When they returned to Grandpa Zhu's house after leaving Master Gu's house, the situation there shocked the old man and the young man.
More than twenty people gathered in front of Grandpa Zhu's house. Each of them was carrying a lot of cardboard boxes, either on a cart or a shoulder pole, completely blocking the street in front of the old man's house, which was already narrow.
Yang Jing didn't know these people, and didn't know why they gathered at the door of the old man's house, but Old Man Zhu knew them. Most of them were residents of this street, and many of them were purple sand artists with exquisite craftsmanship. Some of them were apprentices of their seven purple sand masters...
Seeing Mr. Zhu coming back on a tricycle, several middle-aged men who looked to be around 40 years old hurriedly went to greet him. One of them even bowed respectfully to Mr. Zhu and called him "Master".
After a round of greetings, Mr. Zhu said in a low voice: "These people are all younger generations. This Xiao Fan is my apprentice. Um..." The old man hesitated for a moment, with an embarrassed expression on his face, "They just heard that you paid a high price to buy purple clay teapots, so they came here with the teapots they made themselves or the leftovers from your family, hoping that you can buy them."
Obviously, the old man also felt that these children's behavior was a bit unkind, so he felt a little embarrassed. But the old man had no choice. At this time, the lives of these purple clay artists were relatively difficult, because the price of purple clay pots at this time was far from comparable to that of thirty or even twenty years later. In this era, it was only Yang Jing who paid such a "premium" to purchase purple clay pots. Otherwise, even if it was the work of Master Gu Jingzhou, a pot would only be 200 yuan, and it would only be a fine work to be sold at this price. As for the pots made by these ordinary purple clay artists, even if they were all handmade works, a pot could only be sold for 20 or 30 yuan at most.
The most important thing is that in that era, the whole of China was quite poor. An ordinary worker only earned 30 or 40 yuan a month, and a cadre only earned 70 or 80 yuan a month, which was not enough for food. Who would be willing to spend dozens of yuan to buy a teapot?
What? What do you use to drink tea? It's simple, an enamel pot. A pot of tea made with that thing is enough for half a morning...
Xiao Yang came here to travel and bought some fine purple clay teapots to take back, which is understandable, but these guys shamelessly blocked the door, which is a bit too much.
But Grandpa Zhu couldn't just ignore it. Most of these people were his descendants, and one of his direct disciples was among them. They were all suffering now. Now, with great difficulty, a big customer came. Even if each family sold two or three pieces, they could earn a hundred or eighty yuan each, which was enough for the family to eat for two months...
Seeing Mr. Zhu's embarrassed look, Yang Jing smiled and said, "Don't worry about this, Mr. Zhu. I would be more than happy if they could bring the purple clay teapot. But let me make it clear first, I only accept the fine products, that is, the ones I like. If I don't like them, I'm sorry, I won't buy them."
Hearing Yang Jing say this, the old man was a little surprised, "Xiao Yang, are you really willing to buy their works?"
"Well, as long as they are not shoddy, I want them all. They are masters with superb craftsmanship. If their works were displayed abroad, they would also be very popular."
"Okay, since you said so, then I guarantee that there will be no problem with the pots they make. I know all these people, and their craftsmanship is very good. They may not be as famous as us old guys, but the pots they make are really good."
"Hey, old man, since you said that, if I don't buy a few more, wouldn't it be a shame for your promise? Well, just for your promise, I can't let these masters' pots gather dust. The price is one hundred yuan for a piece or a set, what do you think?"
"Oh, this price is really high. Xiao Yang, if you really give this price, I, an old man, would like to thank you on behalf of these younger generations."
"......Alas, old man, you will shorten my life by doing this!" Yang Jing hurriedly held the old man. If he asked this almost eighty-year-old man to bow to him, Yang Jing would knock his head to the ground.
When the old man told Yang Jing the purchase conditions, everyone was dumbfounded. They had never thought that this young returned overseas Chinese would offer such a high purchase price.
That's a price of one hundred dollars per piece, a price that has never been seen in the past ten or twenty years!
These purple sand artists are well aware that in this industry, although craftsmanship is important, fame is the key factor in determining the price. Why can a pot made by Master Gu be sold for 200 yuan? It is because Master Gu is famous.
But fame is not something that can be gained with words; it is accumulated through decades of real craftsmanship. Perhaps the purple clay teapots made by these purple clay artists present here can be sold for tens of millions of yuan decades later, but in this era, their works can only be sold for twenty or thirty yuan.
Now Yang Jing bought them at a price of 100 yuan each, which was really beyond their expectations. Of course, this was a good thing for these purple sand artists, so after a brief moment of shock, these simple purple sand artists all cheered loudly.
In fact, the condition Yang Jing mentioned that he would only buy works that caught his eye was purely a show. These purple clay artists were certainly not as famous as the masters, but they had absolutely no problem with their craftsmanship.
In those days, purple clay teapots were not as popular as the "chemical teapots" and "grouting teapots" of later generations. In that era, almost all purple clay teapots were made purely by hand. Most of these purple clay artists started to learn from masters when they were teenagers, then became apprentices, and then started to make purple clay teapots on their own. Therefore, in that era, the craftsmanship of these purple clay artists was impeccable.
Even though the teapots they make now are not worth much, if they are sold for tens of thousands of yuan in 30 years, it would be a shame for their craftsmanship. If they are more famous, it would be absolutely no problem to sell a teapot for hundreds of thousands or even millions of yuan.
So, after a brief observation, all of the more than 200 pieces (sets) of purple clay teapots brought by these twenty people were taken by Yang Jing, and the money Yang Jing paid was only a mere 20,000 yuan.
Thirty years later, any one of these purple clay teapots could be sold for hundreds of thousands or even millions of yuan. Although Yang Jing cannot collect all of them, after opening his own private museum, he can definitely set up a separate section for purple clay teapots!
ps: An old man who played with me since childhood passed away yesterday at the age of 45. It's a pity. I have been helping with things over there these days, so the update volume is a bit small. Please forgive me, fellow readers.
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