Pick up bargains in Chinatown and make 10,000 times the profit at the beginning

Chapter 108 Business Card Box

Lin Yuan told Tony that this vinyl record was worth about 40,000 US dollars.

Henry leaned over to take a look and saw it was "Alcohol And Jake Blues" by Tommy Johnson.

He didn't know much about records, and he had never heard this one. But it didn't matter, with information so developed nowadays, he could just search on his phone and find out the information about this vinyl record.

"The last time this vinyl record was auctioned, it sold for thirty-seven thousand dollars," he said, looking at his phone.

Blues singer Tommy Johnson was active in the 1920s and was famous for his strange falsetto singing and complex guitar playing.

The record in front of you is the 78 rpm record "Alcohol And Jake Blues", which includes two of his most famous songs, "Canned Heat Blues" and "Maggie Campbell".

The discovery process of the vinyl record that was auctioned last time was quite legendary.

The original owner found this record in an old house he bought many years ago, and had no idea of ​​its value. He put it on the auction website many years later. Unexpectedly, a few hours later, someone contacted him directly, hoping to buy it directly for $4 and asked him to cancel the auction.

The seller discovered the specialness of the record and decided to continue the auction, and finally sold it for a high price of $37.

According to the current market conditions, if it were to be put up for auction, it would definitely fetch a higher price, so what Lin Yuan said about 40,000 US dollars was not wrong, and the error was not large.

At this moment, Xiao Tai called Lin Yuan and told him that the police had found his sister, but her condition was not good and she had been injected with poison.

No matter what, Xiao Tai was already very grateful to be alive.

You know, he had prepared for the worst before.

"Go back and quit drugs! As long as the person is still alive, it's good. It's hard to investigate the rest." Lin Yuan said.

Xiao Tai was silent for a moment before he said, "Yeah! Yes! As long as the person is still here, that's good."

The police also told him clearly that it would be difficult to pursue the matter further and asked him to stop there.

Although he was very angry, he had to face reality.

He told Lin Yuan and his uncle that he was going to return to China in two days, so he wanted to treat them to a meal.

Xiao Tai knew very well that if it weren't for Lin Yuan and his uncle, it would not be so easy to find his sister. To a certain extent, Lin Yuan and his uncle were his two siblings' benefactors, even their lifesavers.

"Okay, let's meet in Chinatown tomorrow!" Lin Yuan said to him.

"Okay! See you tomorrow."

Just after hanging up the phone, suddenly, a gunshot broke the silence. Everyone subconsciously looked for cover. David and Tony immediately escorted Lin Yuan to the nearest cover.

That's right, this is American style.

The scene was in chaos, but it seemed that no one was injured. The gunshots came from outside and might not be directed at the people here, but no one dared to take the risk or go out.

Some people even left the things they brought to the exchange meeting there.

“We should ban guns like China does. If no one has a gun, there will be no danger.” Henry said, expressing his dissatisfaction with the current government.

Lin Yuan didn't say anything.

Not having a gun has its advantages, and having a gun also has its good side.

If you hold the truth in your hands, you won't be afraid of being bullied. Just do it. We all have one life.

The organizers of the exchange meeting were somewhat responsible and began to evacuate the crowd, asking everyone to take their belongings and leave in an orderly manner and hold the meeting again next time.

Others left one after another. Lin Yuan and the others were no exception. As soon as they walked out, Henry saw a small box on the ground, which seemed to be made of silver and was very delicate.

To be precise, Lin Yuan and his group saw it.

But Henry picked it up first.

"What's coming from?"

No need to guess, it must have been those people who just evacuated who missed it.

If this thing is valuable, it's like getting it for free without spending a penny.

Lin Yuan reached out and took the thing from Henry, looked at it, opened the box, and looked at it again.

"An ancient business card box, worth some money."

My uncle asked in surprise: "Did people have business cards in ancient times?"

He even suspected that he had heard it wrongly.

Lin Yuan smiled and said, "Business cards have existed for a long time, but they were not originally called business cards."

He told his uncle that the names of business cards varied in different eras, from "ye" in the Qin and Han Dynasties, to "ci" in the Eastern Han Dynasty, "mingtie" in the Tang Dynasty, "menzhuang" in the Song Dynasty, "mingci" in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, etc. The term "business card" was not widely used until the late Qing Dynasty.

In ancient my country, the most popular business card holders were woven and embroidered, with brilliant colors and appealing to both the elite and the masses. Business card boxes that appear in the auction market were usually specially made by craftsmen at the time to accept orders from European countries, especially British and French merchants.

At that time, the upper class in Europe often carried expensive business card boxes to show their status.

When technology was not well developed, simply taking out "my business card" would make people feel elegant and calm, and a sense of trust would arise naturally.

This silver filigree hollow dragon pattern business card box in front of you uses the silver filigree weaving technique. First, thick silver wire is used to weave a frame, and then very fine silver wire is woven into various shapes and welded on the frame.

The main decoration of the box is a "well" pattern woven with very fine silver wires, with a hollow dragon on the top and bottom, and lively cloud patterns in between. The overall workmanship is complicated and the structure is ingenious.

"Don't think that business cards are a modern invention. In fact, they are left over from our ancestors," said Lin Yuan.

It is recorded that Guo Tai, a famous scholar in the Eastern Han Dynasty, often received business cards, so many that he needed a car to carry them.

During the Tang and Song dynasties, the name card was renamed "men zhuang". After each imperial examination, the newly-appointed scholars would first visit dignitaries, hoping to be appreciated and promoted, paving the way for their future political career. To meet these nobles, they had to first submit a "men zhuang" to see if the host would receive them.

In the Ming Dynasty, business cards were called "name cards". Students would hand over a "name card" to teachers and officials would hand over a "name card" to high officials. The characters on the "name card" had to be larger to show humility. If the characters were too small, it would be considered arrogant.

At that time, the size of the "name card" of the Ming Dynasty was about seven inches long and three inches wide. It was not until the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China that it was called a "business card" in the traditional sense, and it tended to be miniaturized.

Of course, the business card boxes in the past were not called business card boxes, but “baixie”.

The use of Baixie was most common in the Ming and Qing dynasties and is also common in novels.

By the Qing Dynasty, the types and styles of Baixiang became more and more diverse. In the novels alone, there are descriptions of Baixiang, such as "Xiangfei bamboo flower-covered Baixiang", "bamboo silk Baixiang", "lacquer inlaid with mother-of-pearl Baixiang" and so on.

Even though Lin Yuan told him that the business card box was worth about five thousand dollars.

Although the price was not high, Henry was still very happy.

Anyway, this thing didn't cost him a penny, so no matter how much it is worth, it's pie in the sky, just a few thousand dollars!

(End of this chapter)