The arrival of Mr. Zhao was beyond my expectation. We did not dare to neglect this respected old gentleman and quickly got up to greet him.
"Old sir, why are you here?" I greeted politely.
In fact, I already guessed that this must be the work of the fat man.
As expected, when the old gentleman heard this, he immediately looked at the fat man with a smile.
"I was summoned here by this little fat man's note."
The fat man laughed and said, "Old sir, please take a seat. The tea has been brewed and I'm waiting for you!"
With that said, he stepped forward, took the old gentleman's arm respectfully, and moved him to the main seat.
The old gentleman was not polite. Just after he sat down, he looked at the fat man impatiently and asked, "Little fat man, you won't lie to me, will you? What you are talking about is here. Take it out and let me take a look."
Several of us also looked at the fat man curiously, wondering what kind of medicine he was selling in his gourd?
At this time, Hu Qiu brought the tea. After the old gentleman thanked him, he still stared at the fat man.
The fat man smiled mysteriously, turned around and walked into the inner room, and then I heard the sound of the zipper being opened.
It didn't take long for the fat man to come out of it, but there was something wrapped in black cloth in his hand.
Mr. Zhao suddenly became interested and stared curiously at the object in the fat man's hand.
The fat man carefully placed the things on the table in front of Mr. Zhao, and then opened the black cloth on it bit by bit.
Seeing how cautious he was, I couldn't help but be intrigued and wondered what was in it?
As the black cloth was peeled off layer by layer, the thing inside was finally exposed. When I saw this thing, I was immediately shocked, because I had just seen this thing.
"Bronze!"
Mr. Zhao exclaimed and sat up straight, his eyes fixed on the bronze in front of him.
Yes, this is exactly the bronze wine bottle I saw in Changshou Village before. I didn't expect the fat man to bring this thing out.
When did this guy make a move?
Mr. Zhao glanced at the bronze wine bottle for a few times, and the expression on his face suddenly became more and more solemn.
He slowly stood up from the chair, bent down and began to carefully look at the bronze wine bottle in front of him.
However, he did not touch the bronze wine bottle.
After a while, he suddenly turned to look at the fat man, "Little fat man, can I get started?"
The fat man chuckled and said, "Old sir, you can watch whatever you want."
Mr. Zhao nodded, reached out and took out a pair of white gloves from his pocket, put them on his hands with a serious expression, and then carefully stretched out his hands and took the bronze wine bottle into his hands.
This time I looked much more carefully than I had just done. I looked up and down, inside and out, and then put the bronze wine bottle back on the table. Just when I thought he was done, the old gentleman reached out again.
He took it into his arms and took out a magnifying glass.
He bent down and began to observe more carefully.
I admire the old gentleman's rigorous attitude. I am very particular about studying antiques. I usually just don't touch them. Even if I want to touch them, I will put on gloves to prevent them from being damaged by human-body contact.
The structure of the antique itself.
Especially when giving others eyes, this rule becomes even more serious.
This time the old gentleman observed for several minutes, then he slowly straightened up his waist and punched his waist twice with his fists. It was obvious that his body couldn't bear it anymore.
Just when I thought the old gentleman had finished the appraisal, he actually took out a leather tape measure from his body and began to measure the bronze wine bottle with a focused expression.
However, this process was much faster. In less than a minute, the bronze wine bottle was measured completely, and the identification was completed.
"How about it, old sir? Is this thing fake?" the fat man asked proudly.
"Good stuff, good stuff!" the senior student praised.
"Look, stop boasting. What do you mean?" the fat man asked.
"Looking at the height, foot shape, and pattern of this wine bottle, it should be a bronze vessel from around 1600 BC. If divided by dynasty, it should be from the Shang and Zhou dynasties. To be more precise, it should be from the Shang Dynasty." Mr. Zhao
The gentleman said excitedly.
Several of us looked at each other, and we all saw the admiration in each other's eyes, because we had seen this thing before and knew its dynasty and origin.
"Hey, old sir, professionals are different. You can see it at a glance. Even the era and dynasty can be clearly stated. Otherwise, how can I say that you are a master!" The fat man complimented.
Mr. Zhao immediately filtered out the fat man's flattery. He still stared at the bronze wine bottle, praising it while looking at it.
"Bronze vessels from 3,000 years ago are considered extremely precious nowadays. I have only seen them a few times, but this is the first time I have seen them in such good condition," the old man said in admiration.
"Then is this thing worth anything?" Fatty asked the question he was most concerned about.
"Bronze is an important weapon of the country, how can it be measured by money." The old gentleman shook his head.
"Then there has to be a price, right?" The fat man obviously wanted to break the casserole and ask the question.
The old gentleman looked at the fat man's expression, shook his head with a wry smile, and then said:
"I remember that such a bronze wine bottle appeared at the Sotheby's auction in New York a long time ago, and it was sold for a high price of 8.1 million US dollars."
"How many?"
The fat man's voice rose an octave in an instant.
A few of us couldn't help but be stunned.
A bronze wine bottle can be worth more than 8 million U.S. dollars, which is about 50 million yuan if converted into RMB.
It made the throats of several of us feel hot.
But then, the old man threw another heavy explosive bomb: "This was many years ago. It is probably more expensive now, and the quality of the bronze wine bottle at that time was far inferior to this one, so I am very curious about this."
How was this bronze vessel preserved?"
The old gentleman paused slightly, "There are not many bronzes that are more than 3,000 years old in existence, and almost none of them are in such good condition. Therefore, this thing can be regarded as an important item among important items!"
The fat man stared intently at the bronze wine bottle in front of him, his eyes glowing green, as if what was in front of him was not a piece of bronze, but piles of RMB.
My mind was spinning, and I finally understood the fat man's intentions. It seemed that he wanted to use this thing to make an exchange and get the purpose of the Chen family's coming here from Mr. Zhao.
Thinking of this, I couldn't help but admire in my heart, Fatty's brain is really good!
Judging from Mr. Zhao's reaction, it seems that we should be able to know the answer soon.