At the beginning of the semester, there weren't many courses. Chu Yu relied on her good English skills, and whether it was English classes or professional courses, she did very well and spent less time on her studies.
When she wasn't busy with her studies, she took some time to visit the construction site.
There are many intricacies involved in decorating a courtyard house. In fact, Chu Yu doesn't have high requirements for the style of decoration. These days, there are only a few styles that can be done. Shu Hui is older and prefers the traditional Chinese style, which she feels is more suitable for a courtyard house.
Chu Yu followed her lead and chose the new Chinese style. She asked the designer to add modern elements to the Chinese style, but all the furniture had to be of good quality, and she was even willing to spend money to buy huanghuali wood.
Zhang Ying's husband occasionally came to supervise the construction, and the work was progressing quite well.
Designer Xiao Huang was looking for her. "Ms. Zhou, this room is missing a classic-style table. I haven't found a suitable one yet. If you have any connections, you could try to find someone to buy one made of huanghuali wood. Huanghuali is a very good material, and it's not expensive."
Originally, huanghuali wood was not expensive. In order to earn foreign exchange, state-owned factories even produced a lot of huanghuali handicrafts for export. The prices were low, and they did not take huanghuali wood seriously at all.
Some people even buy large quantities of rosewood as medicinal material.
A few years ago, a pair of huanghuali armchairs only cost five or six hundred yuan. Although the price was not cheap, it was definitely not at the level of antiques. But this year, several books about huanghuali wood were published, and the price of huanghuali rose sharply. The value of huanghuali has been rising, increasing tenfold in just one year.
This is what the industry calls the "85 Craze".
Chu Yu smiled and said, "I heard that the price of huanghuali wood has increased quite a bit."
Xiao Huang chuckled, "The price has gone up, but if you go to the suburbs, you might be able to find some at a lower price. I took some customers to the suburbs last year and collected a few. If you're interested, I can ask someone to help you inquire."
Xiao Huang is a designer with experience designing high-end hotels and several courtyard houses.
He has many clients and often takes them to buy high-end furniture, so he must have connections. It's normal for him to take a commission, and Chu Yu doesn't care about that small amount of money.
Chu Yu had no classes on the weekend, so she made an appointment with Xiao Huang to go to a village more than an hour away from Beijing to collect huanghuali wood. Xiao Huang had previously heard from someone that an old man had a huanghuali table, several armchairs, and a Ming Dynasty lady's bed.
Chu Yu found a car to take them there. Although the manor was not far from the capital, it was located at the border of two provinces. It was supposed to be a little over an hour away, but because of the detour, it took more than two hours.
They came to a house where an old man in blue overalls was sitting on the doorstep smoking a large pipe.
"Sir, is Mr. Huang and his family here?"
The old man looked up at him and asked, "What do you want with Huang Laoquan?"
Xiao Huang smiled and said, "You must be Huang Laoquan? What a coincidence! We're from the same family, we both have the surname Huang."
Xiao Huang continued the family lineage with him, and the old man didn't retaliate with a smile. He led them into the house and said, "Are you the group that wanted to collect the goods yesterday? I told you before, I won't sell these things cheaply. It's impossible for you to take them away for five thousand yuan."
Xiao Huang looked a little awkward. "I heard from Mr. Cao that we've agreed on a price with you, it's five thousand yuan."
"Him? Was he talking about the imperial edict? After he left yesterday, someone came to me and said that I sold it too cheaply, and that the market price outside was definitely more than five thousand. Of course I can't sell it. These are things left by our ancestors, a table and five chairs, and one of them was smashed by those students during the movement a few years ago."
It's not a big deal that he raised the price on the spot, but Xiao Huang and he share the same surname, Huang. If they agreed on a price and then he wanted to raise it again, Xiao Huang was afraid that Chu Yu would think that he was colluding with someone else to cheat her out of her money.
Chu Yu didn't say anything, but gave the driver a wink.
The driver went up to take a look, smelled the scent of the rosewood, and nodded to Chu Yu.
Chu Yu knew it was genuine.
Good things don't come cheap. This set of furniture is indeed impressive and would be perfect for a courtyard house.
"Sir, how much do you think is appropriate?"
Old Huang took a puff of his pipe and said slowly, "At least six thousand."
Chu Yu frowned and immediately asked for a thousand yuan. Antiques weren't worth much these days, let alone old-fashioned furniture like this. Back in the 80s, there was quite a lot of old furniture. People who had just come from that era didn't really care about antiques.
Chu Yu thought the price was a bit high.
"I heard there's also a brothel bed."
“That’s right, there’s also a canopy bed. It was part of my family’s dowry. It’s a bit old, and my children usually sleep in it. If you want it, I’ll sell it to you for 2,000 yuan.”
Old Huang was completely clueless, but Chu Yu could tell at a glance.
But he raised the price on the spot, clearly under someone's influence. Whether it was a fellow professional or someone else, Chu Yu didn't care much, because she knew that the price of huanghuali wood would rise in later years, and this was an antique from the Ming Dynasty, so it was worth spending a little more money.
As I always say, don't fuss over small amounts.
Huang Laoquan could tell that Chu Yu was the buyer, and stared at Chu Yu, saying, "Are you going to buy or not? If not, I'll give all these things to someone else."
Chu Yu gave the driver a wink, and the driver went forward to check again. This time, he looked at the young lady's bed that Huang Laoquan had paid 2,000 yuan for. Although the bed had been used for many years, it was well preserved. The carvings on the bed were clear and lifelike, and it was obviously a good item.
It would be wonderful to have a silk canopy on the bed.
The driver's eyes widened instantly at what he saw, and then he nodded subtly at Chu Yu.
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