Chapter 134: Misunderstandings and Misplacements

  The feeling of having a thorn on one's back has finally dissipated. Not only did Lao Ding let out a sigh of relief, but even Xuan Qi also let out a sigh of relief. Without any sinister guys staring intensely, even breathing feels easier.

  Lao Ding felt that in Xuan Qi's body, there was a bit of luck that others did not have. It was this bit of luck that always allowed him to turn bad luck into good fortune.

  A gust of wind blew by, sweeping away the dust on the ground, and the whole world became clear again. Xuan Qi folded the paper he had written, standing beside Luo Zhanggui with a smile. Ordinary people only remembered that Xuan Qi used his unparalleled skill to open a Tian Huang stone, winning tens of millions from Zhou Gongzi, but forgot that he had once opened a large Qing stone.

  Every day, Pan's Garden produces tens of thousands of stones, and even the Xuanmen cultivators can't confirm which stone will produce a heavenly material or earthly treasure. Even now, it's unclear what a heavenly material or earthly treasure actually is. That large blue stone was just one suspected target. All the cultivators seemed like headless flies crashing around. It would be strange if they didn't cause any misunderstandings in this mess.

  Luozhang's counter is good for people, and there is a tea house in the seed material room. There are some years of Ba Xian table, with several wooden chairs of the same style, the unique luster of tung oil, plus the original wood grain, from a distance, it has a special luster.

  Xuan Qi sat in the chair, holding the tea handed over by Luo Zhanggui, sipping it gently, and the clear and sweet tea fragrance spread across his nose. He casually placed it on the table and couldn't help but exclaim: "Is this the Huang Hua Li's Eight Immortals' Table?" As he spoke, he looked down at the stool under him and let out another cry of surprise: "This doesn't match!"

  Luozhanggui's eyes narrowed slightly as he poured water from the purple clay teapot into Xuanqi's cup. He then asked in a low voice, "Tell me, what's wrong with this?"

  "This table and chair are both made of Huanghuali wood, but they don't seem to be a set." Xuan Qi said, stroking the stool under him with his right hand, then looking at the table in front of him, and finally saying in a low voice: "This table is a later addition, while this chair is older than the table."

  "Oh?" Luo Zhuang's eyes became even more suspicious, and he said in a low voice: "How can you be certain that the chair is older than the table, rather than the table being older than the chair?" This remark already revealed an important piece of information, which was that this table and chairs were not a set.

  Antiques are all about inheritance. A set of items that can be passed down is more valuable than a single item. Xuan Qi still remembers reading a newspaper report about Christie's ceramic auction, where a set of 12 porcelain tea cups with gold trim from the late Ming dynasty, along with a teapot decorated with green bamboo, sold for 390 million yuan. In contrast, Christie's had previously sold individual moon flower cups for a highest price of only 8 million yuan.

  The most representative is the twelve zodiac ceramic figurine vase. Also in the Jia De porcelain special session, the Qianlong's monkey figurine started at 360,000 and after 19 rounds of bidding, the final transaction price was 3,170,000, refreshing the highest premium multiple for a single ceramic figurine vase. When everyone felt that the buyer had gone crazy.

  Three months later, Poly Autumn Auction held a special session, with the Qianlong Twelve Animal Zodiac Ceramic Figurines starting at 10 million and ending at 67 million. The monkey figurine that was sold for 3.17 million just a few days ago was also on display. It was then that everyone realized that the price of 3.17 million was not expensive, as the twelve zodiac animals were missing only the monkey, so even if it cost more than 6 million, he would still have to take it down to complete the set, after which the entire collection would at least double in value.

  It is precisely because of the complete set of objects that have been passed down through hundreds or even thousands of years of history, and it is not easy to preserve them. Therefore, the value of a complete set must be higher than that of a single item. As a result, both collectors and sellers will go all out to make up a complete set. Some cunning businessmen, in order to increase the price of their collections, will do some mixing and matching. The most common practice is with ceramic vases, some of which have lost their lids during transmission, so they will replace them with new ones, which ordinary people find difficult to distinguish.

  And such a combination of eight immortals table and bench has long been available. If the era is similar, the carving school is similar, and the region is similar, it may be possible to pass off as genuine.

  This set of Eight Immortals table is indeed as Xuan Qi said, the table and stools are not a set, the four stools are Luo family heirloom, because Huang Huali gradually became famous and precious, it was collected in the ancestral house, later gradually forgotten. This table was later collected by Luo Zhanggui from Panjiayuan, and then the stools were taken out from the ancestral house to form a set, placed in the seed material room to shock the scene. Generally, people in the industry come here, seeing this set of Huang Huali Eight Immortals table and chairs will be shocked, but no one can see the mystery inside.

  Xuan Qi tapped the bench under him and then tapped the table in front of him, saying softly: "Trees have growth rings, Huang Hua Li also has growth rings. Huang Hua Li has always been a precious tree species. It takes many years for trees to mature, but the rate at which craftsmen harvest and produce them will exceed the natural growth rate of Huang Hua Li, resulting in an embarrassing situation where the age of the trees is getting smaller and smaller."

  Xuan Qi said, pointing down with his hand: "The wood used for these four stools is obviously older than the wood used for the Eight Immortals table. The craftsmen are not fools, they wouldn't use large materials to make stools and small materials to make tabletops. The only reasonable explanation is that the table and stools are not a set, and the stools were made earlier than the table, because the wood used for the stools is older than the wood used for the table, which makes all unreasonable explanations reasonable."

  "Good" Luo Zhuangui was convinced by Xuan Qi, and with a slap on the palm, he raised his cup: "Indeed, heroes are young, let me use tea instead of wine to toast you a cup." In fact, Luo Zhuangui couldn't tell who was older between the table and chair either. Now, following Xuan Qi's words, it suddenly made sense, Ah, special years have special materials, just by looking at the tree rings and reasoning, such simple logic, how could he not think of it?

  Two people raised their cups and drank them in one gulp. Luo Zhuangui also took out his own business card and respectfully handed it to Xuan Qi: "I see that my young friend has an extraordinary vision, but I haven't seen him bowing under any master's door?"

  Xuan Qi's knowledge of antiques is rich, and whoever is convinced by him will start a new relationship with Xuan Qi. When they hear that Xuan Qi is a computer science student who has not studied antiques, they are all touched.

  Zhou Kai became increasingly annoyed and couldn't understand what kind of magical power Xuan Qi had on his body. Why was everyone so good to him? Was it because he was skilled at giving people mind-numbing medicine?

  Seeing Xuan Qi and Luo Zhuang talking happily, Zhou Kai couldn't help but speak up again: "It's just good luck, you happened to guess correctly." After speaking, he ignored the awkwardness on Luo Zhuang's face and sat down at the Eight Immortals table. He happened to see the calligraphy and painting that Xuan Qi had bought on the table, opened it with his hand, and said in a disdainful tone: "Since you have such profound knowledge of antiques, let us open our eyes and take a look at what you've picked up."

  What Zhou Kai did was very impolite. Generally, antique collectors would not open someone else's collection without permission, which is not only disrespect to others but also shows that one has no upbringing. However, Zhou Kai, who was burning with anger, didn't care about these things and just wanted to make Xuan Qi lose face by any means possible.

  There are indeed mysterious and profound relationships between people. Some people seem to be born friends, and after a little interaction, it's as if they've known each other for a long time. And then there are some people who seem to be born enemies, no matter how they interact, they can't resolve their contradictions, and instead, the contradictions will only intensify day by day. Unless one side gives in or becomes afraid, the irreconcilable contradictions between them will not be resolved.

  The painting was placed on the table, and the Qing-style scroll slowly unfolded. Zhou Kai, who had been immersed in the antique market for many years, naturally saw where this painting came from. He glanced at Xuan Qi with a slanted eye and said, "You really have good eyesight, can't you see the mistake in this painting? Huang Shaoqiang was a painter of the Republic of China, but the scroll and paper of this painting are from the Late Qing dynasty, which is one dynasty apart." The sarcasm at the corner of his eye was evident.

  Luo Zhuangui also carefully looked at it three times, but couldn't figure out the mystery of this painting. Huang Shaogong's paintings are relatively common in the world, and due to his limited fame, the prices are generally not high. Moreover, this is one of Huang Shaogong's early works, and the technique has not yet reached perfection. It might be a practice piece from when he was 12 or 13 years old. Adding to that, there are doubts about the authenticity of this painting, and looking at the receipt with a transaction price of 50,000 yuan, even if it is genuine, it's not worth 50,000 yuan.

  At the time of 2000, the transaction of cultural relics and artworks was just booming. At that time, a work by Qi Baishi, "Clear Water River Shrimp Picture", was sold for only 40,000 yuan. Huang Shaogang, who was much inferior to Qi Baishi, would not have been able to sell his work for 50,000 yuan. So in Luo Zhanggui's eyes, Xuanqi had lost money.

  Just as Zhou Kai was coldly mocking Xuan Qi, Lu Zhuoqun's phone in his pocket vibrated. He opened it and took a look at the text message on the screen, his body suddenly shook violently, and then a hint of surprise appeared in the corner of his eyes. Everything turned out to be just as he had guessed, this Xiangnan Xuan family was not to be underestimated.

  In this case, Lu Zhuoqun's mind was racing, and the outcome of the gambling game became extremely important. This would be a great opportunity to get closer to Xuan Qi. Thinking about the majestic and powerful Old Master Sheng, Lu Zhuoqun's heart was burning with excitement. When interacting with others, it's not just about catering to their interests, but also about showing off one's own weight.

  Some people who don't understand the way of things only know how to fawn. Some can even swallow their pride and kneel down to flatter, but they don't realize that such pretentious behavior cannot produce true friendship. At most, they are just a small-time lackey following behind and showing off, and when real trouble arises, the person being flattered won't even bother to look at them.

  If you really want to make connections, you have to show your own strength and let others pay attention to you. In interpersonal relationship studies, there is a sentence that makes people think deeply: in this world, there are no eternal friends, only eternal interests. Only when you show that you can affect others' interests will they naturally stand by your side and follow your lead, this is the theory of eternal interests.

  Lu Zhuoqun believed that Sheng Dengfeng was also thinking of this, so the gamble became a test for Xuan Qi. Was it an examination ground for the successor of the Xuan family? If so, then Lu Zhuoqun and Sheng Dengfeng's subsequent performance would become the key to opening the door to the Xuan family. Unbeknownst to them, both had already chosen their materials and returned to the tea room, where they heard Zhou Kai's mockery. Not only did they not stop him, but they also looked at Xuan Qi, waiting for him to speak.