Zhou Xuan shook his head and said, "No, my current ice energy is very weak. I can't convert matter or absorb gold yet. I can only detect the material composition and origin of objects. I came to the antique shop to sell something. Having money on me is essential. Otherwise, even if I encounter crystals or something, I can't be sure I can get them easily. So, money is a must."
Wei Xiaoyu turned her head to the other side. This Zhou Xuan was stubborn and inflexible. Nothing could change his head. She should give up on her dream of instant success and take it slow. People are all made of flesh and blood. Zhou Xuan was a sentimental person, which was good. If he were so easy to change his mind, wouldn't he treat her the same way in the future?
With enough effort, even an iron rod can be ground into a needle.
At the bottom of Moyin Mountain Cave, in a life-or-death situation, Zhou Xuan still showed her that he would protect her safety at the cost of his own life. Can we say that Zhou Xuan was heartless? If it were someone else, a woman who was insignificant to Zhou Xuan, would he still have done the same?
Wei Xiaoyu walked slowly ahead when Zhou Xuan suddenly said, "Xiaoyu, it's right here."
The shop's entrance bears the three large characters "Jing Shi Zhai".
Zhou Xuan brought Wei Xiaoyu to Chen Sanyan's shop, the shop where he first stepped into the antique collection industry. Standing quietly by the door for a while, Zhou Xuan couldn't help but sigh. A year later and a year ago are two different concepts. Now, as a person from the future, to come back to it all again, the feeling is even more different.
Upon re-entering Jing Shi Zhai, there were three people in the shop, all men. Uncle Liu, the appraiser, was behind the counter, Chen Sanyan himself was sitting on a mahogany chair by the tea table, and the shop assistants were busy.
Upon seeing Zhou Xuan and Wei Xiaoyu enter, Uncle Liu glanced at them and greeted them, "Gentlemen, is there anything you need?"
People like Zhou Xuan and Wei Xiaoyu are too young, and Wei Xiaoyu is too beautiful. They are unlikely to know anything about antiques. They are mostly just browsing. His regular customers, or those who are really interested, are mostly older people. Most of them sell, and a few buy.
Zhou Xuan looked towards the inner room again, but still couldn't see Fang Dacheng, so he asked, "Is Manager Fang not here?"
Uncle Liu asked in surprise, "Manager Fang? Which Manager Fang? We only have Manager Chen here."
Zhou Xuan was taken aback: "Manager Chen? What about Manager Fang Dacheng?"
Zhou Xuan asked Fang Dacheng, not because he wanted to find him, but because he hadn't seen him. He was also surprised when Uncle Liu said that there was no Manager Fang here. Suddenly, he was startled: if Fang Dacheng was gone and not here, then history had really changed. What should he do then?
Upon hearing Zhou Xuan's words, Chen Sanyan, who was sitting at the coffee table, said irritably, "You went to Jiangnan to find Fang Dacheng, and those cronies even followed me all the way to the south?"
Chen Sanyan's words made it very clear: he wanted to kick them out.
Fang Dacheng is his wife's younger brother, a good-for-nothing who spends all his time fooling around. He is the only son in the Fang family, and his wife has been secretly giving Fang Dacheng a lot of money that has gone down the drain. She is furious. This time, his wife even suggested that Fang Dacheng come to the south and work as a manager in her branch.
Chen Sanyan was naturally unwilling to agree. Fang Dacheng knew almost nothing about making money except for women and spending money. Seeing that the two young men and women who came into the store had extraordinary temperaments and did not seem to be messing around, but they mentioned Fang Dacheng again when they spoke, Chen Sanyan did not speak kindly to them.
Zhou Xuan was not angry at Chen Sanyan's words. Instead, he felt confused. Even Fang Dacheng's matter had been changed. So what had become of history?
"Boss, I think you've misunderstood. I'm not looking for Fang Dacheng. I just heard from others that he's a manager here, so I came here."
Zhou Xuan frowned and said, "I just have something I want to sell; it doesn't matter whether he's here or not."
"Things? What things?" Chen Sanyan immediately looked up and asked. It seemed that Zhou Xuan was just a spoiled brat. He didn't know what he had stolen from his home to exchange for money. Judging from the extremely beautiful female companion beside him, only a very wealthy and powerful family could afford such a thing. Nowadays, beautiful girls are basically tied to money. Without money, which beautiful woman would stay? Beauty is maintained with money and built up with money.
However, they are in business, and as long as someone is selling something, and they think it's valuable, they will want it and buy it.
Zhou Xuan didn't say much. He took off his backpack, opened it, took out the ancient gold coin named after Korn Wolf, and handed it to the counter.
Uncle Liu, the expert, was sitting at the counter. He immediately picked up the gold coin and examined it with a magnifying glass.
Chen San, who was standing by the coffee table, saw Zhou Xuan actually take something out. Although it was small, it was shiny gold. With his eyesight, he immediately knew that it was pure gold, and it was old gold, which was quite different from newly minted gold coins. However, it was several meters away, so he couldn't see the pattern on it clearly.
Chen Sanyan immediately stood up, walked to Uncle Liu's side, and watched Uncle Liu undergo the test.
One side of the gold coin features a portrait, while the other side has English text. Neither Chen Sanyan nor Uncle Liu understands English, and since the coin doesn't belong to the category of domestic antiques, and neither Uncle Liu nor Chen Sanyan is very familiar with foreign antiques, they both hesitated.
But the gold is definitely real, and the antique color doesn't seem fake. Chen Sanyan and Uncle Liu both pondered. This thing definitely has value. If it's an old gold coin, the value will be obvious once the reasons for its minting are investigated. If it's artificially aged, it won't have any cultural relic value. But it's pure gold, so it should be worth some money.
Uncle Liu was an old hand at this. Although he couldn't tell if the coin was genuine or fake, he was a seasoned veteran in this business. After thinking for a moment, he looked up at Zhou Xuan and asked, "Young man, this coin of yours is from abroad. We don't know much about foreign things, so we can't authenticate it. But in this business, we're in it for the taking. Tell us how much you want. If it's reasonable, we can take it."
According to Uncle Liu's nonchalant statement, it wouldn't exceed ten thousand yuan. Zhou Xuan knew this very well. Of course, it can't be said that Uncle Liu went too far. In this line of work, any shop does the same thing. They can tell you that something is worth a lot of money, and they can tell you that something is worth a few cents is worthless, and give you a small amount of pocket money to buy it.
Zhou Xuan smiled faintly and said, "Boss, of course I know the origin of this gold coin. It's an ancient English gold coin from 1,200 years ago, minted by King Cohenwolf. One side of the coin features King Cohenwolf's portrait, and the other side has his English name. Only two exist today, making them extremely valuable. One is in the British Museum, and the other is with me."
Uncle Liu and Chen Sanyan were both stunned by Zhou Xuan's words. Zhou Xuan didn't sound like he was talking nonsense at all; he seemed very serious and his words were reasonable. Judging from his tone, he didn't sound like Fang Dacheng, who was frivolous and shallow.
Zhou Xuan smiled and said, "As for the price of these gold coins, let me put it this way. The one in the British Museum was bought back by the British Museum as a national treasure. It cost 350,000 pounds, which is equivalent to 4 million yuan. I think if you two want it, you should first invite an expert who understands foreign ancient culture to take a look."
Zhou Xuan spoke calmly and unhurriedly, which made Chen Sanyan and the other man even more stunned. Zhou Xuan was not in a hurry to sell, but rather asked them to invite an expert to appraise the product before discussing the price. This did not seem like a scam. Scammers would only set up traps to get people to buy quickly. If he invited an expert who understood this, then he could not be a scammer.
However, if that's the case, it's impossible to pick them up like cabbages.
Chen Sanyan, being the boss, was more confident. He calmed down after hearing this and then asked, "So, according to you, you know what you're asking for, right? Tell me, how much money do you want?"
Zhou Xuan himself said that one of them sold for 350,000 pounds, so this one should naturally be worth the same price, 4 million pounds. For both of them, this is by no means a small amount.
Zhou Xuan smiled and said, "I'll give you a reasonable price, three million. If you resell it, you'll make at least one million RMB in profit. Of course, it's best to go through a Hong Kong auction house. It's also possible to do it domestically, but it would be best to invite more Hong Kong or British businessmen to maximize the effect. The British treat this as a national treasure, so even if you ask for a higher price, they'll still want it."
Chen Sanyan was truly stunned. Zhou Xuan's words didn't sound like those of a naive person, but rather like those of a cunning and shrewd expert. The methods he mentioned were the kind of things that only elites in the industry who frequently did such things could come up with and often did. Was his gold coin real or fake?
“No need to doubt it,” Zhou Xuan said calmly. “If you want it, quickly find an expert you know to appraise it. As for me, I need cash. I have no other intentions. It’s that simple.”
Volume 1, Chapter 373: The Secret of the Nine Dragon Cauldrons
Chapter 373 The Secret of the Nine Dragon Cauldrons
Chen San stared at Zhou Xuan for a long time, but he couldn't discern anything from Zhou Xuan's eyes. The young man's gaze was like a deep, dark green pool, unfathomable and utterly unfathomable. ()
However, no matter how hard Chen Sanyan tried, he couldn't see any similarities between Zhou Xuan and his brother-in-law Fang Dacheng. They were not the same type of people at all. He really couldn't understand how Zhou Xuan ended up hanging out with his good-for-nothing brother-in-law.
Seeing Chen San's hesitant expression, Zhou Xuan said calmly, "If the boss doesn't want this, then forget it. I'll ask around elsewhere."
Chen Sanyan paused for a moment, then realized what he meant and quickly said, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, that's not what I meant. I was just curious about you, sir... Please wait a moment, I'll have a staff member go and ask a friend to come and test it."
After saying that, he called over one of the shop's employees and instructed him, "Ah Guang, go and invite Mr. Zhou over."
Zhou Xuan also knew this employee, A Guang. When he first started working at Jing Shi Zhai, there were only two apprentices, one named A Chang and the other A Guang. However, both of them were people who followed Fang Dacheng and did not leave a good impression on Zhou Xuan.
As soon as A Guang left, Chen Sanyan quickly invited Zhou Xuan and Wei Xiaoyu to sit down at the coffee table. If what Zhou Xuan said was true, then he would have at least a million in profit, which would be a big deal for his current business.