"Mr. Qin, how do you know there must be more valuable antiques inside?"
Steven asked respectfully.
"Mr. Sima can explain it to you."
This question fell on Sima Haotian. He thought for a moment and said: "During the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, territorial officials and tribal leaders paid tribute to the palace with a large number of jade articles, which were called Hendustan jade articles. From the Children’s Dynasty. I noticed that the carving style on the surface of this small-leaf rosewood box inlaid with gemstones is very similar to the style of some Tracestan jades, so I guess that the wooden box comes from the Mughal Dynasty two to three hundred years ago.”
"The Mughal Dynasty is today's India. At that time, the royal family was very extravagant and used a lot of gold, gems and jade for decorations. There are more than ten bright rubies and sapphires inlaid on the surface of this small-leaf rosewood box, which shows the status of the original owner. Very high."
"But why can't the wooden box be opened?"
Steven couldn't understand.
"Wooden boxes are generally used for daily use. Since they cannot be opened, there is only one situation, and that is as a burial object after the owner dies. Such a precious gem-inlaid small-leaf rosewood box will naturally hide more valuable jewelry. The wooden box is hidden The mechanism is opened from the inside through special techniques, but I’m not good at this.”
Several people who originally had objections to Sima Haotian looked at him with admiration again. No wonder people as awesome as Li Mo recognized his ability. It was indeed not simple.
Li Mo put the small leaf rosewood box into Dashan's backpack, and a group of people walked slowly along the avenue.
"There are so many antique shops, why don't Mr. Qin go in and have a look?" Sima Haotian's mental state today has lost its previous decadence. As a treasure appraiser, he can't help but enter Taotao when he sees so many antique shops.
"Tatou, Gulishi, you two will go shopping with Mr. Sima while we part ways."
"yes."
Sima Haotian nodded to him, chose an antique store, opened the door and walked in.
"You have found a good free labor force." Wuyue said calmly, "But this person does have some great talents. At least you accepted his appraisal results twice."
“My teacher, Professor Zhu Changping of Peking University, has said more than once that there is a gap in the talent pool in our domestic archaeological field. That’s why I didn’t get good grades in my senior year of high school, but I did well in the interview and was admitted to the Department of History and Archeology of Peking University as an exception. Even though I am an associate professor, I have not learned anything essential in archeology. Sima Haotian is really capable in this matter. It is a pity to continue to be so decadent. When he returns to China, I will recommend him to enter Beijing University. I hope It can bring out a batch of materials that can be made."
"You have a big heart."
"My master always taught me when I was young that there is no end to learning. When I grow up, I will carry forward our lineage. Fortunately, I have fulfilled my mission. At least everything is going well so far. As for my ambition, I don't feel it myself. I probably have gained too much. So many things are relatively indifferent. Did something happen to the antique store in front? There are quite a lot of people coming in and out. Let’s go over and see what’s going on.”
After walking for more than ten steps, we arrived at the corner of a street. The antique store looked very large, more than three times larger than the antique store next to it. It was brightly lit, very crowded, and very noisy.
When they opened the door and walked in, no one noticed them at all.
This antique store is very reasonably arranged, with a porcelain area, a sculpture area, an oil painting and calligraphy area, a gold, silver and jade area, and a miscellaneous area. There were more than a dozen people in the store, but they were not looking at the products, but talking among themselves and discussing something. The employees behind the counter did not take the initiative to greet anyone. They all stood there doing nothing, looking at their mobile phones, and two of them were leisurely drinking coffee.
"Go and ask, what are they talking about?"
May and Steven nodded, and Li Mo walked to the porcelain area. There were many styles of porcelain on the museum shelves, including styles from China, classical styles from Europe, and some that were not porcelain but should be pottery. From Judging from the style, most of them come from Southeast Asian countries.
When I glanced at the strange eyes, I almost thought I had seen it wrong. There were actually more than ten haloes rising from the Bogu shelf, among which a red halo had been traced back to the Tang Dynasty.
Boy, this antique store is so valuable.
Li Mo couldn't help but point to a piece of porcelain on the Bogu shelf and wanted the clerk to take it over to take a look, but they were all playing for themselves, so after thinking about it, they decided to forget it and wait until they figured out the situation here.
After a while, Steven walked up to Li Mo and said: "Mr. Qin, the owner of this antique shop died suddenly of a serious illness half a month ago, but he had no family to inherit the inheritance, so the local government dealt with his property in accordance with the law. The industry will enter the bidding stage in ten minutes.”
"What does the auction include?"
"The property rights of this store and everything in the store, including the store and the furniture."
May also came over and said.
"Steven, if I participate in the auction, am I eligible to participate?"
"Of course you can, but the formalities are more troublesome."
"You contact Gulishi immediately and ask him to come over."
Li Mo gave an order and walked to the sculpture area. He also scanned the strange eyes and saw that there were so many good things. Next was the gold, silver, jade, and oil painting and calligraphy area. After a quick browse, Li Mo was surprised. This store can really be regarded as an antique store, with almost 40% of the items authentic.
"Mr. Qin, Steven has told me everything here, but I suggest you not to participate in the bidding yourself. You bid, and I will participate in the bidding as the actual authorized person. After all, I have American nationality, so if the bidding is successful, The procedures are also convenient and quick.”
Gu Lishi knew the secrets inside, so he quickly gave a suggestion.
"Okay, I'll take a look at the specific situation first before deciding whether to participate."
Someone else pushed the door open and walked in. They were several official representatives, and the store suddenly became quiet. One of the representatives looked through the documents and talked a lot, but Li Mo didn't understand a word. It took four or five minutes to end, and then I saw that all the bosses standing around who were interested in bidding were in high spirits.
"Mr. Qin, later this store will be packaged and auctioned together with all the items inside. The starting price is two million US dollars. The official has set a minimum bid based on the property value of the store. If it is lower than the price, it will be considered a failed auction. The one on the left The document in the fat man's hand is the official lowest price, and the minimum bid for each bid cannot be less than one hundred thousand dollars."
Gu Lishi whispered from the side.
"How much do you think the property rights of this store are worth?"
"Three and a half million dollars is absolutely fine."
Li Mo knew it in his heart, and his mind was no longer on the genuine antiques that were out there, but on the secret treasure house.
He wondered where the secret treasure trove was hidden.
"Start bidding, the starting price is two million dollars."
After the official representative announced the start, the bosses raised their hands one after another. Li Mo found it funny. The market value of this store was at least US$3.5 million, which meant that the real bidding would not begin until this number was exceeded.
The bidding speed was very fast, and soon it had exceeded the US$3.5 million mark, and the participants were still bidding enthusiastically.
Four million U.S. dollars, four and a half million U.S. dollars, five million U.S. dollars. When it exceeded five million U.S. dollars, half of the people had stopped bidding, and the bidding slowed down.
Five and a half million US dollars, approaching US$6 million.
"Gu Lishi, bid 6.5 million US dollars."
Gu Lishi was bumped by Li Mo's elbow, and he immediately raised his hands and shouted. Others were seeing an increase of $100,000, but his call suddenly increased the amount by $700,000, which stunned everyone involved.
The official representatives were beaming. The price far exceeded their expectations. They didn't expect that an antique store would attract so much attention.
"Six million and six million U.S. dollars." A bald American in his fifties glared at Guli Shi very unhappily. Seeing that he had an Asian face, he even cursed.
Li Mo could understand this sentence, and he said directly: "The asking price is seven million US dollars."
Gulishi puffed out his chest and raised his hands to shout the price.
The group of Americans looked at each other in confusion. Who did this group of people come from? Seven million US dollars was already more than double the market price of the store.
The official representatives are trying hard to deceive.
"Seven million and one million dollars."
The American reluctantly raised his hand.
"Seven and a half million dollars."
Gu Lishi raised his hand and shouted in a loud voice. At this moment, everyone stopped. The official representative knew that the situation was decided as soon as he saw the silence. After shouting three times, he announced that the store had been sold for 7.5 million US dollars. The bid was successful.
"Gulish, Steven, May, you go and handle the formalities with the official representatives. As for everyone else, please politely leave. From now on, I am the owner of this place."
