Chen Ke began to hesitate, "This... this isn't about money. I put these up here to invite like-minded people to appreciate them. I didn't intend to sell them."

"I know, Mr. Chen, but I really love these things. For the sake of our friendship, could you please part with them one more time?" Lautes asked earnestly.

"Well then, Mr. Lauters, I have many good items in my warehouse. Take whatever you like, and I'll sell them to you at a low price."

"But Mr. Chen, I only like these few things. I fell in love with them at first sight. I'm not interested in anything else."

Chen Ke began to show a conflicted expression.

Lauters knew that the more reluctant Chen Ke was to part with the antiques, the greater their value and the stronger Lauters' desire to possess them became.

"Mr. Chen, I really love these antiques. If you can part with them this time, please don't hesitate to ask me for help in the future."

"Let's not talk about that. Since you really like it, I have no choice but to reluctantly give it to you." Chen Ke looked like he really couldn't do anything about it.

"Great, Mr. Chen, thank you so much. Name your price." He'd resell it for several times the price anyway.

Chen Ke: "Hey, I can't just drive around like that. We're all friends, a little something is fine. I don't care about the money... Mr. Lauters, do you want everything here?"

Yes, I want them all.

"Well, then I'll take Mr. Lauters's money at a friendly price, one dollar."

!!

Nearly a million? Lauters was stunned for a moment.

"What, Mr. Lauters, are you surprised that it's less than a million? Hahaha, I've already said we're friends. There's no need to be so polite between friends. Just accepting a small amount is fine. But this is only because of you, Mr. Lauters. I wouldn't sell to anyone else, let alone at a low price!"

Hearing Chen Ke's resolute tone, Lauters began to hesitate, "Is...is that so?"

Chen Ke: "Of course, let alone one million, I wouldn't sell it for three million. Do you think I'm selling it to you for the money? Absolutely not. I'm only selling Lauters to you because of our friendship. Can the friendship between friends be measured in money?"

Lauters: "Of course not!" It used to be possible, but now it's absolutely not possible. What if Mr. Chen goes back on his word and refuses to sell the goods to him?

Chen Ke slammed his hand on the table in excitement, “I knew I hadn’t misjudged you, Lauters, from now on you’ll be my best friend!”

Lauters stood up excitedly, "My best friend? Then if you have any other good stuff in the future, you'll have to sell it to me!" Those who can make him a lot of money are all his best friends.

Chen Ke smiled broadly, "Absolutely!"

Finally, with tears in his eyes, Chen Ke packed all of Lauters's belongings, feeling heartbroken as he received the money.

Lauters, having emptied almost all his savings, stepped out of the Thirteen Factories with a beaming smile.

Watching the Lauters drive away, Chen Ke stood at the door, waving goodbye with tears in his eyes and a choked voice: "Goodbye, friend."

Lauters, sitting in the car, smiled smugly. "We'll meet again, my friend."

Just as Chen Ke was about to close the shop, a middle-aged man in a blue cloth robe stepped forward and asked in confusion, "Shopkeeper, it's still broad daylight, are you already closing the shop?"

Chen Ke remained expressionless, but in reality, he had already observed the person thoroughly. He smiled and said, "My shop only serves one person a day. Today's business is done, so naturally it's time to close."

"So, do you buy antiques?" the middle-aged man asked somewhat awkwardly.

"You want to sell antiques? Then you can just go to a pawn shop."

Hearing Chen Ke's words, the middle-aged man said with a bitter expression, "I went there, but the money they offered was too low."

Chen Ke's gaze fell on the middle-aged man's long gown, which was neat but covered with patches. The patches were carefully made of the same color fabric, making them difficult to spot at first glance.

The person who mended this garment must have been quite particular. Such so-called "poor man's fussiness" is something only someone who was doing well in the past would care about. Perhaps his family had fallen on hard times or suffered a sudden misfortune, forcing him to sell the family's antiques.

"Come in and let me take a look."

The middle-aged man cautiously followed Chen Ke into the Thirteen Factories. Chen Ke brewed him a cup of tea, which he accepted somewhat awkwardly, saying, "Thank you, boss." The decorations and furnishings here made the middle-aged man feel uneasy, fearing that if he accidentally bumped into one, he wouldn't even be able to afford to lose money after selling the antique.

"Take it out and let us see."

The middle-aged man took out a wrapped silk handkerchief from his pocket. It was wrapped so thickly that Chen Ke couldn't see the shape of what was inside.

The man was very careful, and when he finally peeled off the last layer, Chen Ke realized that it was probably a bowl or something similar.

But when the man actually took the item out, Chen Ke couldn't help but widen his eyes in surprise.

A rabbit-fur tea bowl? (However, it wasn't called that in later generations; it was called a Yohen Tenmoku tea bowl, a name given by those unfortunate Japanese.)

"This is a Jian ware tea bowl with a distinctive 'haobian' pattern from the Northern Song Dynasty. It is a special variety of Jian ware, and very few of them have survived to this day."

Chen Ke stared intently. This thing was far from rare. If he remembered correctly, only two had been discovered in later generations. One was treasured in the Seikado Bunko Art Museum in Tokyo, and the other was treasured in the Sui and Tang Grand Canal Museum in my country. They were truly national treasures that were prohibited from being exhibited abroad.

And now it's being casually wrapped in a silk handkerchief and sold everywhere by a down-on-his-luck middle-aged man?

Chen Ke tried his best to keep his tone calm, "How much did they offer you if you sold it?"

The middle-aged man thought Chen Ke was inquiring about the prices offered by his peers, and hesitated for a moment whether to tell him or not. What if Chen Ke also tried to lower the price based on this information?

He had already traveled to many places and finally found a newly opened store, so he came to inquire with a glimmer of hope. If the owner of this store also only offers that price, should he really sell it at such a low price?

But if we don't sell, how will our family survive...?

Chen Ke saw the middle-aged man's dilemma. He gently took the bowl, and the system confirmed that it was genuine. Chen Ke then stopped caring about what price those bastards had offered.

After all, you can tell what kind of person bought this national treasure just by looking at where it ended up in later generations.

"What is your ideal price?" Chen Ke asked directly.

The middle-aged man paused for a moment, then hesitated before saying, "500 silver dollars."

? ? ?

This time, Chen Ke was stunned. Damn it, 500 silver dollars was the seller's ideal price, so what price did the buyers who the seller thought was too low actually offer?

Seeing Chen Ke stunned, the middle-aged man assumed he thought Chen Ke's offer was too high and hurriedly brought up the explanation Chen Ke had given several times before.