Liu Yihang realized what was happening and quickly said, "These gourds are quite cute."
As the shopkeeper gave Liu Yihang his change, he smiled and said, "Since you're Lao Yuan's friend, here's one for you. Pick one yourself!"
Liu Yihang quickly waved his hand: "How can I give these away? Are these for sale? How much are they? I'll buy one!"
The boss was pleased that his son recognized the value of the product.
"These gourds were all raised by my dad. They are all handicrafts. I put them in the shop and occasionally a customer will take a liking to them. I usually sell them for thirty or fifty yuan. If you like them, pick one yourself. It's free."
Liu Yihang silently took out fifty yuan and placed it on the counter. He then took the gourd pendant that the treasure-hunting rat was holding and played with it in his hand.
"Please pick the big one! The small one is a free gift, it's not worth much." The shopkeeper took the money, feeling embarrassed.
Liu Yihang chuckled to himself without saying a word; those were big, but none of them were what he wanted.
Yuan Tiangang was about to come over to pay the bill when he saw that Liu Yihang had already paid.
"We agreed that I, Lao Yuan, would treat you, so why did you pay?"
"Mr. Yuan, I made a fortune today, so let me treat you!" Liu Yihang said modestly.
Yuan Tiangang said, "Don't do that again next time!" but he had a smile on his face.
He doesn't need the meal; he just likes young people like this—they're savvy and interesting.
The four of them walked out together.
Liu Yihang handed the pendant he had just received to Yunyin: "I just saw a little gadget, here, you can play with it."
Yunyin took the gourd and said happily, "What a cute gourd! I'm going to hang it on my schoolbag."
Yuan Tiangang glanced at it casually.
"Did you just buy this from the shop owner? How much did he charge you?"
"Fifty!" Liu Yihang answered honestly.
Yunyin pouted. "Fifty yuan, that's enough to eat for more than ten days. This thing is too expensive."
Yuan Tiangang also said with a displeased look, "This boss dares to rip off my little brother. This thing is worth at most ten yuan, and he only did it because his father's skills are good. He actually ripped you off fifty yuan."
Liu Yihang thought to himself, "If you knew its true value, you would say I tricked him."
He was about to explain that his boss wanted to give him a ride.
Xiang Tianhong suddenly spoke up: "Yun, can I take a look at the gourd in your hand?"
Yunyin naturally handed it to him.
Yuan Tiangang laughed and said, "Hey kid, do you think I don't know? These are pure handicrafts, grown and processed by the owner's father himself."
Xiang Tianhong was not affected by his words. She took the bag and examined it carefully, turning it over and over. Then she looked at Liu Yihang in disbelief.
"Uncle Yuan, don't speak too confidently, or you'll bite the hand that feeds you," Xiang Tianhong said with a teasing smile.
"I refuse to believe it, this gourd can't possibly be made of gold!" Yuan Tiangang, unconvinced, snatched it away.
After examining it closely, he stared wide-eyed, saying in disbelief, "Damn it, it really turned into gold! This is gold from grass! And it's old gold from grass!"
Unconvinced, Yuan Tiangang placed the small gourd in Liu Yihang's hand and turned to go back to the shop.
He searched through all the small gourd crafts and pendants in the shop, but couldn't find another one, so he gave up and left.
Seeing his expression, the boss asked suspiciously, "Old Yuan, what's wrong?"
"What's wrong? You missed out!" Old Yuan teased.
This guy probably thought he made a profit by collecting fifty yuan. He probably never expected that an old, golden gourd from the grass would be mixed in with the small gourd pendants in his shop.
I don't know where this gourd came from.
The boss was nonchalant: "I'm a rough guy. Even if a treasure were placed in front of me, I wouldn't recognize it. There's nothing I can do about it. Everyone earns what they deserve."
Yuan Tiangang laughed and said, "That's right! Everyone has their own way of living."
"Liu boy, tell me the truth! You say you don't know anything about antique collectibles, so how did you pick this one out of so many small gourds?" Yuan Tiangang grabbed Liu Yihang and pressed him relentlessly.
Liu Yihang continued to play dumb: "Maybe it's just love at first sight, I liked it at first glance!"
Yuan Tiangang didn't ask any more questions; it was someone else's business.
Yunyin was extremely interested in the origin of this gourd.
Although Liu Yihang understood, he could only pretend not to.
The two looked at Xiang Tianhong with eager expressions.
Xiang Tianhong explained, "The most expensive gourd in the world is the Grass Gold."
This is a type of collectible gourd, and it is very expensive.
During the Ming Dynasty, the grass-gold gourd was loved by many people. At that time, the price of a grass-gold gourd was about thirty taels of silver.
There are two main reasons why it is so expensive. The first is its rarity. It is not that the production is low, but that the smaller the gourd is, the lower its maturity.
Small gourds are less resilient; even the slightest disturbance can prematurely end their lives.
So even though there are many small-sized goldenrods, very few of them will eventually mature.
Grass gold is expensive to begin with, and the one in Yun's hand looks like an old object that has been handled for a long time, at least several decades old. I don't know how the shop owner got it by chance and put it up for sale in the shop.
This gourd can now sell for over 20,000 yuan on the market, so Liu got it for 50 yuan, which is quite a bargain.
Xiang Tianhong looked on with some envy. Sharp eyesight and luck are sometimes very important. He had been to this shop several times and had looked at the gourds when he paid the bill, but he hadn't noticed this particular gourd.
But Liu Yihang, this greenhorn, discovered that, it has to be said, timing and fate play a part; when it comes to collecting antiques, sometimes luck is worse than skill.
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