Chapter 122: Who's Picking Up The Slack?
Li Yang smiled and said nothing, but he remembered a sentence that Old He had told him: in the world of antiques, there are many stories, no matter what story it is, don't believe it, just trust your own eyesight, who knows if this shop owner is pretending to be pitiful on purpose.
Besides, this damaged Xuande stove is absolutely not worth 100,000. Five million is already a high price, and Li Yang didn't plan to add any more value to it.
"Boss, I'm telling you the truth, I've already lost 100,000, can't go any lower"
The shopkeeper saw Li Yang unmoved, his face immediately turned very sad and bitter, only occasionally glancing at Li Yang from the corner of his eye.
"Dad, Dad, I'm back"
Suddenly a loud shout came from outside the door, and the shopkeeper was taken aback. A clear smile appeared on his face as he hastily put away the Xuan De stove.
A young man, less than twenty years old, wearing a hat, came in from outside. Seeing someone in the store, he was taken aback for a moment, but immediately burst out laughing and said to the shop owner: "Dad, I've brought back that big can of paint from Zhao Village!"
"Really, bring it in and take a look"
The shop owner's face showed great joy, and he was slightly excited. He got up and wanted to go out, but after taking only two steps, he stopped and turned around to send the box containing the Xuan De stove to the inner room before heading out.
When he saw Li Yang, the shop owner apologized and said: "Sorry, boss, my son just received a shipment back, if it's convenient for both of you, can we talk again tomorrow?"
"Never mind, can we take a look at the goods you've received?"
Li Yang shook his head. It's already not easy to harvest in the countryside now, but what that young man said about the big paint can made him think of something.
He Lao once told Li Yang that during the Cultural Revolution, when destroying the Four Olds, some people would apply a layer of paint to protect their porcelain and artifacts. Later on, a small number of these painted items were never cleaned due to various unexpected events, and those who knew about this secret went around collecting such painted porcelain, with some people indeed finding hidden treasures.
However, later on, many people took advantage of this to set traps and deceived quite a few people. Now that so much time has passed, it's unknown whether such oil-painted porcelain still exists or not.
"This is okay, can be done, no problem"
The owner thought for a moment, then smiled and agreed. The goods were already theirs, and Li Yang had no chance to pick up the bargain. If Li Yang wanted to buy it again at a price that satisfied them, the owner didn't mind selling the newly acquired items.
Just then, a young man carrying a large paint can walked in. The can was indeed not small, nearly half a meter high, painted with red paint, but it had turned dark brown over time.
As soon as he saw this big jar, the shop owner became excited again.
The young man took out a small bucket from the wall, poured some water into a basin, and then took out a new towel to wipe the paint can.
The shop owner was also busy beside him, and neither of them noticed that Li Yang was in a daze.
A large can of paint was brought in, and Li Yang used his special ability to observe the object. The father-son duo who owned this store were indeed lucky, as this was truly the painted porcelain that He Lao had mentioned before.
Inside the paint is a Qinghua vase with two layers of light yellow halo, no bottom mark. According to Li's analysis of style and halo, this is a Guangxu Minyao, which is considered a good Minyao porcelain.
Li Yang was stunned by the base of this large vase, which was very thick and had a hollow space in the middle that was as big as a plate. Inside it lay quietly a Qing dynasty pen holder with fifteen faint yellow circles on its surface. This was the second time Li Yang encountered an object with treasures hidden inside, he wondered if people in the past liked to do this sort of thing.
Fifteen cycles, with one cycle being sixty years, indicates that this pen washer has a history of at least nine hundred years. Li Yang quickly calculated the date and found it to be around the late Northern Song Dynasty.
The celadon pen washer is exquisitely crafted, with a diameter of about 30 cm and a thickness of about 4-5 cm. It has no foot ring, and the back of the pen washer has no inscription, only five small nail marks.
Li Yang carefully recalled the knowledge of ancient porcelain he learned from He Lao, who was a master of ancient porcelain and had the most books on this subject.
There are not many types of porcelain with nail marks, and it is also from the Northern Song Dynasty. Li Yang almost knew the origin of this pen washer. If Li Yang's guess was correct, this pen washer would be a rare treasure.
After Li Yang made the judgment, the owner and his son had already washed off more than half of the paint. The more they washed, the happier the owner became, and the son's face was also filled with excitement. Needless to say, they were definitely excited about getting a good deal.
"Boss, good luck, it's an old thing."
Li Yang squatted down and said with a smile, the shop owner was very happy and couldn't help but nod his head.
"This should be a General's vase from the Guangxu period of folk kilns, although it is a folk kiln, but very exquisite, valuable"
Li Yang continued, the shop owner nodded all along. Just now Li Yang suddenly pointed out the problem with the Xuan De stove, and the shop owner had already regarded Li Yang as an expert-level master. In addition, he himself could also see the age of this thing, so naturally he did not have any doubts about what Li Yang said.
After saying that, Li Yang didn't speak anymore and quietly watched the father and son wash the paint. After more than half an hour, the two finally washed off all the paint on the big barrel.
"Boss, I'm very interested in this new treasure you've just received, how about a price?"
The general can was held by the father and son owners on a table in the store, Li Yang looked at this general can and suddenly said a sentence.
"This boss, I really admire your eye for things. Since you've taken a liking to it, why don't you make an offer first?"
The shop owner's eyes rolled around and he immediately smiled and said. This big jar was discovered by him when he went to the countryside to try his luck some time ago, at that time the family didn't want to sell it to him, so the shop owner kept it in mind and waited for a whole month before letting his son try another way.
As a result, the test really succeeded. The son bought the large can of paint at a low price and brought it over. He had been waiting for his son all day without closing the door, also waiting for customers in the process, unexpectedly meeting one.
He was unfamiliar with Li Yang, and he could also tell that Li Yang was an outsider by his accent. However, this didn't matter; as long as he had the money to buy things for himself, it was fine. The main goal of doing business is to make money, and this shop owner wasn't a collector.
"Fifty Thousand"
Li Yang bowed his head and thought for a moment, then immediately gave a price. Although this military kiln was good, after all, it was a civilian kiln, and the appreciation of ancient civilian kiln porcelain over the past few years was far from that of official kilns.
Just like Li Yang's down payment for that pair of small bowls, Qianlong Minyao is only 200,000 yuan a pair, but if it becomes Jiajing Guanyao, it becomes 30 million, which is over a hundred times more.
"Boss, I can tell you're a straightforward person by the price you quoted. I can give you 50,000, but there's one condition: you must throw in that Xuande stove, and we'll make it two items for 150,000."
The shopkeeper smiled and replied that he could see Li Yang was really interested in the Guangxu General's can, so he made such a condition. The Xuan De stove had been pressed for too long in his hands, and the owner had let it go early. This time, when he met Li Yang, he decided not to let it go again.
"Two items, 1.2 million"
Li Yang couldn't wait to immediately agree with the shop owner, but Li Yang also understood that if he agreed too readily, the shop owner would be suspicious.
"The owner of the 140,000 shop said."
"130,000" Li Yang immediately countered with a lower price.
Deal
The shop owner's smile deepened, his eyes becoming finer and smaller, giving off a sly merchant vibe.
His son just stood by and watched, seeing that the general's jar was sold so quickly also made him very happy, this is his first time to go out alone to collect goods, and achieved such a good result.
The shop owner only deals in cash transactions. Li Yang asked Liu Gang to go back and get the money, while he himself stayed behind, chatting with the shop owner at a leisurely pace.
Ten minutes later, Liu Gang brought back a bag of money and Li Yang took out 130,000 cash to pay the store owner. After that, both the damaged Dehua furnace and the Guangxu Minyao General jar became Li Yang's.
As soon as he got the things in hand, Li Yang took the General Crock and Xuande stove and left the antique shop. The owner's son deliberately went out to see them off until they were far away before returning.
"Dad, today we made a big profit. The large paint can and the shipping cost only 500 yuan, but you sold the Xuan De stove for 200,000 yuan. Today, it's like we earned tens of thousands in just one day!"
The son's expression was very excited, while the shop owner showed a triumphant smile. He had known that the De furnace had defects when he received it, but he wanted to see if he could deceive people. The 200,000 yuan was just a scam to cheat Li Yang and make him feel sympathetic.
For now, the shop owner thinks the effect is still good. Li Yang took a liking to the General's large jar that he had just picked up and made him earn tens of thousands of yuan. With this business, his food and drink for the year are covered.
As soon as he left the antique shop, Li Yang's heartbeat accelerated again. If he wasn't mistaken, the thing hidden inside the general's vase should be a Ru kiln celadon pen washer. As the first of the five great official kilns of the Song Dynasty, the quantity of porcelain produced by Ru kiln is extremely rare, and the value of this celadon pen washer can be imagined.
The shopkeeper thought he had picked up a bargain, but didn't know that the biggest bargain had already been taken away by Li Yang.
Back at the hotel, Li Yang wanted to smash the big jar, but Liu Gang was by his side, so he had to give up. Although the Xuande furnace was a defective product, it was also an antique, and with this genuine Ru kiln celadon pen washer, Li Yang finally had his own collection, and when talking about being a connoisseur of antiques, he could speak with confidence.
Mei Mei slept beautifully and when she woke up the next day, Li Yang's mood was still quite good.
Li Canqi got up early, and after a night's rest, his spirit had recovered a lot. After eating breakfast, several people were preparing to set off when Li Can saw the general can and Xuande stove, and his surprised mouth was still open.
After getting on the car, Li Yang told Li Can about what happened last night. Li Can carefully examined the two items and shook his head repeatedly, indicating that Li Yang had overpaid. He said that these two items together were worth no more than 100,000 yuan, which was already a high price. Li Can claimed that if he had been with him, he could have helped Li Yang buy them for at most 80,000 yuan.
Li Yang just smiled and didn't mind, the real treasure is inside, compared to the value of that Ru kiln celadon pen washer, these tens of millions are just a small change.
Li Yang sent Li Can to Zhengzhou and then returned to Mingyang with Liu Gang. The pen was very valuable, so it couldn't be put in the safe in the car because it was still in the general's canister, which made Li Yang uneasy. He decided to send it back home first, anyway Mingyang is only over 200 kilometers away from Zhengzhou.
