Chapter 457 The Blind Master
Lin Xichen heard Xia Yan say this and was a little surprised.
She frowned and said, "I used to buy many jade items, and their prices weren't that high! The jade beads on this necklace aren't particularly large. Isn't forty-five million a bit too expensive?"
Xia Yan waved his hand and said, "Don't forget its significance, and these beads, each one is a genuine imperial jadeite from an old pit, absolutely worth the price."
Lin Xichen nodded, as if suddenly enlightened, and said, "So that's how it is! Then Mr. Xia, please, can you negotiate the price for me!"
Xia Yan put on a look of tragic determination and said, "Don't worry! Leave it to me, I'll try. After all, my purpose here is to help Miss Lin save money!"
As Xia Yan spoke, he walked to the stall.
He said to the seller, "Sir, your price is a bit too high, can you lower it? How about forty million?"
The seller on the other side haughtily waved his hands.
He was quite dark-skinned, likely from the southern Vietnamese region.
He impatiently shooed Xia Yan away and said, "Not selling, not selling! Fifty million, not a cent less!"
Xia Yan shook his head and said, "Sir, in any transaction, one doesn't set a price so rigidly. We sincerely want to buy your item. If you sincerely want to sell, then give us a reasonable price."
Finally, the two parties haggled incessantly.
The price dropped to forty-five million.
Xia Yan breathed a sigh of relief, then smiled triumphantly at Lin Xichen and said, "Miss Lin, it's done! Pay up! I successfully secured this item for you at the best possible price of forty-five million."
Lin Xichen immediately nodded and walked over. She looked at the exquisite jade necklace inside and was about to pay.
At this moment, Chen Yang, who was standing nearby, truly couldn't stand it anymore.
Chen Yang walked over, reached out, and directly snatched the black card from Lin Xichen's hand.
Lin Xichen was stunned for a moment, then turned to glare at Chen Yang angrily and said, "Chen Yang, what are you doing? Robbery?"
Xia Yan, who was beside them, also looked at Chen Yang strangely.
Chen Yang dangled the bank card in his hand and said to Lin Xichen, "Miss Lin, I've met foolish people before, but I've never seen anyone as foolish as you! You're being sold out and still helping them count the money!"
"This necklace here, forty-five million? That's hilarious!"
Chen Yang said disdainfully, "Let me tell you, if you give me three hundred thousand, I can buy you two of them."
Lin Xichen frowned and glared at Chen Yang.
At this moment, Xia Yan, standing nearby, angrily said to Chen Yang, "What do you know, you lowly servant? Two for three hundred thousand? If you can buy one of the gems for three million, I'll consider you capable."
Chen Yang sneered, then looked at Xia Yan and said, "I was wondering if you were genuinely blind or utterly ignorant.
"Now I see, you're simply treating Miss Lin as an ATM! You've got some nerve. Do you know who her father is?"
"When you go back, if her father discovers his daughter has wasted hundreds of millions of yuan, do you think you'll still be alive?"
Upon hearing Chen Yang's words, Xia Yan's face turned pale, and his fist instinctively trembled.
Then, he angrily retorted to Chen Yang, "You useless trash, what do you know? I am helping Miss Lin save money and buy good things. Why would Mr. Lin blame me?"
Chen Yang chuckled, then picked up the jade necklace from the box.
Chen Yang said to Lin Xichen, "This thing, honestly, you can buy two for three hundred thousand."
"Look at these gems below, the quality is indeed not bad, and they look like emeralds. But these stones are all made from scraps.
"Do you know what real good jade feels like?
"Real good jade feels cool to the touch, yet it carries a warming aura that invigorates the spirit. These jade beads, however, only feel cold.
"This kind of rubbish isn't worth much; it's just meant to deceive you!"
"Also, this Tang Sancai ceramic that I'm holding, let me tell you, its real value is only a hundred thousand yuan. Yet, Master Xia Yan had you spend three million to buy it!"
"Furthermore, the person who came to you with the gold tablet earlier. That item, that was a genuine antique, a truly good item. You should know that Empress Wu favored issuing redemption gold tablets and rain-invoking gold tablets, right?"
"After Empress Wu ascended the throne, she believed that as the Son of Heaven, she commanded the gods of rain. Therefore, she had ten rain-invoking gold tablets made. The person holding one of them was precisely that."
"Think about it, with Empress Wu's personal inscription, a genuine Tang Dynasty antique, and made of pure gold, twenty million is indeed a fair price. But Mr. Xia Yan didn't let you buy it!"
"Tell me, this master you hired, is he blind or does he have ulterior motives?"
Lin Xichen was utterly shocked after hearing Chen Yang's words.
She suddenly turned to Xia Yan and said fiercely, "Master Xia, is all this true? Did you collude with these people to swindle my money?"
Xia Yan quickly waved his hands and said, "Miss Lin, please calm down. I am a person of status. How could I intentionally deceive you? On the contrary, Chen Yang here is just a lowly servant. Do you think you can believe what someone like him says?"
Lin Xichen then turned to look at Chen Yang again.
Chen Yang simply opened the box in his hand.
He took out the Tang Sancai ceramic and said, "See? If this were truly Tang Sancai ceramic, even with a missing leg, three million would be a good price. However, in reality, only the horse's back part of this entire ceramic is from the Tang Dynasty. The rest has been repaired using modern methods. I'll prove it to you now."
Saying that, Chen Yang grabbed it, and with a "crash," the Tang Sancai ceramic instantly cracked and broke into seven or eight pieces.
Chen Yang picked up a shard and handed it to Lin Xichen, saying, "Take a look, the characteristics of modern porcelain are evident here."
"The pottery firing technology in the Tang Dynasty was not perfect, so there would always be many cracks. Coupled with the passage of time, it wouldn't be durable. Now, the inside of this porcelain is incredibly smooth, clearly fired with modern clay."
"Also, as I said, only the porcelain shard on the horse's back is from the Tang Dynasty. You can also see that this shard is distinctly different from the other pieces."
"It was pieced together by them, so you spent three million for a piece of broken pottery from a horse's back. I'm being generous when I say this is worth a hundred thousand; in reality, it could be bought for thirty to fifty thousand."
Lin Xichen looked at the ceramic fragments in the box. At this moment, even though she didn't understand much, she knew Chen Yang was telling the truth.
Lin Xichen suddenly turned and glared angrily at Xia Yan.
She pointed at Xia Yan and said, "Fine, Master Xia. I paid a hefty sum to hire you, and yet you treat me like this! Good, very good. When we get ashore, I'll settle the score with you!"
Upon hearing this, Xia Yan's back broke out in a cold sweat.
He quickly said, "Miss Lin, my judgment on the ceramic was indeed poor, please forgive me. However, I absolutely had no intention of deceiving Miss Lin."
Lin Xichen no longer wanted to deal with Xia Yan. She said to Chen Yang, "Chen Yang, I didn't expect you to know about antiques and cultural relics! Alright, take me to buy some good items. I'll reward you handsomely when we get back."
Chen Yang nodded and said, "Fine, be polite to me from now on! If you dare pull my hair again, I won't spare you."
Then, Chen Yang directly threw the string of beads back to the seller and said, "This guy clearly colluded with Master Xia. Let's go, we'll go buy Empress Wu's gold tablet first!"