25: Chapter 25 In the Jade Pavilion

The Imperial Bank of China was established in 1897, the twenty-third year of the Guangxu era, and was the first bank in our country. In the twenty-fourth year of Guangxu, it began issuing silver tael notes and silver dollar notes. Silver tael notes came in denominations of five mace, one tael, five taels, ten taels, fifty taels, and one hundred taels, and were circulated in Beijing and Shanghai. The silver tael notes used in Beijing had blue borders, while those in Shanghai were purple. Silver dollar notes came in denominations of one dollar, five dollars, ten dollars, fifty dollars, and one hundred dollars, and were circulated in Shanghai and Guangnan. The silver dollar notes used in Shanghai had red borders, while those in Guangnan were green. These five notes of Mr. Cao's are the rare green-bordered one-dollar banknotes circulated in Guangnan, each with a market value of around three hundred thousand.

Although he had found treasures worth millions, Cao Xiao was still a bit disappointed. He had basically filtered through everything at the stalls on the antique street. It would be impossible to find such high-value treasures again in the near future, which shattered his idea of making money by picking up bargains in antiques. The Huanghe Antique Market was one of the top large-scale antique trading markets in the country, yet he could only find a few items here; other places would likely be the same. Even if he spent time traveling to every antique market in the country, the money he would earn would be a drop in the bucket compared to what he needed.

He personally liked ancient culture and wanted to collect antique artworks, but he was reluctant to spend large sums of money to buy them. For no other reason than that antique collecting was a bottomless pit that required constant investment. Currently, he didn't even have a stable source of income and had many places to spend money. Antique collecting was just a hobby and not something he could afford to play with right now. Furthermore, excessive play destroys the will; beautiful things always make people indulge, and he didn't want to use these things to test himself.

Just because he couldn't make money by picking up bargains didn't mean he couldn't make money from antiques. Cao Xiao had an advantage that others didn't: the powerful functions of the Intelligent Industrial Mother Machine. Since the treasures already discovered by others weren't for him, weren't there still undiscovered ones? Once his permissions were upgraded and the detection and collection functions became even more powerful, he could go search for buried treasures. Of course, things like grave robbing were out of the question—the risk was too high and not worth it, and even if he dug something up, selling it would be difficult. However, treasures buried underground weren't just in tombs; there were also hidden hoards and shipwrecks in rivers and oceans. If there were legal restrictions domestically, he could always go abroad. Anything dug up from his own land abroad would belong to him, completely legal.

Besides antiques, one could also make money in this antique street through stone gambling, mussel gambling, and wood gambling, which were easier for him than picking up bargains. He still had two hundred thousand in cash in his handbag, having spent only a little over two hundred yuan just now; that cash hadn't been touched. It wasn't even three o'clock yet, so he decided to see Liu Guitang first to see if he could sell the treasures he just found. The condition of the bracelet and the banknotes was too poor, so he didn't want to keep them for his collection. Since he was also short on cash, he might as well sell them.

Liu Guitang's Jicui Pavilion was on the fourth floor of the Antique City. Only after Cao Xiao arrived did he realize why the shop was called Jicui Pavilion. This Jicui Pavilion specialized in jade and emerald jewelry. The storefront was a full five hundred square meters, and besides selling finished jewelry, it also sold raw jade materials.

Liu Guitang led Cao Xiao into a lounge. Cao Xiao hadn't expected Liu Guitang to have other guests; there were three other people in the lounge, leisurely chatting while sipping tea.

"Mr. Cao, the auction invitation is ready and can be given to you in a moment. I have guests right now, so please have some tea and wait a while. This afternoon, come to my house for dinner. You have no idea how much my wife loves that necklace; she threw her diamond necklace worth over ten million into the bottom of a chest and wears the one I gave her every day. Knowing you were coming, she's already preparing dinner and said she wants to thank you properly!" Liu Guitang said happily as he handed Cao Xiao a cup of hot tea.

"Brother Liu, you really don't need to thank me. It was a fair trade where we both got what we wanted," Cao Xiao said modestly.

"It's different; that necklace is too meaningful, so don't decline. Right, let me introduce these gentlemen to you first. This is Elder Chen, an appraisal expert from the museum; this is Mr. He Qianyun, CEO of Handa Group and a famous collector; and this is Mr. Fang Yongchang from Hong Kong's Haolai Jewelry. This young brother of mine, Cao Xiao, is the owner of that top-quality blue amber bracelet that Shengfeng is about to auction, and the necklace I gave my wife was also sold to me by him." Liu Guitang introduced everyone to each other.

"Pleased to meet you all!" Cao Xiao stood up and greeted the group.

"Since you have such an exquisitely crafted blue amber bracelet, little brother, you must have a large amount of raw blue amber material, right? Could you sell some to our company? I'll buy it at a high price!" The first to respond was Mr. Fang from Hong Kong's Haolai Jewelry, speaking to Cao Xiao in somewhat accented Mandarin.

"Uh, I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint Mr. Fang. I don't have any raw blue amber material. Making that bracelet was just a coincidence." Cao Xiao hadn't expected Mr. Fang to be so blunt, asking to buy things before they had even spoken a word or established any rapport. It was quite impolite. Although Cao Xiao was short on money, he wasn't willing to sell raw materials directly, nor did he particularly want to deal with this Mr. Fang.

"Old Fang, you're being too improper. How can you pry like that? Mr. Cao is my important guest; don't bring those Hong Kong business tactics here," Liu Guitang said to Fang Yongchang with a look of displeasure.

"Uh, President Liu, my apologies. Little brother, I apologize as well. I have a quick tongue, and our company has been having some issues with raw material procurement, so I got excited. Sorry!" Fang Yongchang realized that this wasn't a business negotiation; they were all more or less friends, and wanting to buy someone's things at a high price right after meeting them was indeed a bit tacky. So, he quickly stood up and apologized.

"It's no problem, Mr. Fang, it's only human. Oh, right, Brother Liu, I came to see you for something else today. Since these seniors are here, I'll take the liberty of asking everyone to help me take a look at these items." As Cao Xiao spoke, he took out the Kinam bracelet and those banknotes and placed them on the glass coffee table in front of him.

"This is agarwood, and it's of the Kinam grade; this scent can't be faked. Where did you get this, little brother? Are you looking to sell?" He Qianyun grabbed the bracelet, and without minding if it was dirty, he put it directly to his nose and sniffed it carefully.

"I forgot to tell you, Mr. He is a member of the Incense Culture Association and is very skilled at identifying spices. He can tell the real from the fake just by sniffing with his nose," Liu Guitang said to Cao Xiao, seeing the doubt in his eyes.

"This is a one-dollar silver dollar note from the Imperial Bank of China, isn't it? And it's the Guangnan green version. This is very rare. Why are there mildew marks on it? The ink is also a bit blurred; was this soaked in water? What a pity!" Elder Chen picked up one note and looked at the other four, sighing with regret.

"I just picked up both of these items outside. These banknotes were tucked inside a book. The whole book had been soaked in water for a while and had grown moldy, otherwise it wouldn't have been my turn to get them," Cao Xiao said.

"What? You picked these up? And just now at a stall? The bracelet too? How much did you pay?" Elder Chen, who was still sighing, looked at him in shock upon hearing this. The others also looked over in surprise; if this was true, it was a massive bargain, especially that bracelet—getting it at a fair price would already be a steal.

"Yes. Two hundred for the bracelet, and fifty for the book," Cao Xiao replied firmly.

"Two hundred? Fifty? That's insane. How many times has the value multiplied? Where did you buy them? Come on, let's go take a look; maybe there's something left behind." Fang Yongchang grumbled as he tried to pull Cao Xiao toward the door.

"Little Fang, what are you doing? It's not easy to encounter such a huge bargain once, let alone a second time. Sit down and stop making a fuss," Elder Chen said, stopping Fang Yongchang.

"True, I lost my composure. Why is my luck so bad? I came here this morning and looked through almost all the stalls, yet I only got one small item. If I sell it, it won't even be worth a thousand yuan, and it cost me four hundred. That's considered good luck; I might not pick up a bargain once in a whole year. I've watched others pick up bargains right in front of me several times, let alone a massive one like this. My luck is just... forget it," Fang Yongchang said as he sat back on the sofa dejectedly.

"That's because your foundation isn't solid. Otherwise, would others be picking up bargains in front of you? You still need to do more homework when you have time. Look at Elder Chen; every time he comes, he buys some nice things," He Qianyun said disdainfully.

"Hmph! Don't think you're so great just because you picked up a big bargain last time. Don't forget that no conclusion has been reached on that General Jar yet, and there are still many suspicious points to be resolved. It's better to keep a low profile so you don't embarrass yourself later. Now..." Fang Yongchang said to He Qianyun with a look of annoyance.

"Alright, stop arguing, you two. It's like this every time, endless. Little Cao, have you studied appraisal?" Elder Chen interrupted the two of them impatiently and turned to ask Cao Xiao.

"I'm self-taught. I like antiques very much and read relevant books whenever I have time. This was also my first time actually hunting for treasures; I didn't expect my luck to be so good that I'd find such a huge bargain. I bought them because the price wasn't expensive, and I wasn't sure myself, so I wanted to come and ask Brother Liu for advice."

"Then what books do you usually read?" Elder Chen asked curiously.

"I read many books. I have a very good memory and can basically remember them after reading them a few times. For paintings and calligraphy, I've read 'Essence of Calligraphy and Painting in the Palace Museum Collection' and 'Foundations of Calligraphy and Painting Appraisal.' For ceramics, I've read 'Appreciation and Collection of Ancient Ceramics,' 'Treasured Ancient Ceramics,' 'Yuan Dynasty Porcelain,' 'Appraisal of Ming and Qing Porcelain,' 'Appraisal of Blue and White Porcelain,' and 'Ancient Folk Kiln Ceramics.' For jade, I've read 'Jade Appreciation and Evaluation,' 'Complete Collection of Unearthed Jade,' and 'Complete Collection of Jade.' There are also many miscellaneous categories like bronzes, coins, lacquerware, snuff bottles, Yixing clay teapots, bamboo, ivory, and wood carvings, ancient furniture, curios, gemstones, and medals. I've also researched foreign oil paintings, sculptures, handicrafts, automobiles, and clocks."

When Cao Xiao finished speaking in one breath, everyone stared at him blankly with their mouths open. It wasn't that the content of what Cao Xiao said was so shocking—those present had read most of those books, and some were even used as university textbooks that many ambitious archaeology students would seek out. But Cao Xiao said he had a good memory and listed all those books without a single pause, showing that they had made a deep impression on him. Moreover, the categories of collectibles mentioned in Cao Xiao's speech were very comprehensive; even Elder Chen wouldn't dare say he had researched all of them. Yet Cao Xiao said it so matter-of-factly. If he wasn't bragging, then Cao Xiao's knowledge of antiques was above theirs, and he might even know more than Elder Chen about certain categories of collectibles.

"Since you say so, then I'll test you, if I may?" Elder Chen took a deep breath and said to Cao Xiao seriously.

"Please, ask away!" Cao Xiao was already prepared to accept the challenge.

"Fine, first tell me about Gem Glaze," Elder Chen said.

"Gem Glaze is a type of crystalline glaze. It is an artistic decorative glaze known for being a special glaze that naturally 'blooms' on the surface of porcelain due to the high fluidity of the glaze surface. Gem Glaze is formed by controlling the changes in the crystals on the glaze surface through the intensity of the fire during the kiln firing process. The success of the firing depends on many factors, such as the glaze formula, glazing techniques, changes in shape, and fire control. It has high technological content. Because crystalline glaze has infinite variations, every firing has many unexpected results. Except for the shape of the porcelain being the same, the color, shape, position, and size of the blooming patterns on each piece are different. Therefore, every piece is unique and has high aesthetic and collection value."

"Tell me about Scholar's Walnuts," Elder Chen said.

"Scholar's Walnuts are walnuts that have been selected and processed for their special shapes, age, and characteristics to form collectible items. They require deep and clear textures, and each pair must have similar textures, consistent size, and equivalent weight, so it takes a lot of effort to find a matching pair. Combined with the craftsman's carving and the 'old red' color formed from years of play, they become even more precious. Scholar's Walnuts are mainly divided into four categories: iron walnuts, qiu walnuts, ma walnuts, and irregular types. Iron walnuts are more common on the market with little difference in appearance, including Frog Head, Ingot, and Iron Ball. Iron walnuts are characterized by shallow textures, small tips, and large sizes. Qiu walnuts are similar to iron walnuts in that they have high yields; main varieties include Duck Beak, Chicken Beak, Bullet, and Jujube Pit, with irregular ones being more precious, such as twins, three-ridged, and four-ridged walnuts. Qiu walnuts are characterized by varied shapes and deep textures. The 'Four Famous Walnuts' are ma walnuts. Main varieties include Lion Head, Tiger Head, Official Hat, Gentleman's Hat, Chicken Heart, and Arhat Head. They have reached high standards in terms of size, color, shape, and quality. Among ma walnuts, the Lion Head is the rarest, with the most precious being the old-style Lion Head with a blunted tip, short stature, large base, water dragon pattern, and a width of over 4.5 centimeters. Irregular types mainly refer to variations in the external shape of the walnut due to its natural growth environment."