Reborn in 1977

Chapter 691: Reverse Operation

It was already dusk when Zhou Zhengdong returned.

He pressed the doorbell, waited for Liu Juan to open the door, and then, as he walked inside, asked, "Did Xiaofan and the others go out today?"

Liu Juan closed the door, followed him inside, and said with a smile, "We went to the antique store this afternoon. Sister Zhou almost bought out everything in the store, with Brother Chen helping to assess the items."

The custom of calling people 'Mr.' or 'Miss' hadn't yet caught on in China. Although they were helping with cleaning and looking after the house, essentially doing the work of nannies, they didn't look down on themselves. They addressed Chen Fan as 'Brother Chen.'... In fact, both of them were slightly older than Chen Fan, but he was truly capable, so calling him 'Brother' wasn't a loss, considering they were about the same age.

Therefore, they addressed Zhou Zhengdong and Zhou Yali as 'Uncle Zhou' and 'Cousin Zhou.'

Upon hearing her words, Zhou Zhengdong couldn't help but stop and turn his head, his face full of surprise, "Bought out?"

Liu Juan was still somewhat excited at this moment, nodding vigorously, "Yes, a total of 578 pieces. Except for some not-so-good folk kiln porcelain and items in poor condition, everything else was bought."

As she spoke, she even made a gesture, "It cost 88,000 US dollars!"

As soon as the words left her mouth, she quickly covered her mouth.

Oops, she let it slip. Would this be considered tattling?

Seeing her expression, Zhou Zhengdong naturally guessed what she was thinking, so he waved his hand with a smile, "It's okay, that's her own pocket money, meant for her own use, as long as it's not wasted."

Then, he continued walking inside, saying, "Where are the things they bought? Upstairs or in the basement? I'll go and broaden my horizons."

Seeing that he didn't seem to care at all, and also surprised that so much money was just Cousin Zhou's pocket money, Liu Juan's mind was buzzing.

She just instinctively followed him forward, pointing downstairs, "Oh, they're in the basement."

...

In the basement, Chen Fan didn't let anyone help. He found a few more large wooden boxes and reorganized the items he had bought.

After a lot of effort, the antiques, which were originally packed by category, were reorganized into a dozen boxes, classified according to the era.

After finishing, he clapped his hands, put his hands on his hips, and breathed slightly.

Zhou Yali immediately brought over a cup of tea, curiously asking, "Old Brother, is it all sorted?"

Chen Fan took a sip of water, casually put the teacup on the table, nodded and smiled, "Almost. The oldest items here are only from the Han Dynasty, and there aren't many of them, just a few pieces. The quality isn't very good either. Most of them are antiques from the Tang and Song Dynasties, with the most from the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

It's a pity that time is a bit tight, otherwise, going to a few spontaneous markets might turn up some good things from the Spring and Autumn period, or even earlier."

The timing was a bit off. It wouldn't be until the mid-1980s that more people would bring out their treasures for sale.

By that time, the folk antique market would also be revived. In addition to the increasingly active transactions, the "dagu, chandi" acquisitions would also increase, reaching their peak in the early 1990s.

The so-called "dagu, chandi" refers to different ways of acquiring antiques from the people.

Dagu, also known as "daguer de," refers to those who carry burdens and walk through the streets and alleys, holding a small drum in their hands. Without shouting, the neighbors would know that the junk collectors were coming just by hearing the drum.

Similarly, there were those selling tofu who knocked on clappers, those selling malt sugar who knocked on iron sheets, and the peddlers who also knocked on rattles. Different industries had different sounds, and shouting was rare.

Junk collectors also collected antiques. At that time, many people didn't know much about these things and found it troublesome to take them to specialized antique acquisition centers, so they sold the antiques to junk collectors, as long as the price met their expectations.

Little did they know that many junk collectors made their fortunes this way, and the most bargains were found during this period.

Knowledge is wealth, which is most vividly reflected in this industry.

Another type, "chandi," also known as "chandi pier" or "going to the countryside," refers to those who specialize in going to the countryside to acquire old objects.

Because these people took advantage of the villagers' ignorance, they suppressed prices very harshly, sometimes even buying antiques worth tens of thousands for 5 mao or 1 kuai.

Therefore, the industry called them "chandi" or "guadi pi," meaning they were too ruthless and scraped the ground three feet deep.

As for later, after the 1990s, these "dagu" and "chandi" activities rapidly decreased.

By this time, people's knowledge had also broadened, and they were not so easily deceived. What replaced them was "zuanmenhu."

This "zuanmenhu" refers to going into other people's homes to directly acquire antiques.

How do the buyers and sellers know each other?

This requires brokers who specialize in eating information.

Almost every place has people who are sharp-eared, quick-witted, and well-informed. Antique buyers first find them and then ask them to help inquire about who has treasures at home.

These people are almost all local snakes, familiar with the neighbors, which naturally reduces vigilance. And they themselves don't have money and only have a superficial understanding of antiques, so they rely on making introductions and earning a commission.

Even at this time, there are still opportunities to find bargains.

By the time the national treasure appraisal craze arose later, these brokers also had no work to do. Anyone who had antiques to sell would send them to auction houses or pawnshops.

At this time, if you want to find bargains, you have to have golden eyes. Not to mention finding bargains, you can even gamble on stones.

Chen Fan was not very interested in antiques. Even if he received teachings and influence from Professor Xu, he was only interested in researching antiques, so he would naturally not spend too much energy on it.

If he lived in the capital for a long time and was bored, he might walk through the streets and alleys, hoping to find some bronzes or oracle bones.

Since he didn't, he didn't have this idea.

At worst, he would come to the capital again next time. Yes, when Zhou Yali comes to the capital, he will pull her to buy a bunch of things back, simple and easy.

Or wait until he goes to Shanghai and see the antique store in Shanghai.

That place is different from the antique store in the capital. The antique store in the capital is a single store, independently operated, while the antique store in Shanghai is somewhat similar to a shopping mall, with a dozen or twenty old antique shops inside.

When it was first renovated, including Rongbaozhai and Boguzhai, they were all merchants inside.

But now I don't know what the situation is, I have to go and see to be clear.

Chen Fan leaned on the table, picked up the teacup and took another sip, looked at Zhou Yali, who was observing the antiques with great interest, and said with a smile, "These are not considered top-quality items. When you have more money, buy more top-quality antiques and keep them. When Ning Jun Wangfu is renovated, I will personally decorate it to ensure it is antique and unforgettable at first sight."

Zhou Yali straightened up, walked to his side, also leaned on the table, looked at him and smiled, "I definitely believe this, but Old Brother, have you forgotten that Ning Jun Wangfu was bought by me with public funds, so you also have half of it."

Chen Fan shrugged, "Even if you give it all to me now, I don't want it."

This is the meticulousness of a law student. The money is from the company, and the property deed is in Zhou Yali's name, which means it's held on trust. Therefore, Chen Fan owns half of the property rights.

If the two continue to partner in the future, that's fine. But if they ever split, the ownership of this mansion will ultimately fall into his hands, and no one can take it away.

At this moment, Chen Fan suddenly thought of something and turned to look at her, asking curiously, "Why did you bring so much money back this time? More than your dad brought."

Zhou Yali said "Oh" and smiled, "I made money, and I have too much to spend. I remembered that I bought the Ningjun Prince Mansion last time I returned to China and had to ask my dad to send money, which wasn't convenient at all. So, I simply brought back $100,000 to see if I could use it to buy antiques this time."

Chen Fan curled his lips and gave a thumbs up, "Rich."

Although Zhou Yali hadn't heard of the word 'rich,' she could roughly guess what it meant. She immediately smiled, her eyes narrowing into slits, "Who told you not to come to America with us? Otherwise, you'd be even richer."

Chen Fan picked up his cup and started to walk away, "Let's not talk about this, we're still good friends."

Zhou Yali followed closely behind, "We weren't good friends to begin with, we're siblings. Hey, hey, the reason you don't want to go to America is because of Lili and Tiantian? I can take them with me too."

Chen Fan glanced at her, his eyes filled with strangeness.

Why would she mention Tiantian?

Just as they were about to go upstairs, Zhou Zhengdong happened to walk down. Judging from the briefcase in his hand, he had just returned and hadn't even put his things down.

Seeing Chen Fan and Zhou Yali, Zhou Zhengdong was stunned for a moment, "Are you two done with your work?"

Chen Fan stopped and looked at him, asking, "Are you here to see the antiques?"

Then, he turned and pointed, "They're all in the boxes."

Zhou Zhengdong gestured, "Let me take a look."

Zhou Yali turned around and took the briefcase from her dad's hand, pursing her lips and saying, "You reek of alcohol. Did you drink again?"

Seeing her dad not speaking, she pouted again, "You don't even like antiques. Grandpa collected so many, but I never see you looking at them."

Chen Fan was a little curious, "Does your family have a lot of collections?"

Zhou Yali nodded slightly, "Grandpa collected them when he was alive. It seems like the older generation all liked collecting these things, but I don't understand them."

Zhou Zhengdong walked to the boxes and, seeing that the lids weren't locked, opened two of them. At the same time, he said without turning his head, "It would be a miracle if you understood them. These things are all your grandfather's treasures and one of the foundations of the Zhou family. They're not things that can be taken out casually."

He squatted down, picked up a porcelain vase, turned to look at Chen Fan, and asked, "How much did you buy this for?"

Chen Fan also squatted down, thought for a moment, and said, "This one was 280 yuan. It's a fine piece from the Northern Song Dynasty's official kiln."

Zhou Zhengdong pursed his lips, noncommittal. He turned and picked up a jade 'ruyi' handle, "Old jade is not as good as new jade, but this piece of old jade is not bad. The color is lustrous, and the carving is exquisite. It's a rare piece of good jade. How much?"

Chen Fan looked at it and said, "This is a Qianlong mutton-fat jade 'ruyi' handle. The price isn't cheap, I think it was 600 yuan."

After saying that, he looked at Zhou Zhengdong with some curiosity, "Do you also understand antiques?"

Zhou Zhengdong chuckled and said, "A smattering of knowledge. When your maternal grandfather was still around, he forced me to study for a few years. I stopped after starting high school. Now, I can only recognize some obvious pieces."

He picked up a few more items to look at, then closed the lids, clapped his hands, stood up, and smiled at Chen Fan, "These things are considered fine pieces, but they're not particularly precious. They're still a bit lacking compared to what your maternal grandfather collected.

When you go to America, go to the warehouse and pick out a batch. Consider it a gift from him."

Chen Fan chuckled dryly twice, "That won't be necessary, right?"

He could justifiably use the Zhou family's money to do his own things because he had brought considerable benefits to the Zhou family. In Zhou Yali's words, this money also included his share, so he naturally didn't feel any burden when spending it.

However, letting him choose from his maternal grandfather's private collection was indeed a bit embarrassing.

Although he didn't have any aversion to his identity as a nephew or cousin now, the fake couldn't become real. He wasn't a selfless person, but it wasn't in his nature to be greedy for petty gains.

Seeing him say that, Zhou Zhengdong casually waved his hand, "What's the point of using or not using it? Just listen to me."

After a pause, he added, "Actually, America and Europe also have a lot of Chinese antiques, and many of them are national treasures. The prices are quite cheap. Your maternal grandfather's collections came from there."

Upon hearing this, Chen Fan couldn't help but widen his eyes, "Very cheap?"

He knew that there were many antiques abroad. To say nothing else, during the period from May 8, 1900, to September 7, 1901, more than 16 million cultural relics were plundered, including more than 300,000 national treasures.

The types were even more diverse, including gold and silver jewelry, ancient books and documents, porcelain and jade, calligraphy and embroidery, and so on, encompassing almost everything.

In addition to some of these treasures flowing into Western museums and becoming part of their collections, a large part of them flowed into private hands.

He didn't know much about the prices of cultural relics abroad during this period. He only knew that later, many domestic tycoons spent a lot of money to bid for national treasures in Europe and America and send them back to China.

Hearing Zhou Zhengdong say that Chinese cultural relics abroad were very cheap at this time, he was naturally a little surprised.

Seeing Chen Fan's surprised expression, Zhou Zhengdong's expression became a little complicated. He sighed almost imperceptibly and said, "There are a lot of Chinese cultural relics in Europe and America, but the prices are not very high. For example, a jade seal in your maternal grandfather's collection was bought at a flea market in a park for only two dollars.

Even now, in most flea markets in America and Europe, you can easily see our country's cultural relics. These things are placed together with other miscellaneous second-hand goods and can be easily bought at very low prices.

It's just because there are too many of them. So, your maternal grandfather only bought treasures back then. He only spent more than 200,000 US dollars and bought more than 3,000 precious antiques, at least half of which were national treasures.

For example, a bronze tripod from the Xia Dynasty, and several ducal tripods from the Western Zhou Dynasty.

Even Ru porcelain, which is rare in the collecting world, has three complete porcelain jars in the warehouse."

As he spoke, he looked up at Chen Fan and smiled, "So, if you want to buy antiques in the future, you can have Yali look for them in America. No one abroad knows how to make fakes. They're basically all genuine. Even if there are a few fakes, it doesn't matter, and the prices are cheaper than in China."

Hearing these words, Chen Fan's face was already blank.

Want antiques? Buy them abroad? And they're cheaper?

Is there such a reverse operation?