Daomu Biji: Restart

I moved around in the bed, turned on my laptop, and sent the pictures in the phone to my computer.

I had been in a hurry at that time, but the years I had spent on my Wechat business had cultivated my photography skills and ensured that I photographed the murals clearly. Moreover, I took the kind of pictures that made people want to buy them.

After looking through some of the pictures, a negative feeling rose up in my heart. I shut my laptop, closed my eyes, and leaned back against the bed.

Physical aversion.

Many years ago, I had a strong physiological aversion to this industry. After taking such a long break, I thought I had recovered. When I first entered the South Sea King’s tomb, the cold and claustrophobic environment made me feel creeped out again. But in just thirty hours, the tediousness I felt toward this kind of environment made a comeback.

I didn’t know if Uncle Two's words had provoked the disgust in my heart.

Back then, I was able to brace myself a little bit. If I had held on the whole way, I might have been able to keep going. But after slacking off for so long and suddenly starting back up again, I couldn't help recalling the nausea I felt at that moment.

I set the laptop aside, tilted my head back, and looked at the ceiling. Fatty was smacking his lips as he ate dried shrimp in the next bed over.

"If you give up, no one can force you to keep going," he said.

"I’m not giving up, I feel sick," I retorted as I continued looking at the ceiling. "Objectively speaking, I’m still an able-bodied worker in the prime of my life." I glanced at the muscles in my arm.

"You’re really not giving up? Are you still that handsome young man who’s full of resilience and never gives up?"

"Out with it!" I looked at him. It was obvious he had something to say.

Fatty pulled a folder out from behind him and threw it on my bed, "That's good. You’re not afraid of getting hit hard again. I was worried you’d rush out and jump into the sea when I told you. Your Uncle Two took Wushanju back."

"Took it back? What do you mean he took it back?” I sat up. "My shop, why did he take it back?"

"In principle, it’s your father's shop. Your grandfather left it to him. Your father asked your Uncle Two to tell you that he’s shutting the shop down. They’re going to sell it to your Uncle Two and use the cash to open a restaurant for you."

"Bullshit!" I quickly opened the folder and found that it was full of property rights documents. Open an unprofitable restaurant? The last thing Hangzhou needs is another restaurant. I thought about it and decided to call home, but nobody answered. My heart suddenly felt sour.

Fatty sat down by my bed. "I advise you not to resist. You've done amazing things for half your life. It's not easy for your parents to make this decision. It just shows that they’re really worried about you. You’re not like me. In fact, you have everything. You need to cherish it, you know.” He handed me a shrimp, "Why don’t you go to Beijing with me?"

I leaned back in the bed as Fatty continued, "I heard that your Uncle Two hired Black Glasses. That guy is so poor that he’s willing to take any job. You can leave it to a professional like him."

"Isn't he going blind?"

"That's why people are willing to pay him a high price. Let me tell you, the two most expensive things in this world are a woman’s first time and a man’s last time."

This is all a hideous mess, I said to myself. After thinking about it, I sent a short message to Xiao Hua, "Are you well off recently? I need the local boss to lend me some money."

Xiao Hua didn't respond.

I pinched the bridge of my nose, but I wasn’t worried yet. I decided to try communicating with Uncle Two again. If it didn’t work, I would go and hang myself at Xie Yuhua's door if he didn't let me borrow a start-up fund. Then I could go back and start up another shop. I knew Uncle Two was doing this for my own good, but I thought he was overdoing it. I knew he didn’t want my family to worry about me and he wanted me to let go of my desires. I was okay doing that, but I wouldn’t do it if someone was pressuring me like this.

"Talk to your Uncle Two again." Fatty saw the head nurse coming in and quietly stuffed the cigarette he was holding under my blanket before taking out his cell phone, "I recently added a few sellers nearby, but they won’t come out. Let's go shopping by ourselves." I saw some pictures of old porcelain on his phone. They were all sea porcelain that fishermen had salvaged from the nearby coast. Some were actually well preserved.

In other words, they were too well preserved. Fatty and I looked at each other, and he gave me a wink. He had already seen it.

Sea porcelain in random internet searches was mostly damaged, so a lot of intact pieces indicated that the whole batch of porcelain came from a big sunken ship. This was a big deal. It also meant there might be something better in the seller's hands.

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Mondays suck. Here's a random funny video if you all need a pick-me-up lol