What the old man brought out was a small statue of the eighth son of the dragon. The pen %fun %pavilion www.biquge.info is like a dragon, ranking eighth, a good life, and the Wenlong on both sides of the stele is its posthumous image.

Legend has it that the bearer is very fond of all kinds of inscriptions that shine with artistic brilliance, and it is willing to turn into a pattern to set off these literary treasures that have been handed down from generation to generation, and decorate the stele base more elegantly and beautifully. Therefore, above some ancient monuments, you can see two dragon-shaped creatures coiled around each other, which is the negative stump.

Because of this, Meng Zitao had never seen the case of carving a negative slump alone, so he met the statues of the sons of the dragon that he had obtained earlier.

It's just that what surprised Meng Zitao was that this statue was a jade carving, and the material used was Khotanese jade, which was obviously wrong from this point of view, and this was what surprised him.

When Mencius studied the jade artifact, he made a new discovery, this jade carving is obviously an imitation of the carving of those statues that he received, but in the end it is imitated, so some places seem very stiff, but this also shows that the author should have or has had the statue he wants to find before.

So, Meng Zitao asked: "Old man, is it convenient to tell me the origin of this jade?"

The old man said: "Oh, this jade was actually exchanged with a Tibetan friend last year with a piece of Chen Shizeng's "Strange Stone Map", and I liked this jade carving at that time, but everyone said that I lost money, what do you think?"

Xu Xinqing took over and said: "Uncle, to be honest, I have also seen your painting of Chen Shizeng's "Strange Stone Map", although I can't be sure of its authenticity, but I basically think that it should be genuine, so it is certain that it will be lost." ”

Chen Shi was a Shanghai-style painter in the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China, good at poetry and calligraphy, especially in painting and seal carving. On the basis of inheriting the techniques of Shen Zhou and Shi Tao in the Ming Dynasty and Shi Tao in the Qing Dynasty, his landscape paintings pay attention to the creation of teachers and draw creative inspiration from natural landscapes; freehand flower and bird paintings have learned from Wu Changshuo, Xu Wei and Chen Chun of the Ming Dynasty of the Yuan Dynasty, and the painting style is strong and refreshing, full of interest; and the figure paintings are sketched with the intention brush, focusing on the charm, with the documentary nature of sketches and comics.

Because of his countless creations in his life, his works are also frequent visitors in the auction market, and the highest auction record so far should be the "Linyuan Pavilion Picture Scroll" in 05, with a transaction price of 440,000. Say it's not high, it's not low, so if you want to see if you're losing at the bottom, you have to look at the painting.

So, Meng Zitao also gave his opinion: "This jade can only be said to be average, the market value is not more than 20,000 at most, as for whether you have lost money, you have to look at the painting to know." ”

When the old man heard that it was only worth 20,000 yuan at most, he was very disappointed: "Don't look at it, my painting was bought for nearly 30,000 yuan, and if I exchange it for a jade that is only worth 20,000 yuan now, it will definitely be a loss!"

Meng Zitao asked, "Old man, can you give me the contact information of your Tibetan friend?"

Seeing that the old man was a little puzzled, Meng Zitao explained again: "The main thing is that the shape of my jade is exactly the same as a statue I lost before, and the carver is also ninety percent similar, so I want to inquire, of course, it is best to keep this matter secret from your friend for the time being." ”

The old man's heart was a little stunned, no wonder he was stunned when he saw Meng Zitao just now, it turned out that it was because of this reason.

"Of course, no problem, but it's not good for you to go to him like this, so I'll take you to him, but what reason is it?...... By the way, he has a coral ornament more than 60 centimeters high, so I said that you are curious, and I will take you to see it. ”

That's a good reason. Meng Zitao smiled and agreed.

"Then I'll contact him and see if he's available. ”

The old man contacted his friend, who heard that it was Meng Zitao who wanted to admire his coral ornaments, so he hurriedly agreed, and said that he would be at home in the afternoon.

After lunch, everyone took Xu Xinqing's car to the community where the Tibetan friend lived.

The old man's Tibetan friend named Jin Hongyan lived in a small villa, and when he rang the doorbell, an old man who looked to be in his sixties and was full of energy walked out.

Jin Hongyan politely shook hands with everyone, and when it was Meng Zitao's turn, he smiled and said: "Haha, this Teacher Meng, you yourself are younger than in TV, you are really young and promising." ”

Meng Zitao said modestly and said, "Mr. Jin, I'm really troublesome to you. ”

"Hey, what's the trouble, honestly, I wish you could come over often. With that, Jin Hongyan invited everyone into the house.

Bringing everyone to the living room, Jin Hongyan's wife served tea to everyone.

"Lao Yin, have you had a result of that matter now?" Jin Hongyan asked with concern.

"All but two of the main bosses have been caught, and I don't know if I'll get my money back. ”

"I think there should be some hope, there won't be so much money at all, or it won't come back. ”

"Hey, I really don't have much hope for this, you don't know, the current liars are so clever that they actually use the same way to manage the business. For example, their biggest boss is only responsible for training his subordinates, and even produces detailed terminology courses. ”

"And they are still piecework, some are too stupid to deceive people and be fired if they have poor performance, and some others with good performance, although they stay, but because their brains are too smart, the boss doesn't dare to teach too much, for fear that they will go out and work alone, because how much technical content is needed to do this department......"

After listening to the old man's story, Jin Hongyan was also quite emotional: "Hey, old men like us can't keep up with the times anymore, if we are not careful, our savings for many years will be gone, and it feels terrible to think about it." ”

"Yes, so when it comes to a large amount of money, let the juniors help deal with it. ”

"That's what you're talking about. ”

After chatting for a while, everyone got down to business.

Jin Hongyan got up and led everyone to his treasure room, the most conspicuous of which was the one in the middle, a beautiful coral ornament.

Seeing this coral ornament, Meng Zitao couldn't help but shine in the eyes, the piece is made of red coral, the coral color is as bright as the sun, and the spirit is introverted. The ornaments are unusually large and well preserved. The ornament is obliquely divided into three branches, the right side of the round carving of a fairy, holding a round fan, the streamer sangs down, and the lower part of the auspicious clouds are connected. On the left side is another fairy holding a basket, which is carved with a phoenix flying into the sky, the phoenix body zigzags downward, the red big coral tree, and the traditional auspicious themes such as phoenix, fairy, and auspicious clouds are carved on it.

The coral used in this device has good texture, red and bright color, thick as a wrist, wide as a fan, brilliant and dazzling, extremely gorgeous, and natural in shape. Its branches are evenly distributed, the branches are dense, stretch to the surroundings, naturally bend, become tree-like, the branches are dense, the branches are clustered, the tips are thin, and the branches naturally form thin small branches, similar to the thorns of the branches, which are quite spectacular.

The whole is rich in color, beautiful, and full of luxury. Moreover, red coral is not only beautiful in color, but also revered as one of the seven treasures in Buddhist scriptures, and has the characteristics of warding off evil spirits and honor. In the Qing Dynasty, the red coral pearl was a status symbol that could only be enjoyed by first- and second-class officials, and the value of coral doubled, which also showed the value of this coral ornament.

After watching a circle, Meng Zitao couldn't help but admire: "The whole work is finely worked, the decoration is clear, the image is expressive, and it has a deep sense of classical beauty. ”

Praised by Meng Zitao, Jin Hongyan was happy, and said a little proudly: "Mr. Meng, it is no exaggeration to say that it is not easy for me to get this coral ornament, the cash in my hand was not enough to buy it, so I also sold most of the collection, it was distressing at the time, but now the price of this ornament has risen by half, think about the original effort is actually worth it." ”

Meng Zitao said yes with a smile.

Since Meng Zitao is here, Jin Hongyan has to ask him to help identify his collection, and Meng Zitao will certainly not refuse at this moment.

"Lao Jin, almost all of your collections were exchanged, right?"

"What nonsense, in exchange for half of the most. ”

"That's not bad, I don't have a mind like you, and to be honest, I still regret it when I exchanged that jade with you. ”

Jin Hongyan smiled and said, "That's your willingness, it's none of my business." ”

The old man glared at him: "Why are you so clear, I can still get the things back?" But speaking of which, you can't be the jade that you bought anywhere, right?"

"What nonsense, that jade was carved by my friend himself. ”

"Why haven't I heard of you having such friends?"

"He's been out of Xijing for almost a year, and I don't have his contact information, so what is he doing. ”

"You don't have his contact information?"

"yes, it's kind of strange to say, he left quietly, and he hasn't contacted me since, and I don't know if something happened. ”

Meng Zitao was a little disappointed in his heart, and interjected: "Jin Lao, I am very interested in the carving of your friend, can you tell me more about his information, maybe I can also inquire about him." ”

Meng Zitao's identity is different in the end, and he can get the news that ordinary people can't hear, so Jin Hongyan is not surprised, so he told Meng Zitao everything he knew.

Meng Zitao got the information he wanted and continued to concentrate on the identification, Jin Hongyan's collection was not much, so it didn't take much time for Meng Zitao to complete the identification.

Most of the things are genuine, but there are also a small number of problems of one kind or another, which Mencius pointed out in detail.

Because it was reasonable and well-founded, Jin Hongyan did not suspect that there was something wrong with what Meng Zitao said, and he sighed very emotionally.

Considering the relationship of time, Meng Zitao was ready to say goodbye, Jin Hongyan sent everyone out, walked to the location of the living room, and everyone saw a young man in his early thirties, who was six or seven points similar to Jin Hongyan, and hurriedly walked towards the gate.

"Stop me, where are you going to die!" Jin Hongyan scolded.

The young man didn't look back, and waved his hand behind him: "Internet café." ”

Before he could finish speaking, his figure was almost gone.

Jin Hongyan coughed angrily: "This stinky boy, I'm really angry with me!"

"I said Lao Jin, you have to make up your mind to take care of your youngest son, you can't eat the game as food, right?"

"Hey, if he was only a teenager now, I would definitely have to take care of him, but now there is no way, he won't listen to you at all. Hey, fortunately, he doesn't steal or rob, he only plays games, don't make trouble for me, and let him go. ”

When everyone got into the car, the old man spoke: "The son is not the godfather's fault, Lao Jin's son has become like this, it's not because they have doted on him since he was a child, and it's not that I said that if his son continues like this, sooner or later there will be a day when he will cause trouble." It's just that Lao Jin is too stubborn, unless he turns the corner, he won't listen at all. ”

As the old saying goes, it is difficult for a Qing official to decide family affairs, and it is not easy for them to say anything to Mencius.

…………

The next morning, Meng Zitao contacted Xu Xinqing again, because his uncle's friend who could carve had been found and asked if he would like to visit together. Of course, Xu Xinqing's uncle has no reason not to agree.

The car stopped in front of a community, Xu Xinqing's uncle had mixed feelings in his heart, and said with a wry smile: "After doing it for a long time, the place where he lives now is only ten minutes away from my community!"

Xu Xinqing gently patted his uncle's shoulder: "Don't be sad, some things in the world are so coincidental, fate is not enough, and it is normal to pass by." ”

"Hey, let's go inside. ”

Everyone went to the doorman to inquire first, and the doorman really knew each other, but Meng Zitao always felt that the expression between the words was a little strange.

The three of them came to the unit building, rang the doorbell, and the other party learned about the intention, but did not let them go upstairs, and after a while, a woman about thirty years old walked out.

"Okay, needless to say, your intentions, you identify the characters on this jade pendant, and if it's right, I'll let you go up. ”

Meng Zitao waved his hand at the old man who was about to speak, took the jade pendant and looked at it, and said, "The character on this should be the prince of the east." ”

The other party didn't expect Meng Zitao to answer so quickly: "Why?"

Meng Zitao explained: "There are many collectors who like to think of this figure as the Hu people of the Tang Dynasty, but for the Hu people of the Tang Dynasty, the Hu people who can ride the dragon have not yet appeared, so he is not a Hu people, and the Hu people are not holding such a jade pot with a lid, and the pots in the Tang Dynasty are also porcelain with round bellies and thin necks that we often see, so these are not in line with the Hu people of the Tang Dynasty." ”

"With these basic blueprints, we can only go into the information to inquire, a person holding a pot, a dragon, a phoenix, and a bear. This style is only found in myths and legends, so what kind of characters meet these, let's take a look at the information of the dragon, before the Han Dynasty, and even before the Qing Dynasty, there are very few people who dare to ride the dragon, only two characters, one is the Yellow Emperor, the other is the prince of the East, but these two are considered to be one person by some places, the Yellow Emperor is the ancestor of mankind, and only the Yellow Emperor is qualified to ride the dragon. ”

And formed in the legend of the Warring States Period, known as the "East Jun" of the sun god is the incarnation of the Eastern Prince, and as the rise of Buddhism in the Eastern Han Dynasty, obviously the Yellow Emperor at this time said, it is no longer prevalent, and the dragon that the Yellow Emperor rode is not such a dragon, moreover, in some places, the Yellow Emperor is the Eastern Prince, that is, what we call the Jade Emperor. ”