A thousand enlightenments in one night, starting from being a menial apprentice.

Chapter 25 Incense Burner
Tang Wanhong's face looked much more at ease.

In fact, judging from Duan Rong's ability to identify the authenticity with just one glance, he is obviously an expert.

However, he didn't behave like an antique dealer at all.

In the antique business, one starts out as an apprentice and slowly builds up skills.

This industry has many tricks and rules. If you stay in it for a long time, all your edges will be smoothed out.

Duan Rong's behavior is obviously that of a child from an aristocratic family, and he learned it from his family since childhood.

Even if such a family declines, it will often leave a foundation for future generations to turn things around.

This painting of a lady by Fan Yunlin may have had this origin.

With just this picture in hand, there is absolutely no problem in opening a store on this street.

Tang Wanhong smiled and said, "The item is fine. You name a price, young man."

Don't speak in secret in front of an honest person. Duan Rong is an expert and his knowledge is passed down in his family.

If Tang Wanhong continues to dwell on the thing itself, it would seem cheap.

Duan Rong looked at Tang Wanhong expressionlessly and said, "Eight hundred taels."

The black chrysanthemum painting just now is a 5th-level spirit weapon, and the waiter said it was worth three hundred taels.

The painting of the lady in his hand was a 6th-rank spirit weapon. Duan Rong deliberately exaggerated the value. If he exaggerated too much, the fat shopkeeper, who was obviously an old fox, would definitely return it to him. If he exaggerated too little, he would suffer a great loss.

The muscles on Tang Wanhong's face twitched. Eight hundred taels was not a high amount, but he still showed an embarrassment on his face and said, "Eight hundred taels is not a small amount. Our shop doesn't have that much cash right now, and..."

Before Tang Wanhong finished speaking, Duan Rong suddenly interrupted her and said, "That's fine! Shopkeeper, you can pay me first with whatever cash you have, and write me an IOU for the rest. I'll pay you back in a few months. That's not impossible. Business is a give-and-take thing!"

Tang Wanhong's next words were intended to lower the price, but Duan Rong deliberately followed up his previous polite words and choked back Tang Wanhong's next words to lower the price.

Upon hearing this, Tang Wanhong looked at Duan Rong strangely, as if to say, why doesn't this kid play by the rules!

Tang Wanhong was thinking about what to say when suddenly a figure walked into the store.

He was a tall and thin man dressed like a farmer, with thick bones, calloused hands, and a pair of eyes that were somewhat cunning and evasive.

As soon as the man entered the store, he looked at the three people in the store and asked in a hoarse voice, "Who is the shopkeeper?"

Tang Wanhong looked the man up and down. Seeing that he was dressed in a rustic way, she said coldly, "What's the matter?"

The tall and thin man fixed his eyes on Tang Wanhong, and looked her up and down with his eyes flickering. Then he said, "Boss, I have something here, take a look!"

The tall and thin man then, without further ado, pulled out a copper incense burner slightly larger than his fist from his arms and handed it directly to Tang Wanhong.

Tang Wanhong was slightly stunned. He saw that the gaps between the fingernails of the man's rough hand that he handed to him were full of black dirt, and Tang Wanhong felt disgusted.

Normally, those country guys would send toys to his shop, but they were mostly stuff that was not presentable.

So, when this man came in, Tang Wanhong didn't pay much attention.

He glanced at Duan Rong with the intention of deliberately leaving Duan Rong alone.

Tang Wanhong took a few steps, reached out to take the copper stove from the man's hand, and looked at it carefully in the light from outside the door.

Tang Wanhong took a few glances and felt a chill in her heart. "This..."

What happened today? Are all the good things rushing to me?
This copper incense burner is not only delicately crafted and beautifully carved, but most importantly, it appears to be the real thing!
Tang Wanhong took two steps towards the door, and in the sunlight, she carefully looked at the verdigris rust on the edge of the incense burner, and then sniffed the smell inside the incense burner.

There was a smell of stale earth. Tang Wanhong turned around to look at the tall and thin man, who avoided her gaze somewhat unnaturally.

Tang Wanhong looked at the copper furnace in his hand carefully again. Although according to his initial judgment, it seemed to be a toy.

But I felt like something was wrong, but I couldn’t put my finger on it.

Tang Wanhong was holding the copper stove, feeling troubled, when she suddenly caught a glimpse of Duan Rong sitting on the armchair and drinking tea leisurely.

Tang Wanhong asked, "Young friend, can you give me a slap?"

Duan Rong heard this, put down the teacup, shook his head, and said, "It's your business. I'm an outsider, so it's not appropriate for me to interfere."

Tang Wanhong smiled and said, "How about this, my friend, you have taken a look at this thing. I will sell this painting at the price you said. What do you think?" Duan Rong was stunned for a moment and thought: It seems that this painting is really worth eight hundred taels, maybe I even said it too low.

However, the fat shopkeeper had already said this, and it would be a bit inhumane for him to refuse again.

Duan Rong reached out and took the copper incense burner, silently saying in his heart: "Read the spirit of the instrument."

Object: Broken copper incense burner

Spirit Level: Level 4 (Damaged)

Devouring requirements: Host's mental strength level 4 (not met)
Swallowing effect: Level 4 smell and fragrance identification.

Duan Rong looked at the data in front of him, extremely puzzled.

"A broken incense burner?"

“Isn’t this incense burner intact?”

Duan Rong's eyes suddenly lit up, and he understood that the incense burner was repaired later.

Duan Rong put down the incense burner and shook his head secretly.

Tang Wanhong looked at Duan Rong's meaningful expression and asked, "My friend, why..."

Duan Rong glanced at the tall and thin man and said, "This incense burner has been repaired, right?"

The tall and thin man's face suddenly turned black, and he angrily said: "You...what nonsense are you talking about!"

Upon hearing this, Tang Wanhong immediately picked up the copper incense burner and looked at it carefully. Then he put his fingers into the incense burner and touched it from the inside. After a while, a strange expression appeared on his face.

Then he pointed the incense burner towards the sky again, stared at that position, and examined it carefully.

When the tall and thin man saw where Tang Wanhong was staring, he stepped forward, snatched the copper stove from Tang Wanhong, wrapped it in cloth, put it in his arms, and said, "You don't know what's good. What kind of store is this? Just close it early!"

The tall and thin man said this and walked out. Before leaving, he glared at Duan Rong fiercely.

When Tang Wanhong saw the man leave, she turned around and looked at Duan Rong with a smile.

The repaired area on the incense burner was not that big and the workmanship was exquisite. He had been in the antique business for decades and almost missed it. The young man in front of him saw it at a glance.

What kind of skill is this?

Tang Wanhong took out three silver notes from the inner room, two for three hundred taels and one for two hundred taels, and handed them to Duan Rong, saying, "This is a promissory note from Yunshui Bank. Please check it, my friend."

Duan Rong took it, looked at the denomination and the red seal, and immediately swallowed his saliva. "Eight hundred taels! I'll be rich in one go!"

Yunshui Money House is a money house opened by Taiyi Sect in Qingzhou. It has branches all over Qingzhou. Government offices and larger shops in various places accept promissory note transactions.

After all, it is backed by the Lord of Qingzhou, Taiyi Sect, one of the eight major sects, which is basically the same concept as a state-owned bank.

Seeing Duan Rong finish his order and put it away, Tang Wanhong smiled and said, "My dear friend, you have a deep knowledge of antiques from a family background, and I am not as good as you. If it is convenient in the future, I hope you can give our store some pointers."

"No problem. I'll definitely go to your store when I have goods in the future." Duan Rong smiled humbly.

Tang Wanhong chuckled and said, "That's good. If there's anything we're not sure about in the future, I'll have to ask you for your advice."

Duan Rong's face froze when he heard this, and he thought: This old guy is really good at climbing up the ladder! Does he really think I'm easy to talk to?

When Tang Wanhong saw Duan Rong's reaction, he immediately bowed and said, "My dear friend, please don't misunderstand me! In our business, we won't let you look for nothing. If you can help us find something, we will pay you thirty taels of silver for your travel expenses."

"Thirty taels?" Duan Rong's heart skipped a beat, and he smiled, "Ah... that's easy! If the shopkeeper really has something good that he wants to discuss with me, just send someone to find me at Yuanshun Escort Agency. I'm Duan Rong, an apprentice escort master at Yuanshun Escort Agency."

Tang Wanhong glanced at the mark on Duan Rong's waist badge and said with a smile, "Yuan Shun Escort Agency, what a good job, what a good job!"

Duan Rong bowed and walked out of Guyuezhai.

Tang Wanhong watched Duan Rong leave, her eyes gleaming with deep light. "This man is not very old, but he is quite experienced in answering questions."

"After all, he is a child of an aristocratic family. Even if he loses his dignity, he still has experience and is not afraid of the stage!"

He still had a good impression of Duan Rong. In addition to making a good business, Duan Rong's ability to identify antiques also amazed him. Coupled with his cleverness, he even had some feelings of loving and cherishing his talent.

(End of this chapter)