Chapter 100

"Hey, isn't this Boss Gu from Panjiayuan? What are you doing here?"

Gu Jinshui had a wide network of connections, and someone recognized him immediately, whispering among themselves.

Upon hearing this, the foreigner quickly pulled the man aside and inquired, "What's that person's background? Is he very capable?"

The man who spoke glanced at the foreigner with surprise, his eyes darting around, and he rubbed his fingers together, his meaning clear: he wanted money.

The foreigner cursed the greedy China man in his heart, took out a ten-yuan note from his pocket and gave it to him. After taking the money, the man said, "That's Mr. Gu from Golden Stone Studio in Panjiayuan. He's famous for his sharp eye and skill. He's even had his articles published in the newspaper before. He's different from us."

Oh, it can be in the newspaper?!

The foreigner had a better idea of what was going on. He watched as Gu Jinshui and Guo Pu started bidding, and the price had already gone up to 1,800.

The stall owner was overjoyed, grinning from ear to ear as he rubbed his hands together and said, "Eighteen thousand, Boss Gu, can you add a little more? I'll give you the difference!"

Gu Jinshui felt a headache coming on when he saw the old man's sincere appearance. Did this old man really think his things were valuable? If Gu Jinshui hadn't been setting up a trap, he would have been kind-hearted to accept all these things for eighty yuan.

"I'll offer a thousand!"

Just as Gu Jinshui was hesitating about whether to raise the price, the foreigner finally couldn't hold back any longer and shouted loudly, waving a wad of US dollars in his hand.

He squeezed through the crowd and slammed the US dollars in his hand down in front of the stall owner. "Boss, I'll give you a thousand US dollars, give me all of this!"

One thousand dollars?!

Everyone stared at the ten hundred-dollar bills on the stall, their eyes practically popping out of their sockets.

"No way! Old Zhang's really struck it rich this time! He actually made a thousand dollars from all this junk?! Has this foreigner gone mad?!"

"Oh my, could these blue and white porcelain vases be from the Ming Dynasty? They do look quite unusual."

The people around couldn't help but start gossiping.

The Jingsong Flea Market mainly consists of small vendors from other places. There aren't many good items; if there were any, they would have been sold to antique shops long ago. Most of the items on the stalls are just ordinary goods. Old Zhang's stall today is even worse than ordinary goods. The porcelain plates and vases are obviously from folk kilns, and they either have cracks or are damaged. Most people wouldn't even give them a second glance.

There's a saying in the industry, "If ceramics have mold, they're worthless."

This means that if a piece of ceramic has a scratch or dent, its value will be greatly reduced; this is the current situation.

The crowd's discussions only strengthened Guo Pu's and the foreigner's belief that the goods on the stall were genuine.

Guo Pu immediately became agitated, pointing at the blond, blue-eyed foreigner in a polo shirt and saying, "You foreigner, you're so rude! We're negotiating the price, what's it to you? Why are you interfering?"

The foreigner grinned smugly, waving his US dollars and declaring, "Because I have US dollars!"

I'll sell it to you!

Old Zhang hurriedly said, eagerly snatching the money and carefully checking the authenticity of the US dollars.

Taking advantage of the fact that everyone was there and their attention was on the blue and white porcelain vases with their intricate designs, Gu Jinshui quietly slipped away from the crowd.

He found the stall selling Black-Glazed Tea Bowls and decisively pulled out three hundred Black-Glazed Tea Bowls to buy all three.

The stall owner was already unhappy; the foreigner had his eye on his wares, but was instead drawn away by another stall.

Seeing that he had received three hundred yuan, a smile reappeared on his face, and he said solicitously, "Let me wipe it for you."

"No, no need."

Seeing that he was about to use straw to wipe the three Black-Glazed Tea Bowls, Gu Jinshui quickly stopped him, "I just want them to be displayed like this, you know, these days a lot of people only care about these things."

"Oh, that's true."

The stall owner nodded knowingly.

Gu Jinshui wrapped the three Black-Glazed Tea Bowls in newspaper and carefully stuffed them into the bag he had brought. Guo Pu and the others came out with dark faces and were taken aback when they saw that Gu Jinshui had bought things so quickly.

Guo Pu asked, "Why did Boss Gu walk so fast?"

With the goods in hand, Gu Jinshui felt much more relaxed and even managed a smile for Guo Pu and the others. "These things were all bought by foreigners, what would I do with them?"

The foreigner, carrying a bag slung across his chest, walked out of the crowd with his haul. He noticed the Black-Glazed Tea Bowls were missing from the carpet, paused, and asked, "Where are those teacups?"

"Oh, I bought it for him."

The stall owner rolled his eyes at the foreigner and pointed at Gu Jinshui.

The foreigner stared at Gu Jinshui with wide eyes, his face showing anger.

Before Gu Jinshui could speak, Guo Pu said sarcastically, "Boss Gu, you're just taking your anger out on someone else's favorite thing since you can't buy your own. We know you're rich, but don't waste your money."

Guo Pu didn't think much of it. He only knew that Gu Jinshui had bought a few teacups after he came out, and now that he heard that the foreigner had previously taken a liking to them, he assumed that Gu Jinshui was venting his anger.

Gu Jinshui didn't explain, but laughed and said, "Boss Guo flatters me. I'm not rich at all. I just earn a little bit of pocket money to support my family. I don't think there's anything worthwhile to see in this market today, so I'll be going now."

He was content at the moment and had no interest in wasting words with Guo Pu and the others. He was also worried that with so many people around, the teacups might be accidentally broken, so he hurriedly tried to leave. But the stall owner of the blue and white porcelain plate came over and said, "I'm out of stock today, but I have some more at my place. Do you want them? If you do, give me a call and I'll contact you later."

Gu Jinshui was genuinely tempted.

The porcelain on that stall wasn't fake, and the style was quite rare; Gu Jinshui hadn't collected any before. "I want it, but I definitely can't offer a high price; I'll just go by the market rate."

The stall owner wasn't embarrassed at all, and shamelessly said, "Of course, then please leave your number."

With the mindset of "trying my luck even if it doesn't work out," Gu Jinshui left his home phone number and then hurriedly took a taxi home.

As soon as he got home, he took out a book on ancient Complete Guide to Ancient Porcelain Collecting by Xiong Liao from the bookshelf and found pictures in it that were similar to the three Black-Glazed Tea Bowls he had bought.

Conical hat-shaped cup, cup with constricted rim...

The vessel has Tortoiseshell Glaze, and there are chatter marks on the base and foot rim...

Inside the teacup are auspicious words such as peace and wealth, a house full of gold and jade, and plum branch patterns. In addition, there is a small auspicious pattern on the bottom of the teacup. There is no doubt that this is a black-glazed teacup from the Jizhou Kiln of the Song Dynasty!

Gu Jinshui clearly remembered that he had heard someone say that a Jizhou Kiln tea bowl had been auctioned overseas and sold for a whopping one million yuan.

Of course, Gu Jinshui would not sell these three Black-Glazed Tea Bowls, much less export them.

But the joy in his heart was like a surging river, overflowing endlessly.

He paced back and forth in the living room, his hands behind his back, a broad smile on his face.

When Gu Yousi and Lan Lin returned from school at noon, they were startled to see Gu Jinshui's appearance.

Lan Lin tugged at Gu Yousi, "Niuniu, your dad seems to be possessed. Should we go out and call your grandma?"

"You're back! Oh, you must be tired. Put your bags down."

Gu Jinshui greeted them with a smile and poured water for the two children.

Gu Yousi stared at him, carefully put down her schoolbag, took a sip of her water, and asked nervously, "Dad, are you alright?"

"What could be wrong with me, my daughter? I'm in such a good mood today! I bought three really beautiful Black-Glazed Tea Bowls. I'll give all of these to you in the future!"

Gu Jinshui was beaming with excitement, practically wanting to broadcast the news over a megaphone.

Gu Yousi immediately understood. No wonder Le Cheng looked so silly. For antique collectors like them, acquiring a prized possession was more exciting than becoming rich overnight.

Besides, his father really did become incredibly wealthy.

She remembered that the Japan had several of those Black-Glazed Tea Bowls, and they considered them national treasures.

Thinking about it this way, her father was actually quite calm; at least he didn't act like Fan Jin after passing the imperial examination.

"Daughter, Xiaolin, come on, let's not eat at home today, Uncle will take you out to a restaurant!"

Gu Jinshui was in an even better mood. With a wave of his hand, he took the two children out to a restaurant and ordered four main dishes: braised meatballs, sweet and sour fish, twice-cooked pork, and chicken stew with mushrooms.

After they finished eating, I bought each of them a creamy ice cream, and then I walked back with an ice cream in my mouth.

Song Jianshe could see the three of them thoroughly enjoying themselves from afar, especially Gu Jinshui's smile, which looked incredibly unpleasant.

He knew perfectly well that he couldn't win against Gu Jinshui no matter how many times he provoked her, but he still couldn't change his ways. "Gu Jinshui, why are you so happy? What's the good news? Didn't you fail to buy that blue and white porcelain plate this morning?"

Gu Jinshui munched on his ice cream, looking nonchalant. He was handsome and young, and when he took Gu Yousi out, people often mistook them for siblings.

Being good-looking really has its advantages; at least with his appearance, he's not unpleasant to look at.

"Yeah, I didn't manage to buy any, but I did buy a few teacups later, right? Hey, guess what? I got incredibly lucky! Those three were all Black-Glazed Tea Bowls dating back to the Song Dynasty. Wow, I really didn't expect to be so lucky. These teacups aren't even in museums, but I got them."

Gu Jinshui's boastful intentions were palpable.

As Song Jianshe listened, his face darkened. "Black-Glazed Tea Bowls? Are you seeing things? How valuable is this? You think you could just find a bargain like that? Is everyone in the entire antique market blind?"

Gu Yousi, out of consideration for her father's treat of a big meal and ice cream, kindly helped to get on his good side, "Uncle Song, you're absolutely right. Those people are just blind. To be honest, I'm also puzzled. With those things, if you read more books and compared them, you could tell whether they're even slightly different. Why don't you read the books?"

She said it very seriously.

Song Jianshe felt a pang of hurt, his face turning pale and then red. "What's it to you? Adults are talking, kids shouldn't interrupt."

"Uncle Song, you can't say that. Niuniu is right."

Lan Lin solemnly defended Gu Yousi, saying, "Uncle Gu just stays home reading books every day and often goes to museums, so he's more capable than all of you. If you're willing to learn from him, you can catch up to his abilities."

Song Jianshe's face grew even uglier.

Gu Jinshui then added insult to injury, "Hey, kids just love to tell the truth. Don't take it to heart. It's okay if you don't like reading. Besides, it's not like reading a lot will make your eyesight as good as mine. You have to accept that."

These three were in cahoots, which angered Song Jianshe so much that he stormed off.

Lan Lin, still looking helpless, spread his hands and said to Gu Jinshui, "Uncle Gu, we've tried to give him good advice, but why won't he listen?"

Gu Jinshui said earnestly, "Xiao Lin, when you grow up, you'll understand the saying, 'Honest advice is hard to swallow.'"

Song Jianshe was furious after a bad day outside, so he inevitably threw tantrums and made a scene when he got home.

Song Chaohua cooking in the kitchen when she heard the noise. She got off the stool and came out nervously. "Dad, you're back."

"Hmm." Song Jianshe's face was grim. He looked at Song Chaohua, "What are you doing at home?"

"We had our exams this morning and then we got a day off."

Song Chaohua stammered.

Upon hearing about the exam, Song Jianshe frowned. "Are you and your brother even confident you can get perfect scores this time? Stop thinking about playing all the time. Look at how hard other people study; they do their homework as soon as they get home!"

Song Chaohua scolded and dared not talk back.

If it were her past life, she would definitely feel guilty and remorseful right now, but Song Chaohua is an adult now, and she understands very well that her father is taking his anger out on her.

He must have been upset by Gu Jinshui outside, and he took it out on her when he got home.

Gu Jinshui carefully examined those three Black-Glazed Tea Bowls for several days and even went to the library to find a lot of information. Such teacups are really rare in China, especially since they are still intact.

Gu Jinshui made a phone call to the reporter from before and told him about this.

The reporter arrived that afternoon with his camera. His surname was He, and his given name He Sheng. When he saw how dazzling the teacups were in the sunlight, he practically wanted to stick his eyes on them. "Professor Gu, could I have a closer look at them?"

"Okay, you see, just be careful."