Chapter 7 My face hurts a little.
Jiang Dongming ignored Shen Zhimin's words, took the porcelain shard from Yan Ruyi, examined it for a while, and then took out a magnifying glass from the counter to carefully observe the porcelain shard's body and glaze.
Xu Licheng leaned over to take a look and asked Liu Chunzhi, "You just said that your village still has these kinds of porcelain shards?"
Liu Chunzhi: "Yes, we often find them on Xiaobeipo in our village. There's a river on Xiaobeipo, and the kids in our village like to pick up porcelain shards and skip them across the water. They say that these porcelain shards skip a lot of stones."
Xu Licheng felt a pang of heartache upon hearing this.
Zhao Zhonghou: "Comrade, from what you're saying, these porcelain shards are actually worth quite a bit of money?"
Xu Licheng said, "That's incredibly valuable. To put it simply, if it really is Song Dynasty celadon, all of what you've brought wouldn't even be enough to buy this small piece."
Zhao Zhonghou and the others all exclaimed "Ah!" in unison, thinking to themselves that they were about to make a fortune.
Although these porcelain shards are not everywhere on Xiaobeipo, you can find quite a few if you look carefully.
They all wished they could immediately return to the village and collect the broken porcelain shards from Xiaobeipo.
However, Xu Licheng immediately added, "This is a national treasure. No one can buy or sell it privately. Otherwise, if caught, they will go to jail."
Zhao Zhonghou and his men immediately lost their nerve.
Liu Chunzhi originally wanted to strike first and hurry back to the village to collect porcelain shards on Xiaobeipo. However, she heard Xu Licheng's words as soon as she reached the door, and she pulled her foot back from the threshold.
She wouldn't dare to try and steal a national treasure from the government!
Jiang Dongming put down the magnifying glass, his expression solemn, and said to Xu Licheng, "I'm going back."
After saying that, he hurriedly left with the porcelain shards.
Shen Zhimin, "..."
At first, he thought Yan Ruyi was just trying to attract attention, but seeing how much Xu Licheng and Jiang Dongming were taking it seriously, he became a little unsure and wanted to see what was going on, so he followed Jiang Dongming.
Zhao Zhonghou cautiously asked Xu Licheng, "...Comrade, are these things I brought also worth a lot of money?"
Xu Licheng said, "These things you brought are all from the late Qing Dynasty. They are too recent and, strictly speaking, cannot be considered antiques. At most, they are old objects, and their condition is not very good."
Zhao Zhonghou and the others didn't understand these things either; they only cared about how much money it could fetch. They all looked at Xu Licheng expectantly, "Comrade, can you calculate how much it's worth in total?"
Wang Aizhen brought over the abacus, and Xu Licheng manipulated the beads, calculating the amount for him one by one. After he finished, he said to Zhao Zhonghou and the others, "It's 62 yuan in total."
Zhao Zhonghou and his group were dumbfounded.
Zhao Zhongfa said, "Comrade, you've pushed the price way too low."
Xu Licheng was displeased. "Comrade, we are a state-run store. We treat everyone fairly, and we don't engage in price gouging. If you think the price is too low, you don't have to sell to us. We won't force you."
Zhao Zhonghou was greatly disappointed. Such a large pile only cost 62 yuan, which was far from what he had expected.
He originally thought that after selling these things, he would become a millionaire, and he had already figured out how to spend the money!
He never expected that such a large quantity could only sell for 62 yuan.
Xu Qingmei: "This is the price. Are you selling or not?"
Zhao Zhongfa said, "Selling it is pointless; it just takes up space."
They're all here today. Now that it's sold, the three of them will split the 62 yuan, and each of them will get about 20 yuan.
If we don't sell it today, and let the third brother take it back, who knows when he'll secretly sell it again, and then he won't get a single penny.
Moreover, most of these old objects are made of bronze, and many of them have developed copper rust. If they are left to rust any longer, they may deteriorate and become even less valuable.
It's more worthwhile to sell it today.
Even a small amount of meat is still meat; even if it's just a penny, he's still making a profit.
With so many people around, Zhao Zhonghou couldn't very well take the things back.
Moreover, it wasn't worth falling out with the brothers over such a small amount of money, so he reluctantly told Xu Licheng, "62 it is, sell it."
After taking the money, the group left.
They started arguing again about how to divide the money when they left, and walked away while still shouting.
Xu Qingmei and the others were used to it; even if the three brothers fought each other, they wouldn't find it strange.
At most, it just adds another topic to the conversation.
The two men huddled together, chattering and discussing whether Zhao Zhonghou should share the money with his two brothers.
Wang Aizhen said, "They are brothers after all, and the things were saved up by their father. At the very least, they should give half to their two brothers. It's not right for them to eat it all by themselves."
Xu Jiamei said, "What's there to divide? In my opinion, not a single cent should be given. What was said in the beginning is what it is. If you want to divide the money, the two brothers should first make up for the money spent on raising our father, and then we can talk about dividing the money."
...
Xu Licheng tapped on the counter. "You're just worrying too much. With that time, you should categorize and register these we just received, and then have Lao Cheng put them into the warehouse."
He was preoccupied with the porcelain shards and wanted to go to the bureau to check on them. But when he reached the door, he turned back and called to Yan Ruyi, "Xiao Yan, come with me to the bureau."
Yan Ruyi said "Eh" and followed Xu Licheng to the Cultural Relics Bureau.
The appraisal center was on the third floor. Yan Ruyi and Xu Licheng had just arrived on the second floor when Jiang Dongming came down from the third floor, followed by Shen Zhimin.
Xu Licheng asked anxiously, "Old Jiang, have you confirmed it? Is it Song Dynasty celadon?"
Jiang Dongming, who was usually serious, was beaming with joy at this moment. "Old Feng and the others have all examined it and unanimously agree that it is Song Dynasty celadon. Moreover, with so many broken porcelain shards in the area, we speculate that there must have been an ancient porcelain kiln there. We will have to wait for the archaeological team to conduct an on-site investigation to find out the specifics. If a Song Dynasty kiln is discovered in Ningyi County, it will fill a gap in history and be a major archaeological discovery."
After saying that, he looked at Yan Ruyi with admiration and said, "This time, we owe a lot to Comrade Yan. I have already called Director Liu, and I will give him a detailed report when he returns from his business trip."
Shen Zhimin never expected that this piece of broken porcelain was actually Song Dynasty celadon. He had repeatedly expressed his doubts, but he was proven wrong in the blink of an eye.
Moreover, judging from Jiang Dongming's words, he wanted to bring Yan Ruyi to his side. Given Jiang Dongming's position in the bureau, if he asked the bureau chief for her, the bureau chief would certainly not refuse him.
The appraisal center only has one allocation slot this year. Since Yan Ruyi has arrived, he has to go to the archaeological team.
After going around in circles, we've come full circle. So what are he and Tang Yanna then?
Shen Zhimin immediately felt terrible. Seeing Yan Ruyi made him feel ashamed. He was also afraid that Yan Ruyi would bring up what he had said at the antique shop and ridicule him in public. So he stopped following Jiang Dongming and went upstairs to his office with his head down.
Shen Zhimin was overthinking things; Yan Ruyi hadn't even noticed him.
Her focus was on Jiang Dongming's last words. After Jiang Dongming left, she asked Xu Licheng, "Director Xu, is the bureau chief away on a business trip?"
Xu Licheng: "I went to a meeting in Nanjiang and I probably won't be back for more than a week."
Yan Ruyi was very disappointed. The bureau chief couldn't see her complaint letter, and Tang Zhengjun and Shen Zhimin would be able to cause trouble for a few more days!
Luo Huihui had something to do after get off work today and didn't want Yan Ruyi to wait for her, so Yan Ruyi was alone when she left work.
She had just ridden to the military compound when she heard someone call out, "Comrade Yan."
She subconsciously turned her head and saw a black sedan parked on the side of the road. A middle-aged man of medium height was standing in front of the car. He was wearing a shirt and trousers, and had a pair of gold-rimmed glasses on his nose. He looked very refined.
Yan Ruyi had seen this person before; he was always there when Zhao Zhonghou and the others came to the shop.
Judging from this person's clothes and appearance, he seems to be an overseas Chinese.
This is not unusual. Most of the people who come to antique shops are either foreigners or overseas Chinese. The items in antique shops are basically sold to them, otherwise, how could the prices be so high?
Yan Ruyi got out of the car. "Comrade, did you call me?"
"I have something I'd like to trouble Comrade Yan with."
After saying that, he took out a small green booklet from his pocket. "My name is He Zaixian, and this is my Overseas Chinese Certificate."
He handed it to Yan Ruyi with both hands.
Yan Ruyi took it and looked at it. The photo on it was indeed He Zaixian, an American of Chinese descent.
She found it strange. She had only met him once at the antique shop and they hadn't even exchanged a word. What could he possibly want from her?
A note from the author:
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