Treasure hunt begins in England

Chapter 717 Windfall
The overall feeling of Angkor Wat is that there is a hint of solemnity in the desolation. As an abandoned religious building, it is quite normal to give people this feeling.

Because Liang En and the others are not fanatics of Southeast Asian culture or Buddhist believers, they can roughly see it in just two days of ordinary travel.

After the trip, Liang En and the others returned to Siem Reap, the city where the plane landed before, a city with an "urbanization" color, which did not look very neat.

Although this city, which is more than 300 kilometers away from Phnom Penh, is the provincial capital, its actual population is only about 85000. Thanks to the fact that it is the gateway to the Angkor monuments, one of the seven wonders of the world, it has developed well in terms of tourism in the past century.

Among them, what attracted Liang En and the others most was Siem Reap Bar Street. As the filming location of "Tomb Raider" performed by Angelina Jolie, many people would specifically visit this place.

The Red Piano Bar in Bar Street was the place where Angelina Jolie dined when she was filming a movie in Siem Reap. It became very popular because she personally made a "Tomb Raider" cocktail.

Many people come here, and this cocktail has also been added to the bar's recommended menu. There is a "free drink with main course" activity every day from 5:7 pm to [-]:[-] pm.

If it is a multiple of 10, the customer of "Tomb Raider" can also be exempted. Fortunately, it is a multiple of 500, and you can get 100 US dollars and a T-shirt from the bar, which is very commemorative.

Liang En and Joan of Arc were very lucky and just got the free ticket event, and the luck was even better because it was five o'clock in the afternoon and it was still dark, so the place would not be as chaotic as it was at night.

Perhaps for many people, the lively bar street at night is the place they most want to visit, but for Liang En and Joan of Arc, this relatively quiet bar is the favorite place for those who come out to find something new.

However, because the number of tourists is not too many now, there are other local people in this house, including some local businessmen who want to sell their goods to the guests.
"Sir, ma'am, would you like to see my goods?" Just after Liang En and the others who were hiding in the corner were almost finished eating, a young child came to their table and asked.

In fact, there are many children in this city who make a living by selling all kinds of gadgets to tourists, but most of them just sell some small handicrafts, so after hearing what the other party said, Liang En subconsciously planned to decline.

But at this moment, Joan of Arc, who saw clearly what was in the opponent's hand, suddenly grabbed Liang En's arm and shook it lightly, then pointed to the object in the opponent's hand.

"What?" After being pointed at by Joan, Liang En quickly looked in the direction of the other's finger, only to find that the object in the other's hand was a strange-looking jewelry.

Or to be precise, although these jewelry at first glance seem to be a top jewelry of the imperial period, but after a closer look, you will find that there are always some incongruous places.

"Can I have a look?" Liang En gestured for the child to sit next to him, and then checked the brooch. As he had guessed before, it was indeed a patchwork item.

In the center of the entire brooch is a piece of gold decorated with a combination of blue glass and micro-mosaic mosaic patterns. The theme is the architectural remains of ancient Rome.Next to it are finely carved golden grape leaves and grapes.

As for the circle on the side, which also has grape leaves and clusters of grape patterns, it looks obviously wrong. Compared with the inlay in the middle, the edge of this circle is too rough, and the material is also silver-plated instead of pure. gold.

Carved golden grape leaves and grapes are relatively common decorations in European traditional jewelry, and have been a popular style in Europe since ancient Greece.

After modern times, this kind of ornamentation first began in the period of the First French Empire, that is, the Napoleonic period, and at the same time led the prelude to the subsequent Romantic style.

Gold in this type of jewelry renders the magnificent imperial power, and the delicate and thin metal carvings reveal the legacy of ancient Greece. Although there are no large gemstones inlaid, the fine mosaic micro-carvings make the artistic perception not inferior, and even have a Rococo legacy.

What's more, compared with those pure gemstones to display gorgeous jewelry, this kind of miniature mosaic has higher technical requirements, and only the top jewelry making masters can make it.

So if everything is normal, the consumers of this kind of mosaic jewelry should be royal nobles, and only those high-ranking nobles can afford these things.

"Hello, sir, can you tell me about the origin of this thing?" Liang En used his [Buddhism Research Master (SR)] card to chat with the young man in front of him in the Khmer language he had just learned.

"Sir, this thing is something inherited from my family." After hearing Liang En speak the local language, the young man was startled at first, and then his expression suddenly became more serious than before.

"My great-grandmother used to be a servant of a Frenchman, and went to Europe with those Frenchmen, and then returned to her hometown. Because he saved the family, the other party gave my great-grandmother a brooch. As a gift."

"I'll tell you the truth, the mosaic sculpture in the middle of your thing should be the original version, but the gold one around the outside has been replaced, so the price may not be too high." Liang En said to the boy in front of him specific situation.

"You know, this mosaic is at most an inlay of jewelry at that time, and the gold around the outside is also an important part of jewelry, so half a jewelry like this cannot be too high."

"Then how much can this thing sell for?" After hearing Liang En's words, the young man showed a discouraged expression, and then asked with a sigh.

“If you go to one of those big auctions and you happen to meet someone who likes the thing, you can probably get it for $1200, but you’re usually only going to get around $1000 in that case.”

"What about you, how much are you willing to give me?" After hearing Liang Gen's words, the young man's eyes lit up immediately and he looked at Liang En.

"If it was me, I would be willing to pay 750 dollars." Liang En picked up the gadget and put it in front of his eyes before saying. "I know, it's definitely not as good as the auction price, but it's a high price for the current situation."

"Of course, I understand. In fact, the price you asked is already very high." After hearing Liang Enyi's words, the young man gave a very bright smile. "The pawnshops would give me two hundred dollars at most."

Next, the two parties paid the money in one hand and delivered the goods in the other hand to complete the transaction.Because I knew it was not easy to swipe a card in this place before I came here, so they exchanged a lot of cash in Phnom Penh to deal with the current situation.

As for the reason why Liang En wanted to buy this gold mosaic, it was also very simple, because he thought it could be used in the jewelry he made himself.

After all, antique jewelry like this can also be used as an inlay in modern jewelry or as an interesting element, and this is a very popular practice in modern jewelry manufacturing.

(End of this chapter)