After a meal, the three of them were satisfied, especially Meng Zitao and He Wanyi, who felt that the whole person had been resurrected, and they suddenly came to their senses.

After a short break, and just as he was about to settle the bill, the chef came over and asked with a smile, "I wonder if a few of you still have an appetite?"

"It's delicious. Meng Zitao said with a smile: "Master, in fact, with your skills, opening a restaurant in China is no worse than in the United States, right?"

The chef smiled: "Isn't this my son studying and living in the United States, coming to accompany him can also relieve him of some pressure." ”

Shu Huijie disagreed: "I think it's okay, if you help for a while, you can't help for a lifetime." ”

The cook sighed, "The little girl is right, but who told us to be parents?"

Meng Zitao nodded, this is called pity for the hearts of parents in the world, and said: "Master, I don't know if you are familiar with the antique shops in Chinatown?"

"A little bit of it. ”

"Do you know where to sell fine antiques?"

"You're talking about fine antiques?"

"More than $50,000 worth of dollars. ”

"Well......" the cook shook his head, "There are very few of them, and it's not cost-effective to buy them here." Or I'd let my nephew come over, he is an investment manager, and he should also have some involvement in antique investment. ”

"Is it convenient?" Meng Zitao asked.

"What's wrong with that, he's actually a novice, and to be honest, I'm worried that he's not reliable. ”

The cook went to call and told Meng Zitao that his nephew would be there later.

During the waiting period, everyone chatted for a while, mainly talking about some domestic things, which made the chefs who had been in the United States for nearly ten years and had not returned to China a little skeptical, wondering if Meng Zitao was talking big, how could there be so much progress in China in just ten years.

In this regard, Meng Zitao said with a smile that hearing is false, seeing is believing, and if you have time to go back and see, you can see the rapid changes of the motherland.

The chef was a little moved, after all, he hadn't been back for ten years, and although he didn't have many relatives and friends at home, he was his own motherland, and it must be a lie if he didn't want to miss it.

While chatting, the cook's nephew arrived, a young man of nearly thirty years old and very well-dressed.

Through the introduction, Meng Zitao knew that the young man's name was Lu Jianjia, and he had several years of investment management experience, and in addition, he also had research in the field of antique investment, but he only had more than two years of experience and had accumulated some contacts.

Meng Zitao only needs Lu Jianjia's connections, and there is no requirement for his eyesight, so as long as Lu Jianjia can introduce some sellers, he will give Lu Jianjia an intermediary fee according to the rules.

Seeing that Meng Zitao's requirements were not high, Lu Jianjia also secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and then asked, "Mr. Meng, I don't know if you have heard of Estate sale?"

"What do you mean?" Meng Zitao asked.

Lu Jianjia explained: "This can be called a home auction, which is the kind of old items that are displayed at home to be sold, so there are many more opportunities to encounter good things than to visit flea markets." ”

Meng Zitao understood that it was nothing more than digging out the old house: "This kind of thing shouldn't be rare, right?"

Lu Jianjia said: "It is definitely rare to have a temporary intention, but there are also professionals who do this kind of business, and if you don't go over, you have to queue up." Of course, it's getting late now, so if we go, we won't have to wait in line. However, from what I know about my friend, there should be good things on his side. ”

Anyway, it's okay to be idle, Mencius discussed it and agreed.

On the way, everyone learned through Lu Jianjia that it is more difficult to rush the house auction, you don't know how long you have to queue, it depends not only on how long the queue is, but also on how long the people who go in first have been in it and what they have gone. So, the mentality must be good.

In the cold, it is better to wear a straw hat and a long-sleeved shirt in the summer, and the most important thing is to be patient.

However, the amount of harvest depends on luck, after all, the goods in the auction of this house are good and bad, if they are all good, there is a possibility of being swept away by advanced people, after all, there is no limit to how much one can buy here.

Because it was afternoon, when everyone arrived there, there was no one in line, and they walked in directly.

With Lu Jianjia here, the owner's attitude was very enthusiastic, and Meng Zitao took this opportunity to observe the situation in the house.

The house is not very big in the United States, only three floors, and at first glance you know that it has a long history, and the owner has lived in it for a long time.

The whole house is furnished to look like an antique shop, of course, the Western-style kind, from the first to the second floor, there are things for sale, displayed on the tables, and there are piles on the ground, and the price of each item is written on a small label and attached to the things for sale.

Since it is a family auction, most of the homeowners are contracted through brokers, and the price is determined by these brokers through appraisal. But you can also bargain with the seller, but you can't pay it back, and it depends on what it is, and it depends on what the seller has attitude.

In addition, there are many Western porcelain, among which the famous brands are Limoges from France, Meissen from Germany, and edgeood from Britain, which are very expensive but very sought-after, which are the pride of their Westerners, and they can easily change hands after buying.

There are also Western paintings, jewelry, diamonds, fishing utensils, tableware, wine utensils, cooking utensils, woolen clothes, second-hand books and magazines, and so on.

The owner here is an old white gentleman, named Gabriel, his white hair is very eye-catching, after the introduction, he asked Meng Zitao and others to take a look first, and he chatted with Lu Jianjia.

Meng Zitao looked around on the first floor and didn't have any utensils that satisfied him, so he went up to the second floor, where He Wanyi and Shu Huijie discussed the shiny jewelry.

The things on the second floor look better than the first layer, but the good ones are limited, but unlike the first layer, where domestic antiques are rarely seen, the second layer is a lot more, a third.

Meng Zitao looked at a few pieces, and was a little disappointed in his heart, because the price was not cheap, and it was not cost-effective to buy it back.

After looking at a few more pieces, Meng Zitao saw a dresser.

This dresser is a little interesting, the materials used are all top, the overall production process is also exquisite, for two layers of three drawers design, each drawer with a lock, copper live thick, the whole original taste, the counter is a small repair, with a mahogany table. And this small cabinet also uses red sandalwood as the lining of the drawer, which is quite rare.

It's just that what made Meng Zitao feel awkward was that there was a crack in one of the drawers, and the person who repaired it should also be a layman, so he fixed it with wire. In addition, the person who repaired it may have nailed a copper coin to it for the sake of beauty, but it always makes people feel a little nondescript.

Meng Zitao glanced at it a few times, and felt a little strange in his heart, if it was indeed for beauty, why did he show the back of the copper coin, which seems to be a bit contrary to common sense, is there anything wrong with this copper coin?

If it were an ordinary person, he might not think so, but Meng Zitao missed a lot of strange things, and he thought of this at once, so he used his ability, and the result was that this copper coin was actually a "Taihe Tongbao Kaishu Folded Ten".

The Taihe Tongbao Kaishu folded ten times for the Jin Zhangzong Wanyan Jing Taihe period (1201-1208). Divided into five currency system, to fold ten type regular script big money is the most rare, according to legend this is the imperial book of Zhangzong, Zhangzong is famous for being good at writing Song Huizong's thin gold body, its casting Tai and money, whether it is the production process, or the money calligraphy is quite Huizong's legacy.

The ten coins contained in the historical materials are "heavy treasures", and the "Tongbao" big coins are not described, and there are wide edges, thin edges and large characters and small characters contained in the score, and the collectors of the Republic of China have them, such as the arch. It is a product of "Taihe Tongbao" regular script big money, belongs to the category of fine edges, and the spectrum of things is slightly different, should be a new edition. During the Republic of China, it flowed overseas, and was returned to the country by famous collectors for decades, and then sold for some reason.

According to statistics, there are eight pieces of regular script folding ten coins in the world, but it is still one of the famous treasures of ancient springs, and it is worth a lot of money. With the condition of this copper coin, the current market value should be around 300,000.

During this time, because of the busy marriage, there has been no chance to pick up the leaks, and today it finally opened, which made Meng Zitao's mood a lot happier.

It's just that, except for this leak, there is not much value in other things, after all, someone has already scanned the goods before, and it is good to leave a leak.

Meng Zitao looked at the stairs on the third floor and found that there was a sign there, which meant that he had to be accompanied by the master, so he took the small cabinet and went downstairs.

After negotiating the price, Gabriel smiled and said, "Listen to John, you are from Huaxia?"

Meng Zitao nodded and said, "Yes." ”

"Then come with me. ”

Gabriel led everyone up to the third floor, walked to a framed portrait of a person, and asked, "The person in this portrait is from China, right?"

Meng Zitao looked at the portrait, judging by the seals and styles, this picture should be the moment when Emperor Qianlong wore his usual clothes in the "Nanyuan Hunting Ground" of the summer resort to try out the horse before hunting.

In the Qing Dynasty, the Manchu customs had "spring hunting" and "autumn hunting", which was the second activity of the royal family, and the emperor in the palace also had such activities to show the royal spirit of martial arts.

This picture is the same as the style of "Qianlong Rong Costume Map" and "Qianlong Hunting Map" collected in the Forbidden City, the style is also close, three-quarters of the side, and there are Western painting methods, and combined with the style of Chinese painting, the picture depicts Qianlong wearing regular clothes and riding on a horse to try the horse, showing the momentum of the emperor. The horse under the crotch is a four-hoofed white horse, with a majestic appearance.

It's just that there is no signature, and the author's name is unknown, but through identification, Meng Zitao can confirm that this painting was painted by a palace painter in the Qianlong period, and it is very likely that it was painted by Lang Shining.

Lang Shining must be no stranger to many people to him, his painting skills are undoubtedly very superb, in the creation of painting, Lang Shining integrates Chinese and Western techniques in one, forming a fine and realistic effect, he can not only paint oil painting, but also take oil painting techniques to paint Chinese painting on rice paper with a brush.

Lang Shining's figures, portraits, animals, flowers and birds, landscapes and landscapes are all-encompassing and refined, and he has become a representative of court painting in the Yongzheng and Qianlong periods.

As for the reason why Meng Zitao judged that this painting was made by Xun Shining, it was also determined by the characteristics of the painting, the painter depicted the face and expression of the emperor in detail in Western law, and basically could not see the lines of traditional figure painting in China, but used the shade of color to express the facial features of the characters, and the three-dimensional sense was very strong. This kind of painting technique is the "retreat method", and Lang Shining knows how to use the "retreat method".

In addition to this, other aspects are also in line with the characteristics of Xun Shining's paintings, especially the treatment of horses.

After the eyesight identification, Meng Zitao used the ability again, and the result was consistent with his judgment, it was indeed the work of Xun Shining.

I didn't expect to be able to come across a work by Xun Shining, Meng Zitao was almost overjoyed, you know, Lang Shining's court paintings are a hot commodity in the market, not to mention his portraits, which are completely available but not sought.

Meng Zitao looked at the list price, and it was only five hundred dollars, so he hesitated, and he didn't bargain, so he asked for it directly.

After picking up two leaks, the good luck was almost gone, and after buying two more pieces of gold and silver jewelry, the group took their leave.

When he went out, Meng Zitao gave Lu Jian a commission and said, "Mr. Lu, let's get here here today, if there are other channels or news, please contact me during this time." ”

Meng Zitao's cheerfulness made Lu Jianjia very happy, he collected the money, and said: "The day after tomorrow, there is an auction in the Collectors Hobby Association organized by the Chinese here, I wonder if you are interested in participating?"

Meng Zitao became interested: "Oh, is it a large-scale auction?"

Lu Jianjia shook his head: "No, it's a small auction." ”

There are many Chinese in San Francisco, and they have a group and organization, and all walks of life have established general associations, chambers of commerce, associations, hometown associations, and sororities. Of course, there is also the Collector's Association.

Some time ago, the members of the association chatted and said that the antique business is difficult to do, and some people can't sell a lot of things in their hands, but now antique collection is becoming more and more fashionable, and there are more and more people who want to play collecting. One end can't sell, the other can't buy something, and there is a lack of communication in between.

So, as soon as everyone discussed, let's just have an auction, the sellers are concentrated, the buyers are also concentrated, as long as the advertising is done well, it is very attractive to those who are interested.

After that, the members of the association were informed, and everyone raised their hands in favor of the matter. In less than a month, the auction was ready, and the time was set for tomorrow.

It's just that Lu Jiancai said that the grade of the auction is not high, which is normal, if those businessmen have good things in their hands, can they still not sell them?

Although the auction items may not be of high grade, Meng Zitao still wants to go and see it, maybe he can break something good?