Chapter 61: The Treasured Darling (Three)

  Qu Wen took the basket from Wu Ge's hand, opened it and looked inside. There was a pair of palm-sized cloisonné garlic-head vases, two strings of orange-yellow beads, over ten silver coins and several pieces of pure silver jewelry. Judging by their appearance, these should be things used by rich women, because during the war, most people who owned such items were not ordinary people.

  It's also unknown how these things were left behind or buried in the deep mountains, anyway they were dug up by Wu Ge, a poor guy who couldn't even marry a wife, decades later.

  Looking at these things, Qu Wen couldn't help but secretly rejoice in his heart. This trip was indeed worthwhile, and after being busy for half a day, he finally had some gains. But excitement aside, he couldn't reveal it, otherwise the other party would see through him and would surely make a big profit from him.

  "Wu Ge, were these dug up together?" Qu Wen asked curiously, wanting to confirm the origin of these things.

  Wu Ge nodded, his face showing a rustic simplicity: "They were all dug up in one place, and at the time there was also a small wooden box containing them. Because the box was a bit broken, I took out what was inside."

  Upon hearing Wu Ge's words, Qu Wen's thoughts stirred, and regardless of what material the small wooden box was made of, it was at least an antique.

  "Wu Ge, is that box still there? Can you bring it over and let me take a look?"

  Wu Ge thought for a moment, furrowed his brow, and looked quite tense: "It seems to have been thrown into the woodshed. If it hasn't been burned yet, why is that small box more valuable?"

  The text translates to:

  "It's laughable just listening to him, he hasn't even seen it before, how does he know if that box is valuable or not? Even if it was valuable, you can't say it out loud, otherwise it wouldn't be called a bargain. After doing this for several months, I first understood one truth: honest people won't get rich, kind-hearted people will get even poorer. That's why it's called a bargain, taking advantage of others' ignorance to buy extremely good things at an extremely low price."

  "There isn't, it's just these two porcelain bottles are easy to break, so I want to find something suitable to put them in."

  Wu Ge didn't understand antique collecting and wasn't thinking that much, he thought Qu Wen's words made sense, without even taking back the things in the basket, he directly walked into the adjacent woodshed, leaving behind a basket of treasures and three outsiders.

  While Wu Ge was looking for the wooden box, Qu Wen carefully examined the few things in the basket. First, there was a cloisonné garlic-shaped vase with a copper body and blue glaze, from the mouth to the outer edge of the foot, it was painted with twining flowers and plants, which is called "full work" in craftsmanship, a very time-consuming technique. The flowers in the twining branches were decorated with peony patterns as the center, combined with bat and double coin patterns as the decoration for the mouth and edge of the foot, symbolizing "good fortune and longevity" and "flowers blooming everywhere".

  The whole bottle is light and beautiful, with a strong sense of nobility, having a very strong style of Qing dynasty's middle to late period, plus the bottom has Daqing Dagong version and faintly gathered spiritual energy, so Qu Wen dares to confirm that this should be a modern piece.

  Another two strings of beads, the curved text on hand gently rubbed down, after a while slowly emitting a very faint scent, if not carefully listened to it is difficult to hear.

  Xiong Wu had collected many antiques from people, so it was impossible that he didn't know anything about them. At a glance, he recognized the two strings of pearls on Qu Wen's hand were made of beeswax, but as for their quality, he wasn't very clear.

  "Brother Qu, these two strings are beeswax, I heard others say that it's the condensation of tree sap, but I don't know what benefits this thing has or how to distinguish it."

  If it weren't for Xiong Wu bringing three people into the mountain, Qu Wen wouldn't have encountered these good things. With a faint smile, he explained carefully: "These two strings are indeed beeswax, which is produced by plants and condensed over millions of years. Beeswax can be considered one of the five treasures of traditional Chinese medicine, recorded in both 'Ben Cao Gang Mu' and 'New Dictionary of Traditional Chinese Medicine'. Wearing beeswax for a long time can relieve symptoms such as rheumatism, bone pain, rhinitis, stomachache, high blood pressure, and skin sensitivity. The efficacy of different colors and varieties from different regions also differs. As for the identification methods, there are many, but the most convenient and common ones are three."

  "Firstly, genuine beeswax is a neutral organic gemstone that won't feel too hot in summer or too cold in winter, always giving off a warm and gentle feeling. If it's made of glass or jade, it will have an icy cool and heavy feeling.

  Secondly, when buying beeswax, you can slightly rub it. Genuine beeswax only produces a faint scent that is almost imperceptible when burned or rubbed. If the beeswax products on the street stalls have a fragrance without rubbing, it's best to just look and not buy.

  Thirdly, under strong light, genuine beeswax will contain air bubbles, mostly round in shape. Fakes are usually long and flat. Generally, as long as you pay attention to these three points, you won't easily buy fake beeswax."

  He was thrilled, and Xiong Wu picked up the silver coins and ornaments in the basket. These were the only things he could afford to play with for now, as for high-end goods like garlic jar, he didn't dare think about it yet.

  "What's so special about these silver dollars and ornaments."

  He picked up two of the silver coins and weighed them in his hand: "These ornaments are not worth mentioning, the craftsmanship is only ordinary folk goods, even if they have a certain age, the value is not high. As for the silver coins, their value depends on the year of production and the quantity produced, as well as the number that has survived to this day. Like these few coins here with 1926 printed on them, with a face value of one yuan, at the time they were relatively common circulating currency, issued in large quantities, so many have survived, and their value is not high either. If you really want to know the current market value of silver coins, it's best to ask Ah Feng, he has been in the antique business longer than me, and knows more than I do."

  As soon as the song was finished, Wu Ge also came back, holding a worn-out, dark yellow small wooden box in his hand. The length and width of the box were about 30 cm and 20 cm respectively, with a floral pattern carved on the top and a lotus-shaped copper lock on the front. Overall, it looked like an ancient large jewelry box.

  As they walked closer, Wu Ge handed the wooden box directly to Qu Wen: "Fortunately I didn't burn it away, what use can such a small broken box have?"

  She took the wooden box, didn't answer immediately, secretly released her spiritual awareness, and as soon as her spiritual awareness touched the wooden box, she couldn't help but move her expression, and could clearly feel a strong spiritual energy condensed on the small wooden box. However, it was quickly put down again, seemingly completely ignoring the wooden box.

  "Brother Wu, can you trouble someone to go find Ah Feng and ask him to come help price these things?" Qu Wen pointed with his hand at the things in the basket, but didn't mention the small wooden box beside him.

  "I'll have someone bring him over right away." Seeing Qu Wen's intention to buy these things, Xiong Wu was particularly delighted. After the deal, he would get a commission, plus the fee for bringing them together, and in just one day, he could earn several hundred or even thousands.

  Not long after, Zhao Haifeng arrived at Wu Ge's house and shouted loudly as soon as he entered the room: "How did you find the treasure again? I'll have to go ask a fortune teller if you're one of the top ten good people reincarnated."

  Is it the reincarnation of one of the top ten good people? The lyrics are unclear, and even Pig Head Shifu in heaven didn't mention it. However, I can confirm that since meeting Pig Head Shifu, my luck has really been getting better and better, and I've been encountering good things everywhere I go.

  "If I said that there was a golden lotus canopy above my head, would you believe it? Instead of wasting your time talking nonsense, why not take a look at how much these things are worth?" Qu Wen said, gesturing to the contents of the basket.

  Zhao Haifeng had worked in the antique shop for several years and was very familiar with the market rules. As soon as he entered, he saw the small wooden box beside Qu Wen and couldn't help but move his expression slightly, just like Qu Wen.

  But Qu Wen only mentioned pricing the things in the basket, Zhao Haifeng immediately understood his intention, and with a nod, he picked up the things in the basket to take a look, then pulled Qu Wen aside to discuss in a low voice, and before long, the two of them had agreed on a price.

  Collect, vote, and force the barbarians to keep asking for more! Brothers, I've got your back!!!!!