Chapter 61 This kid is an expert

The seller, with half-gray hair, appeared to be in his early sixties. He looked utterly incredulous as Lin Sicheng entered with his elderly mother.

The old woman blocked the road for three whole days. Seven or eight groups of people came to watch the dishes, but she chased them all away with her cane.

Let alone letting outsiders in, even his own son can't get out?

How did this group get in?

Just as he was secretly amazed, the old lady pointed at him with her cane and said, "Talk business properly!"

The seller bent over, forcing a smile: "Okay, okay, okay..."

The house is a large brick house with six rooms inside and out. The courtyard has a glass roof, the ground is paved with tiles, and the aluminum alloy doors and windows reflect the silver light.

The room was incredibly grand, furnished entirely with mahogany furniture. Although not antiques, it must have cost at least 100,000 yuan.

The old lady remained seated on a small stool, leaning against the corner, and asked her son to fetch something.

Before long, the seller brought over a box. Upon opening the lid and unwrapping the soft cloth, Lin Sicheng and Wang Qizhi's eyes lit up simultaneously.

At first glance, it looks like a plate, a bowl, and a basin, which seems rather incongruous. But don't doubt it, this is a genuine imperial vessel from the Ming Dynasty, and it has a special name: He bowl, also known as He bowl.

It has only one use: to hold soup.

The key lies in the five-clawed dragon pattern at the bottom of the basin: the dragon's head is tilted to the side, its eyes bulge out, and its face is unusually wide yet unusually short, making it quite abstract.

The dragon's body has smooth lines and a hint of laziness. It doesn't have much of an imposing presence, but rather a gentle and docile feel.

The scales are neatly carved and arranged in an orderly manner, but the knife work reveals a touch of freedom, especially the five claws, which are quite casual.

However, these features happen to match the characteristics of the five-clawed dragon pattern of the Hongzhi Emperor.

The master and apprentice stared at each other for a while. Wang Qizhi quietly took out a flashlight and a magnifying glass, which Lin Sicheng silently took.

Director Du and the seller were completely bewildered, seemingly unable to understand why this young boy was allowed to look first.

The old lady's eyes lit up.

Lin Sicheng was single-minded.

He first examined the glaze: it was an incredibly delicate yellow, and when illuminated with a flashlight, it resembled a sunflower just beginning to bloom, warm, elegant, and exquisitely beautiful.

Using a magnifying glass, the glaze is covered with fine, even caviar-like patterns.

Looking at the craftsmanship: it's typical white porcelain with a yellow glaze, fired twice at a low temperature. The glaze is like a mirror, and the texture is like jade.

The clay body is typical of glutinous rice, delicate and white. The foot rim is smooth and short, forming a unique "nest-shaped" shape.

Looking at the inscription, it reads in underglaze blue regular script: "Made in the Hongzhi period of the Great Ming Dynasty," with the three-dot water radical of the character "治" lower than the radical of "台"... all complete, undoubtedly a genuine piece.

The only flaw is the bottom of the basin: it's green with a hint of blue, which is probably due to a splash of cobalt material during the glazing process.

Based on this, Lin Sicheng concluded that the plate should be an imperial gift, that is, an imperial object bestowed by the emperor upon his ministers.

The key point is that it has never been buried, otherwise the cobalt glaze would have developed stains.

Therefore, there's no need to consider the origin of the item at all. It's also thanks to that minor flaw; otherwise, based solely on the dragon pattern on the bottom of the plate, it wouldn't have fetched 520,000, let alone 2 million.

After looking at it for about ten minutes, Lin Sicheng nodded and put down the flashlight and magnifying glass.

It means there's nothing wrong with the product, and there's definitely nothing wrong with the price.

Wang Qizhi also thought it was fine; 520,000 was definitely a steal.

He was still a little unsatisfied: he had traveled so far and found such a good thing, but he was really unwilling to buy just one piece.

He thought for a moment, then looked at the seller: "Mr. Zhao, it's 520,000, right? We'll go to the bank later... do you have any more?"

Boss Zhao didn't say a word, not even nodding.

He glanced at the old lady, rolled up his sleeves, and silently extended his hand.

Everyone was stunned.

Du Hai was completely bewildered, not understanding what the seller meant. Wang Qizhi, however, knew a little more and recognized this as a unique trading method in the old antique trade: "hiding gold in one's sleeve."

To be honest, all he knew were those four words; he had absolutely no idea what the gestures represented or what the code was.

No, what kind of society is this?

You can't possibly suspect me of being a police officer, can you? The thing is, this thing itself isn't problematic, is it?

He stood there motionless, thinking that today's deal was probably going to fall through, and Lin Sicheng sighed.

Believe it or not: if you can't handle this move today, you really won't be able to take this bowl away.

Otherwise, there would be no need for the old lady to block the doorway; she could be chased away in waves.

There's no need for that at all; they just keep spouting slang: if you don't understand it, you won't even be able to get in the door, let alone buy a bowl.

This is only sold to those who are not experts...

Seeing Lin Sicheng roll up his sleeves and extend his hand, Wang Qizhi was shocked: No, you can even do this?

Then, the two clasped hands together, their sleeves pressed together, completely covering their fingers.

All you could see was the sleeves bulging incessantly, and with each bulge, the seller's brow furrowed.

In contrast, Lin Sicheng remained calm and composed.

As for what gestures the two made inside their sleeves, only God knows.

Neither of them spoke, and they just kept kneading and squeezing. Lin Sicheng remained calm, but the seller became increasingly impatient.

Finally, his eyes widened, and he jumped to his feet: "You thief..."

Before she could even utter the word "Mom," the old lady's cane slammed to the ground with a thud.

He forced a smile, called out "Mother," and made a gesture.

The old lady smiled and said, "For sale!"

The seller hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth and glared at Lin Sicheng: "Sell!"

"good!"

Lin Sicheng smiled and withdrew his hand.

Wang Qizhi asked suspiciously, "How much did you talk about?"

"Forty-two hundred thousand!"

How many?

Wang Qizhi was utterly astonished: this bowl was definitely a steal, and a pretty big one at that.

So it was already good enough that the seller didn't raise the price, how could Lin Sicheng actually manage to negotiate down 100,000?

No wonder the seller cursed.

Lin Sicheng said calmly: Since we're going to talk about industry rules, then let's talk about industry rules.

If I don't haggle down the price a bit, how will you know I'm an expert?

Thinking it over, Lin Sicheng bent his fingers and tapped the coffee table a few times with each knuckle.

The seller paused, somewhat doubtful, and even more surprised. Lin Sicheng nodded twice more before he came to his senses and turned to look at his elderly mother.

Seeing the old lady nod, he was certain that Lin Sicheng meant it that way: If there's anything else, whether it's porcelain, bronze, paper, or jade, just bring it out...

No wonder I let this group in; this kid is an expert among experts.

"How old are you?"

"twenty!"

What is your surname?

"My surname is Lin?"

The seller thought for a long time: "Never heard of it!"

Lin Sicheng didn't speak: Although the old man occasionally goes into the pit, he is an official archaeologist. Of course you haven't heard of him?

The seller was surprised for a while, then looked at Lin Sicheng and asked, "What do you want?"

"If I can get even one glance at it, and I'm tough enough, I'll take them all!"

You're making quite a lot of noise, aren't you?

The seller scoffed, "Can you even look at all of them?"

Lin Sicheng smiled and said, "You take it first!"

"good!"

The seller nodded and stood up.

Just as I was about to leave, the old lady called out to me again: "Tell your wife to pour you some tea!"

"Okay, pour it out!"

Just based on those two taps he made on the coffee table with his knuckles, we'll have to serve the best tea today...