Antique Dealer

Chapter 137 Digging a Pit
Seeing Fang Hao observing with a magnifying glass, Xu Qi pouted inwardly with some disdain.

Generally speaking, in the antique shop, those who go to the market, pretend to open one eye and close one eye with a high-power magnifying glass for a while, think that they are elementary school students. Get started very quickly within a short period of time, immediately negotiate the price and leave. When the buyer wakes up and knows that the price is low, his people will have gone far.

This kind of statement is not wrong, because whether an antique is right or not, the first thing to look at is the shape, patina, material, etc. As long as there is no problem with these, it is basically the same.

Of course, Fang Hao can also see that the walnuts have no problems with patina, etc., but he is sure to be careful, and he doesn't care what others think of him. Could it be possible that he will suffer losses for others' opinions?
Seeing Fang Hao put the walnuts back into the box, Zhao Hulu smiled and said, "Young Master Fang, you must be satisfied with this pair of walnuts, right?"

Fang Hao took a sip of tea, and said with a smile: "Boss Zhao, what you said before should count, right?"

"What..." Zhao Hulu didn't react at first, and after a while, his eyes widened: "You said there is a problem with walnuts?"

"Fart!" Xu Qi scolded: "If these are not old walnuts from the Qing Dynasty, I will eat them now!"

Fang Hao chuckled: "I didn't say it wasn't an old walnut!"

This sentence confuses everyone. Since the thing is right, what is Fang Hao's intention in saying that sentence just now?

"Can you be more happy!" Xu Qi's temper seemed a little irritable.

Fang Hao looked at Xu Qi: "If I'm not mistaken, this pair of walnuts should have been soaked in water!"

"Soaked in water?!" Both Xu Qi and Zhao Hulu were taken aback.

Walnuts will definitely crack when they enter water. Walnuts are nuts and are very hard. Therefore, when walnuts enter water, most of them appear to be cracked. Moreover, walnuts are woody and have air valves on the outside. If walnuts enter water, the inside will become wet and swell. .

After the surface of the walnut is in contact with water, there will be a shrinkage process that cannot be observed by the naked eye during the process of changing from wet to dry. The most important thing is that the shrinkage speed of the walnut inside and outside is different after entering the water, which will inevitably lead to cracking.Softwoods have large fiber voids, so they are not easy to crack but are easy to deform when encountering the above-mentioned conditions, while hardwoods have small fiber voids, and are not easy to deform and crack easily when encountering the above-mentioned conditions.

In any case, once Wenwan walnuts are seriously flooded, it means a death sentence.

"Look!" Fang Hao put the magnifying glass on the table.

After these two Wenwan walnuts entered the water, they should have undergone emergency treatment, and it should not have been long since the water entered, so it doesn't look obvious on the surface.If Fang Hao hadn't been more careful and observed with a magnifying glass, he would never have thought that this pair of walnuts would have been soaked in water.

After Zhao Hulu saw it, he was a little embarrassed, and coughed lightly: "Young Master Fang, I believe monkeys would not let walnuts into the water on purpose."

Fang Hao believed that Xu Qi would not do such a stupid thing, but he didn't know whether Xu Qi received this pair of walnuts by eye.

"It's not like I'm out of my mind!" Xu Qi gave him a blank look, and then Fang Hao said: "Walnuts have indeed been soaked in water, there is nothing to say. Now I only have a few pairs of ordinary goods in my hand. Would you like to show them to you?" look?"

Fang Hao said, "Then let's have a look."

Just as Xu Qi walked a few steps, she turned around and said, "I have a Qianlong copper bottle inlaid with hundreds of treasures and auspicious gourd bottles in my hand. Would you like to have a look?"

According to literature records, the Baibao inlay technique appeared in the Ming Dynasty. It is based on the mother-of-pearl inlay technique, adding gems, ivory, coral, jade and other materials to form the inlay technique. The change of the angle emits a variety of brilliance, which mainly appears on Chinese classical furniture and arts and crafts, and the made treasure inlays are only enjoyed by the powerful.

After entering the Qing Dynasty, Baibao inlay developed into one of the important inlay techniques for furniture production.During the Qianlong period, the art of inlaying hundreds of treasures was very popular, and the inlaid objects were colorful and difficult to describe, but usually the inlaying of hundreds of treasures was mostly used on lacquerware, and there were many hardwood furniture, while gilt copper inlaid with hundreds of treasures was very rare. .

Therefore, Fang Hao became interested as soon as he heard it, and nodded in agreement.

Xu Qi said: "Let's make an agreement. The gourd bottle is no less than 100 million. If you think you can afford it, I'll go home and get it."

Of course Fang Hao said no problem.

Xu Qi went to get the walnuts first, and let Fang Hao watch first, and he hurried out the door.

When Xu Qi left, Zhao Hulu clicked his tongue: "Young Master Fang is really lucky. I have been thinking about that gourd bottle for a long time, and the monkey will not sell it to me. I guess I am embarrassed this time, so I will make it up to you!"

Fang Hao smiled and said nothing, don't get cheap and act like a good boy.

What Fang Hao didn't expect was that this antique shop, which seemed to have a bleak business, turned out to be doing well. While waiting for Xu Qi to come back, several customers came one after another, all of whom came to look for Xu Qi. With his busy work, he also reached two deals.

"It seems that I still know little!"

Just as Fang Hao was feeling emotional, another middle-aged man in a suit and leather shoes walked over, looking for the store, "Is the monkey here?"

Zhao Hulu was looking down at the phone, when he heard the voice, he looked back, a little surprised, immediately got up and said: "Boss De!"

Boss De saw that it was Zhao Hulu: "Zhao Hulu, why are you so busy here?"

"Come here with two friends." Zhao Hulu smiled: "Monkey goes back to get something, what can you do with him?"

Boss De said: "I have something to discuss with him. When will he come back?"

Zhao Hulu looked at his phone: "I guess it will take less than 10 minutes."

Boss De also looked at the time: "Then I'll wait for him for a while."

Zhao Hulu invited Boss De to sit down and made him a cup of tea.

After Boss De sat down, he nodded to Fang Hao and the others, and then took out his mobile phone to browse.

Fang Hao also nodded to Boss De. When Boss De lowered his head, he noticed Qian Min winking at him and sent him a message.

"Be careful later!"

Fang Hao didn't understand where Qian Min came to this conclusion for a while, but he still chose to believe in Qian Min's judgment.

If there is a problem, it must be on the gourd bottle that Xu Qi is going to get now. Could it be that Xu Qi is planning to use a high-quality fake to fool him, that would be too underestimating of him!

So other than that, where else is there waiting for him to dance?
After thinking about it, Fang Hao didn't have any clues in his mind. Just when he didn't want to get entangled, he had a flash of inspiration, thinking that maybe there was something he could try.

Temporary task card: After using this card, you can combine the current scene to generate tasks related to antiques. The task has a certain timeliness. If you cannot complete it, you will be punished.

This card was the only task card that Fang Hao had drawn in the previous system lottery draw, and it was also the first time it appeared. Although he thought it was unlikely that the system would be aimless, considering the punishment, he didn't want to use it.

Stretching out his head with a knife, retracting his head is also a knife, and he also wants to try, whether this mission card can break the game, he plans to give it a try.

"Use it!"

Having made a decision, Fang Hao stopped hesitating and immediately used the temporary task card.

Mandatory task: After 5 minutes, Xu Qi will bring a Qianlong copper bottle inlaid with a hundred treasures and auspicious gourd bottle. Please buy it within 24 hours, and you will get the amount of points corresponding to its value. If you fail, the corresponding points will be deducted amount.

Fang Hao was a little speechless, he never expected that such a task would appear, and from the description of the task, it was easy to imagine that the German boss would compete with him later, and naturally he would push up the price.

Considering the factors of the task, it is impossible for him to give up, and then he can only be regarded as a stick by them!

Thinking of these people taking him as a victim, Fang Hao felt very awkward, and regretted how he could use the temporary task card. He knew the hole he dug, but he could only jump into it helplessly.

"Why is this system so cheating recently!" Fang Hao lamented inwardly.

Consistent with the task estimate, Xu Qi appeared in front of everyone after 5 minutes. He noticed that there was one more person in the store, and he was the boss De, and his footsteps paused.

Boss De felt someone coming in, raised his head and saw Xu Qi, and raised his hand to signal: "Monkey, you're back!"

"Hello Boss De!" Xu Qi replied, "What can I do?"

"I have something to discuss with you."

Boss De stood up from his chair and noticed the box Xu Qi was holding in his hand: "Does this box look familiar to you? Wait... it can't be that gourd bottle!"

Xu Qi laughed dryly: "It is indeed the gourd bottle."

Boss De's face changed, and he seemed very unhappy: "Monkey, you are so disrespectful!"

Xu Qi was embarrassed: "It really happened for a reason!"

Boss De sneered: "Hey! You are dishonest! I really want to hear what is the reason!"

Xu Qi walked to the table, put the box on the table, opened it, and took out the contents: "Young Master Fang, take a look first, I have something to tell Boss De."

Then, he dragged Boss De to the door, and Boss De turned his head three times at a step, all his mind was on the gourd bottle.

Fang Hao also cast his eyes on the gourd bottle on the table, and saw that it was made of copper body, with red gemstones inlaid along the outer wall and waist for a week, and the body of the bottle was gilded with hammered battlements and flowers, and petals were inlaid with gemstones of various colors.

In addition, the two characters "大" and "吉" are embedded on one side of the bottle body and placed on the upper and lower layers of the gourd. The position and style of the characters are fixed with metal wires, and then red gemstones are embedded. The color is bright red and dazzling, like a The plump pomegranate fruits are delicate and charming, and the fiery red sets off the festive and auspicious meaning.The bottom is engraved with the inscription "Qianlong Years of the Great Qing Dynasty".

The combination of the word "Daji" and the shape of "Gourd" is a typical and commonly used auspicious pattern in the Qing Dynasty. It symbolizes longevity, descendants, and good luck. It was especially popular in the late Qianlong palace art that had five generations under one roof. middle.And this gourd bottle inlaid with hundreds of treasures is exquisite in workmanship and exquisite in materials. It is really a very rare palace art treasure.

(End of this chapter)