"There are so many ancient books piled together, how should I find them? Do I have to read them one by one?"
Looking at the pile of thread-bound books in front of him, Shen Yu was really confused.
Antique merchants have all kinds of temperaments. Some people have easy-going tempers, and it doesn't matter how you look at them. You can browse, take, and look at whatever you like.
And for some, if you read one of his ancient books, he will stare at you.
Because ancient books are easily damaged, I'm afraid that if you don't buy them after you've turned them over, they'll suffer losses.
"Is it possible to buy them all and go home and find that rare book from the Ming Dynasty? The cost will be huge." Thinking of this, Shen Yu couldn't help but frowned.
The stall in front of you is a typical miscellaneous stall, that is, it has everything, and the stall is very large, the total length is probably five meters.
At the end of the stall were several simple blue and white porcelain vases. The glaze color had faded, and the carcass was thick and rusty. Shen Yu did not dare to say that he relied solely on looking at the vases without using his hands and special treasure appraisal abilities. You can tell the age of these bottles at a glance.
Next to the porcelain vase, there are more than twenty cups, plates and small bowls neatly placed. Except for two or three that are relatively clean, the others are full of dirt and mud, and are also wrapped in a layer of gray dust.< /p>
Seeing this, Shen Yu knew that the owner of this stall was definitely a veteran in the antique shop.
These objects are all the kind of high-imitation porcelain that you can’t tell whether it’s good or bad as long as you don’t use it.
It is almost impossible to judge its age from its appearance alone. To date it, you have to start.
As long as you get started, whether you buy it or not, you can finally add some popularity to his stall, and the most important thing in antique trading is popularity.
In addition, this stall sells snuff bottles, purple clay pots, gold and silverware, ancient ink and inkstones, ancient mirrors and coins, copper stoves and wood carvings, pen holders and pen holders, famous stone seals from Shoushan, Qingtian, Changhua and other famous stones, as well as various old jadeite. Jewelry can be said to be everything you need. If you are not familiar with antiques, you will be dazzled in an instant.
The most common ones are ancient thread-bound books, probably hundreds of them.
Just when Shen Yu wanted to squat down and take a closer look, the stall owner who was sitting on a recliner reading martial arts novels suddenly spoke, "Little brother, do you want to buy ancient books?"
The stall owner is a middle-aged man who looks relatively young. This is Shen Yu's first impression of him.
Because at first glance, the stall owner looks like he is in his early thirties or younger than forty, but the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes and the gray hair on his head indicate that he is at least forty years old.
After hearing the stall owner's question, Shen Yu did not reply immediately. Experience told him that he must not let the other party see what he wanted to buy at this time.
Anyway, the other party’s stall has everything, so just open your eyes and tell lies.
Antique sellers are very discerning. As long as they think you are interested in something on his stall, then every item on his stall will be worth a high price if you ask him.
Even if you are asking about a garlic jar for pounding garlic, it is one that Cao Xueqin or Ji Xiaolan or even He Shen used in their kitchen. It is an absolute treasure.
Shen Yu raised his head and glanced at the other person, and then said in a calm tone: "No, just looking around."
"Just take a look? My friend, this is your fault." As the stall owner spoke, he threw the martial arts novel in his hand onto the wooden box next to him, and then slowly stood up.
When Shen Yu heard this, a cold light flashed in his eyes: "What's wrong? Are you setting up a stall to sell antiques and not letting people see it?"
The stall owner smiled casually: "Let me see, of course I will, but there are so many good things in my stall, how can you just look at them? If you want to see them, you have to look carefully.
"The day before yesterday, an old man bought a jade ring from my stall for 700 yuan. He then went to Wanbao Building and sold it for 15,000 yuan. The entire flea market knew about it.
"So, I am a seller who loves missing treasures so much. Now that you are here, you can't make sense if you don't pick up missing treasures and take them home."
Shen Yu also smiled: "It's common to find treasures when setting up stalls to sell things, but when you say that, I really have to take a closer look."
After saying that, Shen Yu squatted down and picked up an old bracelet that looked like ice jade from the stall to taste it.
As soon as Shen Yu got his hands on it, he knew it was a fake that was sold as jadeite.
Not to mention the rough texture of this bracelet, there are several scratches on the surface, and the weight is lighter than real jade.
Although it feels somewhat delicate like jade when held in the hand, it is still far inferior to real jadeite.
Water foam jade is what jade merchants often call water foam. It is an associated mineral of jade. Water foam jade, like jadeite, ranges from completely opaque to slightly transparent, then translucent to fully transparent like glass.
Because the two are very similar, it is difficult for experts who do not often play with jade to completely distinguish the difference between the two.
"What? Are you interested in old jade jewelry? My jade bracelet is an old item from the Guangxu period. It was originally a pair and was bought by a regular customer the day before yesterday. You have such good eyesight. You can see it at the first sight. The way out is here, I admire you, I admire you!"
The stall owner glanced at the slim Gu Qingqing next to Shen Yu, and instantly felt that Shen Yu was probably buying old jade jewelry for his girlfriend.
"It's okay, but I'm only interested in real antiques." Shen Yu didn't answer the question, but he also answered the stall owner's question, because he put the bracelet in his hand back to its original position.
"By the way, where is little brother from?"
"A native of Chuzhou, I studied in the provincial capital for several years."
"It turns out that he is a well-educated man. There are so many stalls in the miscellaneous area of the flea market, but this little brother just stopped and watched in front of my stall for a long time. What's the reason for this?"
"Reason?" Shen Yu didn't expect the stall owner to ask such a question, and he didn't react for a while.
This guy's eyes can't be so powerful, right? I don't even know what ancient book is emitting the precious light. Could he tell at a glance that I want to buy one of his ancient books?
The stall owner slapped his thigh: "What else could it be? It's fate! Since you and I are so destined, little brother, why don't you buy a good thing to accompany you?
"Just now, I saw that my little brother has beautiful features and a dignified appearance, so I knew he was an educated person. As expected, little brother, you have gone to college. In ancient times, you were at least a scholar.
"Brother, I have something here that suits your temperament. You will definitely like it after seeing it."
After another round of praise, the stall owner looked around, then ducked down from the wooden box under the stall and took out a thread-bound book in very good condition.
I saw him touching the cover lightly with his hand, with a hint of reluctance on his face.
When Shen Yu saw the stall owner acting so cautiously, a trace of doubt appeared on his face: "Boss, what is your book?"
The mysterious movements of the stall owner really made Shen Yu a little bit murmuring.
This guy piled up ancient books with azure light like scrap newspapers, indicating that he probably had many other ancient books in his hands.
Thinking of this, Shen Yu's heart moved.
Maybe the other party can really come up with a rare book that has been rigorously collated before the Qianlong reign of the Qing Dynasty and has no errors or omissions.
"Boss, what is your book???"
"Rare ancient books!" The stall owner looked at Shen Yu and spoke word by word.
"Hiss..." Shen Yu took a breath of hot air when he heard this. There was no cool air. It was so hot everywhere in this hot dog day that it made people feel nervous.
This is not surprising to Shen Yu, because every rare ancient book is very valuable and has special preservation value.
So what is a rare book?
Rare books are actually a term coined after engraving and printing became popular in the Song Dynasty.
Kindness actually means good.
To put it simply, a rare book is a good book with no typos.
But adding the word "ancient book" in front of "rare book" is more complicated.
Rare ancient books refer to ancient books that have been carefully engraved, printed, copied, revised, and annotated before the Qianlong reign of the Qing Dynasty.
From this point of view, there are requirements for the age to become a rare ancient book, at least it must be before Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty.
Rare books from the Ming Dynasty are extremely rare in the antique market now, and those from the Song Dynasty are almost impossible to find.
The rare ancient books of the Song Dynasty are also called "a page worth ten thousand gold", not one book but one page!
Some old collectors collect ancient books regardless of cost.
It just depends on whether you are true or not, no matter how much money you spend.
As long as it is a rare ancient book, no matter how much money you have, you have to buy it.