When he goes out to play after official duties, he loves to smoke dry tobacco pouches and meddle in his affairs. Ji Xiaolan's few small habits led to a public case, which can be described as "holding the sheep by the hand"...
Ji Xiaolan is a famous literati and ** in the Qing Dynasty that everyone has heard of, with a smart and hearty personality. He has lived in the capital for many years, likes to go to the street to play in his spare time, and often goes to the antique market to appreciate those antique gadgets, and has the opportunity to shop. On this day, he brought a servant to visit the antique street again, and saw a tube of dry tobacco pouch on the stall. Because he himself likes to smoke dry tobacco on weekdays, he stops and holds it in his hand to look at it carefully.
The dry tobacco pouch looks like it's been around for some years. The mouthpiece and pipe are made of fine copper, which is smooth and flawless, and does not stain on the spot. The smoke pipe is not a common bamboo pipe, but a natural dark yellow wood, about two feet long, showing a naturally curved arc, fine texture, exquisite workmanship, silk wood grain can be seen on the surface, because of years of palm finger rubbing, it looks oily. The top of the pipe is engraved with four small block letters with the head of the fly, "癸未Midsummer". The whole pouch is well-proportioned and has a simple shape.
Ji Xiaolan played with it, and when she had the heart to buy it, she asked the price, and the stall owner was a dark and thin middle-aged man, and he said that he wanted five taels of silver. Ji Xiaolan was thinking about how to bargain, when she heard an angry roar in her ear: "What five taels of silver!."Liu Jigui, you really stole my cigarette pouch here and sold it!Thankfully, I came after me, pay me back quickly!”
Ji Xiaolan looked at the person, who was similar in age to the stall owner, and looked slightly white and fat, and thought to herself that the stall owner's name was Liu Jigui. The man rushed to grab the cigarette pouch angrily, but Liu Jigui grabbed it and shouted, "Wen Youde, don't talk nonsense!."This cigarette pouch is obviously mine, I want to sell it, what does it matter to you!The two of them argued and quarreled. Ji Xiaolan was a warm-hearted person, so she persuaded from the side: "If you have something to say, why quarrel?"”
Liu Jigui said: "The guest officer doesn't know, he and I are neighbors. I bought this pouch elsewhere and used it for many years. Now there is a lack of money to sell. He said that this cigarette pouch was his, and who would believe it without evidence!”
The man named Wen Youde sneered and said, "Since you say that this cigarette pouch is yours, can you tell that it is exquisite?"Liu Jigui said: "What's so particular about a cigarette pouch, I only remember that when I saw it looking good, I bought it for four taels of silver." What do you say about it!”
Ji Xiaolan was trying to understand the difference of this cigarette pouch, and when she heard the word "exquisite", she hurriedly asked Wen Youde: "Yes, what do you say about it?"”
Wen Youde looked at him for a while before saying, "Sir, it's a long story. This pouch was left by my father. At that time, he was an old man who loved to smoke, and when he was old, he had cough and asthma, and he was prone to illness when he smoked, so his mother did not allow him to smoke again. But he was not allowed to smoke, and complained all day long. It was I who sought medical treatment for him everywhere, and I got a different prescription from a wandering man, saying that there is a kind of yellow rattan in the 100,000 mountains of Guangxi, which is a wood when it is young and grows into a vine, and its quality is very poisonous. Take the base of the old vine to make a smoke pipe, which can restrain the tobacco poison, and is the way to fight poison with poison.
It was also a coincidence, when a relative or friend was doing business and wanted to go to Guangxi to sell goods, I asked him to help, and asked someone to buy an old yellow vine in the deep mountains over there, and spent three dollars of silver. He brought it back and hired a skilled craftsman to make this tube of tobacco pouch, and his father used it to smoke, as long as it was not excessive, he would not have coughing and wheezing, and his old man was very happy.
At the beginning, it was really a lot of work to make this cigarette pouch, but after my father died, this cigarette pouch also became my thought of him, and I often took it out to use, wipe and maintain. Up to now, this cigarette pouch has been used for more than 20 years, and it is worth more than ten taels of silver. Yesterday, Liu Jigui came to my house and saw it, so he begged me for a cigarette and went home with it, but he never came back. Today I went to his house to ask for it, and the person and the cigarette pouch were not at home, so I guessed that something was not good, and chased all the way here, and sure enough, the stolen goods were obtained. He didn't admit it, so I had to drag him to the county government to fight a lawsuit!I think my husband is an elder, could you please go and testify with him??”
Ji Xiaolan heard that he was reasonable, and she already knew it in her heart. Then he smiled and said: "A pipe is not a big deal, but as soon as you enter the yamen, you will have a grudge." Harmony between neighbors is precious, and it is better to make big things small. I'm here to give you peace and peace, okay??”
When Wen and Liu heard this, they didn't trust this stranger a little and hesitated. Ji Xiaolan's servant had been watching for a long time, and couldn't help but interject at this time: "I said that the two of you 'chant scriptures all day long, and don't know the true Buddha', this is Lord Ji of the Ministry of Rites, who has a lot of positions than your county officials, and begging him to take care of your little matter is not better than going to the county government to eat a board?"”
A word woke up the person in the dream, and the two hurriedly apologized, saying, "Just ask Master Ji to help us break it." Ji Xiaolan waved her hand and said with a smile: "There is no need to be so formal. Let's talk about this cigarette pouch. One of you said it would cost five taels, and the other said it was worth at least ten taels. I'll take out fifteen taels to make a bet with the two of you, and as long as you two promise to do a little thing, I will be able to judge the true owner of the cigarette pouch. If I am wrong, count me as a nosyman, and punish me for buying a cigarette pouch with fifteen taels, and you two will take the money as much as you wantIf I am right, the money will be returned to me, and the pouch will be returned to its rightful owner. How?”
There were already many people around to watch the excitement, and when they heard that this rich old man made such a bet, they felt that it was fresh and interesting, and they all applauded and agreed. Someone else flatteringly borrowed a small stool and asked Master Ji to sit down. Wen and Liu didn't suffer a loss even if they calculated it, and they both nodded in agreement. Ji Xiaolan said: "The matter is also simple, in front of everyone, you two will use this cigarette pouch to smoke three bags of cigarettes each, and you will see the difference after smoking." ”
The two thought to themselves, anyway, this pipe can curb tobacco poison, so why is it difficult to smoke three bags in a row. So I squatted down on the spot, one bag for you and one bag for me, and smoked six bags of cigarettes in turns. Give the pipe to Master Ji to check. Ji Xiaolan looked at the cigarette pouch, smiled and said, "Liu Jigui, I think you lost." This cigarette pouch is virtuous. Liu Jigui said unconvinced: "How can you see it?"”
Ji Xiaolan said: "This year is the year of Gengxu, and this pipe is engraved on it'Deceased', that is, it has been used for twenty-seven years. There is no significant wear on the mouth of this pipe, which shows that the owner takes great care of it. But after you smoke each bag of cigarettes, you are used to slapping the cigarette holder on the stone floor, shaking out the ashes, and knocking it all year round, and this cigarette holder can still be preserved to this dayLooking at Wen Youde again, after smoking each bag of cigarettes, he pulled off the hairpin on his head, and carefully picked out the ashes of the cigarette for fear of damaging the pipe, which seemed to be taken for granted. So, let's talk about it, who is the original owner?”
Everyone said: "Master Ji has a point!."The dry tobacco pouch should be civilized and virtuous. Liu Jigui watched Ji Xiaolan put away the silver and handed the cigarette pouch back to Wen Youde, but he was speechless and had to leave in disgrace.
Hahaha!The crowd looked at his back and laughed.
Ancient vines deep in the mountains. 
Qing Dynasty literati. 
Dry tobacco pouches.