Chapter 368: Yellow Ground Plum and Bird Pattern Bowl, Tongzhi Period of the Qing Dynasty
When Si Ning heard his description, she thought of the items in the former imperial palace. Could it be that these were things that had leaked out of the palace?
If that's the case, the high price is understandable.
"Mom, Achen and I will go and take a look."
"Go ahead, Baiqiao and I will take care of it here." Old Madam Si nodded at her.
Si Ning took Si Jinchen's hand and walked out of the room. When they arrived in the living room, they saw an old woman sitting stiffly.
The old woman stood up immediately when she saw Si Ning: "Husband, hello, Madam."
"Old man, don't be so nervous. Sit down first." Si Ning pulled Si Jinchen to sit opposite her.
"Grandma, please sit down." Juanjuan pulled the old woman to sit down.
The old woman smiled and nodded at Juanjuan: "Thank you, Miss."
"Old man, can I see the bowl you brought?" Si Ning said with a smile.
"Okay." The old woman carefully opened the cloth bag in her arms and placed the three bowls carefully on the coffee table.
Si Ning did not pick up the three bowls. He looked at them from a distance and confirmed his guess.
The three bowls looked very much like something that had come out of the palace, but it was hard to tell whether they were real or fake.
Among my family members, only Sigu has some knowledge of it, but no one else has really dabbled in it.
Bailing walked up to her and whispered a few words in her ear.
"Did Juanjuan say that?" Si Ning asked Bailing.
Bailing nodded: "That's what the lady said."
Si Ning had already made up his mind: "Old man, I want all three bowls. Name your price!"
"All, you want them all?" The old woman was a little surprised. She thought it would be great if she could sell one.
"Yeah." Si Ning nodded.
The old woman was in a bit of a dilemma. She had given the two children five hundred dollars before in order to get them to leave, but now she couldn't just ask for five hundred dollars again.
But she really didn't know what the appropriate price was: "Madam, how about you give me an offer?"
"Can I try it out?" Si Ning asked for her opinion.
"Madam, please." The old woman naturally agreed.
Si Ning got her consent before reaching out to take the three bowls on the coffee table to check.
The three bowls are in very good condition without any scratches or dents, and are considered top quality.
"You previously quoted a price of five hundred yuan for a bowl. This price is a bit high."
The old woman also knew that the price was very high, and she nervously held her trousers, waiting for her next words.
Si Ning didn't let her wait too long: "I want all three bowls. How about giving you a thousand silver dollars?"
"What?" the old woman exclaimed.
"Do you think it's too little?" Si Ning was wondering if the price was too low.
"No, it's not." The old woman's speech was a little incoherent: "Madam, are you really willing to spend a thousand silver dollars to buy these three bowls?"
"Yes, if you agree, I can ask someone to get the money for you now." Si Ning looked at her with a smile.
I thought she was complaining that the money was too little, but it turned out she was surprised that the money was too much.
"I agree, I agree." The old woman nodded immediately, fearing that she would regret it later.
Si Ning smiled and asked the butler to go get the money: "One thousand silver dollars is a lot of money. Do you want me to exchange it for bank notes for you? You can go to the bank to get it when you need it."
She thought about it for a moment, and then said something else, fearing that she might be worried: "Or I can just give you a thousand silver dollars and have someone send you back."
"It's just that the amount of money is a bit too much for you. I'm afraid you have to keep it carefully."
The old woman was a little hesitant. The first method was the safest, but no one in her family could read or write, and they didn't know how to withdraw money if they went to the bank.
The second method was more risky, but for some reason, she believed that they would not rob their family.
"Madam, none of us are literate. Although it's safe to deposit the money in the bank, we don't know how to withdraw it."
"I understand. I'll have someone send you back." Si Ning asked the butler to arrange for someone to put all the silver dollars in a tattered basket.
Find someone to accompany the old woman home, hand her things at her door and leave.
As for the rest, that is not their concern.
Si Jinchen handed the three bowls to Si Ning: "I'm giving these to my brother."
"Don't you feel bad about spending so much money on them?" Si Ning looked at the three identical bowls.
"I don't feel bad." Si Jinchen smiled and shook his head.
"Then do you know what the three bowls are called?" Si Ning asked him while looking at the three bowls in his hand.
"Aunt, I know this." Juanjuan came over with a smile.
"Then tell me." Si Ning looked at her with a smile on her face.
"This is a yellow-ground bowl with plum and sparrow patterns from the Tongzhi period of the Qing Dynasty. It's older than my grandmother!" Juanjuan said, looking at the bowl in her hand.
"Does Juanjuan know its origin?" Si Ning looked at her and asked.
"Wanwan said they used to live in a big place, but somehow they were stolen out, and no one knows where they ended up."
Juanjuan said as she looked at the three bowls.
"It is older than your grandmother. We must protect it well." Si Ning smiled and touched the two children's heads.
"Okay." Juanjuan agreed crisply.
"Aunt." Si Jinchen remembered that there were many foreigners in the antique market.
"Achen, what's wrong?" Si Ning saw that she seemed to have something to say.
"I went to the antique market today and saw a lot of foreigners buying antiques. Although I don't know whether they are real or not, there are quite a lot of people buying them." Si Jinchen thought about what he saw today.
"As for antiques, apart from your third uncle who has some experience with them, the rest of us really have no way of distinguishing between real and fake."
"Also, the antique market is very treacherous. Even if we wanted to protect all these antiques, we'd be powerless."
Si Ning understood what he meant, but the matter of antiques was not something they could solve.
"What is it that I want to do but cannot do it?" Miao Jiu heard the conversation between the three people when he entered the living room.
"Uncle." Juanjuan ran over and gave him a hug.
Miao Jiu bent down and picked her up. Looking at her, he thought of his three sons, none of whom was close to him.
"Achen just told me that there are many foreigners buying antiques in the antique market." Si Ning looked at him and said.
"I know about this. Some Chinese people who can speak foreign languages will take foreigners to buy antiques. But there are many tricks here. These foreigners are not short of money."
"But it's hard to tell if they're real or not. The people who take them to buy antiques may not know the value of the goods, and the antique sellers will naturally charge as much as they can."
Miao Jiu held Juanjuan in his arms and sat next to Si Ning and Si Jinchen.
"What if what they bought were all fake antiques?" Si Jinchen looked at him and asked.
"You have a clever little brain, but have you ever thought that if the antiques you buy are fake, these foreigners will not be vegetarians either."
"They have their own way of identifying antiques. It's understandable if they occasionally buy fakes, but if they're all fake, it would be a big problem."
Miao Jiu raised his hand and gently hit Si Jinchen on the head.
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