Rebirth 13, starting from the big demolition treasure hunt

On the evening of April 22nd, around 6:30, Wu Yuansheng was having dinner when his cell phone rang. He checked and saw that it was Ye Heng calling. He answered the call:

"Brother Wu, did I bother you?"

"No, I'm eating at home."

"That's good. I have some news for you. An elderly man I know who collected calligraphy and paintings passed away a while ago, and his wife wants to get rid of some of his paintings.

Are you interested? If so, you can come and buy a few. Some of the paintings look pretty good!"

“Does he collect provincial or national level paintings?”

There was no rush to decide whether to buy or not. Wu Yuansheng planned to find out the situation first.

"He has provincial and national level ones, but definitely not those by masters like Qi Baishi, Zhang Daqian, Xu Beihong, Pan Tianshou, Fu Baoshi, Liu Haisu, etc. He won't spend money on them."

"Do you have any pictures of his calligraphy and paintings? Send a few over for me to see. If possible, I'll come over and buy some."

"Yes, I'll find a few and send them to you now."

"it is good!"

After hanging up the phone, he continued eating.

Wu Yuansheng felt that the things recommended by Ye Heng were relatively reliable.

He was not one to joke around when it came to collecting, especially with others.

Less than five minutes later, a message came on my phone.

I clicked on it and saw that it was pictures of several paintings sent by Ye Heng.

There are landscapes, vegetables and fruits, bonsai, and paintings and calligraphy, all framed.

Whether a painting is good or not can be judged by one’s first impression.

After taking a quick look, he thought these paintings were all very good.

After sending a video call, the two chatted for a while.

During the visit, he asked about the approximate price and when he could go and buy it.

The price ranges from a few hundred yuan to two or three thousand yuan. It is estimated that there are very few paintings that cost more than ten thousand yuan. There are discounts if you buy more.

Ye Heng said that since they wanted to buy it, they should do it as soon as possible, and the two of them agreed to go there together tomorrow afternoon.

Since they were all at home, Wu Yuansheng also greeted Fang Fen, and asked Yi Xiaoyue, Wu Qi, and Wu Ming to greet their family as well and chat for a few words.

After the video call ended, he showed Yi Xiaoyue the pictures of calligraphy and painting he sent to him, and she also said that the paintings were very good.

The next morning, after breakfast, he drove to the provincial capital.

It's not often that you travel far to buy things like this.

When he was almost there, he stopped the car and bought some gifts, mainly fruits and the like.

Ye Heng's home is on the edge of East Lake, and the villa is slightly larger than his own home.

In recent years, he has also learned to collect things, and has set aside a room at home to store items he finds while treasure hunting, as well as occasional items he purchases from others.

During the years of treasure hunting, although I just wandered around in my spare time, I always found some fine products, including some porcelain pieces, stone products, and glass products.

For example, he also got Buddha statues, silver ingots, bronze mirrors, bronze seals, some slightly larger or more valuable copper coins, etc.

Because they planned to go home after buying the painting, they had lunch at his house at noon, and then they went directly to the home of the old lady who sold calligraphy and paintings.

During this period, Ye Heng also contacted a professional expert in calligraphy and painting.

The man's surname is Li and he is about sixty years old.

He followed over and also prepared to buy some.

Having someone knowledgeable about the subject following you, who can read seal script, is definitely more reliable than just looking at a painting without even knowing who painted it.

Wu Yuansheng no longer does this kind of calligraphy and painting business. He came here just to buy a few good ones to enjoy later.

The three of them met at the gate of the community where the old lady lived, and then went to her house together.

The community is the staff housing compound of a certain unit. The houses were built around 2000 and are not too old.

The old lady’s house is not high, with seven floors in total, and her house is on the second floor.

Because they had contacted in advance, when they arrived, the old lady and her son and daughter-in-law were all at home.

After saying hello, they started watching without wasting any time.

There are quite a lot of calligraphy and paintings. According to the old lady, there are more than 300 pieces in total.

Every time they pick up a painting, they first look at whether it is good or not. If it is not good, they put it aside.

Those that are considered good are selected separately.

It took me about two hours to look at more than 300 pieces of calligraphy and paintings.

Among them, there are approximately 82 paintings with a market price of over 6000 yuan, and the most expensive one is nearly yuan per piece.

There are 106 paintings ranging from five hundred to one thousand.

The rest are all below 500 yuan.

After checking them out, Mr. Li, an expert in calligraphy and painting, said that there was no problem with the calligraphy and paintings and they were all authentic.

Nowadays, as long as you know who painted the painting, you can find out the price online.

With so many calligraphy and paintings coming from far away, he selected 23 pieces, with options at every price.

Regardless of the price, he likes the calligraphy and painting very much.

Three of them were seen in the pictures sent by Ye Heng.

There is a calligraphy and painting in the same frame, with a big "Shou" character on top and a plate of "longevity peaches" and grapes painted below, with the words "Longevity and prosperity", "Blessings as vast as the East Sea, longevity as great as the Southern Mountains" written on it. It is obviously a birthday celebration at first glance.

One painting is of a landscape that looks like the "Guilin Landscape", with strange peaks, beautiful scenery, fishing boats, and villages. It looks beautiful and full of artistic conception.

There is also a painting of a horizontal cabbage and a red pepper, which is also very well drawn.

Ye Heng selected about 50 paintings, of various prices.

As for the rest, Mr. Li, who is involved in calligraphy and painting, said that if the price is negotiated, he can buy them all.

When buying calligraphy and paintings, you definitely cannot go by the prices online. It is not surprising that a piece priced at 1 yuan online is sold for 2000 yuan.

Everything should be based on the actual transaction price.

Although Ye Heng knew them, acquaintance is one thing and business is another, and everyone made their statements very clear.

Boss Li is a very good business negotiator. He explained the current market conditions to the old lady and her family.

The old lady's son is also knowledgeable. When his father was alive, he would never buy calligraphy and paintings from others according to market prices, but would always bargain.

Finally, after negotiation, all orders above 1000 yuan will be charged at 1000 yuan.

For amounts between 500 yuan and 1000 yuan, please count them as 500.

For amounts below 500 yuan, we will round it up to 100 yuan.

They can sell out the items at a clearance price all at once, saving them some trouble.

This price is only if you buy it from them. It will be cheaper if you buy it from a scrap collector.

After the negotiation, they began to calculate the price of their respective calligraphy and paintings.

武元胜买的23幅，有12幅是1000的、6幅500的、5幅100的。

The total cost was 15500 yuan.

Ye Heng bought nearly 50 pairs and spent 26200 yuan.

The rest were bought by Boss Li, who spent almost 10 yuan.

After buying the calligraphy and paintings, it was almost half past four.

After leaving the old lady's house, Ye Heng and Boss Li invited him to have dinner with them, but considering that he had to go back, he politely declined and said they would get together next time.

He also told them that if they went to city XY, he would treat them to a meal.

Without wasting any time, he put the painting away and drove home.

He quite likes the paintings he bought this time. In his personal opinion, it is good to spend money to buy some famous paintings and calligraphy worth less than 10,000 yuan for appreciation.

Even if there really was a master-level painting like that, he wouldn't buy it.

Because he always believed that the prices of artworks were hyped up and there was no need to spend a lot of money to buy them.

Of course, this is just my personal opinion. After all, everyone has different views and ideas.

Perhaps in the eyes of others, a painting or a piece of porcelain is so valuable that it can be sold for hundreds of millions.

(If it is really that valuable, take it to the bank and see if they will recognize it.)