Yi Qi San Yuan

Chapter 636 Teahouse Overseer

Half an hour later, everyone returned with their respective spoils, their hearts filled with anticipation.

Yan Shouyi and Lin Zhitong found a small tea house and sat inside to cool off and enjoy their tea. Coincidentally, everyone placed their items on the table, allowing Yan Shouyi to appraise them one by one.

The first thing Yan Shouyi noticed were the five plates Wang Jiwang had bought.

The plates were dirty, and each one was painted with an ugly red koi. However, the five plates formed a set, making them quite interesting.

"Song Dynasty white porcelain multi-colored plates, valued at thirty thousand," Yan Shouyi casually stated.

Wang Jiwang exclaimed in surprise, "Thirty thousand for a set?"

"Thirty thousand each."

Long Feicheng's eyes immediately turned green with envy. "Old Wang, you really bet right! This set alone is worth one hundred and fifty thousand. We're rich!"

Before Wang Jiwang could even feel happy, Yan Shouyi sighed, "Unfortunately, they're fakes."

"Ah...?" Wang Jiwang's mood plummeted from heaven to hell. He examined the plates several times, and finally, with a heavy heart, smashed one. Only then did he confirm that they were fakes deliberately aged by antique dealers.

"Damn it, I'm going to find that cheat and argue with him!" Wang Jiwang grabbed his cleaver and prepared to leave.

Everyone quickly stopped him. Lin Zhitong said, "This is how antique trading works. Once sold, no returns or exchanges. Some people find real treasures, and some buy fakes. Everyone makes a living by their own skills; this is the rule."

Wang Jiwang sighed. Of course, he understood the rules, but he was genuinely upset.

Yan Shouyi asked, "You bought these five plates for a thousand yuan?"

Wang Jiwang replied, "Nine hundred and ninety-nine."

"The merchant was quite considerate, not ripping you off completely, and even left you one yuan for bus fare."

In the end, Yan Shouyi's appraisal of Wang Jiwang's antique collection was thirty yuan.

Six yuan each.

Wang Jiwang dejectedly sat to the side.

Next was Weng Qianxiang.

He carefully took out a red package, wrapped in silk. Upon opening it, it revealed a green jade bi disc.

The jade bi disc was no larger than a palm, with carved dragon patterns and a touch of yellow earth and dust, giving it a sense of age.

Weng Qianxiang held it carefully, not daring to blow away the dust from the jade bi disc, fearing that even a puff of air would devalue it.

Yan Shouyi, without even looking properly, said, "Han Dynasty ancient jade bi disc with dragon patterns, but yours is also fake."

"Ah? Impossible!" Weng Qianxiang said. "After I bought it for five hundred, the merchant, realizing its value, chased after me and insisted he wouldn't sell it. I told him that was impossible, and only after I gave him another five hundred did he grudgingly accept it and leave."

Yan Shouyi's mouth twitched upon hearing this.

A scam, all a scam!

Weng Qianxiang was even more unlucky than Wang Jiwang. Wang Jiwang merely had poor judgment, while Weng Qianxiang was repeatedly tricked and played by the swindler!

Yan Shouyi casually pointed out a few flaws, and Weng Qianxiang also discovered the problems with the jade bi disc, accepting it was a fake.

However, he didn't smash or throw it away. After all, he had spent a thousand yuan on it, and it was good to keep it as a memento.

A high-quality replica of a Han Dynasty ancient jade bi disc with dragon patterns, valued at one hundred yuan.

Next was Long Feicheng.

He huffed and puffed as he placed a large sack on the table.

Lin Zhitong asked curiously, "Did you go shopping for inventory?"

Long Feicheng smiled confidently and said, "I know my judgment isn't good, so I chose to cast a wide net!"

"Look, these Five Emperors' bronze coins, thirty per string. I bought five strings. There's bound to be at least one real coin among them, right?"

"And these large silver ingots, I bought ten pounds by weight. What if I got lucky!"

"There's also..."

Long Feicheng dumped out a pile of junk. Yan Shouyi couldn't stand it anymore and picked up an ornament, asking:

"I can understand everything else, but how could you bring yourself to buy this bronze Ultraman?"

Long Feicheng blinked. "Is there something wrong with this? The merchant told me this Father of Ultraman was from the Spring and Autumn period. If I had bought Tiga, I would have been ripped off, because Tiga is only over four hundred years old and should be from the Song Dynasty."

Yan Shouyi: "..."

Lin Zhitong: "..."

Everyone else: "..."

Yan Shouyi pressed a switch on the Ultraman's back, and the Ultraman's head suddenly popped open, with a wisp of small flame emerging.

"People from the Spring and Autumn period were quite fashionable. I wonder if they smoked Yuxi or Hongtashan," Yan Shouyi remarked.

Long Feicheng, furious, slapped his thigh. "Damn, it's impossible to guard against! This merchant's schemes are too deep!"

Weng Qianxiang quipped, "Brother Long, I don't think it's the merchant's problem..."

After a round of appraisal, Yan Shouyi advised Long Feicheng to throw all the treasures he bought into the non-recyclable waste.

All three had been deceived, and their morale was momentarily dampened.

Fortunately, Wei Changqing produced a few decent treasures.

An old collection of bronze vases with live ring handles, a Warring States bronze belt hook inlaid with gold and silver, and a Shang-Zhou bronze jue vessel...

For only a thousand yuan, Wei Changqing bought six treasures, averaging less than two hundred each.

Although Yan Shouyi was prepared, he was still startled.

All six treasures were genuine!

Based on Yan Shouyi's lowest estimates, their total value was over two million!

Only then did everyone recall that Wei Changqing was also a descendant of Lu Ban, and he was a generation older than Yan Shouyi. His judgment was certainly far superior to Yan Shouyi's.

So, the true master was right beside them!

Undoubtedly, Wei Changqing had won.

Long Feicheng rubbed his small hands and said, "Uncle, I've been following Brother Yan for so long. I can't learn the skills of the Lu Ban sect. Why don't you teach me how to appraise items?"

Wei Changqing was too lazy to teach and directly shoved two treasures into Long Feicheng's hands. "Take them and don't bother me."

"Okay, I like your grumpy personality, Uncle!" Long Feicheng laughed heartily, hugging the treasures tightly.

Compared to diligently learning skills, Long Feicheng preferred the feeling of sudden wealth.

Weng Qianxiang and Wang Jiwang looked on with envy, then suddenly noticed, "Hmm, why isn't Old Jin back yet?"

"That's right, Old Jin might have gotten lost?"

The group waited for a while longer, but still saw no sign of Old Jin, so they packed up their belongings and went to find him.

Soon, they found Old Jin in a plaza.

He was standing in front of a pile of broken stones, touching them here and there, and occasionally patting them, looking like he was picking watermelons.

"What is Old Jin doing here?" Long Feicheng deliberately spoke in a Chang'an dialect.

Weng Qianxiang called out even louder, "Old Jin! What are you doing here?"

Old Jin looked up as if seeing rescuers and quickly beckoned them over:

"Come, come, it's good that you're here. This is a place for gambling on stones. Just now, someone opened a jade material worth three million for five hundred yuan. I thought I'd try my luck, but I just can't bring myself to do it."

Upon hearing this, Long Feicheng and the others also became interested. They all pretended to be experienced, went over to pick and choose, and used all their skills in picking watermelons.

Yan Shouyi, however, shook his head. As the saying goes, ninety out of ten gambles result in losses. The techniques for gambling on stones are all made up; it truly comes down to luck. In fact, a large portion of raw stones are synthetic, containing nothing inside.

Unless... one can master certain special skills.

Wei Changqing said calmly, "Go take a look. It's a good opportunity to test you and see how much of the skills from the Lu Ban book you've learned."

Yan Shouyi understood, and strode into the stone gambling area.