Miss Ye looked at me and said: "My third sister said on the phone that she knows where there is a bird statue that can be sold. It seems to have been unearthed the year before last."
"impossible!"
I stood up and said excitedly: "The Northern School has never produced Bird Zun in the past two years! Just tell me who the seller is!"
"Mr. Lai, what is the Northern School?"
Realizing that I had leaked something, I quickly interrupted: "Anyway, fake bird statues are everywhere, and some of the ones on display in museums are also fake, and this thing has been imitated since the Ming Dynasty, and there are many old imitations! Over there in Nanyang
There is a bronze village here that once made bird statues in batches."
Uncle Zheng said from the side: "Boss Ye, this is a very important matter. We must make sure that what we buy is genuine and we must not buy a fake."
After speaking, Uncle Zheng glanced at me secretly.
I know he misunderstood me. He probably thought I had this thing and wanted to sell it to Ye Meimei at a high price! After all, it was me who suggested using the bird statue to control Feng Shui. The fact is, I don’t have this thing in my hand.
.
Miss Ye thought for a moment and said, "Uncle Zheng is right, but my third sister said this matter has always been controversial."
I asked what exactly happened?
She explained: "This bird statue came out a few years ago. My third sister had some business dealings with the seller. She saw the real thing once, but she didn't dare to accept it that time. It is said that twenty experts looked at this thing, and the result was
Seventeen experts said it was not up to date, so my third sister did not dare to accept it."
"Do you have any photos of Bird Lord?" I asked with a frown.
She shook her head: "The seller is not allowed to take pictures, so the actual photos of the bird statue have not been leaked. Sir, can you still authenticate antiques?"
I said I know a little bit.
Just kidding, I have never convinced anyone about my eyesight. No matter which expert has evaluated it, I only trust my own eyes when I buy things. I even praise myself for my piercing eyes.
The result of the final discussion was that she allowed me to stay here for a day and ask the seller to deliver the things in person tomorrow night. Her third sister would also come over then and we would look at the real thing and study it.
I agreed to this.
The sun rose and set, and in the blink of an eye it was evening the next day.
I actually experienced the life of the upper class, where I could eat caviar, high-end red wine and so on.
At about 8:30 that night, Boss Ye's third sister Ye Xinyue came with the seller.
Along with Ye Xinyue came an old man who looked to be in his eighties. This old man had lost all his hair, his face was wrinkled, and his eyelids were always droopy.
Ye Xinyue is not as tall as Ye Manyue, but they are similar in appearance. The seller looks to be in his forties, and his name is Wang Jianping. He has an average appearance, and seems to be a second-rate dealer from the south.
After chatting with each other for a few minutes, Wang Jianping placed a large wooden box on the table.
He looked at the group of us and said: "Guys, I didn't want to come originally, but recently I'm in urgent need of a lot of money. I know the source of this thing very well. It can't be fake, let alone an old imitation."
! Definitely from the Shang Dynasty!"
Third sister Ye Xinyue smiled and said: "Boss Wang, don't be angry. It is precisely because of the controversy that we should be more careful. This time, my little sister wants to buy this thing from you, so I asked a Forbidden City expert to help me take a look.
.”
The third sister's implication was, "I don't want the things because there is a dispute about not opening the door. It was my sister who asked me to invite you here this time, and she also paid for it. I am just the middleman. The so-called expert from the Forbidden City is this 80-year-old man."
"
Dealer Wang Jianping nodded: "Anyway, the thing is here, you can take a look."
There was a brocade box inside the wooden box, and newspapers were wrapped inside the brocade box. They were well protected layer by layer. When the other party took out the bronze and put it on the table, I was stunned.
How come this happened?
This bird statue is about 30 centimeters high and made of bronze. The bird's head is made into a cover that can be removed. The whole body is black, as if it has been burned by smoke and fire.
A serious bird statue should be covered in gold and silver, with the bird's eyes inlaid with gems, but this one he picked up has even the eyeballs empty, and the tail seems to have been welded. In short, it's in very poor condition! And it's all over the body.
, there is no green rust unearthed from the pit. If it comes out of the soil, it cannot be without a little green rust. In short, it looks very awkward.
The old expert picked it up and looked at it for less than two minutes, then gently put it on the table.
Ye Xinyue immediately asked: "Teacher, what do you think?"
The old expert frowned and said: "The thing is already distorted and I don't dare to recognize it. I personally don't recommend buying it."
Upon hearing this, Wang Jianping immediately started collecting things.
"Wait!"
I frowned and asked him: "Did you fish this thing out of the water in the first place? And then it burned in the fire for a long time?"
The other party immediately gave me a thumbs up and said, "Brother, you are such a master!"
"This thing came out of a puddle in the first place! So it's rust-free! There was a fire at the house of the original owner after he got it last year, and the thing was burned into this horrible state."
I nodded.
This situation is called "distortion" in the industry. It means that external factors have caused a huge change in the appearance of an artifact, and an important basis for judging its authenticity has been lost, so no one dares to recognize it.
However, I am certain that this thing is a bronze bird statue made of gold and silver from the Shang Dynasty!
Just like a person, even if he is disfigured, he is still essentially a person! His soul is still there! I saw its soul!
I immediately said: "Xiaoyue, even if this thing is distorted, it is undoubtedly authentic! You dare to buy it! Anyway, you are not investing in it, you are buying it for your own use."
The old expert glanced at me, drooped his eyelids and said, "Young people are not simple. You dare to recognize things that I don't even dare to recognize easily, even if you don't even have your hands on it."
"Teacher, do you agree?" Ye Xinyue asked back.
The old man drooped his eyelids and nodded: "I just said it was distorted, but I didn't say it must be fake. This bird statue is indeed rare to see. There is only one similar to it in the Forbidden City."
Once the decision is made, let’s talk about the price.
The bird statue had been burned beyond recognition by the fire. After much negotiation, the final transaction price was very low. I was itching to cut off his beard and buy it for him! The price was only a little over one million!
If this thing could be repaired by a master like Uncle Liao, the price would easily go up several times.
After the business was completed, we all had a meal together. Third sister Ye Xinyue seemed to be very curious about what I did, and she kept talking to me intentionally or unintentionally.
After taking some time, I called Wang Jianping out and asked him where Bird Zun came from.
He secretly said to me: "Brother, you are not an ordinary person. I can only tell you that this bird statue came out of the Qiandao Lake."
I was shocked after hearing this! I pressed for details, but he refused to go into details.
I didn't give up easily and continued to pester and ask questions. I said that if I hadn't spoken for you, you wouldn't have been able to sell this thing!
He sighed and whispered: "Brother, there are many old houses and ancient buildings under the water of Qiandao Lake. Have you heard of it?"
I said I knew some rumors.
He said: "A few decades ago, Qiandao Lake was relocated, and more than 300,000 people were moved away. Many old houses were submerged underwater. At that time, there was a village called Jia Village. There was a big landowner named Jia in the village. This
Landlord Jia is a big collector and has many things. His ancestral home is called Jia Mansion.
"When the flood came down, the Jia landowner refused to leave. Later, he sank to the bottom of the lake together with his Jia family. This bird statue was one of the collections of the Jia family at that time."
"As long as you know this, don't talk about it to others."
I said that during the great migration, how could there be anyone left? Is this impossible?
You should know that in 1959, in order to build the Xin'an River Hydropower Station, old Chun'an County and other places including Hecheng and Shicheng were flooded, and the current Qiandao Lake was formed.
Looking at the data from that year, we can know that the flooded areas at that time included 2 counties, 8 towns, 39 townships, and 1,377 villages. Hundreds of thousands of acres of cropland were flooded. According to preliminary statistics, more than 300,000 people left their homes and went to Zhejiang and Fujian.
, Anhui and other places to rebuild their homes.
These people were called "immigrants" after they passed there, with the surnames Wang, Yu and Xu being the most common.
Wang Jianping chuckled and said: "How is it impossible? The government just doesn't allow retribution. Some stubborn people left and then secretly went back, and some simply refused to leave. Anyway, there are many dead people in those old houses at the bottom of the lake.
Of course there will also be some antiques from the past.”
He stamped out his cigarette butts and said, "Isn't Qiandao Lake famous for its fish heads?"
I nodded: "Famous, I've eaten it once."
He grinned: "Have you ever eaten it? Anyway, I never dare to eat it. The big fish in Qiandao Lake eat a lot of human flesh, so they are so fat."
