Chapter Eleven: The Ugly Old Man
1136 Words
Seeing Huang Degui’s expression, Li Yuan and I exchanged a glance.
“Old Huang, how much are you planning to sell this for?”
Hearing my question, Huang Degui looked down at the dark object in his hand with some hesitation. He was just an ordinary fisherman and had no real sense of its value. In his mind, it was probably worth only a few hundred yuan after being pulled from the water. Still, seeing how young we were, he wanted to ask for more, yet did not know how to bring it up.
“How about this,” I said.
Seeing his conflicted look, I deliberately put on a troubled expression. “This kind of thing is real, sure, but the condition is terrible. I doubt many people would be willing to buy it. How about eight hundred yuan?”
Hearing that number, Old Huang was clearly startled. He had not expected the price to be that high.
“Eight hundred,” I repeated calmly. “It’s a simple question. Sell or not.”
Li Yuan, standing beside me, added impatiently, “If you’re selling, then sell. If not, forget it.”
“Sell, sell!”
Huang Degui agreed almost immediately. He had never imagined that such a dark, battered object could be sold for eight hundred yuan. Secretly, he even regretted not fishing more in that stretch of water that day. Who knew what else he might have pulled up.
“So are you paying cash or transferring the money?”
Judging by his clothes, I doubted he even had a bank card. I went straight to the ATM nearby, withdrew eight hundred yuan, and handed it to him.
He counted it over two or three times before finally confirming the amount. Then he said goodbye and hurried off, clutching the money tightly, looking almost like a thief.
Looking at the object in my hand, covered in verdigris and resembling a piece of charred wood, Li Yuan and I both chuckled.
“Nice work, Xiaoyu. Your acting was impressive. Only eight hundred yuan? I bet someone would buy this for eight thousand.”
I laughed and patted him on the shoulder. “Your acting wasn’t bad either.”
After exchanging a few compliments, we carried the object that looked like burned firewood and slowly walked back toward the hotel.
The antique street was growing more crowded. It seemed most people preferred browsing at night. Just then, an old man with clouded eyes suddenly stopped us.
“You two young men, let me see what you’re holding.”
There was no hint of politeness in his tone. It sounded more like an order, which immediately irritated us.
“Damn it, mind your own business,” Li Yuan snapped in Beijing slang.
To his surprise, the old man understood it perfectly and shot back a curse in the same dialect.
“You little brats. Don’t argue with me. I’ll just take a look and give it back.”
Li Yuan was about to say more, but I stopped him. Seeing his confusion, I gave him a look, signaling him not to act rashly.
“Sir, we’re new here, and we just bought this. If you like it, think of it as letting you take a look. No offense meant.”
The old man laughed and patted my shoulder. “You’re a sensible kid.”
As he did so, a strong force came with the motion, nearly knocking me off balance. It startled me.
“Don’t worry,” he added calmly. “I won’t bully juniors and snatch things by force. I’ll just look at it and return it.”
I nodded without saying anything.
“Follow me.”
Holding the dark object, the old man walked toward a teahouse not far away. Several middle aged men were sitting inside, drinking tea. When one of them saw the old man, he immediately stood up.
“Old man.”
The others quickly followed suit and greeted him.
“All right, sit down,” the old man said. “Little Sanzi, what do you think of this?”
The man called Little Sanzi stepped forward and carefully took the object from the old man’s hands.
“You should all take a look too.”
At his words, the others gathered around. They examined what looked like a piece of charred bronze, while the old man sat down leisurely, picked up a teacup, and took a slow sip. Seeing that Li Yuan and I were still standing, he gestured for us to sit.
After about ten minutes, Little Sanzi finally spoke.
“Old man, this thing is very strange.”
The old man raised his eyebrows with interest. “What’s strange about it?”
Little Sanzi hesitated briefly, then spoke again. “Judging from the craftsmanship, it should come from a Han Dynasty tomb. But the pattern on it doesn’t match.”
The old man smiled and nodded. “Go on.”
Encouraged, Little Sanzi continued. “The pattern looks like thunder pattern. That kind of motif gradually disappeared during the Western Zhou Dynasty. Most bronze artifacts with thunder patterns date back to the Xia and Shang dynasties.”
“But this piece seems to be from the Han Dynasty. That doesn’t align with what we know. Also, it carries an earthy smell and dampness. If I’m not mistaken, it was pulled from the Yellow River not too long ago.”
His analysis was clear and logical. Li Yuan and I were stunned. He had only observed it for ten minutes and already drawn so many conclusions, while we had treated it as nothing more than an ordinary antique.
“That’s right,” the old man said. “What do the rest of you think?”
Under his gaze, the others all nodded in agreement with Little Sanzi’s assessment.
“There’s one more thing he didn’t mention,” the old man added. “This item was likely taken out of an ancient tomb not long ago. It was probably part of a complete bronze vessel, but now it’s ended up like this.”
At the words “ancient tomb,” Li Yuan and I exchanged a glance. This old man dared to say such things openly. Even if they were not exactly the same kind of people as us, they were certainly close.
“All right, young men. Here’s your item. Let’s go.”
He handed it back to me and led the others out of the teahouse.
He glanced at Li Yuan, as if guessing that Li Yuan had many questions. But with everyone already leaving, we could only follow them outside.
Just then, a waiter hurried over.
“Two guests, three pots of tea. That’ll be five hundred yuan.”
Li Yuan instantly cursed, “f**k you.”
- Writer
