Volume 1 Chapter 111: The Magpie Announces Good News

  Hong Chen's eyes were filled with playful intent as she sized up Xuan Qi, while Su Mengxue's eyes were full of admiration. Xuan Qi was truly too powerful! He actually understood so much knowledge.

  Lao Ding said in Xuan Qi's ear: "Youngster, why didn't you use the mysterious technique on San Jiao Yan, but instead used his own spear to attack his own shield?"

  Xuan Qi said in a low voice, "Even if I make him ill or bring disaster upon him, what's the point? Firstly, he won't admit defeat. Secondly, the onlookers will still think we're in the wrong. It's better to directly lift the lid and let everyone see his true face." Xuan Qi said, pointing to his brow: "Actually, I've also used my mystical skills, searching through memories of things I've seen before."

  Xuan Qi looked at this so-so Shang Zhou three-color bottle and felt familiar, then started searching in his memory. After a while, he finally found the origin of the bottle. When taking a bus to Panjiayuan, Xuan Qi had glanced out of the window and saw a container truck parked at the entrance of the Goldfish Market, unloading goods. A large number of so-called Shang Zhou three-color bottles were piled up in front of the store, with hundreds of them stacked horizontally and vertically.

  Xuan repair is not only to practice the law, but also to cultivate many things. Being a person in the world is also a kind of cultivation. After all, in the Xuan repair circle, the biggest fist is not necessarily the most powerful cultivator. However, the smartest cultivator must be the most powerful cultivator. In this mysterious and mysterious world, diligence is important, but talent is more important, and Xuan Qi is talented.

  Lao Ding was stunned for a long time, and finally let out a sigh. Xuan Qi is really good, especially good, extremely good. As a Xuan Shi, he was born to defy the heavens and change his fate, borrowing the power of heaven and man. Strength is important, but intelligence is even more important. In the process of cultivating the Tao, many people can achieve self-reflection three times a day, but few can cultivate themselves in every situation. Xuan Qi views each difficulty as an opportunity for cultivation, while Lao Ding sees each difficulty as a test. Judging from Xuan Qi's current performance, he is indeed perfect. If he continues to develop like this, his future achievements will be boundless.

  Su Mengxue was still looking around at the stalls on both sides, she hadn't forgotten her original purpose of buying a bottle. Since there was no Xuan Qi, it might be a waste of money. Now that they had free labor, they would definitely let him take a good look.

  Xuan Qi also understood Su Meng Xue's thoughts, and after using his discerning eye to examine the stalls on both sides, he found that they were all dull and black, without any bright colors. Even the occasional shiny spots were just broken ceramic pieces. The small stalls could also be profitable, but the chances were too slim, too small. Most of them were very deceitful, some even deceived more than one person. Those with good business could deceive several people in a single day.

  "Go to the nearby stores and take a look, maybe you can find something good." Xuan Qi had given up hope on the small stalls, lifted his feet and walked towards the stores on both sides. Compared to the mobile stalls, the stores would be slightly better. They also cheat, but at most it's occasional, hooking those who are willing, not daring to cheat so obviously.

  Wandering around a store, I couldn't find a suitable vase. Firstly, the size of the vase was not right, and secondly, not all vases were suitable for gift-giving. Although these vases were antique and valuable, with exquisite craftsmanship, they were not items to be passed down as heirlooms, but rather unearthed funeral objects. In other words, they were specifically made as burial goods. If I carelessly bought one and gave it as a gift, if the recipient didn't understand its value, it would be pointless. And if the recipient did understand its value, I would have wasted my money, and giving a funeral object as a gift wouldn't that be cursing the person to die early?

  So if you want to give someone an antique, it should be a suitable one and within a certain price range. It's extremely difficult. After all, giving someone a vase worth tens of millions just to thank them for helping you switch dorms is simply unrealistic. Not to mention whether you can afford it or not, would the other person dare accept it?

  Giving gifts is also a big subject, it should be based on the recipient's social status, knowledge and interests, and then cater to their tastes, just scratching the right spot, so that it can achieve twice the result with half the effort. This is the highest realm of gift-giving.

  A red coral cloisonné peacock vase appeared in front of Xuan Qi. This vase was quite auspicious and not an unearthed cultural relic, but the price wasn't suitable, probably over ten million. Xuan Qi looked at the glass cabinet with the coral red cloisonné peacock vase inside and felt something was off, so he asked the shop assistant: "How much is this vase?"

  "This is a Qianlong mark coral red enamel peach bloom and white plum blossom decorated vase with a trumpet mouth and a drum-shaped body. The main pattern on the abdomen features coral red ground with red and white plum blossoms, twelve magpies reporting good news, and coral red ground with pink plum blossoms. The coral red ground with pink plum blossoms and twelve magpies flying over to report good news form a beautiful picture. The shape is elegant and beautiful, the flower pattern is exquisite, the twelve magpies reporting good news are full of fun, and it's very charming. It's extremely ancient and exquisite."

  The young man said, observing Xuan Qi carefully, but found that Xuan Qi's eyebrows were furrowed, thinking he suspected the porcelain was fake. He continued to say: "Such a good quality Qing Dynasty powder blue Qianlong official porcelain is now quite rare to see. Coral red is not easy to fake, because this coral red is not easy to make, so the characteristics of coral red in the Qianlong period are the most obvious!" As he spoke, he observed Xuan Qi again and didn't see his eyebrows relax, adding in a low voice: "And the price of this vase is not expensive, only 5 million."

  After hearing the quote, Xuan Qi's eyebrows relaxed and opened up. This bottle indeed had a problem. The same Qing Dynasty coral red enamel joyous magpie vase was auctioned off in 2011 with a starting price of over 30 million, and the final transaction price was over 300 million! Even considering inflation, the market price for the same Qing Dynasty coral red enamel joyous magpie vase should be between 10-30 million now. This guy is asking for 5 million, this isn't a leak, it's a scam, a scam of scams.

  Xuan Qi couldn't help but use his appraisal technique, gazing at the Qianlong-style coral red enamel glazed porcelain auspicious magpie vase in the glass case, carefully sizing it up. The appraisal technique was truly amazing, able to distinguish between antiques and handicrafts at a glance.

  Collectors of antiques have a time limit for objects, sixty years is the first cycle. Things from sixty years ago, as long as they are rare and precious, can be collectively referred to as antiques. Of course, like pickled vegetable jars from sixty years ago, although they can also be called antiques, but because of their large quantity, they have no value.

  Valuable antiques have several key elements, the most important of which is rarity, such as out-of-print stamps and precious coins. Although they are also mass-produced products with a short existence, due to their extreme scarcity, their value has skyrocketed. Occasionally, one appears, and its value is difficult to estimate.

  Then there is the historical value, for example, this item is a cross-era product, or this item was cherished and collected by a certain historical figure, which is invaluable. The price also rises rapidly. For example, the jade seal used by the emperor, or the more famous items in history.

  Then there is the academic value, through this object, it can unravel historical mysteries, or this object has left a stroke of bold and colorful in the rolling river of history, which will add potential value to this antique. For example, seismographs, water floats, and south-pointing chariots. Once unearthed or appearing in the collecting world, they immediately fill in the blanks of history, so their value is extremely high.

  There is also a type of forgery, and the quantity of such antiques is extremely rare. For example, in the Yuan dynasty kilns that produced fake Song ceramics, or in the Ming dynasty kilns that produced fake Yuan blue-and-white porcelain. Or Qi Ying's copies of Wang Xizhi's calligraphy! These things are hard to come by, and distinguishing them requires decades of experience. A new collector can only tell that something is off, but cannot say what is wrong, and may even mistake it for a fake, thus missing the opportunity.

  Xuan Qi has been practicing Xuan techniques, and as a result, he has undergone a complete transformation. His brain is now more efficient and clearer than ever before. Every experience in his life over the years, every day, every moment, every hour, every minute, and every second seems to have formed a fixed piece of information. Xuan Qi can directly search for this information using keywords and then extract it from his clear memory.

  Xuan Qi didn't have any professional or systematic education in antiques, but he worked as a security guard at a supermarket for eleven months. Every day was spent watching the warehouse, with nothing much to do. A colleague who worked with him was an old man who fantasized about getting rich overnight by picking up valuable items. He would often chat with Xuan Qi about his experiences and insights from each of his "excavations". With China's prosperity and the booming antiques market, some TV stations also started having appraisal programs. Under his colleague's guidance, Xuan Qi spent eleven months, over 330 days, chatting idly for at least eight hours a day, plus watching TV, so he actually learned quite a bit! Now, once he understands one thing, he can understand everything, and almost as soon as he sees something, he can think of it.

  Just like the Qing Dynasty Qianlong coral red enamel auspicious magpie vase in front of us, the boss here must have also seen that something is wrong with this vase, but can't quite put his finger on it, so he doesn't dare to ask for a high price. Xuan Qi then said to the shop assistant: "Let me talk to your boss about this vase!"

  The buddy was stunned for a moment, this bottle has been placed here for almost five years. Some old players took a look and turned around to leave, while some new players were deterred by the high price. This bottle stood alone here, with no one asking about it, becoming a difficult problem, just waiting to be knocked down. Now someone wants to take it, the young fellow immediately nodded his head, ran to the back hall to find the boss.

  Su Mengxue looked at the pretty coral-colored bottle, it was nice and suitable for the occasion, but the price was too high. It wasn't that Su Mengxue couldn't afford it, but rather that Principal would not accept it if she gave it to him.

  Xuan Qi seemed to see Su Meng Xue's hesitation and said in a low voice, "This vase won't be that expensive, I estimate it can be bought for around 100,000."

  Hong Qian gazed at Xuan Qi, starting to think about what he needed to do in order to get the boss to sell something worth 500,000 for 100,000. Was it Xuan's technique? Hypnosis? Or deception?

  After a while, an old man with white hair and beard, wearing a long gown and a horse jacket, came out from the back hall. He was the owner of this shop, Wei Rusong. This old man was about sixty years old, and his name suited him well. He had lived a honest life, and sat upright. He never did any deceitful or cheating business, and just the three characters "Wei Ru Song" were a shining signboard.