After coming out of Taiyi Pavilion, there was already a piece of precious dark wood wrapped in a thick old newspaper in the big wooden box fastened to the back seat of Liu Dong's bicycle.
It was almost ten o'clock in the morning, and the street, which had been a little deserted when he arrived, had already become bustling with life. The stalls on both sides of the street were filled with jade, copper, coins, wood, porcelain, and bamboo.
Wooden tooth carvings, calligraphy and paintings, short-format books, old newspapers, etc., as long as you can think of old things, they are sold here.
In the past, when he came to the antique city, he would always look around at these antique stalls with great interest. Although he only wanted to see and buy, he gained a lot of knowledge, which was also very helpful to the improvement of his carving skills.
After all, now his carvings are almost all done by himself from the initial selection of materials and design to the final polishing. It is not like those in jewelry shops or workshops nowadays, where in order to improve efficiency, every step of the jade or wood carving has been done.
Each process is broken down, and each has a dedicated person responsible for designing or carving. The whole process is like a modern industrial assembly line. However, this also stifles the creativity of jade carvers and makes most jade carving practitioners become
There have become craftsmen who only engage in carving, and there are fewer and fewer truly skilled jade carving masters. This has caused a certain harm to the entire jade carving industry.
Of course, these are not what Liu Dong should care about. What he wants to do most now is to go home quickly and carve out the precious wood of this gloomy wood. Therefore, Liu Dong, with such an urgent mood, naturally stopped shopping.
The mood of the street. Moreover, the piece of material in the box on the back seat of the bicycle is too precious to him. If it is lost in this antique city where dragons and snakes are mixed, although Uncle Long will not say anything,
But I'm afraid he won't forgive himself easily.
"Brother, I have some old things here. Do you want to take a look?" Just when Liu Dong was pushing the cart through the dense flow of people and arriving at the entrance of the antique city to get on the car and go home, someone unexpectedly came from behind.
He tugged at his sleeves.
"Is it me you're calling?"
Liu Dong stopped, turned around, and looked at the person holding him inexplicably.
Appearing in front of him was a young man, probably in his twenties, about the same age as him. He was thin and frail, and it looked like there was not much flesh at all except bones. His eyes were a bit small, and he squinted when he smiled.
The seam is almost invisible. On his feet, he wears a pair of old-fashioned sandals with closed toes. The pants on his legs are wrinkled and stained with black and yellow stains, as if they have not been washed for a long time. The red waistcoat on his upper body
It was also a bit shabby, and with the snakeskin bag on my back, my whole body looked rustic from the inside out.
"Yes, brother! Seeing as you are visiting the antique city today, you must be an expert. I have some things here that I wonder if you are interested in?" The thin man patted the snakeskin pocket behind him and said with a flattering smile.
"If you're not interested, you should find someone else!"
Having been around the antique city for three years, he has seen many people like this. In the antique shop, these people are called "followers", who specialize in making fake antiques to deceive tourists, and they are the most ruthless in killing people. However,
Generally speaking, these people are veterans in the antique city, and they are basically a gang behind them, with a bit of a gangster character. Although Liu Dong is not afraid, he does not want to provoke these people.
"Brother, no! You didn't even look at it, how do you know you don't like it!" The thin man was obviously not someone who gave up easily. When Liu Dong just turned around and was about to leave, he quickly stepped forward and blocked the front of Liu Dong's car.
in front of him, and his left hand like a bird's claw grabbed the handlebar of Liu Dong's bicycle.
Seeing him like this, Liu Dong's face immediately turned cold, and his eyes became sharp. He had been fisting for many years, so he naturally had an awe-inspiring aura of majesty about him.
Obviously, the thin young man is also a discerning master. When he saw Liu Dong's height of nearly 1.8 meters and his strong body, he knew that although the person in front of him was young, he was probably not easy to mess with, so he quickly let go.
With his left hand, the flattering smile on his face became even better, "Brother, don't be angry yet. I was in a hurry just now. You should take a look at things first before talking!"
As he said that, he took off the snakeskin bag from his back, placed it gently at his feet, and then opened the knot on it.
Out of curiosity, Liu Dong couldn't help but take a look, but there were indeed a lot of things inside, including ceramics, bronzes, jade, and even a very worn-looking calligraphy and painting scroll. However, these things all had one characteristic, that is, they were
Covered with mud, they look dirty and old! Even with his shallow appraisal, he can tell that these so-called old things are basically fake and shoddy modern goods, especially the rough workmanship. They are called works of art.
, I’m afraid I have to weigh it a few times to see if it’s qualified.
However, these had nothing to do with him. Originally, Liu Dong was prepared to take one look and leave, but what he didn't expect was that he actually found something that interested him in this snakeskin bag.
"There are some interesting things, let's go and chat!" There were too many people at the entrance of the Antique City. In just a short while, there were already many people watching the excitement standing around them. Obviously this was not a good place to discuss business.
"Hey, good to come." Hearing his words, the thin young man was overjoyed and couldn't help but happily agreed with a smile on his face.
In his opinion, as long as Liu Dong agreed to let him see things, then today's business would basically be gone. Thinking that he would have money in his pocket soon, the thin young man was naturally very willing.
"Okay, that's it. It's cooler here!" Liu Dong stopped the car under the willow tree outside the entrance of the antique city.
"Brother, what do you like?"
"I want this, give me an honest price!" As he said that, Liu Dong took out a small and exquisite tower with a height of only about ten centimeters from the snakeskin bag in the young man's hand. The tower was divided into three floors and was in the shape of an octagon.
, the top of the tower is like a black monk's hat, and the texture of the raised cornices is also very clear.
After wiping away the mud on the tower body, Liu Dong could clearly see the black painted tower body underneath. However, the pattern carved on it using the intaglio technique was covered up by the mud, and the size was too small, so Liu Dong did not notice it.
He could tell what was engraved on it. In addition, based on the touch of his hands and his own wood carving experience, he was sure that the material used for this small wood carving tower was the same as the one in the box in the back seat of his car, which was made of golden nanmu.
of carbonized wood.
Seeing Liu Dong constantly looking at the small octagonal tower in his hand, the light in the thin young man's small eyes flashed away, and then he said with a generous expression: "Brother has really good eyesight. I just collected this object yesterday."
The material that came up is serious small-leaf red sandalwood. I asked shopkeeper Li from Chenxiang Pavilion to make an appraisal. It is a serious old material from the Wanli Dynasty of the Ming Dynasty! I won’t ask you for more. I’ll give you a round sum of five thousand yuan.
Walk."
After listening to his words, Liu Dong couldn't help but shake his head. He knew that Chenxiang Pavilion was a well-known antique shop in Quancheng Antique Shop. The shopkeeper Li Renfang inherited his father's business and had excellent appraisal skills. He rarely caught his eye.
Generally, when people in the industry have items in their hands that need to be dated or appraised, they will turn to him.
However, Liu Dong did not believe that this thing had really gone to Chenxiang Pavilion for appraisal. Otherwise, with his eyesight, this thing would not have been gathering dust in this dirty and worn snakeskin bag and was discovered by him.
"Five thousand yuan? Then you'd better keep it for yourself!" Liu Dong turned around and prepared to push the cart away. Liu Dong, who has been here for three years, is naturally interested in the antique city.
The matter is clear. Although I know in my heart that this small tower carved from gloomy wood is far more than 5,000 yuan, I can't agree too happily. Otherwise, if the guy in front of me sees the clues, will it be 5,000 yuan by then?
But I can't say for sure.
"Brother, brother, don't leave in a hurry. If it doesn't work, then you can make a price!" the young man said with a look of urgency on his face.
After listening to his words, Liu Dong couldn't help but reveal a smile on his face, but it quickly disappeared after turning around.
There is a saying that 'ask for high prices and pay back when you get there'. He didn't really want to leave just now, he was just making a gesture. Now that he has achieved his goal, he naturally wants to borrow the donkey.
"If you want it, it's only fifty yuan. If it's more, I won't take it!"
"Fifty?" After hearing this, the young man was a little dumbfounded, and then he smiled bitterly and said: "Brother, you are killing too hard. When I collected this thing, it was more than fifty! You should try again
Please add more, otherwise we really won’t be able to close this deal!”
Looking at his face, Liu Dong knew that the price was indeed a bit low. After pretending to ponder for a moment, he said with a pained expression: "Then I will add another fifty or one hundred yuan to you. If you don't sell it again,