Chapter 7: The Gathering
"Sister Avon, you're finally back!"
waited until it was dark and Fang Ming was about to lose patience, when Zhou Yafang finally appeared at the door of the store.
"Huh? What's wrong? What happened? β
Zhou Yafang was stunned for a moment, she noticed that Fang Ming's face was full of anxious looks, obviously there was something, but the strange thing was that if there was really something urgent, she should call herself.
"Sister Avon, take a look at these antiques, is there a problem?"
Following the direction pointed by Fang Ming, Zhou Yafang found three antiques on the table.
"Isn't this something in the store? What's wrong? β
Zhou Yafang sat down on the chair, picked up the tea and took a sip, her eyes lit up, and said, "This tea is brewed well, but I didn't expect you to have such a skill." β
If it was usual, Zhou Yafang would definitely be embarrassed to praise himself like this, but at this time, he didn't have such a thought.
"Sister Avon, don't you think there is anything special about these antiques?"
"Everything in the store is something I have received and carefully evaluated, if there is anything special I don't know?"
After a pause, Zhou Yafang suddenly laughed, she suddenly understood Fang Ming's thoughts, "You don't want to tell me that I will be eye-catching with these three antiques, right?" β
"This ......"
Fang Ming is indeed this-one-book-reading-small-talking-thinking, but at this time, when he heard Zhou Yafang say this, he hesitated again, and when the three antiques in front of him were held in his hand, a monster did appear - this is different from other antiques, but who can guarantee that the appearance of this monster will prove to be a good antique? So far, all the abilities of the monsters have been inferred by his own imagination, and there is no verification at all.
Therefore, Zhou Yafang's rhetorical question, he didn't know how to answer.
After drinking a few cups of tea, Zhou Yafang stood up contentedly, patted Fang Ming's shoulder, and said, "It seems that you have carefully studied all the antiques in the store today, this spirit is quite valuable." In my opinion, sooner or later, you'll pick up the leaks, so there's no need to rush. Now, you and I will go to Zhao Lao's, and the time is about the same. β
"Okay."
Fang Ming scratched his head, glanced at the three antiques on the table "reluctantly", and finally grabbed the wrench and stuffed it into his pocket without giving up.
Zhou Yafang naturally saw Fang Ming's action in her eyes, smiled and didn't say anything, in her opinion, people who play antiques must have such a spirit.
Fang Ming and Zhou Yafang found a place to eat, then drove on the road and went to the outskirts of Ningdong City.
"Zhao Benhua, who is over 60 years old this year, is a native of Ningdong City. Twenty or thirty years ago, he had already entered the industry before the rise of antique collecting, and over the years, he had naturally become a leading figure - not to mention in Ningdong City, even in the national collecting circle, he was the number one person. β
"What he is best at is porcelain and miscellaneous, and I have been to his house, and the things he collects are the best in terms of quantity and quality, which is really admirable."
"I know porcelain, it's bottles and bowls, but what are miscellaneous?"
A confused look appeared on Fang Ming's face, he had never heard of what miscellaneous was.
"Porcelain is a big category in the collection, and there are also some big categories, for example, bronzes. In addition, some small things are collected under miscellaneous, the so-called miscellaneous is a collection of many types, involving a wide range of aspects, and there is no kind of special category, generally speaking, it refers to the collection of gourds, the four treasures of the study, etc., by the way, the wrench you stuff in your pocket can also be regarded as one of the miscellaneous. β
This is also one of the things that Zhou Yafang admires most about Zhao Benhua - miscellaneous items are extremely wide-ranging, and without extraordinary vision and accumulation of knowledge, he can't play at all, Zhao Benhua not only has a good time, but also plays well, which is not simple.
While driving the car, Fang Ming and Zhou Yafang chatted casually, and after more than half an hour, the car stopped in front of a villa in the suburbs.
Pushing the car door down, Fang Ming looked around, and found that the villa was located halfway up the mountain, and the parking lot alone was half the size of a football field, and then there was a huge meadow, and behind the meadow was a three-story villa.
Fang Ming was secretly surprised in his heart, even if he had never seen the world again, he knew that the villa in front of him must be quite valuableβand it must be an astronomical amount.
Seeing the look on Fang Ming's face, Zhou Yafang smiled and said, "If you started playing antiques twenty or thirty years ago, unless you are very unlucky, you will also be in trouble." β
Fang Ming also laughed and said, "When I was a child, I heard a story, and now I think about it, it should be related to collections. β
Leading Fang Ming inside, Zhou Yafang asked curiously, "What story?" β
"Twenty or thirty years ago, we had people there who went to collect things, such as jade. There was an old man in our village who passed down a piece of jade from his family, and when someone received it, he would tell him that he would take it away and sell it first, and then give him the money. People in that era were more honest and believed it. β
"As a result, it's gone?"
Zhou Yafang sighed, there was indeed such a situation in the collecting world twenty or thirty years ago, as for Zhao Benhua, would he have done such a thing? No one can be sure of that. At that time, there were all the people who made a fortune.
"Miss Zhou, you're here."
Walking into the villa, Fang Ming saw Luo Shi, and as soon as he saw Zhou Yafang, he immediately walked over quickly.
"Luo Shi, you're so early."
Zhou Yafang's face was silent, but she was secretly strange in her heart, she was in the store during the day today and now Luo Shi had a faint intention to please herself, they were all people who were mixed in the antique world, and they had met a lot before, but they had never been so polite.
"This ...... Say hello. β
Luo Shi originally wanted to lift his fingers, but he swallowed it back after thinking about it, but his eyes fell on Fang Ming on the side, it was the kid in front of him who broke his big deal today.
"This kid is too young, isn't he? What Zhou Yafang can't identify, can he identify? β
Luo Shi muttered in his heart, in addition to being young, the person standing next to Zhou Yafang was not a master no matter how he looked at it, he couldn't understand why Zhao Zhu would offer 1 million when he went - this is basically the exact price of the wrench, how can he get it if he is not a master?
"Sister Avon, have you noticed that Luo Shi looked at me with a strange look just now, and he seemed to be very annoyed."
Fang Ming looked at Luo Shi who left after chatting a few words, with a confused look on his face, this person had only met him twice, and he didn't even say a word, it stands to reason that it was impossible to offend him.
"This ...... I feel the same way, but you don't even know him, so it stands to reason that something like this can't happen, right? I remember that you just came to Ningdong City for a few days, and it is impossible for you to be strong enough to seduce his woman, right? β
Zhou Yafang also felt this way, and she also felt very strange.
"Forget it, I don't want to."
After thinking for a while, Fang Ming found that he couldn't think of a reason, so he simply didn't want to, he never thought that he had inadvertently blocked Luo Shi's financial path.
There were a lot of people who came to Zhao Benhua's house at night, perhaps because it was still early, so they were all scattered in groups in different places chatting.
Zhou Yafang is a beauty, which is definitely a rare scenery in the collection circle, so no matter where she goes, there are people to greet her, and she is also a delicate person, and she is like a fish in water.
After taking Fang Ming around the villa and saying hello to everyone, Zhou Yafang took Fang Ming and walked inside, passing through a small hall that appeared after passing through a corridor, there were not as many people here as in the previous hall, and everyone deliberately lowered their voices when they spoke, so it seemed very quiet.
Zhou Yafang looked at it for a while, and walked to the southeast corner, where two people gathered, one of them was an old man in his sixties and seventies, with white hair like silver threads, his face was as ruddy as a full moon, and a pair of eyes were even more flashing with bursts of light, as for the other was a young man in his forties, his body was straight and loose, his eyebrows were like swords out of the sheath, with a bad spirit, a wide mouth and big ears, and an extraordinary bearing.
"Heh, Miss Zhou is here, have you found anything good recently? If so, remember to take care of my old village. β
"Boss Zhuang, you take care of me, and you are my food and clothing parents."
Zhou Yafang turned her head and said to Fang Ming: "Fang Ming, this is Zhuang Jie, the boss of Zhuang's Group, and this one is Qian Fangqian, who is the predecessor of our collection industry." β
"Qian Laohao, I'm Fang Ming, the guy Sister Avon just invited."
"Hello, Boss Zhuang."
It is not strange that there are many people, Fang Ming immediately greeted him, whether it is a businessman like Zhuang Jie or a senior in the antique industry like Qian Fang, they are all people in the circle, and it is very important to deal with them well.
Qian Fang looked at Fang Ming for a moment and nodded lightly, saying:
"Heh, the young man is good-looking, and he is full of energy."
"Thank you, Mr. Qian."
"Miss Zhou, have you had any good things lately? Take it out and show me. β
When Qian Fang heard this, he immediately laughed and scolded: "Zhuang Jie, what are you doing today?" Just after asking, I'm going to ask Avon again? β
Hearing Qian Fang say this, Zhuang Jie was also embarrassed and said, "Zhuang Lao, you are a full man who doesn't know that a hungry man is hungry!" There are a lot of treasures in collectors like yours, how can we compare to those who have just entered the industry? So, I can only catch people to see if there is anything good - if there is a mistake in killing, I don't let it go, even if I look at it, it will be regarded as paying tuition. β
Hearing this, Fang Ming couldn't help but be happy, he didn't know what Zhuang Jie's ability was in antiques, but at least he knew that he was not short of money at all.
Sure enough, when Qian Fang heard Zhuang Jie say this, his eyes immediately widened, and he said, "You pay millions of tuition fees every year, right?" I've been in this industry for decades, and I've never seen a big wronged person like you. β
"Mr. Qian, I have said many times, saying that I would like you to be my collection consultant, and the annual salary is 5 million, but you just don't agree."
Fang Ming heard it bluntly, just being a consultant can earn 5 million a year?
"I'm all this old bone, what kind of consultant am I, isn't it good to grow flowers and raise fish at home?"
Qian Fang was obviously not interested in Zhuang Jie's proposal at all, and decisively refused.
"Yes, Qian Lao, I knew that this must be the result, so ah, I still ask if there are any good things when I meet people."
Zhuang Jie put on a bitter and hateful look, turned his head to look at Fang Ming, and said, "Fang Ming, do you have any good things to sell me?" β