"What's going on? My right eyelid keeps twitching!"
Back in the modern world, Wang Xu felt a bit uneasy.
Thinking carefully, he found nothing and just assumed he was overthinking; young people should believe in science.
"I've struck it rich, struck it rich." Regaining his composure, Wang Xu closed the shuttle gate and stared at the two treasures, grinning foolishly.
A Ming Dynasty incense burner and a Northern Song masterpiece—both were treasures worthy of being family heirlooms.
He didn't know much about antiques, so now that he was back in the modern era, he quickly started searching online.
Opening his laptop, the first thing he looked up was Dong Yuan's Autumn Mountains, Misty Rain.
In his impression, landscape paintings by famous masters should be more valuable than incense burners.
After all, he rarely heard much about incense burners, while paintings by Tang Bohu and Qi Baishi were hyped up to astronomical prices.
"Crap, how can this be!"
A quick search revealed that there really was information on Autumn Mountains, Misty Rain online. However, it was part of a collection in a History Museum in Singapore. They overlapped.
What should he do? This was a huge joke.
Wang Xu was certain that no matter where he took his Autumn Mountains, Misty Rain for appraisal, it would be 100% authentic.
However, there couldn't possibly be two original versions of Autumn Mountains, Misty Rain in this world.
Even thinking with his toes, if the two paintings were placed together, every single expert and scholar would be completely bewildered.
But then again, did Wang Xu dare to contest the authenticity? No. His ancestors for three generations were poor farmers, and his business as a reseller had just started. Revealing Autumn Mountains, Misty Rain would just be inviting trouble.
"Enter the village quietly, don't fire a shot!" Wang Xu's heart was full of melancholy. Looking at the Autumn Mountains, Misty Rain in his hand, he gave it a fierce rip... *Rippp*... The scroll was torn in two. Wang Xu let out a long sigh and hummed, "That feels better!"
He had finally managed to get two treasures, only for one to overlap. Who could say he wasn't upset?
Selling the real thing as a fake—Wang Xu didn't like that.
Selling it as real? Other people weren't idiots. Autumn Mountains, Misty Rain was sitting in a museum. Only a fool would believe him, and it might even lead to a major disaster.
He might as well just finish the job and tear it up... Wang Xu's hands moved up and down, and Autumn Mountains, Misty Rain was shredded to pieces in his hands.
Honestly, destroying something worth tens of millions could really stir up one's desire for destruction.
Wang Xu felt quite refreshed. No wonder many people, despite knowing it's wrong to write "I was here" on historical monuments, still frequently do it.
"Paintings can overlap, but surely an incense burner won't."
After tearing up the painting, Wang Xu's anger dissipated, and he was no longer depressed. He sat down again to start his search.
This time, no awkward situation occurred. He quickly found an antique website.
On the website, there were many incense burners listed for sale. Prices were around several hundred thousand, with a few reaching over a million.
Looking at the eras, there were many from the Qing Dynasty and quite a few from the republic of china era, as well as modern high-quality imitations.
Wang Xu picked up the King Wen Lotus Censer and compared it with those on the antique website. He found that his was older and more exquisitely crafted.
Judging by the website, the price should be several million. He just didn't know if this website, while selling antiques, also bought them privately.
"There's a Penguin contact; that makes things easy." Following the website, Wang Xu tried to chat with the shop owner.
The owner's response was very fast. The friend request had just been sent, and it was accepted in less than two minutes, followed by a smiley face.
"Excuse me, do you buy antiques? I have an incense burner here."
"Hello, what era is the incense burner from? Has it been appraised?"
Seeing the message, Wang Xu thought there was a chance and quickly replied, "It's been privately appraised. It's a Ming Dynasty incense burner, officially called the King Wen Lotus Censer. It looks quite beautiful. I'll send you a picture; take a look at how much it's worth. If the price is right, I'll sell it to you."
*Beep beep*... Using his camera to take a few photos, Wang Xu sent them over.
This time the wait was longer. After about ten minutes, the other party replied: "Looks good. Bring it to me. If it's real, I'll give you 200,000."
"200,000!" Wang Xu might not know the price, but he believed Yu Zecheng did.
Yu Zecheng had said this incense burner was worth 8 gold bars, while the painting was worth 16. This meant the incense burner's value was roughly half of the painting's.
He had already looked up Autumn Mountains, Misty Rain online. It was kept in the Singapore Museum and was a "treasure of the museum" level piece. Its price might even exceed a hundred million.
If the incense burner was half the value of the painting, even if it wasn't worth fifty million, it should at least be worth ten million.
200,000? Where did this price come from? Was it for a mortgage loan?
"I've had this appraised. The expert said it's very valuable. Isn't 200,000 too little?" Wang Xu hadn't actually sought an expert, but the Underground Party must have studied it.
Moreover, the items in the antique shop didn't look as good as his, yet they were listed for over a million.
There was no reason for a Ming Dynasty item to be cheaper than a Qing Dynasty one and only sell for a republic of china era price.
"You think it's too little!"
The antique shop owner sent a running-and-crying emoji and added: "Brother, just looking at photos, my quote definitely won't be high. If you really want to sell, come to my place. I'll take a look for you, and we can discuss it further."
A series of addresses was sent over.
Wang Xu looked down; it wasn't close. It was in the neighboring province, a five or six-hour bus ride away.
If he went now, he wouldn't be back tonight. Besides, he didn't understand antiques. Carrying a multi-million yuan antique alone didn't seem safe.
"Yu Zecheng is still waiting for my penicillin. I promised him. A minute late could mean several lives. In that case, I'll put off the antique business for now. Anyway, the item is in my hands; a day early or late doesn't matter." Wang Xu did want to get rich, but it wasn't like he'd die if he didn't get rich tonight.
It was too late to go to the neighboring province now, so he'd do it another day. He'd handle Yu Zecheng's matter first.
With a goal in mind, Wang Xu didn't delay and planned to head to the county town.
In the county town, Wang Xu had an old classmate whose father was the director of the county hospital.
Wang Xu didn't have much money left on him; counting it up, it was less than a thousand yuan.
Thinking about their relationship, the money probably wasn't enough, and he couldn't get it done.
After all, the relationship between classmates wasn't like in novels, where everyone was so close they'd die for each other.
If everyone were that tight, people like Ma Jiajue and Yao Jiaxin wouldn't appear in society.
Wang Xu had some acquaintance with that old classmate in the county town, but it wasn't very deep. At most, they were on speaking terms and knew each other's names.
To be safe, Wang Xu first went to Zhou Qiang's house, intending to get two thousand yuan for emergencies.
A hundred vials of penicillin normally cost a thousand yuan. Including a meal to treat someone, two thousand should be enough.
Thinking this way, Wang Xu felt a bit lucky.
Fortunately, Yu Zecheng didn't pay a deposit, and he hadn't over-promised.
If he had bragged about a thousand or ten thousand vials, he probably wouldn't even be able to scrape together the money for the medicine without selling the King Wen Lotus Censer.
"Brother Zhou, are you home?" Brother Zhou was the man who delivered the door to Wang Xu, known around for being warm-hearted.
Zhou Qiang was generous and kind, but his family wasn't wealthy.
A meter-high fence enclosed a vegetable garden. The house had only two rooms and didn't even have a gatehouse.
Coincidentally, Zhou Qiang hadn't gone out today. Hearing Wang Xu's voice, he quickly poked his head out of the window: "Who is it?"
"It's me!" Wang Xu greeted him and explained his purpose.
Hearing it was about borrowing money, Zhou Qiang agreed after a short thought.
Wang Xu wasn't a vagrant; he had an orchard on the mountain and didn't have a gambling habit.
If he lent this money, Wang Xu wouldn't run away. Besides, two thousand yuan was at most for an emergency, so he wasn't worried about it not being repaid.
"Brother Zhou, in all the surrounding villages, you're the one I admire most. I won't use this money for nothing. If there's a chance to make a fortune, I'll definitely give you a hand." The shuttle gate was delivered by Zhou Qiang, and he hadn't charged a cent for the delivery, helping entirely for free.
This time, when Wang Xu was short on cash for an emergency, the first person he thought of was Zhou Qiang, which showed the man was reliable.
Now, the matter of the King Wen Lotus Censer was just the beginning for him. Once the business took off, this favor would have to be returned.
"Forget it, 'give me a hand'... just take care of your orchard first!" Zhou Qiang didn't take it to heart, laughing. He had no idea that although Wang Xu had no cash on hand, he was already no longer the same as before.
As the saying goes, after three days of absence, one should be viewed with new eyes; he was no longer that Amon of Wu...