I'm back in 1990

Chapter 222: Family Heirloom

Book lovers are all in the discussion area, chatting about the charm of urban novels.

On Sunday, Huang Xiaochuan, as usual, stayed at his old apartment, doing his Sunday routine of grocery shopping and cooking.

Yu Wei's must-do activity is to come and freeload at mealtimes.

The kid was already tired of the game console, so when he returned to Shanghai, he simply left it at Qingjiang's house.

Because of the 80 Year of the Monkey stamps that Huang Xiaochuan gave him, he has now become obsessed with stamp collecting. Whenever he has time, he goes to the stamp market almost every day. His purpose in going to the stamp market is to find stamps and play with stamp collecting, which is not the same as Huang Xiaochuan's stamp speculation back then.

After the women finished eating and cleared away the dishes, Yu Wei lay on the sofa, rubbing his stomach to aid digestion, and didn't forget to praise Huang Xiaochuan's cooking skills.

"Your cooking skills are getting better and better! You're like a restaurant chef. You've made me stuffed again today."

Huang Xiaochuan placed a cup of tea in front of Yu Wei: "Try this tea, it's top-grade Biluochun, I got it from my roommate."

Yu Wei sat up, picked up his teacup, and smelled it: "It smells good! It smells really good! It's too hot, I'll drink it later."

Huang Xiaochuan extended the invitation: "Are you and Tang Yuan free this afternoon? If not, why don't you come see a movie with us?"

Yu Wei refused without even thinking: "You and my sister go have some alone time! I'm going to the stamp market this afternoon."

Huang Xiaochuan: "The stamp market?"

Just then, Tang Yuan finished wiping the table and came over to Huang Xiaochuan, saying, "Because of the 80 Monkey stamp you gave him, he's now obsessed with stamp collecting. Every Sunday afternoon he wants me to go to the stamp market with him."

Upon hearing this, Huang Xiaochuan thought it was a great hobby. Although no one would want stamps in thirty years, it was still a good hobby and he had to support it.

"Stamp collecting? That's nice." After saying that, Huang Xiaochuan got up and went into the master bedroom.

A moment later, Huang Xiaochuan came out with a miniature sheet and a lighthouse stamp album, and he casually handed the two books to Yu Wei.

"There are some loose stamps in the souvenir booklet. You can use these loose stamps to exchange for other stamps. In the future, there will be no need to spend money to buy stamps if you don't have to."

Yu Wei's eyes widened when he looked through the booklet. He quickly flipped through a few more pages, which were all red 80 monkey stamps. Some were single stamps, but most were blocks of four, six, or eight. There were also a few miniature sheets tucked in the last few pages.

"Holy crap! Mei Lanfang? Big-eyed girl? A miniature sheet with added text?"

Flipping through that thick Lighthouse stamp album again, it was filled with stamps, a complete set, with not a single one missing, except for a few rare stamps that had been withdrawn from circulation.

Yu Wei could hardly take it all in; damn, these are all good stuff?

Huang Xiaochuan then remembered that there was a miniature sheet of Mei Lanfang in that booklet. He had bought it while speculating on stamps at the stamp market, and it wasn't too expensive at the time. He couldn't remember the exact price. The other party had three Mei Lanfang stamps in total, and he bought them all in one go. Where did the other two go? He looked for them again, but he had too many things and didn't know where he had put them.

However, Huang Xiaochuan still gave Yu Wei a reminder.

"When exchanging stamps with someone, do your homework first, so you don't get fooled."

Yu Wei flipped through the miniature sheet album, his mouth practically watering. He calculated that there were over two hundred 80 Year of the Monkey stamps in the album, plus the miniature sheets and the complete set of cultural relics stamps. If he took it to the school's philatelic club, he would be the coolest kid there, dazzling those bastards in the philatelic club. Those bastards acted like they were something special just because they had a few worthless stamps.

However, he resisted the temptation, admired the books for a while, gently touched the two booklets, and then, with a heavy heart, returned them to Huang Xiaochuan.

"What? You don't like it?" Huang Xiaochuan was a little confused. Had this guy changed his personality?

"I like them, but as the saying goes, 'He who eats another's food is bound to him, and he who takes another's gift is bound to him.' If I keep these two booklets, will I no longer be able to stand up to you?"

Huang Xiaochuan was both amused and exasperated: "Take it or leave it. I'm telling you, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. If you want it again later, forget about it."

Yu Wei stubbornly stuck out his neck and said, "Tch!"

Seeing Yu Wei's expression, Huang Xiaochuan couldn't help but find it amusing, and he still tossed the two booklets to Yu Wei.

"Alright! Keep being so tough, okay? I know every single hair on your body since you were a kid, and you're still trying to act all high and mighty with me!"

Yu Wei pointed to the stamp album and asked, "Do you know how much these stamps are worth?"

Huang Xiaochuan replied, "Nonsense, how could I not know? But I bought these stamps early on. The Monkey stamps were only about thirty yuan each back then, and the Cultural Revolution stamps and the Mei Lanfang stamps didn't cost much either. I can't remember the exact amount. I don't collect stamps, and they would be a waste if they got moldy here. Since you collect stamps, it's perfect to give them to you."

Upon hearing this, Yu Wei picked up the miniature booklet.

"Yu Wei, what type of stamps are you mainly collecting now?"

"I plan to start with the old commemorative stamps and collect them all the way up to the stamps issued now."

Huang Xiaochuan nodded and offered a suggestion: "When you're collecting old commemorative and special stamps, focus on the key stamps first. Once you've collected all the old commemorative and special stamps, the rest will be easy. You already have the document stamps; once you've collected all the old commemorative and special stamps, the numbered stamps and JT stamps will be quick to follow. Don't touch the chronological stamps; the issuance volume is enormous! They'd probably be usable for sending letters and envelopes for five hundred years."

Huang Xiaochuan took the opportunity to complain about the number of stamps issued by the China Post.

Regarding stamp collecting, Huang Xiaochuan believes that collecting stamps little by little is more fulfilling. Although he could easily spend a sum of money to buy a complete set of stamps issued after the founding of the People's Republic of China and give it to Yu Wei, that wouldn't be stamp collecting, and it wouldn't be fun.

Yu Wei patted the stamp album and said happily, "I even have the Mei Lanfang miniature sheet, which is the most difficult to obtain among the old commemorative stamps. The others are a piece of cake."

When the topic of stamps came up, Huang Xiaochuan suddenly thought of Nan Hui. He had bought quite a few stamps from her back then, and the 80 monkey stamps he sold to himself to pay off his debts were still in a safe. Now the price had gone up again. He wondered what that woman would do if she found out.

Meanwhile, Nan Hui has already started a new life in Shenzhen and has resumed her business.

After finishing her work in the kitchen, Yu Xiang came over and asked, "What are you all chatting about? It's so lively!"

Tang Yuan took Yu Xiang's arm and said, "Brother-in-law and Yu Wei are discussing stamps. Brother-in-law even gave Yu Wei a lot of stamps."

Upon hearing this, Yu Xiang exclaimed, "Yu Wei collects stamps?"

Tang Yuan nodded: "After returning from the Spring Festival, I often went to the stamp market and bought quite a few stamps."

Yu Xiang smiled and said to Yu Wei, "I used to collect stamps too, but I don't have time for it anymore. Here, take my stamp album!"

Before Tang Yuan could help Yu Wei refuse, Huang Xiaochuan spoke up: "Don't give him that stamp album; we'll keep it for ourselves."

Yu Xiang's stamp album wasn't actually worth much. It was a DIY album, and the stamps inside were all used stamps peeled off envelopes. They were a mixed bag, neither a set nor a series.

However, Huang Xiaochuan believes that Yu Xiang made it by hand, so this handmade stamp album is very meaningful. When you take it out to look at it many years later, you will feel a lot of memories.

Yu Wei knew about Yu Xiang's stamp album, but now that he had the two stamp albums Huang Xiaochuan had given him, he naturally looked down on Yu Xiang's.

"Sis, you should keep your stamp album! Besides, I only collect mint stamps; yours are all canceled, I don't want them."

Huang Xiaochuan put his arm around Yu Xiang's shoulder and said to Yu Wei, "It's fine if you don't want it. I'm reluctant to give it to you, honey. Let's keep it as a family heirloom."

Huang Xiaochuan wasn't just making empty promises; he put Yu Xiang's stamp album into the safe, along with the box his grandmother had given him.