How could anyone doing business in a big city like Paris not recognize the gold card in Zhuang Rui's hand? After seeing the card, Renault's eyes suddenly widened and his expression became more respectful.
In the past few years, the art market has continued to heat up, but people have become more discerning. It is also difficult to catch someone who is taken advantage of in the antique shop. Most people will be professional when buying valuable art.
It’s really rare for an appraiser like Zhuang Rui, a retail investor, to be able to shell out 5 million euros.
This is true at home, and it is also true abroad, so Renault's eyes were shining at this moment, wishing that the so-called Leonardo da Vinci paintings in his store were all real and that Zhuang Rui would buy them.
"Sir, these in the store are all very valuable works of art, and they are very old. You can take a look at them again..."
"Oh, forget it, I don't like any of these things..."
After Zhuang Rui heard what the shop owner said, he shook his head in disappointment and was about to take Qin Xuanbing away. This shop was already the last one on this street. It seems that the moon in foreign countries may not be rounder than in China. If you want to find something,
It's a fun thing, but it's useless.
"Hey, sir, please stay..."
Seeing Zhuang Rui walking out with the woman, Renault became anxious. Just now he just wanted to fool Zhuang Rui again and sell a few items in the store. Now that he knew that Zhuang Rui was really not interested, he naturally
Good stuff will come out.
"Huh? Is there anything else?"
Zhuang Rui looked back at Renault with a faint smile on his face. Although he had not been in the industry for a long time, he also knew that if this store was really a century-old store, then the real stuff would definitely not be placed in the store.
of.
Renault didn't dare to play tricks anymore. He bowed slightly to Zhuang Rui and said, "That's it. Dear sir and madam, if you have time, I can take you to see some of my grandfather's collections.
I guarantee that they are all works of art of great historical value..."
Zhuang Rui nodded and said, "Okay, I hope your grandfather's collection will not disappoint us..."
"Please wait a moment, both of you..."
Renault was the only one in this store. After letting Zhuang Rui out, Renault closed the store door and took Zhuang Rui and Qin Xuanbing from this quiet street into an alley not far away.
Renault was open for business, so Zhuang Rui was not afraid of his tricks and followed him for about five minutes until he came to a two-story building.
The buildings here are a bit like the courtyard houses in old Beijing. They are all very old eighteenth-century architectural styles. They are light-structured garden-style mansions. Although they are not big, they are gorgeous and exquisite. I am afraid it is difficult to own such a villa here.
of.
"This is what my grandfather left behind. You two, please come in..."
After Renault opened the door, he very gentlemanly invited Zhuang Rui and Qin Xuanbing in.
This was Zhuang Rui's first time entering a foreigner's home. As soon as he entered, he was attracted by the bright colors and delicate decorations. The furniture inside was also very exquisite but a bit cumbersome. The one in the corner
The cabinets are even handmade and put together, which is very eye-catching.
There are also some dark murals on the walls and ceilings of the house, showing the long history of this house.
"You two, this way..."
Renault called Zhuang Rui and Qin Xuanbing through the living room on the first floor and walked to the backyard.
"Um, basement?"
Zhuang Rui came to the backyard and saw Renault opening a door with a complicated combination lock. His eyes couldn't help but light up and his heart was filled with anticipation.
It may have been a shelter during World War II. This basement is very deep, going seven or eight meters underground. However, there is a wall lamp every other meter in the passage. The light is very bright, and the ventilation facilities are very good, so you won't feel it.
Stuffy.
Entering the basement, Zhuang Rui discovered that this basement was larger than the basement in his courtyard house in Beijing. It should be fifty or sixty square meters, and was divided into two rooms. In each room, there were ventilation passages and a
A working dehumidifier.
"Sir, everything here was collected by my father and grandfather. I hope you can find something you like. This lady can sit here and have a cup of coffee. I have everything here..."
When Renault talked about this place, his tone was very proud. He was not lying. There was a coffee machine on the wall table at the entrance.
Zhuang Rui shook his head. This foreigner didn't know how to preserve antiques at all. The steam emitted by the coffee machine would damage the life of the antiques. However, this was someone else's business. He didn't have to talk about it. He nodded and took the white gloves handed by Renault.
, walking towards the objects piled up in the basement.
The room they are in now is a relatively large one. The room is filled with various antique furniture. Of course, it is just foreign classical furniture with very bright colors. On top of the furniture, there are some small things.
.
Renault didn't seem to be very good at maintaining antiques. The things on the table were just randomly placed according to categories. There were clocks from the 17th and 18th centuries, swords and armor from the medieval century, and even some Chinese bronzes.
It's just that these objects, including the clocks, were basically covered in rust. Zhuang Rui shook his head when he looked at them. Although these things were real, the aura inside them was extremely weak, so it was obviously of little significance to collect them.
In fact, Zhuang Rui didn't know that these things were received by Renault's grandfather over the past few decades, and some people came to buy them for him. Renault once asked someone to appraise these things, but they were not of much value, and some of them were still valuable.
It's not as valuable as modern handicrafts. The reason why I didn't get rid of it was just to commemorate my grandfather.
Zhuang Rui just mentioned that he wanted to see something with a long history, so Renault brought Zhuang Rui over. In fact, he didn't have much hope in his heart.
"Buddha head?!"
Zhuang Rui looked around and was suddenly attracted by a head that was about the same size as a human head. He walked to the table and carefully picked up the Buddha's head, which had a broken head and an almost invisible face, with both hands.
.
This Buddha head has one ear missing. Except for the eye sockets, the bridge of the nose and the mouth, the entire face is very blurry. The reason why it is called a Buddha head is because there are bulges all over the head, and Zhuang Rui
The Buddha statues and sculptures seen in the temple are exactly the same.
It's just that the Buddha's head was damaged too much. It looked like it was knocked off one ear with a blunt instrument. Half of the ear was gone. Zhuang Rui felt very distressed when he saw it.
Zhuang Rui knew that many Buddha heads were stolen from ancient monuments by Western colonists. If the entire statue could not be removed, the Buddha heads or hands would be cut off. In many temples in China, the heads of many Buddha statues were made later.
Carved and placed.
These Buddha heads, along with other plundered works of art, were placed in the rooms of Western colonists or collectors as trophies. If this Buddha head had not been too damaged, I am afraid it would not have been left in this basement.
Renault has also opened a store for many years, and there are often some Chinese customers who are interested in these broken stones that have no artistic beauty in Renault's opinion. Now that he saw Zhuang Rui holding the stone statue, he stepped forward and asked: "
Mr. Zhuang, do you like this stone statue?"
Zhuang Rui nodded, but immediately shook his head and said: "This Buddha head is too broken. If it were intact, I would pay 100,000 euros to buy it, but... it's such a pity..."
Zhuang Rui was telling the truth. The Buddha's head was so damaged that its original color was gone. Even if he bought it himself, it wouldn't have much collection value.
"Oh, that's such a pity..."
Renault shrugged his shoulders. He was not sorry that the thing was broken, he was just sorry that the business could not be done.
"If you can find a complete sculpture like this elsewhere, I can buy it..."
Zhuang Rui said with some reluctance that these foreign robbers would really steal a lot of good things. Renault's house didn't have it, maybe someone else's house had it.
Renault shook his head and said: "Sir, such things are usually in museums. I don't know anyone who has them at home..."
"Then forget it……"
Zhuang Rui felt a little disappointed and continued to search for the objects in the basement. These objects all had a little bit of aura, and it was not easy for Zhuang Rui to distinguish them one by one.
"Huh? What is this?"
Zhuang Rui saw several rusty, palm-sized bronze vessels under the Buddha's head, and couldn't help but be stunned for a moment, because he just saw that one of those bronze vessels contained a strong purple spiritual energy.
Several pieces of iron-like objects overlapped each other, making it impossible for Zhuang Rui to tell which piece it was.
"Bronze mirror?!"
When Zhuang Rui separated the objects on the table, he also saw that these rusty objects were four bronze mirrors, but three of them were severely corroded, not to mention missing edges and corners.
At the magnification of the mirror surface, the characteristics of the bronze mirror are no longer visible at all.
There was only one piece, which was a bronze mirror that Zhuang Rui sensed was rich in aura. The surface of the mirror was quite smooth, but the round edges and back were also covered with patina. After rubbing it with his hands a few times, the powdery patina was scattered.
On the ground.
Because the rust was too thick, Zhuang Rui could not see what the pattern on the back was, so it was impossible to date this bronze mirror. However, judging from the aura content in it, Zhuang Rui knew that this object should not be simple. It was completely rusted.
Despite this, the spiritual energy has not been lost much.
"What...what is this?"
After fiddling with the bronze mirror for a while, Zhuang Rui accidentally turned the bronze mirror to the light, and a beam of light, which was not very bright, was reflected on the wall in front of Zhuang Rui.
