Sunny day in Luoyang, Saturday, October 13, 2018

I passed by Longmen Antique City in the afternoon. I was in a hurry to go home and write a manuscript, but suddenly I remembered the old book I bought at the second-hand book market last week. The half-farmed thatched cottage of Mr. Li Xiaobo, the author of the book "The Traces of Time", is here. I just got through the phone. He is a person who has kept a diary since he was a child. He also insists on spending 40 minutes every day to recite the entire Tao Te Ching. people. I always visit the antique mall when I meet someone from the journal, so I did not hesitate to enter the antique mall. This mall has been open for a few years and this is my first time to visit. Unexpectedly, this antique mall is quite high-end and may be one of the best in Luoyang. Unfortunately, business is quite sluggish, there are very few customers, and most shops are not open. I saw one store that seemed to be doing business, and the store was very popular. I immediately realized that the owner of the store was Li Shengbo, the author of "The Remains of Time". But when I looked up, I saw that the store's sign was "Baoyi" and not "Half-Plowed Thatched Cottage." However, I saw the calligraphy work clearly written "Li Shengbo" (the name on the ID card). name). He said hello immediately, and sure enough, he was busy closing a deal. A big customer was selecting calligraphy works, and the host was making introductions seriously.

So I visited the antique city on my own and quickly visited. There were really few open shops in the antique city. It seemed that there were at least a dozen houses in the antique city hanging calligraphy works signed by Li Xiaobo. After turning the corner and going to the back, I finally found the "Half-Plowed Thatched Cottage". The book "The Remains of Time" was placed outside the doors of several nearby houses. There must be hundreds of copies. It seems that it is just as the title of the book's postscript says, "Quan is a business card." , visitors can pick up their own books. I also took two copies and prepared to ask Li Xiaobo to sign them before leaving and to visit again another day.

At this time, the business should have been completed. Li Xiaobo took me to his half-cultivated thatched cottage studio. There was no one seated in the studio. I stood and asked him to paint the painting that attracted me the most. "Only smart people are willing to work stupidly" was written on the title page of another book he received as a gift, "Not a Confucian, Not a Businessman, Not a Politician - Who Am I?" Because this sentence is also the true meaning of Mr. Li Shengbo's counterattack success in life after getting involved in calligraphy. Of course, it is also the only way to successfully learn to keep a journal. Look at how stupid Zeng Guofan was when he insisted on writing his diary in small regular script for 32 years!