antique masters in modern times

Because the closing time is approaching, the number of tourists is decreasing, and many shops and stalls with no business have started to pack things slowly.Yan You originally wanted to go to the Jinshi District, seeing the situation, he reckoned that by the time he walked over, the people had already cleaned up the stalls, so he had to take a closer look at the nearby Pearl and Jade District.

In the past, the jade ornaments sold in Liulichang were basically old jade, or jadeite that became popular all over the country because of the love of the Queen Mother and Mrs. Jiang.

Yan You walked around a few nearby stalls, and at a glance, he could see that most of the ornaments were made of materials, or they were made from jade associated mines that were not considered jade at all in the past.There are not many genuine products, and none of them are good jade materials.Think about it, street stalls are mostly aimed at small customers who don't have much money and want to buy things. Even if they buy genuine products, they can't sell them at a high price.

Yanyou saw that all the imitations that were newly made in recent years were sold on the stalls. The same Sanzhu, Maitreya Guanyin, Chinese Zodiac, etc., were not mixed with small old odds and ends like before, so you can scouring them.So he shook his head in disappointment, ready to go to the next place to have a look.

Suddenly, his gaze inadvertently swept across a corner stall, and he suddenly stopped: the setting sun shone on an antique camphor wood box, reflecting a series of dazzling brilliance.Among the splendor, there is a particularly bright bunch, which is not like the rough imitations can have.

Yan You involuntarily approached the stall, but didn't rush to check it out, but pretended to be very interested in loose beads, and fiddled with the box a few times: "Boss, are you here to help string finished products?"

"Yes, one yuan is charged for each string, and the delivery will be the next day. Young man, do you want to string a necklace or a bracelet? All of my emerald beads are grown in old pits in Myanmar, and you are satisfied."

"I want to string a women's bracelet for my aunt." Yanyou said slowly, "Boss, how do you sell it?"

"One eighth of one centimeter in diameter, one fifth of eight millimeters in diameter, any smaller bracelets will not look good."

Looking at Yanyou attentively, the stall owner became enthusiastic and said that he must do another business before closing the stall.

Yan You glanced at him strangely: "Boss, are the jade beads grown in Laokeng so cheap? In the shop ahead, a string of waxy seed bracelets with two windings costs 80 yuan. To be honest, I don't care about the authenticity, because I You are still a poor student, it doesn’t matter how high or low you are to give gifts to elders, as long as you think about it. But don’t brag about your origins to me, or I will say the same when I go back, and I will be ashamed in front of the whole family.”

"This..." The stall owner scratched his head in embarrassment, and simply said: "Even if I put 80 yuan of goods on my stall, people will think it's fake, and they won't give up until they kill half of them. Why should I bother?" How about it? Young man, let’s put it this way, these beads cannot be seen by experts, but they are still very comfortable for laymen. If you want, I will string them for you for free.”

Yan You casually let out a "huh", and his eyes finally slipped to the things he really wanted.Panjiayuan is full of human beings, he can't point at the target as soon as he comes up, once the boss notices his eagerness, most of the mistakes will be missed.

It was a box of pendants, including silver-bottomed bejeweled tomi beads, safety clasps, fake opal pendants... there were dozens of them.Yan You pretended to ask for advice, and asked: "If you add a pendant to the bracelet, it will look better?"

"Young man, you have a good eye. With pendants, it is the most fashionable style in department stores." The stall owner enthusiastically recommended: "How old is your aunt? If you are younger, choose a silver one. The color of the gemstone is bright." More eye-catching. When you get older, you pick a piece of emerald with a heavy color, which makes you look calm."

His fingertips touched a piece of rose amethyst, and he trembled imperceptibly, and Yan You casually picked up a small pea-green jade gourd next to him: "That's it, and sixteen more [-]mm beads, how much is the total? "

"The beads are eight cents, and the pendant is five yuan for you. After deducting the discounted manual fee, the total is five eight yuan. It's old auspicious."

"It's so expensive." Yan You raised his voice: "They are all imitations, and they cost five yuan?"

"Oh, boy, there is a difference between imitation products. If it is from those small workshops in Jinwei, I will sell it for one yuan or two. But this is the product I got from an old shopkeeper before liberation. The fakes he bought in the past. If you think about it, the craftsmanship of something that can make a sophisticated person suffer? Even if the material is a little worse, it is exquisite enough. Most people can’t tell it at all. Your aunt wears it out and wears it. You have face, everyone will praise you for your filial piety." The stall owner said eloquently.

Yan You, who was secretly wondering why the stall owner had top-quality gemstones, suddenly realized after hearing him automatically mention the purchase channel.But he still pretended to be dissatisfied and said, "It's still too expensive. I'll give you three yuan at most, and give me another head."

"What? You still need to cut the price at half the price?" The stall owner suddenly looked sad, "Young man, I only earned you a few cents, are you trying to make me lose money?"

Yan You has long been familiar with their style: even if they are making a lot of money, they are secretly happy and have a lot of money, but on the surface they still cry and pretend like they have broken a coffin.At that moment, he retreated and stood up: "The garden is about to close, don't waste my time. If it doesn't sell, I'll find another house right away."

The stall owner, who wanted to raise the price again, became anxious when he heard it: the box of pendants was indeed taken from an old shopkeeper, but it cost ten yuan a box, and there were more than 100 pieces. Not even a dime.As for the beads, they are even cheaper.They are all ground by Yuhang with jadeite associated mines. You can buy a bag for a few yuan, and the principal of eighteen beads is at most [-] cents.Even if he earns a little less, he can't push the business out.

"Oh, forget it, for the sake of your filial piety, young man, I'll sell it to you today. But then let's forget about it?" The stall owner struggled desperately.

Hearing this, Yanyou who had already picked out two or three jade beads put the beads back into the box, got up again and made a gesture to leave.

"Oh, don't mind, don't mind, just pick one if you want." The stall owner said quickly.I sighed again in my stomach: Why are today's children so smart?

Yan You took advantage of the situation and squatted back, first picked up the small gourd, and then picked out the rose amethyst naturally: "Boss, give me another red string, my little niece likes these shiny things, wear them for her." Just play. By the way, can you put on the bracelet right away? I have class tomorrow, so I don’t have time to come over.”

For experienced hands, it doesn't take long to put on a bracelet.The stall owner responded without a word, lowered his head and pulled out the fishing line, asked about the size, and got to work.

Taking advantage of this time, Yan You quietly looked at the gem.It is inlaid on a copper base, and the texture is clean and dirt-free, very tight, without air bubbles or lint.The color is very dull, and it looks like a fake - but that's only in the eyes of outsiders.Yan You slightly turned the angle, and the original rich color of the gem was immediately revealed.Reflecting the setting sun, the shadow is like the most beautiful rose falling on the palm of the hand, which attracts people's eyes.With the movement of the hand bowl, the six dazzling lines unique to top-grade gemstones are also faintly visible.

He was able to recognize this dusty treasure, not because the eyesight of the world is poor, but because there is another mystery inside - a layer of special metal foil is pasted on the bottom of the gemstone, which absorbs most of the light, making the color of the gemstone much darker .

This is an old way to prevent money from being exposed.At that time, there was a lot of chaos, and many rich people sold their property and bought gold and gemstones and other valuables to concentrate their property so that they could travel lightly when they evacuated.

Many robbers targeted this group of people.At that time, airplanes were still exclusive to a few dignitaries, and ordinary wealthy people could only make boats.The robbers disguised themselves as passengers and followed them secretly. Once someone's money was exposed, they would kill and seize the money in a secluded place at night, and then pushed the body into the sea without anyone noticing.

This kind of thing happens a lot, and everyone with money is in danger, so they rack their brains to try to disguise themselves.The gold bricks are fused into small pieces and sewn into the belt, the gold ornaments are silver-plated and then hidden in the corner of the suitcase, and the precious gemstones are disguised as imitations... all kinds of methods are used to deceive the robbers.

Yan You reckoned that the rose purple gemstone in his hand was disguised in this way, so that after it leaked out of the original owner's hands, it was misunderstood by those who got it over the years as a purple crow with a similar texture but a world of difference from rose purple in color.Not taken seriously.In the end, he turned around and went to this small stall, but he happened to get it.

In addition to the dull color of the purple crow, which is far less colorful than the rose purple, there are only four white lights inside, no more than the six lights of the rose purple.And the base of this pendant happened to block the three beams of the gemstone, so it would be easy to hide it if you were not a veteran.I think it is not as good as ordinary purple crows - what is the difference between a purple crow bird with only three lights and imitation materials?

This gem is about the size of a grown man's thumb.Yanyou remembers that there was a rose amethyst slightly smaller than it in the gem shop back then, and it was bought by the young marshal's wife, who offered a high price of 5000 yuan Yuan Datou.Because the owner bought it for only more than 1000 silver dollars at that time, after the news spread, everyone in the industry envied and even hated it.

What is the current market price for the one I got?

"Young man, it's ready."

"Thank you, boss." Yanyou took out three yuan and handed it to the stall owner, and his lips could not help but curl up slightly: No matter how much it is actually worth, it is only "worth" three yuan now.