Chapter 84
As soon as they turned into the alley where the grocery store was, Yang Ye and Zhou Yiheng were shocked by the scene in front of them.
The usually quiet, even deserted, alley was now thronged with people. A dense mass of people stretched from the grocery store entrance all the way to the alley, barely forming a crooked line. A quick glance revealed at least eight or nine people in the queue, each holding something. Yang Ye alone spotted porcelain vases, scrolls, and bronze Buddha statues. At the end of the crowd, a middle-aged man with glasses stood out. He raised a few pieces of paper, tiptoed toward the grocery store, and excitedly shouted something.
Even the small door next to the grocery store, which had never been opened before, was still closed. Xiao Xiao stood at the door, her anxious voice shouting outwards through the crowd that was about to be drowned: "Line up and tell me what you have in your hands first. The boss is not here right now, and it's useless for you to block here..."
But her voice was quickly drowned out by the noise of the crowd.
"What happened?" Zhou Yiheng asked. He looked at Yang Ye, and both of them felt a strong sense of unease in their hearts.
Yang Ye frowned, and her heart sank when she saw the blocked grocery store.
"Come and take a look," she said briefly.
Zhou Yiheng walked in front, naturally blocking Yang Ye behind him. The narrow alley was sandwiched between two-meter-high walls. The crowd was swarming and standing there, leaving no room for people to turn around. The two struggled to squeeze through, relying on Zhou Yiheng standing in front of them. An aunt holding a porcelain jar was led by Zhou Yiheng's arm. She stumbled and immediately complained dissatisfiedly, "Why are you squeezing in? Can't you see that everyone is queuing? Young people have no manners at all."
After finally squeezing her way to the store entrance, Xiao Xiao saw several uncles in front of her frantically explaining something. She waved her hand to refuse, but the next second, they forced a lot of things into her hands. The shelf at the door, which was usually used to store umbrellas and small sundries, was now completely filled with them. It looked like the shelf was about to collapse. The things Xiao Xiao was holding in her hands were shaking so much that she could hardly hold them.
"What's going on? Why are there so many people here today?" Yang Ye stood at the door of the store and asked Xiao Xiao in a raised voice.
When Xiao Xiao looked up and saw them, her forced expression instantly collapsed, tears welled up in her eyes, and her voice was filled with aggrieved tears. "Boss, you're finally back!"
Yang Ye was about to ask her what happened, but before he could finish his words, the middle-aged man holding the blue and white porcelain vase in the front heard Xiao Xiao's address to her. He reacted and immediately shouted to Yang Ye, "Hey, boss, Boss Yang, right? Take a look at this porcelain vase of mine. The report said it could be worth 70,000. Do you want to take it?"
His words were like dropping a stone into a calm pond, instantly stirring up a thousand waves. When the people in the queue at the back heard it, they immediately went into a frenzy, scrambling to get to the front, their chatter drowning out everything else.
Among them was an old lady who knew Yang Ye and lived across from the grocery store. She squeezed over and pressed something wrapped in red cloth into Yang Ye's hand. "His is no good. Look at this. The experts say mine is from the Qianlong era and is worth hundreds of thousands of yuan."
“And this purple clay teapot of mine.”
"What are you guys arguing about? I was here first."
"What do you mean you go first, I go first? I gave them all my things."
"Uncles and aunties, please be quiet for a moment. Come one by one and don't push or crowd." Zhou Yiheng raised his voice. He tried to control the increasingly chaotic scene in front of him, but the crowd was so noisy that everyone was talking to each other and no one paid any attention to him.
Yang Ye's frown deepened. The sudden rush of people in front of her, the constant rush of neighbors trying to sell goods, made her frantically accept the things they forced upon her. Her arms were so full that she could barely hold them. But the crowd kept pushing forward.
She was also hit by the old lady in front of her, and a small porcelain bowl in her arms almost slipped out. She changed her gesture in panic to catch it, but she felt a sharp pain in her waist and abdomen. The force twisted her so hard that she gasped and her steps staggered.
"Are you okay?" Zhou Yiheng was quick-witted and reached out to support her. Seeing her distressed expression, the irritation he had been suppressing instantly exploded. He turned to the noisy crowd and his voice suddenly rose. "Stop pushing, come one by one. If this chaos continues, no one will be able to sell their things."
But the noise of the crowd didn't seem to stop at all. Some people were still moving forward. Zhou Yi couldn't stand it any longer and yelled again, "Fuck off! Can't you see that people are being squeezed by you?"
There was an old man in the crowd who, relying on his seniority in the village, stiffened his neck and shouted at them, "You're open for business, so you should take our things. Why are you blocking us from entering?"
His words completely ignited Zhou Yiheng's anger. He stared at the uncle who had just spoken, the anger in his eyes almost overflowing. "Whether to buy or not, when to buy, it's not your place to tell me about our affairs. We have our own rules for doing business. If you want to sell, you have to follow our rules. If you continue to make such a fuss and refuse to listen to any advice, then we will not do business with you anymore. You can find whoever you want."
"Hey, why don't you accept it? Yours is the only grocery store in the village that accepts this." The uncle got anxious.
"You know we're the only ones here, and you're still making a fuss?" Zhou Yiheng asked back. He glanced sharply at the restless crowd, his voice filled with ruthlessness and warning, "If you want to sell, then line up at the door honestly, one by one. If you keep up this commotion, no one's stuff will be sold. Forget 70,000, 100,000, or even 700,000. If you can't sell it, it's just trash in your hands that no one wants."
"That's all I have to say. Anyone else have any objections?" Zhou Yiheng finished, his gaze sweeping across the finally quieted crowd. The uncle who had just stiffened his neck and argued with him quietly stepped back, and the aunt behind him also stepped back. Slowly, the previously noisy crowd formed an orderly line.
Yang Ye tilted her head and looked at Zhou Yiheng who was standing in front of her. Her heart, which had been tense and troubled by the chaos and waist injury, finally relaxed. She looked at Zhou Yiheng without saying a word, but just breathed a sigh of relief. The corners of her mouth moved slowly until she revealed a faint, relaxed smile.
"That's pretty impressive," she said to Zhou Yiheng.
But Zhou Yiheng seemed not to hear. When he turned to look at her, he asked, "Is the desk okay?"
"Okay," Yang Ye nodded.
Yang Ye sat at Xiao Xiao's desk and cleared out everything on it to make some space. The things they brought were all different, but the information they showed her was surprisingly consistent.
There were more and more useless things on the table, including chipped blue and white porcelain plates, pendants with blurred patterns, and even bowls and plates that were printed with the Qianlong period but looked like they were from the Daoguang period. Yang Ye looked at them one by one, his brows furrowed tighter and tighter, and the confusion and wonder in his eyes became more and more profound.
"Xiao Xiao, look at this bracelet." Yang Ye picked up the jade bracelet with a strange color that her aunt had just given her.
Xiao Xiao took it and took a look at it. She didn't even need to hold it under the flashlight to take a closer look. At just one glance, she knew that this thing was completely useless. However, she saw the record on the appraisal report that the old lady gave her.
The report had a uniform format, professional terms, and a striking red official seal on the last page, making it look official. However, the valuations and contents were incredibly off, and the descriptions of the objects were full of loopholes and completely unreliable.
Everyone in the shop has left, leaving only this uncle.
The uncle sat in front of Yang Ye, holding the Buddha statue in his arms. "This has been passed down from my grandfather's generation for decades. Experts told me it must be worth at least hundreds of thousands. How can you only say it's worth seven or eight thousand?"
Yang Ye patiently explained, "The casting of this bronze Buddha statue is too rough, and the shape is not right. Moreover, the patina on the surface is obviously caused by soaking it with chemicals. If you smell it, there is a smell on it."
"What's that smell? Why can't I smell it at all?" the uncle continued to argue, "You must be incompetent. Why didn't others say anything when I went there?"
"Since you say my place is not good enough, you can go to other places where it is good enough." Yang Ye had been annoyed by them for a long time that afternoon and really couldn't say anything euphemistic.
"Hey, hey, hey, Boss Yang, what's wrong with you? The price is not right, why are you kicking people out?"
"Uncle, I really can't give you the price you want," Yang Ye said bluntly, "The price I offer you is the only one I can accept. If you're willing, then we can continue the discussion. If you're not willing, then there's nothing I can do."
The uncle was stunned. He saw Yang Ye's indifferent expression, showing no sign of giving in. He snorted impatiently, picked up the bronze Buddha statue on the table and muttered, "Why are you pretending? You obviously don't have the ability to identify the goods. You'd better go bankrupt as soon as possible. You're still paying 7,000. I already spent 3,000 on the appraisal fee."
The uncle's words immediately alerted Yang Ye, "Appraisal fee, you spent three thousand on the appraisal fee for this bronze statue?"
"Yes," the uncle said as if it was a matter of course. He even said to Yang Ye confidently, "The manager said that the price for authentic identification is this."
"Is it also Jinshizhai?"
"yes"
Yang Ye felt his heart sinking bit by bit, and there was an inexplicable feeling of irritation stuck in his throat, stuffy and astringent, unable to lift it up or swallow it.
After seeing the uncle off and closing the door, the store finally fell completely silent. The setting sun shone through the open French doors, illuminating the chaotic scene in the living room, the untied bottles and cans on the table, the crumpled appraisal report, and the fallen office chair. A glow of orange and red shimmered in the deepening hue, concealing the exhaustion and dullness that had left the clamor behind.
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