“Swallow, let’s go there!” Zhou Xuan waved his hand.
The driver immediately started the car. Zhou Xuan and Wei Xiaoyu exchanged a smile. They looked very ordinary. The driver didn't give them another glance and continued driving.
Not familiar with the city, Zhou Xuan didn't care. The driver arrived in half an hour. As they entered the street, Zhou Xuan saw a row of shops with signs that read "So-and-so Antique Shop," and knew they had arrived.
After paying the fare, Zhou Xuan and Wei Xiaoyu got out of the car. Zhou Xuan looked at the street ahead and smiled, saying, "Xiaoyu, we're here. How much do you know about antiques?"
"I'll just pretend I'm deaf and dumb. I don't know anything about that stuff!" Wei Xiaoyu shook her head and replied.
The two walked along the street looking at the shops. These antique shops were not in the same league as his Zhou Zhang shop at all, in terms of the value of the goods. These shops were much larger than his, but there were very few genuine items on the shelves.
There were a few genuine items, but they weren't worth much. The most common items were jade worth a few hundred yuan, but none of the porcelain or bronze items were genuine; they were all fake. However, the surface was made to look very real, but no matter how real they were, they were far less authentic than the fakes seized in Fu Yuanshan's case.
It's true that there are no genuine antiques and no rare gems among collectibles. The antique world is all about cracking down on the genuine, not the fake. The authorities are cracking down hard on genuine items, mainly to prevent the growing trend of tomb raiding. People are willing to take risks for money, one after another, and there will never be a moment of peace.
In all antique markets and shops, it is now difficult to find a truly genuine or rare item; fakes and counterfeits are not surprising, and there are plenty of them.
They visited seven or eight shops in a row, and almost all of them were like this. The shop assistants in these antique shops were very enthusiastic and tried their best to introduce the items. However, judging from Zhou Xuan and Wei Xiaoyu's clothes, they were probably only introducing jade items that cost a few hundred yuan each. It seemed that they were not rich sheep, and it would be good if they could make a few hundred yuan.
Wei Xiaoyu didn't understand and didn't say anything, she just followed Zhou Xuan and watched without making any comments.
Zhou Xuan's current level of ice energy is only about 10%, which is not enough for him to do other more difficult tasks, but it is very easy for him to detect these objects. These jade pieces are just inferior jadeite pieces, with B and C grade jadeite mixed in. In terms of value, they are worth at most thirty or so yuan, but they are well made, with good luster and color, and look no different from high-quality jadeite.
Jiangbei is a tourist city, and many tourists like to buy jade and other trinkets for their family and relatives. However, buying from these antique shops is different from buying from street stalls in tourist attractions.
When buying from street stalls at tourist attractions, customers tend to assume the items are fake. But it's different when buying from antique shops. In such an antique-style place, filled with the atmosphere of genuine antiques, it's like comparing buying from a small country shop to buying from a top-brand supermarket. You can easily tell which is real and which is fake, and you'll naturally have more confidence in which one.
Generally speaking, items costing a few hundred yuan are not considered expensive. In small cities, rural areas, and even large cities, many people are from the lower and middle classes. They can only dream about jewelry that costs thousands or tens of thousands of yuan. The only possibility they might buy is a similar-looking but substandard item to save face. In reality, they know that these items are substandard or of poor quality because they can't possibly buy something worth tens of thousands of yuan for a few hundred yuan.
However, substandard and inferior products are better than pure counterfeits. Counterfeits are made of glass or plastic and are completely fake. Substandard products are just goods of relatively lower quality.
However, they still don't understand the intricacies of the matter. Substandard jade and inferior B/C grade jade are two different things. Substandard and inferior jade are not harmful to the human body, but B/C grade jade made by soaking in strong acid and filling with silicone is harmful to the human body. When worn on the body, the residual strong acid molecules will cause harm to the body. Moreover, after one or two years, the bright color will fade and can never be restored. Even if you use fake methods, you can't make it look like that.
No matter how much the shop assistants boasted or talked, they couldn't fool Zhou Xuan. Although Zhou Xuan had never made counterfeits, his experiences were beyond what these ordinary shop assistants could imagine. He knew all the methods of counterfeiting and couldn't fool him. Moreover, no counterfeit goods could hide from him.
These jade pieces only cost a few dozen yuan to make, but they sell for more than ten times that amount. The profit is simply outrageous. Unlike Zhou Xuan, who sells only the best finds or top-quality items made with ice energy, the high prices are to be expected. But not all antique shops in the world have his capabilities. He relies on a few hundred yuan in income, accumulating little by little. He can make seven or eight or even ten such small deals a day, which adds up to several thousand yuan in pure profit. As for genuine antiques, where can you find so many?
Most of the antiques actually traded are probably fakes, but in the antique trade, if you buy a fake, you can only swallow your pride and bear it. That's the rule in this industry. It tests your eyesight and skills. If you get fooled, you can only blame yourself for not being good enough.
Zhou Xuan was definitely not going to fall for such a trick, but after visiting several stores, he hadn't seen anything as genuinely fake as the one he'd seen at Fu Yuanshan's place.
Zhou Xuan had also tentatively asked if they had any good antiques, but the other party looked at him and Wei Xiaoyu and seemed to doubt them. Clothes make the man, and gold makes the Buddha. How could someone dressed so poorly buy antiques worth hundreds of thousands or millions?
Zhou Xuan smiled wryly and followed Wei Xiaoyu out of the shop and walked forward to another shop called "Stone Record". The name had a certain charm, like "Dream of the Red Chamber". From the name, one could guess that the main business of this antique shop was jade.
Once inside, the store's layout and format were not much different from other stores, but there were indeed more jade pieces in the display cases, with a much wider variety and more styles.
Zhou Xuan looked around and saw that the glass cabinet contained jade pieces, while the shelves held porcelain. There were many more jade pieces, and each one had a price tag displayed from left to right.
The lowest price is over one hundred, then over two hundred, over three hundred, and at the very end on the right, there are bracelets worth over seven hundred thousand, which is indeed more than other stores.
As for the bracelet worth over 700,000 yuan, Zhou Xuan tested it with ice energy and found that it was genuine. However, it had been tampered with. It was not the purest old mine jadeite with a glassy texture, but rather a watery texture with a small amount of impurities. However, it had been processed in a way that made it look similar to the jadeite with a glassy texture, with high transparency and an attractive color.
In terms of actual value, the cost of this bracelet, including its craftsmanship, is no more than 10,000 yuan, so asking for 760,000 yuan is clearly an exaggeration.
But even though it's there, no one dares to say it's overpriced. People just marvel at how good it is and wonder when they'll be able to afford such a nice thing. Instead, they don't suspect it's a worthless defective product.
Zhou Xuan couldn't help but sigh. To be able to clearly mark up something worth 10,000 to 760,000, this shop owner was really heartless. If it were him, he definitely wouldn't sell it for more than 15,000.
Zhou Xuan has strict rules for his store. He's not afraid to sell high-priced goods, but he can't sell counterfeit goods. That's his principle. Anyway, he doesn't have to worry about the source of goods. He just needs to compete with other stores by focusing on quality.
The staff at this "Stone Story" shop are also different from other shops. There are two beautiful female staff members at the jade counter, while an old man sitting inside is in charge of selling the antique shelves.
Zhou Xuan looked around for a while but didn't see what he was looking for. Just as he was about to call Wei Xiaoyu to go out with him, a man in his thirties, dressed in a slick and polished manner, suddenly came out from the inner room and smiled at a girl behind the counter: "Xiaolin, there's a dinner party tonight. Come with me after get off work. Same old rule, double pay!"
When Zhou Xuan heard the man's voice, he was stunned. It sounded familiar. He looked at the man again and still felt that he was familiar, but he couldn't remember where he had seen him before.
The girl behind the counter giggled, "Manager Fang, double pay won't do. Going there will just mean more drinking. I learned my lesson the hard way last time I drank so much... I don't know... I don't know how many hands I had... hehe..."
Zhou Xuan understood what she meant when he heard her words, but it wasn't surprising that the girl spoke so frivolously. However, when he heard her call her "Manager Fang," Zhou Xuan's heart skipped a beat, and he suddenly realized what she meant!
Look at that man again, and it really is him!
This person turned out to be one of the first people Zhou Xuan met when he first entered this industry. He was Fang Dacheng, the manager of Chen Sanyan's shop in Jing Shi Zhai in the south, who was also Chen Sanyan's brother-in-law.
This was Zhou Xuan's first opponent. After Chen Sanyan left, Fang Dacheng made things difficult for him at every turn. In the end, he managed to drive him away when Chen Sanyan was not around. Although Zhou Xuan did not suffer any losses, the things Fang Dacheng did to him were truly hateful. At that time, he even hired someone to attack him and Fu Ying in the alley. If Fu Ying hadn't been so skilled, she would have suffered a loss. He was a complete scoundrel!
Later, I met that guy again at Chen Sanyan's main store in Jiangnan. I gave him and his partner a good beating at the jade gambling factory. They must have been seriously injured. How come they have recovered their strength now?
Zhou Xuan never expected to run into Fang Dacheng here today!
Wasn't Fang Dacheng the manager of Chen Sanyan's branch? He held a lot of power there, so why did he come to Jiangbei?
Judging from the appearance, this shop doesn't seem to belong to Chen Sanyan. It's relatively small and located far apart in Jiangbei and Jiangnan. Fang Dacheng suffered a severe setback last time when he designed for Zhou Xuan, but it seems to have recovered its strength now.
Upon encountering this old enemy, Zhou Xuan did not intend to leave immediately. He wanted to take another look and see how Fang Dacheng was doing.
When Fang Dacheng came out, his eyes swept over Zhou Xuan and Wei Xiaoyu's faces, and then landed on the girl named Xiaolin behind the counter. He didn't pay any attention to Zhou Xuan and Wei Xiaoyu. Given his hatred for Zhou Xuan and his desire for beauty, it was impossible for him not to notice them. His current expression could only mean that Wei Xiaoyu's makeup was very successful and Fang Dacheng didn't notice any flaws.
Zhou Xuanbing had the ability to change the way he spoke, which he had used when dealing with Zhuang Zhixian last time. He immediately suppressed his voice, making it a little hoarse and low, and then said to the female shop assistant named Xiaolin, "Miss, may I take a look at this jade pendant?"
Xiaolin was taken aback. She had clearly seen Zhou Xuan and Wei Xiaoyu about to leave the store, so why were they back looking at jade pieces? Besides, they didn't look like wealthy people. The jade pendant he asked about was priced at 16,680 yuan. It was a flawless, egg-blue jadeite, which was considered genuine in their store. Although its actual value wouldn't exceed 2,000 yuan, it was definitely a genuine item.
Zhou Xuan knew, of course. Xiao Lin paused for a moment, then took the jade Guanyin pendant out of the counter.
Zhou Xuan took it in his hand and examined it slowly. This oily green jadeite was not a high-end product, but the quality was not bad. It had no impurities and the color was very green, or more precisely, "green," which was different from the top-grade imperial green.
Generally speaking, to make high-value jewelry, high-quality jadeite is usually required, and carving craftsmen usually choose to make bracelets, rings, etc. These types of jewelry often sell for higher prices, but sometimes they are made according to the shape of the jadeite itself.