Chapter 72

He tapped his hand on the armrest. "You know, bronze, no matter how long it's been passed down, will have no smell once it's been cleaned. That's the difference with fakes. That coppery smell can't be removed unless you add some mercury."

Gu Jinshui has certainly broadened his horizons.

Old Master Xi then told him a few more points on how to distinguish genuine from fake bronze artifacts. The Old Master spoke with such ease and casualness, readily citing various historical materials, often revealing the truth in a single sentence.

Before Gu Jinshui arrived, he was a little smug, after all, he had gained quite a lot these days. Not to mention the things given by the Lin Family, he also had several boxes of good stuff that he had picked up himself.

After listening to the Old Master's words all afternoon, he immediately dared not be arrogant anymore.

Xi Han said, "Alright, that's enough for today. I see you've made some progress, but you still lack some knowledge. You actually believe that Sima You's 'Wang Jin Tie' is authentic? You don't believe how long ago the Jin Dynasty was? What kind of paper could be passed down for over a thousand years? Even a primary school student could figure this out. It's a shame you got scammed."

Gu Jinshui was at a loss for words, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

He looked at the "Wang Jin Tie" in his hand, slapped his forehead, and said, "You're right to scold me. I was too eager for quick success and thought I had gotten a bargain."

This item was one of the gifts from the Lin Family. Gu Jinshui was overjoyed when he saw it. If it were a genuine item, it would be worth more than ten thousand yuan, even a hundred thousand yuan.

"It's good that you've figured it out. It's getting late, you should hurry home."

Xi Han's expression softened a bit. He took a seal out of his pocket and tossed it to Gu Jinshui, saying, "Here, this little trinket is for you."

Gu Jinshui hurriedly accepted the seal. It was a Shoushan Stone seal with the two characters "Jin Shui" in regular script at the bottom. This seal was clearly prepared in advance by the Old Master.

Gu Jinshui was deeply moved.

Old Master Xi disliked sentimental talk the most, and waved his hands repeatedly, saying, "Hurry up and go, it's almost dinner time, do you want me to keep you here?"

The Old Master was stubborn but soft-hearted, but Gu Jinshui didn't care at all. He chuckled, hugged the Old Master, left his things there without packing, and went home first.

Xi Han muttered to himself, "What do you take this for? Just leaving all this stuff lying around like this, you're really careless."

After running out in the afternoon, Gu Jinshui came back and went straight to bed. He hadn't had a proper rest for three days, and his nerves were constantly on edge. As soon as he lay down on the bed, he fell into a deep sleep.

He Chunlian, not wanting to disturb him, said to Liang Ying, "Why don't you and the child come and sleep with us tonight? I think he needs a full day and night of sleep."

"Okay, Mom, I'll buy more groceries tomorrow night, we'll give him a good nourishing meal."

Liang Ying genuinely felt sorry for Gu Jinshui. She knew that Gu Jinshui worked so hard for the sake of the family.

Now that we've brought back so many things, we should be able to buy the Courtyard House back.

In the dead of night.

At Song Jianshe's house, Huang Xirong was just about to lie down to sleep when she heard knocking on the door.

A chill ran down her spine, and she grabbed a rolling pin from the kitchen. "Who is it?"

"Mom, open the door!"

Song Jianshe lowered his voice.

Huang Xirong immediately recognized that it was his son returning home, and he hurriedly got off the kang (a heated brick bed). Song Mei also got up and threw off the covers. Lin Lianhua in the west room was also woken up by the noise.

The family came out and opened the door. Song Jianshe rushed in, carrying a bag.

Huang Xirong carefully closed the door, afraid that the neighbors would hear the noise.

Song Jianshe was already seated at the octagonal table. He picked up a water glass, took a sip, and asked, "Is there anything to eat at home?"

"Yes, yes." Lin Lianhua quickly went inside and brought out a box of biscuits and malted milk powder, then used the kettle to make him a cup of malted milk powder.

Song Jianshe wolfed down half a box of cookies before he could catch his breath.

Song Mei, wearing a coat, sat beside him, staring in disbelief. "Brother, you're back so late, haven't you eaten?"

"What are you eating? Who's going to open the door this late?"

Song Jianshe swallowed the malted milk powder and raised his hand to wipe the traces from the corner of his mouth.

Huang Xirong was heartbroken. "Oh, my son has suffered so much! Son, why did you come back in the middle of the night? It would have been so much better if you had come back during the day!"

"Mom, are you stupid?"

Song Mei, quick-witted as ever, said, "My brother probably thought that coming back late at night would be quiet and no one would know what he brought back from Xi'an. Brother, am I right? Where is what you brought from Xi'an?"

Song Mei used incredibly sweet words to win over her dowry.

An embarrassed look appeared on Song Jianshe's face. "The goods we brought are with Guo Pu, but my things are here."

"This bag?" Song Mei was taken aback. Although the bag looked bulging, it didn't seem like it could hold a lot of jewelry.

Huang Xirong was impatient and couldn't wait to pick it up. As soon as she opened it, she was overwhelmed by the smell inside. She couldn't help but gag. "What is this thing in there?!"

"My dirty clothes that I took off."

Song Jianshe coughed and said, "You can't wash clothes outside, so I brought them all back."

"What about jewelry and antiques?"

Lin Lianhua asked anxiously.

Song Jianshe's expression became even more awkward.

Huang Xirong knew his son well enough to know that something bad had happened just by looking at his expression.

She slapped her thigh and said, "I told you your daughter's words didn't work, but you insisted on believing them. Now look what happened, you've made a wasted trip!"

Song Chaohua said incredulously, "Impossible, the thing must be there!"

She remembered it clearly; the newspaper even published a picture of Gu Jinshui donating to the Cultural Relics Bureau, and the address and time were clearly stated in the newspaper.

"The item was there, but something went wrong."

Although Song Jianshe was too ashamed to tell his family that the truth had already slipped away, so much time had passed and the deed was done, so he brazenly explained what had happened clearly.

Upon hearing this, Huang Xirong and the others felt as if they had been struck by lightning.

Huang Xirong, who was waiting to get rich quick, and Song Mei and her daughter, who were waiting for their dowry, both turned pale.

"So, you mean the prize money you got this time was just two hundred yuan?"

Huang Xirong's mouth was trembling.

"No, we also have some antiques that we bought, but... but they're not fetching a good price right now." Song Jianshe didn't dare mention that they had been fooled; this trip had undoubtedly resulted in a huge loss.

"Then, what about my dowry?"

Song Mei was so anxious that she cried.

She wiped away her tears and said, "Donglai and I had already agreed that our family would provide jewelry and antiques as part of the dowry. Now you're telling me there's nothing? How am I supposed to tell him that!"

Lin Lianhua had no idea about this, and her face darkened upon hearing this. "What dowry jewelry and antiques? How come I don't know anything about this?"

Song Mei felt as if someone had grabbed her by the throat. Huang Xirong was already furious and wasn't going to be friendly to Lin Lianhua either, "What's wrong with giving our Song Family's things to our daughter? Who are you to interfere? Besides, we don't have them now, do we?"

"It's not my place to interrupt? So, even after bearing children for the Song Family, I'm still an outsider?!"

Lin Lianhua disagreed and immediately retorted.

She had always been very afraid of Huang Xirong. She dared not contradict Huang Xirong, otherwise Huang Xirong would not have taken it upon himself to plan out his son's things.

Huang Xirong stared wide-eyed at her daughter-in-law, "You've gone too far! How dare you talk back!"

Lin Lianhua was initially a little afraid of her mother-in-law, but when she thought about how her husband had been away for so many days without earning a single penny, and how her mother-in-law had secretly promised to give good things to her sister-in-law, her anger flared up immediately. "Why wouldn't I dare to talk back? I'm not eating and drinking for free in your house. Haven't you been supporting the family for the past few months?"

The Song Family was arguing fiercely.

Gu Jinshui was not woken up, but He Chunlian and the others, as well as Grandpa Sun, were.

Grandpa Sun and his wife went over and knocked on the door. "Aunt Huang, Lianhua, it's so late, you two shouldn't be arguing."

Instead of stopping while they were ahead, someone inside threw something at the door.

With a loud bang, Grandpa Sun were startled.

Auntie Sun immediately objected, "You're making a scene so late at night, and you have a problem with that?"

She pounded on the door, saying, "What's all the noise about? If your family isn't going to come out and argue, we'll be your judge!"

Seeing his mother and wife arguing so fiercely they were about to fight, Song Jianshe quickly shouted, "Enough!"

Lin Lianhua and Huang Xirong reluctantly shut their mouths. This work was compiled and uploaded by a user of SiTu Online Reading.

"Jianshe, Jianshe, you're back?"

Auntie Sun asked in surprise, "Why did you come back so quietly? And there was even a fight at home?"

Knowing that news travels fast in the Compound Courtyard, Song Jianshe quickly opened the door. "It's nothing, my mom and wife just had a little argument about the kids. We're going to bed now, you guys should go home too."

"Oh, oh, okay."

Auntie Sun peeked suspiciously through the crack to see what was happening behind her.

She noticed a duffel bag by the door, with clothes spilling out. Song Jianshe quickly blocked her view and forced a smile.

After Auntie Sun and the others left, Song Jianshe closed the door.

He turned around, his face dark, and said in a low voice, "Have you two finished arguing? Isn't it just because I didn't make any money this time?"

Lin Lianhua's eyes were red with tears. "Jianshe, that's not what I thought. I'm just angry that Mom doesn't take me seriously. Putting aside whether we have these things or not, shouldn't they be left to Da Bao? Why are they being left to my sister-in-law? You know, my sister-in-law hasn't contributed to the household expenses all these years. Shouldn't she have more than enough to buy her dowry with all her savings?"

This wasn't Lin Lianhua causing trouble.

When Song Mei started working, Lin Lianhua had said that Song Mei should contribute to household expenses, but Huang Xirong insisted that Song Mei's money was for her dowry, so Lin Lianhua didn't say anything more.

All these years, Song Mei has been eating and drinking for free at home. Where did her salary go? Nobody knows. Did it go to Huang Xirong? Or did she spend it all herself without saying a word?

If your family is rich, then everything is easy to discuss.

Lin Lianhua refused to accept the lack of money!

Song Mei and Huang Xirong looked embarrassed.

Song Jianshe knew that his mother and sister were in the wrong, so he said, "Alright, although I didn't make a fortune this time, didn't we make a windfall before? I'll take one of those gold bricks and sell it later. You can have the majority of it, and my sister can use the remainder for her dowry. Is that alright?"

With money, everything becomes easier.

Although Lin Lianhua was unwilling to contribute dowry money, she knew that Song Mei and Huang Xirong, mother and daughter, were difficult to deal with, so she nodded.

Chapter 80 The Eightieth Day of Being Eavesdropped On

Gu Jinshui brought three antiques to see Chen Dengxing early in the morning: a Tang Dynasty bronze incense burner, Painted Female Dancer Figurine with Double-Ring Buns Gilt Silver Ewer with Parrot Pattern.

Chen Dengxing's favorite was the Painted Female Dancer Figurine with Double-Ring Buns. He examined it carefully with a magnifying glass, praising it repeatedly. "Good, good. These pottery figurines are common, but this is the first time I've seen a female dancer figurine with this design. I've heard that there are a few in United States and Japan museums, but I've never had the chance to go abroad to see them."

Chen Dengxing spoke with some emotion when he got to this point.

Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China, antique dealers from all over the world were buying up Chinese artifacts in large quantities. Today, which foreign museum doesn't have China ceramics and bronzes in its collection?

"Old Master, if you like, you can keep it and play with it for a while."

Gu Jinshui picked up the teapot and poured Chen Dengxing a cup of water.

Chen Dengxing laughed and said, "That won't be necessary. Aren't you in a hurry for money? How much do you think you'd be willing to pay for these items?"

"I think I can get that incense burner for 1,800," Gu Jinshui said thoughtfully. "The female dancer figurine and the silver jar with a handle are very well preserved and are both authentic. Especially the female dancer figurine, as you said, there hasn't been one like it in China yet. I think it's rare and can fetch a high price."

Chen Dengxing understood. He nodded and said, "Okay, leave this to me. I'll call you when I have news in a few days."

Gu Jinshui knew then that the matter was almost certain to succeed.

This time he only brought the best items, both the female dancer figurine and the bronze incense burner, which are not commonly seen. Although the bronze incense burner is from the Tang Dynasty and has no particular origin, bronze artifacts gradually decreased starting from the Tang Dynasty. If you miss out on something of this quality, you may not be able to buy it again. Therefore, it is not difficult to sell it for a high price.

Having settled one matter, Gu Jinshui spoke to the woman at the Housing Reform Bureau and said...