Chapter 127 Better to have nothing
than to have something inferior Xu Youyou generously handed him the photo she had taken with her phone, then glanced at Lu Jingyao and said, "Mr. Lu, please pay for this bird cage."
Wang Huaigu looked at the photo and said, "Looking at the quality, it's probably worth more than 10 million."
Xu Youyou nodded gently: "Sixteen million after tax."
Regret surged on Wang Huaigu's face again. After all, he was just a little bit away from owning the birdcage. If he had spent an extra ten thousand yuan, he could have asked Lao Zhang to give him the birdcage.
"You are a young man with sharp eyes. You could tell this was a treasure right away when you were in the store." Wang Huaigu sighed and couldn't help laughing. He said, "I will have a good talk with Lao Zhang about this later. He will tell him that he is a black-hearted person who only wants to cheat people out of their money. He didn't expect that he would be the one who suffered the biggest loss!"
"Mr. Wang, there is something here that I would like you to take a look at." Suddenly someone ran over to invite Wang Huaigu.
Wang Huaigu wanted to talk to Xu Youyou for a few more words, but after taking a look at the person who invited him, he could only say sorry to Xu Youyou: "Miss Xu, let's talk in detail later."
Xu Youyou nodded slightly.
Wang Huaigu was dragged into a room.
Seeing more and more people coming into the yard, Lu Jingyao took the initiative to say, "You like porcelain, and porcelain is usually in Hall No. 1."
The Wuming Villa was divided into small halls according to the types of antiques. Lu Jingyao was very familiar with this place and took her straight to the open hall at the front.
Looking from afar, there were already people moving around inside.
Xu Youyou looked up at the plaque above the door, which read: "Shengxue."
"The white bowls in your home are more delicious than frost and snow, but it's pitiful to send them to my thatched cottage in a hurry. It's a poem by Du Fu." Xu Youyou said.
Lu Jingyao nodded: "This plaque will be changed at every exchange meeting, but every time in Hall No. 1, it is always porcelain."
Xu Youyou asked: "The Lin family admires porcelain?"
Lu Jingyao said: "The Lin family has a long history of learning. It is said that his great grandfather made his fortune by finding a Ru kiln piece on a street stall."
Ru Kiln is the first of the Five Kilns of the Song Dynasty. There is a saying that "even if you have a fortune of millions, it is not as good as a piece of Ru Kiln", which shows how precious Ru Kiln is.
As soon as Xu Youyou entered the hall, she immediately saw a group of people surrounding a place. When she moved closer to take a look, she saw a glass partition similar to that in a museum, with a lonely piece of porcelain placed inside.
The whole thing is sky blue in color, so beautiful that one loses all words to describe it.
"This is the ice-crack Ru kiln celadon washbasin that belonged to the Lin family. They made their fortune from it, and later when the Lin family became wealthy, they bought it back for a huge sum of money," Lu Jingyao explained.
The exhibition of this precious collection has become a regular feature of every antique exchange fair.
"It's so beautiful, no one wants to buy it?" Xu Youyou asked.
Lu Jingyao said: "Some people offered a sky-high price, but the Lin family's grandfather gave instructions before he died. The Lin family dared not disobey and refused to sell it no matter what."
Someone nearby heard the two talking about this and took the initiative to speak up: "Every antique family has its own treasures that are passed down, and they are all kept for worship. Except for the He family, no one would throw heirlooms around."
Xu Youyou couldn't help but get curious when she heard that and asked, "Throwing away heirlooms? Why?"
"Why else? He's sick. The He family is like this, always weird and crazy." said the man.
Seeing that he was unwilling to elaborate, Xu Youyou looked at Lu Jingyao for help.
Lu Jingyao had only heard of the He family, but didn't know much about it: "The He family is now the last of the four great antique families, but it has the longest heritage and has never fallen out of the list of the four great antique families."
When Xu Youyou heard this, she immediately understood that although the He family was not the strongest, it had always been strong.
She became curious about another question: "Are these four great families always changing?"
Lu Jingyao nodded: "This title is self-proclaimed. Whoever is stronger gets it. Before, there was that small family that was not in the mainstream, clamoring to create ten noble families."
Xu Youyou: ...
The top ten aristocratic families seem to have become low for some unknown reason.
"Apricot Forest Spring Swallow, Qianlong imperial enamel, this is so beautiful!"
It was rare for Xu Youyou to hear noise in the quiet exhibition hall.
No matter how beautiful the Ru kiln is, it can only be viewed from a distance and can only be seen every year. The newly delivered porcelain may be put on the auction block, and may be bought by someone and hidden away. Naturally, people are more interested in the new treasures.
Xu Youyou and Lu Jingyao inevitably turned their heads as well. When they got closer, they saw that the centerpiece was a small white bowl.
The shape of the vessel is elegant and the body of the bowl is fine. There are patterns of spring scenery of apricot forest and two swallows flying side by side painted on the body of the bowl, which looks very interesting.
On the other side there are two lines of poetry: "The jade scissors pierce through the flowers, and the colorful dress returns with the moon."
"It's a poem by Shen Shixing of the Ming Dynasty. It's placed here and it really complements the painting on this bottle." Xu Youyou said softly.
As he was speaking, the person displaying the enamel bowl turned it over in his hand, revealing a blue signature on the bottom: "Made in the Qianlong period."
Xu Youyou wanted to try it out, but there were a lot of people queuing up. Her porcelain identification skills had now reached the maximum level. If she took a closer look, she would know that such an interesting and vibrant pattern could not be imitated by a replica.
"A rare heirloom." Xu Youyou concluded.
Lu Jingyao nodded: "If you think it is good, then it must be right."
Xu Youyou asked: "Do you want to buy it?"
Lu Jingyao shook his head and pointed to Xu Youyou at the middle-aged man who was looking at the porcelain carefully.
"With this gentleman here, the porcelain from the Qianlong period will not fall into the hands of others."
Xu Youyou asked: "A master of porcelain?"
Lu Jingyao shook his head: "He personally loves collecting Qianlong antiques."
Xu Youyou thought of Qianlong’s farmhouse aesthetic. Although the porcelain craftsmanship during the Qianlong period had reached perfection, it was mostly for showmanship, and aesthetics was a matter of personal opinion.
The middle-aged man in front of him, who is obsessed with collecting Qianlong antiques, has a handsome face, elegant temperament, and simple clothes. He looks like the handsome uncle who was once popular.
Xu Youyou found it really hard to imagine that such a person could have such a crazy resonance with Qianlong. After all, from the outside, he looked like someone who loved Yongzheng porcelain.
"This piece of porcelain from the Qianlong period is particularly simple and elegant, and is very worth collecting," said Xu Youyou.
Lu Jingyao nodded in agreement.
Xu Youyou continued to look at the collections brought by others, but she finished quickly. In addition to the small Qianlong enameled bowl, there was also a Yongle blue and white jade vase.
Apart from this, there was no other porcelain in the small hall.
Xu Youyou looked at Lu Jingyao with a puzzled look. It was such a big hall with only a few porcelain pieces, which made it look quite deserted.
Lu Jingyao explained: "It is better to have less than too much. Every year, the porcelains brought by guests usually do not exceed five pieces. If they are not top-quality porcelains, collectors will not bring them at all."
(End of this chapter)
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