Damn it, I'm in the garbage book I wrote

Chapter 824 It's just showing off, isn't it?

If you were to ask Xia Lin why he has studied this thing so deeply, firstly, it's related to the nature of his job, since he often has to play many different roles; secondly, he's just naturally interested in this kind of thing, and if he can't afford to buy it, he can at least admire it from afar.
Furthermore, the people around him were indeed quite sophisticated. Sometimes, even a casual ornament might be an item from the Epang Palace. Even though they didn't interact much, he still learned a great deal of related knowledge through constant exposure.

However, the items at this time were relatively simple, consisting mainly of gold and silver artifacts, iron and bronze artifacts, textiles, paintings, scrolls, farm tools, weapons, and so on. It was far from the point where, more than a thousand years later, all sorts of things were popping up everywhere.

Even so, everyone still looked at Xia Lin with great admiration. You know, even rich kids might not be able to see everything in this place. When they met someone who knew it all so well, their first thought was that this person must be something extraordinary.

In subsequent auctions, no matter what the item was, these buyers would always ask Xia Lin to take a look. Xia Lin would happily go and show off, making the shopkeepers quite embarrassed.

After the event, some were happy while others were sad. There were both fakes and genuine items. With Xia Lin around, everyone had more and more fun, and they felt that the emotional value was much higher than the economic value.

However, with only a few extraordinary items left, the person on stage was changed to the steward who had brought Xia Lin in earlier.

"Gentlemen, that concludes today's antique auction. However, there are still a few extremely rare items. Let's not talk about money anymore, but about fate. Some things can only be possessed by those who are destined to have them."

Xia Lin smiled and stood there with his arms crossed, watching their performance with amusement. Goodness, they've even turned this into something mystical.

Alright, let's see what kind of story this place can create.

At this moment, the maids came into the courtyard and served everyone better tea and pastries, making a grand display as if they were afraid that people would not know that they were about to arrive at a super important event.

"Have you all calmed down?"

"Hurry up, hurry up, don't keep us in suspense."

At this moment, the shopkeeper chuckled, opened the large box behind him, and took out a small locked box. Inside the small box was a mahogany box. He thought that was the end of it, but little did he know that there was another layer inside the mahogany box.

It wasn't until three more layers were opened that he discovered two strange objects in his hands. Only then did the person in charge speak up: "These are wine vessels made from human skulls, inlaid with 108 cat's-eye stones and one ruby ​​and one sapphire. They were personally crafted by a Tibetan master."

"What bad luck, who would buy this?" Someone below chimed in, "Take it away, take it away."

A burst of laughter followed, while Xia Lin sat there with a furrowed brow. If they were to say that it was made from the skulls of some golden boy and jade girl, then everyone in the courtyard, from the master to the servants, would be implicated.

Perhaps because he had been secretly glancing at "Prime Minister Zhang," when he saw the displeasure on Xia Lin's face, the steward dared not keep him in suspense any longer and hurriedly said, "Gentlemen, you may not know this, but these wine vessels are made from the skulls of Yang Ying and his wife, the traitors of our time. As everyone knows, Yang Ying was beheaded by Lord Xia, and his skull was cast into a mound of skulls. His entire family was also executed for treason, making them traitors. My master went to great lengths to obtain these two skulls to make wine vessels for your amusement."

Hearing this, Xia Lin's smile returned, and he crossed his legs and slightly raised his hand: "Let me say something."

"Please speak," the manager quickly replied. "What are your orders?"

"How about I get this pair of wine sets as a gift?" Xia Lin didn't mention buying them, but the word "gift" was quite domineering.

The nouveau riche below burst into laughter again, because everyone knew that the owner of this place was notoriously stingy. Did they really think they could ask them for anything? This man, though an expert, was still quite naive.

But the person in charge didn't even hesitate and quickly agreed: "Since this gentleman wants it, then I will give it to him as a gift. Would you like it delivered to you first or sent to your residence?"

"Just wrap it up quickly and give it to me later." Xia Lin said with his arms crossed, "Are you sure it's Yang Ying and her husband's boss? Don't just pick any two bosses."

"If even half of what I said is untrue, I am willing to take full responsibility." "Alright." Xia Lin nodded and said, "Then I'll have to trouble you."

No one paid any attention to the disgusting drinking vessels, but as they approached the second-to-last item, the manager coughed and said, "There are two items left today. After hearing them, I'm sure you'll all feel that they're worth any price."

As he spoke, he took out two bowls from an exquisite white jade box. The bowls were made of coarse porcelain and had no fancy decorations. They were not even as good as the bowls and chopsticks in ordinary street tea shops.

However, when he took out the bowls and chopsticks, he glanced at Xia Lin a few times with a rather guilty look before speaking: "This pile of rough porcelain bowls were used by the current Prime Minister Zhang Zhongchun and Lord Xia Daosheng when they were studying in Luoyang. They accompanied these two officials for ten years, witnessing their transformation from mediocre to pillars of the country. The price is... one copper coin."

Xia Lin, who was drinking tea, spat out his tea when he heard this. He looked up and asked loudly, "Wait, where did you get this?"

"Thanks to a bit of luck... how about this gentleman come and appraise its authenticity? If it's fake, I'll destroy it on the spot."

Xia Lin stood up, both amused and exasperated, and walked up to pick up the two bowls. As soon as he picked them up, he knew they were genuine. Back then, bowls weren't like they are now, where you can just buy any old one. Weddings and funerals among neighbors were all organized by the whole family, so every household had to mark their tables, chairs, benches, and even bowls and chopsticks.

At that time, they were no exception, and their bowls and chopsticks were ordered by Sister Chunhua. One bowl was engraved with "Spring" and the other with "Summer". Spring was naturally Zhang Zhongchun, and as for Summer, needless to say, the crooked characters and rough material made Xia Lin know the real thing the moment he touched it.

He was momentarily stunned, staring blankly at the two words for a long time, as if he had been pulled back to the time nearly twenty years ago.

"It's genuine."

Xia Lin gently placed the two bowls on the table, sighed silently, and sat back down in her seat.

With his shout, the nouveau riche below got excited. The item that started at one coin was bid up to seventy-five thousand taels of silver, and it was still soaring.

"That's enough." Xia Lin quickly called out after regaining his senses, "This bowl isn't worth the money; you can buy one for just three or five coins."

But by this time, those nouveau riche had gone mad and ignored Xia Lin's advice, starting to shout out prices. In the end, the price settled at 123,500 taels.

Xia Lin smiled and shook her head, asking, "Why bother?"

“Brother, you just don’t understand.” At this moment, an older man propped his head up and said, “Two golden phoenixes flew out of the house, what an incredible opportunity! If their combined merits weren’t explicitly forbidden, it would be enough to just gild their statues. These two bowls aren’t about money; they’re treasures earned through merit!”

Xia Lin clicked his tongue, took a deep breath, and said, "Old man, the most important thing for you right now is to stop buying those cultivation novels written by young people on the street. You've already gone mad from practicing cultivation."

"The last bite, 123,500 taels, anyone else want it?"

"One hundred and fifty thousand."

Just then, a voice rang out from behind the group. Xia Lin turned around and saw a drunken woman staggering over: "150,000, I'll take it."

"Who is this person?" Xia Lin asked, turning his head to the side. "This woman doesn't seem like a good person."

(End of this chapter)