Jianbao life

Chapter 510 Found (Continued Part [-])
Yu Hua asked the staff about the origin of the blue and white pastel bottle, but fortunately, the original owner did not ask to keep it secret, so the staff readily revealed it.

Of course, even if the original owner asked him to keep it a secret, Yu Hua still has a way to ask for the information. A small auction house is definitely not as good as a big company in some respects, and he is a regular customer here. Secret matters can still be asked.

It turned out that this bottle was an ancestral item from a French woman's family. It is said that her great-grandfather bought it for a little money in the Far East during the late Qing Dynasty and early Ming Dynasty.Because the family didn't realize the great value of this vase at first, so it has been used for flower arrangement as a decoration, and it looks very beautiful.

Once, the woman had a new boyfriend and invited him to come to her house. After seeing this vase, her boyfriend thought it was quite extraordinary and suggested that she take it to an auction house for appraisal.After seeing it, the experts expressed surprise that the vase was made during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty in China and was worth at least 70 euros.

It is a pity that there should be a pair of this pair of bottles. If another one can be found, it can be worth at least 180 million euros.When the woman heard that such a good thing happened, of course she couldn't wait to entrust the auction house to help her auction it.

After hearing the cause and effect, Yu Hua was very excited. Obviously, the bottle at the auction was exactly a pair with the one in his home, and he really didn't expect that the bottle in his home would be so It's worth nearly 500 million HKD.

If he had known this, he shouldn't have listened to his old father back then, and sold it to himself all these years so he wouldn't have had to work so hard.Of course, if you sell it, you will not be able to encounter such a good thing and become a multi-millionaire (according to the exchange rate at that time, 180 million euros is equivalent to more than 1000 million HKD).

That being the case, he definitely wants to buy this bottle, but he is not a reckless person. Before making a decision, he even took a photo and asked an expert he knew to appraise it. The other party said that it should be genuine from the photo .This immediately reassured him, so he began to mobilize funds.

After these years of business, in addition to buying a house, Yu Hua still has two or three million deposits, but this amount of money is definitely not enough to buy the bottle, so he borrowed another three million from a friend to make up the money. He paid nearly 300 million yuan, and he felt that this amount of money should be able to buy the bottle, and if it was not enough, he could just forget it.

The auction went smoothly, only when the bottle appeared, it was considered a climax, but what made Yu Hua a little depressed was that one of them kept fighting with him, and even though he bought the bottle in the end Yes, but counting the handling fee, he almost spent all his money.

After the depression was over, Yu Hua became excited. He hurried back to China and took the blue and white pastel bottle with him to Xiangjiang Guardian, a world-renowned auction company, because he knew very well that only Only by going to a large auction can you sell for a higher price.

What he didn't expect was that the experts from the auction company gave him a big blow. Both of his bottles were not original, and they should have been imitated in the late Qing Dynasty and early Ming Dynasty.

This result really surprised Yu Hua, and felt it was too cruel. You must know that he owed 300 million KHD for taking the bottle!
So after he came out of the auction company, he quickly invited several experts to help him appraise it. Some said it was true, and some said it was fake. Although this brought him some hope, everyone knew his identity. There is a problem with those two bottles, and it is extremely difficult to sell them.

There was no other way, Yu Hua could only sell some of the stock in his hand to repay the debt, and he sold it in a hurry, so the price was relatively low, and it was during this period that he sold the two Tianhuang seals to Tang Hui .

After hearing Yu Hua's story, Chu Chen and Liu Sizhe were a little embarrassed. In the antique business, many people think that domestic auction houses have high imitations, so they believe in foreign auction houses, but is this really the case?
You must know that the developed countries in the West are all capitalist countries. In this kind of society with developed commerce, is there no high imitation in the auction?This is obviously impossible, and according to relevant statistics, the counterfeit rate of big auctions is around 10%, and the highest is about 15%.

This is still a big shot, if it is a small shot, the counterfeit rate may be higher.

So, when you go to an antique auction, whether it's domestic or foreign, you should keep your eyes open, otherwise, if you don't see that it's a fake, the loss will be much more serious than that at a small stall.

At this time, Yu Hua said angrily: "I have been hearing people say that Tang Hui is relatively dark, but although the price he gave was not high before, it was not too outrageous, and he paid the money relatively straightforwardly, so he has been paying for it all the time. I sold most of my things to him, but I didn’t expect this guy to be so hacked, even if I can’t sell my things after killing me, he won’t sell them to him!”

To be honest, Chu Chen also despises Tang Hui's behavior. As a long-term business partner, if you don't plan to give charcoal in a timely manner, then you don't have to take advantage of the fire, right?There is nothing wrong with earning a little money, but if the price you pay is [-]% to [-]% less than the market price, then there is something wrong with your character.

Of course, what happened to Tang Hui had nothing to do with Chu Chen. He would definitely not deal with this kind of person again in the future, but since Yu Hua made such a statement, he must seize this opportunity.

"Mr. Yu, you also know that I opened an antique shop. I don't know if you are willing to transfer the things to me in the future. Of course, I will definitely not let you suffer in terms of price."

Of course, Yu Hua would not refuse to agree to this, but it was definitely unrealistic for him to easily believe in Chu Chen.

Chu Chen didn't say much about this. As the saying goes, Lu Yao knows horsepower and sees people's hearts over time. He believes that as long as Yu Hua can keep in touch with him in business for a long time, he will understand how he behaves.

"Mr. Yu, I don't know about your mountain..."

"Oh! Look at me, I almost forgot the business!" Yu Hua smiled apologetically at Chu Chen, and then took out the things.

Shanzi, in fact, is the kind of objects carved on or in gardens with rocks as the main shape.The mountain in front of me is not big in size, only about ten centimeters in height, and it is made of white jade, carved all over the body, with a bright red color around the surface of the vessel, which Chu Chen tentatively calls oil lifting.

On the front of Shanzi, a man is carved, with hair in a bun on the top of his head, and his facial features are carved with inscribed lines. He is wearing a Taoist robe, holding a dust whisk in his right hand as if meditating, his left hand hangs down naturally, and he wears Taoist shoes.On the right side of the Taoist priest, there is a servant boy with a double bun on his head, and his facial features are simply decorated with inscribed lines. He is also wearing a Taoist robe, standing with his hands together, also meditating.

A crane on the left turns its head and looks up, looking very curious. Behind it, there are dense pine branches, clouds floating in it, lake stones are delicately clothed, and the bottom is also engraved with cloud scroll patterns, and the whole vessel is exquisitely carved.In addition, there is a hole at the bottom of the device, which can be used for interspersed joints.

The carving of this mountain is delicate and neat, but overall, the carving lines are a little thin.Judging from the craftsmanship and subject matter of the Shanzi, as well as the patina and other details, it should be a Shanzi carefully carved in the south during the Song Dynasty.

But what makes Chu Chen feel a little strange is that the color of the oil can be so red. Generally speaking, although the oil is red, it can be dark or light, and the color will always be a bit biased. This kind of bright red can be so red. Other than jade, I have never seen it before.

Could this jade be blood jade?Chu Chen took a closer look and found that it didn't look like it. As for the color of dog jade and sheep jade, they would not look very moist like block jade.In the end, after careful identification and using his abilities, he guessed that it was more likely to raise the oil. As for why he came up with this bright red color, it is unknown.

"Mr. Yu, what is the price of this mountain?" Chu Chen asked after putting the things back.

"One hundred thousand HKD!" Yu Hua said firmly.

This price is neither cheap nor expensive, and it is suitable to buy it, but it is impossible to buy antiques without counter-offering, so Chu Chen pondered for a while and asked, "Can't it be cheaper?"

Yu Hua shook his head again and again and said, "No, I usually do business with a buy-it-all price. If you think it's expensive, forget it!"

"That's the price!" Chu Chen pretended to think about it, then nodded and said, "Mr. Yu, do you want a check or a transfer?"

"Then make a check!" Yu Hua said after thinking for a while.

A while ago, Chu Chen listened to Zhao Qirui's suggestion and went to do personal check business. This was the first time he used it. After a while, he signed the check and handed it over.

Yu Hua was very familiar with checks, and he verified the authenticity in a short while, so he planned to leave and leave.

Of course Chu Chen couldn't let him leave easily, otherwise where would he find the trick box?So he hastened to say:

"Mr. Yu, please wait a moment. To tell you the truth, my antique shop opened on New Year's Day. There are not many goods in the shop. I wonder if you have any antiques that you can sell?"

Yu Hua pondered for a while, and then said: "I do have more than a dozen things in my house, but there are very few high-quality ones, I'm afraid they may not suit you!"

Chu Chen chuckled and said, "You have to read it before deciding whether you like it or not, and I'm going to sell these things. They don't suit me, but they can suit customers' wishes! It's just that your things are genuine, and the price In moderation, I could buy them all."

When Yu Hua heard what Chu Chen said, how could he not agree, and said directly: "Okay, then let's go now!"

So next, under the leadership of Yu Hua, a group of people took a taxi to his home in Kowloon.

Yu Hua's house is an [-]-square-meter house, which is not bad in Xiangjiang, but you must know that he also has an old mother, and his wife and two children count, there are five people, and he still needs to pay There is some space for his antiques, so [-] square meters is still a bit crowded. Of course, even so, it is not bad in Xiangjiang.

Although it is Christmas holiday, it may be because the family's financial situation is not very good, and the family did not go out to play. When Chu Chen and the others came in, except for the old man who was sleeping in his room, everyone else was sitting in the living room watching TV. .

After Chu Chen and the others came in, Yu Hua briefly introduced to his family that he was here to buy antiques. This made the whole family feel a little excited. He took out all the things he said.

Most of the things Yu Hua took out were stationery, and there were eleven pieces in total. Besides that, there were two ancient paintings and a jade plaque.This made Chu Chen somewhat disappointed, because among these things, he did not see the mechanism box he wanted.

After being disappointed, Chu Chen felt that it was normal. After all, it was such a strange box. If Yu Hua really got it, he would have to study it more or less. But if he couldn't open the box and wanted to brute force it, it would be over.

You must know that the mechanism box cannot be opened forcibly, because this will trigger the mechanism inside and destroy the collection inside.

Thinking of this, Chu Chen felt very anxious in his heart, but what made him feel helpless was that he couldn't ask related matters immediately, otherwise it would inevitably arouse Yu Hua's suspicion. In the end, he could only suppress his anxiety and pick up the Things on the table looked up.

Just like what Yu Hua said, these things of his are indeed of mediocre quality. Except for the two stationery items and the jade plaque, other things including the two paintings are just ordinary goods, and the total price is not high. More than [-] RMB.

The remaining two pieces of stationery are a printing box from the Daoguang period of the Qing Dynasty, and a hair crystal inkstone carved during the Qianlong period.

The printing box, also known as the printing pad and the printing pool, is used to place the printing pad.Most of them are made of porcelain and jade, round and square, divided into two parts: cover and body.

Yu Hua's printed box is a blue and white printed box fired during the Daoguang period. It is divided into two parts: the cover and the body.

The inner wall of this box is painted with white glaze, and the outer wall of the cover is painted with eight treasure patterns and lotus patterns in between. The composition is novel and unique, complex but not chaotic, and the layers are clear.The carcass is delicate and white, the blue and white hair color is bright, and the blue and white "Daqing Daoguang Year System" six-character double-line seal script is written on the bottom foot.

Chu Chen inspected the printed box carefully and found that it was indeed a genuine product.It should be said that Emperor Guang was known for his frugality. He restricted the firing of porcelain and controlled costs. Sometimes he could not make ends meet and could not pay the normal expenses of the imperial kiln factory.

And the printed box in front of me is a high-quality example, which can be said to be quite rare.

As for the other crystal inkstone drop carved in the Qianlong period, it is relatively rare. The inkstone drop, also known as water drop or book drop, is a stationery used to store inkstone for grinding ink.

This inkstone drop was ingeniously carved into the shape of an earthworm (pronunciation: bāxià) using hair crystals.

Hair crystals are actually natural crystals containing different types of needle-shaped ore inclusions. These hair needle-like minerals in different arrangements are distributed inside the crystal. The overall look is like the crystal contains hair strands, so Gu its name is Fajing.

The earthworm is one of the nine sons of the dragon, also known as the water-absorbing beast, and its nature is water-loving. It is said that it can adjust the amount of water, so that the river "can carry boats less, and more will not flood the grains". .Both the folk and the royal family put this supernatural thing on both sides of the bridge to pray for protection.

This piece of earthworm inkstone has a flat and wide body, protruding eyes, thick eyebrows, a big nose and wide mouth, exposed fangs, and two curled horns stretched out to fit the body.The four legs are curled up, lying on the ground, the long tail is thick and thick, the end is divided into two parts, and the curl is attached to the two hind legs, creating a dynamic climbing posture.

The inkstone drop is also the habit of using the cockroach to be good at swallowing and spitting water. The opening on its back is used to hold water, and the injection hole in the mouth is connected to the abdomen, so that the water is even.

This piece of inkstone drop is made of finely crafted golden silk tea-colored hair crystals. The golden silk in the body is gorgeous and charming, and the shape of the earthworm is vivid and realistic, and the carving is delicate and vivid. It has the style of court jade work in the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty.

In Chinese traditional culture, crystal has the function of driving away evil spirits and town houses to ward off evil spirits. For example, if it is displayed on the auspicious position of Fengshui, it also has the special function of strengthening people's confidence and promoting wealth and happiness.And the cricket is also an auspicious beast that blesses one side. Combining the two, Chu Chen felt that buying it as a gift to his father was perfect.

In addition, there is another jade plaque that was also made by the court during the Qianlong period. The jade plaque is carefully carved from the finest Hetian jade.Longevity peaches and bergamot are embossed on the front, and "longevity and good fortune" are carved on the back, implying auspiciousness. It is a rare and good product.

"Mr. Chu, what do you think of these things?" Yu Hua asked.

Chu Chen smiled and said: "Mr. Yu, it seems that your eyesight is very good. These things are all genuine products. I can buy them all, but except for these three things, the others are relatively ordinary, so the price ..."

When Yu Hua heard that Chu Chen really planned to buy all these things of his, he was very happy in his heart, and said with a rare smile: "Since you are so straightforward, Mr. Chu, I will also give you a discounted price, a total of 80 yuan." ,what do you think?"

The price Yu Hua offered was really good, even in the mainland, it was already very cheap, not to mention Xiangjiang, which was [-] to [-] percent higher than the mainland, so Chu Chen readily agreed.

But just as Chu Chen took out the check to pay, Yu Hua's son walked out of the room with a small box in his arms.When he saw the box, Chu Chen was really excited, because if he read correctly, that box was exactly the trick box he had been looking for for a long time.

"Ah Sheng, why did you take out this box?" Yu Hua asked in Cantonese, frowning.

"Dad, I haven't been able to open this box for a long time. Why don't you sell it to this gentleman so that you can supplement the household income!" Yu Hua's son said shyly.

"But what if there are some treasures inside!" Yu Hua said with a frown.

"What kind of treasure is there! I have shaken this box several times. If there is really a treasure in it, why is there no sound? I think it is probably an empty box!" Yu Hua's wife muttered softly beside her.

Hearing what she said, Yu Hua thought for a while and felt that there was some truth in it. If there was something in the box, it would be a bit noisy. Thinking about it this way, he was somewhat hesitant. Should the box be sold or not? good?

During this period, Yu Hua's son put the box in front of Chu Chen, and then smiled shyly at him.

Chu Chen nodded to him with a smile, then suppressed the excitement and excitement in his heart, picked up the box and observed it carefully.

This box is rectangular in shape, about 36 centimeters in length and [-] centimeters in height, and is made of lobular red sandalwood.Chu Chen reckoned that it was because the box was made of such a very precious material that it survived when it couldn't be opened.

Trick boxes are basically composed of wooden strips of different widths, so apart from some special materials, there is really nothing special about the appearance of this box.

After Chu Chen looked at it carefully, he shook the box vigorously, but he didn't hear any sound, which made him frown a little. Could it be that the inside of this box is really an empty box as Yu Hua's wife said?

Of course, it is very simple for Chu Chen to know whether the box is empty or not. He only needs to use the Lingbao Eye once, but the result of using the Lingbao Eye almost made him cry out, because the box Not only is there something in it, but its value is even more astonishing.

As for why there is no sound, it is also because there are several silk bags filled with cotton and the like inside the box, which fills the space inside the box, so no matter how shaken it is, there will be no sound.

As for what was inside the box, Chu Chen only knew that it was a painting and calligraphy. As for what it was, he didn't go into it, because he was afraid that he would not be able to control the excitement in his heart, and Yu Hua and the others would find out that he was strange. , then there will be no variables.

"Mr. Yu, I don't know if you want to transfer this box?" Chu Chen calmed himself down, and then asked.

"Are you interested?" Yu Hua didn't answer, but asked back.

"Yes!" Chu Chen nodded.

Yu Hua pondered for a while, and then asked: "Mr. Chu, forgive me for asking, do you know what kind of box this is?"

"Yes!" Chu Chen knew that if he told a lie now it would cause a change, so he admitted it without thinking too much, and said, "This box is called a trick box, and it can only be opened after certain steps!"

"Oh, then you know how to open this box?" Yu Hua asked again.

Chu Chen smiled slightly and said, "I know I do, but unless you know the formula set by the original owner, it will be difficult to type."

"The formula? Do you need the formula to open this thing?" Yu Hua asked suspiciously.

Chu Chen replied: "It is indeed a formula. You must know that your mechanism box is a three-phase mechanism box. It takes 140 and [-] steps to open, and there are many ways to combine it. It won't open!"

"Since that's the case, why do you still want to buy this box?" Yu Hua asked half-believingly.

Chu Chen smiled slightly and said: "Because of interest! There are not many three-phase lock boxes like this, so I want to buy it back and study it!"

"Really?" Yu Hua stared at Chu Chen, trying to see something strange on his face.

"Why should I lie to you?" Chu Chen spread his hands and said, "You don't think there is something in it, do you? It feels a little, obviously, there is probably nothing in this box."

(End of this chapter)