The Heart of the Red Chamber

It was Li Ruo'an who spoke. Wang Ren stood up and said with a smile, "So it's Senior Brother Li. It's been a long time! Who is this young master?" He looked at a young man standing on Li Ruo'an's left, with a look of doubt on his face.

The young man was about seventeen or eighteen years old, wearing a jade-colored long gown, with a flawless suet jade pendant hanging around his waist. He was slender and handsome, and he was standing aside with a smile at the moment.

Li Ruo'an said: "I forgot to introduce you, Junior Brother. This is my cousin Huang Tingzhi. Cousin, this is the Senior Brother I told you about. He is the only son of Wang Ziteng, the master's closed disciple. He is only ten years old now." At the age of [-], he is already a granary student, and after a while, he will go to the Imperial College to study!"

The surname is Huang. With such a popular surname, it is really difficult for Wang Ren to figure out whose family it is. There is no way. In a place like Chang'an, there are really rich and powerful people. If you throw a brick on the street, you may hit a certain royal family member. As a national relative, Wang Ren really doesn't know many people, so he just bowed his hands and said: "So it's Mr. Huang!"

There was a gentle smile on Huang Tingzhi's face: "I've heard my cousin mention Wang Gongzi for a long time, but seeing him now, it's really better to meet him than to be famous!"

Wang Ren laughed and said, "Young Master Huang, you have won the prize!"

"Okay, it's so outrageous to always be so angry!" Li Ruo'an said on the side.

The shopkeeper over there also greeted several people, and then said: "Mr. Li hasn't been to the small shop for a long time. Could it be that there are too few things in the small shop, so it's not worth seeing!"

Li Ruo'an looked at the shopkeeper with a smile: "Old Hu, with your mouth, you are used to talking about death! What did you use to deceive my junior brother this time!" As he spoke, he snatched the scroll from the shopkeeper Hu's hand , took a closer look, and then laughed.

Wang Ren asked: "Brother, what are you laughing at? Manager Hu said it was written by Huang Tingjian!"

"Junior brother, you don't know much about this antique, so just listen to his nonsense!" Li Ruo'an explained with a smile, "This is a fake at all, but the person who wrote this calligraphy is indeed very good at copying it. [-]% to [-]% are similar, but they are still fake after all!"

Wang Ren looked at the writing again, and asked curiously: "Then senior brother, where is the flaw in this writing?"

Li Ruo'an said with a smile: "This fake is quite realistic, but the paper is made old by a secret method. As for how I know, it's because my uncle keeps the real one in his hand!"

Huang Tingzhi smiled and said: "So that's the case. I thought Ruo'an you had some great ideas, but that's all!"

Li Ruoan smiled and stuffed the scroll to Shopkeeper Hu, and said, "As long as you can see it, you don't care how I know!"

Shopkeeper Hu complimented on the side: "In the antique industry, apart from eyesight, it is not based on knowledge. Mr. Li has seen the real thing, so naturally the fakes can't be fooled by him!"

"Okay, Lao Hu, if I don't come, you will kill my junior brother as Yang Hu!" Li Ruo'an laughed.

Shopkeeper Hu suddenly called out to Qu: "Mr. Li, aren't you wronging someone? You have seen the real thing, and you also said that the fake is [-]% to [-]% similar to the real thing. The villain is also deceived!"

Li Ruo'an just laughed, and didn't say much. There are some unspoken rules in this antique business. You buy and sell, and I agree with you. Afterwards, no matter whether it is true or false, you must not go back on your word.

Wang Ren sighed at the side: "Senior brother, I have really learned a lot this time, brother, teach me more later, so that I won't waste money in the future!"

Huang Tingzhi smiled and said: "You are looking for the wrong person. Li Ruo'an has been deceived many times since he was a child, such as ancient jade from the Han Dynasty, bronze swords from the Spring and Autumn Period, jade vases from the Tang Dynasty, and jade vases from the Song Dynasty. Junci, I don’t know how much I collected, but I turned around and looked for someone to see, and one of the ten pieces may not be genuine! Thanks to his family’s great fortune, he was not defeated by this prodigal son!"

"Cousin, you are so unkind. The so-called hitting people does not slap people in the face, and swearing does not reveal faults! You are still my cousin, and you don't save me any face in front of my junior!" Li Ruo'an was a little depressed.

"I'm afraid that your junior brother will be deceived by you later!" Huang Tingzhi and Li Ruo'an obviously had a good relationship, and Huang Tingzhi spoke quite casually.

Li Ruo'an sighed: "Forget it, cousin, you are always right, there is really no way!"

Huang Tingzhi just smiled and said nothing.

Li Ruo'an changed the subject and said, "Speaking of which, Junior Brother is also interested in antiques?"

Wang Ren said honestly: "My little brother doesn't know anything about antiques, so I don't talk about any interest. It's just that I drank tea with a few of the same year nearby, and after we left, I didn't want to stare at the big sun and go back. Turn around, I happened to see this episode of Gu Zhai, so I came in."

Li Ruo'an laughed: "Junior brother is indeed a wonderful person!"

Wang Ren rolled his eyes in his heart, what kind of wonderful person is not, but he said: "Senior brother also came to see the antiques?"

Li Ruo'an smiled and said: "Yes! It's my third uncle's birthday in two days. He likes calligraphy and painting the most. I don't have any suitable ones at hand. I'll come out and look around to see if I can choose something good!"

Wang Ren nodded, and said: "It seems that Mr. Huang is a master of this way!"

Huang Tingzhi said very reservedly: "I appreciate the award, but I have copied a lot. Just know a little bit, and I am better than my cousin!"

Wang Ren was quite interested in this: "That little brother has a cheeky face. If you look at it from the side, you will gain some insight. Mr. Huang doesn't mind!"

Huang Tingzhi smiled and said, "As long as Mr. Wang doesn't feel disappointed!"

Huang Tingzhi is a very knowledgeable person, Wang Ren felt that he had been a man in two lifetimes and had some knowledge, but in front of Huang Tingzhi, he felt a little superficial.

Shopkeeper Hu brought out many calligraphy and paintings by famous masters, some of which were authentic works. Huang Tingzhi seemed to be able to tell the origin of each one, such as the specific time and background of these calligraphy and paintings, and some seals on them could also tell these things. History of collectors.

Shopkeeper Hu listened and praised repeatedly: "This young master is really knowledgeable. The villain has been in this industry for so many years, it is nothing more than relying on his experience and feelings. If the villain has this knowledge, he is rare in paintings. Look away!"

Huang Tingzhi picked up the teacup, took a sip of water, shook his head, and said, "Master Hu, the things you have here are certainly authentic works of famous masters, but they are not rare treasures! Look at this, although it is indeed Mi Fu's, but it is just his young It was written when it was written, but it has just emerged and has not yet become a family of its own, so it can only fool those arty rich men!"

Shopkeeper Hu sighed: "The authentic works of these famous artists are so rare, most of them are collected by the nobles of the aristocratic families. It is already a great thing for us small places to receive authentic works. How can we ask for more!"

Li Ruo'an curled his lips and snorted softly: "Old Hu, you are really outrageous! I just came to your collection of ancient houses to choose birthday gifts for the sake of being familiar with you, but you took these Come to fool me, don't tell me you have no eyesight! If you don't bring out the good things, don't blame me and leave!"

Shopkeeper Hu apologized and said with a smile: "Mr. Li said this, the villain is just a fool, how dare you offend someone like you, Mr. Li! To tell you the truth, Mr. Li, Jiguzhai also has this real treasure, but At this price..."

Li Ruo'an flicked the non-existent dust on his sleeves, and said lightly: "You can just take it out, if it is really a treasure, the price is easy to say!"

Shopkeeper Hu immediately felt relieved. Dealing with nobles like Li Ruo'an is a very troublesome thing. If these nobles say they have no money, no one will believe them. But in fact, generally speaking, if they don't have their own private property, The private money in hand is also very limited, a few tens of taels a month at most, and there is not much left after deducting pocket money. With some other income, after a year, it will not exceed 1000 taels. This much money is enough for ordinary people to eat and drink for a lifetime, but if it is used to play antiques, it will not be heard when thrown into the water.

But since Li Ruo'an vowed that the price would not be a problem, shopkeeper Hu simply took out the good things that Jiguzhai used as a front.

Li Ruo'an was indeed straightforward. After Huang Tingzhi nodded to confirm, he directly bought a freehand painting of flowers and birds by Xu Wei worth 700 taels.

Li Ruo'an paid the money, rolled up the scroll, put it in the box, and then sighed: "I finally got the same idea! Thank you, cousin, for your help!"

Huang Tingzhi smiled and said, "What are you talking about between me and you! Well, it's getting late, and it's time to go back!"

Li Ruo'an nodded and also smiled: "What cousin said is that I will be the host another day, and the younger brother will have a few drinks together then!"

Wang Ren smiled and said, "Then thank you brother for your kindness first!"