I was in my final year of high school, and my deskmate found out I was writing a novel!

The light inside was dim, and the air was filled with the faint scent of old wood, paper, and what seemed to be a faint mothball smell.

The surrounding display shelves and glass cabinets are filled with all sorts of antiques.

Yellowed calligraphy and paintings, jade artifacts of various shapes, colorful porcelain, old fountain pens, and even a few antique cameras.

The owner was a thin, gray-haired old man wearing reading glasses. He was sitting under a worktable in the corner, taking apart an old pocket watch. When he saw the group of people come in, he just nodded slightly and did not greet them with excessive enthusiasm.

The two were very curious about all sorts of exquisite little objects and asked Mr. Chen some questions in hushed tones.

Ye Feng strolled leisurely around the store.

He might think these things are nice, but he certainly wouldn't say he likes them.

Suddenly, he stopped against the wall in the shop, where a slightly old, dark amber violin stood.

The piano's sound is elegant and smooth, and the lacquer finish still shows a warm luster even in dim light.

Although it bears some traces of practicality, it adds a touch of charm.

The headstock is exquisitely carved, the tuning pegs are made of ebony, and the four strings are stretched with dark gold.

Ye Feng isn't a professional musician, but he's been practicing the violin recently and has a certain fondness for it. So, when he saw this violin, he immediately fell in love with it.

Taking a few steps closer, Ye Feng examined it carefully.

The back of the violin is made of beautiful tiger-striped maple, and the sides have smooth lines. He can even imagine what it would feel like to hold this violin in his hands and rest it on his shoulder.

"Is Mr. Ye interested in this instrument?"

Mr. Chen noticed Ye Feng's pause and walked over to ask in a low voice.

"Hmm...it feels good."

His eyes never left the piano while he was speaking.

At that moment, the watch repairman put down his work and came over.

"Young man, you have a good eye. This instrument has been here for over ten years."

"..."

Upon hearing this, Ye Feng knew what was going on; the boss was stuck with this thing.

"Boss, what's the history of this zither?"

The shopkeeper picked up the zither carefully and handed it to Ye Feng.

"You can look at it, but be careful. The person who sold it to me said it was made by an Italian musician in the 1930s. Although he wasn't a particularly famous master, his craftsmanship was excellent. Later, due to the war, it ended up in Hong Kong. The original owner of this instrument was said to be a musician from Shanghai who fell on hard times in his later years and had no choice but to sell it."

Ye Feng took the violin. It felt better than he had expected, with excellent balance. He subconsciously plucked a string, and a deep, resonant sound rang out in the quiet shop, mellow and not dull.

Miaomiao was also drawn over. Seeing Ye Feng intently looking at the zither, she didn't disturb him but stood quietly by his side.

"Boss, can I give it a try?"

The boss looked at him, then at the zither.

"Give it a try, go easy on it, this instrument is old."

There were no professional shoulder supports in the store, so Ye Feng casually placed the violin under his collarbone and picked up a bow from the violin case next to him that also looked quite old, with some clumps of rosin powder.

He made a slight adjustment to the pitch, and to his surprise, the pitch remained quite accurate.

He didn't actually know much, since he was still learning, so he played a short, very simple, soothing melody, a fragment of Massenet's Meditation.

The moment the music flowed out, Ye Feng was somewhat surprised; the sound was even more mellow than when he had plucked the strings earlier.

The music stopped, and Ye Feng reluctantly took the instrument off his shoulder, carefully holding it as he looked at the boss.

"How much does this instrument cost?"

He really fell in love with it, even though he wasn't technically skilled. But then again, most of the students in this field are not good at writing!

The shop owner didn't answer immediately. He paused for a moment. After all, the violin had been in the shop for over ten years without anyone asking about it. Now that someone had finally spoken up, he really wanted to close the deal.

After a long while, he finally spoke up and quoted a price, which was indeed quite high.

Miaomiao gently nudged Ye Feng's arm and whispered, "If you like it, buy it."

She could tell that Ye Feng really liked the instrument.

But just as he was about to haggle, tour guide Mr. Chen secretly tugged at him and shook his head.

Ye Feng didn't understand what the other person meant, but he didn't speak directly and instead remained silent.

Mr. Chen stepped forward and began talking to the owner.

First of all, it clearly states that this price is definitely impossible.

Neither Ye Feng nor Miao Miao were good at bargaining. When they bought things, they would buy them if the price was right, and leave if it wasn't. If they really liked something, they would accept the price.

But this time was different; Mr. Chen was very responsible.

The bargaining wasn't heated; instead, it was mostly done in hushed tones.

At first, the boss even tried to speak Cantonese, thinking this guy was trying to get a kickback.

But Mr. Chen didn't follow the other person's lead and spoke Cantonese. Instead, he spoke Mandarin directly so that the two of them could understand each other.

After a half-hour back-and-forth, the price was halved!

Holding the packaged violin, Ye Feng was very happy; he had achieved his goal.

"Thank you, Mr. Chen, you saved me tens of thousands of yuan."

"It's what I should do."

No unnecessary words were said.

"Mr. Chen, do you know any music shops that maintain violins? This violin needs some maintenance, and there are also some parts that need repair."

"There's a really nice music store not far from here. Shall we go there now?"

"Sure, I can take a look around."

The two didn't go to those luxury stores; they could buy almost anything they wanted here in Shanghai, so there was no need.

However, Miaomiao bought a lot of clothes, all from designer boutiques, and she even added the seller on WeChat.

Miao Miao really likes some of the clothing designs, and... you can even get them custom-made.

You'll never have to worry about running into someone wearing the same thing on the street again!

These clothes aren't cheap, but they're quite unique.

She added other people on WeChat so that she could simply ask them to send her anything she liked in the future.

After spending another two weeks wandering around Hong Kong Island, shopping and going out to sea, the two decided to head back.

They had a lot of stuff this time; the clothes alone were more than the two of them could carry back. In the end, Mr. Chen helped send them to Shanghai.

Then there were quite a few trinkets, all of which the two of them bought while shopping; they were mostly decorative items.

These kinds of things aren't really useful to bring back, and they're not antiques. I just find them interesting.

The two didn't plan to return to Nanshi, but instead planned to go directly to Shanghai, as Miaomiao wanted to find a place to put all his little trinkets.