"This is a Ru ware tea bowl for sunny days, and it is very valuable."
"How about the auction?"
"..."
If it weren't for Xing Baohua's status, Huang Xingyao would have really wanted to call Xing Baohua a country bumpkin who held a priceless treasure and still wanted to sell it. Was he out of his mind or had he lost his temper?
This thing could be passed down as a family heirloom!
We're not short of money, it would be such a waste to sell them.
Huang Xingyao simply doesn't have the money; if he had tens of millions, he would have bought it. It's a pity there's no price listed for this thing.
"Do you think this thing that Mitsui Fujii gave you is real?" Xing Baohua asked, noticing the regretful look on Huang Xingyao's face, as if someone owed him hundreds of millions.
"Then let's find someone to take a look," Huang Xingyao thought to himself. This is easy. There are auction houses in Hong Kong. Just find a master craftsman and give him a small fee.
If Xing Baohua were to sell, the appraisal fee would be waived.
"Does anyone know him?" Xing Baohua asked.
Huang Xingyao shook his head. If he hadn't followed Xing Baohua, he would still be working hard to earn money. He had a weak network of connections and no opportunity to get involved in those industries.
Suddenly, I remembered the bank and the auction house! While picking up the phone, I said to Xing Baohua, "Please wait a moment, I'll make a call."
Call the president of Huahong Bank directly.
As the CEO of Huahong, instructing the holding bank to ask about something is hardly a big deal.
Coincidentally, banks offer mortgage loans, and many people use valuable items as collateral when they urgently need money.
Moreover, the bank that Xing Baohua acquired had a history of pawnbroking. The master craftsman still works at the bank, helping to look after gold and silver jewelry, jade, and other precious stones.
They also examine porcelain and appraise calligraphy and paintings.
Huang Xingyao said that the big boss had a teacup he wasn't sure about, and asked the head chef to come to headquarters so the big boss could take a look.
Of course, the bank manager knew who the big boss was. Without saying a word, he arranged for the head chef to come over. One chef might not be able to make a good judgment, so he sent all three of the head chefs who were based at his home.
The three master chefs were all over fifty years old. The first master chef's surname was Lin, the second master chef's surname was Wang, and the third master chef's surname was Zhao.
Only the head chef was wearing traditional clothing, a long gown. The other two were dressed in Western suits.
Less than half an hour later, the three arrived at Xing Baohua's office and greeted him with a cupped-hand salute upon entering.
Xing Baohua invited them to sit down, and without much ceremony, had the three masters sit on the sofa in the reception area. He picked up the gift box from his desk and placed it on the coffee table in front of the sofa.
The three chefs leaned forward and gasped. They exchanged glances. The head chef bowed to Xing Baohua and said, "Boss, may I have a closer look?"
"Please feel free to do as you please." Xing Baohua gestured for him to enter.
Just as the head chef was about to reach for it, Huang Xingyao stopped him, saying, "Such a valuable item, aren't you going to wear gloves?"
Master San smiled slightly and explained, "Wearing gloves for calligraphy and paintings is fine, but there are fewer restrictions for porcelain, wood, jade and other miscellaneous items. Moreover, you can handle them directly and touch the glaze. In some details, you can feel the difference in texture by touching them."
Xing Baohua also tried to stop them, saying to Huang Xingyao, "Old Huang, they are experts, let's not make things worse."
The master chef picked up the bowl and examined it closely. Then he ran his hand around the teacup and looked at the three small dots on the bottom. He somehow produced a magnifying glass and first looked at the surface of the clay on the bottom, then at the crackle pattern on the teacup.
Finally, gently tap the cup with your index finger knuckle and listen to the sound.
After completing the set of movements, the teacup was placed in the gift box and handed to the second master.
The second master chef also follows a set of procedures, and his inspection methods are basically the same as the master chef's.
Next, the third master chef inspected the teacup. The first two chefs had a subtle gesture: after inspecting it, they didn't hand the teacup directly to the recipient, but instead placed it back into the gift box. Then, the second person took it out of the gift box.
These details are all rules, and the origins of these rules are lessons learned through bloodshed.
No matter what it is, when handing it over to someone, there must be a fixed table or platform. If you hand it over to someone and they don't catch it, and it falls to the ground, who is responsible?
After the three chefs finished looking at it, the head chef asked, "Boss, where did this come from?"
“A Japanese guy just gave me a gift. It looks like a work of art to me. Old Huang thinks this bowl is valuable. None of us are experts, so we asked the three of you to take a look.”
"The bowl is genuine. Only a few dozen pieces of Ru ware have survived to this day, most of them in museums, with a small number in private collections. A cup like this is extremely rare. As far as I know, this teacup is unique and priceless," the master chef explained.
Huang Xingyao asked, "How much is it worth?"
The master chef waved his hand and said, "As long as it's not auctioned, there's no reference value. After all, this is a rare treasure. You can say it's worth tens of millions of Hong Kong dollars, or hundreds of millions of Hong Kong dollars. As long as someone is willing to buy it and spend the money, even if it's a hundred billion US dollars, it's still worth the price."
Huang Xingyao smiled slightly and said to Xing Baohua, "Boss, did you hear that? You ask for 10 billion US dollars, let's see who will buy it? And whether they're willing to sell it."
It was originally intended as a provocation, hoping to persuade Xing Baohua to stay.
Xing Baohua said, "If I could buy it for 10 billion US dollars, and you find me a buyer, I would definitely buy it. This thing is useless to me."
The three craftsmen felt a chill run down their spines after hearing what the two big shots were saying. They realized that the big boss wanted to sell this thing.
If it were auctioned off and sold for an astronomical price, it would cause a sensation. But Chinese people have a habit of keeping good things to themselves.
It should be left to future generations for emergency use if necessary.
The master chef said to Xing Baohua, "Boss, I suggest you put it in a bank safe deposit box now. After all, this thing is very precious. You don't lack money and don't care about it, but its cultural and historical value is there. It's a good thing, we can't waste it, right?"
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