Siheyuan: Returning to 61 to collect waste

Ye Chuan had heard of the reputation of Beijing's Liulichang, but he had never been there because the current Liulichang was no longer the famous antique street it once was.

Although Ye Chuan had not visited Liulichang in person since he came to this world, he knew that the entire place had become a cultural goods district. In his previous life, he had read a report that said the best businesses there were not antique shops, but those selling ink and rice paper.

Thinking of this, Ye Chuan couldn't help but find it interesting; so he never went to that street. Even if Beijing had an antique street like the one in Hong Kong Island, he would definitely go there to try his luck.

On Sunday morning, Ye Chuan drove his jeep to Liulichang, parked the car in a nearby open space, and began to wait for Mr. Xu to arrive.

Because it was Sunday, many people came to Liulichang. Ye Chuan saw people coming in and out, most of them returned empty-handed, and occasionally saw a few holding porcelain or scroll paintings.

A few minutes later, another jeep stopped in front of him. Seeing that it was Mr. Xu in the car, he went forward, opened the door, and helped him out of the car.

"Xiaoye, you're here early?"

Ye Chuan helped Mr. Xu get out of the car. He saw that he was wearing a washed-out Zhongshan suit. His hair was sparse but neatly combed to one side. He said with a smile, "Mr. Xu, I just arrived too."

Mr. Xu nodded, then told the driver through the car window: "Come pick me up here in two hours." Then he slowly walked towards Liulichang.

"Mr. Xu, if you have anything you want to buy, just tell me and I can buy it for you and send it to you."

"Every month I go to Yide Pavilion here to buy a few bottles of ink and rice paper, and take a look around." He shook his head as he spoke. "Lao Yang, Lao Sun, and Chen Xiangdong have accompanied me here a few times before, but they don't understand anything and can't answer any questions, which makes me feel very depressed!"

Ye Chuan couldn't help but laugh when he heard this. He could imagine the blank looks on Director Yang, Director Sun, and Chen Xiangdong's faces when Mr. Xu asked the question.

It was really difficult for them to let three complete outsiders accompany him to stroll around Liulichang, which is full of literary and artistic atmosphere.

Soon after, the two of them arrived at the busy street where Liulichang was located. Today, there were a constant stream of pedestrians, and there were also some temporary stalls scattered in front of the shops, but there were not many goods on the stalls.

Ye Chuan took a quick look and found that they were all items of low value. Most of them were modern vases, and at most they could only be traced back to the late Qing Dynasty.

"It seems you're not very satisfied?" Mr. Xu asked with a smile.

"Most of these things are from folk kilns, there are so many of them, they don't have much collection value." Ye Chuan replied. "Not bad, you can tell the approximate age at a glance, you really have a unique eye."

"Thank you for the compliment! In fact, both the shape and the glaze color are enough to prove that these things are only objects from the late Qing Dynasty. As for the rough workmanship, most of them are from folk kilns. If you have some spare money, it is worth buying one or two. Maybe they will be valuable in a few decades!"

Old Xu thought Ye Chuan was joking: "It seems that you don't like these folk kiln products. I will take you to see some more professional shops later."

Ye Chuan was slightly surprised: Could it be that I could really find authentic antiques here?

There are many shops around Liulichang, but many of them are closed, and some have even been converted into cultural supplies stores.

There are representative shops in Yidege, a famous ink maker in Beijing, and various state-owned or cooperative enterprises' rice paper factories and fountain pen factories.

Genuine private antique shops have almost disappeared in Liulichang. The few remaining ones are still managed by public-private partnerships, and it is not clear what kind of goods they sell.

Mr. Xu selected five bottles of ink and two sheets of rice paper, and Ye Chuan also took some at random.

Mr. Xu had long been aware of his advanced calligraphy techniques. If he hadn't chosen anything himself, Mr. Xu might have felt that something was wrong.

"How about I take you to visit the calligraphy art here now?" Mr. Xu said with a smile on his face.

Ye Chuan nodded and followed the other party out of the rice paper shop and into a place next door that specialized in buying and selling antiques and artworks.

The shop was sparsely populated. There was only an employee in a Zhongshan suit busy taking care of things in the store and an old man taking a nap on a chair.

What surprised Ye Chuan a little was that the old man was covered with a tattered quilt and looked more like a night guard than a shop assistant.

After seeing him follow Mr. Xu in, the young employee did not stand up to greet him, but continued to work on the task at hand.

"This is a state-owned art store. The paintings inside are of very high quality. You may want to buy one to take home and enjoy." Mr. Xu said.

Ye Chuan smiled. In an official art gallery, could they still find works by Song Dynasty painters Zhang Zeduan or Mi Fu?

His eyes inadvertently cast on the artworks hanging in the store, and he was immediately attracted by those paintings.

There are less than ten long scrolls hanging in the shop, but each one is a fine treasure - Mr. Bai Shi's "Shrimp", Mr. Beihong's painting of horses, and Mr. Daqian's bold ink-splashing paintings.

The scene before him left Ye Chuan dumbfounded. It was such a waste of precious things to have so many paintings that would be regarded as national treasures in the future displayed here casually!

"How do you feel? Is it good?" Mr. Xu said with a smile.

Ye Chuan nodded, "Excellent! It's absolutely wonderful."

Old Xu smiled and said nothing. He just stood beside Ye Chuan and admired the paintings on the wall. After a while, Ye Chuan stepped forward and pointed to a painting of eight horses and asked, "Comrade, how much is this painting?"

The staff member glanced back lazily and said indifferently, "40 yuan for one painting!" "How much?" Ye Chuan asked loudly, as surprised as a cat whose tail was stepped on.

"40 Yuan! This price is very reasonable. If you think it's too expensive, you can take a look at other works. Mr. Bai Shi's work is 35 Yuan, and Mr. Daqian's is 30 Yuan!" The staff thought Ye Chuan thought the price was too high and spoke up.

Ye Chuan was completely shocked at this time. It was not that he thought it was expensive, it was simply too cheap. For 40 yuan, he could get Mr. Beihong's Eight Horses, and for 35 yuan, he could buy Mr. Bai Shi's Shrimp Playing. And for 30 yuan, he could buy Mr. Daqian's paintings - he would never dare to dream of such a good thing.

You know, if you take any one of the ten paintings on the wall, its value will not be less than one million in a few decades; but now you can get it for only a few dozen dollars. All this is really incredible.

Mr. Xu also felt Ye Chuan's strong shock and said, "Xiao Ye, although the price is indeed not particularly cheap, after all, Mr. Beihong and Mr. Bai Shi are no longer with us, and Mr. Daqian has passed away. In the future, these paintings may still have room for appreciation. At least I guarantee that you will not lose money."

Ye Chuan could only smile bitterly. It was not just that he would not lose money. Any item he bought would be a huge profit. In troubled times, gold was precious. In prosperous times, antiques flourished. As China's comprehensive strength gradually improved, people's lives gradually became richer. Those antiques that were cheap and hard to sell during the war in the past will have amazing potential and value in the future society, and will eventually become one of the collections that the rich people in the next century will compete for.

"I understand, but I was a little surprised suddenly." Ye Chuan didn't say much and just said perfunctorily.

"All the works here are by modern and contemporary masters. If you are interested, you can also take a look at the paintings of famous artists from other periods. For example, there are works by Tang Bohu from the Ming Dynasty, but they are a bit expensive: 600 yuan, while some works by Zhu Da are cheaper, 400 yuan. The rest are from other people." As there were no other customers in the store, the employee patiently introduced them to the inquirer.

After hearing this information, Ye Chuan couldn't help but feel frightened: items in this era could actually be sold so cheaply, it was simply lawless!

Because Zhu Da, the great artist from the late Ming Dynasty to the early Qing Dynasty, is not so well-known today, but as long as his nickname, Bada Shanren, is mentioned, everyone knows him. He is famous for his realistic paintings, and the auction price of each of his paintings has never fallen below 30 million yuan in the following century; and a painting of "Bamboo, Rocks and Mandarin Ducks" once reached 100 million yuan.

Ye Chuan felt like he was facing a huge treasury that was waving at him, filled with rare treasures.

"How about it? Are you a little tempted? Although works such as those by Gu Kaizhi, Wu Daozi, Zhang Zerui and Zhao Mengfu are not exhibited here, the remaining ones still have extremely high value preservation." Mr. Xu suggested.

Ye Chuan nodded calmly and replied, "My funds are tight at the moment, so I'd like to observe for a while before making a decision. If I find a better collection object, I'll do it."

So Mr. Xu did not force it and took Ye Chuan away from the store.

Even after breathing the fresh air outside, Ye Chuan still felt a little dazed.

The scene in the store just now really shocked him. If Mr. Xu had not been there to give him advice, he might have impulsively thrown down ten thousand yuan and bought a hundred pieces just to have a look.

"Xiao Ye, the shop over there is not bad either." Old Xu said, pointing to a shop in front.

Ye Chuan collected his thoughts and followed the other person's gaze. The name of the shop was prominently engraved on the sign - Zhenbaozhai. There was a sign hanging at the door indicating that it was the state-owned Zhenbaozhai Antique Shop.

Ye Chuan and Mr. Xu walked into Zhenbaozhai together and found that there were quite a few customers inside, but many of them just walked around and left.

"Xiao Ye, you are very lucky. Today happens to be a 10% discount day." Old Xu said with a smile while pointing to a place.

Looking in the direction of the finger, Ye Chuan saw a large red paper posted in a prominent position in the store, with "10% off today" written on it. Next to it was another more eye-catching poster showing various antiques and ceramics, with the words "Welcome to drink and patronize". Ye Chuan couldn't help but want to laugh. This practice was rare even in wholesale markets, not to mention that this place specialized in antiques.

His expectations for this place immediately dropped to the bottom, and he thought that it was indeed a wise decision not to waste time coming to Liulichang.

Ye Chuan was about to leave, but because of Mr. Xu's interest, he continued to stay in the store and was unwilling to leave first. "Xiao Ye, what do you think of this item?"