Li Du smiled and shook his head. "This report is for the students. It doesn't have that much influence."
Sophie listened in silence. When the middle-aged man went home in disappointment, she asked in surprise, "Did I hear that right? Your fellow townsman wants to demolish this place?"
Mr. and Mrs. Martin had been praising the charm of these ancient buildings, so Li Du did not say much. In fact, in their county, these ancient buildings were not popular at all.
Their county was a small place. There were no scholars or tourists, so these ancient buildings could not generate economic value.
The government was not a vandal. They decided to demolish some old houses and buildings a decade or two ago to expand the urban area, attract investment, and develop the economy.
However, they were not the only ones doing this. Many governments around the country were doing the same. Some valuable ancient buildings in big cities were also demolished.
This incident caused many architects and knowledgeable people to protest, believing that these buildings were the wealth left by their ancestors and should be preserved for scientific research and tourism.
This was not a problem. Indeed, some ancient buildings were very valuable.
After receiving so much criticism, local governments became conservative and stopped the demolition of ancient buildings.
However, it was not only the big cities and developed areas that became conservative. The leaders of small cities like theirs were also restrained.
In order to avoid public criticism, they simply preserved some of the ancient buildings. As long as it did not affect the development and construction of the urban area, they would preserve it.
However, there were no tourists in their county, and the ancient buildings could not be converted into profits. The people who lived there could not get money, and they were reluctant to live in dilapidated houses.
In recent years, the city had been developing faster and faster, and the economy was getting better. The value of the land in the county had risen. Many places would become rich when they were demolished.
However, the old buildings could not be demolished. The government was not willing to demolish them, and the developers could not afford to demolish them. Therefore, they were preserved, which made the local people who saw their acquaintances become rich because of the demolition.
They did not care about the scientific research value of their houses. As ordinary people, they only hoped that they could get more money so that their children could buy a better mobile phone, live a better life, and get a better car.
Li Du told Sophie and Mrs. Martin about this. Mrs. Martin said, "The people need to live, and their needs often conflict with the decisions of the upper echelons."
Mr. Martin suddenly asked, "You just said that the patterns on these bricks were set up during the construction of the city wall to prevent masonry manufacturers from producing shoddy products?"
Li Du smiled but did not say anything. He knew that Mr. Martin had discovered the problem, but he did not want to say it.
These bricks were specially made for the construction of the city walls, so why would they appear in these houses?
This was another matter. In fact, many of the old houses in the area had already been flattened and replaced with red brick houses.
Later, the government tore down part of the city wall to expand the county. At that time, there was already a trend of protecting old buildings. Therefore, the local people felt that it was profitable, so they picked up the bricks that appeared when the city wall was torn down and rebuilt the houses.
They thought that the government would develop tourism and make use of this opportunity to become rich. In the end, the government did think of ways to develop tourism, but it did not have any characteristics and could not be developed.
In this way, the local residents had no other choice. Building a house was not like building blocks. They could not tear it down, build it, and then tear it down. They could only continue living like this.
Li Du had experienced the process. According to the old custom, there was an important step in building a new house. On that day, the owner of the house would sprinkle sugar, snacks, and small steamed buns. When he was a child, he was short on necessities and loved to fight for these things with his friends.
He told Sophie some interesting stories about snatching these things, and recalled his childhood. Suddenly, he felt a little emotional.
Time really flies!
He could not help but release the little bug, thinking that it was a pity that this little guy could not travel back in time. Otherwise, he would really want to go back to his childhood to have a look.
Coincidentally, just as he took out the little bug to have a look, someone suddenly came up to him and asked, "Hey, bro, these foreign friends of yours want to buy antiques?"
Li Du asked, "You have antiques?"
The man looked around with shifty eyes and said seriously, "Yes, it's a good thing. Take a look …"
As he spoke, he took out a painting from his backpack and showed it to him. "This is something I dug out a few days ago when I was digging in the cellar at home. It is definitely an antique! It might even be an antique from the foreigners! "
When the painting was opened, it was an oil painting. There were some old colors on it due to oxidation. The red was no longer bright, the green was no longer eye-catching, and the gold was no longer gorgeous. It indeed had an ancient feel to it.
The painting was of a Chinese girl, dressed like a braid from the Qing Dynasty. She wore a vest with a pipa front, decorated with small butterflies, and a skirt with a phoenix tail. It looked quite authentic.
However, the little bug was not interested in the oil painting, which looked very old, and was not excited by its appearance.
Li Du naturally understood the reason and laughed. "Bro, I believe that you dug this thing out, but it was not for a long time. Otherwise, it would have long rotted underground, right?"
The middle-aged man was not convinced and said, "There was a box in it. When I first opened it, the color was beautiful. Really, why don't you let your foreign friends take a look and let them study it? You can find an expert to appraise it. It is definitely old. "
Li Du shook his head and laughed. "If this thing is really an antique, you can let an expert appraise it. Once it is exposed to the police station, you will get a reward of 500 dollars and a silk banner. Are you sure?"
"If you don't believe me, forget it." The middle-aged man put away the oil painting resentfully, curled his lips, and left.
The people who were watching the show laughed. Someone said, "This young man is not stupid."
"Who would believe such tricks nowadays?"
"That's right, this guy is also interesting. He actually made an oil painting as an antique. Isn't this thing made by foreigners? We Chinese should make an ink painting."
Hearing their mockery, the middle-aged man was angry and said, "What do you know? I really dug it out. Just you wait, I will sell it sooner or later. I will definitely sell it for a good price."
As he spoke, he turned to look at Li Du and said, "Young man, you talk big. You are blocking your friend's way of making money. Wait for them to come after you in the future."
Li Du hated liars the most. Seeing that he was being so sarcastic, especially since he had just been cheated by those b * stards from Soft Company, he decided not to give this man any face.
He quickly caught up with the man and sneered, "You said that your painting is an antique, right? Well, give it to me. Today, I will show you what an expert is! "
With that, he used the little bug's ability to turn back time.
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