Siheyuan: The romantic and suave Xu Damao

After Xu Damao finished saying these words in one breath, he stared at Yan Bugui closely with his eyes as sharp as torches, as if he wanted to see through all the truth through his eyes. Time seemed to stand still. Under Xu Damao's gaze, Yan Bugui coughed lightly twice, trying to ease the awkward atmosphere on the scene.

"Da Mao, you are right. Your friend is right. This set is indeed a complete set! It's a pity that until the day before yesterday, my acquaintance only sent a small part. Yesterday, he finally sent the rest of the set. Please wait a moment, I will go get it."

After saying this, Yan Bugui stood up suddenly, walked out of the room hurriedly, and ran straight to where the items were stored.

Soon, Yan Bugui returned with a huge wooden box in his arms. He placed it on the ground with some difficulty, then turned around and quickly closed the door of the main room.

Seeing this, Xu Damao quickly stepped forward, picked up the wooden box and put it on the table.

"Oh my, this thing is really heavy!"

"Yes, it's heavy, which shows that the material is solid! Damao, I just heard your friend mention that this is a set of tableware. In this case, wouldn't the price of the whole set be even higher?"

"Of course, Mr. Yan, a complete set of items must be more valuable than those scattered items."

"So, how much is your friend willing to pay?"

"The scattered things may not be worth much, but if they are put together as a set, it's hard to say. Let me take a look at these things first."

Xu Damao cautiously picked up the "罍" covered with green copper rust from the wooden box, then placed it steadily on the table. He then carefully opened the lid and took out the items one by one and spread them out neatly.

"Da Mao, you have to open your eyes and look carefully! These objects are stacked together, and they can't be stuffed in casually. I spent a lot of effort to put them in properly."

"Yeah, I know, let me count to see if the number is correct."

As soon as he finished speaking, Xu Damao began to carefully count each item.

"Hey, is that so? Damao, your friend knows exactly how many items are hidden inside?"

"Of course. To be honest, my friend has seen this thing several times before, so he naturally knows what it is. Otherwise, how could he directly tell me the name of this thing?"

"Fifty? Together with the nine you brought last time, Teacher Yan, there are only fifty-nine in total! But there are still three missing! My friend clearly said that a complete set is sixty-two..."

"Da Mao, everything is really here. I can assure you that this is definitely a complete set of items!" Yan Bugui was obviously a little anxious, and his voice unconsciously rose a few decibels.

"Well, Teacher Yan, don't be anxious. Look here, it can actually still be opened." Xu Damao said as he took the lid and then very carefully took off the upper half of the "jar".

"Fifty-nine tableware, plus the lid, upper half, and lower half of the '罍' itself, that's exactly sixty-two pieces! Isn't that exactly the same number my friend mentioned? Teacher Yan, how could I let you suffer a big loss! Just name a price!"

Xu Damao signaled Yan Bugui to name a price.

"Da Mao, how much did your friend offer? You know, this is not my own thing after all. If the price is too different from what my acquaintance wants, then..."

Yan Bugui pondered secretly in his heart, with a barely perceptible hesitation on his face.

He paused, then turned his gaze to Xu Damao, as if trying to capture some information from the other's eyes.

Xu Damao naturally understood Yan Bugui's thoughts. He smiled slightly and deliberately lowered his voice and said, "This thing, although it is a thousand years old, it is not a rare treasure."

"My friend said that this kind of thing is very common in the larger tombs of nobles in ancient times. It is just tableware for those dignitaries to enjoy delicious food after death."

"Teacher Yan, how about two hundred yuan?"

As soon as Xu Damao finished speaking, Yan Bugui's eyes widened and he exclaimed, "What? Two hundred yuan? That's too little! How could such an antique from so long be worth only this much? And I have to explain it to my acquaintance, I'm afraid he won't agree."

In fact, Yan Bugui had already accepted this price. He originally expected that this antique could be sold for a hundred yuan at most, but he didn't expect Xu Damao to offer two hundred yuan. But he knew that Xu Damao was always shrewd and there was definitely room for bargaining. So he decided to continue to negotiate with Xu Damao and try to get a higher price.

"Teacher Yan, two hundred is really not a small amount. The main reason is that this thing has been preserved until now and is still in good condition." Xu Damao said, rubbing his hands, to show that he was very sincere.

Yan Bugui frowned and thought for a moment: "Hmm... Let me think about it again. The price my acquaintance wants is a bit higher than this. I will go back and discuss it with him to see if he is willing to accept this price."

As he spoke, he tapped the table with his fingers, as if weighing the pros and cons.

Seeing this, Xu Damao couldn't help but feel anxious: "Hey, Teacher Yan, how much does your acquaintance want? Can you tell me? Maybe we can add a little more!"

Yan Bugui glanced at Xu Damao, then deliberately lowered his voice and said, "He asked me to help him sell it at a high price. I asked what was considered a high price, and he said it couldn't be less than three hundred yuan. Damao, your friend only offered two hundred yuan, which is far from my friend's offer of three hundred yuan."

After saying this, Yan Bugui sighed, looking very helpless.

"Teacher Yan, you see, my friend is an expert among experts. You have to admit that."

"Of course. Just by looking at a few odds and ends, he knew that this was a set of objects. His eyesight is really extraordinary. It's like a glimpse of the whole picture!"

"You also said that your acquaintance himself admitted that three hundred yuan was a high price, but my expert friend only offered two hundred, which is a reasonable price."

"How about this, I'll give you another ten yuan, Mr. Yan. If you still don't want to do it, then I can only go back and tell my friend the truth. By then, my friend will probably give up this thing, and your commission will be wasted, right?"

Seeing that Yan Bugui was still hesitating, Xu Damao added another ten yuan.

"All right!"