Chapter 86 - Xuande Censer
Chapter 86 Xuande Censer
The onlookers were blaming the store owner because they held sympathy for the father and the son, and no one expected that someone would really pay 100,000 for the iron censer.
They turned to look at the speaker, only to see a young man in his twenties striding towards the middle-aged man and his son.
“Do you really want to buy it, young man? Are you making fool of me?” The middle-aged man asked with disbelief.
The store hesitated for a second and said sarcastically, “You’re such an idiot. Of course, he’s making fun of you. Nobody would pay 100,000 for your stuff.”
Qin Haodong ignored the man whose sympathy had been eaten up by money. He said to the middle-aged man directly, “Of course it’s true. But I have no cash with me now. You can give me an account and I’ll transfer the money now.”
Everyone widened their eyes. They were so surprised that the young man was playing for real.
The father and his son were bewildered for a moment. Then the son, who had the censer in his arms, took out a bank card and said, “Young brother, this is my card, and you can have the censer as long as you transfer 100,000 to me.”
Qin Haodong didn’t hesitate at all. He took over the card. Then he called someone and transferred the 100,000 Shi Kuohai gave him. A short hesitation later, he transferred all the 80,000 he had left into the account.
Judging by its thick Spiritual Qi, the censer was definitely a treasure, and it was a nice bargain even if he had paid 180,000 for it.
After he transferred the money, the phone in the young man’s hand rang twice, indicating that the money had reached the account.
The young man was startled when he checked the phone. He told Qin Haodong at once, “Young man, you’ve made a mistake. We charged you 100,000, but you’ve transferred 180,000.”
Qin Haodong said, “That’s right. It’s worth 180,000, and that’s all I had now, or I’ll pay you more.”
“No, we only need 100,000.” The middle-aged man turned over and said to his son, “Hurry up and return the extra money!”
Qin Haodong stopped him at once. “It’s fine. Just take it and buy some tonic for the patient.”
“Well…” The father and the son were moved into tears when they saw that Qin Haodong was serious. “Than you, young man. You’re such a nice guy. Thank you, thank you so much.”
Qin Haodong said, “You’re welcome.” “I paid for your goods. You don’t owe me anything. You can find my telephone number in the transferring record, and please come to me if you need help in the future.”
The two bowed deeply to him in spite of what he had said, then they left without the censer.
The shop owner was watching with his mouth sneering. “Just keep playing, you two. I’ve been digging in the antique industry for more than 40 years, and now you’re trying to make a show in front of me. You’ve made the wrong choice!”
Qin Haodong did not speak. He felt unnecessary to talk to a man like that. He had used up all the money in his pocket, and the only thing he wanted was to take the censer and go.
He didn’t care about it but other people did. Someone in the crowd yelled immediately, “Old man, did you just say that you’ll call the one dad whoever paid 100,000 for the censer? Now the young man paid 100,000, what are you waiting for?”
Lots of people had long been unsatisfied with the store owner who was rich but mean. They followed up yelling.
“Say it! Call him dad!”
The shop owner glared and said, “What are you yelling for? Can’t you see that the three were here together to make the show, fooling you around? 100,000 for the censer? I’m afraid he didn’t pay a penny.”
Qin Haodong had just met a few cappers and now he was called a fraud. That made him very upset.
He looked at the shop owner and said, “That’s a big treasure. It’s a steal though I’ve paid 180,000 for it. You were blind to have ignored it.”
The shop owner laughed loudly into tears. He said, “Me, Zhang Wankui had been in the antique business with my grandfather since I was eight. I entered the field when I was 20 and opened my own store when I was 30. I’ve never run into anything that could cloud my eyes.”
“That was obviously bronze-plating iron stuff. How’s that a treasure? Young man, you’re so unqualified to fool me around.”
Qin Haodong was not in the mood to talk to him, so he said, “It’s fine. It’s your own business that you are blind. I don’t want an old son like you anyway.”
He was leaving with the censer in his arms, however; Zhang Wankui was unhappy. He said with a cold face, “Wait a moment.”
“What else?” Qin Haodong looked at him and asked.
“You and the other two people were obviously together, making the show in front of my store,” Zhang Wankui said, “In that way, why don’t you and I make a bet to make all this clear to the audiences?”
Qin Haodong immediately became interested when he heard the bet because nobody could win a bet with Emperor Green Wood.
“Tell me, what are we betting for?”
“You said I was blind, didn’t you? I’ll admit you win as long as you can prove the censer was valuable. I would fulfill the promise I made just now, calling you dad here, and let you pick up whichever good stuff you want in my store.”
“On the contrary, if you lose, you will be paid 10,000 yuan for mental compensation.”
Qin Haodong felt repulsive because the old man was mean in the first place, and now he was being so aggressive. He said, “I’m in. But you’ve just lost all your credibility, so we’ll need someone as our witness.”
“Little brother, I can be the witness.”
As soon as Qin Haodong finished speaking, two middle-aged men squeezed themselves out of the crowd. Qin Haodong knew the first one. He was Qian Duoduo who he had just met days ago.
“Brother Qin, I didn’t expect we’ll meet again so soon,” Qian Duoduo said as he introduced the middle-aged man behind him to Qin Haodong, “This is the director of the Jiangnan Antique Appraisal Center, an expert of antique appraisal, Mr. Guo Feng.”
Then he turned back and said to Guo Feng, “This is whom I’ve mentioned, the miraculous man I met days ago, Qin Haodong.”
Qin Haodong didn’t know Guo Feng before, but people in the crowd had already recognized him.
“So surprise that Mr. Guo is here! He is an expert in antique appraisal.”
“Of course, Mr. Guo is the most authoritative man in the field of antique appraisal of Jiangnan. He’s been on TV all the time…”
It seemed that Guo Feng had gained strong recognition among these people. Zhang Wankui had been in the antique world for many years, and he was also clear about Guo Feng’s position in the field. He was one of the most respected authorities.
He walked over with a flattering smile and asked Guo Feng warmly, “Director Guo, what brings you here?”
Guo Feng nodded to him and said, “I was taking a walk with my friend, and I ran into your bet with the young man. I can be your witness. What do you think?”
“I’m totally fine with it if Director Guo wants to be our witness,” Zhang Wankui said with his flattering face.
Guo Feng was well respected in the antique field. He could have an antique shop shut down through one word, and no one would cooperate with the owner anymore. So nobody could afford to piss him off.
Qin Haodong nodded and said, “I’m OK with it.”
Guo Feng said, “Since both of you agreed, then the agreement is settled. Now brother Qin, please tell us why is the censer a treasure?”
He was an expert in the antique field, and he had seen the censer through on his first glance. His conclusion was the same as Zhang Wankui’s that the censer was an ordinary bronze-plating iron one. It was even not qualified to be called an antique.
Qin Haodong smiled slightly and said to Zhang Wankui, “You got a hammer here?”
“Yes!”
Zhang Wankui had no idea what Qin Haodong was going to do, but he still went back into the store and brought out a hammer.
Qian Duoduo asked, “Brother Qin, what are you doing?”
Qin Haodong smiled and said, “I’m taking a chance to see if there’s any treasure in the censer.”
“Will, will this work?” Qian Duoduo asked in surprise.
He had also checked the censer just now. It was an ordinary iron censer with nothing special.
“I’m just trying, and it’s OK even if I lose.”
Qin Haodong said it casually, but inside, he was sure of the answer. He took over the hammer and began to tap on the iron censer based on his strong intuition.
His taps sounded gentle, but he had attached invisible strength on each. As he tapped and tapped, the iron censer started cracking.
The onlookers were confused and doubted whether the young man had lost his mind because he smashed the stuff he had just paid 180,000 for. They doubted he was going to sell the thing as waste.
Zhang Wankui sneered, “I’ve lived for 60 years and this is my first time to see someone trying to find the treasure in this way. This is so eye-opening!”
Qin Haodong ignored his sarcastic. He sped up the hammer in his hand. After he tapped all over the censer, he dropped the hammer and patted on one side of the censer. The censer clattered and fell into pieces on the ground.
It was surprising that after the iron pieces fell down, a milky white thing was revealed. It was another censer.
“Paraffin! This is paraffin!” Lots of people had recognized it and started exclaiming.
Guo Feng’s expression changed. he yelled immediately, “It’s another censer, that’s the way the ancient people hid treasures. Brother Qin, you’re really in luck today.”
Other people went restless as soon as they heard what Director Guo had said.
“The young guy is so lucky, it looks like he had really run into some serious treasures.”
“The young man really has sharp eyes. Even I didn’t expect that the iron censer had something else inside.”
“It’s all over. Now Zhang Wankui will be so screwed, let’s see how he will call the young man dad later…”
Zhang Wankui’s face changed greatly. It was already too late to regret. He could only keep watching and hope that there’s nothing else in the paraffin, which was obviously impossible.
After breaking the iron shell, Qin Haodong started to pat on the outside of the paraffin, trying to separate the paraffin from the things wrapped inside.
The only thing he knew was that the Spiritual Qi given out by the stuff in his hand was getting thicker and thicker, but he was not sure what it was. Judging by the shape, it might be another censer.
The onlookers were also staring at Qin Haodong, nervously, looking forward to seeing the treasure inside in the paraffin.
Soon, Qin Haodong finished patting. He shook it in a smart way. The paraffin shell on the outside cracked and broke.
A bronze censer was revealed. The reddish censer looked ancient and elegant, with gentle patina. There were delicate pictures on the outside. It’s flawless of rust, shining attractively.
All the onlookers were fascinated with the censer.
Guo Feng looked like he had lost his soul. He reached out to feel the outside of the censer, and mumbled, “Xuande Censer! It’s a Xuande Censer!”
“What? Xuande Censer?The legend Xuande Censer? Gosh, the young man really has hunted a treasure today…”
“Really? How much is it worth? I regret it so much! Why I didn’t buy it just now? That’s a priceless treasure…”
“Stop it. Who do you think you are? Zhang Wankui is the one regretting the most now. He had missed such a big treasure at the door of his own shop, and he’s going to call him dad later…”