Siheyuan's Journey Through the Ages

Chapter 52 Daily life of antique trading

Ma Qing is a person who always thinks three steps ahead. In fact, this behavior of Ma Qing was discovered in the early 60s. The head of the Civil Affairs Section of the Street Office even had a talk with Ma Qing about it.

Ma Qing bit off the money just to avoid starvation and used it to buy food. Maybe the head of the Civil Affairs Department had already investigated it in advance. He was both puzzled and impressed by Ma Qing's behavior of supporting his classmates. He kindly advised Ma Qing not to be too extravagant and spend all the assets of the Ma family.

Ma Qing said righteously that children from working-class families do not care about money, but seeing their classmates going hungry is something they cannot get over. Besides, this situation will not last long, and the country's situation will surely get better. Now everyone is growing up and really needs nutrition.

After hearing what Ma Qing said, what else could the head of the Civil Affairs Section do except to praise Ma Qing? Of course, he also privately warned Ma Qing not to be too arrogant when going to the Pigeon Market, and not to go to the black market. In short, nothing happened to Ma Qing after that when he withdrew money. However, the rumor that Ma Qing was a prodigal son spread very widely around the bank.

After eating, he played cards with a few classmates for a while. When it was almost time for dinner, Ma Qing slipped away again.

Ma Qing rode his bicycle to the Daqianmen Bistro again and greeted the Cai couple. "Old rules, Cai."

Ma Qing sat at the familiar table. Lao Cai brought a bottle of beer, a plate of peanuts, a plate of smashed cucumbers, and a plate of braised offal platter. He sat down without any hesitation and said, "You are unshakable. You come to my place every weekend to have fun."

"Haha, Lao Cai, life is short, enjoy it while you can. Drinking at your place is one of the few entertainments I have, and you are not happy about taking care of your business."

Old Cai curled his lips and said, "This is public business. What do you mean you are taking care of my business? You are taking care of public business."

"Same, same. If you can't continue with the public business, you have to find another job. You can still work in a tavern like you do now, without being exposed to the wind or rain. You should be content with what you have. Old Cai, you are doing well in your current situation."

"Hey, when will this day end?"

Ma Qing was shocked. This Old Cai was familiar with him and he was really careless with his words. He must have seen through him and had no power to hurt him. "Old Cai, what nonsense are you talking about? You just said it casually."

"Haha, I said the wrong thing. I'll drink a glass as a punishment." Cai Quanyou said as he was about to pour Ma Qing's beer.

I didn't realize that in the plot, the honest Cai Quanyou was here trying to get drinks. Ma Qing was about to say something when he heard the proprietress scolding him, and Cai Quanyou left in anger.

"You're controlled by your wife, and you still want to drink my beer." Ma Qing took a big gulp of beer. It wasn't as delicious as the beer in his own space, but it had a human smell in it.

Ma Qing was having a drink alone at the table, occasionally picking up a peanut with chopsticks and putting it into his mouth, quietly enjoying the comfort of this era.

When it got dark, two people appeared at Ma Qing's table, Pian'er Ye and Niu Ye. Ma Qing suspected that these two people were a fusion of the supporting characters in the two dramas "Zhengyangmen", descendants of the Qing Dynasty, and people who dealt in antiques on the streets. But it didn't matter. It took Ma Qing more than a year to gain the trust of these two people, and Ma Qing collected a lot of antiques from them.

Porcelain, calligraphy and paintings, and copper furnaces are Ma Qing's main focus, mainly to decorate his own bubble palace. In fact, if you want to say what practical meaning these antiques have for Ma Qing, it's really hard to say, mainly because Ma Qing is too bored. Speaking of this, Ma Qing still blames Xiao Qi. Ma Qing originally thought that his intelligence had improved, and if he worked hard to study, he could become a great scientist in the future, but Xiao Qi gave Ma Qing a test.

Ma Qing did it without thinking. Although he knew that his grades would not be good, he did not expect to receive such comments as, "You can be an engineer at best in the future. You have no potential to be a scientist in the field of scientific research. You can't surpass the scientific research results in my current database. I advise you to just lie down."

Although he was not convinced, Ma Qing knew his own business and laid down in advance. This also caused Ma Qing to have nothing to do. The schoolwork was easy to get started, but there was no ability to innovate. According to Xiao Qi's words, the hardware was upgraded, but the software was not upgraded. Except for the faster page response, it was useless.

"I've found some expert items for you this time. Would you like to take a look?" said Pianerye.

"Okay, let's have a good meal first, and then we'll go to your place to check out the goods." Ma Qing picked up a piece of food with chopsticks from the plate in front of him.

That’s right, although the three of them sat together, they each ordered their own dishes. The reason was very simple: the three of them were in a simple business relationship.

In the beginning, Ma Qing always treated everyone, but as time went on, Ma Qing felt that the moral standards of Pian'er Ye and Niu Ye were really poor. Even though they were so familiar with each other, the goods they brought were still only three-tenths genuine and seven-tenths fake. Ma Qing also came to terms with it and decided not to be too serious when dealing with these feudal remnants and descendants of the bourgeoisie.

People are very defensive. This is a business, so why bother with favors? Don't try to exchange sincerity for sincerity. The only thing that matters is using RMB to exchange for real goods. Only people like this will be able to make a living in the future. Favors are favors, business is business, and money is the most important thing. After Ma Qing understood this, he never invited guests again.

After the three of them finished eating and drinking, Ma Qing came to Pian'erye's house. Pian'erye took out quite a few goods, but, well, three-tenths of them were real and seven-tenths were fake. It has been so many times, and even though Ma Qing bought genuine goods nine times out of ten, they still sold the goods in this way. What can you say? It's just the industry rule, right? They are just waiting for you to be fooled.

Ma Qing selected a painting of bamboo in ink by Zheng Banqiao and a calligraphy by Huang Tingjian, both of which can be placed in his study to add a touch of literary atmosphere; a Xuande stove can be placed in the bedroom to burn incense; and a Northern Song Dynasty Ru kiln celadon basin, unfortunately it is fake, but it is very beautifully made, so Ma Qing decided to buy it anyway, and it would be nice to put it in the living room to raise some small fish.

"Boy, you have a really sharp eye. Who did you learn this from? This is really amazing." Pianerye couldn't help but admire.

"Of course Xiao Qi told me." Ma Qing said in his heart, but said: "I have never learned appraisal, and I don't have a teacher. What's the matter, do you think I have great qualifications and want to take me as your apprentice?"

"You're kidding. Do you need me to teach you this skill? Every time you come to see the goods, you always pick up my best ones. Who would believe you if you say you don't have a teacher to teach you?" Pian'erye was a little embarrassed and felt that Ma Qing was being too dishonest.

"I really don't have a teacher, and I haven't even learned anything in this area, but I have one thing that you don't have, and that is knowledge. I have read many more books and visited many more museums than you two have. I have developed a skill, how should I explain it, it's absolute aesthetic sense, I can tell whether something is beautiful or not."

Ma Qing boasted: "My only criterion for selecting antiques is beauty, but this standard of beauty may be different from yours. Antiques are nothing more than real or fake. In my mind, antiques must be beautiful and flawless, because you have to believe in the vision of those dignitaries and wealthy people when antiques were created. There may be antiques that are not necessarily beautiful, but in my mind, they are not antiques, but just antiques of a certain age. If I don't like them, I won't buy them."

(End of this chapter)