Courtyard House: My Wife is Xu Huizhen

"Really?" He Yuzhu asked, somewhat incredulous.

"Would I lie to you, kid? Look at these porcelain pieces, they're all newly unearthed. Although most of them are from the late Qing Dynasty, there are a few from the early Ming Dynasty."

As he spoke, Xu Wude muttered a few porcelain pieces under his breath, then pointed at them with his finger.

"I'm not that stingy. As the saying goes, everyone gets a share. You pick a few, I'll buy more, and we can make a fortune by reselling them."

"But I'm short on money lately, I don't have any."

At first, He Yuzhu suspected that Xu Wude was setting a trap for him, and now he is even more suspicious.

Since he knew nothing about antiques, Xu Wude came to him and took him to buy antiques. There, he even came across newly unearthed Ming Dynasty porcelain at the stall.

He said it was from the Ming Dynasty, and it might have been buried just last week.

An ordinary person might actually be fooled by him, but having already experienced the information age, he knows how deep the waters are in the antique business, and that ordinary people simply can't handle it.

I had long ago decided to focus solely on mahogany furniture, stock up on as much wood as possible, and when I had the money, I would buy some 6-yuan bottles of Moutai and store them for decades, as well as some Kunlun jade, jadeite, and other gemstones.

At the very least, it's unlikely that I'll make a mistake in these projects.

"Would I lie to you? This is definitely a chance to make a lot of money."

Seeing that He Yuzhu wasn't very enthusiastic and was rather indifferent, Xu Wude said, "After you casually pick through these antiques, I'll buy them too. Then you'll believe me, right?"

He Yuzhu was about to refuse when he suddenly had another idea: to try and see if his mental power could distinguish the age of the antique.

Then he used his mental energy to envelop the stall in front of him. The small stall had dozens of porcelain pieces on it, some large and some small. Some of them still had some soil stuck to their bottoms, giving people the illusion that they had just been dug out of the ground.

Some of the porcelain pieces were broken and then glued back together. I don't know why their craftsmanship is so exquisite. You can't see it from the outside. Only when you use your spiritual sense can you clearly feel some cracks inside.

However, the era cannot be sensed through mental power.

Just as He Yuzhu was about to withdraw his spiritual power, he suddenly made an astonishing discovery: inside the belly of one of the reclining Maitreya Buddha statues, there was a lot of cotton, and inside the cotton were four large yellow croakers.

He Yuzhu was very surprised that there was a hidden world inside the Maitreya Buddha statue. You know, a single large yellow croaker can now sell for more than 900 yuan, so four large yellow croakers would be worth more than 3600 yuan.

A traditional courtyard house with one entrance costs just over 1000 yuan now, enough to buy three small courtyard houses.

If all of it were used to buy grain, it would be enough to feed me for one or two decades, and I would never have to worry about food again.

He Yuzhu immediately had an idea. Although he could get the four large yellow croakers out of Maitreya Buddha's belly without anyone noticing, it would be best to clear his name so that no one would be surprised when he bought a house in the future.

Otherwise, if an ordinary person suddenly acquires a large sum of money, their neighbors might mistake them for enemy agents and report them to the police so they can investigate where the money came from.

He Yuzhu, in particular, felt that Xu Wude was here to trick him. Although his mental power could not determine which dynasty the porcelain was from, he could determine that they were all from the same period based on their organizational structure.

If one or two of these dozens of pieces were genuine, that would be understandable; it's impossible for this entire batch to consist of Ming Dynasty porcelain.

The stall is set up here, with people coming and going, but not a single person can recognize that this is porcelain from the Ming Dynasty.

It's possible that these are from the late Qing Dynasty or the Republic of China era, just used to fool people who don't know anything about them.

Xu Wude said, "Don't hesitate, I'll let you pick first. After you've picked, I'll buy too. Let me tell you, most of these pieces are Ming Dynasty porcelain. The stall owner is a complete novice."

“Okay, I’ll listen to you, Grandpa.” He Yuzhu readily agreed.

Xu Zhaodi also smiled and said, "My dad has a very good eye; you can't go wrong by listening to him."

“Okay, I’ll choose first,” He Yuzhu said with a smile.

"Okay, you can choose first. They are all porcelain from the Ming Dynasty, and their values ​​are about the same. They should be from the same batch, so you can buy whichever one you like."

Xu Wude smiled and said when he saw that He Yuzhu had agreed to buy it.

The four of them squatted down in front of the stall. He Yuzhu made his selection first, Xu Wude winked at the stall owner, who nodded subtly and then greeted He Yuzhu.

Among the dozens of porcelain items on the stall, Buddha statues were the most numerous. Unfortunately, none of the reclining Maitreya Buddhas with four gold bars hidden among the ones that Xu Wude had randomly picked earlier were present.

He Yuzhu picked up the reclining Maitreya Buddha and examined it carefully: "This one is not bad. It looks very ancient."

Xu Wude noticed that He Yuzhu did not pick up the porcelain pieces he had pointed out, and then looked up at the stall owner.

The stall owner opened his mouth but didn't make a sound, only uttering a few words.

Xu Wude was immediately relieved. Thinking about it, it made sense. The stall was full of porcelain from the Republic of China era, all of which had been salvaged from scrap yards. Not a single piece was genuine.

But she still said, "Pillar, why didn't you choose the one I told you to?"

He Yuzhu whispered, "Uncle Xu, I think this one might be from the Tang Dynasty."

Xu Wude almost burst out laughing, but he held it in with great difficulty.

He Yuzhu is such an idiot, he doesn't know anything. This is obviously porcelain from the Republic of China period. It was not well preserved and is somewhat damaged. It's just ordinary porcelain that only rural landlords would worship.

Perhaps it's the smoke and heat that makes it look older. Could this be what He Yuzhu thinks is Tang Dynasty porcelain?

Xu Wude pretended to examine it for a while, and was even more certain that it was porcelain from the Republic of China period. He nodded and said, "I misjudged it just now. This does look somewhat like it was from the Tang Dynasty. You're lucky; you picked the oldest piece of porcelain directly."

He Yuzhu laughed and said, "Then I won't stand on ceremony. I'll buy this one. You can choose one yourself, Uncle Xu."

Then I asked the stall owner, "How much is this?"

"Thirty yuan." The stall owner had never seen such a fool. He had heard the two of them talking quietly, so of course he was asking for an exorbitant price.

Originally, I wanted 20 yuan to rip off He Yuzhu, but I ended up asking for an extra 10 yuan.

"So expensive?" He Yuzhu hesitated, looking somewhat reluctant to part with it.

Seeing He Yuzhu hesitate, Xu Wude whispered, "The price is acceptable, not expensive at all. The stall owner is selling this as Qing Dynasty porcelain."

"So you're saying it's not expensive?" He Yuzhu asked.

"Of course it's not expensive. Let alone Tang Dynasty pieces, even Ming Dynasty pieces this size would cost over a hundred yuan."

"You think this isn't fake?" He Yuzhu suddenly asked again.

"How could that be? Didn't you say it was from the Tang Dynasty?"

Xu Wude was secretly pleased, because He Yuzhu didn't buy any of the porcelain pieces he pointed out, but instead picked out another one.

That way, if it turns out to be porcelain from the Republic of China era, it has nothing to do with me, so they won't blame me, and my trickery of cheating them won't be discovered.

Since you can choose the porcelain yourself!

He Yuzhu thought for a moment and said, "Okay, boss, if you can lower the price a bit more, I'll buy it."

Chapter 90 Hidden Treasures in Buddha Statues

"This is the best piece of porcelain I have here, and it's such a big piece, I really can't lower the price any further," said stall owner Ge Yusuo with difficulty.

He Yuzhu said, "I'll offer you twenty yuan. If you don't want to sell it, I won't take it."

Ge Yusuo frowned and said, "This..."

He Yuzhu stood up as if to leave, but Xu Wude quickly said, "Boss, give me some face, please give me a discount, we'll come back next time."

"Yes, I don't have much money on me, so I'll just get this one for now and take a few more Buddha statues back next time."

Ge Yusuo gritted her teeth and said, "Fine, here's twenty yuan."

Then he instructed, "There's something I need to tell you first. When buying and selling these things, it's all based on your own judgment. Once the deal is made, there's no going back. You can't return the goods after you've bought them. There's no such rule in this business. I didn't even say which dynasty or era the goods were from, did I?"

He Yuzhu nodded: "I understand."

As he spoke, He Yuzhu took out twenty bills and handed them to the stall owner.

Once the bet was placed, He Yuzhu picked up the reclining Maitreya Buddha.

“This is really heavy, made of solid materials, it must be from the Tang Dynasty,” He Yuzhu said with a smile.

Ge Yusuo looked at He Yuzhu as if he were an idiot. Of course he knew the owner of the tavern, He Yuzhu. Now he was sure that this was the blockhead who only knew how to make steamed buns. He wondered if he could go to him again in a few days, get some bronzes, tell him that they were from the Shang and Zhou dynasties, or that they were Xuande censers, and make a fortune.

Xu Wude, who was standing next to him, was also very happy. He Yuzhu had cheated him out of 50 yuan, and after so long, he was finally taking revenge.

Bring the person to Ge Yusuo's place, sell him any ordinary porcelain piece, and split the profits 50/50.

If you come a few more times, you'll be able to earn your money back.

Today started well; I cheated He Yuzhu out of 20 yuan, and I can get 10 yuan back myself. Of course, the price should be lower for the first time, and I will gradually increase it in the future.

“Zhu Zi, since you say this Buddha statue is from the Tang Dynasty, then keep it at home and keep it safe. These kinds of things are meant to be passed down through generations and are not sold unless absolutely necessary.”

In this way, He Yuzhu wouldn't seek authentication from others, and he would still think he had bought Tang Dynasty porcelain, making it easier for them to continue deceiving him.

“That’s right. I’ll put it away when I get back and not let anyone see it. It’s a family heirloom.”

He Yuzhu carried the porcelain back, and Xu Wude, without mentioning that he had bought porcelain, followed along with the other two.

As He Yuzhu walked, he deliberately tripped and almost fell. Then, taking advantage of the opportunity, he let go of the Maitreya Buddha statue.

Under everyone's watchful eyes, it fell directly to the ground.

With a loud thud, the reclining Maitreya Buddha fell to the ground and shattered into eight pieces.

Everyone was surprised. Those in the know had already realized that there were no genuine items on that stall. It was only because young people like He Yuzhu were novices that they paid such a high price for the Buddha statue.

"He fell down on his own, it has nothing to do with me, don't try to extort me." Ge Yusuo said directly, afraid that He Yuzhu would be unreasonable.

This is also the rule in the antique industry: once the purchase is finalized, the seller is no longer responsible for any issues that arise.

Xu Wude suppressed a laugh and pretended to be very happy: "Zhu Zi, how could you be so careless? Now it's broken into eight pieces, and the porcelain is worthless."

Xu Damao couldn't help but gloat and said, "He Yuzhu, how could you be so unlucky? A piece of porcelain from the Tang Dynasty would cost several hundred yuan, and you just broke it like that."

Xu Zhaodi comforted him, "Don't be angry, Zhuzi, we can buy it again later."