Chapter 29 "Lamp of the Earth" Back to Lhasa in winter

Back to Lhasa in winter (1) 5 She returned to Lhasa in winter.Every step on this homeland, there is hesitation.This is the return that I have been looking forward to in my heart, but when it is fulfilled, I hesitate.She wrapped her coat tightly, only feeling cold.The man's hand was on her shoulder, thick but distant.The sun was so strong that she couldn't open her eyes. Canaan's staff drove to the airport to pick them up, and they drove all the way to the five-star hotel. She never thought that she would return to her hometown in such a posture. In the hotel room, the curtains that were tightly covered like a coffin were pulled open, and streams of light streamed in instantly.The figure of the man stood in the dark and white space that opened up impressively, like a tall paper puppet under the backlight.This scene seems familiar.Instead, time and place are swapped, so it doesn't look real.

The man asked her if you felt unwell.She shook her head and said nothing. I have to negotiate business in the afternoon, so you stay here.You can watch TV and sleep. Canaan, she stopped him—I want to go back to the plateau where I was a child. The man frowned.He said, I didn't take you on a trip. I know.If you don't want to, I can go by myself. Don't be selfish, Kassan.Let's get this done first. Then I will go with you in the afternoon. After lunch, the subordinate took them to an old house in the city to look at them.They went into the basement, the walls were fortified, like a dark tomb, with only a narrow exit.There are more than a dozen ancient artifacts on wooden shelves.There are mostly gold and bronze Buddha statues, but there are also a few jade wares and even petroglyphs.Canaan stepped aside and whispered to the subordinate for a long time.

Kassan carefully observed the antiques, and when Canaan turned and walked over, he told him, Canaan, I see that there may be high-quality fakes among them, which are very suspicious, especially the set of jade slips... Canaan said, I am very clear.You don't mind.Follow me to another place. They went again to the home of a young man in the city.The young man took them to see the collection, and when they saw it, it turned out to be a bronze ware.It looks like a party.A drinking utensil. Canaan smiled wryly at the man and said, I heard that you have rare treasures for sale, but no one dared to buy them, so I specially asked someone to bring me here to visit.Now seeing is believing, no wonder no one dares to buy.Although there are many treasures in Tibet, everyone knows that this place is not good at casting bronze since ancient times. What's more, these wine vessels are all Han Chinese. How can they appear here for no reason? You are afraid that someone has been fooled and bought them as old ones. It's a fake.

The young man frowned deeply, shook his head and said, if you can't tell the difference, then don't speak such nonsense. Kassan felt strange, so he stepped forward to observe and observe carefully. While looking at it, she asked the man, where did you get this wine vessel? He replied that it came from the tombs of the Han people. Did you dig from the tomb? yes.This is my share.The rest were taken by companions. Where and when was the burial? He sighed deeply, and said, to tell the truth, I am a novice, so I don’t know what kind of tomb this is. An old hand discovered the tomb, and I just dug with him.He only told me that this is the tomb of the Han people, and I don’t feel bad if it is stolen.That veteran was my childhood partner. He came back from the Central Plains and strongly invited me to go tomb robbery with him to make a fortune.He said that tomb robbery has been prevalent in the Mainland for thousands of years. There are too many monks to eat, and there are experts who can't compete.Only in the hometown of Tibet, the wind is not strong, and those funerary objects are easily available.But my old father was devout and tried his best to prevent me from doing this outrageous thing several times, but I ignored it and went to follow that veteran to do this job.When I dug up the tomb objects for the first time with him on my back, my father was heartbroken and sick...

This must be retribution.I regret it so much that I have to wash my hands and quit.That companion was furious and took away almost all the tomb objects, except this one.I want to treat my father's illness, but I can't afford the money, so I sold it, and the rest of the money will go to the Buddha to donate to the temple, and I won't do it again in the future. Kassan asked, you have told so much, where is the tomb now? The man replied that it was near Lhasa, but I can't elaborate further. Back to Lhasa in winter (2) Kassan asked again, since you have changed your mind and are so pious, will you feel at peace when you use the money from selling these funerary objects to treat my father?

The man was embarrassed, he said, my father was seriously ill, and I couldn't care less. Kassan repeatedly debated, and after a while, she asked, how much do you bid. He replied, the doctor said that my father would spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on treatment, so I wanted 600,000. Canaan sneered.In the antique industry, all the people who make up weird stories and tell them well are laymen who are bluffing and deceiving with fake goods. He was very tired of this man's tricks, and he had no patience to listen to his nonsense anymore, and he was about to leave with Kassan.Kassan hesitated for a moment without expressing his opinion, and followed him to leave.

Back at the hotel, Kassan said, Canaan, if I didn't miss it, the wine vessel should be a treasure among the treasures.You can buy all you can. As far as I know, the imitation and counterfeiting of bronze wares prevailed after the popularity of the gold and stone theory in the Song Dynasty.As early as the middle of the ninth century at the end of the Tang Dynasty, Tubo began to fall into internal strife and melee that lasted for four hundred years. The exchanges between Han and Tubo after that were completely incomparable with those in the heyday of Tang Dynasty, and very few Han people went deep into Tubo.The Han people who built tombs in Tibet must have stayed in Luoxi for many years, so it is unlikely that they belonged to later dynasties.

You also know that Tibet has never had exquisite bronze casting skills.There are many bronze ritual vessels and wine vessels buried in the tombs of the Han people, so they must not be ordinary people.Therefore, I deduce that the owner of this ancient tomb was probably an official who entered Tibet during the period when exchanges between the Tang Dynasty and Tubo prevailed. Because bronze wine vessels were rare, they brought them here when they entered Tibet and were buried with them after death.In the Tang Dynasty, gold and silver porcelain prevailed, and bronze wares, whether cast or imitated, were very cold.Since he is going to be buried with him, it is likely to be a treasure handed down from generation to generation.

Furthermore, I can see that there are faint traces of fan lines on this bronze ware, and there are gaskets at the bottom that are made of a different material from the original embryo.It must be cast by the oldest pottery model method instead of the lost wax method popular in later generations; it may have gone through the reverse process from cooked pit to raw pit, so it has a thick color, unclear texture, and indistinguishable inscriptions, but the knock The sound is clearer and crisper, and you can vaguely see the narrow and convex pattern on the second floor, which may be the Kuilong pattern filled with fine fretwork, which is typical of the Shang and Zhou dynasties...

Canaan interrupted her and said, don't be confused, Kasang.If it was Shang and Zhou bronzes, how could it be in the hands of a Tang Dynasty man?He drank from a wine vessel unearthed from an ancient tomb?Or a collector of ancient cultural relics?And bring them into the ancient logic when entering Tibet?Isn't this too bizarre?And the tomb robber didn't dare to take us to the cemetery to see the pit, obviously he had a guilty conscience. Kassan replied, I really don't know.But you know, in Tibet, there are always legends.As for him not taking us to know the pit, I think it is reasonable.Don't you know that one of the tricks of antique dealers is to bury fakes in stolen tombs in advance, luring you to visit the pit or rob the tomb, so that you are convinced that it is the treasure in the tomb?A real master, whether it is tomb robbery or tomb-covering, is extremely secretive and careful.Will not reveal easily.If it's genuine, his bid is too cheap, we can buy it.

Canaan said, without instruments, how can you verify the authenticity.If I spend 600,000 yuan to buy a fake, I don't want to either. She said, if you don't want to buy it, I'll buy it.You lend me 600,000 yuan, if it is false, I will repay you according to the price.If true, you get 20% of the profit in addition to the cost. Canaan was silent for a moment, then he smiled.He said, just 600,000, I can bet with you.However, instead of lent you, I bought it myself.Whether it is a fake or not has nothing to do with you. Kasan understood immediately.She paused for a moment and said, Canaan, I am not unaware that a Western Zhou bronze ware was auctioned in New York for the highest price of 9 million US dollars.Canaan, you may have never encountered such a cultural relic, and now I am urging you to buy it, and if you earn millions of dollars, it would be too unreasonable not to give any share. Canaan was silent, he secretly smiled.He said, Kassan, even if I give you 600,000 to buy it, can you ship it to New York?If you export embargoed cultural relics, can you pass the customs?What's more, you can't confirm whether it is genuine and in which year it is genuine, you are just guessing.If you guess wrong, I won't ask you to pay 600,000 yuan, isn't that already very good. Kassan, the man came over to touch her.You don't have to go into this circle.Everything is not as simple as you imagine.Some things are just not right for you. she smiles.Are you starting to worry.Canaan, I will not take care of your business any more.But today I discovered that you are not very knowledgeable.I'm not here to compete with you for business.The reason why I came with you is just to go back to my hometown and have a look. just a wrong idea 6 Think about how long you have not been home.canaan.She asked him this on the way they rented a Land Cruiser to the northern Tibetan plateau. Wrapped in a thick coat, curled up in the seat, the road kept bumping.No traveler's car dares to drive on the northern Tibetan Plateau in winter.Desolate.The driver is hired, from Lhasa, four or five days of long-distance driving.A kind of paranoid purpose, as if just to ride a car, sitting with swollen feet.Have some light meals in small hotels, temples, or Tibetan homes on the way, and stay overnight in remote inns at night.If you can't find a place to stay, you sleep in your car.Day by day, from morning to night, go deep into this earth.Looking out from the car window, the road is desolate and magnanimous.At dusk, there is a melancholy chill in the sky, and the silence between heaven and earth conveys a certain sense of desolation. .Also very familiar. Some things can gradually fade away.You know it existed, but have forgotten how.This kind of forgetting, intentional or unintentional.It's like facing an old friend.Once close, hugged, stood side by side, familiar with each other, from soul to body.Then get bored, or be forced to leave.And every time you say goodbye, you will always leave something on the old person, and because of this kind of leaving, you will be forgotten.After a long time, when you look back, you can only find the virtual image reflected by itself from its appearance.And the original self will never be seen. You see, we only know that we are here for a short time, but we forget what kind of stay it is. The windows were clouded with mud and water smudges.She sat in the car with her forehead pressed against the glass, watching the world curiously.Like a child who has not yet stepped into this life.Canaan was tired and had no interest in it.He was unwilling at all, but because of the favor he owed her for the antique, he had to accommodate her to go with her.Dissatisfied with the desolation and danger of the journey, he fell asleep all the way.It is such a strange lover. They finally arrived at Shangqinglunzhuo Grassland, and the car stopped by the side of the road.There was no way here.After many years, a roadbed was paved.She gently shook his hand and said, Canaan, look, we have arrived. She jumped out of the car and stepped into the snow.The snow was thin and wet, but it was exceptionally cold.The strong wind filled her coat in an instant, and it flew up.She stood there looking out as far as the eye could see.But there is nothing but the monotonous and mottled Lili wasteland, and the slightly undulating mountains and rivers at the end of the field of vision. There is no snow in my hometown in winter.There are no yaks and black tents dotted on the ground.She walked deep alone, wanting to see if she could still see her grandpa's celestial burial platform.That may be the only thing left of the signs of the hometown. She always felt that she was still standing on the celestial burial platform that belonged to her childhood, looking at the mountains and fields covered by late autumn snow. Spread a white pulu.A large area of ​​panic pervades the depths of memory.The black tents are scattered on the land, and they are indistinguishable from groups of yaks from a distance. I always feel that I can still clearly hear the sound of the vulture's black wings piercing the sky, leaving hollow traces.At that time, grandpa was wearing a ragged red and black cassock, standing under the sky to preside over the sky burial.The simmering cedar smoke soared upwards, like a sad soul on its way home.Day after day, the cassock was smoked black.Grandpa's deep and dull face was hidden behind the curling mulberry smoke, looming.Vultures swarmed and circled overhead.Sparsely, people stood around solemnly, squinting their eyes and staring silently and piously.Under the scorching sun, the purple color on his face shone like a lamp. She couldn't help stretching out her hands, holding a sun full of nostalgia. Before Kassan had gone far, Canaan called her in the car to come back quickly.Seeing that she shouldn't, he got out of the car with a little sullenness, rushed forward and grabbed her from behind, not letting her go.He said, you have also arrived, and you have seen it.Come back with me now. She was pulled away by Canaan with a strong attitude.Came from a long distance but made a hasty visit just for such a disappointment.Stay on the land of your hometown for a short time, and then leave soon.Kassan felt a pang of sadness in his heart.Can the ruins that she has been obsessed with stay in the old place for such a long time?And even if you see it, so what.She is no longer the child who is ignorant of the grand truth of life, pulling aside the felt curtain of the black tent, and looking curiously at the vast world. On the way back, Canaan said irritably, driving for ten days.Just a whim for you.You can really toss. Kassan ignored his complaints.How could he know that this was not a whim at all.It's just a wrong obsession. she has nowhere to go 7 Back in Lhasa, Canaan couldn't wait to book a flight ticket to Chengdu, and then immediately transferred to Hong Kong.His partner has already shipped the antiques out of the country, so Canaan is anxious to go to the inspection and prepare for the auction in Hong Kong. She was sitting next to Canaan on the plane, and saw him not eating or drinking, flipping through aviation magazines, without saying a word.It was such a moment of infinite loneliness, she felt that the silence at the bottom of her heart seemed to swallow herself up and go to another world.Kassan rested her head on the pillow of the seat and closed her eyes. During the flight she repeatedly fell asleep and woke up, groggy.When she was about to arrive, she felt Canaan's hand touch her forehead.Are you having a fever?he asked her.Kassan opened his eyes and saw that the man's eyes had softened.Kassan shook his head and said, no, I'm fine. Arrived at night.When the plane stopped, the engine was silent, and it was clearly raining outside the window.The raindrops fell finely and hit the porthole with a muffled slight sound.She followed Canaan off the plane, picked up her luggage, and left the port through the noisy and empty lobby.Canaan's figure loomed in the crowd, walking fast, and she followed him with big strides.At that moment, she only felt that she was back to the year when her grandfather died, when Ji Bu took her to meet Rilang.Staggering and blindly chasing after a person, embarrassed and thin, and don't know where he is going or what he will face.Panicked, helpless. He hails a taxi and calls Kassan through the crowd.She stepped forward quickly in the rain and got into the car.The car drove all the way, shuttling through the streets shrouded in night.Only one day later, she traveled from the desolate plateau to another city.See also crowded and bustling, brightly lit, bustling crowds.It makes people feel that they are in a particularly large and majestic tomb. Canaan took her to his residence.It is on a residential block in Central.The lights of supper shops and the smell of food floated out, and there were thousands of lights.Canaan's house is an apartment in a somewhat old building.The room is not big, and the decoration is outdated, but it can be seen that it was excellent at that time.It looked like no one had lived in it for a long time, and the furniture and platform were evenly covered with a layer of fine dust.The room had a strong smell due to being closed for a long time.Canaan opened the window, and the noisy sound was accompanied by the sound of rain, and a gust of cold air poured into the room.Canaan stood by the window and ordered takeaway on the phone, speaking Cantonese. Knowing that this would be another place for her to stop and go.So I sat down and opened the suitcase, took out the clothes and put them away one by one.The barbecued pork rice was served, and the two of them sat on the sofa and started eating. Are you hungry, Kassan.Canaan asked her when he finished eating and put down the box.He reached out and touched her face, feeling that she was quite a child.He watched her eat with a complicated expression. She was still buried there swallowing violently, and when she raised her head, she met Canaan's gaze. Come here, let me give you a hug.The man reached out and pulled her over.Canaan was wearing very little, as if he could feel his temperature through the clothes.He leaned over to kiss and stroke Kassan.In the end, he said, I'm going to take a shower, and you continue to eat.After speaking, she let go and stood up and walked into the bathroom. When he came out, he was only wrapped in a bath towel, so cold that he hugged his body and retracted into the bedroom.He yelled in the next room, have you finished eating, tidy up the tea table, and go take a shower. Kassan silently collected the paper lunch box and dumped it into the trash can.Picking up his own towel, he walked into the small bathroom, and when he opened the door, he saw that the dust was wet by the mist just now, leaving gray water droplets on the wall, dripping down muddy.She washed herself under the hot water from the shower.Suddenly there is a feeling of desolation in my heart, and I feel that everything is strange.In any case, she always felt that she was far away from anyone.She felt empty in her heart because of this kind of helplessness and confusion. She walked into the man's bedroom wrapped in wet pajamas.Canaan was lying on the bed watching her, come here, Kasang.All the way in Tibet was uncomfortable.I haven't hugged you yet.It's finally all right now. While talking, he pulled her into the bed, leaned close to her body, and eagerly took off her clothes.Kassan only felt that the grand void filled with body temperature completely surrounded him.She closed her eyes.The cool breeze blowing in from the open window in the living room has been penetrating into the bedroom.Blowing on the body is like another pair of cold hands stroking the body, awe-inspiring but swift.Canaan snapped off the lights. Darkness covers again. She spent two months in Hong Kong with Canaan.As soon as he arrived there, he found an expert to immediately derust the Fangfu by laser, and asked a senior appraiser to test it repeatedly. It turned out to be the real Western Zhou Fangfu.Its decoration is meticulous, its shape is exquisite, and it is well preserved.The disadvantage is that there are few inscriptions, and the circulation is not orderly, that is, illegal.He entrusted the auction house to auction.The reserve price given was $900,000. At that auction, all the antique objects were sold for a good price, and the Fang Zun even went under the hammer for 2.95 million US dollars.He made a lot of money.And there was only one sentence in return to Kassan - you are really amazing. Because of this huge profit, he was in a good mood during that time, with a kind of comfortable smile that she had never seen before.At that time she felt his aging and boring.A man who can only derive real pleasure from worldly business, or who can no longer derive real pleasure from worldly business, is old. She chose the moment when he was in the best mood to tell him that she was pregnant. Canaan asked her what she was going to do.Kassan told him, I want to marry you. Canaan frowned slightly.He said, you want to marry me, don't use things like pregnancy as a pledge.If you want to go to Nepal now, it will take some time to go through the formalities, how can you make it in time. You help me. Kassan had a sly, childlike expression on her face, and she was interested in following him because she was in high spirits.This kind of adhesion is a kind of hopelessness and salvation for her.Sometimes she looks back at the places she once wandered, from the plateau in her hometown, to the capital city in the north, to the seaport in the south now.How surreal and remote.From one place to another, always tossing around, never having a real home, no relatives.The benefactors I have met have treated each other as relatives for a short time, and they are not going to leave in the end.I don't know how long this way will last.And now, with joy in this man, she stubbornly wants to join his life, to see if she can get a place to stop, live together, and love alone.After all, she has nowhere to go.