Chapter 35 A Second Visit to the Antique Shop
Cheng Jiaojiao added, "Mom was worried about you and told me to come find you. You don't appreciate my kindness! You've been scolding me all this time since we last saw each other for over a year! I'm never playing with you again!"
"You're lying to me!" When it comes to being mischievous, Cheng Fang was many times more mischievous than her when they were young, and these tricks were things he had already learned.
"Come with me."
Cheng Fang carried her to the Crown Prince. He clasped his hands in apology, saying, "My sister has been unruly and has disturbed Your Highness! Please forgive her!"
Cheng Jiaojiao said coquettishly, "Cousin Crown Prince, look at him!"
Qin Zhao smiled indulgently, "Never mind, don't scare her."
"My cousin, the Crown Prince, still loves me the most!" Cheng Jiaojiao immediately stepped forward and took Qin Zhao's arm, then made a face at Cheng Fang, still not convinced.
Qin Zhao looked down at his little cousin who was holding his arm and asked gently, "Jiaojiao, what are you doing here?"
"I've come to buy rouge and face powder."
"They sell cosmetics here?"
"Yes, the girl under the peony flower used the rouge and powder from here to be chosen as the top courtesan!" As soon as Cheng Jiaojiao finished speaking, she immediately realized that she had let something slip!
He even went to visit brothels!
Cheng Fang glared at her with eyes as sharp as knives, "I'll settle the score with you when we get back!"
Cheng Jiaojiao's inner monologue: Waaaaah...
Qin Zhao smiled after hearing this: "Alright, Jiaojiao, you can come back to the capital with us. Your aunt and uncle must be worried about you being all alone out there."
"Ah! But I haven't bought my rouge and face powder yet, I don't want to leave..."
She's been waiting for three days already, how could she leave empty-handed?
Cheng Fang's face darkened.
Do you have a choice?
After Cheng Fang and his group left, several more groups of customers appeared outside Jixiang Grocery Store.
The first to be affected were Madam Song, Madam Zhou, Madam Kong, and Madam Deng. They had also come the day before, but all received the same result.
They've begun to suspect that Madam Chen, Wang Yue, deliberately leaked the information to deceive them!
This is clearly a dilapidated, abandoned shop!
After the ladies left, the newly crowned courtesan Hongxiu also drove over, bringing gifts.
The gloom that had accompanied her on her first visit was gone from her face, replaced by a calm and decisive demeanor.
But they were turned away by the closed gate.
Jiang Ling never imagined that just because she took a nap, so many people would come looking for her.
Jiang Ling slept for a full ten hours this time.
I was eventually woken up by hunger.
I felt no discomfort other than hunger when I woke up.
Being sick really takes a toll on your energy.
She opened a food delivery app, and one of the dim sum restaurants looked very appetizing, so she ordered more than a dozen items in one go.
I had just gotten up and finished washing up when my takeout arrived.
Chicken feet, shrimp dumplings, steamed siu mai, water chestnut cake, char siu bao, braised pork ribs, rice noodle rolls, beef balls, congee with preserved egg and lean pork...
The table was piled high with food! The aroma of the food filled the air instantly!
She immediately buried herself in her work, devouring the food in front of her in a flash.
Only after the last mouthful of warm porridge was swallowed did that feeling of emptiness and weakness finally give way to a sense of groundedness.
After eating and drinking her fill, she began to tally up her earnings from the past few days.
One gold ingot, two silver ingots, five pieces of silver, countless copper coins, and a vase.
We sold a lot of copper coins last time, so we won't sell any more this time.
After all, she needs to keep some spare change on hand when she runs a shop.
She packed up the gold ingot, two silver ingots, five pieces of silver, and the vase, and took them out.
It's the same antique shop as last time.
As soon as she stepped into the shop, Boss Zeng's round, smiling face greeted her. "Miss Jiang, are you going to spend some copper coins again this time?"
The previous batch of copper coins was actually mostly of good quality, but he bought them for 320,000, making a huge profit.
Seeing Jiang Ling frequently buying and selling things in a short period of time, it was concluded that she urgently needed money.
If we had more copper coins, perhaps we could push the price down even further!
"No copper coins this time. Just some other trinkets."
Upon hearing this, Mr. Zeng showed a fleeting moment of disappointment. However, he still respectfully invited her in.
Jiang Ling took the items out of her bag and placed them one by one on the counter.
Mr. Zeng originally thought it would be some worthless trinkets, but when the full contents of the gold ingot and the two silver ingots were revealed, his eyes widened in surprise!
"Ha!" he couldn't help but exclaim softly, his fingers carefully tracing the marks and edges of the gold ingot, then he picked up a magnifying glass and examined it closely.
"The craftsmanship of this gold ingot is extraordinary and extremely rare! And it's so well preserved! There's not a single scratch or deformation; it's definitely a top-grade item!"
Realizing he had lost his composure, Boss Zeng quickly cleared his throat and tried to suppress his overly excited expression.
Those in this line of work can't show too much affection for the item, otherwise it'll be hard to negotiate a lower price!
He picked up two more silver ingots and examined them carefully, nodding repeatedly: "Excellent, truly excellent!"
However, when faced with those few pieces of silver, his expression became quite ordinary.
After reading everything, Boss Zeng put down his tools and pondered for a moment.
“Miss Jiang, I’ll take these three gold and silver ingots. These are works of art, so they can’t be priced by weight. Here’s the deal: this gold ingot is worth 100,000. These two silver ingots together are worth 80,000. Do you think this price is reasonable?”
Jiang Ling didn't bother to haggle and readily nodded, "Okay."
Mr. Zeng felt relieved, and his smile widened.
"As for these five pieces of silver, the purity of silver in ancient times was not high, and after being cut and trimmed, it lost its original shape, so it has basically no collectible value. However, since you brought them, Miss Jiang, I will buy them at one thousand each, five thousand in total. What do you think?"
Only five thousand? In ancient times, one tael of silver could be exchanged for a thousand copper coins, and one copper coin could be sold for at least eight hundred here.
Selling silver would be a huge loss if you calculate it this way.
"Then we won't sell the loose silver for now."
Mr. Zeng didn't insist. He didn't make much profit from this anyway; it was purely out of respect for his old customer.
Now that we've looked at the silver, it's time to look at the vase.
The ease on Boss Zeng's face vanished; he put on white gloves and became unusually focused.
He first gently ran his fingers across the glaze of the bottle to feel the texture, then picked up a high-powered magnifying glass and started from the mouth of the bottle, moving it little by little down along the blue and white patterns on the bottle.
He observed the luster of the glaze, the bubbles, and the brushstrokes of the patterns with extreme slowness.
After reading it, his expression turned sour, and his breathing became unsteady.
"Miss Jiang, could I have someone help me look at this bottle?" Boss Zeng asked earnestly.
"Sure. But please hurry, I have something to do later."
"Yes, yes, I'll call people right now."
Mr. Zeng quickly took out his phone and dialed a number.
Jiang Ling wasn't afraid of her saying the vase was fake, because she knew it wasn't.
However, porcelain needs to show signs of time, such as glaze, wear, and aging.
Only then can it be considered a complete antique.
Jiang Ling sold it the very next day; there was no trace of time on it.
But it doesn't matter if she can't sell it; she'll just take it back and use it as a vase.
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