In the early morning, a taxi stopped at the door of a pawn shop called Daxing Pawn with the sound of braking. As soon as the car stopped, a young man wearing ordinary clothes but looking very sunny and handsome walked out of the car.
Come down.
As he walked, the young man with a look of joy on his face was still thinking in his heart, "Okay, okay, it's still almost a minute before I get to work. I will definitely not be late this time."
The young man's name is Xue Chen. He has just graduated from the Archeology Department of Haicheng University and is an apprentice in the pawn shop in front of him.
This time, I got up a little late because I stayed up all night to learn about antique appraisal. In order to avoid being late, I reluctantly took a taxi here.
After all, although taking a taxi costs NT$20, if you are late, you will lose your perfect attendance bonus worth NT$200.
And two hundred yuan is a huge sum of money for Xue Chen, a poor boy who has just graduated and can't even pay next month's rent.
Thinking that this sum of money that was very important to him had been kept, Xue Chen finally relaxed his worries in the car and walked into the pawn shop with brisk steps.
But just as he was about to step into the store door, a voice suddenly came from the other end of the street, accompanied by a burst of chaotic footsteps.
Xue Chen subconsciously looked in the direction of the sound, and saw five or six muscular men in suits, chasing a young man in sportswear.
The young man was running very fast, and he was running in his direction, and was about to hit him.
Xue Chen didn't have time to think about this emergency situation and wanted to hide in the store to escape.
But the boy was running too fast, and before Xue Chen could make a move, he was hit head-on.
Moreover, the force of the impact was so strong that Xue Chen stumbled back two or three steps before he regained his balance.
"Damn, you can't walk without eyes!"
After standing firm, Xue Chen rubbed his sore shoulders and shouted to the young man's back who was about to disappear around the corner.
But as soon as he finished speaking, an anxious look appeared on his face, "No, I'm going to be late!"
With this thought in his mind, he quickly walked into the store without caring about anything else, then walked to the clock card machine in three steps and pressed his finger on it.
And when he saw the time on the machine clearly, his face suddenly turned ugly. He was four seconds late just because he was bumped at the door of the store. He shouldn't be late, but he was still four seconds late!
"This is too much!"
Standing blankly in front of the clock card machine, Xue Chen's heart ran through tens of thousands of grass and mud horses.
"Young people should go to bed early and get up early, and then come to work early. Look at how late you are every time. It's not worth it."
Just when Xue Chen was holding back his anger and didn't know how to vent it, a voice suddenly came from the direction of the counter.
Xue Chen looked in the direction where the sound came from, and saw Huang Pinqing, the appraiser in their store, looking at him with a leisurely expression. The gloating in his eyes could be seen at a glance.
"I don't know very well whether young people should go to bed early and get up early, but I do know that generally older people go to bed early and get up early, and their lives are rigid and lifeless."
Seeing that the old guy Huang Pinqing was actually watching his own joke, Xue Chen, who was in a bad mood, replied rudely, and then without giving Huang Pinqing a chance to scold him, he walked directly to the storage room in the back room, ready to change it.
After putting on clothes, I started today’s work.
"you……"
Seeing that Xue Chen dared to contradict him, Huang Pinqing, who was in his fifties, suddenly felt anger on his face. However, before he could say anything, Xue Chen had already closed the door of the storage room, leaving him to say nothing.
I was holding it in my stomach.
"Old guy, it's fine if you don't like me normally, but if you mess with me now, you really think I have no temper."
In the storage room, Xue Chen said in his heart while changing his clothes.
That Huang Pinqing always disliked him because he came to work here instead of his nephew, and he was always looking for trouble.
According to Xue Chen's temperament, if it weren't for the fact that Huang Pinqing was his immediate boss, he wouldn't have just refuted a sentence.
"Huh? What is this?"
Just when Xue Chen was changing his clothes and cursing Huang Pinqing in his heart, he suddenly discovered that there was an ancient black jade that was half a palm in size on his body.
There are many incomprehensible ancient runes outlined on this jade stone. If you look closely, you will find it has a dazzling feeling.
Not sure if it was an illusion, but after Xue Chen stared at this thing twice, he felt that it was emitting a dark black light.
"Did that guy throw this on me on purpose?"
A strange look flashed in his eyes, Xue Chen thought in his heart. Apart from this explanation, he could not think of a more suitable reason.
Although he was somewhat curious about the ancient jade, Xue Chen did not waste too much time on it. After casually putting it into his pocket, he took a set of cleaning tools and walked out of the storage room.
He contradicted Huang Pinqing just now. If he doesn't act more quickly now, he will definitely get into trouble.
Seeing Xue Chen come out of the room, Huang Pinqing gave him a gloomy look and let out a cold snort.
Xue Chen had long been accustomed to Huang Pinqing's attitude. After casually looking in his direction, he was ready to go to work, but his eyes had just glanced over a purple clay pot that Huang Pinqing was holding.
, a flicker of doubt flashed in his eyes.
Because he suddenly felt that the purple clay pot in front of him looked a little different from when he saw it yesterday.
Not only can it feed back some intuitive image information to him, but it also gives him a very comfortable feeling. Although this feeling is weak, it is real.
"Did you feel a little dizzy after being hit?"
Shaking his head in confusion, Xue Chen looked away and began his daily work of wiping antiques.
The first thing he picked up was a celadon paperweight. Although the label next to the paperweight said that it was an official kiln porcelain from the Ming Dynasty, he knew very well after working in a pawn shop for about half a year that this looked a bit...
The old thing is actually a replica that was made less than three years ago.
Even though he knew it was a fake, Xue Chen still concentrated on wiping it. Doing everything carefully was his life principle.
Just when he was staring at the blue and white pattern on the paperweight seriously, another change occurred.
Xue Chen only felt that the paperweight in his hand flashed a blue and purple light from top to bottom at an extremely fast speed. In this light, there were many symbols that he did not recognize looming.
The light existed for a very short time, so short that Xue Chen even felt that he was dazzled. But at this moment, a piece of information appeared in his mind without any warning.
"The imitation Ming Dynasty official kiln celadon paperweight, glaze color, texture, feel and firing process are far from the real thing, especially the seal at the bottom does not conform to the seal format fired by the official kiln. The identification result is that it is an inferior imitation less than three years old.
.”
"What...what's going on?"
Xue Chen was stunned, he really couldn't understand what happened to him.
"Could it be...that piece of ancient jade!"
In confusion, Xue Chen suddenly thought of the mysterious-looking ancient jade he had just obtained this morning.
Thinking like this, he quickly took out the piece of ancient jade from his pocket, looked at it, and saw a blue-purple light flashing on the ancient jade.
"That's true!"
The moment he saw the light, Xue Chen roared in his heart, and then he couldn't wait to pick up an ancient fan that he knew was genuine, and watched it with concentration.
"During the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty, the Yangzhou paper fan was made of fine materials and fine workmanship. The paintings on the fan were made by masters of calligraphy and painting at that time, but the fan itself was slightly damaged, which had a negative impact on its value."
Just when Xue Chen put all his thoughts on the ancient fan, as the blue-violet light with data flashed, another piece of identification information clearly appeared in his mind.
In addition, he could also clearly feel the comfortable aura emanating from the fan.
The successive occurrences of strange phenomena convinced Xue Chen that the piece of ancient jade he obtained by accident had the function of identifying antiques.
Moreover, when encountering genuine antiques, they will resonate with the antiques themselves and give him a very comfortable feeling.
"I must not let anyone know that I have such an ancient jade."
Xue Chen glanced at Huang Pinqing in front of the counter. Seeing that the other person was not paying attention to him, he immediately quietly put the ancient jade back into his pocket.
At the same time, a strong sense of surprise also emerged from the bottom of his heart and quickly spread throughout his body.
As a practitioner in the antiques industry, he knows very well how his life will change with this piece of ancient jade.
He can be sure that he will never feel sad about the perfect attendance award of 200 yuan in the future, and he will no longer have to look at the eyes of a third-rate appraiser like Huang Pinqing.
"After get off work, I will go shopping in Haicheng's antique street. With this piece of ancient jade, I should be able to find one or two genuine pieces at a low price. Then I can resell them to experts, so I don't have to worry about money anymore. "As he thought, Xue Chen's lips unconsciously raised a smile.
"Sir, do you want to buy something or sell something?"
Just when Xue Chen was thinking a lot, Huang Pinqing's voice sounded again.
A middle-aged man wearing trousers, a shirt, and gold-rimmed glasses walked into the store.
"This is a snuff bottle passed down from my ancestors. It has a history of at least two hundred years. Let me see how much you can get for it?"
As the middle-aged man spoke, he took out a wooden box from his briefcase and placed it on the counter.
Seeing the business, Huang Pinqing immediately cheered up. After carefully opening the box, he picked up the snuff bottle inside the box with his right hand, and picked up the magnifying glass hanging on his chest with his left hand, and began to observe it carefully.
About two minutes later, he raised his head and looked at the middle-aged man and said: "This snuff bottle of yours is indeed an antique, but it was only used by rich families in the late Qing Dynasty, not for official use. Moreover, the pattern on it is a bit ordinary.
.
Fortunately, you have preserved it quite carefully, and there are no signs of damage inside or outside the pot. According to the current market situation, I will accept it for 50,000 yuan, what do you think?"
"Master, this snuff bottle of mine is indeed not made by the government, but it is not as ordinary as you said.
Even modern snuff bottles, well-made ones, can be sold for tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands. Mine is an item from the Qing Dynasty after all, so it probably costs more than 50,000." A look appeared on the middle-aged man's face.
A look of dissatisfaction.
"Oh, you said it yourself, those snuff bottles that can sell for tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands are all well-made, but yours is really a bit ordinary.
Let's do this, I'll offer another ten thousand at most. If you think it's okay, then we'll make a deal." Huang Pinqing rolled his small eyes and said as if he was reluctant to raise the price.
"this……"
The middle-aged man looked hesitant, but as his eyelids trembled slightly, an imperceptible and cunning look quickly flashed across his eyes.
Just when he was about to speak, a voice suddenly sounded, "Mr. Huang, would you like to take another look at this snuff bottle?"
The person who spoke was none other than Xue Chen. At this moment, he had already walked to the counter.
"Look again? What do you mean by this? Are you questioning my ability?" Upon hearing Xue Chen's words, Huang Pinqing's eyes suddenly darkened, with a look of displeasure on his face.
"I just feel that this snuff bottle is not worth 60,000 yuan." Xue Chen said in a deep voice. (To be continued)