Chapter 46: Too High a Vision
The occupancy rate on the first and second floors of Bao Rui Fu is about 30%. At this time when other teahouses are basically closed, the people who come to Bao Rui Fu are obviously not here to drink tea.
As Wang Jingzhe walked through the room, he saw people sitting at several tables with their arms stretched under the table. The two people facing each other had no change in expression, at most they nodded or shook their heads. This is called settling accounts, a very old-fashioned way of bidding.
The buyer calls out the price under the table. If the seller is not satisfied or thinks the price is too different, he will also bargain. If the deal is done, both of them will smile happily, you take the money and he takes the item. This way of settling accounts is very old. In the past, when bidding or asking for prices in antique transactions, people were afraid of being seen by others, so they would put their hands under the table to gesture. This way of doing things is not common now, and is only maintained in Panjiayuan or other places specializing in antique business.
"I have the best Mingqian tea here. The room upstairs is quiet. Shall we drink some tea first?" He Sandao called to the waiter as he walked and asked him to serve tea.
Wang Jingzhe shook his head and said, "Let's not drink the tea yet. I'm in a hurry. Let's get straight to the point."
"Haha, that's fine." He Sandao didn't insist and led Wang Jingzhe upstairs.
The third floor of Bao Ruifu is not open to the public. This floor is where He Sandao specially uses to store things. The entire floor is filled with old items collected by him and his former family members. Although there are not many things, they are all fine products. Any one of them can make collectors jealous.
He Sandao came to the security door without any hesitation. He entered the security password in front of Wang Jingzhe without much concealment. After the door opened with a click, Wang Jingzhe said, "Aren't you afraid that I'm a charlatan? From the time you met me until now, you haven't confirmed my identity. What if I'm a fake kidnapper?"
Fake kidnapper is slang, so what if I’m a charlatan pretending to be one?
He Sandao turned around and pointed at the Longqingxiang logo under Wang Jingzhe’s robe and said, “What a coincidence. I have some impression of this coat of yours. Two years ago, I went to Longqingxiang’s chief shopkeeper to make a set of clothes. I chatted with him when I was free. I asked him how many coats he had sold recently. The shopkeeper said that apart from the few pieces offered as tribute, not many had been sold, and they could be counted on one hand. Then he chatted with me for a while and asked me to get to know him if I had the chance to see it. Among them, the shopkeeper specifically mentioned your navy blue robe, saying that it was about a year ago that a client related to Longqingxiang came to ask for it to be made. I asked him who the other party was, and he said it was a knife seller on credit.”
The robe that Wang Jingzhe was wearing was given to him by his father before he left for wandering, which was about three years ago . Wang's father said that although the knife-cutting clan seemed to live a poor life, they also had their spare time, and the Nei Liansheng thousand-layer sole and Long Qingxiang robes were a must, as they were for people who knew what was good. Coincidentally, He Sandao, whom he met today, was one of those people who knew what was good.
After the security door was opened, He Sandao reached out and pressed the switch on the wall, and the light on the ceiling lit up. There were several rows of shelves and glass covers in the room, with about twenty or thirty things placed on them. They were obviously very historical things.
He Sandao said with some pride: "Look, that one is the Ming Chenghua chicken pot..."
Wang Jingzhe smiled and waved his hand, saying: "Boss He, to be honest, if my family wants to buy your collection, we can, but we are not really interested. To be honest with you, I want something as a betrothal gift, so I am doing business with you. Otherwise... Haha, even if you ask me, I may not be willing to exchange with you."
He Sandao was stunned and frowned. Wang Jingzhe's words were quite impolite. If it were someone else, he might have just turned away and chased the person away. However, when he thought about Wang Jingzhe's identity, he felt relieved.
In recent decades, knife sellers have not shown up and it is very difficult to run into them. Most people don't know the details of knife sellers, and only people like him who have some knowledge among the people know it.
He Sandao knew that there was a legend about knife sellers that was not exaggerated, which was that a word from them was equal to your huge fortune. Perhaps a word of advice from them could save your family from being broken up, or save your life, or even make you successful. How many people had wanted to ask knife sellers to make predictions for them, but unfortunately, they were all unsuccessful.
"Okay, then just take a look, we'll talk about how to change it later..."
Wang Jingzhe hummed and strolled into He Sandao's collection room with his hands behind his back. This old man really has a lot of knowledge. Just that Chenghua Chicken-Glazed Cup could probably be used to exchange for a house within the Third Ring Road.
However, Wang Jingzhe was not very interested in this kind of thing. In fact, he couldn't explain clearly what he wanted. He just felt that the betrothal gift should not only be presentable, but also be able to impress the other person.
After Wang Jingzhe walked around twice, his eyes never focused on any one item for too long, which made He Sandao, who was waiting beside him, feel a little worried. His collections were quite valuable, but to him it was just a hobby, and was not as important as a decisive word from the man who bought the knives on credit.
"Little boy, don't you have anything you like?" He Sandao couldn't help but ask.
Wang Jingzhe shook his head, sighed and said: "It's a little different from what I imagined. Well, let me check it out."
He Sandao frowned and said, "You have to tell me what you want. Describe it."
"Uh..." Wang Jingzhe hesitated for a long time before saying, "The person who gave it to you probably doesn't need money, so the value doesn't matter. The key is to impress him. Just like if you gave the world's richest man a gold or silver mine, how interested would he be?"
"Then this is going to be difficult for you!" He Sandao said with a sigh.
"Haha, if it doesn't work, I'll just do whatever..."
Wang Jingzhe had just finished speaking when He Sandao patted his head, said he would wait a moment and left. After a while, he returned upstairs with a bunch of keys in his hand. He took Wang Jingzhe to a corner, pointed at a box on the ground and said, "If you still can't choose what's in here, then I can only say that our business is not destined to be together yet."
"Okay, open it and let me see." In the corner was a Lu Ban box, which was a scarce item. It was equivalent to a safe in today's terms. It was a craft passed down from the great craftsman Lu Ban, and modern people can no longer imitate it.
