Chapter 36: The Restorer

Chapter 36: The Biggest Bargain of the Year

“Uncle Jing, this Bodhidharma root carving should be a work from the late Qing Dynasty, and it was made by a renowned artist...”

Zhao Zhengshan was clearly very confident in his judgment. Pointing at the Bodhidharma root carving on the table, he said, “Let’s start with the material. Uncle Jing, look at this grain. It’s huanghuali, right? And it was carved from the root of a century-old oil pear tree...”

“No wonder Jing Shizhen said Uncle Zhao picks up bargains but gets it wrong eight times out of ten...”

Su Xiaofan drank his tea while listening to Zhao Zhengshan’s solemn analysis, but inwardly he was laughing his head off.

Although this item could not exactly be called fake at a glance, Zhao Zhengshan had identified it as a work from the late Qing Dynasty, which was simply miles off the mark.

【Repair Value: 5 points!】

【Modern red rosewood Bodhidharma root carving: Cannot be repaired!】

The information appearing in his mind clearly told Su Xiaofan that this was a modern handicraft, and even the material was completely different from Zhao Zhengshan’s judgment.

“Ah, Zhengshan, I’m telling you, antique miscellaneous items just aren’t your thing. Your appraisal skills with calligraphy and paintings are much stronger than with miscellaneous items...”

After Zhao Zhengshan finished his lengthy analysis, Jing Shizhen sighed after patiently listening to him.

“Uncle Jing, there are too few calligraphy and paintings being sold at street stalls, so I can’t show my skills. By the way, I couldn’t have misjudged this root carving, could I?”

Hearing Jing Shizhen’s words, a trace of foreboding arose in Zhao Zhengshan’s heart.

“First tell me how much you paid for it.” Jing Shizhen waved his hand.

“This... I paid two thousand eight hundred.” Zhao Zhengshan said, “The seller originally asked for eight thousand, but I talked him down.”

To be honest, Zhao Zhengshan had spent the entire morning today at the root-carving stall, haggling for nearly two hours before finally getting the item.

“You must have been listening to someone tell a story again.”

Jing Shizhen shook his head speechlessly. Having to spend two hours buying such an item meant Zhao Zhengshan had definitely been talked into it first.

“The stall owner said this had been passed down from his grandfather and was an item from the late Qing Dynasty. I thought the guy seemed pretty honest, so I believed him.”

Zhao Zhengshan covered his head with his hand. His own judgment at the time had been that it was at most from the late Qing Dynasty. If the stall owner had said it was from the Ming Dynasty, Zhao Zhengshan would absolutely have turned around and left.

But the stall owner’s words matched his own judgment, giving Zhao Zhengshan a sense of being validated. After the other party fooled him a little more, Zhao Zhengshan felt that he had encountered a bargain, and his main attention shifted to haggling over the price.

“Take a careful sniff. Is there a sour fragrance? Also, look at the oiliness. Does it meet the standard for huanghuali?”

Uncle Jing stopped keeping him in suspense and pointed at the root carving, speaking bluntly: “Look at this purple, almost black color. It’s obviously not characteristic of huanghuali. Although the grain looks somewhat similar, this is simply red rosewood material. In terms of material, it’s inferior to huanghuali.

“And then there’s the carving. Although the carving is pretty good, there are obvious traces of manual touch-up after machine carving. You said you don’t really understand miscellaneous items, so why do you keep making mistakes with these things?”

“Uncle Jing, then... how much is this worth?”

Zhao Zhengshan grimaced. He wasn’t actually heartbroken over the money; he just wanted to know how much of an idiot tax he had paid this time.

“Put it at home as a decorative piece. Hmm, five hundred and eighty should be about right.”

Jing Shizhen gave his estimate. In an antique market full of inferior counterfeits, this thing could at least be considered a relatively conscientious fake. At the very least, it used red rosewood rather than materials such as African rosewood.

“Uncle Zhao, in the antique market, you can’t listen to people telling stories.”

Su Xiaofan chuckled from the side. He himself was quite the storyteller. Although his family’s bronzes could not be sold as genuine antiques, Su Xiaofan had helped Zheng Dagang sell quite a few so-called “ritual implements.”

“You brat, don’t gloat. Take out the things you picked up and let’s have a look. They might not even be as good as mine.” Zhao Zhengshan looked unconvinced.

Zhao Zhengshan had no other hobbies in his spare time; he simply liked trying to find bargains in the antique market. It was just that his skill level was too poor, so he usually got fooled instead. But the worse he was at it, the more addicted he became, like a terrible chess player who keeps playing: even if he can’t beat you, he can wear you down.

So today, since Jing Shizhen was the one doing the appraisal, Zhao Zhengshan could only swallow his dissatisfaction. If it had been someone else, he would definitely have questioned the appraiser’s ability and complained that they had failed to see the value of his item.

“I bought two items. There’s one I can’t quite judge, so I just bought it for fun.”

Su Xiaofan placed the two bags in his hands on the table, took out the brush pot first, and said, “I think this thing is pretty good. Uncle Jing, could you take a look?”

“Hmm?”

Seeing the brush pot, whose color was somewhat dark purple, Jing Shizhen’s eyes lit up involuntarily. However, he did not immediately take it in his hands. Instead, he looked at Zhao Zhengshan and said, “Zhengshan, this is also a miscellaneous item. Do you want to take a look first?”

“Sure, let me have a look first.” Zhao Zhengshan picked up the brush pot from the table with great interest.

“This material is about the same as my root carving. It should also be red rosewood.”

Zhao Zhengshan picked up the magnifying glass on the table and said as he examined it, “But Little Su’s brush pot has excellent carving. Such a small thing actually has so many figures carved on it, along with animals, flowers, and plants. This is a good piece.”

Although he did not want to admit that the item Su Xiaofan had picked up was better than his own, the object was right there. The relief carving alone on the brush pot was something the root carving could not compare with, so Zhao Zhengshan could not bring himself to disparage it.

“Take a look at Little Su’s brush pot. How much do you think it’s worth?”

With a smile on his face, Jing Shizhen took the brush pot from Zhao Zhengshan’s hands and also picked up the magnifying glass, examining it carefully.   

“I’d estimate two or three thousand.”

Zhao Zhengshan said to Su Xiaofan, “We agreed that the items we buy can’t cost more than three thousand yuan. Don’t break the rules.”

“Uncle Zhao, I didn’t break the rules. This thing was much cheaper than your root carving.”

Su Xiaofan laughed when he heard that. Speaking of which, he had benefited from the repair value.

If he had not repaired this brush pot, the bottom would have been burned away, and the overall condition of the item could be described as a complete mess. But after being fully repaired, it was immediately apparent that the brush pot was a good piece.

“Xiaofan, did you really pick this thing up at the market?”

Jing Shizhen’s expression gradually became solemn as he looked at the brush pot. It was not until more than ten minutes had passed that he finally placed the brush pot on the table.

“Yes, Uncle Jing. Uncle Zhao and I went to the market together.” Su Xiaofan nodded.

“That’s hardly possible.”

Jing Shizhen muttered in confusion, “In today’s antique market, you can still pick up something like this? Are all those people blind and unable to see it?”

“Uncle Jing, Little Su really did go to the market with me. We were both empty-handed when we went.”

Zhao Zhengshan thought Jing Shizhen suspected that Su Xiaofan had gotten the item from somewhere else, so he hurriedly spoke up to testify for Su Xiaofan.

“That’s not what I mean.”

Jing Shizhen waved his hand and said to Su Xiaofan, “Tell me how you bought this item, how much you paid, and what kind of brush pot you think this is?”

“Ah, I just bought it at a street stall.”

Su Xiaofan was a little dazed by Jing Shizhen’s three questions in a row, but he had already thought of an excuse beforehand, so he immediately said, “The brush pot was sitting at a miscellaneous-items stall. At the time, it was mixed in with a pile of miscellaneous items and wasn’t very conspicuous.

“And the bronze ware the stall owner was selling came from our Bronze Ware Village. He was selling it as an item from the Tang or Song Dynasty, so I gave him a little warning. Later, I took a liking to this brush pot and bought it for one hundred and fifty yuan.”

“One hundred and fifty?”

“One hundred and fifty yuan?”

Zhao Zhengshan and Jing Shizhen simultaneously exclaimed in surprise. Clearly, even Jing Shizhen was startled by the price.

“It was one hundred and fifty yuan.” Su Xiaofan put on a bewildered expression. He realized that he had been needing to use his acting skills quite often lately. Maybe he should go audit some classes at a film academy when he got the chance.

“Uncle Jing, there’s a guest who needs to see you.” Just as Su Xiaofan was showing off his acting skills, a staff member from Jingxin Hall came over to Jing Shizhen and whispered a few words in his ear.

“It’s Mr. Tong, right? Let him in.”

Jing Shizhen waved his hand. At this moment, all his attention was on the brush pot and Su Xiaofan. “The biggest bargain of the year, and you brat managed to pick it up!”

Jing Shizhen’s face was still full of puzzlement. “So many people couldn’t see it. Are they really all blind? No, I have to go browse the antique market myself sometime.”

At Jing Shizhen’s level, he had long since moved beyond the stage of hunting for bargains in the antique market. He had not seriously visited an antique market for five or six years.

Because Jing Shizhen knew that ever since antiques had become popular, there was almost no room left for finding bargains in today’s antique markets. But after seeing this brush pot Su Xiaofan had picked up today, Jing Shizhen’s mind began to waver.

“Uncle Jing, sorry to disturb you.” Just then, a middle-aged man walked into the inner hall. After seeing Jing Shizhen, he gave a slight nod in greeting.

“Mr. Tong, have a seat and have some tea. We’ll discuss our business in a moment.” Jing Shizhen showed the guest to a chair, and a staff member immediately served fragrant tea.

“Uncle Jing, please tell me quickly. What exactly is this thing, and how much is it worth? I’m dying of impatience.”

As a doctor, Zhao Zhengshan was undoubtedly very composed normally, but when it came to his hobby of antiques, he became somewhat impatient and did not even care that Jing Shizhen had a guest present.

“Let him tell you about his own item.”

Jing Shizhen pointed at Su Xiaofan, with a hint of testing in his gesture. Jing Shizhen wanted to see whether Su Xiaofan had merely gotten lucky and picked up a bargain, or whether he actually had some understanding of antiques.

“Uncle Zhao, I can’t say for sure how much this thing is worth.”

Having spent several years in the antique market, Su Xiaofan naturally was not intimidated. He said, “First of all, I think this brush pot should be made of huanghuali.”

“No, this brush pot is about the same as my root carving. It should also be red rosewood.” Zhao Zhengshan interrupted Su Xiaofan.

“Uncle Zhao, the oiliness is different. Look at the color of this brush pot. It’s dark purple tending toward black because it has a very high oil content. This type of huanghuali is usually called black oil pear,

Black oil pear generally appears in the roots of old trees. In terms of oil content, it is the most oily type of huanghuali. Basically, all black oil pear sinks immediately in water. The grain of black oil pear is generally ordinary, but its density and specific gravity are also the highest among huanghuali.”

Su Xiaofan had helped Zheng Dagang sell quite a few beads, many of which were made of huanghuali. He himself also liked to study the subject, so his theoretical knowledge was solid. He spoke with confidence and fluency, making Jing Shizhen nod from time to time.

  

(End of Chapter)

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