Dear, what are you waiting for?）
Therefore, antiques were usually traded during the day, and the final inspection had to be near the window, or even outdoors.
However, many of the transactions were at night, and the electric lights were basically incandescent lamps. Zhang Nan had prepared this flashlight with the help of a friend from the electrical company.
"What's the price?" he asked as he put down the bronze mirror in his hand.”
The stall owner pointed at the divine beast mirror and said,"This one is 580 yuan, and that one is 380 yuan."”
Qin Shi smiled." Boss, I'm from the north, but don't treat me like I'm from Xiangjiang, okay?"”
It was too expensive!
It wasn't that they couldn't afford it, but although these two bronze mirrors were the best of the best, they weren't worth the price!
In the mid-1990s, antique dealers from Henan Province came to Jiangnan Province. Generally, bronze mirrors that were passable were only one to two hundred or three hundred. Zhang Nan had seen this divine beast mirror twice, and it was sold for about 1000 yuan.
The salary at that time was four to five times that of now.
"Boss, name your price."
The stall owner wasn't annoyed. He shouted the price all over the sky and returned the money when he landed.
"I'll give you a real price. This divine beast mirror is 350 yuan, that one is 250 yuan.”
At this time, the wages of the workers in the state factories in Henan Province were only around 60 to 70 yuan per month.
"This is too little. I'll lose money at this price!”The stall owner was unwilling.
"Boss, if you take these two mirrors from Master Tufu, you can kill them for 200 yuan at most.”
Qin Shi was very certain. After all, he knew the market.
This was because bronzes were popular and porcelain prices were low. Didn't he buy a blue and white porcelain plate with a dragon pattern from the Yongzheng official kiln for 200 yuan?
In the 1990s, the price of that big plate would be much higher than these two bronze mirrors.
However, in the 21st century, it was hard to say. These two things were not comparable. There was a saying here. It depended on how you sold it.
Antiques were like that. Their prices fluctuated with the times. The tides changed. Other than Zhang Nan, no one knew what would happen in the future.
Such a good bronze mirror was sold at this price?
This was the truth. Who said that tomb raiding would definitely make one rich?
Low-grade bronze mirrors were now worth a few yuan or tens or even twenty yuan! Just now, Zhang Nan had seen a few of them at other stalls. They were openly placed in the pile of jade articles for sale.
Except for a few groups that could make a fortune, many of the others could barely make ends meet in the 1980s, even around 2011.
Thirty years later, everyone knew that a few familiar natives had dug dozens of ancient tombs in a few years. In the end, they were still struggling to make ends meet. They only had an income of twenty to thirty thousand yuan a year.
Even if they were lucky enough to dig out something good, most of it would go to the middleman and the seller.
"This price is really not good. You won't be able to come across such a good thing for several years.”
The stall owner was still unwilling, but he thought about it and said,
"Both sides add up to 500 yuan.”
He felt that the stall owner was a good businessman and probably wouldn't bargain anymore. He said,"Alright, let's be friends. 500 it is.”
After saying that, he took out a wad of money from his pocket and pointed out 50 "Great Unity" bills to the stall owner. On the other side, Guan Xingquan took out two bronze mirrors from the newspaper and wrapped them up in front of the two of them before stuffing them into his bag.
Even though it was a joke in Brother Long's eyes to swap the goods, Qin Shi had already instructed him to investigate the money and goods in person.
The deal was done, and everyone was happy.
Initially, he wanted to leave his contact information with the stall owner so that he could contact him if he had good items in the future.
However, the other party's next words made him temporarily dispel this idea.
The bronze mirror trade was still considered a skirmish, unlike 30 years later, when it would become too serious.
Even if the gravedigger was caught, the police wouldn't give a damn if they followed the clues and found Qin Shi. At most, they would hand over a broken bronze mirror from the same era to the gravedigger.
The local forces were still very strong. If the foreign police wanted to arrest someone, unless it was a big case like murder and arson, the local police would not only not cooperate, but they would even inform the police.
For people like Qin Shi, who had a job and a guardian, and Brother Han, who had some connections in society, it would be a great honor for him to help get the bronze mirror back for a small matter like buying it.
There would be many small criminal cases. As long as the parties involved were from the government, the police would simply go through the motions and hand them over to their respective units to handle.
In the end, it was up to the unit to decide whether to criticize, educate, fine, or expel them. If it was a fight or a petty theft, it would be handed over to the security department.
If there were financial losses or injuries, the unit would usually pay for it. The state would be so protective of its own people that the leaders of the country would blush decades later!
Of course, if it was murder, it was almost always execution. It was much stricter than a few decades later.
Moreover, in the 1980s, a police officer who returned from the army and a member of the party committee of a state-owned factory with thousands of people would have a hard time understanding the relationship between people in society and officialdom 30 years later.
You're just a factory manager or a bureau chief. Many times, you have to help. You have to bring something back and help bring someone back.
Using a government car to pick someone up?
Don't even think about it. The secretaries and directors of the city council didn't have a car for two to three days when they went on business trips. As for the deputy secretaries who needed a car for official or private matters, they would find ways to borrow a car from the units that had cars.
If they were unhappy, they wouldn't care about you. Who asked them to have iron rice bowls?! It was even more so when he encountered a powerful director!
He knew half the people on the street.
Besides, he wasn't going to rob a tomb himself. It wasn't a big deal to buy some things and play with them.
Even if the provincial government came forward, they would at most return the original goods. Otherwise, the local police chief would not be angry with him. If he took the person away for such a small matter, how could he survive in the local area?!
She couldn't even straighten her back! The police chief in the 1980s was different from the current one. It was usually a local. This situation only changed after the mid-1990s.
Besides, even if the stall owner had photos, they would have burned them after the transaction was completed. No idiot would leave them for the police to use as clues. Leaving the photos was like putting a rope around their necks. They were courting death!
As for the worthless bronze mirrors, Qin Shi had a few of them, along with many other small pieces that he had bought at random. He had thrown them in the drawer in the living room to prevent this from happening!
Moreover, even if the police knew that the bronze mirrors were in other provinces, they would most likely send an official letter to the other party's police station to settle the matter. They would not send anyone over at all. They did not have the spare money to do so.
If you were lucky, the other party would reply to you with an official letter. It would be a stroke of luck if the item was sent back to you.
Don't even think about it.
The trading of bronze mirrors went from a semi-public state to an underground one. It went from gray to black, and that was in the 21st century.
It was not a big deal to get a few bronze mirrors now.
……
"My surname is Zhao. How should I address the two bosses?”The stall owner asked after the deal was done.
He didn't ask for their names just now. However, now that he had a big business deal, it was polite to ask.
"My surname is Qin. You can call me Little Qin.”
There was no need to introduce Brother Long.
"Boss Qin, I see that you guys are also jade experts. Do you really have good goods?”
After the stall owner's business was done, he confirmed that these two northern merchants had the strength and wanted to make another big deal. It was not easy to find such a financial backer.
Moreover, the people in the north were more reliable. It was unlikely that the police were fishing.
"Ancient jade?"
It didn't matter. He wanted anything good. From the tone of this Zhao, it was unlikely that it was Ming and Qing jade.
"Yes, jade from the Warring States Period. It's my friend's."
"Don't tell me it's from the Shang Dynasty?" Qin Shi smiled.
"How can I? You guys are experts."
The stall owner smiled awkwardly and gestured with his hand."Such a large cloud pattern jade wall, it doesn't belong to our Dushan Jade, it should be Hetian White Jade. It was hollow with a dragon carved in the middle. There was a phoenix on each side of the jade wall, only a few millimeters thick.
There was also a tall jade lamp that was more than ten centimeters tall. The lamp plate was about this big.”
Looking at the measurements, it was also more than ten centimeters.
"Where is it?"
"In a friend's shop. Not far away, he has a small shop that sells jade.”
Great, now there was a private jade shop. It was more high-end than this stall, but who knew if it had a license or not.
"We'll leave tomorrow morning. What do you think?"
"Then why don't we go now?"
The stall owner was a little anxious. It was not easy to find such a customer. Moreover, it was obvious that he either had a share or a commission in this business.
Money is not money.
"What about your business?"
He pointed at the stall.
"I'm fine."
After saying that, the stall owner pulled the curtain aside and said to a middle-aged man next door,"Uncle Wang, help me take a look. If I come back late later, help me collect it.”
"Yes."
That person agreed readily. It seemed that this group of street vendors usually helped each other out.
He looked at Brother Long and asked in dialect,"
"Are you going?"
"Go, nothing will happen."
He had a cool expression on his face,[I'm just going to take a look at the goods. Even if the other party is a local tyrant, if something goes wrong, I can still make them submit to me!]
The three of them left the night market and soon arrived at a jade shop. This person opened his shop next to the train station and opened it at night. Clearly, he had a geographical advantage.
The shop keeper was a young woman who was giving cigarettes to a customer.
Seeing that there was a door inside the shop, it should be the layout of the shop.
Not only were there jade items on the counter, but there were also daily necessities, cigarettes, and so on.
"Is Brother Zhao here?"
"He's inside," the woman replied. Old Zhao, Little Yu is here."
The two of them could basically understand what he meant.
Hearing someone respond, the three of them walked along the aisle of the shop.
It was a middle-aged man in his forties who was drinking wine inside. He hadn't finished his dinner yet. There were two side dishes and a bowl of corn paste on the table.
"Brother Wang, these are the two northern bosses I just met. This is Boss Qin. I just sold them the two mirrors. They're so cool.
I told them about your friend's two jade pieces.”
Qin Shi smiled inwardly. The stall owner had just blurted out that the item was in the hands of this Zhao guy, and now, in front of him, he was claiming that it was from a friend. Clearly, he was afraid that the Zhao guy would blame him for not being reliable, so he was trying to cover up for him.
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