antique masters in modern times

Although he was coaxed into the table by Xu Dacai, Boss Jia kept his face sullen and rarely spoke.As for Zhu Dao's toast, he ignored it even more.

The table was filled with delicious dishes, but he didn't even look at them. He only waved his chopsticks a few times, and asked Xu Dacai anxiously, "Where's the goods?"

Seeing his appearance of not being approached by strangers, Zhu Dao blinked his small eyes, and wanted to step forward to make love again, but the door of the box was suddenly pulled open.

A chef came in and said with a smile: "I'm sorry, the little apprentice accidentally knocked over the salt in the water tank, the scallops are all dead, and the scallop mixed soup ordered by a few can't be made. Can I change it to another soup?" ?”

"You—" Zhu Dao just wanted to say something, but he suddenly realized that he was silent and said to Murong Hui instead: "Go and have a look, and get a fresh one. Let's invite Boss Jia to Dongxing Building. The picture is a real one." Facts."

Glancing at the chef, Murong Hui's eyes moved slightly, and he followed out with his hands in his trouser pockets.

When the door of the box was closed again, Boss Jia said impatiently: "It's not important to eat, let me have a look at the goods first. I paid the deposit!"

"Oh, Boss Jia, don't worry, I'll show you this." Being urged repeatedly by him, Xu Dacai had no choice but to agree, and winked at Zhu Dao helplessly.

Zhu Dao put on a resentful expression of pleasing the rejection, curled his lips, and then took out something from his briefcase.

Seeing that it was actually a tin biscuit box, the corner of Boss Jia's mouth twitched, as if he wanted to sneer, but he restrained himself.But after seeing the things inside clearly, all his impatience suddenly turned into surprise.

It was a young jade eagle, about the size of a palm, except for a few red lines on the back, the rest was white.The eagle's wings are spread flat and its tail is spread out, taking the posture of a flying eagle swooping down to prey.The wings and abdomen are carved with feather patterns, and the castration of the lines just matches the red color of the jade itself, making it more agile.

"This carving is thick, simple, natural and heroic, and it is an obvious style of the Han Dynasty."

Boss Jia's eyes lit up, he took the jade eagle in his hand and carefully studied its lines, and observed the quality of the jade.After a while, I came to a conclusion: "That's right, it's the real thing. Boss Xu, what about the other goods? Let's take it out and have a look. There's also the identity of the owner of the tomb, have you found out?"

Speaking of this, he took the jade carving under his nose and sniffed it, suddenly showing a bit of confusion: "Wait, why is there no earthy smell? And judging by the luster, it seems that people often play with it, it doesn't look like it was just unearthed. "

The buried jade products often leave soil marks on the surface, and because they have been buried in the ground for a long time, they lack vitality and moisture, and the surface has an obvious sense of stagnation.Some objects used to close the orifice, such as jade cicadas, jade plugs, etc., may even soak into blood streaks, or the smell is unbearable.The so-called earthy smell refers to these characteristics in general.

But now the jade eagle that Zhu Dao took out was smooth in color, without stagnation, and there was not even a trace of dirt on the surface.It's not like a funerary object at all, but it's almost the same as a handed down object.

Zhu Dao said with a smile: "Boss Jia, you can tell by your hand gestures that you are a veteran in the industry. Naturally, you should know the difficulties of the brothers. In order not to cause trouble, everything that comes out of my hands must be wrapped." .”

Patina is to try to remove impurities such as astringent air and soil ooze on the surface of jade, making it shiny and lustrous, like a handed down item that is often played with by people around.One is to avoid being seen by buyers as newly unearthed and cause trouble in the future; the other is to increase the price by improving the appearance.

Zhu Dao put on a confiding look, but Boss Jia still hesitated: "It's only been a few days since the excavation of the ancient tomb. Is there time to make such a perfect patina?"

Xu Dacai said: "You don't know, my brother has been in this business for more than ten years, and this little trick is nothing to worry about. Let me tell you, handed down jade is always worn by people, or often played with, at least three It takes five years to make a plate, and some objects even take decades. But my brother has a secret, filling jade into living things and directly nourishing it with blood. In this way, it only takes one or two months to complete. It has produced the effect of holding the pan for more than ten years. As for the time you mentioned, the excavation of Tongshi Tomb started more than two months ago, so it was completely in time."

"Nourishing with living things?" Boss Jia's eyes flashed brightly, "So that's really a good way. By the way, what about other things?"

"this--"

Just as Xu Dacai was about to speak, Murong Hui walked in suddenly and whispered in Zhu Dao's ear, but the volume was just enough for Boss Jia next to him to hear a few words: "...another buyer... …Time is up."

After listening, Zhu Dao made a look of sudden realization: "Oh, I'm sorry, there is something urgent at home, Boss Jia, I'm sorry, I have to go first, let's look at the rest of the goods tomorrow-Old Xu, this Give the jade eagle to you, if Boss Jia doesn't like it, you can bring it back for me."

"Wait, you have received a deposit, hello!"

In the end, Boss Jia roared anxiously, but Zhu Dao didn't turn his head back. Instead of being so courteous just now, he said indifferently, "I'll talk about it tomorrow", and dragged Murong Hui away in a hurry.

Although he used the excuse that he was in a hurry, but based on the whispers he overheard just now, Boss Jia didn't understand that there was another buyer. The profiteers wanted to compare and the higher price would win.

Unexpectedly, the fat man would be so dishonest and come first and then first. Boss Jia was anxious and angry, scolded him several times in his stomach, and questioned Xu Dacai sternly.But the owner had left, and Xu Dacai had no choice but to promise again and again that he would bring the rest of the goods tomorrow.

He didn't stop Zhu Dao just now, it's too late to chase him now.With Xu Dacai's assurance, Boss Jia took it easy, put the jade eagle into the suitcase with a sullen face, and left in a hurry.

As soon as he got out of the hotel, he took a taxi and drove away from the long street, but he appeared on the other side of the street ten minutes later, got out of a taxi with another license plate, looked around, walked quickly into the guest house, and knocked on the door. A room on the second floor.

It was Yun Lv who opened the door.Letting people in, he immediately asked, "How is it?"

"Boss, there are other buyers. The profiteer wants to bid. I only bring back one item today."

"What about the owner of the tomb, did you find out?"

"Boss Jia" reversed his aloofness just now, and said in a very cautious tone, "No...that profiteer left before I asked any questions."

But no matter how deferential the attitude, bad news is always bad news.After Yun Lu heard this, his face inevitably became a little ugly.He took out the cigarette, but the lighter failed to live up to expectations. After several presses, there was no spark, so he simply threw the cigarette and lighter on the ground.

"Boss, I'm to blame for this. I was too anxious and paid so much deposit. If it wasn't like this, the fat man wouldn't dare hang us."

"It's all a small problem. The key is to get other things as soon as possible." Yunlu loosened his tie irritably, as if it would make him feel better.

The young man glanced at him, hesitated, and still expressed his puzzlement: "Boss, why don't we use the carving style of the jade eagle as a blueprint and imitate other things like before? Why do we have to get the real one? ? And still in such a hurry..."

Yunlu sneered: "You think I'm willing to be in a hurry? I got news that Fusco ordered to inspect all the things I sold to the auction house!"

"What?!" The young man's face turned pale: "We have given him 37 fakes in the past few years, if all of them are found out—"

Seeing the young man panicked, Yun Lu calmed down a bit: "What are you panicking about? Have you forgotten our rules? We always wait for the auction house to sell the last imitation before handing over the next one to him. Now they have It should only be the set of submarine porcelain that was sent last time. I don’t worry about making mistakes with your craftsmanship. But, I didn’t expect that the Dragon Festival of Wang Ming’s Legend would be found to be a fake after a few years. I’m afraid to buy it now. Buyers who bought other items followed suit to check, and there are also ancient fakes in there, and if something is found out, it will be another trouble.”

"Boss!" The young man said with a sad face, "Like the King's Order to pass on the Dragon Festival, there are five fakes made by the ancients. If they are all found out, it will be over!"

"I told you not to panic and mess up. We came to Sijiu City this time to deal with this matter. When you get the things from the Han Dynasty Tomb, you can go back to Guangzhou and imitate them as quickly as possible. Let's send it to the gorse. The most important thing now is to pretend nothing happened and let them believe that we were also slapped, understand?——They always thought we were smugglers of tomb robbers, and we often walked by the river. It doesn’t matter if your feet don’t get wet, and it’s okay to drill holes occasionally. As long as they don’t doubt the source of the goods, we can pass the customs safely.”

After a pause, Yunlu said again: "And I've checked, Wang Ming's Dragon Festival will be recognized as a fake. The most important reason is that the person who faked it is superfluous, and carved something that shouldn't be there. What do you do?" I don’t have this problem with the imitations of the other four. I have checked the photos of the other four pieces, so I don’t have to worry about them. ? If you deal with it thoroughly, you’ll be fine.”

Hearing what he said, the young man gradually calmed down: "Boss, I understand what you mean. As long as we have good goods in hand, we are not afraid that the auction house will not continue to cooperate with us. This time we can't play casually, we must imitate Han The ones in the tomb are exactly the same, so as not to cause trouble. Don’t worry, I will keep an eye on Xu, and let him urge the other fat man to spit out the rest of the goods as soon as possible. By the way, I have no intention of learning a new method of encapsulation today. , Waiting to go back and experiment, once successful, it will be easier for us to imitate jade products in the future."

"Well, it's just one word, quick."

After talking a lot, Yunlu calmed down a lot, took out his cigarette again, and lit it with a match in the guest house: "Hmph, for this news, the gambler in the auction house beat me hard. But, can you It’s a blessing to buy news with money. The other old man, after I found him several times after the accident, he was not there, and he didn’t return my calls. It was useless to send him so many gifts before, it’s better to throw him in the river and listen.”

The young man scolded the black-hearted old man who only accepts gifts but does nothing, and said: "This Han tomb has become famous recently, and I am not afraid that the broom will not accept the antiques we sent. Fortunately, the boss is wise. Be on the lookout for it early on."

"In the beginning I asked about it just out of habit. Last time the teacher refused to go into details, so I became more curious and asked Zhong Gui to investigate. I didn't expect the truth to surface after his death. It turns out that this The ancient tomb is also somewhat related to the junior brother."

"Boss, talking about your junior brother..." The young man smiled wryly, "If he hadn't talked too much in front of that rich businessman, he wouldn't have caused such disturbances."

Hearing his dissatisfaction, Yun Lu said lightly: "But the junior is a junior after all, can I still take revenge on him? Because of my unworthy, the teacher was so angry that he wanted to tear me apart, but the pain is not only the teacher? Until Knowing that someone can inherit his mantle, I feel less guilty. Although I haven’t had a deep chat with my junior, I value him very much in my heart. I won’t talk about this. In short, we must be careful in the future, and we must never Make such a mistake."

After chatting for a long time, Yunlu looked at his watch and said, "You stay in the room first, I'll go buy something to eat."

After that, he picked up his coat and walked out.

Unexpectedly, as soon as the door was closed, a person suddenly came out from the next door, and walked straight to him, "Senior Brother Yun, what is going on? Why did you do this?"

Yun Lv raised his head suddenly as if being shocked, his eyes turned on the long-lost beautiful face, his eyes gradually turned from astonishment to comprehension, all kinds of feelings in his heart finally condensed into a sigh-like voice: "... …Junior Brother Yan, so you are here too.”