The three of them did not linger in the front yard, but instead crossed over to the back yard. An Moxue and Hu Zi entered the main house through the back door, while Xiao Shanzi went to another room.
All the windows in this house were pieced together from random wooden planks, and from the outside, it looked like the windows were so broken that there were no suitable repair materials available, so they had to make do with this.
Once inside the house, upon opening the door, one discovers that there are two doors inside. The outer door is dilapidated, pieced together again and again, while the inner door is thick and sturdy. Turning on the light reveals that even the windows inside the house have been reinforced with thick wooden planks nailed to the inside.
The house was filled with all sorts of things, big and small. There were old cabinets filled with small items, porcelain, gold and jade jewelry, bronzeware, and calligraphy and paintings. On the floor were larger items, some of which were clearly jars used for pickling vegetables, others were large vats used for raising fish and growing flowers in the yard, and some even had soil still hanging on them.
An Moxue looked around, quite surprised, and asked, "Is that all?"
Tiger said, "No, there are some that look very valuable, which are placed separately. These are not worth much to laymen, so they can only be placed here for now."
An Moxue asked, "Here too?"
He said, "In another room."
As she spoke, she led An Moxue through a hidden door into a much smaller room. The items inside had clearly been processed, were neatly arranged, and were clean.
An Moxue casually looked around, and even with her discerning eye, she couldn't find any fakes. She picked up a porcelain plate from the side; the bone china was delicate, and the bottom of the plate featured colorful koi fish playing—it was clearly a fine piece.
After looking at them, he carefully put them back and said, "Not bad, but it's still not safe to leave them here. Tonight, let's move all of them to another place, after eleven o'clock!"
Hu Zi said, "Okay, I'll follow Comrade An's arrangements. Comrade An, there are a few things I'm not sure about, could you please take a look?"
Where is it?
So the two of them returned to the same room. Hu Zi took out a damaged ancient painting, and An Mo Xue saw the burn marks before she could even open it.
Upon opening it, An Moxue was immediately captivated by the magnificent landscape inside.
When she opened the whole painting, she understood why Tiger had said he couldn't tell the origin: the burned part was exactly where the seal was, and there was nothing else that could explain the painting's provenance.
However, the authenticity of a painting can be determined by three factors: the age of the paper, the characteristics and style of the painting, and the seal.
An Moxue looked at the damaged painting and still loved it very much; she just couldn't resist things that were grand and beautiful.
She looked at it for a while and had a rough guess in her mind, but she wasn't very sure, so she didn't tell Hu Zi in detail. She said, "I'll take this painting and let my master take a look. Then we'll see if we can find a master calligrapher to repair it. Where did you get this painting?"
Hearing this, Hu Zi had a rough idea in his mind. Comrade An only looks at the best, so this painting must be pretty good. He then said, "I got it from an old lady who sweeps the streets. But some people in the neighborhood who know her background say that her family used to be nobles of the previous dynasty. A fire burned them down and she was the only one left. She was bullied a lot during the Cultural Revolution, but she is always dressed neatly and cleanly."
As the two were talking, Hu Zi took a tattered box, opened it, and inside was a fine white jade Guanyin statue, which he handed to An Moxue.
He said, "I'm not sure about the age of this white jade Guanyin. Take a look."
An Moxue took the white jade Guanyin statue, glanced at Hu Zi, who was completely bewildered, and then continued to look at the white jade Guanyin statue.
The jade Guanyin has smooth lines and is made of translucent white jade. However, despite being a perfectly fine piece of jade, there is a large crack on the back.
An Moxue immediately determined that the jade was over two hundred years old, but since knife skills were not prevalent at that time, it was difficult to confirm.
An Moxue said, "It's an object with history."
Next, Hu Zi showed An Moxue a large vat, an ordinary vat. Hu Zi said, "The weight of this vat is wrong, but I haven't found a suitable way to deal with it, so I haven't dared to move it."
As An Moxue listened, she had some guesses in her mind. She picked up the vat with both hands, weighed it in her hand, and then put it down. She looked at the vat again and again, touched it again and again, and even tapped it again and again. She said, "We'll deal with this after we move it over there. We need to have the right tools. I don't have any right now, so I can't do it. I really don't know what kind of surprise this will be. The vat is much heavier than normal."
Tiger said excitedly, "Okay, don't forget to call me then."
When the two came out, Xiaoshanzi had just finished organizing the account books in another room and came out as well. He saw An Moxue and Huzi coming out together and asked, "Brother, are you and Comrade An finished?"
Tiger replied, "Yeah, all done. What about you?"
Xiao Shanzi said, "I'm done too. Comrade An, come in and take a look at the recent accounts!"
"OK."
So the three of them went into a regular room. An Moxue looked at the account book, while Xiaoshanzi and Huzi sat to the side and chatted quietly about their plans for collecting mountain goods in the north and collecting scrap here, as well as areas for improvement.
An Moxue finished reviewing the accounts in less than an hour.
She said to Xiaoshanzi, "Xiaoshanzi, I'm about to set up a factory here. The partner is a research institute in Kyoto. After the staff arrives in a few days, you will be in charge of the factory's finances. If Huzi can handle things here, you don't have to come. It might be quite busy since it's just starting out."
Xiao Shanzi asked in confusion, "Comrade An, are private individuals now allowed to set up factories?"
An Moxue said, "It's not allowed! My factory is registered in Hong Kong Island. It's a foreign-invested enterprise. We've reached a preliminary consensus with the research institute. Seventy percent of the profits will be donated back to the institute for research, and we'll only keep thirty percent of the profits. They will produce the research results, and I will produce and sell them. My goal for this factory is to build it into a factory that can produce cruise ships and airplanes in the future. So you must keep a close eye on the accounts for me. In the future, we will be doing import and export trade."
Upon hearing this, the two men perked up. Comrade An was indeed capable of playing big games. Perhaps the industrial park in Anle Village was her way of repaying the villagers.
It can only be said that the two people's unintentional guesses turned out to be true.
Xiao Shanzi couldn't contain his excitement and said, "Yes, I will definitely do my best. Please rest assured, Comrade An."
An Moxue said, "I believe in you. And Hu Zi, don't be discouraged. When the time is right, I plan to open an antique company, a one-stop shop for antique trading and auction. The target market is the international market. You will be the one to take over this business in the future. That's why I told you to study some professional courses related to economics and management in school. Otherwise, you might not be able to adapt to managing a company when the time comes."
Upon hearing this, Hu Zi perked up and assured An Moxue, "Comrade An, don't worry, I will go to the School of Economics to audit classes whenever I have time, and I will listen carefully and study diligently from now on."
An Moxue said with satisfaction, "I believe in you all, let's work together."
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