"Well, business is just a matter of buying and selling, bargaining. Just give me a price."
"Eighty yuan, not a penny more." Zhang Guoqing said and walked out. He didn't believe that these old books and bottles could be sold for so much at the recycling station.
You mean someone who knows what they're doing? Haha, everyone in the county who's heard about this family's story wouldn't bother to associate with them, not to mention who has as much spare cash as he and his wife these days.
"Don't be in such a hurry to leave. Someone offered 300 yuan the day before yesterday. Brother, give me more."
Zhang Guoqing looked at the man who grabbed his arm and frowned. "I don't have time to bargain with you. I have to go back to find customers after buying it for 80 yuan. Excluding the transportation fee, I can only make about ten yuan at most."
"Hey, let's go to the warehouse and take a look at the furniture first. There's no rush, no rush."
Zhang Guoqing looked at Zhou Jiao and nodded, and the two followed them to the west warehouse.
Even more distressing than the ancient books was the sight of the dismantled furniture piled together. There weren't many things there, just the two rows of antique display cases that had taken up the most space in the living room, a falling-apart bunk bed, and a few large wooden boxes for clothes.
Zhou Jiao noticed with a keen eye that the carvings on the bunk bed matched the original set of furniture in the county town. Sure enough, the old man had left the bunk bed as a souvenir.
"Well, look at this. It's all good wood. Even though it looks like it's falling apart, it's a family heirloom. If you sand down the patterns and give it a coat of red paint, it'll be just like a new bed. That's only in the north. If it were in the south, you'd have to pay at least five hundred dollars for it."
Zhang Guoqing sneered a few times, and after they finished talking, he said, "Who would dare to buy this bed now? They think life is boring. If I buy it, I will just use it as wood, and it will be troublesome to move it here and there."
"You don't have to move it, we'll take it to the highway. Buddy, you'll need a car to take all that stuff away anyway, so we can just take it all together."
Zhang Guoqing hesitated after hearing this and said, "Your knife is too sharp, so forget it."
"This plus the inside totals three hundred dollars. I don't think it's too much for you, right? If the old man hadn't given me instructions before he died, I'd be in trouble if I showed this bed to people..."
Zhang Guoqing saw him shut up awkwardly mid-sentence. He probably had given his grandchildren a lot of instructions back then, but he had no intention of asking. Instead, he wanted to raise his three sons well after returning home.
After a moment's hesitation, Zhang Guoqing glanced at the other couple and said, "If you've ever been to the provincial capital's flea market, you'll know these aren't worth such a high price. I won't bargain with you. Don't ask for three hundred either. Once everything is moved to the other side of the highway, I'll give you one hundred. If you're worried, I can give you half first."
After the two parties reached an agreement, Zhang Guoqing dismantled the antique display cabinet, while Zhou Jiao followed them to move several wooden boxes into the living room to store miscellaneous items.
It took three large carts to transport the goods from the back door. The last one was full of wood, so Zhang Guoqing helped pull it to the side of the road.
After the meeting, he did not give the other party any trouble and gave them the remaining fifty yuan. He watched the other party go back happily, and just when the figure was about to disappear, he did not expect that the eldest daughter-in-law of the family came back secretly.
"The fish are coming."
Zhou Jiao looked at Zhang Guoqing excitedly. She trusted her husband's vision, and it seemed that the old man had hidden a lot of good things, just as he had expected.
"Brother, it's a good thing you're still here."
Zhang Guoqing smiled and said, "Sister-in-law, take a breath first."
"I have some other things on hand, they're quite expensive, would you like some? They're all good stuff."
"Sure, I'm doing this kind of business anyway. I wouldn't mind doing it if there was business."
"Well..." The other party looked around, "It's not convenient here."
Zhang Guoqing said tactfully, "How about this, after the car has loaded the things, we'll go back to your place."
"Okay, I'll wait for you in the yard."
After watching the other party leave, Zhou Jiao curled her lips and said, "How audacious! He's not even afraid of us reporting him."
Zhang Guoqing smiled and hugged her tightly. The other party was convinced that he was introduced by Old Li, so why would they worry about being reported? If they didn't dare send it over, they were worried about being robbed by the scammers. The most they probably worried about was how much they could sell it for.
Although the strong wind was less severe due to the forest, the night was still very cold. Zhang Guoqing listened carefully to the surrounding sounds and signaled Zhou Jiao to put the things into the space.
After drinking the steaming hot ginger soup, the couple slowly strolled to the old man's large courtyard. This time, as soon as they approached the gate, they were invited to the eldest brother's bedroom without waiting for them to knock.
After being frozen by the cold wind for so long, Zhou Jiao couldn't help sneezing when she suddenly found herself in a warm room.
Zhang Guoqing's eyes dimmed when he saw this, and he said straight to the point, "It's getting late, let's start looking at the goods."
The other couple had the same idea. Their nephew was still in the backyard, and they didn't want the second son's family to get wind of it. The man said, "I want to exchange some national food coupons?"
Zhang Guoqing nodded, "One or two hundred kilograms is no problem, but more is not allowed."
The man lifted the quilt at the corner of the kang, revealing a large box; the woman opened the door of the kang piano cabinet and carefully took out a wooden box from it.
Zhang Guoqing's pupils shrank. He suddenly remembered that this family had been involved in a lawsuit with the police station. It seemed that they had swallowed up the old man's private money. No wonder he was in a hurry to get rid of it.
It was a very ordinary large wooden box, just like the one thrown into the warehouse not long ago. It was opened at this time, but there was something unusual inside.
——In addition to a shoebox-sized paper box, there was a pair of exquisite jars wrapped in silk cloth inside the old quilt, as well as five scrolls.
Soon, all the items, including the wooden box in the woman's hand, were unfolded one by one. In addition to gold, there were also calligraphy and paintings, antiques, jade articles, jade pendants and other miscellaneous items. There was really everything you could think of.
The other couple raised their eyebrows proudly and looked at Zhang Guoqing, but unfortunately they didn't see any surprised reaction from him. Nonsense, your little thing is really not worth their smile.
"These were handed down from our ancestors, but since my father passed away, we knew we couldn't keep them. We had no choice but to sell them to keep them safe."
"Brother, these five calligraphy and paintings were something my father asked me to keep as souvenirs. They're not very valuable, so I won't sell them to keep as a keepsake. The rest are all yours."
For Zhou Jiao, even though she hadn't seen the contents of the calligraphy and paintings, she might as well just collect the five. Jade and antiques were not a shortage for her.
She lowered her eyes, hiding her disappointment. Since the other party had already asked, she wouldn't force them to sell, no matter how good the item was. She had also looked at the pair of jars; they weren't very valuable.
For a moment, Zhou Jiao turned her gaze away with boredom and gestured to Zhang Guoqing to let him do as he pleased.
Zhang Guoqing smiled and looked at the couple. "To be honest, I don't really want it. You know jade is really worthless these days. If it's convenient, you should keep it. It's good to leave these things to your children and grandchildren."
The woman let out a disappointed "Huh?" and looked at her man anxiously.
"Look again, these are all top-grade jade. Jade can nourish people, but no one dares to wear it now. In the past, ordinary people had never seen it."
Zhang Guoqing nodded in agreement and said with a smile, "But brother, to put it bluntly, I'm just a middleman. It's really not very useful to buy it. Maybe you don't know this, but now in the countryside of Xinjiang Province, two steamed buns can be exchanged for a large piece of seed material. If I ask for a lower price, I won't bear it. If I ask for a higher price, I will lose money."
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