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

Chapter 31 Taking stock of gains
After more than twenty minutes, everyone reunited.

The uncle spoke first: "How about these?"

After saying that, he put several things on the ground, which looked messy.

Before Lin Yuan could say anything, Uncle De just glanced at him and gave a two-word evaluation - garbage!
The uncle was unconvinced: "That's impossible! You didn't even look carefully."

Uncle De said disdainfully, "Do you have to look at this carefully? You are the only one who thinks something is a treasure when it is fake. In the future, you should not try to steal it. Just follow your nephew and do odd jobs."

This time, my uncle had nothing to say.

Henry also put his harvest on the ground and looked at Uncle De.

Uncle De took a few casual glances and said, "They are all similar. Only the paperweight is old, but it is useless. These things were originally a pair."

Similar to the four treasures of pen, ink, paper and inkstone, paperweight can be called the "small five" in the study of ancient literati.

In ancient times, scholars often placed small bronze and jade artifacts on their desks in their study rooms for appreciation, and also used them to weigh down paper or books. This gave rise to the paperweight, also known as paperweight or rulerweight.

The paperweights we commonly see are rectangular pieces of wood.

In fact, the original paperweights were of irregular shapes.

The origin of paperweights is that ancient scholars often put small bronze and jade objects on their desks to play with and appreciate. Because they have a certain weight, people would use them to press paper or books while enjoying them. Over time, they developed into a kind of stationery - paperweights.

"Not worth it?" Henry asked depressedly.

Seeing his expression, Lin Yuan said, "It's not that it's worthless, it's just that Uncle De doesn't like it. This paperweight should be made of red rosewood, which is a precious wood.

Of course, if you can find the other paperweight and make it a pair, it's still worth $10,000 or $20,000. Now, it's probably about $3,000 or $2,000."

In fact, Lin Yuan himself didn’t understand the market price of rosewood.

But he had seen some introductions to precious wood last night, so he could tell at a glance that it was made of red rosewood. In any case, it should be worth some money, right?
So he gave a rough number.

Uncle De shook his head: "It's not worth that much, maybe about a thousand dollars!"

It’s not a small amount, more than 7,000 RMB.

After all, this is an object from the late Qing Dynasty. Although it is incomplete, it is normally worth several thousand RMB.

The newly cut surface of red rosewood has the unique sour aroma of rosewood, so it is called rosewood. It is a kind of redwood and is mostly used to make redwood furniture, redwood decorations, small accessories, etc.

It has the characteristics of gloss, high strength, high hardness, strong corrosion resistance, strong insect resistance, usually straight texture, fine and uniform structure, etc.

During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it was known as one of the "three major tribute woods" exclusively used by the court, along with rosewood and huanghuali.

It should be noted that there are many unscrupulous merchants in the market who use materials such as Dalbergia retusa and Dalbergia bariensis to impersonate Siamese rosewood and sell them at high prices.

"This is Cambodian rosewood, the quality is not that good," Uncle De added.

Henry asked humbly, "Does it depend on the place of origin?"

"Of course! The best Siamese rosewood comes from Laos, followed by Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand and other places.

Of course, the market will change. In the past, the Siamese rosewood produced in Laos was indeed the best, but who can say for sure in the future?
For example, the red rosewood produced in Cambodia in the past was mainly collected from the foot of the mountain, so it grew faster and its annual rings were not as dense and delicate as those produced in Laos.

Now, because the timber production is decreasing, the Siamese rosewood produced in Cambodia is mostly sourced from the mountains. The growing environment is similar to that of Laos, and the quality is not much different. The prices of the two in the market are now similar. "Uncle De explained.

Even though this paperweight was only worth about $1000, Henry was reluctant to throw it away. He spent money to buy it, just in case he could meet his other half in the future! Paul was a little proud. He followed Lin Yuan and got the meat.

He took out a piece of bronze that looked a bit strange.

"Uncle De, take a look at this." Paul doesn't speak Chinese and can only communicate in English. Fortunately, everyone understands it, so communication is not a problem.

However, Paul has made up his mind to enroll in a Chinese class and study Chinese well starting tomorrow. Otherwise, how can he hang out with Lin Yuan in the future?

Moreover, he always didn't know how to listen, couldn't speak, and seemed to be unsociable.

Uncle De saw at a glance that this was a palace lantern from the Western Han Dynasty, and it was worth quite a bit, except that part of it was missing, so it was incomplete. Otherwise, this Western Han Dynasty palace lantern would be worth more than $200,000.

There is a Changxin Palace lantern from the Western Han Dynasty in China, which is known as the best lantern in China.

Because there is an inscription with the word "Changxin" on the body of the lamp, it was named "Changxin Palace Lantern".

The overall shape of the Changxin Palace Lantern is a kneeling young palace maid of the Han Dynasty holding a lantern, with a copper lamp with a cover between her arms, which is gilded all over. Its shape is different from the mysterious and heavy bronze vessels of the past, and it looks light and gorgeous, which is really rare.

The one in front of me naturally cannot be compared with the Changxin Palace Lantern in China. It is several levels lower than that.

However, this kind of palace lantern is also quite interesting. Its design has taken environmental factors into consideration and can reduce the smoke produced by oil lamps.

Anyone who knows Chinese history knows that there were no candles in the Han Dynasty. People used lamps, which were mainly made of animal and plant fats.

Although using animal and plant oils and fats as lighting fuels can achieve the lighting function, they produce a lot of smoke when burned, often making the indoor air dirty, smoky, and accompanied by a pungent odor.

Therefore, the lighting designers of the Han Dynasty created this kind of "environmentally friendly" lamp.

Although their original purpose was only to reduce smoke, reduce pungent odors and make the indoor environment more comfortable, not to prevent global warming, the effect is the same, so it can be said that it is an environmentally friendly lamp.

"Good! It's a palace lantern from the Western Han Dynasty. Unfortunately it's a broken piece and its value has been greatly reduced. If it were well preserved, it would be at least 20 US dollars. Now it's about US dollars!" Uncle De commented.

Paul was satisfied.

Didn’t you see that Henry and his men were completely wiped out?

Although his things are few, they are valuable!

"Xiao Lin, your inkstone is interesting. Let me take a look." Uncle De had already noticed the inkstone in Lin Yuan's hand.

This is really strange. Lin Yuan has been to the stalls he visited before, but he didn't see this inkstone! Did the stall owner just take it out?

Lin Yuan handed over the inkstone.

As soon as he started, Uncle De looked it up and down and his expression changed slightly.

"The Duan inkstone with Ji Xiaolan's inscription is such a treasure! No, I need to take a closer look at it." Uncle De even took out his magnifying glass this time.

It can be seen that he is serious this time.

My uncle was also convinced.

My nephew basically never goes away empty-handed!

If I had known earlier, I should have sent him abroad earlier. Why would I still want to study? If I had followed him a few years earlier, I would have become a billionaire!
(End of this chapter)