Looking for trouble?
Li Chonglou felt a sneer in his heart.
Anyone who heard those words would be filled with anger.
Sitting peacefully in his room, only to be provoked for no reason, who would be happy?
With his temper, if a young man dared to speak like that, he wouldn't leave Donglin today without emptying his pockets.
But the other party was already fifty or sixty years old, which changed the nature of the matter.
If they really started to make trouble, even he would get a headache.
As long as something didn't go his way, he wouldn't argue, but would spread rumors everywhere. He would be labeled as disrespectful to elders, and it would also damage Donglin's reputation.
Li Chonglou didn't care about worldly opinions, but Donglin could not. His master's lifelong efforts were entrusted to him.
He absolutely could not ruin its future because of his temper.
For Donglin's sake, for his master and senior sister, Li Chonglou had to suppress his anger, pretend to be provoked, and try to resolve the matter peacefully.
“Since you say so, then I really have to show you.”
After speaking, he reached out, picked up the snuff bottle, and examined it carefully.
The body of the bottle was indeed Khotan white jade, first-grade in whiteness, with a discoloration the size of a fingernail on the side. The top of the cap was inlaid with gold wire and an Akha red coral bead.
At first glance, it looked like a new item.
But who was Li Chonglou? With a glance, he noticed something was wrong.
There was a problem with the discoloration.
It was in stark contrast to the brand-new jade quality, and it was actually an old skin shell.
This was old material with new craftsmanship!
As for the red coral on the cap, it was a genuine old bead, but it had suffered some bumps and had many chips.
“This snuff bottle is good, first-grade mutton fat white jade, old material with new craftsmanship, paired with an old Akha bead,” Li Chonglou told the old man truthfully, and put the bottle back on the table. “The jade for the bottle body, if I'm not mistaken, is from the mid-Ming Dynasty, a seed-bead with skin.”
“It was carved by a craftsman from Suzhou who retained the skin, and later reshaped into the bottle body.”
“Both its oiliness and whiteness are top-notch. Although it's old material with new craftsmanship, it's still worth at least a million.”
“Please take good care of it, sir.”
“Heh, your eyesight is quite good, young man, to be able to tell that my snuff bottle is old material with new craftsmanship.” A hint of surprise flashed in the old man's shrewd eyes, and the previous contempt diminished considerably.
This snuff bottle had stumped many experts.
He didn't expect Li Chonglou, so young, to see its true nature.
The old man lifted the lid of the snuff bottle, sniffed the snuff powder inside, and showed an expression of extreme enjoyment.
Then he put it back in his bag, and instead of leaving, he sat down opposite Li Chonglou.
He said slowly, “I think you have some ability, young man, but I don’t know if there are any good items in this shop that catch my eye.”
“This is a pawnshop. You should go to an antique shop to buy things.” Li Chonglou was amused and exasperated.
This old man was truly difficult to deal with.
If you say he doesn’t understand, then the snuff bottles he plays with are definitely high-end goods.
If you say he understands, then he comes to a pawnshop to buy things.
Although pawnshops periodically release unredeemed goods, these are usually for bulk distribution to auction houses or major clients.
There was no reason to take out individual items for customers to choose from; it wasn’t a vegetable market.
“Antique shops are no good; they’re all scams for newcomers, with few good items. I don’t like them.” The old man shook his head like a rattle drum. “Young man, I’m done with jade bottles. Help me see if you have any good porcelain snuff bottles.”
“Don’t worry, as long as I like it, I’ll pay a high price.”
“You’re an expert too, and you’re not afraid of me trying to trick you.”
One had to admit, experience made one shrewd.
The previous targeting and provocation seemed not to have been done by him.
Of course, Li Chonglou didn't take it to heart. Seeing that he seemed sincere, he remembered that there were indeed a few items in the storeroom that had been unredeemed by others.
One of them was a Republic of China imitation enamel snuff bottle.
Although it was an imitation, the craftsmanship was not inferior, and it bore the mark of a master, so its value was naturally not low.
Asking the old man to wait, Li Chonglou turned to fetch the packaged enamel snuff bottle from the storeroom and placed it on the tea table in front of him.
The old man’s eyes lit up, and he quickly picked it up and examined it back and forth.
He clicked his tongue and exclaimed, “Not bad, not bad. Although it’s a Republic of China imitation, its craftsmanship is exquisite, and the glaze is made from natural minerals.”
“This is actually the work of Old Ma.”
“Young man, I’ll take this bottle, name your price!”
As expected of a connoisseur of snuff bottles, he recognized its origin just by looking at the inscription.
“To be honest, this was not made by Master Ma himself, but imitated by his apprentice, who then inscribed his mark.” Li Chonglou gestured, “But it’s still worth the price.”
“Eighty?”
A cunning glint flashed in the old man’s eyes. “Since you say it wasn’t made by Master Ma himself, how can it still be so expensive?”
“A little less, twenty for a friend.”
“Not a cent less. I never set inflated prices.” Li Chonglou chuckled.
With his eyesight, he determined the price for each item, which was absolutely fair.
This snuff bottle, if taken to an auction house, would fetch at least eight hundred thousand, and after deducting fees, it would still be over seven hundred thousand.
Since he was selling it, he couldn’t sell it for less than that price.
As for the practice in the antique trade of asking exorbitant prices, he always disdained it. It was just bluster and a sign of his lack of confidence in his own eyesight, which he didn’t need.
Since the old man was also an expert in this field, he naturally understood the situation. Twenty was purely him treating Li Chonglou as a greenhorn and trying to cheat him.
“Thirty!” The old man made a suggestion when he saw Li Chonglou’s firm tone.
But Li Chonglou remained unmoved. Instead, he began to make tea. “If the deal doesn’t go through, we can still be friends. After drinking this tea, I’ll see you out.”
“Don’t do that. Forty, forty is not a small amount. Don’t be too greedy.” The cunning look in the old man’s eyes gradually disappeared, and a look of anxiety flashed by.
Li Chonglou simply stopped talking and focused on making tea.
The old man kept increasing his offer little by little, and finally, when the tea was ready, the price reached eighty.
Not a penny less.
The old man had no choice but to accept his fate.
“You, young man, your mouth is as hard as the blue bricks in the palace. It’s impossible to pry anything out.” The old man shook his head and sighed in defeat.
He signaled Li Chonglou to wrap up the item.
As he watched Li Chonglou carefully package it, a cunning look reappeared in his eyes.
After the packaging was done, and he had finished a cup of tea, he changed his mind again: “Look, it’s all packed. Just sell it to me cheaper.”
“I agreed to eighty just now in the heat of the moment. Give me a discount of one hundred thousand, seventy, and I’ll pay you right away.”
“Otherwise, I don’t want it anymore.”
The price had been settled, but suddenly it was lowered again.
It was clear that he was trying to take advantage of Li Chonglou’s youth and pocket some extra money.
Having lived so long, what did face matter to him?
Only money was the most practical thing. It wasn’t ten or eight yuan; one hundred thousand yuan was not a small amount.
If he refused to earn seventy thousand for this difference of one hundred thousand, he would be a fool.
He was precisely targeting Li Chonglou’s weakness and deliberately going back on his word.
“The price we agreed upon, it’s not right to go back on your word now, is it?” Li Chonglou’s smile never changed.
But a hint of displeasure was clearly rising in his eyes.
It was one thing for the old man to be disrespectful and constantly provoke him.
Now he dared to play this trick on him.
Did he really think he, Li Chonglou, was made of clay?