"Oh, so you're involved in the underground trade of cultural relics." Zhou Xuan suddenly realized, then asked in a low voice, "Isn't that illegal? And you dare to invite so many people to do it? Aren't you afraid of getting arrested?"
Chen Sanyan smiled slightly and said in a low voice, "Xiao Zhou, not to mention that Mr. Wei has a very powerful background, just look at the people here. You may not know them, but they are all people of great status. There will be no trouble. Besides, this is Mr. Wei's private residence. Even if you were given a lot of courage, no one would dare to come here to disturb him. Enough said, let's see if there is anything we can get our hands on."
The Wang brothers entered the hall, opened the box, and first took out a sky-blue ceramic jar with a portrait and placed it on the table in the middle. A two-thousand-watt incandescent bulb on the ceiling illuminated the middle of the hall.
Wang Qiang slowly turned the ceramic jar around under the light and said, "This batch of goods doesn't belong to my brother and me, but to a friend. You could say they hit the jackpot. While digging up a tomb from before the Kangxi era of the Qing Dynasty, they accidentally discovered another tomb beneath it, which turned out to be from the Han Dynasty. They managed to get some treasures. The first item is the ceramic jar from the tomb above, a general's jar with figures of warriors and horses from the Kangxi era of the Qing Dynasty. The starting price is 30,000."
There were only fourteen or fifteen people in the hall, and they were all acquaintances with different identities, so there was no chaos. Although it was not a formal auction, the rules were exactly the same.
Mr. Wei smiled and drank his tea without saying a word.
Chen Sanyan said to Zhou Xuan, "In this private auction, if you are interested in an item and want to bid for it, you can go up and check its authenticity. If you find it satisfactory and genuine, you can take it."
Zhou Xuan blushed instantly at Chen Sanyan's seemingly encouraging gaze. In the blink of an eye, someone had already offered 60,000 for the general's ceramic jar. His total net worth was only 180,000; how could he be qualified? He had that much self-awareness.
16977.com offers daily updates of fun mini-games waiting for you to discover!
Volume One: The First Budding Buds, Chapter Thirteen: The Legendary Luminous Pearl (Part Two)
Although Zhou Xuan hadn't planned to buy it himself, he was genuinely excited. In the blink of an eye, someone had already offered 110,000 for the general's ceramic jar. (WENXUEMI.coM)
Chen Sanyan gently shook his head.
Uncle Liu smiled slightly and said in a low voice, "The actual value of this general's jar with the figure of a warrior is about this much. There's not much profit margin above that. Look..." He pointed to the jar and said, "This general's jar has a rough rim and some glaze repairs. And this is only from a distance. If you look closely, you'll see even more flaws!"
Zhou Xuan asked in surprise, "What are rough rim and glaze repair?"
Uncle Liu and Chen San both turned to look at him at the same time, their eyes filled with strange expressions, as if he didn't understand such simple terms.
Zhou Xuan immediately blushed and shut his mouth, unknowingly revealing his true colors again! He thought to himself, "Damn it, I'm just a newbie, and I was only brought here by Old Chen."
Chen Sanyan shook his head, unable to see through Zhou Xuan. At times, Zhou Xuan seemed unfathomable, able to see things that even veteran experts couldn't, yet at other times, he didn't even understand the most basic terms and techniques in the industry.
The general's jar was eventually sold for 117,000 yuan, and Mr. Wei continued to drink his tea without saying a word.
The second item Wang Qiang took out was a white jade carving of a dragon and phoenix, about thirty centimeters tall. He placed it on the table and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, this is a treasure from a tomb within a tomb, a Han Dynasty tomb. It is a white jade wine vessel carved with a dragon and phoenix from the Han Dynasty. The starting price is 1.6 million yuan. Anyone who is interested can come and examine it first."
People like Wang Qiang in this line of work will have their items authenticated by expert appraisers as soon as they are unearthed. Therefore, the items that come to Mr. Wei are generally not fake. However, nothing is absolute, and no one can guarantee that these items are absolutely genuine. So, buyers are allowed to come forward and inspect the goods on site. Transactions are settled on the spot with cash. This line of work is all about having a good eye. Whether you make a mistake or a profit, you can't blame anyone else.
As soon as this thing was taken out, five or six people looked at it strangely.
Uncle Liu also let out a slight "hmm," turned his head to look at Chen Sanyan, and Chen Sanyan nodded.
Uncle Liu stood up and walked to the platform in the middle of the hall. At the same time, four or five other people also walked over, and the group examined the item together under the bright light.
About five or six minutes later, Uncle Liu returned and sat down. He whispered to Chen Sanyan, "It's a white jade goblet carved with dragons and phoenixes from the Han Dynasty. The jade was polished after it was unearthed, but it's definitely genuine. The carving technique and the jade itself are both top-notch. The carving has a very strong sense of the Han Dynasty era. This thing is a treasure, but we can only sell it for this much. Any more and there won't be much profit."
Zhou Xuan saw that Uncle Liu was holding up three fingers, so he guessed that the maximum he could offer was three million.
Several more people started bidding on the Han Dynasty white jade goblet, and the price quickly rose to 2.4 million, but Chen Sanyan still hadn't made a move.
Seeing Chen Sanyan's solemn expression, Zhou Xuan noticed that when Wang Qiang called out "two million four hundred thousand" for the second time, Chen Sanyan raised his hand and said, "Two million five hundred thousand!"
Another old man raised his hand and said, "Two million five hundred thousand!"
Uncle Liu frowned and said, "Boss Zhou from Gujin Pawnshop has made a move; this is a bit troublesome!"
Chen Sanyan raised his hand again: "Two million eight hundred thousand!"
The sudden increase of 250,000 stunned everyone, and no one dared to bid again.
Zhou Xuan understood this principle. It should be said that it was Chen Sanyan's strategy. If the price was increased by 50,000 at a time, then Boss Zhou or others would surround and suppress it, and the price would still be raised. But Chen Sanyan suddenly raised the price, which was close to the psychological position of these people, so that ordinary people were unwilling to raise it any further.
This is actually a psychological effect. If you really like something and your target price is 100 yuan, most people can accept it if the seller tries to bargain with you by adding 5 or 10 yuan at a time. But if the seller asks for 100 yuan or more from the start, you will hesitate and wonder if it's worth it.
After Wang Qiang shouted "Two million eight hundred thousand" twice, Mr. Wei, who was sitting on the sofa, suddenly said, "Three million!"
Even Chen Sanyan fell silent. When Mr. Wei wanted something, he was usually willing to pay a high price, and no one wanted to deliberately compete with him. If you fought him to the death, and Mr. Wei stopped halfway through, the person who fought him would also suffer a great loss.
As soon as Mr. Wei spoke, Chen Sanyan shook his head. Zhou Xuan knew that he had given up. Firstly, more than three million was his bottom line, and it was not worth it to add more. Secondly, he was unwilling to compete with Mr. Wei.
Mr. Wei bought this Han Dynasty jade wine vessel for three million.
After that, the Wang brothers auctioned off five or six more items. Chen Sanyan finally managed to acquire a Han Dynasty bronze sword for 660,000 yuan. At this point, the Wang brothers' auction was almost over.
Mr. Wei only bought that one Han jade wine cup, spending three million, but it wasn't the highest price at the event. The highest price was for a pair of Qing Dynasty official kiln tricolor horses, which sold for six million four hundred thousand.
After the Wang brothers sold all their goods, Mr. Wei smiled and said, "Now it's your turn. If you have anything good, don't hold back anymore. Sell it when it's time!"
Mr. Wei's last line, a line from Liu Huan's "Water Margin" lyrics, made everyone laugh, easing the tense atmosphere.
The first to make a move was Mr. Zhou, the owner of the Ancient and Modern Pawnshop, who had previously clashed with Chen Sanyan. He took an ancient coin to the edge of the central table and said, "This Qiande Yuanbao coin, written in clerical script, is a ten-cash coin with a plain reverse. I found it in the countryside. Hehe, I bought twenty coins from a boy for twenty yuan each, one yuan each. Only this one coin is valuable; the rest are worthless."
Zhou Xuan couldn't see clearly from a distance, only vaguely discerning that the coins were dark black and quite rough.
Mr. Zhou said, "This Qiande Yuanbao in clerical script, ten denomination, plain back, is actually only worth 50,000 yuan on the market. I got it for 20 yuan, so I guess I got a bargain. Hehe, I'm just joining in the fun today. I'll ask for 40,000 yuan to add some excitement for everyone."
This item was quite ordinary, and its value wouldn't be much if it were resold. Since no one was vying for it, an old man bought it for 40,000 yuan.
When Zhou Xuan saw the coin, he suddenly remembered the golden foreign coin he had on him, and casually took it out, saying, "Hehe, I also have a coin, but it's a foreign coin. Take a look, everyone."
When Chen San saw Zhou Xuan suddenly take out a coin, he noticed that although Zhou Xuan was excited, it was because of the lively atmosphere and he didn't seem to care much about the coin in his hand. So Chen San took the coin and looked at it.
Zhou Xuan chuckled and said, "This coin is 1,200 years old. There's an English name on it that I don't recognize. Hehe, I wonder how much it's worth?"
Chen San glanced at it. He wasn't very familiar with foreign coins, so he showed it to Uncle Liu. Uncle Liu wasn't very familiar with them either, and said, "I'm not very familiar with foreign cultures either, but I tested the weight, and this coin should be pure gold. Can anyone take another look?"
A man of about fifty years old next to Mr. Wei took the coin, examined it carefully against the light for a while, then listened to the sound to his ear. Finally, he asked in surprise, "Young man, where did you get this coin?"