antique masters in modern times

In the cafeteria, Yan You and Chen Boyi talked a lot about a few cold and hot side dishes, and got to know each other better.

Conversation is superficial.After chatting for a few words, Yanyou discovered that although Mr. Chen was knowledgeable and liked porcelain, his eyesight was only average and he was born lacking in aggressiveness.It was rare to come across a few opportunities to pick up leaks, but he hesitated because of uncertainty, and finally slipped through the fingers.

However, the old man thought about it very much, he only said that the thing was not destined for him, and he sighed a few times before throwing it away.And he doesn't shy away from mentioning these embarrassing things, he is not the kind of person who wants to save face.

Yan You admired Chen Boyi's open-mindedness very much, and thought to himself that it would be more refreshing to cooperate with such a person.

After lunch, Chen Boyi asked Yan You to go around the store first.

Yanyou didn't pay attention to the shop when he was asking the way before, but now he walked back and took a closer look, only to find that it was a shop with two doors.On the black horizontal plaque are written "Ancient Chen Zhai" in three gold-filled characters, in Liu Kai, which is upright and elegant.

This building has been quite old, but the lintels and thresholds were chiseled out of new wood in an antique style, filled in, painted new inside and out, and equipped with antique-style antique shelves, high tables, chairs and other furniture , it touches very ancient rhyme.Just looking at the furnishings, it can be seen that Chen Boyi has put a lot of thought into it.

He seems to have made up his mind to make the store live up to its name, and to be full of ancient rhyme. He didn't even install a new type of rolling shutter door like other houses, but still used the old-fashioned door panels. .

Stepping into the store, Chen Boyi pointed to a young man who was dusting the dust and said: "This is Zhang Li who helps me with things. We usually look at the store alternately. You can call him Xiao Zhang——Xiao Zhang, this is Xiao Zhang." Master Yan, he will help us restore porcelain in the future."

Seeing that Yanyou was able to repair antiques at such a young age, Xiao Zhang couldn't help showing shock.Just when he was about to speak, two well-dressed guests came in to look around. Xiao Zhang hurriedly threw down the feather duster and came forward to greet him, and for a while he couldn't care less about cross-examination.

Chen Boyi was secretly surprised by Yan You's extensive knowledge during the lunch chat.Listening to the inadvertent meaning in Yanyou's words, this young man knows quite a few priceless treasures at such a young age.

Chen Boyi thought it was all from the unlucky old teacher, Professor Yanyou, and sighed fascinatedly, but became a little worried, for fear that Yanyou's vision would be too high, and he would look down on the things in his small shop, and would not Cooperate with him for a long time.

With this thought in mind, Chen Boyi worked extra hard when introducing the store.Taking Yanyou around in and out, directly passing the half-true and half-true furnishings, which are not much better than the real ones, and pointing to the most prominent three pieces of Qingshun early-leaf porcelain on the antique shelf, it is very interesting introduced.

Chen Boyi's historical knowledge is extremely rich, and after his eloquent quotations, although he didn't use a word of gorgeous and exaggerated words, he unintentionally described two enamel boxes made in Suzhou and a cricket pot made by a famous teacher as rare. Baby, represents the highest level of craftsmen.

After some introduction, at some time, the two guests left Xiao Zhang and walked to Chen Boyi, fascinated by what they heard.As soon as the old man finished speaking, the one with the shaved scalp immediately said, "I want both of these enamel color boxes, so you can always ask for a price."

As he spoke, he immediately took out a handful of Da Tuan from his pocket, as if counting the money right away.

But Chen Boyi didn't even look at the stack of banknotes: "I'm sorry, but these three are my treasures, and I won't sell them. Please look at the others."

The bald head suddenly became unhappy: "I said, old man, the shop is for customers, and the shelves are for goods. When customers come to buy goods, but you say that, do you see that I am sincere and want to take the opportunity to raise the price?"

Hearing this, Chen Boyi's old face swelled slightly, and he said angrily: "I have been in this shop for two or three years, and I have never done anything to raise prices. The customers who often come to my house know that this is my favorite, If you don't believe me, you can go to your neighbors and ask if my old man is cheating on you."

"Ha, it's been said that they are neighbors, so they must be helping relatives and acquaintances." The bald man said strangely, obviously not believing Chen Boyi's words.

After all, Chen Boyi has only been a businessman for less than three years. Although he has gone through some ups and downs, he still hasn't mastered the formula of harmony and wealth.Hearing what the bald head said, he sneered and said, "Although it is my beloved object, it is just a dead thing. At my age, I can't afford to lie for a dead thing. In a word, I can't do this business." , you go to another house."

"There are actually shops that drive out customers. Today is an insight! I just want to buy today, so I don't believe you don't sell it!" After being slapped down one after another, the bald head felt shamed in front of his friends, rolled up his sleeves, and raised his voice .

Chen Boyi also refused to give an inch: "In broad daylight, do you still want to grab it by force?"

"What I do depends on what you say!"

Seeing that the smell of gunpowder in the shop was getting stronger and stronger, and someone who was not careful was about to cause trouble, Yan You, who had not interrupted his mouth, said quickly: "Calm down, both of you. From my point of view, this is not a big deal."

The bald head didn't want to pay attention to this poorly dressed boy, but he couldn't help but said loudly when he heard the last sentence: "It's not a big deal? You just want to make a difference, and you don't want to weigh that small body first. !"

"Please listen to me." Faced with the aggressiveness of the guests, Yan You remained calm, "Sir, I see that you didn't notice the pair of enamel boxes when you came in. The reason why you are suddenly interested in them The interest is entirely because of the boss's introduction, thinking it is the best thing in the store, right?"

The bald head hesitated for a moment, and then said loudly: "So what? Anyway, I've taken a fancy to it, and I have to sell it today!"

His arrogant words made Chen Boyi and Xiao Zhang even more disgusted, but Yan You nodded in agreement: "I understand your thinking: the same is to spend money, so naturally I am more happy to spend a little bit more."

As soon as this remark came out, not only did Chen Boyi look at the "turned-back" Yanyou in surprise, but his bald head was also puzzled: "Who are you, and who are you speaking for?"

"I mean, I understand your thoughts, so I want to recommend the best things in this store to you."

"I just heard clearly that these three things are the best. What else is there? Don't try to lie to me."

The bald head thought that Yan You was using a strategy to delay the attack, so he yelled loudly in dissatisfaction.Chen Boyi, however, was thoughtful, and cast his eyes inadvertently to the inner room: there were newly collected porcelains from the countryside, and because most of them were incomplete, they never dared to release them.When the geese swam in just now, I stared at them for a while.Could it be that he discovered that there is a better treasure than these three things?

Thinking of this, Chen Boyi immediately forgot to be angry, and couldn't wait to ask Yan You for clarification.

Before he could open his mouth, Yanyou pointed to a certain corner: "In the porcelain, these three items are really the top ones in the store. But when compared in the general category, they are far inferior to them."

Everyone couldn't help but follow his fingers, and saw a long and narrow table in the corner, with some odds and ends on one end, and a popular plastic grape pot on the other.They all looked extremely ordinary, without any trace of arrogance.

Chen Boyi looked at it suspiciously for a moment, and confirmed that the long table was not an antique item collected from outside, but was made by workers with leftover materials during decoration; the odds and ends were all modern things; as for the pot of fake grapes, it was because he could not keep flowers and plants alive. , I don’t like rockery, so I bought it just for decoration.Although he took care of it after getting it back, he was very sure that the replaced hand-painted pottery basin was an imitation bought on the street for a dollar, not an ancient one.

——Where is this kid kidding me?

For a moment, not only Chen Boyi was puzzled, but also the bald head who couldn't see the name came up with this idea.

Facing the puzzled eyes of several people, Yan You smiled reassuringly, stepped forward three or two times to pull out the two brackets on which the vines climbed and entangled, and took a rag to wipe off the fake soil on them.

At the end, he asked Chen Boyi: "Old Chen, this thing shouldn't be like this? There should be wooden frames on both sides of it. Where did it go?"

"Ah, all the miscellaneous things are stored in the big drawer in the west corner. Xiao Zhang, hurry up and bring them to Master Xiaoyan." After giving the order, Chen Boyi was very surprised: "This is the tip he gave me when I was collecting things in the countryside. , I can't tell the origin, because there are some patterns on it, it was used for the little girl to play with. I got the money for collecting things, so I happily gave it to me, saying it is also an old thing, but I can't see it. What. I bought this pot of grapes the other day, and thought it looked good, so I fiddled with it."

While talking, the bald head also came up and looked curiously at the bracket in Yanyou's hand.They are about as thick as chopsticks, but only one-third the length of chopsticks.It is in the style of double-strand twisted twists, and the carved grass lines on the convex surface have been worn very lightly, almost flat bones.Even if the two wanted to break their heads, they couldn't think of what it would be.

Yanyou laughed and said, "No wonder Mr. Chen doesn't know it. Although this thing is old, it only became popular for a while, and it disappeared within a few years—do you know about cockfighting? Method: Put the newly hatched young fighting chickens next to the shelf, with water on the shelf. The chicks are thirsty and hungry, so they will try to jump to get enough food. As the chicks jump higher and higher, the shelf It is also constantly rising. When it is raised to a larger size, another method of training is used. It is said that the jumping ability of the chickens raised in this way is much higher than that of ordinary chickens. After training other skills, they will be invincible in cockfights .”

This anecdote sounded fresh, and the bald head couldn't help asking: "Really?"

Yan You spread his hands: "I don't know. But this method has been very popular for a while, and it didn't gradually disappear until Sijiu City brought in a good breed of fighting cock from other provinces."

At this time, Xiao Zhang rummaged through the box and found the original matching wooden frame, and handed it to Yan You.

The texture of the wooden frame is fine and smooth, and the knocking is very resounding. The feet are carved in the shape of auspicious clouds, which is very exquisite.Chen Boyi thought the wooden frame looked good at the beginning, so he was not willing to throw it away.However, he couldn't recognize the texture of it.

"This is rosewood. Although it's not the best wood, it's rare. Only people with rich and powerful families are willing to use it to raise fighting cocks."

Saying that, Yanyou flipped his wrist, and somehow the several things came together.It is not surprising that these parts are separated. Once they return to their original appearance, they will have an indescribable charm.

The bald head couldn't help taking the shelf, looked at it for a moment, and then asked, "How much more expensive is this thing than the enamel color box?"

His tone was far less arrogant than before, obviously he was overwhelmed by Yan Youlu's craftsmanship, and believed that the young man did not lie to himself.

"Except for cockfighters, it is useless for ordinary people to use it, so after it was lost to the people, it was basically taken apart and sold separately. I have seen a few hairpins that were carved out of this wooden frame."

"Then this pole was thrown away?" The bald head stared at the two dark poles, always feeling that there was another mystery inside.

Yanyou smiled again: "Mr. has good eyesight. This bar is made of pure gold twisted with double strands. Because the word silver has the same pronunciation as 'win', it is plated with silver. Over time, the surface of the silver oxidizes, so it turns black .Fortunately, it was not destroyed. This kind of shelf is almost completely destroyed now, and it is very rare to preserve it well. That’s why I say it is more rare than the enamel color box.”