Before Meng Zitao sat back in his place, he went to Xiao Zhou to inquire who the seller was, and Xiao Zhou said that he didn't know this person, and he shouldn't be an antique dealer or collector in San Francisco.

So, Meng Zitao returned to his seat and asked Lao Xiao, who was sitting next to him: "Old Xiao, do you know who this seller is?"

Lao Xiao said: "This person is Tian Youqi from Juguzhai in New York, I didn't expect today's auction to attract him." ”

"Sure enough!"

Meng Zitao said secretly, it seems that the clue of the mastermind behind the scenes is on this person. At this time, he saw that Lao Xiao's mood was quite excited, so he reminded him in a low voice: "I suggest you just take a look." ”

"What did you say?"

Lao Xiao didn't react at first, but half-loud, a look of surprise appeared on his face: "What do you mean?"

That's what you mean. Meng Zitao nodded lightly.

"No, it won't. Lao Xiao was a little skeptical, in the final analysis, it was because Meng Zitao was young, and Tian Youqi's Jugu Zhai was not famous in the Chinese antique industry in New York.

Meng Zitao said: "No matter how powerful this line is, there is a possibility of eye-catching, of course, maybe I may also be wrong." ”

Lao Xiao smiled: "Where is it, I still believe in my brother's vision." ”

That being said, but when the auction started, Lao Xiao's eagerness to try it still revealed his true thoughts in his heart.

It's just that Lao Xiao didn't expect that the competition on the scene was so fierce, and some people even joined forces to participate in the auction, although Lao Xiao was rich, but in the face of fierce competition, as well as Meng Zitao's judgment, he finally felt that it was not cost-effective, so he gave up.

The auction of this porcelain is over, and the whole auction comes to an end, and as the last lot "settles", everyone goes to pay for the goods.

Everything went relatively well, Meng Zitao paid the money to get the two pieces of porcelain he photographed, although the number was far worse than Lao Xiao, but the money earned from a piece of porcelain alone was more than Lao Xiao's money from a bunch of things.

Originally, Meng Zitao wanted to ask Lao Xiao about Tian Youqi's situation, but there were too many things he wanted to take, and he was somewhat worried and gave up this plan.

It's just that Meng Zitao didn't go to Tian Youqi, but Tian Youqi came to the door.

"Hello sir, I'm Tian Youqi. ”

"Hello, what's the matter?"

"That's the case, I want to ask, do you have any idea of making a move on the small pot of Longquan kiln you just shot?"

Meng Zitao smiled and shook his head slightly: "I plan to collect it myself." ”

"Sorry to interrupt. Tian Youqi didn't say much, turned around and left, but after walking for a while, his face became gloomy: "Why did he come to the United States? ”

Meng Zitao also sensed that Tian Youqi should have come to probe him, which made him very distressed, because this was the United States, and it was impossible for him to immediately send someone to arrest Tian Youqi for interrogation, so he could only find enough evidence, and then extradite the person to China by diplomatic means, which was undoubtedly a troublesome and time-consuming matter.

Now that Tian Youqi is alert, it will undoubtedly be much more difficult to find evidence, and if he finds out that he is secretly investigating, it will be even more troublesome.

Meng Zitao thought about it for a while, and felt that he had to be careful about this matter, and an investigation was necessary, but he couldn't act rashly after keeping an eye on the person first. Originally, he planned to make contact with Yirong, but now it seems that he has to be able to let it go first.

"Then let's have a good honeymoon. ”

After making a decision, Meng Zitao put aside the investigation and played happily with He Wanyi in the United States.

A few days later, the group of three went to the small town of Cold Springs in upstate New York.

The magic of this town lies in its location, with Cold Springs located on the banks of the Hudson River, close to Guillotine Ridge, a dream spot for artists and outdoor enthusiasts. The streets have been bustling since the 19th century, with locals selling quirky knick-knacks on the roadside, riverside restaurants serving delicious meals and drinks, and backpackers can enjoy a relaxing time in the town after exploring the Great East Heights.

In addition, there is another thing that can attract Meng Zitao, that is, its antique shops, there are more than a dozen old antique shops in a small town, which can make Meng Zitao very interested.

Speaking of which, the small towns on the East Coast of the United States are very different from other cities, and because they are where early European settlers settled, they have always maintained a unique European flavor, and the people here have their own gestures and languages, which is a unique taste.

The three of them came to the town on a weekend, but even on weekends, there were still no people on the streets, and there were many shops in front of them, and I wondered how the merchants could make a living in such an environment.

Before Meng Zitao walked into the antique shop, he was actually expecting that he might be able to suddenly see antiquities drifting from China in some corner, but in the end, he found that every antique shop he visited did not have any exotic things with oriental flavor, which undoubtedly disappointed Meng Zitao.

However, Ho Wanyi and Shu Huijie were not disappointed, and some of the jewelry in these antique shops was very interesting to them.

A necklace and a brooch that He Wanyi found are products of Kirks Folly, a jewelry brand in the United States, this brand's jewelry is known as the goddess of dreams, but it has been discontinued, and there is only its antique jewelry on the market, which is a real old and unique product, and the texture is excellent.

Therefore, although Meng Zitao did not buy what he liked, he was able to help He Wanyi pick a lot of satisfactory jewelry, and this trip was worth it.

After visiting a few antique shops, I don't know if it was because of the high vision, or the things on the shelves of those small antique shops were really unsatisfactory, so everyone sped up their browsing speed, almost going in and out.

At noon, everyone chose a small American restaurant. The dining room is divided into two parts, with small tables facing the window outside. There is a small stage in the depths of one of the rooms, according to Shu Huijie, there are often bands playing here at night, but unfortunately everyone doesn't want to spend the night here, it seems that they can't experience it.

The food here is not bad, plus the environment is also good, and everyone is very comfortable at lunchtime.

After a break, everyone continued to visit the antique shop, but they only visited two stores, and there was nothing special.

The third shop looked a little older than the others, and when the door was opened, a smell of dust came to the face, and in the large room, only an old white man wearing reading glasses sat on a chair and read a book.

The old man looked up at them, nodded slightly, motioned for them to take care of themselves, and then turned his attention to the book.

Everyone watched slowly in the store, but they didn't see any good goods for sale, but this is no way to do it, because it is not like China, things are consigned or consigned by those who have collections, there is no time, it all depends on luck, whether you can meet.

At a glance, there are no eye-catching things on the surface, they are just some ordinary Western antiques, and they are not even antiques.

At this time, the old man closed the book, stood up, and asked kindly, "Are you from the ancient country of the East?"

Meng Zitao smiled and nodded: "Boss, I don't know if you have an oriental treasure here." ”

The boss smiled and opened a locked cabinet, took out a mercury glass hand mirror with jade sockets from it, and put it on the glass cabinet: "Look at it." ”

Meng Zitao picked up the hand mirror, generally speaking, this kind of mercury glass hand mirror that uses precious metal silver to connect jade is roughly exported to Europe and the United States in the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China. The above two jade grades are not used by ordinary people, and most of them come from the families of rich and noble officials. Both pieces of jade are made of Khotanese white jade.

The jade tile on the back of the mirror is hidden by pressing the ground, and the bats, leaves, lotus leaves, and strange stones are carved in shallow relief, which respectively have the meaning of blessing, vigorous vitality, breeze and chivalrous bones, and stable foundation. The theme of the jade belt hook is the common godson of the dragon, which means that the son of Jackie Chan is a dragon. The junction between the hook and the jade tile is supported by two silver bats, implying the beauty of the blessing to this day.

"Ah, this mirror is so cute. When Shu Huijie saw this mirror, she liked it.

Meng Zitao smiled: "I want to give it to you." ”

Shu Huijie hesitated a little, and finally shook her head: "Forget it, I can't afford it." ”

"Boss, how much does this hand mirror cost?" Meng Zitao asked.

"Eight thousand dollars. The old man said with a smile.

"Can't it be cheaper?" Meng Zitao asked.

"I'm sorry. The old man spread his hands.

"It's too expensive, I can't afford it. Shu Huijie was a little reluctant in her eyes, although her family background was good, she was not a person who spent money indiscriminately, she felt that it was not good to use her parents' money all the time, and she would work by herself when she arrived in the United States, so she was not very rich.

"We give it to you. Meng Zitao said with a smile.

"Ah, that's not good. Shu Huijie waved her hand.

He Wanyi smiled: "What's wrong with this, you give us a free tour guide, we're embarrassed." ”

"But there's my brother......"

"He is him, I am me. Meng Zitao interrupted Shu Huijie's words and made a decision directly.

Shu Huijie didn't refuse again, and said with a grin: "Then I'm welcome." ”

When the old man saw that Meng Zitao agreed to buy it, he was also very happy and packed his things. When Meng Zitao took out his credit card and was about to pay, an inexplicable color flashed in the old man's eyes.

"Sir, I wonder if you like your country's bronzes?"

"Do you have any bronzes here?" Meng Zitao looked around, but found nothing.

"Please come with me. Then the old man said, "Two pretty ladies, please wait here for a moment." ”

The old man took Mencius to the storeroom, which was full of miscellaneous antiques, of which the oriental antiques occupied only one corner, and there, Mencius saw a round bronze half a meter high.

Meng Zitao took a closer look and was surprised to find that this was actually a Bingjian, that is, an ancient refrigerator.

In fact, the earliest refrigerator "Bingjian" can be traced back to the Warring States Period, although it uses ice to achieve the function of refrigeration, but its function is no different from today's refrigerator.

"Zhou Li Lingren" recorded: "At the beginning of spring, all the outside and inside of the food are ashamed, and all the wine of the syrup is the same, and the sacrifice is a total of ice." From this, it can be known that this kind of utensils were used by the ancients to ice wine.

The whole of this bronze Bingjian is in the form of a round rope in the inner sleeve of the Yuanjian, with a perforated lid and a circular hole in the middle of the lid body, which just sets the round spout. There is a large space between the outer wall of the jacket and the inner wall of the sword, and ice cubes are placed to serve the dual functions of chilling and warming the sake, so you can drink cold sake in spring and summer.

It's like today's kettle, with an outer shell and an inner tank. The difference is that the distance between the outer shell and the inner tank of the kettle is very small, while there is a large space between the outer shell and the inner pot of this ice kettle.

Moreover, Meng Zitao found that the production of this Bingjian is very mysterious, and there are three hooks in the shape of a pinzig at the part where the inner layer of the bottom of the Jianjian and the bottom of the pot meet, one of which has a barb that can be moved. There are three rectangular mortises on the outside of the body near the bottom of the pot.

When the inner pot is about to touch the bottom, it will touch the movable hook at the same time, and when the inner pot falls to the bottom of the copper jian, the three rectangular mortises happen to fit with the three hooks of the copper jian, and the movable hook will also automatically fall, so that the body of the pot is stable. If you want to remove the inner pot from the copper can, you need to lift the movable hook.

At that time, the sake was rice wine, and when it was stored for a long time, it was over-fermented and its flavor deteriorated. When the wine is used, the pot is filled with wine, and ice cubes are put in the bottle to cool the wine and prevent it from fermenting and changing its flavor.

Looking at the process, the production time of this bronze ice book should be in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, which is earlier than the two previously discovered Bingjian of the tomb of the Marquis Yichu of the Warring States Period, which can be called the world's earliest refrigerator and an important ritual vessel in the sacrifice at that time. Such luxurious utensils could only be enjoyed by nobles during the Warring States period more than 2,000 years ago, and they can be handed down to the present in their entirety, and their value is immeasurable.

Meng Zitao didn't expect that he would be able to meet the priceless Bronze Bingjian here, but fortunately, he is now well-informed and able to control his emotions, otherwise he will definitely not be able to help himself.

"Sir, this should be a bronze from your country, right?" the old man asked, looking at Meng Zitao.

Meng Zitao showed a little joy at the right time: "It is indeed a bronze of our country, and I don't know how it came to this country across the sea, and I want to take it home." ”

The old man nodded, "Oh yes, although culture knows no borders, few of us here can appreciate its beauty, and I think it's better to let it go back to China." ”

Meng Zitao didn't care if what he said was true or not, and said in passing: "Excuse me, how much do I need to take it home?"

"Three hundred thousand dollars. The old man gestured.

"So expensive?" Meng Zitao did not agree, so as not to suspect the other party.

The old man smiled and said, "No, no, no, the fact that the ancient bronze can be passed down to the present is a miracle in itself, and it is very cost-effective to buy a miracle with 300,000, isn't it?"

Mencius retorted: "Not all ancient things are valuable, we have to take into account its craftsmanship and exquisiteness, on this bronze, I don't see particularly fine ornamentation, do I? If you refuse to change your mind, then I can only say sorry." ”

The old man hesitated for a moment: "Then how much do you say?"

"Two hundred thousand. ”

"No, at least 290,000!"

After some verbal arguments, in the end, Meng Zitao bought this bronze Bingjian from the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period at a price of 272,000 US dollars, and both of them were very satisfied.

After completing the transaction, Meng Zitao hurriedly wanted to transport the bronze ice jian back to China, but it was also a trouble for such artifacts to be transported back safely, so Meng Zitao called the staff of the No. 3 department in New York headquarters and asked them to send someone to deal with it as soon as possible.

By the time everything was done and Bing Jian was on his way back to China, it was already evening.

By this time, they had returned to New York, and they had found a restaurant for dinner.

Everyone was eating and chatting, Shu Huijie looked at the snowflakes falling outside the window, and said: "Time flies so fast, there are still a few days before the New Year." ”

"Yes, happy times are short-lived. He Wanyi asked, "Aren't you going back for the New Year this year?"

"I'm not going back, I'm going to go back to China after graduation. Shu Huijie said with some emotion: "Thinking back to this time last year, I was still at home with my parents for the New Year. However, people always have to grow up, and sooner or later they have to leave the arms of their parents. Ah, why am I saying this? Tell me about you, when are you going to hug a big fat boy?"

When it came to this topic, He Wanyi was still a little embarrassed, but Meng Zitao was much more generous, and said with a smile: "This kind of thing is not in a hurry, let it be." ”

Shu Huijie winked at He Wanyi: "If you have it, tell me, I'll prepare a gift for him." ”

He Wanyi smiled: "That's a certainty." ”

"Then I'll wait for the good news. Shu Huijie smiled, and then asked, "When are you going to return to China?"

Meng Zitao said: "Wanyi will go back the day after tomorrow, I still have something to do here, and I will stay for another day or two before returning to China." ”

"Oh, do you need my help?"

"I won't bother you about work. ”

"Okay, call me wherever you need me. ”

The culture of the western restaurant, the dish is generally appetizer and then the staple food and then the dessert, and it is one for one person, after eating a dish, the plate is taken away and then served on another, unlike the domestic table is full of tables, turning around to eat, so that there is generally no need for a box, of course, there are some other reasons for the box, but anyway, there are few private rooms in the western restaurant, and the voice is relatively small, try not to disturb others.

It is precisely because there are few private rooms in Western restaurants that the privacy is not so good, such as Meng Zitao, during a meal, he always feels that someone is watching him from time to time, he pretends to look in the direction of his gaze inadvertently, and finds that it is two foreign youths.

Meng Zitao said in his heart: "Is it someone sent by Tian Youqi, or something else?"

Thinking about it, he felt a little uneasy in his heart, after all, this was not the home field, and he was not alone, he didn't want to encounter a dangerous situation, so he had to find out what was going on with these two people as soon as possible.