Siheyuan: The romantic and suave Xu Damao

"Brother, you have a really good eye! You immediately fell in love with the high-quality product on my stall. This is a Xinjiang Hetian mutton-fat white jade twisted wire bracelet, and it is an old item from the Qing Dynasty!"

"Look at this craftsmanship, it's simply amazing! The craftsmen back then would have spent several months just carving it! Such a good thing is not something you can come across easily! So the price... naturally it's not cheap! Two hundred and thirty yuan, no bargaining!"

Xu Damao said this with a beaming expression, while quoting a price.

Hearing the price, the middle-aged man frowned and said, "This is too expensive! The same white jade bracelet is less than a hundred yuan in other places, and it is also the same good jade as this one. Your price is too outrageous, can you make it cheaper?"

After listening to the customer's complaint, Xu Damao felt a little unhappy, but still had a smile on his face. When he was about to reply, he suddenly caught a glimpse of Brother Niu and his companions who had left earlier, walking slowly towards him.

Xu Damao was startled and immediately pretended not to see them and continued bargaining with the customer in front of him.

"Brother, look at the craftsmanship. This is a twisted white jade bracelet!" Xu Damao said with pride.

"This thing is not easy to make. Do you know how much effort it takes? First, you have to take a complete piece of jade raw material with the same texture, make it into a large round bracelet, then carefully draw the engraved pattern, and finally carve it carefully piece by piece."

"Look closer. The three strands of jade in this bracelet are independent of each other but closely connected. This skill was only achieved by top jade carving masters in the late Qing Dynasty. And if you are not careful, the whole piece of white jade will be scrapped. You still think it's expensive? I think it's too cheap!"

"There are such precious things. At that time, only the queen and princesses were qualified to wear them!"

Xu Damao spoke with saliva flying, praising this twisted jade bracelet as rare in the sky and hard to find on earth.

As soon as he finished speaking, he caught a glimpse of Brother Niu and his companion in front of his stall. Seeing that he was talking to a customer, Brother Niu did not say anything, but just pretended to touch and look around the stall, but in fact he was eavesdropping on the two people bargaining with his ears perked up.

"Brother, can you give me a lower price? Why is your place different from others? You won't give in on price at all?" The customer continued to bargain.

The customer was a little anxious. How come this stall owner was like an iron rooster that couldn't have a single feather plucked out when he quoted a price? Other stall owners would cut their own prices as soon as they said something. Why was this guy different from the other stall owners?

"This is a twisted jade bracelet. The workmanship alone costs more than a hundred dollars. Two hundred and thirty is the most affordable price I can get. This is the price today. If it doesn't sell, I will raise it to two hundred and seventy next time you come! I won't sell it for a penny less!"

"Anyway, there are very few twisted jade bracelets like mine. If you don't believe me, you can go to this huge ghost market and see if there is another twisted jade bracelet. Even if there is, see how much it is sold for!"

Xu Damao had a determined look on his face and spoke in a very resolute tone.

"So, this thing can't be cheaper?"

The buyer seemed to want to negotiate the price further.

"Yes, this bracelet is a rare item. Take a closer look. It was originally just a white jade bracelet, but it was carefully carved by a jade carving master, who forcibly turned one strand of jade into three strands. Moreover, they are independent of each other but also intertwined. You are also an expert, so you should know how difficult it is. Therefore, the price cannot be any cheaper!"

Xu Damao's attitude was extremely firm and he answered decisively.

"But the problem is that I don't have that much money on me. How about selling it to me at a lower price..."

The buyer is still making a last-ditch effort.

"Whether you have enough money or not is none of my business." Xu Damao spread his hands and acted as if he didn't care. His meaning was clearly saying, "This is my price. It's up to you whether you want it or not."

"Well, then. It looks like I have no chance of getting this thing today. Goodbye." The middle-aged man gently placed the twisted jade bracelet on the stall, turned around and walked back, leaving behind only a lonely back.

"Alas, I missed another deal. Are you two back?" Xu Damao looked at Brother Niu and the other man with a fake smile, as if to say, "You have asked around. Now you should know that the price I offer is the most fair."

Brother Niu looked a little unnatural. He cleared his throat and tried to break the deadlock: "Brother, I think that customer just now, if you just lower the price a little, maybe this bracelet can be sold smoothly."

Xu Damao chuckled and showed a confident look: "Brother, you don't know this. As the saying goes, things are valuable because they are rare. This jade twisted wire bracelet is not an ordinary thing. It is hard to see and very rare! If I don't want to sell it, no matter how high the price is, I will never be able to buy such a treasure in the short term."

"That's why I have the right to set the price. I just offered 230 yuan. When I come here again in a few days, even if I offer 300 yuan, 350 yuan, or even higher, there will still be people who will buy it. After all, if they meet someone who truly appreciates this treasure, they won't care about the price difference."

"Brother, have the items in your package been seen by other people? Hehe, if you ask me, the price I offer is the most appropriate! You see, I really like these things, otherwise I wouldn't offer such a high price!"

As Xu Damao spoke, he pointed at the bulging bag on Brother Niu's back, motioning him to take it down and put it on his stall.

After hearing this, Brother Niu showed an awkward smile on his face, scratched his head and said, "Well, to be honest, there are actually people who offer the same price as you. However, we two brothers think that you are more honest, so we turned back to you."

After hearing what Brother Niu said, Xu Damao was still a little skeptical and asked, "No way? For those two bronze cups, the price I offered is already quite high! To be honest, even if they are placed on my stall, it is still questionable whether they can be sold at this price!"

Xu Damao's face was full of confusion and puzzlement.

"Hey! I'm not talking about the two bronze wine cups, but the two broken pieces of porcelain. Someone also offered 20 yuan for them. To be honest, my brother and I never thought that such broken pieces of porcelain could be worth so much. Today we have really broadened our horizons."