Chapter 8: Precious Furniture

  It started out okay, but as the saying goes, "walk a night road often enough and you'll eventually run into ghosts." In the end, I managed to offend someone with considerable power. Not only did it take a year to resolve, but it also cost me a small fortune. At the time, this incident had quite an impact on the antique business.

  Qian Changxing disappeared after coming out, and it is said that he went to the south. It is not known when he came back, and he became Zhao Qirui's appraiser.

  Zhao Xueyi said with some resentment: "Lao Dong is really something, he clearly knows Qian Changxing's character, but still protects him."

  "Alas!" Zhu Dafu sighed and said, "I know about this matter. Old Dong had no choice either. The two families have been acquainted for generations, and during the chaotic period, Qian Changxing's father even saved Old Dong's life. Can you say that Old Dong could bear to ignore him? Everyone has their own difficulties!"

  The carriage fell silent for a moment.

  Before long, the two cars arrived at a household's gate. After everyone got out of the car, they didn't look around first, but instead stretched their bodies. Having sat in the car for over five hours, their entire body was somewhat stiff. Fortunately, the two elderly people were in good health; otherwise, it would be really unbearable for ordinary sixty or seventy-year-olds.

  There were three people on Zhao Qirui's side, with the driver acting as his bodyguard. As soon as Chu Chen saw the driver's spirit, he knew he was a good hand, although he had never seen the legendary Zhongnanhai bodyguards before. The driver should be no exception, and from this point, it can also be seen that Zhao Qirui's background is not simple.

  When Zhao Qirui and others got off the bus, Chu Chen and others all came forward to greet him. During this time, Chu Chen carefully sized him up again.

  Zhao Qirui looks like he's forty-one or two years old, with a sturdy build, thick eyebrows and big eyes, exuding an air of refinement. He doesn't look like a billionaire who has been pampered and respected at all, and as a person, he also seems quite approachable.

  Zhao Qirui and Wu Shu were also old acquaintances, warmly shaking hands and greeting each other when they met. However, when it was Chu Chen's turn, he felt Zhao Qirui hesitate for a moment before smiling and asking Wu Shu and the others.

  "Who is this young man? He looks quite spirited. I've never seen him before."

  Chu Chen is 1.83 meters tall, with thick eyebrows and big eyes, a straight nose bridge, and due to years of practicing boxing, there is not an ounce of excess flesh on his body, giving off an air of confidence and grandeur. Plus, he often has a smiling face, so at first glance, he appears to be a sunny youth, thus many people have a very good first impression of him.

  "Wu Shu hastily replied: 'Director Zhao, this is my nephew. He has followed me to learn some knowledge about ceramics and has come with me today to broaden his horizons. In the future, I will still need to ask Director Zhao for more guidance.'"

  Chu Chen hastily bowed and said: "Hello Director Zhao, I'm Chu Chen. Please take care of me from now on."

  Zhao Qirui's eyes lit up after hearing, then dimmed again, and he patted Chu Chen's shoulder with a smile: "Alright, kid's not bad, as long as it's within my power, I'll definitely help."

  Everyone who heard it couldn't help but smile, and Chu Chen also smiled and thanked Zhao Qirui, but in his heart, he didn't take it seriously, thinking that Zhao Qirui was just talking nonsense.

  Everyone was having a good time, but there was also a discordant note. Qian Changxing, who had been standing beside Zhao Qirui from the beginning, looked at Wu Shu and others with a hint of resentment in his eyes, and didn't even greet them from start to finish.

  Qian Changxing was originally quite short and small, with a somewhat sly and cunning appearance, and he also had a goatee. Chu Chen already had some unpleasant feelings about him, and now his evaluation of Qian Changxing in his heart was even lower than when he first heard about him. Even if Qian Changxing didn't think much of people like himself, it would be better to at least pretend to greet them.

  Now Zhao Qirui is chatting and laughing with Wu Shu and others, but you are standing still. Are you higher than Zhao Qirui's status? If so, it would be strange if Zhao Qirui didn't notice, and indeed that was the case. Chu Chen clearly felt a hint of dissatisfaction and estrangement from Zhao Qirui towards Qian Changxing.

  Afterwards, everyone walked towards that household, and it was only then that Chu Chen began to take in his surroundings.

  This family's house is in the typical style of Shanxi merchant's courtyard, although it's not as big as those especially large ones that are tens of thousands of square meters, but over a thousand square meters is still available. The whole wall looks particularly high and magnificent, like a castle, just by looking at it you can tell its defensive capabilities must be extremely strong.

  Zhao Xueyi knocked on the door of the household, and soon an old man opened it. The old man looked like he was in his seventies or eighties, but he was dressed quite spiritedly. After walking out the door, he bowed to everyone and said: "I just felt that you were about to arrive, please come in." He made a welcoming gesture with his hand.

  After entering the courtyard, Chu Chen couldn't help but look around, and the buildings followed the characteristics of Shanxi merchants' large courtyards. The main houses were mostly single-slope roofs, and the courtyards were long and narrow from east to west, and long from south to north. The layout of the entire courtyard was like a simplified version of the famous Qiao Family Courtyard.

  Mr. Li, the old man, was also a collector, and he had known Zhao Xueyi for many years. This trip was made at Mr. Li's invitation.

  Mr. Li invited everyone to sit down in the living room, and after pouring tea for everyone, he began to speak: "You are all here for the first time, so let me tell you a bit about my situation. Zhao knows it too - I've been playing with antiques for most of my life, but unfortunately, neither my son nor daughter is interested in antiques, and they have both emigrated overseas."

  "I'm getting old now, and after I die, they'll eventually sell all these antiques anyway. So I think it's better to pass them on to fellow antique enthusiasts, rather than having my children ruin them."

  Zhao Xueyi nodded and said: "Old Li, I've told the others about your situation. Time is precious, let's go take a look at the items first."

  Mr. Li smiled and took them to a storage room. Chu Chen walked in and found that the room was not as he had imagined, with no antique decorations at all.

  Seeing the puzzled expressions of everyone, Mr. Li said: "Hehe, sorry everyone, some local Tibetan friends knew that my items were going to be handed over and had already come over once."

  "Hey!" Zhao Xueyi said with some indignation: "Old Li, isn't this a bit unfair? We've traveled all the way from Beijing, are we supposed to pick up someone else's leftovers?"

  Mr. Li smiled and waved his hand, saying: "Old Zhao, don't get angry first, I've kept the good stuff for you guys, I guarantee each of you will have a harvest."

  After finishing speaking, he brought everyone in front of a square table, pointing to the table and two armchairs beside it: "You all take a look at these three things first, I'll go get some more treasures."

  As soon as Mr. Li left, everyone immediately began to examine this table and chair.

  First of all, let's talk about this table. The table is approximately 1.6 meters wide and 50 cm deep, with a height of around 80 cm. At first glance, the wood grain on the table is clear and flowing like clouds and water, very beautiful. Moreover, you can clearly see the naturally formed "ghost face" pattern, which are the basic characteristics of Huanghuali wood.

  Looking at the thickness of the varnish on the surface of the table, it can be seen that this Huanghuali desk should have some age.

  Zhu Dafu took out a handkerchief and wiped the table, then took out a magnifying glass and examined it carefully. After a while, he said to everyone: "Not bad, this should be a HaiN Huang Huali table. Judging from its varnish and workmanship, it should be a product of the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, with great collection value."

  Everyone should have no doubts, all nodded in agreement, only Qian Changxing stood on the side with a expressionless face, making Chu Chen feel very uncomfortable, and afterwards simply didn't look at him, out of sight, out of mind.

  Then, looking at the chairs again, it can be seen that both of them are made of purple sandalwood and are five-screen armchairs.

  Zitan furniture is a kind of classical high-grade furniture made from zitan wood, combining art and personality. Zitan furniture has always had a relatively high status in China, and only emperors were allowed to use it during the Ming and Qing dynasties.

  Padauk is a very precious wood, it grows slowly and cannot be harvested for hundreds of years. The large materials are extremely difficult to obtain, and the wood is hard and dense, making it suitable for carving various exquisite patterns. Objects made from padauk can be polished with wax to produce a silky luster without the need for varnish or oil.

  The texture of purple sandalwood is fine and floating, with endless changes, especially its deep color tone, which makes it look stable and beautiful. It is considered the best among woods, with the largest diameter being only about 20 cm, and there is a saying that "one inch of purple sandalwood is worth one inch of gold".

  Padauk wood, only the royal family had the power to go to Nanyang for procurement. Various countries also offered tribute to the emperor, and civilians could not get it at all. Later, there was also padauk wood in local areas, but it was also used by local kings, nobles and aristocrats.

  It's extremely rare to come across an exquisitely crafted piece of old purple sandalwood furniture, but now there are two beautifully crafted purple sandalwood five-screen armchairs on display before my eyes, which can't help but invigorate one's spirit.

  These two zitan five-screen armchairs are almost identical, with the back and arms made of solid panels in a thick single board, presenting a five-screen style. The curved lines of the arms are beautiful, and the headrest is designed in a scroll-like shape that extends far back. Both sides of the back panel feature high-relief carvings of "Fu Qing You Yu" patterns, while the arms also feature high-relief carvings of transformed dragon motifs on both sides.

  The seat panel is made of flat material, with no expense spared in the use of materials, and the workmanship is exquisite. Judging from its characteristics, such as the package paste workmanship, it should be a Guang-style furniture piece from the Qianlong period.

  Guangcai refers to furniture mainly produced in the Guangdong area, characterized by generous use of materials and no compromise on quality.

  Guang-style furniture emphasizes the consistency of wood, and never mixes other types of wood. Craftsmen select the best materials to make it. In order to show off the beautiful texture, Guang-style furniture is not painted with varnish, and the wood grain is fully exposed.

  During the Qing dynasty, all furniture in the palace was made by GD's teacher Fu, and even now, only GD's teacher Fu's craftsmanship is the most traditional and authentic.

  These two five-screen armchairs are undoubtedly masterpieces among the many works, with great representativeness and are rare treasures.

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