Reborn As Super Heiress

Chapter 863: Chapter 859: Pick Anything for a Thousand Bucks

After about ten minutes of looking, Li Quan finally spoke:

”You’ve shown this thing to others before coming to me, right? You should know that there’s a problem with it?”

The man was taken aback, not expecting Li Quan to be so direct, and his expression turned awkward.

Li Quan chuckled, ”It’s obvious you’re an outsider, not familiar with the ins and outs of the antique circle.”

”In our circle, we don’t accept just anything. Items that are too smoky, smell like soil, or those prohibited by official documents, we don’t take any of those.”

”Your item is finely crafted, but it’s only a couple of decades old, maybe twenty or thirty years. If you say it’s an antique, it’s not; if you say it violates regulations, it was indeed made before the issuance of the ’Animal Protection Law’, so it’s tricky to define, a bit problematic.”

At this point, Li Quan glanced at Huo Sining, deliberated on his wording, and then said, ”If you really want to sell this, I’m willing to take a bit of a risk, but the price won’t be high. For these three Tortoiseshell Crafts, eighty thousand is my limit.”

Upon hearing this price, the man immediately got angry: ”Eighty thousand? Are you kidding? My grandfather didn’t have anything cheap in his collection. Just yesterday, my cousin sold a plate for hundreds of thousands! And you’re offering only eighty thousand for these three items? Who are you trying to fool?”

Li Quan gave a faint smile, ”A plate? Porcelain items, especially valuable ones like Blue and White Porcelain, can fetch millions or even billions. Your three tortoiseshell items simply can’t compare.”

The man, hearing Li Quan’s words, felt a surge of deep resentment and jealousy. He knew his items were hard to sell, but selling them for eighty thousand felt too demeaning. He had worked hard to get these items, and seeing that his cousin’s single plate could fetch more than his three combined made him feel very unbalanced, an unresolved fury brewing inside him.

”Your items are borderline cases. Even if I buy them, I’d need someone highly respected in the circle to write an appraisal report. If someone finds out and reports it, the items would be confiscated, and we’d lose everything. We wouldn’t come back to you for compensation, right? We’re taking a big risk, so we need to earn something for that, don’t you agree?”

After this analysis, Li Quan changed his tone, starting a psychological tactic. This emotional approach made the man’s resistance gradually soften as he began to reconsider the price’s reasonableness.

Huo Sining, standing beside, noticed a slight curve on her lips, a glint of admiration in her eyes, discreetly sending Li Quan a look of approval.

Receiving Huo Sining’s encouraging signal, Li Quan felt invigorated, as if injected with adrenaline, and continued working on the man’s thoughts:

”You probably tried a few other antique shops before coming here, and I don’t need to tell you the reception you got. I dare promise right here no one on this street will offer you more than I do. If there were, I wouldn’t waste time talking to you.”

”Also, my shop hasn’t opened yet, and I don’t have much stock. Your items would fit perfectly for the opening exhibition. But you don’t have much time to consider; miss this chance, and it’s gone. Think it over carefully.”

The man’s expression was unpredictable; Li Quan’s words chilled his heart.

Before coming here, he had indeed visited seven or eight shops, but they weren’t the right places. They either dealt in jade artifacts or porcelain, showing little interest in his tortoiseshell items, merely giving them a passing glance, unwilling to even touch them.

Two shops recognized his items as tortoiseshell, their expressions changing instantly, treating them like hot potatoes and unceremoniously shooing him out.

One store dealing in writing materials found his pen holder and fan interesting, but the offered price nearly made him explode, capping at ten thousand. He’d be a fool to sell to such an ignorant shop!

With this experience and hearing Li Quan’s words, the man was bewildered, fearing that if he missed this opportunity, selling his items would indeed be difficult.

”Eighty thousand is too low.” The man said in a defeated tone, his gaze flitting to the three items on the table, suddenly voicing another idea, ”This fan has calligraphy and paintings; you should at least take a look. It might be a masterpiece from a renowned calligrapher. If so, it’s worth much more, right?”

Heh, he knows about masterpieces! Hearing this, Huo Sining couldn’t help but laugh.

Li Quan, knowing the man wasn’t giving up, opened the fan, revealing slightly yellowed paper, with a landscape painting likely from the modern era.

Modern-era fan paintings had many masters: Yun Shouping, Zheng Banqiao, Jin Nong, Shi Tao, Ren Bonian, Wu Changshuo, Qi Baishi, Zhang Daqian, Xu Beihong, Fu Baoshi, Li Keran, whose works could fetch tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands per piece.

The fan depicted lofty mountains, ancient trees, streams, sailing boats; rocks and forests solidly executed, with strong brushwork, color blending, and shading meticulously done, despite the small fan surface, creating a sense of deep spatial depth.

Such skill suggested a master’s work, but the fan bore only a simple inscription: ”In the early summer of the Guisi Year, I met Brother Jie Zhi.” No signature followed, just a red seal: Zhong Gu Daoren.

Seeing the inscription, Li Quan shook his head and began appraising the fan: ”This should be a modern piece, the artist’s skill is strong but not a major name, thus the market value isn’t high. I’ve never heard of ’Zhong Gu Daoren’, nor any master with such a pseudonym. The style doesn’t match any known masters.”

”But you said the skill isn’t weak, right? Isn’t it worth at least twenty to thirty thousand?” The man was still not giving up.

Li Quan laughed, pointing to a wooden barrel in the corner of his counter: ”See those rolled-up scrolls? They are works by some lesser-known modern calligraphers, all deeply skilled. A thousand each, take your pick.”