Time flies like an arrow.
In the blink of an eye, I have been living in Luoyang for three months.
Ever since I managed to keep Ma Quezi in line with that batch of goods, he's trusted me and calls me every few days to check on the progress.
On the day before the Lunar New Year, I finally received a call from Qinghuai and then hurriedly went to the designated location.
In a warehouse belonging to the Qing Group, there were piles of sealed wooden crates, some of which had been opened and the bronze artifacts inside had been taken out.
When Qinghuai saw me enter, he took the initiative to come over: "In the past few months, I have sent many people to the south to collect bronzes, but in the end, I only managed to collect more than eighty pieces. I have done my best, and I really can't find the remaining twenty pieces."
"Eighty it is then."
I was still thinking about Song Laosan and Monkey, who were being held captive by Ma Quezi, so I didn't argue with Qinghuai. I picked up a bronze incense burner covered in patina and examined it. Then I picked up a nail from the ground and pried at the patina.
With just a slight exertion, the patina curled up, indicating that there was glue inside the patina and that it was too loose.
Upon further inspection, all the remaining bronze artifacts were found to have problems as well.
Finally, I picked out a few obviously fake bronze artifacts from this batch and set them aside: "Pack up the rest."
Qing Huai looked at me: "Mr. Duan, our Qing family spent nearly 20 million to buy this batch of bronzes. This is no small sum! Are you sure that sending these items out will achieve the effect we want?"
"I've done my best to set this up. As for whether Ma Quezi and Su Jialiang will take the bait, we can only do our best and leave the rest to fate!"
I knew what Qinghuai wanted to hear, but I didn't give him any assurances: "The Qing family is betting money, while we are betting our lives. From a certain perspective, no one wants this to fail."
Qinghuai lit a cigarette: "By the way, Su Gouzi's business has been having some problems lately."
I became interested: "What's the problem?"
"According to rumors, several of his delivery routes were investigated and shut down, and several of his 'white gloves' were arrested."
Qinghuai excitedly added, "Since your plan is to lure him in through Ma Quezi, I think now is a good opportunity. After all, he only has a few agents. If he loses even one, his source of income will be cut off! Under such circumstances, he naturally wants to protect his other agents even more!"
When I heard the news, I didn't think it was a good thing, and my brow furrowed.
Su Gouzi has dominated the bronze ware counterfeiting industry for decades without ever encountering any problems, precisely because of his extremely cautious nature.
According to the results of the Qing family's investigation, he would rather earn less money than frequently change agents, taking a steady and long-term approach.
It is no coincidence that such a cautious group has suffered repeated setbacks in a short period of time.
After much thought, I believe the only people capable of doing this are the Wei and Qu families.
This means that both of them have already taken action, and the time left for me is becoming increasingly tight.
If they find Su Gouzi first, all my efforts will be in vain.
With that in mind, I didn't delay any longer and immediately called Ma the Cripple: "Master Ma, my goods have arrived in Luoyang. When would you like to meet?"
"Has your goods arrived?"
Ma Quezi's tone was somewhat surprised: "I thought you were going to make me go to another province to pick up the goods myself."
I replied in a relaxed tone, "As the saying goes, even a dead tiger has bones. We used to run a big business. Although we've lost some of our strength, we can still maintain basic operations."
Ma Quezi remained noncommittal: "Transport the goods to the Shangyao Industrial Park, to the courtyard of Juwan Culture Media. Call me when they arrive."
...
At first, I thought that the place Ma Quezi had arranged to meet me was a media company like a printing factory or magazine shop. But when I got there, I found out that it was an online media company that advertised itself as a training base for live streamers and an e-commerce incubation base.
In the warehouse in the backyard, Ma the Cripple examined a bronze gu (a type of ancient Chinese wine vessel) for a while, then slammed it to the ground. Looking at the scattered patina, he said, "This thing of yours isn't as good as you described. Compared to the chime bells you gave me before, this is just trash!"
“Master Ma, our craftsmen’s skills are absolutely top-notch, but the quality of the products can’t be compared like that. The chime bells I showed you before took several years to make, while this batch of products has only been used for a little over two months.”
I had already guessed that Ma the Cripple would say that, so I handed him a cigarette: "The rust on bronzeware is mainly to show its age. The pit used to rust it is like the old broth in a braised pork shop; the longer it's used, the richer the flavor becomes. As you know, our place was shut down, and the original pit was long gone. The things made in the new pit are naturally of lower quality."
"These items may not meet the standards of renowned collectors, but they're barely passable. What price are you planning to offer them at?"
I gestured with my hand: "Sixty thousand for each piece. There are a total of seventy-eight bronze artifacts here. I'll give them all to you as payment for our previous debt. As for the rest, I'll make up the difference once my business gets up and running. Is that alright?"
"Sixty thousand?"
Upon hearing this, Ma Quezi narrowed his eyes.
"Master Ma, the unpleasantness between us was our fault to begin with, so the price I'm offering is truly sincere, and I'm barely making any money off you! It really can't be any lower!"
I saw the expression on Ma Quezi's face, which showed a troubled look, but I knew in my heart that his expression did not mean that the things were expensive, but rather that he was surprised that they were so cheap.
Many people are curious as to why such a fake copper lump can be worth so much money.
That's because the counterfeiters only make valuable items; they can't possibly make genuine products that would sell for 20,000 or 30,000 yuan.
Secondly, forging bronze artifacts is not so simple. Putting aside the waste from machine stamping, any decent and high-quality fake must be handcrafted by experienced master craftsmen.
In addition, dealing with pit rust, chemical ratios, and other issues makes it particularly time-consuming and labor-intensive.
The most important point is that there are legal consequences for such things. Once bronze artifacts are artificially patinated, they cross the line into the crime of counterfeiting cultural relics.
Once the genuine product is sold, it involves fraud, and everyone involved will be implicated. Without a substantial reward, no one would take the risk.
Although I don't know the price at which Ma Quezi got his goods from Su Gouzi's gang, based on my calculations, the price of an ordinary item would not be less than 100,000 yuan, and as for those high-quality items that are good enough to be mistaken for genuine products, they could cost 300,000 to 500,000 yuan or even over a million yuan.
These goods change hands multiple times, and by the time they reach the final, unsuspecting buyer, the price may have increased tenfold, or even dozens or hundreds of times.
After listening to my explanation, Ma Quezi hesitated for a moment, then laughed and said, "Alright, seeing how sincere you are, I won't make things difficult for you. With these things plus the chime bell from before, our accounts are even."
I immediately clasped my hands in a fist and bowed, saying, "Oh! Thank you so much, Master Ma, for your kindness!"
"No need to thank me. I'm willing to let you go because I think you're a group of talented people."
Ma the Cripple sniffed: "I remember you told me before that you wanted to talk to me about cooperation, right?"
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