The 97th day of being eavesdropped
"Dad."
Song Jianshe got off work, and when Song Chaohua saw him coming back, she quickly put down her bowl and chopsticks and walked over.
Song Jianshe asked impatiently, "What's the matter?"
"I, I had another dream last night." Seeing his attitude, Song Chaohua was a little nervous and stammered. When
Song Jianshe heard it, he was stunned for a moment, and his expression changed instantly, "What dream? Is it a dream that your dad can make a fortune by picking up the spoils?"
Song Chaohua nodded quickly, "I dreamed that by the end of this year, Uncle Gu next door will open a large piece of top-grade imperial green jade in the gambling market in Beijing. That piece of jade is very valuable. I heard that it is worth tens of millions."
Tens of millions? !
Song Jianshe was shocked.
This amount of money was a huge sum that he had never dared to imagine in his life.
If he could get this money, he would not have to worry. He could just sell the jade and use the money to buy land in Beijing. After ten years, he would be a billionaire.
Thinking of this, Song Jianshe smiled at the girl, "Xiaohua, do you remember what day it was and what the stone looked like?"
How could Song Chaohua remember it so clearly?
In her previous life, she just heard some things and roughly knew when such things happened. But if she looked more carefully, she was not a family member, so how could she know.
When Song Jianshe saw Song Chaohua's look, he shook her shoulders quickly, "Think about it again. Don't you want to learn dancing and piano like everyone else? When daddy gets rich, I'll send you there and buy you a house, okay?"
"Oh, Jianshe, you're confused,"
Huang Xirong came out of the house with his precious grandson Dabao. When he heard these words, he immediately frowned and scolded Song Jianshe, "She's just a little girl, and it's good enough that our family lets her go to school. She'll still have to get married in the future. Why should we give her classes or buy her a house? Isn't this giving outsiders a bargain?"
Song Chaohua's face was a little aggrieved and angry. She bit her lip and said nothing.
Song Jianshe said hurriedly, "Mom, what era is this now? Leaders have said that men and women are equal. We can't favor boys over girls in our family. Whatever Dabao has, Xiaohua must have as well. Xiaohua, don't listen to your grandma. Dad loves you more than your brother. Do you remember when that happened?"
Song Chaohua's face looked better and she smiled, "Dad, we are going on a winter tour in a few days, and the teacher said we need to buy something."
Song Jianshe quickly stuffed another 100 yuan into her pocket, "Here's a hundred yuan for you. Buy whatever you want. Isn't there a foreign restaurant McDonald's now? Buy some and bring it to school."
"Thank you, Dad."
Song Chaohua was happy. She took the money and carefully put it in her pocket. After thinking for a while, she said, "I only remember that the stone was big and ugly, and no one wanted to buy it. Uncle Gu was different from others. He just liked it."
This damn Gu Jinshui really has some skills.
Song Jianshe murmured in his heart, but soon became excited.
No matter how powerful Gu Jinshui is, this good thing still fell into his hands. Even if
Jinshixuan opened its doors every day for business, it might not be able to make so much money!
"A-choo, A-choo!"
Gu Jinshui sneezed several times at home. He rubbed his nose and said, "Who is talking about me?"
The old man opposite smiled and said, "Boss Gu, you are a noble man, so of course there are many people talking about you, unlike us. How do you think of these goods?"
The old man was the owner of the blue and white porcelain stall a few days ago. He called yesterday and said that he had received another ten pieces and asked Gu Jinshui if he wanted them.
Gu Jinshui thought that the blue and white porcelains were special, so he asked the old man to bring them all.
"The goods are OK, and they look good,"
Gu Jinshui looked through the pots, plates, and vases on the table, and said with concern: "But why are there cracks on these? It's hard to say if there are cracks."
The stall owner was also distressed and said: "I also know that we can't price these things after they have cracks, but you also know that these are porcelains. Porcelains are not like bronzes, which are fragile. Besides, they are bound to be bumped and bruised over the years. It's good to have a perfect appearance."
Gu Jinshui wanted it in his heart, but he was afraid that the stall owner would ask for too much. After all, he made thousands of dollars from selling those things to foreigners before.
If he wanted to sell these things to him at the price he sold them to foreigners, he would be treating him like a fool.
After thinking for a while, he put down the things and said, "You have a point. To be honest, I don't like these things. If I hadn't thought about them before, I wouldn't have bought them. But since you brought them here with so much trouble, I can't say no. So, I'll give you 100 yuan for these things. If you are willing, we can make a deal. If not, forget it."
Gu Jinshui said, took out 100 yuan from his pocket and slapped it on the table.
He had grasped the stall owner's mind. This man would definitely not want to take the things back after traveling a long way. He wanted to sell them outside. It's not easy to see the foreigners' hammers. Now that he has cash, of course, cash is better. The stall owner agreed
without saying a word, took the money, and gave all the urea bags to Gu Jinshui.
Gu Jinshui smiled and said, "You are really generous. So, next time if you have any good stuff, you can come to my store and I will buy it if it is good enough."
"Well, that's great." The old man was very happy. He found a way to make a living.
There are many people setting up stalls in the antique business, but it is hard to say whether they can really make money. People like Gu Jinshui, who have a shop and connections, don't have to worry about food and clothing. People like the old man who came to Beijing from other places to set up stalls, have to eat one meal and eat the next. If they can't make money, they have to see if they can cover the round-trip fare.
If they don't make money and have no money, they have to do odd jobs to earn some money to go home.
However, the old man earned such a large sum of money from the foreigner this time, and he probably won't be short of money in the short term.
Gu Jinshui waited for the old man to leave before he took out a dry cloth and wiped the dozen or so pieces of porcelain one by one.
He looked at the porcelain carefully, and the more he looked, the more he felt something was wrong.
This is not wrong in that these porcelains are later imitations, but in that the style of these porcelains is very different from the official kiln style of the same period in the late Ming Dynasty.
With the idea of asking the teacher if he had any questions, Gu Jinshui left a note at home and went out with some porcelain.
Mr. Xi lived close to them now, and they could walk there in a few steps. As soon as Gu Jinshui knocked on the door, he heard someone in the yard shouting, "Come in."
The voice sounded familiar, but it didn't sound like that of the master.
Gu Jinshui pushed open the door and saw that the person watering the flowers in the yard was none other than Professor Bai.
Professor Bai was also a little surprised to see him, "Jinshui, you don't have to look after the store today?"
"Oh, I received a few items today and didn't go to the store, but I'm a little unsure, so I want to ask my master to help me take a look." Gu Jinshui put his backpack on the table and shouted inside, "Master, are you home?"
Xi Han came out of the house with a Yixing purple clay teapot in his hand and took a few sips from the spout, "What are you shouting about? What's the matter?"
"Master, you are so elegant. Where did this teapot come from? Why didn't I see it before?"
Gu Jinshui pulled out a chair attentively and helped the old man sit down.
Xi Han put down the teapot and said, "I saw it when I was taking a walk yesterday. I bought it for fifty yuan. I came back and used it after washing it."
Gu Jinshui took a look and couldn't help but applauding, "This teapot must be from the Wanli period. Judging from the shape, it must be Li Zhongfang's teapot."
Xi Han showed a smile in his eyes and nodded slightly.
Professor Bai found this interesting and came over to ask, “Why is this pot called the ‘Brother Pot’?”
Gu Jinshui smiled and said, “Professor Bai, there is an anecdote behind this. Li Zhongfang was a master pot maker. His father, Li Maolin, was also a famous pot maker. However, they had different styles. The father always wanted his son to be successful, so he urged his son to make the pot in a more traditional style. Li Zhongfang picked up a pot and asked, ‘Brother, how about this?’ From then on, his pot was called the ‘Brother Pot’.” [1]
Professor Bai suddenly understood and clapped his hands in delight.
He said to Xi Han with envy: "Old Xi, you have finally found a disciple. He knows all this. You have a successor."
Xi Han was proud in his heart, but pretended to be calm. "Don't praise him. Children can't stand praise."
Gu Jinshui's lips twitched.
His daughter is already in elementary school, and she is still a child.
Professor Bai laughed, "Jinshui, what did you bring to show your master?"
Gu Jinshui hurriedly took out the porcelain from his backpack and placed them on the table one by one. "Master, I just collected these today. I can see that they are from the late Ming Dynasty, but the pattern looks a little wrong."
Xi Han asked Gu Jinshui to go into the house and get reading glasses and a magnifying glass.
He picked up a blue and white porcelain plate, examined it carefully, and said with a smile, "What do you think is wrong?"
Professor Bai knew that Xi Han was going to teach his apprentice, so he stayed quietly aside, also wanting to broaden his horizons. He felt that those plates were a little special, not like they were from the official kiln of the late Ming Dynasty, but if they were to be said to be from a folk kiln, the patterns were a little more special and the craftsmanship was more sophisticated.
"I think the way these patterns are painted doesn't seem to be purely our country's style. It seems to be mixed with some Western painting techniques, such as focal perspective."
Gu Jinshui touched his chin and said, "And you see there are tulip patterns on this plate. We didn't like this in the late Ming Dynasty."
Xi Han nodded, "You are right. These objects are different from our traditional preferences. These should be late Ming folk kiln export porcelain. Export, as the name suggests, means selling overseas, which naturally has to take local characteristics into consideration. For example, this tulip plate, the tulip is the national flower of the Netherlands, and this plate should be shipped to the Netherlands for sale."
"Hey, if this is export porcelain, how can we see it in China?"
Professor Bai didn't want to speak at first, but he was so absorbed in listening that he couldn't help but ask.
Xi Han said calmly, "Professor Bai, do you have any foreign exchange notes?"
"There are a few in this dormitory..." Professor Bai understood it all at once. There are policies from above and countermeasures from below. This export porcelain is certainly to be sold abroad, but it may not be impossible to sell it to our own people. It's like foreign exchange notes were originally for the convenience of foreign friends to spend in Beijing, but because the Friendship Store only accepts foreign exchange notes, ordinary people also want to try to get some so that they can go to the Friendship Store to broaden their horizons.
Professor Bai clapped his hands and said, "Is that so? You have good eyesight."
Xi Han smiled and said, "These are secondary. The main thing is that I have collected something like this before. This kind of export porcelain is not popular in China, but people in the past still liked to use it as a burial object. Therefore, when they circulate in the market, they are often bruised or damaged. These pieces are exactly the same, so I concluded that they are export porcelain."
Gu Jinshui suddenly realized, "No wonder these are incomplete, it turns out that this is the reason."
In the past, when people were buried, porcelain and pottery were smashed and buried with the owner of the tomb. If you think so, these porcelains are lucky to have escaped, at least they still have a complete appearance.
Professor Bai was listening to him in a trance.
He sighed and said, "We are lucky to have met Jinshui for these porcelains. He is a wise master. If it were someone else, they would probably think they were garbage even if they were placed in front of them. Jinshui, I really want to go out with you if I have the chance to broaden my horizons."
Gu Jinshui smiled and said, "Professor Bai, don't joke with me. You are a professor and I am an illiterate. I should ask you for advice."
"That's not the case. Everyone has their own expertise and everyone has their own place."
Professor Bai shook his head with a serious expression on his face. "I'm afraid your ability in the antique business is among the best in Beijing. I'm serious when I say I want to learn from you. It will be my blessing if you agree."
Gu Jinshui was stunned and looked at Xi Han hesitantly.
Professor Bai is much older than him, and he is also a professor at Peking University, so
how can he put on airs? Xi Han picked up the teapot and took a sip, and said, "You want my students to teach you, so how about the tuition?"
Professor Bai smiled and said, "Old Xi, just tell me what you want to say."
Xi Han looked at Gu Jinshui, "Old Bai is good at wood carving, and his craft is pretty good. How about asking him to carve a picture of the Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea for you?"
Gu Jinshui immediately reacted and said, "How can I do that? It takes a lot of effort to carve a picture of the Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea. I think we can just ask Professor Bai to make a table for us, and put it in your study later. We'll use the golden nanmu material."
"Golden nanmu? Do you still have this kind of material?"
Professor Bai was delighted.
Gu Jinshui smiled and said, "We got some by chance before, but we were always worried that we couldn't find an expert and would ruin the material. My master praised you so much, you must be a good hand, we are relieved to leave this material to you."
Professor Bai was also happy to see the prey, he adjusted his glasses and said, "That's no problem, I also want to practice myself, I haven't done it for some time, my hands are really itchy, let's discuss the style of the desk later."
"Okay," Gu Jinshui agreed very readily, "Just discuss this with my master, I won't worry about it. Anyway, you two have good vision. As for our business, if you want to see it, you have to go to the stalls in Panjiayuan and Liangmaqiao. We have to wait until Saturday and Sunday, when there are more people and more goods."
Professor Bai agreed readily.
On Saturday morning, Gu Jinshui went straight to Panjiayuan after breakfast. Professor Bai was waiting there early. The old man was wearing glasses and holding a flashlight.
Now it was winter, and the sky was still gray in the morning. Gu Jinshui saw him from a distance, greeted him, and took people to the stalls on Warwick Road to have a look.
This was the first time that Professor Bai came here so early. Seeing the crowds, he couldn't help but sigh: "So many people, are they all from here?"
"That's not necessarily the case. There are also people from other places. For example, people from Tianjin and Hebei know that we have a Panjiayuan here, and foreigners with money also like to go shopping, so many of them will come here specially." Gu Jinshui said.
Professor Bai was surprised, "How much does it cost to come from such a long distance?"
Gu Jinshui smiled and said, "You have to spend some money, so it's easier to bargain with these people. As long as your price is not too bad, most of them are willing to pay. If they hear our accent, it's hard to bargain. They would rather keep it, or at most take it home."
Professor Bai really learned something new.
He had no idea that there was such a science to bargaining and could not help but sigh, "It is true that traveling ten thousand miles is better than reading ten thousand books. If one had just stayed in school reading books all day, how would one know these things?"
As Professor Bai spoke, Gu Jinshui gave him a look. Professor Bai followed his line of sight and saw several bottles and jars on a stall. One of them was a jar with a dragon and phoenix pattern and a halberd. Judging from the style, pattern and workmanship, it was undoubtedly from the Shang and Zhou dynasties. It was brown in appearance with blue dots on it.
Professor Bai had such good eyesight that he couldn't help but exclaimed, "Is this a bronze vessel from the Shang and Zhou dynasties?!"
Gu Jinshui didn't respond, but asked with a smile, "How about going over to take a look?"
Professor Bai couldn't wait, but he knew how to hold back his excitement and didn't show it too bluntly.
After Gu Jinshui and Professor Bai went over, Professor Bai picked up the dragon-and-phoenix patterned halberd-shaped vessel and pretended to look at it casually.
The stall owner squatted on the ground, with his hands in his arms, wearing a cotton jacket, "Look, good stuff, my stall is the only one in the whole Panjiayuan that has such good stuff."
Professor Bai was a little happy at first, but after taking it and carefully observing it, he slowly found something wrong. Since the time of Dayu, the inscriptions on bronze vessels have always been negative, and there has never been positive inscriptions, but the inscription on this dragon and phoenix pattern halberd-shaped zun is positive inscriptions.
He immediately realized why Gu Jinshui didn't respond just now, and just as he was about to put the things down, a familiar voice came from the side, "Professor Bai, why are you here today?"
Professor Bai turned his head and saw that the people who came were still acquaintances, Professor Lin and his student Sun Zhiping.
Sun Zhiping was dressed in a proper manner, with a briefcase on his waist. He looked more like a member of society than a student.
"Professor Lin, Xiao Sun, you are here too, what a coincidence." Professor Bai stood up and greeted, "This is Teacher Xiao Gu, we have met before. Today, Xiao Gu and I are here to broaden our horizons."
Professor Lin and Sun Zhiping were stunned when they heard the title.
Sun Zhiping even laughed and said, "Professor Bai, isn't he illiterate? Why call him teacher?"
Professor Bai looked a little unhappy, "Xiao Sun, the wise come first. Xiao Gu is more knowledgeable than many of us. It is proper to call him teacher."
"Professor Bai, don't flatter me, just call me Xiao Gu."
Gu Jinshui felt embarrassed to be called that.
He waved his hands quickly and glanced at the two teachers and students who looked down on him. "Are you also here to buy antiques at the morning market?"
"Yes, we were just thinking of buying some bronzes, and we didn't expect to run into you by chance."
Professor Lin was very arrogant. He squatted down to play with the bronze, and didn't even look at Gu Jinshui. He looked at it for a while and asked, "What's the price?"
The stall owner listened and knew that this group of people probably had some status, not to mention that they were dressed decently, so he opened his mouth and said, "Two thousand!"
"Two thousand?" Professor Lin was obviously shocked.
The professor's salary is not small, but it's only more than two hundred a month.
The stall owner hurriedly said, "Yes, two thousand is a bargain. This is because we are all Chinese. We want to keep the money within the family. If I sell it to a foreigner, I will sell it for at least ten thousand!"
"Professor Lin,"
Professor Bai was a good man. Although he and Professor Lin did not get along well on weekdays, he still could not bear to see Professor Lin being cheated: "I just saw this bronze ware, no..."
"Hey, Professor Bai, you came here first, but you have already put your things down, you can't steal ours."
Sun Zhiping immediately looked at Professor Bai vigilantly.
Professor Bai was speechless, and Gu Jinshui couldn't help laughing: "Yes, Professor Bai, we don't want it, and we can't stop others from buying it. If someone likes it and has to pay for it, it's their freedom."
Professor Lin snorted, "What do you mean, you don't like this thing?"
The stall owner immediately looked at Gu Jinshui with a bit of impoliteness.
Gu Jinshui was not afraid of him. After all, they were all old Beijingers. If they really wanted to act arrogantly, it was not certain who would be more arrogant.
He folded his hands, "I didn't say that, but it's only two thousand, you have to think about
it carefully." If this was a normal person, Gu Jinshui would have given up after all the advice he had given.
But Professor Lin looked down on Gu Jinshui from the bottom of his heart. He thought that an illiterate man who relied on a little skill dared to be so self-righteous and pointed fingers at a professor like him. He really didn't know how high the sky was and how deep the earth was. On the other hand, he was too conceited. He always felt that he had good eyesight and good luck. Professor Bai and others saw it first, and he got it. This shows that he is lucky.
He said decisively: "Don't worry about it. I want this thing for 1,800 yuan!"
The stall owner was so happy that he didn't know what to do. He pretended to be happy and said: "No, just 2,000 yuan. This is a good thing from the Shang and Zhou dynasties. It's ancient!"
"1,900 yuan!" Professor Lin hesitated. Was he tempted by money or insisted?
"1,900 yuan is not a small amount. If you don't want to pay, we can leave."
Sun Zhiping said.
The stall owner seemed to be persuaded and sighed helplessly, "Okay, 1,900 yuan, you pay me now and I will give you all the handicrafts immediately."
Professor Lin did not have that much money, so he borrowed some from Sun Zhiping and gave it to the stall owner on the spot.
The stall owner gave him the things without saying anything and stuffed the money into his bag.
Professor Bai was so worried that
he could not help sighing. Sun Zhiping said proudly, "Professor Bai, why are you upset that such a good thing slipped away right under your nose?"
Gu Jinshui said with a smile, "Yes, this is a good thing. I think it must have been made last week."
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