Chapter 3: Jade and Chuanqi are all the way
Hearing Miss Xiuqin say this, Zhao Daokai laughed: "Haha, so that's how it is. I understand."
Li Xiangping glanced at Zhao Daokai: "What do you understand?"
"I was wondering why the Qinhuai Five Wonders are not well known. I guess they have been censored."
Li Xiangping laughed when he heard this, but he had to admit that Zhao Daokai really hit the nail on the head.
Think about it, Zhao Nian's "Hou Banqiao Miscellaneous Notes" was written in the Qing Dynasty, and he listed a figure like Ge Nen as the first of the Qinhuai Five Quatrains. There is no need to even think about it. You must know that our country has a tradition of censoring poems, which has been passed down from the Qin Dynasty. So this book will definitely not escape the fate of being censored, even if it is just a "memoir of an old driver."
Just as the three were standing outside the pleasure boat bragging and chatting, two more beauties in ancient costumes walked out of the boat. These two looked a little younger than the previous one. Well, looking at their attire, they looked a bit like ancient maids.
The two "maids" whispered a few words to Miss Xiuqin, and then the ancient-dressed beauty who called herself Xiuqin said to Li Xiangping and Zhao Daokai:
"Gentlemen, now that everything is ready, how about coming aboard with me?"
"Okay, okay."
The three beauties led the way in front, while Li Xiangping and Zhao Daokai lagged behind a few steps and followed behind to board the pleasure boat.
Looking at the girls walking in front, especially their graceful waists, Li Xiangping nudged his best friend with his arm and whispered teasingly:
"Good job Daokai, you have improved. Well, today's routine is quite innovative. I like it."
As a close friend, Zhao Daokai certainly knew what Li Xiangping meant. Upon hearing this, Zhao Daokai showed a lewd smile, but pretended to be serious on the surface:
"What trick? Don't let me get the wrong idea. Oh, I forgot to tell you something. This kind of pleasure boat is a tourist project that the local tourism department has just launched. It's very formal, so don't keep thinking about the paradise on earth trick."
Li Xiangping smiled indifferently: "Of course, the routine of Tianshang Renjian back then was nothing more than letting a group of professional players pretend to be amateur players, which attracted a bunch of fools. And today's routine is to let a group of amateur players pretend to be professional players ... Hehe, this routine is good, this routine is quite innovative. So Daokai, don't worry, I will definitely play according to the routine when the time comes. What routine have you said that I haven't seen? Are you afraid that I will play the wrong card?"
“You bastard…”
Zhao Daokai also stared at those graceful figures and smiled:
"But then again, I feel like the way that beautiful girl named Xiuqin looked at you seems a little peculiar. Oh, and you happen to be able to play chess, so it's up to you to see if you can take her down like Lao Shi did."
"Haha, no, no, Mr. Shi is a chess master. How can I be that good?"
Li Xiangping did not take Zhao Daokai's words to heart. To put it nicely, he came to this place to play today to reminisce about the past, but to put it bluntly, he came here to drink wine.
In modern society, drinking and playing Go are outdated. You know, it takes a long time to play a game of Go. In modern fast-paced society, who has time to play those games?
However, to Li Xiangping's surprise, when he really boarded the pleasure boat, he actually saw a set of chess sets inside. It was a Go set, not a chess set. And the chess set was placed in a very eye-catching position in the pleasure boat.
Li Xiangping was delighted to see this scene, and then he felt relieved after another thought. Since the beauty dared to call herself "Xiuqin", then this pleasure boat must at least have a set of Go to pretend to be so.
But when Li Xiangping saw the chess set, especially when he saw it a little more clearly, he couldn't take his eyes off it:
"Huh? This chess set!"
Hearing Li Xiangping's low exclamation, Zhao Daokai was confused: "What's wrong?"
Li Xiangping did not answer immediately, but stared at the chess set for several seconds before speaking:
"Nothing, I just feel this chess set is a little special, hehe! Interesting, this painting boat is quite interesting."
Hearing what Li Xiangping said, Zhao Daokai also pretended to look at the chess set, but he couldn't figure out what it was, so he whispered to Li Xiangping:
"Except that it looks a bit quaint, there's nothing special about it."
Li Xiangping laughed softly:
"You don't know what it is, do you? This is a typical Chinese chess set, especially the chessboard, which is an authentic chessboard."
"Chinese chess set?"
Li Xiangping glanced at him and said, "It's not your fault that you don't understand this. After all, the popular ones on the market are Japanese products. Most people also regard Japanese chess sets as authentic. For example, my old man got a Japanese Torreya wood board some time ago. He was so happy that he showed it off to his friends every day. In fact, what he doesn't know is that real Chinese chess sets, especially real catalpa chess sets, are real chess board treasures. They are much more high-end than Japanese products. There is a saying that one catalpa and two torres are used to make chess boards, and the one in front of him seems to be a real catalpa chess set."
"Oh! So amazing?"
Zhao Daokai exclaimed in amazement first, and then he continued, "楸枰楸枰, I seem to have heard of this name, but why have I never seen this thing on the market?"
Li Xiangping nodded. "It's normal that you haven't seen it, because the craftsmanship of making this chessboard was lost in the Ming Dynasty, so the existing Qiuqie chessboards are extremely rare. Although I heard that some people have re-developed this chessboard, imitations are imitations after all, and they can't be compared with the real Qiuqie chessboards."
"Why is that?"
Li Xiangping glanced at him and said, "You should have heard of the 'Dian Cui' of the Liyuan Opera. 'Dian Cui' has now been lost, and the loss of the elm wood is actually the same as the loss of 'Dian Cui'."
Zhao Daokai suddenly realized: "So that's how it is."
After listening to Li Xiangping's explanation, Zhao Daokai naturally understood that the loss of "Dian Cui" was not because the production process was too complicated, but because the kingfisher used to make "Dian Cui" was almost extinct. If you have no raw materials, how can you make Diancui?
The situation with the elm scale is actually similar. In modern times, the elm wood that can be used to make the elm scale has become very difficult to find, even more difficult than the Japanese torreya wood. So even if this craft is restored, it is difficult to make a real elm scale.
"So do you think this is a real elm wood?"
At this moment, Zhao Daokai suddenly remembered something. He looked at the chessboard and said to Li Xiangping:
"When you mentioned Uncle Li just now, hehe, it suddenly occurred to me that Uncle Li's birthday seems to be next month, right?"
Hearing this, Li Xiangping's heart moved. He and Zhao Daokai looked at each other, and then said in unison: "Let's go over and take a look."
As Li Xiangping approached the chessboard, he was still feeling emotional. He thought that since he did not forget to be filial even when drinking wine, and even remembered to buy gifts for his old man, then no matter what, he could be called a "good Chinese dandy".
When he got closer to the chessboard, Li Xiangping lowered his head and looked at it carefully. After he saw it clearly, Li Xiangping's expression became serious, and he whispered to Zhao Daokai:
"Daokai, tell me honestly, where did this pleasure boat and that girl Xiuqin come from?"
"What's wrong?"
"If I'm not mistaken, this chessboard... this chessboard should be a real chessboard, not a modern imitation, and it seems to be the legendary one..."
"Ah! Could this be a real antique?"
Before Li Xiangping finished speaking, Zhao Daokai became excited after hearing the first half of Li Xiangping's sentence.
Because Li Xiangping just told him that the real 楸棋 had been lost in the Ming Dynasty. If this one is real, then it is at least an antique from before the Ming Dynasty.
But, how could a real antique appear in this place?
According to what Zhao Daokai said just now, this pleasure boat is just a tourism project that the local tourism department has just developed. When did the domestic tourism department become so extravagant? They even used real antiques as props? Anyway, no matter whether others believe it or not, Zhao Daokai himself certainly won't believe it.
Zhao Daokai then remembered the second half of Li Xiangping's sentence: "By the way, what did you just say, the legendary piece?"
Li Xiangping ignored him, and took out a magnifying glass from his pocket like a magician, then picked up the magnifying glass and carefully observed the chessboard.
When Zhao Daokai saw Li Xiangping's look, he smiled: "Oh, not bad, Xiangping, you even carry a magnifying glass with you now... Oh, by the way, Uncle Li is asking you to manage that antique building company now..."
Li Xiangping still ignored him and continued to look carefully with a magnifying glass. His astonishment became more and more intense. After looking for a long time, he stood up and let out a long sigh:
"It's right. It really looks like the legendary one."
"Hmm? What do you want to say?"
Li Xiangping looked at Zhao Daokai and said, "Although you are a bad chess player, you should have heard of the 'Ten Games at Danghu'."
Zhao Daokai was angry: "I know how you got this crappy name, what do you mean?"
Li Xiangping ignored him, stared at the chessboard for a while, and then said word by word:
"If I hadn't noticed, the chessboard in front of me should be the one Fan Shi used when he played 'Ten Games of Danghu'."
"Ah?! Si...!"
Hearing Li Xiangping's words, Zhao Daokai was speechless and took a deep breath. Indeed, if Li Xiangping's words were not nonsense, then this breath of cold air was certainly worth taking.
But, is this possible?
Neither of them spoke for a while. Li Xiangping and Zhao Daokai looked at each other. When they came to their senses, they both turned their gaze elsewhere, looking for the beautiful woman named Xiuqin.
It should be said that their current reactions are perfectly normal. If they want to solve this mystery, the most direct way right now is, of course, to ask the beautiful woman who calls herself Xiuqin.
Just at this moment, the beautiful lady named Xiuqin came over with a smile:
"Gentlemen, everything is ready. May I ask if we can start the boat now?"
Looking at the beauty in front of him, Li Xiangping calmed himself down and told himself to be patient, because he would have to find out everything later anyway.
As luck would have it, it suddenly started to rain outside. Li Xiangping was moved, and he smiled and said to Miss Xiuqin:
"The jade elm and catalpa are all round, and the bamboos under the eaves are the best. OK, now please ask Miss Xiuqin to start the boat."
