In the Ming Dynasty 1498, my restaurant connects two worlds.

"Wild crabs from the Ming Dynasty?! How are they? Oh, I forgot, your Song family has even higher standards for ingredients than I do. Here's what we'll do: you set a time and send a whole truckload to the capital. I'll buy them all for you, and I'll show you around the courtyard houses while I'm at it."

The arrival of crabs from the Ming Dynasty is something to look forward to.

Firstly, on the Ming Dynasty side, Song Xiaoyi has never disappointed gourmets. The Song Family Restaurant was the first to launch five ways to eat crabs. Because they could be taken away, Song's crabs quickly became popular in Yingtian Prefecture, and the line of people waiting outside the door was endless every day.

Secondly, Song Xiaoyi personally demonstrated and taught his two cousins ​​various ways of making "Song Family Crab Dishes" at the Song residence. The wild crabs with their plump roe and thick yellow fat made everyone unable to stop eating them.

The crabs are plentiful and plentiful, and sales can continue until early December. Winters in the Ming Dynasty are quite cold. Although it is Jinling, there is no shortage of frost, snow and ice in winter. Song Xiaoyi made an agreement with the clan chief that once the lotus lake in Songjia Village freezes over, no more crabs will be harvested. This is mainly for the safety of the clan members.

Songjia Village in Moling is much busier this year than in previous years. Although Song Xiaoyi's old house has been renovated, the wharf is still under construction. In addition, the clansmen have earned money selling vegetables and pancakes in the city, and with some extra money in hand, every family is taking advantage of the winter to renovate their houses.

In addition, the pancake-making skills that Song Xiaoyi taught to Songjia Village turned out to be a lucky accident. Many people discovered the advantages of coal stoves and honeycomb briquettes, and as winter approached, the sales of coal stoves and honeycomb briquettes boomed.

People from nearby villages are flocking to Songjia Village. Some are looking for work, while others are buying new coal stoves. After buying the new stoves, some are regularly coming to buy honeycomb briquettes.

There are even many people who come to steal my skills and techniques.

After discussing with the clan chief, Song Xiaoyi decided that the coal stove and honeycomb briquette technology were not unique skills. Since the villagers would ultimately rely on their culinary skills to become wealthy, it would be better to share the honeycomb briquette technology with neighboring villages. This would not only improve their reputation but also reduce security pressure. Otherwise, with so many strangers coming to the village every day, the village would have to arrange several teams of clan members specifically for theft prevention, which was not cost-effective.

At Song Xiaoyi's restaurant in Taoye Ferry, in accordance with Xiaoyi's request, the Song family selected two more talented members who were willing to learn cooking to come and learn the craft. One of them would follow Song Hao, and the other would follow Song Tianmin, rotating every week.

In this era, apprentices were essentially free labor, but Song Xiaoyi would never exploit his own people. As long as people were honest and didn't cheat or slack off, they would receive a normal salary.

However, this period of good fortune was short-lived. Song Xu, a cousin from Huating, suddenly arrived, wanting to take Song Tianmin back to Huating with him. Song Xiaoyi had no choice but to let them go. Fortunately, he did manage to discuss the harmonious relations among the various branches of the Song family with Song Xu.

Song Tianmin left, but Zhang Miaolan returned. Moreover, after treatment and nutritional supplementation, Miaolan's mother recovered quickly and was able to help out at the restaurant.

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In mid-to-late October, Song Xiaoyi gathered a truckload of crabs and personally drove the food factory's refrigerated truck to deliver them to the capital.

Song Xiaoyi finally got a glimpse of Wu Lao's connections in Beijing. Wu Lao's friends could pick up their crabs at his home if it was convenient, while Wu Fei would deliver them to their door if it was farther away. A truckload of loose crabs was distributed in just three hours.

The search for a courtyard house in the capital went very smoothly. In the end, Song Xiaoyi selected three options, noted their locations, and planned to make a trip to the capital after returning to the Ming Dynasty to choose a new house in advance.

After selecting a courtyard house, they arrived at Old Wu's courtyard house. Song Xiaoyi asked Old Wu for help in processing ID cards for Wu Yunqiu and Zhang Miaolan, who had changed their names back to their original names.

Before we knew it, it was November 17th, and the preview for the Beijing Autumn Auction began at the Beijing International Hotel Conference Center.

Song Xiaoyi would never miss the autumn auction preview. Was there any faster way to improve his appraisal skills?

When Song Xiaoyi and Wu Yunqiu arrived in Beijing by car in the afternoon, the four of them, guided by Wu Fei, went through layers of security checks and entered the conference center.

Today is the first day of the preview period. Although it is said that you can only enter with an invitation, there are still a lot of people. The Zijin Hall in the preview center area is crowded with people, shoulder to shoulder, and everyone is gathered in front of three rare yellow-glazed porcelain pieces.

Song Xiaoyi stopped at the entrance of the hall, his gaze quickly sweeping across the entire room. He lowered his voice and asked Old Wu, "There are quite a lot of different types of artworks up for auction this time. There are three floors and more than forty halls. Which one should we look at first?"

This autumn auction is also the 25th anniversary celebration auction of Dejia, which is larger in scale than in previous years. The entire auction is divided into more than 40 special sessions, covering categories such as Chinese paintings and calligraphy, 20th century and contemporary art, porcelain and antique treasures, classical furniture and crafts, rare books, celebrity manuscripts, ancient coins, jewelry and luxury goods, etc., totaling more than 6,000 lots.

The main categories of items in this auction preview are still porcelain and antique treasures, all of which are arranged in the Zijin Hall. It is said that due to the influence of the "Six Dynasties Gold Powder Ode" incident last time, many ancient paintings and calligraphy that disappeared during the Republic of China period have appeared this time, which has already caused a small-scale climax in the circle. Therefore, this time the Chinese painting and calligraphy preview hall is arranged in the largest sunlit hall on the second floor.

Although she politely asked Mr. Wu which one to look at first, Song Xiaoyi was thinking about how to separate herself from them and quickly went through all forty-odd halls on the three floors by herself.

Before Mr. Wu could reply, a middle-aged man in a sharp suit jogged over to greet him, "Mr. Wu, you've arrived."

"Little Liu, this time your event is quite large, with so many people." After responding to the other person, Old Wu turned to Wu Yunqiu beside him and asked, "Old... Sister Qiu, shall we go see the Chinese calligraphy and painting exhibition first?"

"sure."

"Xiao Liu, where is the Chinese Painting and Calligraphy Exhibition Hall?"

"The ancient Chinese paintings and calligraphy are on the second floor. Please follow me. Thanks to you, this time we have many paintings and calligraphy works from the Ming Dynasty, all of which were originally thought to have been lost in the war. Our experts have conducted multiple rounds of authentication and have basically confirmed that they are genuine, but Mr. Liu still hopes that Mr. Wu can help him take a look." The middle-aged man, whom Mr. Wu called Xiao Liu, guided and explained, and finally whispered in Mr. Wu's ear, "They were all sent from Xiao Ri Zi."

The group of four, led by the middle-aged man, arrived at the sunlit hall on the second floor. The space was spacious, but the exhibits were more densely packed. The entire sunlit hall was filled with square cabinets in the middle and standing cabinets on both sides. Even the pillars and the partition walls in the middle were covered with calligraphy and paintings.

Looking around, you can find calligraphy copybooks, couplets, fan paintings, poems, manuscripts, ancient paintings, ancient book pages, and even drafts and discarded drafts of various calligraphy and paintings.

The second-floor calligraphy and painting exhibition hall was just as crowded as the Zijin Hall on the first floor, bustling and noisy.

As soon as he entered, Wu Yunqiu's gaze was drawn to the huge scroll of calligraphy hanging on the pillar directly in front of him, as if by a magnet.

"The sounds of wind, rain, and reading all enter my ears; family affairs, national affairs, and world affairs are all on my mind." Her lips parted slightly, her voice soft yet firm, "This is not Brother Zhu's handwriting."