"Boss, how much are these beaded flowers? Could you show them to me?"
No sooner had Zhuang Rui put the item in than a woman in her forties asked to see it. Zhuang Rui looked up at the woman and noticed that she was wearing a bracelet with good quality jadeite on her wrist, and her clothes were quite luxurious, so she seemed to be a wealthy person.
"It's hard to say the price of this item; it's an antique passed down from the Qing Dynasty. If you're interested, you can take a look..."
Zhuang Rui opened the counter with the key, pinched the bottom of the beaded flower with two fingers, took it out and placed it in the woman's palm.
The center of this beaded flower features a pearl the size of a fingernail as its main material. It is then crafted using the technique of gold inlay to create a phoenix nodding its head. Additionally, it is inlaid with some rubies and emeralds. This design and craftsmanship is extremely complex and is virtually unseen in modern times.
Although there were no advanced machines in ancient times, the skills of many craftsmen were ingenious and far superior to those of today. This beaded flower looks simple, but the production process is extremely complicated. This lady has a good eye and took a liking to it at first glance.
The woman held the beaded flower in her hand and examined it for a while, then said to Zhuang Rui, "Not bad, I quite like this. Boss, name your price..."
"Well... let's talk inside, everyone. I'm sorry, the items in this display case have just been put on the shelves and are not for sale to the public at the moment..."
There were quite a few people gathered around the counter, all clamoring for Zhuang Rui to bring out the items he had his eye on for a closer look. Zhuang Rui had no choice but to announce that he would not be doing business today.
These items are worth over five million in total, and Zhuang Rui simply couldn't possibly show them all to them. Even when you buy a phone in a mall, they only give you a plastic case to look at. "Hey boss, we're in business, how are we supposed to buy if you don't let us see them? And why did you give them to that woman who wanted to see them?"
Some people in the crowd started to jeer.
Zhuang Rui frowned upon hearing this and said, "The items in my display case are all antiques, not those fakes displayed on shelves. They are all priced at over ten thousand yuan. If you are interested, I can take them to the back room so you can examine them at your leisure..."
As soon as Zhuang Rui said this, most of the onlookers dispersed. The boss had made his point very clear: if they wanted to see, they could go inside to talk, but if they went in and didn't buy anything, they would lose face. Most of these people were tourists from out of town, and they were generally unwilling to spend a lot of money to buy things here.
"Old Zhao, write a note and stick it on the counter: not for sale today..."
Before inviting the lady into the inner room, Zhuang Rui turned to Zhao Hanxuan and told him that he hadn't told Monkey the prices of these items yet. No matter how eloquent Monkey was, he would be useless if he didn't know the prices.
Zhuang Rui has no worries about selling his items. Panjiayuan has a huge daily flow of visitors, including many collectors from all over the country who come here to browse and find treasures. All his items are genuine, and he is confident that people who are interested will buy them.
Zhuang Rui brought Da Xiong and the monkey to work today and put these things up there by the way. It's not like he's going to start selling them today. If he hadn't seen that this lady really wanted to buy them, Zhuang Rui wouldn't have invited her inside.
Zhao Hanxuan also renovated the partitioned room in Xuanruizhai. Perhaps considering that Zhuang Rui is a young man who likes fashion, Zhao Hanxuan put a sofa around the room and a coffee table in the middle, while the original square table and chairs were moved to another place.
Uncle De and Qin Xuanbing had just followed them into the inner room. After taking the beaded hairpin from the lady, Uncle De put on his reading glasses and examined it for a while. Somewhat surprised, he asked Zhuang Rui, "Xiao Zhuang, where did you get this? This thing is no ordinary item. Even in the past, only the Imperial Workshop had this kind of craftsmanship..."
"Uncle De, the items are absolutely legitimate, no one will hold us accountable. Tell me, what's the approximate market price for this stuff right now? I don't really know much about it..."
Zhuang Rui smiled and poured tea for Uncle De and the lady. It was inconvenient to say here that it was brought from Myanmar. This item belonged to the miscellaneous antique category, so Uncle De could give him a price.
However, what was a little strange was that the lady didn't say anything after entering the house. After sitting down, she listened to Zhuang Rui and Uncle De's conversation. Perhaps she wanted to observe them for a while longer?
"You brat, you don't even know the price, yet you dare to put it out for sale?"
Uncle De laughed and scolded Zhuang Rui, then reached out and took the magnifying glass Zhuang Rui handed him, and began to examine the items again.
"This item isn't gilded; the gold used to inlay the pearls is pure gold, and the surrounding silver is antique silver. These gemstones were likely tributes from Laos and Myanmar in the past, and are quite valuable. Most importantly, it was made in the imperial workshops. In ancient times, it would have been a gift from the emperor to his concubines. Furthermore, this craftsmanship is now lost. If it were to go to auction, this beaded flower would fetch around 800,000 to 1,000,000 yuan, and it still has significant potential for appreciation in the future..."
After examining the beaded flower several times, Uncle De gave his assessment.
"So expensive?"
Zhuang Rui was startled by Uncle De's words. He had originally priced the beaded flower at 80,000 RMB, but Uncle De had increased the price by more than ten times.
Zhuang Rui's surprise wasn't solely due to the beaded flower. If that were the case, then most of the things he brought from Myanmar were gifts from the palace, meaning their prices would be many times higher than he had estimated.
"Is this how you do business? Everyone else complains that the price is too low, but you complain that it's too high..."
Qin Xuanbing, who was standing to the side, couldn't stand it any longer and nudged Zhuang Rui, which made everyone in the room laugh.
"Hehe, it's just that I'm not very good at it yet. It's not shameful in front of the teacher..."
Zhuang Rui scratched his head, looked at the woman who wanted to buy the beaded flower, and said, "Madam, my teacher said that this beaded flower is priced between 800,000 and 1,000,000 yuan. I'll compromise and set the price at 900,000 yuan. You don't need to rush to buy it. You can have an expert come to the store to take a look before making a decision..."
Zhuang Rui could tell that the jade bracelet the lady was wearing was worth over a million yuan, indicating that she definitely had the purchasing power to buy this beaded flower.
What Zhuang Rui said next was also quite deliberate. He said, "I've set a price for the item, but I don't care if it's genuine or not. You can have an expert look at it." This shows that he has confidence in his own item.
"No need for that, boss, I've decided, I'll take this beaded flower, at your price..."
To Zhuang Rui, Qin Xuanbing, and the others' astonishment, the woman didn't hesitate at all and immediately decided to buy it. After she finished speaking, she took out her phone, dialed a number, mentioned Zhuang Rui's store name, and hung it up, seemingly to notify someone to come over.
"Excuse me, ma'am, do you know him? Why didn't you try to bargain with the price he quoted?"
Qin Xuanbing pointed at Zhuang Rui and asked the woman, "This is a bit strange."
If it weren't for the woman's rather advanced age, Qin Xuanbing would have suspected that she had some kind of relationship with Zhuang Rui. She had never seen anyone buy things like this before. The price was whatever the seller quoted, and that was the price, without even haggling. This wasn't like buying cabbage at the market.
"I not only know this boss, I also know Teacher Ma..."
The woman's words made Qin Xuanbing tense up immediately. Although the woman was a bit older, she still had a lot of charm. Who knew if Zhuang Rui and she had some kind of relationship?
If Zhuang Rui knew Qin Xuanbing's thoughts, he would be so ashamed that he would jump into the moat. Is he really that kind of person who doesn't care about anything?
"Oh? You know me?"
Uncle De was also taken aback. His surname was Ma, but he wasn't well-known in Beijing. Instead, he was more recognized in Jiangsu and Zhejiang.
"Haha, I met Mr. Zhuang Rui on TV. Teacher Ma is an appraisal expert from the Jiangsu and Zhejiang region. The items you appraised are definitely worth this price. Gentlemen, here is my business card..."
The woman took out a box of business cards from her purse and handed one to each of Uncle Zhuang Ruide and Qin Xuanbing, then said, "With such a distinguished teacher and student, I have even less reason to buy counterfeit goods..."
"Qi Zhu, Vice President of China XX Group..."
Uncle De looked at the business card and started reading it aloud. Suddenly, a look of realization appeared on his face. He said, "Oh, I know, you're Chairman Qi's daughter from XX Group, right? I remember when I met Chairman Qi a few years ago, there seemed to be a girl with him. Was that you?"
Upon hearing this, Qi Zhu laughed and said, "Yes, Teacher Ma remembers now, that girl is me. Actually, my name is Qi Zhenzhu, so I especially like pearls and wanted to buy this pearl flower..."
"Get out, get out! If you don't leave, I'm calling security!"
Just as Uncle De was catching up with Qi Zhu, Zhao Hanxuan's roar suddenly came from inside the shop.
Chapter 567 Idiot VS Moron
"Uncle De, Sister Qi Zhu, please have a seat, I'll go out and take a look..."
At that moment, not only Zhao Hanxuan's cursing could be heard outside, but also the arguing of another man. Both of them had loud voices, and the noise disturbed the peace inside. Zhuang Rui apologized to the group and got up to leave.
"Old Zhao, what's going on? Let's talk this out, let go of my hand first..."
As Zhuang Rui walked forward, he saw Zhao Hanxuan grabbing a man by the collar and pulling him away forcefully. After hearing Zhuang Rui's words, Zhao Hanxuan let go.
"Get out of here right now, or I'll call security..."
After yelling at the man, Zhao Hanxuan turned to Zhuang Rui and said angrily, "Boss Zhuang, it's someone selling antique inkstones door-to-door. A few days ago, someone wanted to buy antique inkstones, and now this guy is here selling them. He's definitely one of those 'scammers' again. Do they think I, Old Zhao, am easy to bully or what...?"
"Hey, how can you talk like that? I heard you collect inkstones, so I brought some old items from my home to show you. If you don't want them, just say so, don't be so hurtful..."
When Zhao Hanxuan said this, the person who had just argued with him became unhappy and started shouting loudly. It's innate for Chinese people to love watching a good show. As soon as a quarrel broke out at the entrance of the shop, a crowd of people quickly gathered outside, completely surrounding Xuanrui Zhai.
Zhuang Rui looked at the person who was speaking. He was a middle-aged man, about thirty-one or thirty-two years old, not much older than himself. He was dressed fairly well, but his eyes were not very pleasing. While speaking, he kept staring at Qin Xuanbing, who was following behind him.
"You're spewing insults? I'd like to hit you too, you believe me?"
Zhao Hanxuan was truly enraged and no longer cared about the refinement of a cultured person. He rolled up his sleeves and was about to go forward and have a live showdown with the man. Zhuang Rui quickly grabbed Zhao Hanxuan's waist and pulled him back into the store with great effort. It seemed that this old Zhao was venting his anger at being cheated before the New Year on this man.
"Go ahead and hit me! You dare to hit me once? I've never seen such an unreasonable person before! Everyone, I came here to sell inkstones, and this person not only doesn't want them, but also tries to hit me. Is this how you do business?"
The middle-aged man was genuinely afraid that Zhao Hanxuan would make a move. He figured he couldn't beat the chubby, fair-skinned old Zhao. He had already retreated outside the shop and, seeing that a crowd had gathered outside, began to loudly denounce "Xuanrui Zhai".
"What's so strange about a big store bullying its customers?"
"I heard this shop has changed owners, and they seem to be getting quite irritated..."
"Who would dare to enter a store like this and buy anything?"
Immediately, the onlookers began to discuss among themselves. They were talking badly about others, and they didn't suffer any loss themselves. They weren't afraid of being overheard by the Xuanrui Zhai people. This wasn't ancient times, where the Imperial Censor could be convicted of slander.
Upon hearing the man's words, Zhuang Rui frowned immediately. "Could this be another shop trying to cause trouble?"
But thinking about it, Lao Zhao has been working here for several years, and I've never shown my face. I don't have anyone I don't get along with in Panjiayuan.
Zhuang Rui was quite annoyed that he had just closed the deal with Qi Zhu and felt like he was on a winning streak, but then this unexpected trouble happened.
"Hey, I'm the owner of this shop. Come in and talk to me. What's going on?"
After Zhuang Rui pressed Zhao Hanxuan into a chair, he walked to the shop entrance and called out to the man. At the same time, he gave Da Xiong and Monkey a look. The two immediately stepped forward. Da Xiong dragged the middle-aged man into the shop, while Monkey went outside and shouted, "It's nothing, it's nothing. Gentlemen, you can all leave now. There's nothing to see..."
Some onlookers wanted to go into the shop, but were stopped by Monkey and the other two shop assistants. When they realized there was nothing exciting to see, they dispersed. Panjiayuan has such a large flow of people every day, it's normal for a small incident to happen, and it will soon be forgotten.
"What...what do you want? Don't think I'm scared just because there are more of you..."
After being half-pulled and half-dragged into the shop by Da Xiong, the middle-aged man's face turned pale and his voice trembled. Outside, he was on his home turf, supported by so many troublemakers, but inside the shop, he was at the mercy of others.
"Alright, what's your name? Sit down, have some water, and tell me what happened."
Although Zhuang Rui didn't have a good first impression of this person, he didn't want him to cause trouble in the store. Business people hate this kind of person the most; he's like a fly, and you can't swat him away. His buzzing is so annoying.
“My name is Kong Shixian. What else could have happened? I held up this inkstone and asked that person if he would buy it, and he immediately started cursing. I said, ‘Even people from the capital shouldn’t act like this, right? Isn’t this bullying us outsiders?’”
The man named Kong Shixian was clearly lacking in confidence. He had just been talking about Zhao Hanxuan's intention to beat someone up, but now he had escalated the issue to the point of portraying it as a case of Beijingers bullying others.
"Alright, alright, don't shout anymore. Neither he nor I are from Beijing, so we can't bully you..."
Zhuang Rui waved his hand to interrupt the man, and continued, "Take out your antique inkstone and let me see. If it's fake, you can complain wherever you want. Panjiayuan has a department that specializes in handling these kinds of issues, and you can go and report it there..."
"Boss, what are you looking at? This guy is trying to sell a broken brick as an inkstone. Nobody would buy it..."
Before Zhuang Rui could finish speaking, Zhao Hanxuan, who was standing to the side, stood up indignantly. He wasn't cursing as soon as he entered the door, as Kong Shixian had said, but after looking at the things, he simply couldn't hold back anymore.
"If you don't know its value, don't say it's bad. This item has been passed down in my family for hundreds of years..."
Kong Shixian's appearance lacked any of his ancestors' demeanor; he looked more like a vendor haggling over prices at a market.
Zhuang Rui wasn't interested in hearing any stories right now. While other things in the antique trade might be unique, these stories could go on for three days and three nights without repeating themselves. He quickly waved his hand and said, "Alright, take the items out and let me see..."
"This is truly a family heirloom..."
The man muttered something as he placed the cloth bundle in his hand on the table. When he opened it, Zhuang Rui was immediately stunned.
"I said, is this an inkstone?"
Zhuang Rui looked at the dark, unremarkable thing, which was about 18x16 centimeters in size and six or seven centimeters thick, and couldn't help but feel a little amused and exasperated.
"Look, this surface is so smooth, it's for grinding, what else could it be but an inkstone?"
Kong Shixian's words almost made Zhuang Rui burst out laughing. What kind of logic is that? Marble floors are smoother, so are they also inkstones?
"Alright, this thing of yours is just an ancient city brick. If someone likes it, it might sell for three or five hundred yuan. Stop dawdling here and let's go..."
Zhuang Rui recognized the origin of this thing. There are some people who collect ancient city bricks now, but he doesn't have a taste for them and isn't very interested in this kind of thing.
"Hey, hey, this is unfair! It's clearly an inkstone, but you're calling it a broken brick. How am I supposed to sell it now? No way, you have to buy it..."