AWB Chapter 501 My little shop is all thanks to you!
Chapter 501 My little shop is all thanks to you!
Then I turned over a copper pot wrapped in cloth. It had a strange shape and the mouth of the pot looked like a garlic head.
Gu Mobai wiped off the dust on the body of the pot and found two small snake-like patterns coiled on it. The snake heads had round eyes staring at him, looking a bit fierce.
I knocked on the pot and the sound was very clear.
He carefully checked the seams at the bottom of the pot and confirmed that it was an old item. This kind of pot could be sold for 50,000 or 60,000 yuan in the market, but the fat man had just used it as a pickle jar.
What made his heart beat faster the most was the painting of flowers and birds.
When you unfold it, you will see two colorful birds standing on the flowers, with their feathers layered in colors of red, yellow and green, just like real birds.
The petals are even more stunning, as red as freshly picked roses, and even the gold powder on the stamens is still sparkling.
"Yun Shouping" was written on the corner of the painting. His master had mentioned this name before. He was a great painter in the Qing Dynasty.
Gu Mobai swallowed his saliva. If this painting were to be auctioned, it would fetch at least 500,000 yuan.
Gu Mobai bent over and searched in the warehouse, his eyes scanning every object like a scanner.
The fat man followed behind to help clean up, putting the things he had found in a neat pile. He couldn't help but ask, "Boss, how much are these things worth?"
Gu Mobai didn't even raise his head as he replied, "Don't worry, I'll pay you exactly what I paid for everything I picked out."
The fat man was overjoyed, his face full of flattery and smiles: "Boss, you are still reliable! My little shop is all thanks to you!"
Gu Mobai straightened up, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and said jokingly:
"You need to practice your eyesight more.
You can’t get into antiques without a good eye, and what good will it bring you if you just sell fakes?”
The fat man nodded repeatedly:
"You're right! By the way, Boss, there's a small auction in the market tonight.
There's also a gambling event on stones, would you like to join in the fun?"
Gu Mobai's eyes lit up and he readily agreed: "Okay! I'll go after I finish counting these things."
The fat man rubbed his hands and added:
"That place is lively at night, I'll take you there then.
This kind of auction is very complicated. If you are lucky, you might be able to find a big bargain! "
Gu Mobai was still searching with his head down when he suddenly caught sight of a dusty old bundle in the corner and frowned.
The fat man nimbly brought the bag over and explained with a grin:
“I collected this from an old lady’s house on the outskirts of the city.
The old man was over eighty years old and his family was extremely poor. He insisted that the rice was a family heirloom and wanted to exchange it for two bags of rice.
I really can't resist, so I'll just take it back as a favor. Do you have any opinion on this?"
The bundle was tied with faded blue cloth, and the edges were worn and fuzzy.
Gu Mobai untied the knot, revealing several layers of yellowed oil paper wrapped inside.
Lifting the oil paper revealed a small blue and white porcelain bowl. There was a slight chip on the rim of the bowl, but the lotus pattern underneath was delicately painted, and the glaze had a warm luster.
There is also a copper snuff bottle next to it, with mountains and rivers engraved on the body. Although it has a little green rust, it feels heavy to the touch.
At the bottom was a silver hairpin with a thumb-sized jadeite inlaid on the head. The water head looked pretty good.
These things are pretty good, so Gu Mobai put them aside.
Gu Mobai wiped the sweat from his forehead and casually slammed the bronze candlestick in his hand onto the dusty wooden table, causing several ceramic bowls nearby to jingle.
"Two whole hours! Except for these rusty things.
I didn't even find a single valuable hair!"
He grabbed the kettle and took a gulp, his Adam's apple rolling violently. "Fatty, you have a really good eye. All this junk is piled up here, even the scrap collectors have to take a detour!"
The fat man shrank his neck and laughed dryly: "I can't help it! Look at this shop, there's nothing but rat droppings and spider webs. Business is so bad that it could even support ghosts!"
He suddenly leaned closer, lowered his voice and spoke mysteriously, "Let me tell you something. A few days ago, a group of people came to me and said that as long as I put in some capital and lend a hand, they could join me in tomb raiding..."
"Tomb robbing?" Gu Mobai turned around suddenly and sneered:
"Are you out of your mind?
That's a life-or-death business! Traps, corpse poison, gangs robbing gangs...
Which one is not enough for you to drink a whole pot of wine?"
He gave the fat man a hard push, and the latter stumbled and bumped into the wall, shaking off a piece of wall plaster. "Give up this idea as soon as possible, before you get yourself into trouble!"
The fat man chuckled, his eyes narrowed into slits: "With Brother Gu watching me, which scammer would dare to come to my door? I know what I'm doing!"
He leaned over and asked in a low voice, "Brother Gu, are you planning to stay in the capital for a long time this time?"
Gu Mobai casually threw the old copper coins he had dug out back into the box and said, "Hmm," "I'm not leaving. I'm going to find a legitimate business here."
He dusted off his hands and glanced at the dusty shelves in the store: "Don't always think of crooked ways. If you really lose your life, you won't even have a place to cry.
Just as he finished speaking, the shop assistant rushed in in a panic: "Boss, someone's looking for you outside! They say it's an old acquaintance of yours, and they also mentioned 'tomb robbing'..."
When the fat man heard this, his eyes immediately widened and he turned to look at Gu Mobai eagerly: "Brother Gu, how about... go and take a look?"
Gu Mobai patted his dusty hands and said, "I'll come right after I wash my hands."
When he came out from the back after wiping his hands, he saw three countrymen in patched clothes, holding bulging snakeskin bags in their hands, staring at the fat man as if they were guarding against thieves.
The fat man quickly put on a smile and said, "One of us! This is my boss! Come in and sit down!"
Then he winked at the waiter and said, "What are you still standing there for? Go make some tea!"
Several people entered the fat man's office. The room was not big. There was an old wooden table against the wall, on which were piled account books and half a half-eaten sesame cake. There were several plastic chairs tilted around the table.
There was a yellowed New Year picture of "Bringing in Wealth and Treasure" pasted on the wall, and in the corner were several cardboard boxes filled with copper coins and porcelain pieces, emitting a musty smell.
The fat man kicked away the old newspaper at his feet and said, "Sit anywhere! Let's chat slowly!"
The old man in the lead glanced warily at the half-open door, his eyes darting back and forth between the fat man and Gu Mobai: "Boss Tang, there are rules in this business. Just look at the things and don't ask any other questions."
As he spoke, he ripped open the bag with a loud noise, and a damp smell of rotten earth mixed with the smell of rust hit him in the face.
A few pieces of dark blue pottery and half a rusty bronze ware rolled onto the table, with dark red mud still on the edges.
The fat man rubbed his hands together and leaned over. He picked up the pottery shard with his fat fingers and held it up to the light, making a "tsk tsk" sound in his throat. "Wow, this pattern looks like it's from the Han Dynasty? Freshly unearthed?"
He suddenly lowered his voice: "Which line did you touch? Mangshan? How deep did you dig the Luoyang shovel?"
The old man grabbed the snakeskin bag fiercely:
“Boss Tang, if you want to buy it sincerely, let’s negotiate the price according to the rules.
If you don’t accept it, I’ll turn around and leave.”
Just as the old man was about to stuff the things back into the snakeskin bag, the fat man rushed forward and pressed the bag's opening tightly with his fat palm:
"Oh my! Bro, where can I find a place to stay in the middle of the day?
"Look at Wang Quezi across the street, he's so stingy, he might even lower the price to the bone!"