Chapter 83: The Black Market for Antiques (Three)

  Moreover, Chu Chen also learned from their conversation that Zhao Qirui should know the parents of this Yu Shao, which means that this Yu Shao is very likely to be another official's son, but why Zhao Qirui would not care about this Yu Shao is unknown.

  Yu Shao also knew he was unwelcome here, so he invited Zhao Qirui to attend the auction at his company next month on the fifth, and then took his leave.

  Chu Chen had a guess at this point, was it that old Dong who went to Yu Shao's company?

  After Yu Shao left, Zhao Qirui snorted and turned to Chu Chen: "This person is the son of my childhood friend, but I don't like his parents. He follows in their footsteps, a complete hypocrite. His appearance already shows what kind of person he is."

  Chu Chen smiled after hearing the words, he didn't like this Yu Shao either. Although he had a good face, but the whole person gave people a gloomy feeling. Moreover, from his complexion and the somewhat floating gait, it was clear that this man was indulgent in lust, a complete lecher.

  "Are you still going to his auction?"

  "Go on," said Zhao Qirui with a smile, "Why not go? I don't dislike those antiques."

  "Sorry, Brother Zhao, I really am sorry. I have to go to Dali on the fifth and won't be able to accompany you then," Chu Chen said apologetically.

  Zhao Qirui waved his hand and said magnanimously, "It doesn't matter, this kid's company is holding its first auction, he wouldn't dare to mess it up. Besides, if he dares to cheat me, don't blame me for not being polite, just because of that old man who was the deputy head of the cultural department, I can crush him in a minute."

  Then he smiled and said: "Xiao Chu, are you going to Dian Nan to gamble for stones? I have no other requests. If you get high-quality material, leave a piece for me, okay?"

  Chu Chen smiled and said: "If I opened up a high-end jade, I would definitely leave one for you, but you also know that this kind of thing is unpredictable when it comes to gambling on stones, so I don't dare guarantee anything."

  "Hehe, Xiaochu, don't be modest, I'm still waiting to see your skills. When the time comes, I'll be expecting good news from you." Zhao Qirui joked casually.

  After a rest of about five or six minutes, the woman came to the front desk again. Then, staff members brought out bronze wares, ancient ceramics, jade articles and calligraphies and paintings one after another and put them on the desk. Seeing this situation, everyone present was excited and thought that something interesting was coming up.

  Taking advantage of this gap, Ma Tu, who was beside him, also introduced relevant rules to Chu Chen.

  The next auction item can also be viewed in advance, but there is one rule: the amount of money you bring determines how much you can bid. The proof of how much money you have is the seal stamped on the previous ID card.

  That seal is divided into three levels: A, B, and C. Level A can see everything, level B can see tens of millions of things, while level C can only see tens of thousands of things.

  In fact, if there were no leaders like Ma Tu Zi, ordinary people would only auction during the verification of money. Zhao Qi Rui not only had this convenience but also had a premium when bidding. However, there are limitations, generally, the premium can only be applied to one item, and the excess amount cannot exceed 300,000.

  Although this is the case, it's already a special concession in the antique black market. However, this money is actually also counted on Ma Tu Zi's head, and the people behind the scenes will definitely not suffer any losses.

  The woman smiled and said: "Now the second round of auction begins, the first item is a Qing Dynasty Qianlong period blue and white dragon pattern plate, starting price 3,000."

  As soon as the words were spoken, a beam of light shone down from above onto that piece of Qinghua plate, instantly illuminating it with a dazzling brilliance, making it breathtakingly beautiful and greatly increasing one's interest.

  And then, unlike the first round, this woman simply introduced herself and stopped.

  After a brief wait, someone came forward to take a look. Before doing so, he first flashed his ID and then picked up the Qinghua plate for examination. After sizing it up for a moment, the man put down the Qinghua plate and walked back to sit down again.

  After that, a few more people came on stage to take a look, but then fewer and fewer people came forward to verify. After all, the thing was too cheap, even if it were genuine, Chu Chen estimated that its price at a real auction would be around 200,000 yuan, and the bosses present obviously weren't interested in something of this level.

  "Everyone, place your bids." The woman waited for a minute before speaking directly.

  Five thousand

  "Seven Thousand"

  "Eight thousand..."

  Although the price is rising, it's clear that there are only two people bidding, and no one else has made an offer. The final price was quoted at 11,000 yuan and stopped moving, apparently this is the psychological price for both parties.

  At this price, Chu Chen wasn't surprised either. People who come here are all sophisticated, unless it's something they particularly like, everyone will tacitly lower the price a bit.

  After all, this is a black market, and a large part of the things here are problematic. Otherwise, why wouldn't the owner take them to an auction house for bidding? Even if they urgently need money, taking it to an antique shop can easily fetch a price of 10,000 yuan.

  "Deal!"

  Black market auctions, as long as the goods are not particularly attractive, the auctioneer will not drag on for half a day like regular auctions, and generally it's a one-shot deal.

  Then, the buyer went on stage and took down the Qinghua plate. A staff member at the table edge first recorded the buyer's certificate number and settled with him after the auction ended. It was too troublesome to settle once for each bid.

  After the transaction was completed, the spotlight immediately shone on the second auction item, which was a more exquisite three-beast-footed bronze incense burner with a lion-shaped knob.

  "Second item, Ming Wanli period, an incense burner."

  As for this thing, the buyers present were more interested, and almost half of the people on the scene came forward to take a look. Some nodded in admiration, while others shook their heads in disappointment. Of course, whether he thought it was true or false was only known to him.

  This incense burner also interested Zhao Qirui, so he let Chu Chen go up and take a look.

  This three-beast-footed bronze incense burner has a lid in the shape of a auspicious beast, with hollowed-out cloud patterns, and its neck is carved with a brocade pattern of ten thousand characters. Its two ears point towards the sky, and its three feet are decorated with beast faces. The style is made to be ancient and elegant, with a unique flavor.

  However, as soon as he held the censer in his hand, Chu Chen's keen senses detected that its weight was off. In an instant, he knew it wasn't a genuine article from the Wanli period. After carefully examining several characteristics, he let out a faint sigh - he hadn't expected to encounter another fake so soon. No wonder people said that when dealing with antiques on the black market, one had to keep their eyes wide open.

  After returning to his seat, Chu Chen said in a low voice: "This thing has two 'Ming', one is the people's kiln and the other is the Republic of China."

  Zhao Qirui smiled lightly, not taking it to heart, thinking that everything on the black market was good stuff, and that must be a fool. Since it's a black market, would others still have any scruples? Of course, the organizer wouldn't dare to bring out too many fakes for auction, or their reputation would be ruined, and who would come to participate in the auction then?

  However, not every buyer on the scene had Chu Chen's extraordinary eyesight. After the auction started, it didn't take long for the price of this incense burner to soar to 130,000 yuan, and in the end, it was sold to a stout buyer for 220,000 yuan.

  The buyer looked quite excited, and when Chu Chen saw him take the incense burner down from the stage, the fat on his face was shaking with excitement, and his eyes were full of inexplicable excitement. Seeing this, Chu Chen had some malicious thoughts in her heart, what kind of expression would this person have if he knew that the incense burner was a fake?

  The third lot is a white jade dragon-shaped pendant with a natural hole. The term "natural hole" refers to an item that has just been unearthed, and in general, the organizer will specify the origin of such items, so that buyers can be aware of it, and if they want to avoid risks, they should not bid on it.

  Because of the influence of Chu Chen's jade cicada, Zhao Qirui decided to buy a piece of ancient jade to play with, and so this piece of jade pendant caught his attention.

  However, it's clear that there are many people interested in this jade pendant, and Yu Shao is one of them. As a result, Chu Chen happened to meet Qian Changxing who was walking down from the stage.

  As they approached each other, Qian Changxing said in a low and vicious tone: "You little brat, I won't let you off."

  Chu Chen was too lazy to bother with him, but since he said so, he definitely had to teach him a lesson. So Chu Chen gathered all the aura around his body into his eyes and stared at Qian Changxing.

  As his psychic powers grew, Chu Chen's aura became increasingly powerful, but he usually kept it suppressed within himself, making it imperceptible to ordinary people. Now, if the aura surrounding him were to fully manifest, even a young person with excellent mental resilience would be unable to withstand it, let alone Qian Changxing, that old man.

  Under Chu Chen's glare, Qian Changxing was so frightened that his heart was racing and he almost fell over. He looked up at Chu Chen with a terrified expression in his eyes. Afterward, he didn't even dare to say a few harsh words, and could only slink back to his seat with his tail between his legs.

  Zhao Qirui found this situation a bit strange and asked, "What's going on with Qian Changxing? Did Xiao Chu push him? That shouldn't be, earlier they were both at a distance from each other."

  A Chu's expression was somewhat solemn as he said, "I didn't expect Little Chu to be a cultivator's child, and his realm is very high. He actually scared Old Man Qian half to death with just his aura."

  Zhao Qirui and Ma Tuizi were stunned upon hearing this, both of them were not ignorant, they knew that Ah Chao was not telling a lie, and they couldn't help but exclaim, it really wasn't obvious, Xiao Chu actually turned out to be a master.

  Carefully taking the jade pendant in hand, Chu Chen felt at a glance that this jade pendant was not simple.

  This jade pendant is carved from a piece of high-quality Hetian white jade, with a flat and hollowed-out body, featuring a dragon shape that is both unique and dynamic. The dragon's head is raised, its eyes are small but expressive, and its mouth is slightly open as if it were about to make a sound.