Chapter Eighteen: Buying and Selling

  All the way, Chu Chen kept waving enthusiastically to familiar people until he arrived at his own stall, only to find that the current owner of the stall was also an old friend, Zhou Wenping.

  Zhou Wenping is thirty-four years old, from Xi Jing in Shaanxi Province. He arrived at Guwan Street a year later than Chu Chen. Originally, he also did antique business in Xi Jing, but his wife suffered from a serious illness and after many twists and turns, they came to the capital city and found a hospital that could possibly cure her.

  Then Zhou Wenping sold all the things at home and brought his wife and children to Beijing for medical treatment. Since they had to make a living, he started doing his old business again. Chu Chen sympathized with his experience and helped him do some things within his power from time to time. As a result, the two became friends.

  At this time, on Zhou Wenping's stall, an old man was holding a Qinghua Shan Shui plate, carefully observing it. In the end, he even took out a magnifying glass and observed it repeatedly, with a serious look like an old scholar.

  Chu Chen saw the old man's appearance and was also a bit curious, could it be that the mountain and water tray was a fine piece? As he walked closer to take a look, he suddenly knew what kind of quality the mountain and water tray was.

  The old man put down the landscape plate and asked, "Boss, how much does this thing cost?"

  "You're a connoisseur, this is indeed a good thing." Zhou Wenping first flattered the other party, then thought for a while with a contemplative expression, and finally spoke again: "Since you really like it, I'll give you a fair price of 5,000 yuan."

  The old man thought for a moment, then picked up the plate and looked at it again, saying: "Five thousand is too expensive, six hundred yuan, how about that?"

  "It's 600 yuan, you'd better leave it there, I can't even get in." Zhou Wenping had a speechless expression.

  The old man, after hearing this, didn't utter a word, but instead furrowed his brow and carefully stroked the landscape plate again before opening his mouth to say: "One thousand, boss, will you accept it? If not, I'll leave."

  "Grandpa, I can see you really like this item, but one thousand is a bit too low. My cost price isn't even covered yet, not to mention the stall fee and my labor costs. You have to let me make some profit, right? If you're really sincere about buying it, two thousand two hundred and it's yours."

  The old man was silent again at this time, constantly playing with the landscape plate, with a hesitant look.

  "Rest assured, this is an antique. Look at the patina and the craftsmanship - it's a masterpiece. Whatever you pay for it, you won't regret taking it home."

  The old man seemed to be moved, but possibly the 2200 was beyond his expectations, so he kept frowning, but when asked to give up, he couldn't bear it at all. He gritted his teeth and made a decision, saying to Zhou Wenping:

  "Boss, I'll give you 1,600, but that's my final offer. Look at the color of this celadon, it's not quite right."

  Zhou Wenping smiled nonchalantly and said, "Sir, isn't that right? This is originally a folk kiln's work, do you think an official kiln's can be had for this price? I'll let it go again, how about 1,800? For such a fine piece with good quality, in the neighboring shops, none of them can be had for less than 2,000."

  The old man thought for a moment, looked at the landscape plate in his hand with some reluctance, gritted his teeth and finally made up his mind. He took out a stack of money from his pocket, counted it again and again, then handed it over to Zhou Wenping with a hint of reluctance: "Alright, boss, you'd better help me wrap it well!"

  "Alright, I'll get you a gift box, guaranteed to be sturdy and good-looking." After finishing speaking, Zhou Wenping took the young man's money, counted it carefully, and quickly put it into his own pocket. Then he took out a gift box from a nearby trunk, wrapped the Qinghua Shan Shui plate in it, and handed it over to the old man, and this deal was done.

  After the old man left with a big smile, holding the gift box, Chu Chen smiled and greeted Zhou Wenping: "Great, Brother Zhou, business is not bad."

  With this business, Zhou Wenping was in a good mood, took out a small stool from the side and asked Chu Chen to sit down, saying: "Hehe, just opened today, where did the good business come from."

  "Our line of business isn't that we don't open for half a year and then eat for half a year, is it? That landscape dish of yours can't be just this much, right?"

  Chu Chen smiled and compared two fingers.

  Next to him, a small vendor whom everyone called Old Five, seeing this also smiled and chimed in: "I'm telling you, Zhou Ge, with this one knife stroke, you'll be bringing great calamity upon that old comrade."

  "Hey, I'm telling you guys, that landscape plate was something he wanted to buy himself, I didn't force him. Besides, he's probably thrilled right now, thinking he got a great deal. And let's be real, my landscape plate is still worth something as an antique. As the saying goes, it's not about buying expensive things, but about buying the wrong thing - eventually, it'll be worth its value."

  "Alright then." Chu Chen smiled and said: "Even if the old comrade lives to be a hundred, it's unlikely that the price will rise to what he's asking for."

  The old man who just bought the Qinghua Shan Shui plate, it happens that Zhou Wenping had stocked up on goods when Chu Chen was still setting up his stall a few days ago, so he knew it was a folk kiln work from the late Qing Dynasty, and the craftsmanship glaze and everything were all very ordinary, at most worth three to five hundred, even if it's been ten years, being able to sell for over a thousand is already not bad.

  That old man should have also studied antiques for a period of time, but he didn't learn much, just like what people usually call "a mediocre person". In the antique industry, the most common type of person who gets deceived is actually this kind of mediocre person. Newcomers are not easy to get deceived because they don't understand, and when purchasing, they are more cautious.

  Many people who have learned a bit of antique knowledge like to buy things by comparing them with the color pictures in books, but often they are similar but not quite right, and they end up being disappointed. Like the old man just now, Chu Chen estimated that he might have misjudged the dynasty or simply thought it was an unmarked official kiln, so he ended up buying it happily, feeling pleased with himself.

  The old man is a bit better, at least he bought the right one. Some people simply buy modern chemical products and take them home with pride. After asking an expert to take a look, it's really pitiful. The key is that he doesn't admit his mistake and refuses to believe it, only indulging in his own world. This kind of person deserves to be deceived many times.

  Actually, the old man just made another mistake, which is that he doesn't know how to haggle. When Chu Chen first saw him earlier, she thought he should be a knowledge-based worker who usually doesn't care about food, clothing, shelter, and transportation, nor does he understand some market rules, so he would spend thousands of yuan more in vain.

  There's a saying that goes, "What you buy isn't as good as what you sell." Like the stuff they sell at ordinary stalls, some items are often priced at around ten times the wholesale price, or even more. So when you're bargaining, be bold about it. There's another saying that goes, "Ask for the sky and settle on the ground," meaning that as long as the seller makes some profit, he'll eventually agree to sell. Of course, it's up to you to gauge how far to push it.

  However, people like Lao Zhai are the ones that Chu Chen and others like the most. There are also those who don't have money but pretend to be rich, or those who are too shy to show their true feelings. These two types of people are also the easiest to make money from.

  What I hate the most is people like Zhang's wife, who are so stingy that they would split a cent into two if possible. They would often pester you for two or three hours just to get a discount of tens or even just a few dollars, as if not giving them a bargain is a huge mistake.

  Moreover, they may be naturally very sensitive to prices, and the amount of money they offer is just within your psychological range, so you can't rush them, and in the end, you can only agree to the price they say.

  Zhou Wenping said with a mixture of laughter and tears: "I just earned a little over a thousand bucks, but you guys make it sound like I committed a heinous crime. Alright, how about I treat you to dinner at the food stalls tonight?"

  As soon as he heard there was wine to drink, Old Five's eyes lit up and he began to drool. This man had many good qualities and no other bad habits, except for one: he was a glutton for liquor. As long as his wife didn't control him, he would drink recklessly. One time, he even smashed a Qing dynasty official kiln porcelain bowl worth tens of thousands of yuan. Later on, he restrained himself somewhat.

  Chu Chen and the others took one look at Lao Wu's appearance and knew that he had gotten drunk, and couldn't help but secretly laugh.

  "By the way, Xiao Chuan, everyone heard that you fell in love with Tang Sancai from Lao's place last time. Lao came to find you yesterday and apologized to you, but he went to Xingtiao Country today and left a phone number for you, asking you to call him as soon as possible. I think he wants to give you some compensation."

  Zhou Wenping finished speaking and handed a note with a phone number written on it to Chu Chen.

  Taking the note, Chu Chen was somewhat moved by Xiang Lao's actions, but although he would call Xiang Lao, accepting compensation from him was out of the question. After all, buying the Tang Sancai had been a completely voluntary transaction at the time, so he said:

  "Mr. Xiang's moral integrity is truly admirable, but this matter has nothing to do with him. At the beginning, I was completely obsessed and pestered Mr. Xiang, who had no choice but to give me Tang Sancai. Besides, in our line of work, it's all about knowledge and eye power. If we start calculating profits and losses for things that are clearly worth the money, wouldn't that be going against the rules?"

  Zhou Wenping nodded and said, "I know Lao's temper, he did this to reassure himself. By the way, Xiao Chuan, you lost so much money this time, do you want me to lend you some?"

  "Heh heh, then it's not needed anymore. Yesterday I not only made up for the losses, but also earned a few more tens of thousands." Chu Chen said with a smile in a low voice.

  "Wow, okay, Xiao Chun, you've hit the jackpot! No way, tonight's turn is mine to treat, it should be yours!"

  Zhou Wenping smiled in surprise and admiration, while Old Five on the side also nodded repeatedly with envy.

  "Come on, this is nothing, I'll treat you today. Let's not eat anything too expensive. That private tea house I went to yesterday was pretty good. I'll call my wife and kid over in a bit, and Old Five, you bring your mouth along too. We'll celebrate together." Chu Quan said with a wave of his hand.