Siheyuan: The romantic and suave Xu Damao

Xu Damao held the treasure carefully in both hands and paced slowly in the small space of the house.

This thing looks like a rhinoceros horn, but its material is jade. It is undoubtedly a jade cup made in imitation of rhinoceros horn from the Western Han Dynasty!

During the Western Han Dynasty, people generally believed that a cup made of rhinoceros horn could neutralize poison in wine, so this rhinoceros horn-shaped jade cup came into being.

It was less than 20 centimeters tall, and the thickness of the jade disk at the mouth of the cup was only two millimeters, like a cicada's wing! It weighed about seven or eight taels, which was estimated by Xu Damao.

The craftsman carved a whole piece of blue-white jade into the shape of a rhinoceros horn, and then hollowed out the middle to make it easier to hold wine.

The prepared mouth is in the shape of a trumpet, gradually narrowing downwards, with the diameter becoming smaller as it goes down. It is in the shape of a curled rope near the bottom, and the tail end appears like uncurled waves, which is very exquisite.

There is a winding Kuilong carved on the jade of the jade cup, extending from the mouth of the cup all the way down to the bottom, which is what is called the Kuilong pattern in the jargon.

In the blank space in the middle of the Kuilong pattern, the craftsmen at that time filled the gap with the linked cloud and thunder pattern.

The entire decorative pattern adopts a variety of carving techniques such as intaglio engraving, high relief, and round carving.

The main lines are prominent, the secondary lines are filled with white space, and the polishing is fine. The layers of patterns overlap and intertwine with each other, with distinct layers, reflecting the extremely superb jade-making skills of the craftsmen in the Han Dynasty.

The entire jade cup looks very transparent due to its fine polishing.

"This thing is so beautiful. I've only seen it from a distance in a museum in the south before. After all, it's forbidden to be exhibited..."

"Fuck, this is such a good thing from Yan Bugui. Aren't these things all from tombs? Could it be that this old guy Yan Bugui has some connection with the mountain mover?"

Xu Damao was also puzzled. He didn't know what kind of ability this old guy Yan Bugui had that he could hide it so deeply.

Forget it, it’s better not to know so much. I have my own secrets, so don’t ask about other people’s affairs. When the time comes, just put this treasure away.

“This dragon sculpture is really beautiful!”

This Kuilong has a pointed beak, round eyes, a single horn on its head, a slender body, and stands with its wings flapping. The things below that are rolled up and look like waves are the dragon's tail.

The more Xu Damao looked at it, the more he liked it. He thought to himself that when Yan Bugui came, he would get this thing no matter what.

After wrapping the thing carefully in paper and placing it carefully near the inside of the bed, Xu Damao paced around the room, quietly waiting for Yan Bugui to arrive.

……

It was more than ten minutes later that Xu Damao heard footsteps outside.

"Bang bang bang!"

There was a knock on the door. Xu Damao deliberately waited for about ten seconds before he pretended to be sleepy and walked over to open the door.

"Ha... Teacher Yan, you're here. I was a little dizzy from drinking just now, and I was dazed on the bed for a while."

Xu Damao opened the door and stretched.

"Ouch, sorry to bother you with your rest, Damao. How about you take a rest first and I'll come over tomorrow?"

"No, you came here in person and you're just going to go back like this. I don't have that much airs."

"I put the things here, but I haven't looked at them yet. Oh, did you bring the bowl?"

Xu Damao pretended to be casual and took the paper package that was lying on the bed.

"Da Mao, be careful, don't drop it on the ground. The things inside are made of jade, and if they break..."

"If it breaks, it's mine!"

Xu Damao spoke shamelessly, took the jade horn cup in his hand, and slowly opened the outer paper packaging.

"Da Mao, you have to take a good look at this thing. It's an old item. If you don't like it, show it to your friend and ask him how much he would pay for it."

Yan Bugui said with a smile, and he believed in his heart that Xu Damao took his things and resold them to others to make a profit from the difference. It was a pity that he didn't have such a way, so this guy got it for nothing...

There is actually nothing wrong with Yan Bugui's thinking. After all, Xu Damao is only eighteen years old this year, and he will definitely not fall in love with these old things that don't look very good.

Another thing is that Yan Bugui's cognition is also problematic. He obviously believes that older things are, and the longer they have existed, the more expensive they are. In fact, this is not the case. For example, Hetian jade, jadeite, and various rare woods, some of which are very old are not as valuable as new ones.

"Teacher Yan, is this jade? Why does it look like the water stones used to pave roads in parks? Look, there are some white and some yellow on it..."

"Look at what's carved on it, a snake with a horn on its head, imitating a unicorn?"

Xu Damao began to talk nonsense and find fault, just like some professionals in his previous life who wanted to buy treasures at a bargain price.

When faced with people who don’t understand, professionals first classify the items as fakes, then devalue them, and finally buy them for very little money. They then send them to auction houses and ultimately make hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of times the profit!

Of course, there are conscientious professionals, but a very few of them are so evil-hearted that they have fallen into the ass ditch!

"Da Mao, you don't understand this thing. You should ask your friend to take a look. This thing is not like the Yongzheng bowl. It has been around much longer than that one. And I can confirm that this thing is made of jade, but the quality of the jade is not very good, so it looks like this."

Yan Bugui is also a seasoned man and will certainly not be fooled by Xu Damao's few words, so he expressed his own views.

"This thing is not as good-looking as the bowl just now! Teacher Yan, I'm afraid my friend will look down on me and say that I only give him some junk... That bowl is okay, at least it is from the Yongzheng period, hundreds of years old."

"Da Mao, this thing is older than that bowl. Besides, you can tell that the bowl is from the Yongzheng period. Can't you tell the age of this thing?"

Yan Bugui asked with some curiosity.

"Teacher Yan, I'm not blind, I can read. There are words on the bottom of the bowl. It says, 'Made in the Yongzheng Period of the Qing Dynasty.' If you don't believe me, take the bowl out and have a look!"

Xu Damao's face was full of as if it was a matter of course...

"Oh... you know that the bowl is from the Yongzheng period because you look at the inscription on the bottom of the bowl..."

Yan Bugui looked somewhat speechless.

"Really? What's wrong? Is there something wrong? Or did I, Xu Damao, recognize the wrong word? Or have I been blinded by greed?

Otherwise, Mr. Yan, you are so generous and can teach me, a fool, a lesson? After all, you are a Chinese teacher and you have authority in this area. "

Xu Damao was very arrogant and confident in his literacy level, and his words were inevitably a bit arrogant...