Back in the 1980s, hiking in the mountains was also a way of life

The antique market in Fanjiayuan at that time was like a rural fair; it was still in its infancy and far from being as bustling and prosperous as it would be in later years.

The main reason was that in those days, most people had just solved their basic needs for food and clothing, and had absolutely no interest in antiques, calligraphy, or paintings.

Therefore, most of the people wandering around the market at this time are people with a lot of spare money.

There's an old saying that goes, "Gold is valued in times of chaos, and antiques are valued in times of prosperity."

With the economic boom following the opening up, the antique trade has become increasingly prosperous, and more and more people are participating in it.

However, most people who enter this industry do so not because they like cultural relics or want to do research, but because they all harbor a dream: to "find a great bargain and make a fortune."

Of course, many people do achieve their dreams, but compared to the number of people involved in this industry, they are insignificant.

Fortunately, in the antique trade, there is never a shortage of fools who will willingly enter the industry to become "bagholders". So those who enter the industry at this time, even if they do not become rich overnight or extremely wealthy, can still live a comfortable life with enough money to spend.

When people finally realize that antiques are actually useless, the last batch of "sellers" will be left holding onto their antiques, heartbroken and helpless.

After entering the market with a tattered sack on his back, Wang An didn't rush to ask each vendor if they bought watches. Instead, he leisurely looked around like a tourist.

The main purpose is to deal with stolen goods, especially high-end watches; asking around won't get you anywhere.

Even a seasoned collector who has been immersed in the antique business for many years can certainly tell the quality of a watch's materials and craftsmanship, but he may not be able to discern the high value of a luxury watch.

After all, "cultural artifacts, antiques, calligraphy and paintings" is a large category, which is further divided into many subcategories. Although there are some connections between these categories, many of them are completely unrelated.

If you can't offer a price, then it's all for nothing.

After strolling around for about 20 stalls, Wang An finally saw an antique stall. In addition to regular porcelain, a lot of ancient coins, bracelets and other small items, the most important thing was that there were several pocket watches and wristwatches that looked quite old.

So Wang An walked up to the stall.

After pretending to examine the items on the stall for a long time, Wang An finally picked up a wristwatch and asked the owner:
"Boss, how much is this watch?"

If Wang Li and Mu Xueli had heard Wang An's words at the scene, they would have been very surprised.

Wang An spoke with a Tianjin accent, which, although not entirely authentic, was still acceptable. After all, Tianjin dialect, like Northeastern dialect, is not entirely uniform; each region has its own unique characteristics.

As long as Wang An doesn't speak in Northeastern dialect and the other person can't tell where he's from, it doesn't matter whether it's authentic or not.

When dealing with stolen goods, you must pay attention to every detail.

The boss clearly recognized Wang An's accent and said with a smile:
"Hey, sir, are you coming from Tianjin?"

Wang An casually remarked:

"Ah, that's right, they came from Tianjin."

As he spoke, Wang An continued to examine the watch, appearing quite fond of it.

Upon seeing Wang An's demeanor, the shopkeeper probably assumed he was there to make a purchase and launched into a lengthy, exaggerated tale of the watch. He recounted how it had been worn by a certain Tartar prince, passed down to a certain Tartar princess, and then, for what reason, sold it to whom, and how, by some twist of fate, it ended up in Wang An's hands.
In short, he made up a very smooth story about the origin of the watch, and it sounded completely natural.

Although his story was quite serious and well-written, Wang An didn't listen at all and just nodded perfunctorily.

Only after the boss demanded an exorbitant price of 3 yuan did Wang An speak:
"Boss, I also have a piece of this watch. Are you interested in buying it?"

Upon hearing Wang An's words, the boss's face immediately turned cold. He snatched the watch from the man and said with a displeased expression:
So all this talk was just a joke between us?

Wang An quickly smiled apologetically:
"What's going on? Even if a deal falls through, we can still be friendly. Why are you so angry?"

Wang An waved his hand, turned around and left without lingering for a moment.

Actually, stalls selling all kinds of cultural artifacts and antiques were not Wang An's main target. The reason he stayed to chat was simply to try his luck.

The main problem is that with so many watches, Wang An felt he definitely had to sell them off in smaller batches; it would be extremely difficult for one person to handle them all.

After leaving that stall, Wang An went to several more stalls that sold watches, but most of the people there, like the first owner, were only interested in selling goods and had no interest in buying watches at all.

The only antique stall owner who was interested in watches surprisingly offered only 50 yuan to buy a watch that Wang An had brought out, which was worth well over 1 yuan.

Faced with this kind of person who only wanted to find a bargain, Wang An just smiled and turned away without even turning his head when the boss asked for the so-called "high price" of 80 yuan.

It's not wrong for someone in the antique business to want to "find a great bargain," but Wang An's time is too precious for him to waste on arguing.

Having gained experience in dealing with these stall owners, Wang An would skip over similar stalls without even stopping.

In Wang An's view, these stall owners were all small-time operators, and the things they sold were not worth much. It would be difficult to get them to buy even one of his watches, let alone buy a portion or even all of them. This was absolutely impossible, mainly because they did not have the capability.

And so, Wang An walked all the way to the end of the street, but he didn't find any vendors who seemed to have the financial strength to buy.

After looking around again, Wang An was utterly disappointed with Fanjiayuan.

Just as Wang An was chatting with a vendor out of sheer boredom, trying to find out where in Yandu there were places to buy and sell secondhand valuable items, he learned a place name from the man: "Haiwang Village".

That's right, it's Haiwang Village.

According to this vendor, compared to the small-scale market in Fanjiayuan, Haiwang Village is now the real large-scale antique market in Yandu City.

So Wang An offered him a cigarette, and after finding out the exact address, he turned around and walked back to where he had parked without hesitation.

In any case, Wang An had made up his mind that even if he couldn't sell any of the watches he had, he would never come back to Canada again.

This place is a complete waste of space!

At least in the short term, it's all for nothing!

To be fair, although Wang An, as a reborn person, knew a great deal, the discrepancies between his knowledge and the actual situation at this time were still quite significant. (End of Chapter)