Chapter 68 French Court Clocks

Lin Sanqi held a broken French chime clock in his arms, while secretly glancing at Mao Xiaotong beside him.

Pan Ye knew that the other person was looking at him, but the girl was shy and kept her head down while walking.

The two of them walked all the way to the alley before Lin Sanqi spoke:

"Okay, you should go back even in this hot weather. I will keep your father's illness in mind."

Pan Ye suddenly looked up and smiled, his eyebrows curved and his smile was full of smiles. Lin Sanqi's heartbeat accelerated again.

"Then take care. Tell me if there's any good news about my dad's illness. Here, this is the address of my school and my home. If you can't find them, write to me."

"Write a letter, sure. It would be much more convenient if you had WeChat, haha."

What Lin Sanqi didn't know was that in the 1950s and 1960s, if a girl was willing to give a boy her address and actively asked for correspondence, it was actually a very positive signal.

In 2013, a girl might give her WeChat ID to many men, but girls these days would not give their addresses to anyone casually.

When Pan Ye returned home, his mother had already started cutting meat.

Pork cannot be stored in the hot summer and there is no refrigerator, so the first thing to do when getting pork is to make lard, which is the only source of fat at present.

Given that pork is almost no longer available in the market, 5 kilograms of fat meat is definitely a conscientious gift and is extremely valuable.

Pan Zhengquan sat in his chair, wondering if this young man, Lin Sanqi, was a human or a ghost? Was he a shrewd old man who flirted with his wife? Or was he a promising young man of the new era?

As a former great professor, he must have some connections. Pan Zhengquan was thinking about who to ask about Lin Sanqi from Kuanjie Chinese Medicine Hospital.

Seeing his daughter return, Pan Zhengquan gently asked, "Comrade Lin has returned?"

While helping his mother clean up the pork, Pan Ye replied, "Well, Dad, he's back. He said he'll let me know as soon as there's any news about your condition."

Pan Zhengquan said seriously at this time:

"Yezi, you've grown up now. At 20, you would have been married and had children in the old society. Now it's a new society, men and women are equal, so Dad doesn't object to you making friends, but Dad still has one thing to say:

Although the times have become more open, girls must respect themselves. It's understandable for young people to hold hands when they're together, but they must not do anything impulsive. Although our Pan family has fallen on hard times, we must maintain a positive family tradition. Do you understand?"

Pan Ye's face turned red when he heard this. How could he not understand what his father was warning him about?

"Dad, what are you talking about? We're just ordinary friends, like revolutionary comrades. How could there be such a mess? Besides, I believe in Comrade Lin Sanqi."

Pan Zhengquan pushed his glasses and thought to himself, my girl, you are still too naive. When young men interact with women, all they think about are those things. Who hasn’t been young?

There is no pig in the world that doesn't like cabbage, unless it's a picture hanging on the wall...

Lin Sanqi went home happily holding a clock.

It was afternoon when they returned to the Gege Mansion. No one was at the Lin family. Lin Sanqi placed the Pan family's clock on the table and examined it carefully.

This so-called French Louis XV style Cupid copper gilt mantel clock is about 42cm high, 30cm wide and 20cm thick. The entire clock is golden in color and is made of wood and metal.

How to describe this style? It is a typical European court style with very exquisite carvings, exuding a sense of luxury and extravagance everywhere.

The only drawback is that the glass cover of the chime clock dial is gone and it no longer moves.

A clock that doesn't work is basically worthless, no matter how beautiful it is. Lin Sanqi sighed and prepared to throw it into the trash can.

Suddenly he thought of someone. There was an uncle in Shilou Village who was a retired watch shop owner. Could he repair it?

After all, this clock is an antique from the Qing Dynasty, and it was made in Europe. Maybe it can be sold for some money?

Thinking of this, Lin Sanqi saw that it was still early, so he left through the time and space gate and returned to 2013.

In a self-built building in Shilou Village.

A thin old man wearing old glasses was looking up and down, inside and out, at the chime clock brought by Lin Sanqi, and from time to time he would use a magnifying glass to look at the details.

Lin Sanqi didn't dare to say a word and sat obediently aside with his hands on his knees.

After about 20 minutes, the thin old man put down his glasses, nodded slightly and said:

"This chime clock is indeed an old item, produced by a French court clock workshop in the 19th century. It's a rare masterpiece. It's a pity that you broke the glass, but it's not a big deal. I can just replace it with a new one."

Lin Sanqi reminded him, "Uncle San, I accidentally dropped this clock. Now it won't work. What should I do?"

"It won't work? Then just wind it up. You didn't look carefully, but there's a winding key right here. Just turn it a few times like I did."

Sure enough, after my third uncle wound the spring a few times, the clock started to tick again.

Lin Sanqi suddenly realized that he and Pan Ye had misunderstood. They thought that the clock was broken and that was why it didn't keep time. It turned out that it was not wound up.

"Haha, I'm glad it's not broken. By the way, Third Uncle, is this kind of clock considered an antique? Do you think anyone would buy it?"

Third Uncle thought for a moment before saying:

"This chime clock is certainly an antique, and it's in excellent condition. If I remember correctly, a similar clock was sold at the Huadu Guardian Auction in 2011 for 860,000 RMB."

Lin Sanqi was secretly delighted. This was truly a godsend. How could a broken clock be sold at such a high price?

You have to know that the Pan family originally planned to exchange 100 kilograms of coarse grains, that is, 100 kilograms of corn flour or dried sweet potatoes. What's the difference between that and picking it up for free?

"Third Uncle, this clock is useless to me. Do you have any connections to help me sell it? I'll give you a 2% commission."

When southerners do things, they keep business as business and family as family. They believe in settling accounts clearly among brothers to avoid unnecessary disputes in the future that would affect the relationship between relatives and friends.

Third Uncle knew that this was the norm in the industry and didn't refuse. He picked up the phone book and flipped through it for a long time before making a call.

"Old Zhang, yes, long time no see. I have something to tell you. One of my grandsons wants to sell a French Louis XV-style copper gilt cupid mantel clock dating back to circa 1870. Are you interested? Come take a look. Okay, it's at my house."

Uncle San put down the phone and said with a smile:

"I'm calling an antique dealer in Xiguan Antique City. He specializes in clocks and watches. He said he'll come over later. But Xiaoqi, I want to give you a heads up: the auction price is different from the purchase price, so the asking price may not reach over 800,000."

(End of this chapter)