Chapter 31
Words:2028Update:22/06/26 13:36:43
In his previous life, this was the first time Yue Heng stepped into an auction house.
He found this Taibao Auction company on the internet, so there should be no problem in terms of credibility.
At least Yue Heng did not find any negative news on Qiandu.
Of course, this did not rule out the possibility that they spent money to eliminate the negative news. Qiandu's moral integrity in this regard was well known.
Just by looking at the decoration of Taibao Auction House, it was worthy of the title of Taijiang's number one.
"Hello sir, how can I help you?"
When Yue Heng just entered the door, a front desk lady immediately asked with a smile.
She was young and beautiful, her smile was lovely, and her voice made people feel like they were bathing in the spring breeze.
Yue Heng patted the box in his hand and asked: "I have an antique that I want to auction here. How do I go through the procedures?"
"Please sit here."
The front desk lady warmly invited Yue Heng to sit on the sofa and asked him to bring tea.
Then she introduced: "Sir, first of all, we need to appraise your antique. Only when it is confirmed that it is genuine can we arrange for it to be auctioned."
Yue Heng asked: "Is the appraisal fee free or charged?"
The front desk lady smiled and said: "Of course it is charged, but please rest assured that our appraisal fee has been approved by the Municipal Commodity Price Bureau. We will not charge you randomly. Different types of antiques have different standards."
"Moreover, our auction house's appraisers are well-known experts in the industry. Their level is very high."
With that, she took out a brochure of the auction house and gave it to Yue Heng: "Please take a look first."
This brochure came with an appraisal price list.
Yue Heng looked at it.
Taibao Auction House was very formal. The appraisal price of the antiques listed on the brochure was clear at a glance.
The front desk lady said: "If your antique is appraised as genuine and you sign an auction contract with our company, then the appraisal fee can be deducted from the commission."
"In addition, we do not charge any commission!"
Yue Heng nodded.
He had seen a lot of news, saying that there were many so-called auction companies that specialized in deceiving people. They would appraise worthless fake antiques as genuine and then charge a high commission.
"Then let's do the appraisal first."
After paying the appraisal fee, Yue Heng was brought to a large appraisal room by the receptionist.
There were many appraisal tables in the room.
Other than Yue Heng, there were four or five other people who were also appraising antiques.
The person in charge of appraising Yue Heng was a middle-aged man with an elegant temperament.
Tao Chengxuan, Director of the National Collectors Association, Vice President of the Provincial Ancient Porcelain Research Society, Special Researcher of the Provincial Museum …
He had focused on appraising antique porcelain, calligraphy, and paintings for twenty years!
The above was the introduction of the appraisal expert in the brochure of the auction house.
Yue Heng's youth surprised Tao Chengxuan.
He smiled politely. "Hello, what treasure would you like to appraise?"
Yue Heng opened the box he had brought with him and placed the Yongle Jade Pot Spring Bottle on the appraisal table.
Seeing this Jade Pot Spring Vase, Tao Chengxuan's gaze immediately focused.
He subconsciously pushed the gold-rimmed glasses up his nose.
The appraisal expert carefully picked up the porcelain bottle and turned it around to observe it carefully.
He then turned on the flashlight and looked inside.
His expression kept changing, sometimes frowning and sometimes relaxing. In the end, he shook his head as if he was regretful.
After putting away the porcelain vase, Tao Chengxuan said to Yue Heng, "The name of this treasure is called Ming Yongle's Blue and White Jade Pot Spring Vase with Lotus Patterns. Do you know how many similar vases exist in this world?"
Yue Heng shook his head.
"Two."
The appraisal expert raised two fingers. "One is in the Palace Museum, and the other was bought by the great collector Mr. Yu Yuanbai at the 2017 Christie's Autumn Auction in Hong Kong. It is currently worth at least 15 million!"
Yue Heng didn't say anything.
He had a feeling that the other party was going to say "but".
"But …"
Tao Chengxuan took a deep breath. "This Jade Pot Spring Vase is a high-quality imitation of the Republic of China. Although the imitation technique is excellent, an imitation is still an imitation. It can't be compared to the real thing.
"Look at its glaze.
"The glaze of ancient porcelain from before the Republic of China. It is steady, old, thick, and has a jade-like texture. It feels soft and comfortable in the hand.
"If you look carefully, you can see that there are different degrees of wear marks on the surface.
"This is the mark of history!"
"As for your vase, the glaze hasn't dissipated yet. It feels impetuous and not soft in the hand. It doesn't have the stability and old feeling of the real thing. The overall glaze also lacks the traces of natural use …"
He talked a lot and pointed out a lot of problems.
Yue Heng was stunned.
In the end, Yue Heng asked, "So it's not valuable?"
"It's not completely worthless."
Tao Chengxuan smiled and said, "Imitations with history can also be collected if they are good. Your Yongle Blue and White Flower Jade Pot Spring Vase from the Republic of China is probably worth about ten to eight thousand.
Yue Heng was disappointed. "I see."
Tao Chengxuan said again, "I suggest that you don't put this up for auction. It won't sell. It's not bad to put it at home as a decoration.
"That's right."
He seemed to casually ask, "Is this thing passed down from your ancestors?"
"No."
Yue Heng shook his head. "I bought it in the Ghost City."
"Ghost City?"
Tao Chengxuan stared blankly. "You mean the Ghost City on the street behind the temple?"
"That's right."
"How much did you spend to buy it?"
"Eighty."
"Uh …"
Yue Heng's answer made the appraisal expert wipe his sweat. "Then you picked up a bargain."
Yue Heng grinned. "Thank you."
He put the Jade Pot Spring Vase back into the box and then left the appraisal room.
Tao Chengxuan watched Yue Heng's back disappear through the door.
His eyes flickered.
He looked left and right, then quickly got up and went to the washroom next to the appraisal room.
"Little brother!"
Yue Heng had just walked out of the office building where Taibao Auction was located.
Someone hurriedly chased after him.
The person stopped him.
The other person was a stout and sturdy fatty with a shaved head and a thick gold chain around his neck. He looked like a member of the underworld.
But his smile was very simple and honest: "I'm sorry, I just saw your Jade Pot Spring Vase in the appraisal room. I don't know if little brother is willing to part with it."
"I'm going to give it to my family's old man as a birthday gift!"
Yue Heng was stunned: "But this is a replica."
"I can't afford the real thing!"
The fatty smiled bitterly: "My family's old man likes to collect antiques, especially blue and white porcelain."
"So I want to use this bottle to make him happy. It doesn't matter if the price is a little expensive."
He raised two stubby fingers: "Twenty thousand, how about I give you twenty thousand?"
Yue Heng smiled: "I'm not selling."
Then he turned around and walked away, not continuing to tangle with the other person.
The fatty wanted to chase.
But he didn't know what to think, but he immediately stopped.
He stared at Yue Heng's back!
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