There were not many Chinese in Ljubljanas, so in order to sell isinglass, he took a plane to Milan, where the oldest Chinese community in Italy is located, and then went straight to the local Chinatown via Paolo Sarpi.
Unlike most Chinatowns, the Chinatown here looks very fashionable. Because of the renovation ten years ago, the local wholesale trade industry gradually moved away, and retail stores, restaurants, snack bars and bars became the mainstream business forms.
The target Liang En is looking for is also on this street. He studied archeology at the University of Leicester, and during the three years he studied archeology in the UK, he happened to meet an Italian overseas Chinese whose family ran an antique shop here.
.
Liang En walked into Wanquanzhai on this street with a clear bell ringing. As soon as he entered the door, he saw a young man raising his head from behind the counter to greet him.
"Ha, Daliang, I didn't expect that we would meet again so soon after graduation. I heard that you seem to be the head of a large multinational company in Slovenia next door-"
"Pengzi, please stop making fun of me. Who are you in charge of? I was laid off as soon as I got here." Liang En put the wooden box in his hand on the table angrily. "Fortunately, nowadays, you can also eat through contemporary shopping.
meal."
The somewhat skinny young man in front of him is called Liu Peng. He was Liang En's classmate and roommate when he was studying abroad. He is also an overseas Chinese who grew up in Italy.
After graduation, Liu Peng returned to Italy and helped his father run his family's antique shop. This is why Liang En thought of him as soon as he got the isinglass.
"Your mentality is so good. If I were you, I would definitely not be as optimistic as you are - by the way, you said before that you got some good things and wanted to sell them to me?"
"That's right, I recently collected two 40-year-old white fish maws. You know there is no way to sell these things in Slovenia, so I came to you."
As Liang En spoke, he opened the box in front of him and revealed the light white isinglass at the bottom of the box that had become light due to long-term air drying.
"Hiss—brother, to be honest, I have to ask the old man in the store to take a look at this thing of yours. My level is not good enough."
After picking up a piece of isinglass and putting it in front of his eyes, he looked at it. His originally nonchalant expression gradually turned serious. Finally, he grabbed a walkie-talkie and shouted a few words before saying apologetically to Liang En.
"I thought you were deceived before. After all, there are so few old isinglass these days. Most of them are pig skins, rabbit ears, and even things made of old isinglass fragments?"
Just as Liu Peng was talking, an old man with a beard came down from upstairs.
"Xiao Liu, I heard that someone came to the door with old white fish maw."
"Yes, this is my best classmate in college." Liu Peng stepped aside and asked the old man to sit at the counter, and then said. "He has recently gotten these good things. I would like to ask Teacher Wu to help him palm his eyes."
."
"Oh, let me see, there are not many things you can eat in this place that you are not sure about." The old man, known as Teacher Wu, picked up a magnifying glass and carefully examined the isinglass under the light.
"But then again, this kind of thing is not very common in Europe. After all, only we Chinese eat this stuff - do you know anything about isinglass?"
"I only know that this thing is a dried product of fish maw. Because of the colloid, it is called isinglass, also known as fish maw and fish maw. Isinglass is as famous as bird's nest and shark's fin. It is one of the "Eight Treasures" and is also called the ocean.
Ginseng, I heard is a great tonic."
Liang En thought for a moment and then recited what he had found on his cell phone in the car before coming here.
"It's very comprehensive, but if that's all it is, it's at best a precious ingredient." Since the current observation is very good, Teacher Wu is also in the mood to use a magnifying glass to observe the isinglass on his hand little by little while popularizing science.
"What really increases the value of this thing is its medicinal value. From a nourishing point of view, this thing can replenish qi and blood. For example, isinglass from Chaoshan is one of the supplements that women must take during confinement. It can prevent things from falling during confinement.
disease."
"But what's more valuable is that in traditional Chinese medicine, this kind of thing is considered to be able to stop heavy bleeding. It has miraculous effects on whether it's internal bleeding in the elderly or hemorrhage in pregnant women. Therefore, many wealthy people will choose to buy a few of them as a gift before getting married.
My daughter’s dowry is at the bottom of the box.”
"Of course, there are different grades of isinglass. For example, cod fish maw, which is not recognized by professionals, is affordable to ordinary people, while yellow fish maw and Beihai gum are more expensive."
"As for the white fish maw you brought today, although it is not as good as the yellow lip fish maw, it is still a treasure, especially this kind of top-grade fish maw made by professionals using ancient methods, with a complete appearance, and has been naturally aged for more than 40 years.
."
"And apart from the fact that it has been smoked once on the surface, this thing is completely natural, unlike some people who use chemical raw materials to soak new fish maws like old fish maws, which is a waste of money and life."
"Teacher Wu, are you saying this is made by professionals using the ancient method?" Liu Peng looked at the isinglass in the box and scratched his hair, because he couldn't see where the so-called ancient method was reflected.
"Yes, that's right." Teacher Wu put down the magnifying glass in his hand and said. "So I say this is a rare good thing, because not many people could master this ancient technique 40 years ago, and the new generation
Craftsmen have not yet been cultivated.”
"Most of the 40-year-old isinglass left today was made by the fishermen themselves, so the final product is naturally somewhat unsatisfactory."
"So Mr. Liang, we have accepted your goods. If you are willing to sell both of them together, I am willing to pay 70,000 euros."
This price was indeed a bit beyond Liang En's expectation, because he didn't expect that two small items could be sold for such a high price.
He did check the price online before coming here, but there was nothing over 30,000 euros.
Seeing that Liang En was hesitant, Teacher Wu immediately added an explanation.
"Because you are Xiao Liu's friend, I will tell you the truth. This thing of yours is indeed very good, especially the previous processing and preservation are unprecedented."
"But if you sell it, you can sell it for up to 50,000 euros. Because this kind of thing is too niche, it is not easy to find customers."
"I am willing to pay a high price because I happen to have such a customer who needs it urgently. If it were someone else, he might not be willing to pay this price."
"Well - can your price be higher?" Liang En thought for a while and said.
"Teacher Wu, there is nothing wrong with your previous analysis, but this product belongs to the top grade of white fish maw. I believe there are not many better white fish maws in China, and people who are willing to spend money to buy this will understand this."
a little."
"Let me think about it - how much do you think is appropriate?"
"Let's put it together, I want 100,000 euros, because I checked online before and found that the auction price of two isinglasses slightly worse than this one in Xiangjiang was 120,000 euros."
The buyer bid 70,000, and the seller asked for 100,000. The huge gap quickly caused the two parties to argue.
Fortunately, both parties planned to facilitate the deal, so half an hour later, the deal was settled at a compromise price of 85,000 euros.
"If you have similar items in the future, you can come to us. We will definitely give you a fair price."
After the two parties signed the contract and completed the transfer of money, the elderly man known as Teacher Wu handed Liang En a business card.
"If your stuff is better, just make this call and we will send someone over to hand it over to you, which will save you from running around like this in the future."