The old man was instantly delighted. He had only asked as a matter of routine, not expecting that level of civic awareness from him, or expecting there to be another bronze artifact. Yet there really was one.
Beaming, he said, "Good, good, good. Go and get it. We'll wait here."
Ye Yaodong hurried off and returned, holding the bronze wine cup in his palm and offering it to the old man.
"This came up in the fishing net along with the Great Ding. There was only this one. I don't know whether there are any more on the seabed. It didn't look particularly useful, and I couldn't exactly use it as a wine cup, so I gave it to the children at home to play with."
The old man immediately took the bronze wine cup and pulled a magnifying glass from his pocket to examine it from every angle. The others beside him curiously leaned in as well.
"It really is a bronze wine cup?"
"What period is it from?"
"Dad, can you tell what period it's from?"
Ye Yaodong glanced sideways. This man from the County Party Committee called the Cultural Center director Dad. No wonder two or three people from the County Party Committee had come today to back him up. They were probably afraid they wouldn't be able to handle these ignorant villagers and would return empty-handed.
The old man shook his head. "Hard to say. We'll have to take it back for appraisal."
They were villagers here themselves, after all, so of course they had to protect their collective interests.
"All right, everyone, break it up. Go home and find your mothers. As for tomorrow, we'll deal with it tomorrow." Having finished explaining, Ye Yaodong began shooing everyone away. This was exhausting. He was tired and