’s only 1,800 yuan at most. I went to Liulichang and asked, and they were willing to pay that price. Now it’s quite valuable, and it can support several people. We are a family of ten. But a few years ago, no one cared about it at all. You know, our Chang family also wanted to donate to the country in order to give the Chang family's children and grandchildren a job and provide them with public food. Jobs. But people don't like us. So it doesn't matter whether this thing is expensive or cheap..."
"That's not what I said, Master Chang. The more valuable it is, the less likely it is to have a fixed price. It was probably in the first few years when you asked about the price? But I can't pretend to be confused. Today's market is already different. As for your thumb ring, such a good water head, such a good color, it is a gift from the emperor. I really found the right buyer for it. The one with 5,800 yuan is also the one with 23,000 yuan, but tens of thousands yuan is not available in China. It's easy, that's the price it will be sold overseas for..."
Ning Weimin thought that what he said would definitely shock Chang Yuling.
The old man will most likely be persuaded to change his mind.
As for myself, I offered a price that was higher than the price in the store - 10,000 yuan.
Then with just one hand of money and goods, I bought both the wrench and the secret recipe.
It is worthy of my conscience, and I will be at ease from now on.
Unexpectedly, Chang Yuling didn't waver at all about the amount of money, and just shook his head.
"Manager Ning, I'm giving it away, not selling it. Let alone two or thirty thousand, just two or three hundred thousand. I can't exchange it for money."
"Let me tell you this, I When I was young, I lived a prosperous life. Since our Chang family’s grapes won the gold medal at the Panama Expo in the United States, when they came back, there was a lot of traffic at the door, not only from domestic customers, but also from domestic customers. ”
“I didn’t recognize the money from various countries at that time. It looked fresh and interesting. My uncle was responsible for collecting money. In order to amuse me, he would only order one of our Changjia grapes from the shop every day. As a foreigner, he put a piece of foreign money in my jewelry box, and the money was mine. My uncle said that it would be my dowry when I grew up, and my jewelry box would be full in just one or two years. I took the money I saved to the bank and actually exchanged it for five gold bars."
"Of course, it didn't work anymore. Huge sums of money. Our Chang family could only rely on women to step up and take on the family business, so we, the five aunts and nephews, swore never to marry in order to pay off the debts of the Chang family. Later, the debts were finally paid off, but the war continued for many years. , no one bought the grapes. The five of us, aunt and nephew, could only make a living selling baked sweet potatoes, sugar snap peas, candied haws and fried pancakes, collecting cinders, and washing bedding for others.”
"But no matter how hard it is and how poor we are, no one in our family is willing to sell this ring. Let me tell you the truth, in fact, when the Chang family owes foreign debts, our family must be willing to sell this ring, at least If you can get 30,000 to 40,000 yuan, you can keep your house, and it won't be so difficult later. Why not sell it? Because this ring is the soul of our Chang family. I can't remember which painting I saw it in. I’ve said this before. It seems to be ‘the butterfly is the spirit of the flower’, that’s probably what it means.”
Chang Yuling's words immediately made Ning Weimin blush.
He heard it, and they were telling him - we have seen what money is like, and we cannot sell anything to our ancestors.
Of course he had to explain quickly.
"Master Chang, I don't mean anything else. Since I can't speak, we shouldn't talk about business, let's just talk about material compensation..."
However, Chang Yuling raised his head The shaking became more violent.
"You, this is wrong again. What did I just tell you? I can only rest assured if I give this thing to you. Don't mention money. You haven't treated me badly. In the past few years, don't mention salary. And benefits. Just like today, how much can you give me in terms of bonus? What’s the use?”
“Don’t look at me, I’m an old lady, I only know how to make some grapes. But I have been making grapes all my life, and now I suddenly understand. No matter how good the Chang family's goods are, it won't be better if the people holding them are not good."
"You see, the reason why our Chang family is prosperous is. Thanks to my great-grandmother’s ingenuity, my grandfather was good at business. If my great-grandmother hadn’t been able to draw inspiration from bad things, our Chang family’s grapes wouldn’t have been so famous.”< br>
“After my three aunts and our two sisters took over the Chang family’s secret recipe, no matter how well we kept it secret, no matter how hard the five of us worked together, we couldn’t make the Chang family’s cooking utensils work. The grapes have regained their former glory.”
“In the past, I thought it was due to the unpredictable nature and bad luck of the war years, but later, after liberation, the Chang family’s grapes were still there. There has been no improvement. Although they have received strong support from the government, they still suffer serious losses due to poor management and other reasons, leading to the dissolution of production companies.”
"If you hadn't taken care of all this, how would our Chang family's grapes have had the opportunity to appear in the world and be so prosperous? I know it in my heart. The current prosperity of the material factory is all supported by you. If it weren't for With your help, no one will have such a good life."
"And your character makes me feel at ease. I know that you are not greedy for money. Master Jiang and Master Zou will not allow me to work on something that is expensive and cannot be sold. Master Jiang and Master Zou both said that the apprentice workers in our factory are now as good as the fourth-level workers in their factory. . It’s all because of your support that these young people in the factory are willing to practice and pay attention to technology.”
“To be honest, I am not afraid of one day you and this material factory. It doesn't matter. If you don't want to intervene in this factory anymore, it will be difficult to say about the future of our Chang family's grapes. So, I just thought, I'll leave the Chang family's grapes to you from now on. Open your own factory, or cooperate with others, it's up to you. I'm happy for you if you rely on it. Anyway, I will feel relieved if I leave the things to you."
"You, too. Don't be embarrassed. This is what I'm begging you for, not you. If you really feel you have to do something for me to feel happy, then I don't want anything else. Just give me a word. . I hope you can promise me that the grapes made with our Chang family’s recipe will always be called Grape Chang... Then... I will recite the Buddha's name."
Here, the old man burst into tears.
Faced with such tears and such demands, Ning Weimin could not remain unmoved, let alone let the old man down.
He didn't hesitate anymore, put away his things solemnly, and bowed to the old man to thank him.
So Chang Yuling got into the car with confidence and left.
However, I watched the car slowly drive away with its exhaust fumes, disappearing into the ancient stone pavement road in the bright yellow afternoon sunshine.
Ning Weimin felt a heavy weight in his heart, and an unspeakable melancholy and sigh.
Suddenly, and for some reason, he remembered an inscription written by Deng Tuo, the president of People's Daily, for the Chang family.
Two generations of the Chang family stayed in the cold, and passed down their unique skills for hundreds of years.
The purple color of grapes damages the beauty, and old dreams are like smoke.
The cooperation is unique, artificial is better than natural.
From now on, I will visit you wherever I go, and I will be more beautiful than anyone else.
(End of this chapter)