"Brother Zhuang, what do you think we should do with this? We definitely have to sell it. Can you help us find a buyer?"
Although Song Huan was a bit impulsive, he was still quite clever. From Zhuang Rui and Miao Feifei's description of the chicken cup, he knew that Zhuang Rui did not intend to deceive him, so he wanted to ask Zhuang Rui to help them sell it.
Chapter 155 Finding a bargain
"Let's eat first, let me think. This Chenghua Doucai chicken cup is a bit damaged, I'm not sure how much it's worth, everyone eat first..."
Seeing that the dishes they ordered had all arrived, Zhuang Rui hurriedly invited the group to eat. Miao Feifei looked somewhat frail, but she was actually a gourmet. All the dishes she ordered were expensive and made with exquisite ingredients. Just take the Yangtze River spring knife fish, for example, one of them was worth a fortune, not to mention shark fin and bird's nest soup, which were priced per bowl.
"Song Huan, you should eat too. You're still growing, so it's okay to eat more. I'm going out to make a phone call."
Zhuang Rui saw Song Huan sitting next to him, his eyes fixed on the dishes on the table, but he was a little embarrassed to pick up his chopsticks. He smiled and greeted him, then stood up and walked out of the private room, took out his phone and dialed Uncle De's number.
"Hey, Xiao Zhuang. What's up with calling this old man on the weekend? Want me to cover your shift?"
Uncle De's cheerful voice came from the phone. The pawn shop was open on weekends, but since Zhuang Rui had just arrived in Zhonghai, Uncle De wanted him to rest for a couple of days. It just so happened that an old friend from out of town was visiting him today, and Zhuang Rui's set of purple clay teaware came in handy.
"Uncle De, I was shopping at the City God Temple with a friend today and saw a Chenghua doucai chicken cup. Are you interested in it...?"
"I'm not interested, Xiao Zhuang. Chenghua doucai porcelain rarely circulates among the common people. The item you saw is definitely fake. Don't waste your time. Have fun for a couple of days and come to work the day after tomorrow."
Uncle De interrupted Zhuang Rui before he could finish speaking, saying that there were very few Chenghua Doucai pieces left in the Palace Museum, and that they were the kind of pieces you could just find by strolling around the City God Temple.
"No, Uncle De, don't hang up yet. Let me tell you, this item is most likely genuine. From the body, glaze, shape, decoration, and style, it is exactly the same as the real thing. Please take a look first."
Zhuang Rui sensed that Uncle De was about to hang up the phone. He quickly praised the chicken cup.
"You brat, you've only been playing with porcelain for a few days, and you're already showing off to this old man? Let me tell you, the Chenghua chicken cup is the most imitated in later generations, especially during the Kangxi, Yongzheng, and Qianlong reigns. Many of the imitations are so realistic that they're almost indistinguishable from the real thing. If you could tell the difference, those counterfeiters would have been out of business long ago."
Uncle De chuckled and scolded Zhuang Rui over the phone, but hearing Zhuang Rui's certainty, he hesitated for a moment before continuing, "However, if they are official kiln imitations from these dynasties, they are worth some money. How much are you asking for, stall owner?"
“Uncle De, that stall owner is a friend of mine. You may have met him. He's Nurse Song from when I was hospitalized. Her family is going through some difficulties, so she's selling her family heirlooms. It's definitely not a trap set by those sycophants in the antique market.”
When Zhuang Rui heard that Uncle De had agreed, he quickly explained the origin of the item and also told Uncle De that he wanted to help Nurse Song.
"Oh, is that so? Here's what we'll do, Xiao Zhuang, bring them to the company later. I'll take a look at the items and then we'll talk. If they're genuine, they'll be in high demand, and we won't have to worry about them not selling."
Uncle De hesitated for a moment on the other end of the phone, but decided to take a look at the item first. He didn't really trust Zhuang Rui's appraisal skills, just like Zhuang Rui's driving skills with Viagra.
"Okay, Uncle De, it's settled then. I'll be there right away."
Zhuang Rui hung up the phone, feeling a huge weight lifted from his heart. Although he had assured Song Xingjun and her brother, with his connections, he really didn't know where to sell it unless he went to Yang Wei's father. Now that Uncle De had agreed to take a look, there was absolutely no problem. As for whether the cup was real or fake, Zhuang Rui wasn't worried at all.
Back in the private room, Song Xingjun and her brother were preoccupied and didn't eat much. Miao Feifei, on the other hand, ate the two ribbonfish until only the bones remained. After Zhuang Rui sat down and ate a bowl of rice, he said to Miao Feifei with a slight apology, "Princess Miao, I can't go shopping with you this afternoon. I need to go back to the pawnshop and take this item to the master craftsman for a look."
When Zhuang Rui saw Song Xingjun and her brother's expression change slightly as he spoke, he quickly added, "You two are coming with me. I'm doing this just to be on the safe side. If this Chenghua Doucai Chicken Cup is genuine, I guarantee it will fetch a good price."
Upon hearing Zhuang Rui's words, Song Xingjun nodded. Although she knew that Zhuang Rui was a kind and honest person, this involved hundreds of thousands of yuan. If she rashly handed it over to Zhuang Rui, not only would her younger brother not agree, but she herself would not feel at ease either.
“I’ll go with you guys, I’m on vacation these days anyway.”
Miao Feifei also wanted to join in the fun. She had found a Chenghua Doucai chicken cup at the street stall. If it was real, it would be a great topic of conversation with her friends when she returned to Beijing.
"Let's go together then."
Seeing that everyone had almost finished eating, Zhuang Rui went out to pay the bill. This meal had cost him over five thousand yuan; it seemed that five-star hotels were truly not for the average person.
"Xiao Zhuang, this is Boss Cheng. He specializes in collecting chicken-blood stone and is also an old friend of mine. You two should get to know each other better."
After Zhuang Rui led the three to the pawnshop, he knocked on Uncle De's office door. Inside, besides Uncle De, was an elderly man in his sixties. Upon seeing Zhuang Rui enter, Uncle De introduced them to each other.
"What I do is nothing special, brother, please don't laugh at me. But I heard that Manager Zhuang met a treasure today, why don't you show it to us?"
Mr. Cheng just heard Uncle De say that this young Manager Zhuang bought a Chenghua doucai porcelain piece at the City God Temple. Not only did Uncle De not believe it, but even Mr. Cheng, who didn't know much about porcelain, didn't believe it.
Upon hearing this, Zhuang Rui took the two items from Song Huan. After unfolding the newspaper outside, he placed the Chenghua Doucai Chicken Cup on the coffee table. As for the pen holder, Zhuang Rui casually handed it back to Song Huan. He had examined it with his spiritual energy and found that although the pen holder was well-carved, it contained no spiritual energy whatsoever, suggesting it was a modern artifact.
"Hehe, this is not in very good condition. Who repaired it? Isn't this just a waste?"
Uncle De casually picked up the chicken cup that Zhuang Rui had placed on the coffee table. After examining it for a while, he noticed the broken rim and frowned. Normally, even if a piece of valuable porcelain isn't in perfect condition, a well-repaired piece would still command a high price. But regardless of whether this piece was genuine or not, the repair work was simply appalling.
"Uncle De, let's put that aside for now. Please take a look at this and see if it is indeed Chenghua Doucai porcelain."
Zhuang Rui's words drew Uncle De's attention back to the chicken cup. His expression slowly changed, from nonchalant to serious. He then took the chicken cup and strode to his desk, turned on a bright light above it, and took out a magnifying glass from a drawer to examine it closely.
Aside from Zhuang Rui, the others held their breath, watching Uncle De's appraisal with bated breath. Boss Cheng, in particular, wore an expression of utter disbelief. For Uncle De to react like that, even if the cup wasn't Chenghua doucai, it was undoubtedly a priceless antique.
"Good stuff, good stuff, alas, what a pity, what a pity."
More than ten minutes later, Uncle De turned off the bright light, walked back to his sandalwood coffee table, carefully placed the cup in his hand on the table, and looked at him with regret.
"Uncle De, is this true or false? Please give me a definite answer."
Zhuang Rui was pretending to be ignorant when he knew the truth.
"It's a genuine Chenghua doucai porcelain, but its condition is such a pity. If it hadn't been chipped or damaged, this small cup would be worth at least 30 million if auctioned off now."
Uncle De shook his head repeatedly, looking at the chicken cup with great regret.
"Uncle De, how much can this cup sell for now? My friend urgently needs the money."
Zhuang Rui knew that this was the question that Song Xingjun and her brother cared about most, so he asked it.
"Look at its condition now, wow, if it were auctioned, it would fetch between eighty and one million RMB. If someone in our circle were to buy it, it would be around five hundred thousand."
Uncle De smacked his lips, seemingly dissatisfied with the price he had quoted.
"You can sell so many?"
Song Huan, standing to the side, gaped in astonishment. He had never imagined that 30 million could be exchanged for 300,000, and he would be satisfied.
"You guys are lucky to have run into Xiao Zhuang. Besides, not many good items have come from the City God Temple, and fewer old players go there anymore. Otherwise, if you had really sold this chicken cup for 300,000, kid, you'd regret it."
Uncle De paused for a moment and then continued, "If I were to come across one, I'd consider it a steal at 300,000. By the way, let me tell you a story about this chicken cup. It happened before the liberation."
It seems to have happened around 1939. Wang Dianchen, the owner of the Xianghecheng secondhand goods store on Qianmen Street in Beijing, went to Huangxian County, Shandong Province to buy secondhand goods. One day, he saw a brightly colored small cup filled with soapberry water on a middle-aged woman's dressing table in a courtyard. He couldn't help but go in and ask the woman to take the cup out so he could take a look.
The cup was 11 centimeters tall and about 5 centimeters in diameter, exquisitely crafted, and a genuine Chenghua doucai porcelain. He wanted to buy it, and the woman, seeing that he really wanted it, asked for a silver dollar. At that time, it only cost 30 silver dollars to buy an acre of land. To his surprise, Wang Dianchen, without saying a word, took out a silver dollar with a portrait of Sun Yat-sen and gave it to her.
When Wang Dianchen returned to Beijing, he hurriedly worked with his colleagues to estimate the price. They boldly set the price at 800 silver dollars, which was 800 times higher than the purchase price.
This item was displayed for only two days before Zhou Jiechen, the owner of Jian Gu Zhai, took a liking to it and immediately started negotiating the price with Wang Dianchen.
At that time, Wang Dianchen put on a long-sleeved gown, just like you saw on TV. Zhou Jiechen from Jianguzhai put his hand into Wang Dianchen's sleeve, and Wang Dianchen held up an eight-shaped hand gesture. Zhou Jiechen asked, "Ten, hundred, thousand?"
Wang replied, "Bai," and Zhou withdrew his hand, saying, "I want it."
Upon hearing this, Wang Dianchen immediately understood. He had set the price too low, and an expert had snagged the bargain. However, he was already satisfied with the 799 yuan he had earned.
After returning home, Zhou Jiechen carefully examined the small cup and confirmed it was indeed a superior Chenghua doucai porcelain. Its shape was light and elegant, the porcelain body delicate and pure, the white glaze lustrous like cream, and the colors soft and harmonious. It depicted a squirrel stealing grapes, with abundant fruit and leaves, meticulously painted and lifelike. Such a treasure, acquired for only 800 yuan—how could he not be delighted?
Everyone in the antique trade knew Zhou Jiechen had acquired a valuable item, but no one was willing to pay a high price. Finally, Zhou Jiechen approached Wu Qizhou of Lu Wu Company. Wu initially offered 3500 yuan, but after some haggling, the price was raised to 4000 yuan. Zhou Jiechen made a profit of 3200 yuan in one transaction, and was naturally overjoyed. Little did he know that Wu Qizhou later resold the cup to the United States, making a profit of over 10,000 yuan. Only then did Zhou Jiechen realize that he had gotten an even bigger bargain.
Therefore, for genuine Chenghua doucai porcelain, the price is unpredictable. Take this chicken cup for example; if it's in perfect condition, and you ask for 300,000 yuan, someone else might offer 3 million or 9 million yuan to buy it, which would be a huge bargain.
"Uncle De, when Song Huan took this thing to the antique shop, why were they only willing to offer 30,000 to 50,000? Could it be that they couldn't tell it was Chenghua Doucai?"
Zhuang Rui asked the question that was on Song Huan's mind.
Uncle De glanced at Zhuang Rui and said with a disdainful look, "They don't know anything. Let alone genuine Chenghua doucai pieces, those people have never even seen a broken piece of Chenghua doucai porcelain. At most, they've handled imitations from the three Qing dynasties. They probably think this is an imitation from that time. It's already pretty good that they can offer 30,000 to 50,000 yuan. With this condition, even if it were an official kiln imitation from the Qing dynasty, it would only be worth a hundred thousand or so at most."
Everyone then realized that the imitations of Chenghua doucai porcelain had become so famous that they could be mistaken for the real thing. When the genuine article was placed in front of them, no one recognized it.
"Uncle De, what do you think we should do with this chicken cup?"
Zhuang Rui could see the anxious expressions on Song Xingjun and her brother's faces, and he understood their thoughts. They both wanted to exchange the cup for cash as soon as possible to help treat their father.
"There are two options. The first is to put it up for auction directly. Given my relationship with the auction house, I estimate that we can arrange for it to be auctioned within a week. As for the price, it's between 800,000 and 1.2 million RMB, as I just mentioned. After deducting the auction house's pre-event promotion and 15% commission, you should receive around 700,000 to 1 million RMB."
The second method will take longer. I have some experience in repairing porcelain, so I can repair this cup. I estimate that the auction price will rise to around two million. However, it will take at least half a month, as repairing porcelain is a delicate job.
"You can choose either of these two methods. I suggest waiting a few days until the repairs are complete before putting it up for auction. I'm only doing this because of Xiao Zhuang's sake. Please think it over carefully."
Uncle De's words made Song Xingjun and her brother hesitate, so they stood up and went to the door to discuss it.
Chapter 156 Question
About ten minutes later, Song Xingjun and her brother returned, seemingly having discussed it. Both looked hesitant to speak, but Song Huan finally spoke up to Uncle De, saying, "Could we sell this porcelain to your pawnshop? It doesn't have to be two million, one million five hundred thousand will do. We don't care whether you repair it and auction it off or keep it for yourselves. Is that alright?"
Song Huan knew that her suggestion was somewhat unreasonable, and after speaking, she lowered her gaze somewhat embarrassedly.
Song Huan's words made Zhuang Rui and Uncle De exchange bewildered glances. They hadn't expected Song Huan to come up with such an idea. It wasn't impossible, but it would place all the risks on the pawnshop.
"Xiao Zhuang, why don't you buy this item yourself? Keep it for a few years, and even if you don't sell it, you won't lose out."
Uncle De thought for a moment and realized that following Song Huan's approach would be somewhat against the rules, because if the chicken cup were to be pawned, the pawnshop could only offer around 200,000 RMB at most, far from the 1.5 million RMB that Song Huan had mentioned.
You might be wondering, this chicken cup is clearly worth over a million, so why did the pawnshop only offer a maximum of two hundred thousand? That's the rule of pawnshops. No matter how good your item is, once it's brought in, it'll likely be damaged by insects or rats, or be a broken piece of porcelain. This is a tradition passed down from pawnshops in the past. Although this saying isn't used anymore, pawnshops generally offer about one-fifth of the item's original value.
"I'd like to accept it, but I just bought a house and don't have that much money on hand."
After listening to Uncle De's words, Zhuang Rui said helplessly, "If this matter had been brought up yesterday, I would still have that check in my hand. As for now, I'm afraid the boss would have already transferred the check into cash and bought that house."
Uncle De's words were meant to let Zhuang Rui take advantage of the situation. He was confident that he could repair the porcelain and sell it for a good price. He could make at least 300,000 to 500,000 yuan after reselling it. However, he didn't know that Zhuang Rui only had 300,000 to 500,000 yuan left in his pocket.
Uncle De had considered buying the chicken cup himself. However, Song Huan's asking price was a bit too high. The item would probably only fetch a little over two million at auction, and after deducting various expenses, he would only have a little over one million left. Nothing in this world is absolute, and if it failed to sell or the final price wasn't ideal, it would be a losing proposition. Besides, this was Zhuang Rui's private matter, so Uncle De didn't offer to take it upon himself.
"Hey, Uncle De, how could we forget about the King of Bargains?"
Seeing the embarrassed expressions on Song Xingjun and her brother's faces, Zhuang Rui's eyes suddenly lit up. How could he have forgotten about this person?
"You mean Lao Yang? Yeah, he'll definitely want it. Why don't you give him a call and ask?"
Upon hearing Zhuang Rui's words, Uncle De knew who he was talking about. Yang's father had been trying to find a real bargain for the past few years, but he only had a room full of scrap metal with very few genuine items. Over time, people in the industry began to call him the "King of Bargains."
After the family business got on track in recent years, Yang's father hired a professional manager to manage it. He usually didn't have much to do, mostly just drinking tea with old friends or strolling around the antique market. He had just finished lunch and was about to take a nap when he received Zhuang Rui's call. He immediately perked up and told Zhuang Rui not to sell to anyone and that he would be there right away.
Within half an hour, Yang's father arrived. After listening to Zhuang Rui's introduction, he patted Zhuang Rui on the shoulder happily and said, "Not bad, Zhuang. Uncle Yang has been spoiling you all this time. He even thinks of me when he gets something nice."
"Uncle Yang, these two are my friends. I'm just helping them out. What do you think of the price..."
Zhuang Rui actually regarded Yang's father as a firefighter and felt unworthy of the praise.
“One and a half million, right? That’s no problem, but…”
Yang's father's eyes darted around before landing on Uncle De, and he continued, "Brother De, I have no problem accepting this, and the price will be as you said. However, you have to agree to two conditions."
Uncle De and Yang's father were very familiar with each other and often joked around. He laughed and said, "Oh, take it or leave it. Do you think I can't sell this item? It's only because Xiao Zhuang was thinking of saving it for you that you, old man, are making demands."
Yang's father didn't take Uncle De's words seriously, and pointed to the Chenghua chicken cup, saying, "First, brother, you have to help me repair this cup. Second..."