Overjoyed, the foreign proprietress ran to the door, grabbed the calculator, and muttered calculations to herself while glancing at the items on the shelf every now and then.
Actually, all of this was just for show for Zhuang Rui and the others. Last month, the proprietress went to the homes of Tibetan herders to collect these items, spending a total of over nine thousand yuan. Now, the proprietress is considering whether to add a zero to the nine thousand or sell them to Zhuang Rui and the others at several times the price.
"Yes, it's 80,000 yuan in total, in RMB, of course."
After considering it for a while, the proprietress gave a price. She would sell these jewelry pieces and handicrafts for about 500 yuan each, but not many people were buying them. She had only sold a few pieces in the month or so since she bought them.
Now that Zhuang Rui wants to buy it all, the proprietress simply doubled the retail price and offered this price. Who says foreigners can't do business?
"Oh no, beautiful lady, you don't look Jewish. This price is too high..."
Zhuang Rui shook his head. Normally, these Tibetan silver jewelry pieces would cost only three or four hundred yuan each, and the rest of the handicrafts would also be priced between several hundred yuan. Seventy or eighty items would only be worth thirty to fifty thousand yuan at most. This foreign girl was asking for an exorbitant amount.
"Forty thousand, that's the most I can offer..."
Zhuang Rui held up four fingers. Although he was rich, he wasn't a fool. These days, only a idiot would flaunt his wealth by throwing money around.
"Forty thousand? Oh no, that's not enough to buy these things..."
British girls, who tend to be more Jewish, are clearly adept at bargaining with Chinese people, especially when the other party can understand English.
Just as Zhuang Rui was preparing to show this foreign girl how good Chinese men are at bargaining, something suddenly fell off the shelf and hit the ground with a crisp sound.
"Uh, you guys continue, I'm just flipping through..."
Peng Fei bent down and picked it up. It was placed among several old hadas (ceremonial scarves). While he was rummaging through the hadas, he accidentally knocked it to the ground.
The proprietress clearly didn't notice that Zhuang Rui's gaze was already drawn to the items in Peng Fei's hands, and she continued to chatter on, "Sir, the things here are all genuine handicrafts, different from what's sold elsewhere. You know, in England, these things would be much more expensive..."
"Fifty thousand, all of it. Any more than that, I'll go to the Tibetan families myself to collect it..."
Zhuang Rui withdrew his gaze, held up a hand, his eyes very firm, even though he knew that even if this foreign girl wanted 100,000, he would obediently hand over the money.
“Okay, deal.” The foreign proprietress was clearly well-versed in the ways of doing business in China and knew when to stop. After exchanging glances with Zhuang Rui, she readily agreed.
Chapter 725 Buddhist Implements (Part 2)
"This bag is a gift for you. Please come back again when you have time..."
The foreign proprietress understood the importance of giving customers small perks to cultivate repeat business. After Zhuang Rui swiped his card to pay, she handed him a canvas travel bag.
"Thank you..."
Zhuang Rui took the bag and walked to the shelf, casually tossing it to Peng Fei, saying, "Pack everything up, Brother Zheng. Pick anything you like, you can take it back as a gift. Hmm, this is an exception..."
As he spoke, Zhuang Rui took the object that Peng Fei had just picked up from his hand and stared at it intently, as if afraid that something might have been broken from the fall.
"Brother Zhuang, this prayer wheel must be very valuable, right?"
After seeing Zhuang Rui's actions, Zheng Hua seemed to understand something and moved closer to Zhuang Rui, examining the prayer wheel in Zhuang Rui's hand.
That's right, what just fell to the ground was a small handheld prayer wheel. The wheel was brass-colored, and the wooden handle below looked dark with a slight purplish sheen. It was covered in dust and looked like it hadn't been used for a long time.
"Hehe, it's not a question of whether it's valuable or not; you can't buy it even if you have money. This prayer wheel still needs to be verified, but it should be at least over a thousand years old..."
Zhuang Rui looked at the prayer wheel with only seven short verses on it, and his eyes shone with an unusual light.
Just now, when the prayer wheel fell to the ground and was picked up by Peng Fei, Zhuang Rui inadvertently saw that the prayer wheel actually contained abundant power of aspiration.
Moreover, these vows are completely different from the vows generated by the chanting of sutras by lamas. They are condensed and do not disperse in the prayer wheel, and their color is purple-gold. When Zhuang Rui's spiritual energy comes into contact with these vows, he immediately feels a sense of emptiness and peace in his heart.
"This Buddhist artifact must have been used by some eminent monk, or perhaps even by one of those legendary figures..."
Zhuang Rui was overjoyed. He handed the prayer wheel to Qin Xuanbing, believing that the power of the prayer within would benefit his wife and their unborn child, whose gender was unknown, at the very least bringing peace to their hearts.
"Brother Zhuang, I heard that the more scriptures on a prayer wheel, the better, right? This one only has a few sentences on it."
Zheng Hua went closer to examine it for a while and raised his question: apart from being a bit more exquisitely made, this thing didn't seem to have anything special about it.
Moreover, there were only seven lines of scripture on it, with seven characters in each line. Zheng Hua had seen dozens or even hundreds of times more scriptures on other prayer wheels than on this one, so he was somewhat dismissive of it.
"Brother Zheng, this thing is no ordinary thing..."
Zhuang Rui laughed triumphantly, like a child who had finally gotten the toy he had been longing for.
"Peng Fei, give me the bottled water..."
Zhuang Rui asked Peng Fei for a bottle of mineral water, then took out a pair of glasses from his handbag. These were sunglasses that Qin Xuanbing had specially bought for Zhuang Rui in case he was exposed to excessive ultraviolet radiation in Tibet.
Zhuang Rui took out the eyeglass cloth from the eyeglass case, poured some water on it, and then wiped the slightly dark body of the prayer wheel.
"Why...why has the color changed?"
The color that Zhuang Rui revealed after wiping the prayer wheel astonished everyone around him. Even Peng Fei, who was stuffing things into his bag, stopped and stared blankly at the prayer wheel.
The prayer wheel, which was originally yellowish and dull in color, shone with a golden luster after Zhuang Rui wiped it. The sunlight outside shone through the glass window onto the prayer wheel, making it shine brightly and dazzlingly.
“This isn’t brass, it’s gold,” Peng Fei said in a deep voice.
Peng Fei, who had once moved several tons of gold with Zhuang Rui, recognized at a glance that the prayer wheel was made of gold.
"gold?"
Zheng Hua exclaimed in surprise. He was a knowledgeable man, and he didn't think much of such a small amount of gold. However, the significance behind it was enormous. In Tibet, what kind of status would someone have to be able to use gold to make prayer wheels?
"That's right, it's gold! Hehe, we've struck gold!"
Zhuang Rui smiled and nodded, then wiped the wooden handle clean before saying, "Not only is the prayer wheel made of gold, but the handle is also made of fine sandalwood. This prayer wheel is very likely a relic from the Sui and Tang dynasties..."
(According to personal research, sandalwood existed in the Tang Dynasty, uh, unofficial history, unofficial history) Before Zhuang Rui finished speaking, a gasp rang out in the shop. If this prayer wheel really was from the Sui and Tang Dynasties, it might even have been used by the Buddha.
It is worth noting that many of the monks who entered Tibet during the Sui and Tang dynasties are said to have attained Buddhahood, and many Buddhist figures on thangkas are based on these monks.
"Brother, sell this to me. I'll offer ten million Hong Kong dollars, no... I'll offer twenty million." Zheng Hua knew Zhuang Rui's expertise in antique appraisal. Since he had said it in public, this prayer wheel was most likely an item from the Sui and Tang Dynasties. He immediately offered a price.
Zheng Hua himself is not a follower of Tibetan Buddhism, but his grandfather is. The old man was a devout Buddhist, and his family had dozens of Buddhist artifacts that had been blessed by living Buddhas and high-ranking monks.
As far as Zheng Hua knew, his family had spent at least 100 million yuan on incense money over the years. He figured his grandfather would be happy if he spent 20 million yuan to buy this item.
"Oh my god, that thing is gold?"
Before Zhuang Rui could reply, the foreign landlady's exclamation immediately drew everyone's attention.
It's not that the proprietress was slow to realize it; it's just that she doesn't understand Chinese, and the cashier girl just told her.
"This already belongs to me..."
Zhuang Rui waved the prayer wheel in his hand at the proprietress. If it weren't for the fact that he wasn't wearing much clothing in the summer, Zhuang Rui would have loved to put it in his pocket.
"Yes, of course, it's already yours..."
Although the proprietress didn't understand what "selling at a loss" meant (selling something worth hundreds of thousands or even more for a few thousand, and the buyer "picking up a bargain"), she knew that this one prayer wheel alone probably brought her more than the 50,000 yuan she had received, so she looked a little disappointed.
"Peng Fei, hurry up..."
Seeing that Peng Fei was also engrossed in examining the prayer wheel, Zhuang Rui quickly gave him a light kick. This was no ordinary object; it was best to take it back and put it away as soon as possible.
"Master Zhuang, could you let me see your prayer wheel?"
Hearing that Zhuang Rui had found a prayer wheel in the shop, Gegu Lama and Section Chief Zhang, who were originally sunbathing outside, rushed into the shop. Gegu even reached out to Zhuang Rui to ask for it, wanting to see the prayer wheel.
"Yes, that's perfect. Master Gegu, could you please take a look at what scripture is written on this?"
Zhuang Rui had just looked at the inscriptions on the prayer wheel, but they seemed to be more complex than oracle bone script and inscriptions. It was just in time for Ge Gu to come in, so he was asked to identify them. If he knew what the scriptures were, he could check the records and perhaps find out the origin of the prayer wheel.
"Mr. Zhuang, I'm sorry, I don't recognize the characters either. This should be Sanskrit from ancient India, not Tibetan..."
Gegu Lama took the prayer wheel and studied it carefully for a while. Somewhat ashamed, he returned the prayer wheel to Zhuang Rui. He had not attended a Buddhist academy and was not very proficient in Buddhist texts, but he seemed to have seen similar texts in some scriptures.
After returning the prayer wheel to Zhuang Rui, Gegu's eyes remained fixed on it as he said, "Layman Zhuang, I can sense that this prayer wheel is a treasure of Buddhism. I can ask the senior lama in the temple to help you interpret these scriptures..."
Zhuang Rui laughed upon hearing this and said, "Hehe, thank you, Master Gegu, but no need. I'll take this prayer wheel back and study it slowly. My teacher is a scholar of writing..."
Are you kidding me? Of course I know this thing is a Buddhist treasure, but if you take it back to your Jokhang Temple, then I'm afraid I'll be out of a job.
In Zhuang Rui's view, this object was like a Buddhist relic. If someone got it, would they really want to keep it for themselves? If that were the case, all the monks in the world would probably fight him to the death.
"Mr. Zhuang, I can get the high lama to help you answer your question right away..."
Gegu Lama was still not giving up. Although he was just a law enforcement lama, he could tell that the golden prayer wheel was definitely a Buddhist ritual implement.
"Uh, really, it's not necessary, Peng Fei. Can't you hurry up? I'm tired, I need to go back and rest..."
Zhuang Rui stuffed the prayer wheel into his handbag, but found that the handbag wasn't big enough. He immediately reminded Peng Fei to hurry up and get out of there, or they might get cornered by the lamas if they stayed any longer.
"Excuse me, layperson, could you please show me the prayer wheel you're holding?"
Suddenly, a clear voice rang out from behind Gegu. Because Gegu Lama was tall, he completely blocked the person behind him, and Zhuang Rui could only tell that the person speaking should be young.
"Okay, come and get it..."
As long as he doesn't go to the Jokhang Temple, Zhuang Rui has nothing to fear. In broad daylight in this shop, who would dare to rob him?
"Thank you." After hearing Zhuang Rui's words, a short lama who looked only seventeen or eighteen years old stepped out from behind Gegu Lama.
The young lama approached Zhuang Rui, first putting his hands together in prayer and bowing to him before accepting the prayer wheel.
Chapter 726 Unwavering Devotion
The afternoon sun shone through the glass window, illuminating the young lama. His yellow robes seemed to be enveloped in a golden glow, making the not-so-tall lama appear holy and solemn in everyone's eyes.
Because of the backlighting, Zhuang Rui couldn't see the lama's face clearly, but he should be about the same age as Basang. Zhuang Rui didn't quite believe that he could recognize Sanskrit. You know, monks who can still understand ancient Sanskrit scriptures are all highly respected monks with profound Buddhist knowledge.
Zhuang Rui didn't notice that when the young lama walked up to him, the Gegu lama who was standing next to him seemed to be frozen in place, his whole body stiffening.
Another thing is that this shop, which used to be doing well, suddenly stopped having any customers. Only Zhuang Rui and his few friends were left in the shop.
Zhuang Rui's attention was focused on the golden prayer wheel, so he didn't notice anything amiss, but Peng Fei did.
Peng Fei glanced discreetly at the shop entrance and noticed several tall lamas and two or three people dressed in dark clothes talking to Section Chief Zhang from the Religious Affairs Bureau.
After gazing at the prayer wheel for a long time, the young lama raised his head, looked directly at Zhuang Rui, and said, "I recognize the words on this..."
After the young lama raised his head, Zhuang Rui could clearly see his face. Just as he had expected, the young lama's green mustache showed his age. However, what surprised Zhuang Rui was the young lama's eyes.
When Zhuang Rui's eyes met those of the young lama, a strange feeling suddenly arose in his heart.
The young lama's eyes were exceptionally pure, like the azure sky and the deep blue sea, crystal clear and untouched by the dust of the world, like a newborn baby, untouched by any worldly pollution.
However, in those peaceful and pure eyes, there seems to be a sense of vicissitude, a sense of having seen through the ways of the world and transcended life and death, as if one has experienced thousands of years.