Repairer - #37 - Chapter 37: Literati Eight Loves

  Chapter 37 Eight loves of literati

   “Although the texture of the black avocado is a little worse than that of the purple avocado, it is very rare for such a centuries-old object to be handed down.”

  After talking about the material, Su Xiaofan changed the pen holder.

   “This should be an object from the late Ming Dynasty, and the carver was also made by a famous master. Looking at this patina, it must have been put in the study for admiration in the early years, and I don’t know how it ended up in the antique market.”

“well said!”

  Jing Shizhen looked at Su Xiaofan in amazement, apparently he did not expect Su Xiaofan to be so accurate in dating.

   The customer surnamed Tong who had been sitting beside him without speaking, looked at Su Xiaofan in a strange way at this moment, it was because Su Xiaofan was too young, he didn’t look like a person in the antique shop at all.

   “Then can you tell what this sculpture is?”

  Jing Shizhen’s considerations are not yet over. Being able to identify materials and dating depends on eyesight. Although it will surprise Jing Shizhen, it will not be shocking.

  And if Su Xiaofan can tell the patterns carved on the pen holder and the meaning it represents, it is a manifestation of cultural heritage. Jing Shizhen is not very optimistic about Su Xiaofan’s understanding of the culture of this pen holder.

   “Uncle Jing, if you’re not mistaken, this pen holder should be called a high-relief eight-love pattern pen holder, right?”

  Su Xiaofan said with a smile, in fact, without the information in his mind, he can also see the carving of this relief.

  The so-called high relief refers to the engraving method in which the carved patterns and patterns protrude from the bottom surface. It is more common in pen holders and incense holders. High relief is also used in Shoushan stone carvings.

  But Su Xiaofan didn’t quite understand the word Ba Ai at first, but later he secretly checked it with his mobile phone and found out that Ba Ai was the love of eight historical celebrities.

  Tao Yuanming loves chrysanthemums, Meng Haoran loves plums, Su Dongpo loves inkstones, Wang Xizhi loves geese, Zhou Dunyi loves lotus, Mi Fu loves stones, Li Bai loves wine, and Lu Yu loves tea.

The relief of this pen holder is carved with the eight loves of literati. On this small pen holder, eight figures and their favorite things are carved out with exquisite knife work. This kind of carving is definitely a master class work.

   “That’s right, the full name of this pen holder should be called the late Ming Dynasty Huanghuali high-relief eight-love pattern pen holder.”

  Jing Shizhen applauded Su Xiaofan, “Xiao Su, that’s amazing, who did you learn all this knowledge from?”

  Antique business is about the orderly inheritance. Usually only the apprentice brought out by the master can understand such knowledge so deeply. Otherwise, such remote knowledge is rarely known.

   “Uncle Jing, I learned from Brother Gang.”

  Su Xiaofan’s words can’t be said to be deceitful to Jing Shizhen, because he did learn from Zheng Dagang like those literary games such as huanghuali beads, but Su Xiaofan learned some of the deeper knowledge by searching for information.

   “With Gangzi?”

  Jing Shizhen shook her head again and again, “Just give that kid a fight. If he knows what the eight loves of literati are, I can give him this meditation hall.”

   “Xiao Su, what’s the matter, can you go on? Can the author of this pen container see it?”

   “Uncle Jing, please forgive me, you have emptied all the stuff in my stomach.”

  Su Xiaofan shook his head with a wry smile. If it is about the authors of ancient calligraphy and paintings, he can still guess. After all, there are only those people, but the pen holders are too small, many of them are from the hands of craftsmen, and they can’t even be called famous.

   “Then let me tell you.”

  Jing Shizhen said: “Although there is no signature, if I read correctly, this pen holder should be made by Chen Zisheng at the end of Ming Dynasty.

  Chen Zisheng once carved an ivory-carved pen holder with Lanting Preface, which was very exquisite in craftsmanship, and Chen Zisheng was a man of integrity, who was very famous among literati in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties.

  Chen Zisheng’s known works of pen holders are only the ivory-carving pen holder, and this one is his second pen holder work, which has profound significance…”

  Jing Shizhen demonstrated the origin of this huanghuali pen holder from several aspects. First of all, the carving style of this pen holder is very similar to that engraved with the ivory carving of Lanting Preface.

  Furthermore, Chen Zisheng himself is from Qiong Province, so he has the conditions to obtain the old huanghuali tree roots, but he doesn’t know how this huanghuali pen holder ended up in the Yanjing antique market hundreds of years later.

   “Uncle Jing, how much is this pen holder worth?”

  Su Xiaofan asked, with his current wealth, he still can’t afford to collect. At best, he is just a distributor of antiques. Well, to put it simply, he is a small vendor selling antiques at a street stall.

   “Chen Zisheng has a high evaluation in history. After the Ming Dynasty fell, he did not serve the Manchu Dynasty and lived a poor life until his death. If his things are auctioned, many people will recognize him.”

Jing Shizhen thought for a while, and said: “A few years ago, Xiangjiang took a piece of Yushanfang huanghuali sunflower pen holder in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties. At that time, it cost about two million yuan, but the carving of that pen holder was very simple, and the carving was far away. Not as good as yours…”

  Jing Shizhen pondered for a while, and then said: “According to my estimation, if you take pictures of this pen holder, it will not be less than three million. If you meet someone you like, you can take more than five million!”

The reason why Jing Shizhen said that Su Xiaofan picked up the biggest leak of the year is because of this. An item bought for 150 yuan can be sold for 3 to 4 million at auction. This is tens of thousands of times the profit. It is simply incredible that the antique market is relatively mature today.

   Of course, in the 1970s and 1980s, such things often happened.

The people at that meeting were just able to eat enough, so no one would collect antiques. Celebrities’ calligraphy and paintings were sold as waste paper, and huanghuali tables and chairs cost five yuan a piece. Today, some big domestic collectors include Jing Shi Jane herself was a beneficiary of that era.

   “The minimum is three million, and if it is higher, can it be sold for five million?”

  Su Xiaofan was dumbfounded when he heard this, he was really fat, originally he only had a hundred thousand in his pocket, but now suddenly there are several million more, of course, he had to sell the pen holder.

   “Your surname is Su, right?”

   While Su Xiaofan was thinking about how to spend the five million yuan, a voice sounded beside him, “I like this pen container quite a bit. How about it? I’ll offer four million yuan. Would you like to change hands?”

“you are?”

  Su Xiaofan followed the prestige and saw the middle-aged man sitting on the sofa.

   “My surname is Tong, Tong Dongjie, and I run a tourism and cultural company. Your pen holder is relatively rare. I want to collect it. I wonder what you mean, Xiao Su?”

  Although the middle-aged man was talking to Su Xiaofan, his eyes were on Jing Shizhen.

   “Uncle Jing, do you see?”

  Su Xiaofan also looked at Jing Shizhen, this is Jing Shizhen’s meditation hall, if the two of them make a deal, it will be a bit overwhelming.

   “Little boy, you should know my rules.”

Jing Shizhen couldn’t see any joy or anger on her face, she just said to the man: “The item I appraised was also sold in Jingxin Hall, and I want to charge 20% of the transaction price, and the money should be yours, boy. As for taxes and fees, you two can discuss how to pay them yourself.”

   “Uncle Jing, I understand the rules. The four million yuan belongs to Xiaosu, and the eight hundred thousand belongs to Jingxintang. I will be responsible for all taxes and fees. What do you think?” The middle-aged man said respectfully.

   “It’s really easy to make money in Jingxintang.”

  Hearing the conversation between Jing Shizhen and Tong Dongjie, Su Xiaofan on the side couldn’t help but click his tongue. He didn’t pay a penny, and he only collected 800,000 yuan for an appraisal. This is nothing but a white wolf.

   “It’s not mine, whether it’s sold or not depends on Xiao Su’s opinion.”

  Jing Shizhen didn’t seem to be too interested in Tong Dongjie, and her words didn’t seem like an attitude towards guests.

   “Uncle Jing, since this Mr. Tong likes it so much, I’ll give it to him.”

  Su Xiaofan didn’t even hesitate for a moment, he made a decision, if this thing goes up for auction, who knows when it will be sold, four million is not too little, and the money is his own.

   “Okay, I’ll have someone prepare the contract, and you can sign it later, and pay after signing.”

  Uncle Jing beckoned, and called a staff member to explain a few words. There are ready-made electronic templates for such contracts in the store, and they can be used after a few changes.

  Of course, Uncle Jing’s 800,000 yuan is not for nothing, he has to act as a middleman as a guarantee, if there is any problem with the item in the future, others will not go to Su Xiaofan, but to Jingxintang.

  So while the contract was being prepared, someone came over with a digital camera and took pictures of the pen holder from different angles.

  There is digital photo developing equipment in the store. After the development, both parties need to sign and press their fingerprints. This is also one of Jingxintang’s methods to prevent others from exchanging fakes for real ones and seeking later accounts.

  Jingxintang antique trading has its own set of procedures, and there is a dedicated person in charge, that is, in about ten minutes, all the materials before the transaction are ready.

  Su Xiaofan and Tong Dongjie signed the contract and the photos respectively. Tong Dongjie went and called a subordinate to come in. According to the bank account Su Xiaofan left in the contract, he transferred the money to Su Xiaofan on the spot.

  Tong Dongjie spent 4.8 million for the on-site transaction alone, not counting the taxes and fees he will pay later, the total price must have been more than 5 million.

   This also allowed Su Xiaofan to see how rich people buy antiques.

  Su Xiaofan spends three to five hundred dollars a day in the antique market, spending three to five hundred dollars a day with his dry mouth and tongue.

  But now Su Xiaofan is drinking tea in the Jingxin Hall with the air conditioner blowing on it. In just a few sentences, a deal of three to five million yuan has been finalized. It is also a business, but the difference can be said to vary from day to day.

   “Uncle Jing, what did you say when you saw that incident? Do you have time to make a trip?”

  After trading the pen holder with Su Xiaofan, Tong Dongjie asked someone to put the pen holder away, as if he didn’t care about it as much as he said.

   “Do you need someone?”

  Su Xiaofan and Zhao Zhengshan looked at each other, and they both understood.

  This Tong Dongjie should have seen that Uncle Jing admired Su Xiaofan very much, so he gave Su Xiaofan a good transaction price through the sale of the pen holder, and also gave Jingxintang a commission of 800,000 for nothing, which can be said to have done everything.

   “Don’t worry, let’s not talk about this, Xiao Su, what did you buy in that bag? You didn’t pick up another mistake, did you?”

  Jing Shizhen didn’t seem to want to talk to Tong Dongjie in front of Su Xiaofan and others, so she turned her attention to another bag that Su Xiaofan put on the table.

   In this chapter, I want to pick up the leak of the monthly pass~

  (end of this chapter)