Chapter 2773

Several people were chatting when Zhou Andong's car appeared at the alley entrance. Comrade Lao Zhou looked up, glanced at it, and said with a smile: "Andong is back."

Lao Xishuai and the others turned their heads to look, then stood up.

Zhou Andong got out of the car and saw those old fellows. A smile immediately appeared on his face, and he quickened his pace: "Gentlemen, I'm really sorry. Something came up temporarily and delayed me."

Guan Wang chuckled: "We old coffin fillers have now reached the age of eating and waiting to die. Your time is valuable, Chairman Zhou, but to us, it's the least valuable thing."

Zhou Andong took out cigarettes and handed them around to the old gentlemen: "Old Guan, that's not right. As they say, in your twenties and thirties you're young, in your forties and fifties you're just right, and in your sixties and seventies you're in your prime."

Zhou Andong lit the cigarettes for the old gentlemen with his lighter, then continued: "Now, with reform and opening up, this is exactly the age for you old gentlemen to make your mark. You're not old at all."

Lao Xishuai and the others burst out laughing. Zhao Chang sighed emotionally: "With Chairman Zhou's silver tongue, it's hard not to get rich."

"Wentian, have someone move everything to the three-courtyard compound. Be careful—don't bump or knock anything." Zhou Andong gave that instruction, then smiled at Lao Xishuai and the others: "Let's not stand here chatting at the gate. After we inspect the goods, we'll have a drink or two."

Wang Yu Bo stroked his beard and chuckled: "We've already finished our meal."

"Drinking and eating are two different things." Zhou Andong made a gesturing motion: "Gentlemen, please."

"Daddy!" Zhou Andong had just stepped inside when Su Su came running over, wobbling on her little legs.

Zhou Andong quickly crouched down and opened his arms. Su Su shot forward like a small cannonball, headfirst into his embrace, nearly knocking him flat on his bottom.

"My dear girl, can't you run a bit slower? You nearly knocked Dad over." Zhou Andong picked up Su Su and tapped her little nose with his finger.

Su Su giggled, her small arms locked tightly around her father's neck, her little face constantly rubbing back and forth: "Daddy, I miss you so much."

"Daddy misses you too." Zhou Andong kissed the little girl.

Everyone arrived at the three-courtyard compound. Wang Wentian and the others also placed the wooden crates on the ground: "Chairman, shall we open them?"

Zhou Andong nodded: "Open them!"

Wang Wentian had someone take a pry bar and slowly pry open the lid. Zhao Chang bent down and pulled out an antiquely styled wooden box from inside. He carefully opened the box, revealing several yellowed pages with writing on them. No, Zhou Andong looked closely—it shouldn't be paper; it looked more like cloth.

Zhao Chang's finger lightly touched the object inside the box, his eyes full of reluctance: "This is a genuine national treasure. I truly hate to sell it, but keeping it in my hands, I can't hold onto it."

Lao Zhou Tongzhi asked: "Old brother, what's the origin of this?"

"This is the Bullet Depot Silk Manuscript." Zhao Chang gently closed the box: "So far, silk manuscripts have only been unearthed in two concentrated discoveries: one is the Mawangdui Silk Manuscripts, the other is the Bullet Depot Silk Manuscript.

The Mawangdui Silk Manuscripts were unearthed in 1973 and are Western Han silk manuscripts. The Bullet Depot Silk Manuscript is a Warring States silk manuscript, dating roughly to around 300 BCE.

It was unearthed in 1942 from a Chu tomb robbed at the Sha Cheng Bullet Depot. It is the first classic in the sense of an ancient book. It is a silk manuscript 47 centimeters long and 38.7 centimeters wide.

Volume One: Four Seasons Ordinance. Relatively complete, divided into three parts—Jia, Yi, Bing—where the text of the three parts is inverted relative to each other, written in a circular fashion and read in a circular fashion. Volume Two: Five Phases Ordinance, consisting of two parts: the month-name diagram and the text written beneath it.

The ink-written text uses a relatively small font, dividing the 360 days of the year into five phases—wood, fire, earth, metal, water—each phase seventy-two days, with thirty solar terms distributed according to the Five Phases.

Volume Three is for Offensive and Defensive Divination. The text is arranged clockwise in the four directions—east, west, south, north—copied in a circular fashion on all four sides of the silk, with several red folded corners marking the heavenly stems and earthly branches. The content concerns the favorable and unfavorable directions and days for siege warfare and city defense in military affairs."

Having said that, Zhao Chang handed the wooden box in his hand to Zhou Andong: "Compared to Volume One, Volumes Two and Three are fragmentary and not well preserved."

Zhou Andong took the wooden box, opened the lid, and imitated Zhao Chang by lightly touching it with his finger. Even if he didn't understand it, he knew this item was worth more than all his current collections combined.

Zhao Chang slightly tilted his head to look at the sky and said: "The year after the Bullet Depot Silk Manuscript was unearthed, it fell into my grandfather's hands. Later, due to wartime turmoil, my grandfather sold the Bullet Depot Silk Manuscript to an American, on the condition that the American take my second uncle abroad."

Zhao Chang sighed: "Back then, if you had the ability, you definitely sought an escape route. My second uncle going abroad was also a precaution, to leave a spark for my Zhao family."

Zhou Andong asked: "Then how did this Bullet Depot Silk Manuscript come back into your hands?"

Zhao Chang said, recalling: "After my second uncle went abroad, we lost contact. Until April of 1978, a young man found me. He said he was my second uncle's lawyer, accepting my second uncle's commission, and handed the Bullet Depot Silk Manuscript over to me."

Zhou Andong curiously asked: "Does your second uncle have no descendants?"

Zhao Chang nodded: "He does, but my second uncle said the Bullet Depot Silk Manuscript is a national treasure and cannot remain in America."

Zhou Andong sighed: "Although your second uncle is abroad, his heart remains red."

Zhao Chang nodded, then his eyes suddenly turned somewhat cold: "Just that, my second uncle's several children now no longer consider themselves Chinese. Moreover, they've found me, demanding the return of the Bullet Depot Silk Manuscript, and have even hired lawyers to sue me."

Zhou Andong finally understood why Zhao Chang would be willing to take out the Bullet Depot Silk Manuscript and sell it to him: "I can help you with the lawsuit—free of charge. They will definitely lose."

Zhao Chang shook his head: "No matter what, they are still my Zhao family descendants. Regardless of the reason, going to court will only make people laugh at us."

Zhou Andong furrowed his brows: "If you sell the Bullet Depot Silk Manuscript to me, they will surely kick up a fuss."

"They don't want the Bullet Depot Silk Manuscript—they want money." Zhao Chang smiled: "I'll sell the Bullet Depot Silk Manuscript and give them money. That's settled. I will absolutely not let them take the national treasure to America."

Hearing Zhao Chang's words, Zhou Andong looked at this old man in a new light: "Old Zhao, how much do you want for the Bullet Depot Silk Manuscript?"

Zhao Chang pondered: "According to the price my second uncle paid to recover the Bullet Depot Silk Manuscript, it should now be around three hundred thousand US dollars."

Zhou Andong said without hesitation: "I'll give you four hundred thousand US dollars. As for how much to give your second uncle's descendants, that's your business—I won't interfere."

The Bullet Depot Silk Manuscript is a genuine national treasure. Not to mention three hundred thousand US dollars—even if it were three million, Zhou Andong would not hesitate.

Zhao Chang knew Zhou Andong was generous, but he hadn't expected such generosity—directly giving an extra hundred thousand US dollars. At today's exchange rate, that's over seven hundred thousand.

The other few old-timers exchanged glances. Aside from Lao Xishuai, their eyes all showed delight. Zhou Andong's generosity toward Zhao Chang naturally meant he wouldn't be stingy with them either.

Zhou Andong watched as the wooden crates were successively carried in, and said to Wang Wentian: "Open them all!"