Chapter 27

With his past life experience, Jiang Ping, of course, could tell that this seemingly unremarkable old beam was actually extremely precious Hainan rosewood!

This type of wood grows slowly, has a solid texture, and beautiful patterns. Many Ming and Qing dynasty furniture pieces were made from Hainan rosewood, which was particularly favored by people. However, due to excessive logging, by the Republican era, larger pieces of Hainan rosewood were hard to find. Nowadays, Hainan rosewood is a first-class protected species, and even heartwood as thick as an arm is considered a large piece.

However, the Hainan rosewood timber in front of Jiang Ping had a heartwood diameter of at least twenty centimeters. Such a large piece of Hainan rosewood would have been rare even in the Ming and Qing dynasties. If this house hadn't been over a hundred years old, it would have been impossible to find such a large piece of Hainan rosewood to use as a beam.

Jiang Ping wondered whether the owner who built this house back then was unaware of its value or wanted to leave a fortune for future generations, which is why such a large piece of Hainan rosewood was used as a beam. Unfortunately, his descendants didn't recognize its value and abandoned it, which ended up benefiting Jiang Ping.

Now Jiang Ping understood why the discerning eye could see the golden light representing wealth on these two seemingly unremarkable beams. These two pieces of Hainan rosewood were indeed very precious and could bring him good fortune.

Besides these two pieces of Hainan rosewood, Jiang Ping had an even more significant discovery. He realized that the discerning eye could not only be used on people but also on other objects. The difference was that the different colors seen on a person's forehead indicated their future fortune, while the colors seen on objects predicted how these items would affect Jiang Ping's fortune.

The fact that the discerning eye had such a function made Jiang Ping very happy. This way, he could not only predict other people's fortunes but also use this ability to avoid misfortune and seek good fortune for himself, which would naturally be very beneficial in the future.

However, Jiang Ping had seen a lot in his past life. Although buying these two pieces of Hainan rosewood for 300 yuan was a great deal, he quickly calmed down. Jiang Ping knew he couldn't be too happy yet; he needed to find a place to store these precious pieces of wood first.

Bringing them home was absolutely impossible. Not only was his home too small to accommodate such large pieces, but even if it could, Jiang Ping wouldn't do it. He found it hard to explain to his parents why he would bring two old beams home.

"Where can I put them?" Looking at the large pieces of Hainan rosewood in front of him, Jiang Ping was in a happy dilemma.

The place to store the Hainan rosewood needed to meet several requirements. First, it had to be safe; he couldn't just leave them on the roadside, or they might be taken away as firewood, leaving him with no place to cry. Second, he hoped the place was large enough so he could work on these precious pieces of wood and turn them into exquisite furniture.

Finding such a place was not easy for Jiang Ping. After thinking for a while, a good idea suddenly came to him.

Jiang Ping glanced at the old house and saw that the workers were still dismantling another beam. He then loudly called out to the middle-aged man in charge, "Mr. Wang, I need to leave for a moment. Could you please watch over this piece of wood for me? I might need your help to move the two large beams to my place later. I'll pay you for the work. Is that okay?"

The workers were used to doing physical labor, and hearing that they would be paid, the middle-aged man named Wang naturally agreed without hesitation. Jiang Ping then left on his bicycle, pedaling quickly and soon returned to Huahua Alley.

However, Jiang Ping didn't stop in front of Sun Wenhai's house but continued following his memory and soon saw the old lady who had given him directions earlier.

Old age slows down the pace of life. Even though Jiang Ping had been gone for a while, the kind old lady was still sitting under the shade of a tree. Seeing Jiang Ping on his bicycle, she smiled and asked, "Young man, did you find the Sun family?"

"I found them, thank you!" Jiang Ping politely thanked the old lady.

However, Jiang Ping's return wasn't just to thank her. He quickly followed up with a question, "Old lady, you mentioned that you have a house to rent. Can I take a look?"

"You want to rent a house?" The old lady looked at Jiang Ping, a bit puzzled, "You sound like a local. Why would you want to rent a house at your young age?"

Jiang Ping had already thought of a reason on his way. Without hesitation, he said, "Old lady, I'm not renting for myself but for my family. Our old house was demolished, and there are two beams that the adults in my family don't want to throw away. They want to find a place to store them temporarily and move them later when needed."

Young people would probably think Jiang Ping's reason was unreliable, as who would rent a house just to store two worthless beams? However, the old lady nodded in agreement, "Your family is doing the right thing. These are things left by our ancestors; they shouldn't be thrown away. If possible, they should be preserved!"

Jiang Ping was pleased with the old lady's reaction and quickly asked, "So, are you willing to rent the house to me?"

"Sure." The old lady stood up from her rocking chair and said to Jiang Ping, "Follow me inside and take a look."

Jiang Ping, of course, wouldn't refuse such an offer and followed the old lady into the yard. As she stepped over the threshold, Jiang Ping gently supported her, a small gesture that improved the old lady's impression of him. She nodded and smiled in gratitude.

Once inside the yard, Jiang Ping realized that it was much larger than he had imagined, covering about 70 to 80 square meters. A large tree with lush branches stood in the corner by the gate, casting a cool shade over the yard. The yard was filled with various flowers and plants, all well-tended and thriving, clearly cared for by the owner.

At the far end of the yard was a two-story small house. Although not large, it was built with great care and had a history. This showed that the old lady was a nostalgic person, which explained why she resonated with Jiang Ping's request to store the old beams.

"Take a look at this place," the old lady said, opening the door to the first floor of the small house. "It's about 40 square meters, more than enough to store two beams. The second floor is rented to someone else, with a separate staircase leading to it. You'll have your own space, and no one will bother you."

She paused and pointed to the yard, "The yard is shared, but it's very convenient for drying clothes and bedding. My only requirement is that you take good care of the plants in the yard."

"No problem," Jiang Ping, satisfied with the house, asked the old lady, "Old lady, how much is the rent?"

The old lady gestured, "600 yuan per month, three months' rent in advance and one month's deposit."

The houses in Huahua Alley were somewhat old and located in a less prosperous old district, making them unpopular in 2002. The price of 600 yuan was neither cheap nor expensive. However, ten years later, a yard like this would cost at least 50,000 yuan per month to rent.

Therefore, Jiang Ping was very satisfied with the low price and immediately said to the old lady, "I'll rent it for a year and pay for four months in advance. Is that okay?"

Seeing Jiang Ping's straightforwardness, the old lady was pleased and nodded, "Sure, follow me to sign the agreement, and I'll give you the keys after you pay the rent."

The kind old lady even thought of signing an agreement, which surprised Jiang Ping a bit. However, having a contract was a good thing, and Jiang Ping had no objections. He read the agreement, confirmed there were no major issues, and signed his name at the end. The old lady also signed her name, and Jiang Ping noticed that her handwriting was beautiful. He learned that her surname was Huang.

Jiang Ping kept his copy of the agreement, counted out 2,400 yuan to the old lady, and immediately received two keys. One was the key to the yard gate, and the other was the key to the first-floor door. The second floor was rented to someone else, so the old lady didn't give Jiang Ping the key to it.

Holding the two keys, Jiang Ping felt a sense of relief. Not only did he have a place to store the Hainan rosewood, but he also had a space of his own for the next year. He could do many things here that he didn't want others to know about.

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