Chapter 143 – Two Million! (1/2)

Afternoon, at 1.50 pm.

After leaving Wang Fu Hotel, Xie Huilan and Dong Xuebing boarded the Audi and drove out of the carpark.

Dong Xuebing was sitting in the front passenger seat nervously. He secretly peeps at Xie Huilan. She had a stern look on her beautiful face. She was not only a high-ranking leader in the Central Government, but she also has a powerful backing. Now, Dong Xuebing doesn’t even dare to smile in front of her. He was glad and worried at the same time. He was delighted that he had saved her life, but he was also concerned because he had used her stockings to do that shameless thing. What’s worst was she knew about it!

Dong Xuebing’s feelings were complicated!

It was quiet in the car, and Xie Huilan suddenly laughed. “Xiao Dong, do you have any hobbies?”

Dong Xuebing cleared his throat. “Errr…… It’s not considered a hobby. But I like shopping around Antique markets and watch TV programs about antiques and collections.” He tried to make himself sound high class. He will not tell Xie Huilan that his hobbies were watching movies, online chatting, etc. These were all too ordinary.

“Oh. I also like to visit Liulichang when I am free.”

“You also like collecting stuff?”

“Yes. But I am only a beginner.”

“You are too modest. I can tell you must know a lot about antiques.”

“Is it written on my forehead? How can you tell? Hahaha…….” Xie Huilan was holding on to the steering wheel gracefully. She thought for a while and slowed down the car. “I am still thinking of buying two shirts for you as a gift. But since you like antiques, let’s go to Liulichang. The temple fair’s food street is moved to Taoranting Park, but Liulichang should still be open. You can choose an antique you like, and I will buy it as a gift for you. Ok?”

Dong Xuebing quick rejects her suggestion. “No need. No need. You have treated me to lunch, and it’s enough.”

“How can a meal be compared to life?” Xie Huilan replied firmly and drove towards the west. She did not give Dong Xuebing any choice. “Listen to me, you understand?”

Huh? I got no right to make any decision. Dong Xuebing could only smile and nod.

Two years ago, temple fair was held at Nan Xin Hua Street, and the whole street will be filled with people. All public transports were re-routed. Of course, anyone can still drive into the street if they want. But there were too many people there, and traffic will come to a standstill. It was so crowded that the distance between two people was less than the width of a palm. After the food street was shifted to Taoranting Park recently, it was not so crowded, and cars can enter that area.

West of Liulichang.

After the Audi stopped, Dong Xuebing unfastened his seatbelt and ran over to the driver’s door to open the door for Xie Huilan. He even learns from Guo Panwei to place his hand at the top of the vehicle to “protect” Xie Huilan.

Xie Huilan shook her head and smile. “You…….”

After these two days, Dong Xuebing noticed Xie Huilan likes to smile. She used different types of smiles to express her expressions. She looks like the Official ladies in Ancient times.

After entering an antique shop, Xie Huilan looked at Dong Xuebing. “Look around and see if there’s anything you like.”

Dong Xuebing did not want to let her buy any gift for him. But if he did not choose anything, she would not agree. So, after walking around the shop, he stopped in front of a wooden shelf and pointed to a grasshopper gourd, made from rosewood. Dong Xuebing knew this was the cheapest item in the shop. Even the low-grade paintings, calligraphy, and pottery were more expensive. “Sister Xie. This is a good gourd.”

Xie Huilan laughed: “It’s almost the end of grasshopper rearing season. Pick something better, ok?”

Dong Xuebing smiled shyly. “I like this.”

“Fine.” Xie Huilan asked the store assistant about the price of that gourd. It was 2,000 RMB, and she paid without saying a word. She than pass the gourd to Dong Xuebing. “Let’s look around. This gift is too cheap.”

“It’s fine. It’s fine.” Dong Xuebing held the grasshopper gourd. “This is good enough. Thank you, Sister Xie.”

Xie Huilan shook her head and laughed. “I knew you will not pick anything. Let’s walk around and see if there is anything better.” She saw Dong Xuebing still wanted to reject her, she immediately waved her hand to stop him. “I will not buy it for you, ok? I will pick something for myself. You can give me some suggestions.”

Dong Xuebing replied. “Ok. But I do not know about antiques as well as you.”

“Hahaha, stop flattering me. Let’s go.”

A lot of shops in Liulichang were closed. After walking for a while, Xie Huilan did not see anything that caught her attention. They slowly walked to East Liulichang. Xie Huilan noticed a Yellow Stone seal in the first shop she enters in East Liulichang. But when she enquires about the price, it was more than 1 million RMB. Xie Huilan shook her head. She did not buy it. It was not because she does not like it. It was because she could not afford it. How much can a Deputy Director level earn monthly?

An hour later, Dong Xuebing and Xie Huilan stood at the junction of East and West Liulichang.

Xie Huilan looked at her watch. “Let’s stop shopping. Come, I will send you back.”

“No need. You have already fetched me from my place this morning…… I can take a taxi back.”

“No…… Eh?” Xie Huilan suddenly looked at a few roadside stalls. The stalls were selling balloons and cotton candies. One of the stalls had displayed all sorts of porcelain items on its shelf. Kangxi porcelain, ancient commoner’s bowl, etc. Xie Huilan was interested in these items: “Xiao Dong, let’s take a look at this store.”

“Oh…. Ok.” Dong Xuebing followed her to the store.

The store owner was a young man around 30 years old. He was stunned by Xie Huilan’s beauty and kept looking at her. “Hi, what would you like to see?”

Xie Huilan looked at the shelves and saw a blue-colored small bowl. The bowl was painted with clouds, and the interior of the bowl had a golden dragon. Xie Huilan picked it up and examine the bottom of the bowl. There were some wordings engraved at the bottom of the bowl, stating that it was manufactured by the official kiln during Qian Long Emperor era. Usually, the antiques from these roadside stores were low-grade antiques. This bowl must also be either a counterfeit or a low-grade antique. This antique bowl was rare even in auctions, let alone by the streets. But there were still exceptions. If not, there will also not be so many stories about people finding real antiques on the streets.

The store owner looked at Xie Huilan and said: “This is from my hometown. It’s an antique produced by the ancient government’s kiln.”

Xie Huilan examined the bowl carefully and turned to Dong Xuebing and smiled: “Xiao Dong, take a look at this. What do you think?”

Dong Xuebing recognized this bowl. The name of this bowl was the Qing Dynasty Qian Long Emperor Dragon bowl. He knew about this bowl was because when he was working part-time in Pan Jia Yuan, the shop he worked for had a broken fragment of this type of bowl. That broken fragment was authentic. Although it was not worth anything, Dong Xuebing had scrutinized it several times. Seeing that Xie Huilan asking his opinion, he felt that he should show off his talent. He picked up the bowl with both hands and examined every detail of the bowl.

Hmmm…… this bowl looks similar to that broken fragment, but there seems to have some differences.

The color of this bowl was newer, and the paint was brighter. But the outlines of the designs look very similar to that fragment. The golden dragon was also more detailed.

Xie Huilan asked: “What do you think?”

Dong Xuebing jumped: “Errr…… this seems to be real, but some parts are suspicious. I am also not very sure.”

Xie Huilan turned towards the store owner. “How much are you selling?”

The store owner replied. “50,000 RMB.”

Xie Huilan shook her head and smiled: “If this is really from the government kiln, you will not sell it for 50,000 RMB. Make it cheaper.”

“This is really an antique. The ancestor of that man from my hometown was from Beijing……

Xie Huilan waved her hand to stop him. “Let’s talk about the price and not the story. Ok?”

The store owner smiled embarrassedly. “I got this bowl at 40,000 RMB. My profit is not a lot. I really can’t sell it to you lower than 50,000 RMB.”

“Never mind.”

If this bowl were real, it would be worth more than a few hundred thousand. This would be considered finding a treasure on the streets. If this bowl is selling for a few hundred or thousand, it’s not a problem to take a gamble. But 50,000 RMB is not a small amount. Furthermore, Dong Xuebing and Xie Huilan could not tell whether if this bowl was authentic. More than 70 to 80% of such bowls in the market were fakes. That’s why Xie Huilan decided not to buy it.

“Xiao Dong, let’s go.”

Dong Xuebing was disappointed for failing to impress Xie Huilan. This was the problem with antiques. Even if you had seen an authentic antique before and understand it well, but it’s hard to tell the difference between a fake and the real item. This was because of how the antique was preserved. If it was well kept, the colors and paintings would be different from another antique, which was not maintained properly. Sigh…… if I can examine it from the broken section. He had examined the broken part of a fragment of that Qing Dynasty Qian Long Emperor Dragon bowl before. He would be able to tell whether if that bowl was real or fake by the broken section. No matter how real the exterior painting was, the fractured section…… Who would be able to tell? There were thousands of ways to authenticate an antique and no one in the world would smash an antique to authenticate it. If the antique were found to be real through this method, it would be meaningless. The bowl was already shattered and the value……

Eh?

Dong Xuebing stopped in his tracks when he thought until here!

Damn! There’s someone who can authenticate an antique through this crazy method.

Dong Xuebing was the one who can do this!

The store owner saw the woman walking away, but this young man was still standing there. “Young man, please take a look carefully. This bowl is really from the government’s kiln.”

“Really?” Dong Xuebing picks up the bowl again. “Let me take a closer look.”

The store owner laughed. “Sure. Go ahead.”

Dong Xuebing nodded. He raised his arms suddenly and smashed the bowl on the floor in front of the shocked store owner. Smash! The bowl was shattered into pieces.

“What the f**k are you doing?!” The storeowner was furious.

Xie Huilan, who was a few steps away, was also stunned. “Xiao Dong! What’s wrong?”

Dong Xuebing calmly replies. “I want to look at the interior of the bowl.”

The store owner points at Dong Xuebing and shouts: “Everybody saw you breaking this bowl! 50,000 RMB! Pay up! Pay me now!”

Dong Xuebing ignored the storeowner’s screaming and the bystanders. He quickly picks up a broken piece of the bowl from the floor carefully and examines it. He also touched the broken section carefully to feel the texture.

After a while, Dong Xuebing’s face changed color. That’s right. Everything fits.

The thickness of the paint was the same, and the interior of the bowl was white and smooth. It’s not the same as the fake porcelain created by modern technology. The piece in his hand felt precisely the same as that broken fragment he has seen before!

This bowl was real!