Wu Laowei sighed: "I don't care about obscurity, but you just said - even if the auction does not succeed, the other party will cover it up, otherwise there will be no way to set up another game. What's going on?"
You Fang pondered and replied: "There is more than one threshold to set up traps to exploit loopholes. As the saying goes, the threshold for a master is twelve and a half, one move after another. You messed up this auction, but you only demolished one of the thresholds.
It’s just that if you make a move, he will take the move, if you tear down the situation, he will calmly take back the next move. This is a normal situation.”
The more Mr. Wu listened, the more he became fascinated: "Oh, how will Sotheby's or the seller behind this plan respond?"
You Fang frowned: "I can't say for sure, but if it were me, the first thing I would do is grit my teeth and hold on to this auction. As I said just now, although outsiders can't see the flaws, insiders will definitely
Everyone was suspicious, so the next step was to do another round to reverse the negative impact this auction had on the circle.
It is now the second half of 2009. If the auction next month keeps you confused, I estimate that the other party will arrange another one, no later than the first half of 2010. It will be launched again at that time
If a jade seal comes, and it is a high-quality product in good condition, experts in the circle will not be able to fault it. This is the best way to reverse the adverse effects. As for the location, I think the location will most likely be in China.
of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.”
Mr. Wu said with emotion: "When there is a move, there will be a counterattack. It can't be solved by just stirring up trouble. Are those people also proficient in the tricks you mentioned?"
You Fang smiled: "They may not understand the jargon I'm talking about, but the principle of doing things is the same, no matter what the term is... In fact, there is no need to sigh too much. You can only exploit loopholes when there are loopholes. If it's all you
For a man who understands like this, this kind of situation will be self-defeating."
Mr. Wu nodded and said: "That makes sense. We can't control everything in the world, but we must start from ourselves, start from the present, and do what we can. Thank you very much for today, I know what to do."
…
"Did the Professor Wu Pingtong you mentioned really start demolishing the shed?" Hearing this, Liu Li couldn't help but speak again, interrupting You Fang's memories and narration.
You Fang sighed inexplicably: "Mr. Wu didn't tell me the specific things later, but based on my understanding of him, he must have taken action."
Liu Li tapped his chopsticks and praised: "Okay, the book does not hide his chivalry! After hearing what you said, I also want to get to know this person."
You Fang lowered his head and looked at the leftovers in the cup and plate on the table, and said in a low tone: "It's a pity that we don't have this opportunity. Mr. Wu Pingtong is no longer alive. He died in the hands of Kuanghu and his gang. Now you understand
Why would I kill people and set fires?"
Liu Li was stunned with his mouth open, with a look of surprise and regret on his face. After a long time, he said: "No wonder you, a veteran of the world, would be so passionate and impulsive that you would take such a big risk and set up a trap to kill Kuanghu and his gang.
.A true man does what he does and what he does not do. It is reasonable for you to do what you do, but how could a university gentleman like Wu Pingtong get involved with a mad fox?"
You Fang looked at the door and reminded, "Are you still going to listen? Lunch time has already passed."
Liu Li waved his hand: "It doesn't matter. Before I came here, I not only ordered lunch, but also dinner. They are all in this private room. We have enough time... Alas, it's a pity that we didn't get to meet Wu Pingtong!"
I won’t say any more, you can continue.”
The old man was really scheming. He had already thought that You Fang's "explanation" would not be too short, and even ordered dinner. Liu Li's expression did not show any pride. He was obviously attracted by You Fang's story. Look at this fight.
If he didn't finish speaking, the old man wouldn't let him go.
…
The situation at the London Sotheby's "Treasure of the Eight Symbols" jade seal was as expected. News came half a month later that the jade seal was sold to an undisclosed person for about 40 million yuan.
The mysterious buyer took the auction, and it seemed that there was nothing unusual about this auction, but many people in the industry had doubts about it.
Is the inside story really as Yu Fang guessed? Even he himself doesn't know. He can only say that it may be, or it may not be. But there is another thing that You Fang deduced very accurately. After the New Year came to mid-April 2010, in
As expected, another international auction was held in Hong Kong, and another jade seal was launched. And the gimmick was a little new. In the past, most of the seals that appeared in the auction were square seals, but this time a white jade round seal from the Qianlong reign of the Qing Dynasty was grandly launched.
The appearance is very exquisite. These are things for later, let’s not mention them for now.
(Note: This chapter was published in mid-March 2010, while the time mentioned above was mid-April 2010, which has not yet happened in reality. Therefore, the novel is a novel, and the relevant characters and words and deeds are purely fictitious. Hereby,
statement.)
After this incident, the relationship between You Fang and Mr. Wu became much closer. When the news of the London auction came back, Mr. Wu specially invited You Fang to have a meal at his home and opened a symbolic ceremony.
The New Year's flower sculpture celebration, as for why, both the old and the young knew it tacitly. From then on, the two of them communicated more in private. Even at a young age, You Fang knew all the ways of the eight gates of the world, but in terms of knowledge and insight
, the little money he had in his belly was not even a fraction of Mr. Wu’s, so naturally he was willing to ask for advice humbly, and was always available when called.
Mr. Wu is very interested in the various sects of the Eight Gates of Jianghu, especially the various Feng Shui techniques that have been passed down since ancient times. Although he is very knowledgeable, he does not know much about some things that are passed down from generation to generation among masters and apprentices among the people.
According to the old rules, all kinds of unique things are not disclosed to outsiders, but You Fang did not hide his secrets, and he just said whatever Mr. Wu asked.
On the one hand, it was because he respected Mr. Wu. Since the other party asked for advice, he would not hide it; on the other hand, he did not take it seriously. Anyway, it was just a trick to deceive people in the world. In a university like Mr. Wu, he would not hide it.
What is there to be mysterious in front of me? But Mr. Wu's attitude is very serious, at least more serious than You Fang himself. He never jumps to any conclusion easily, always tries to deconstruct it with his own knowledge, and often discusses it with You Fang.
During this period of time, in addition to gaining great achievements in the architectural structure of Yin Yang House, You Fang did not learn much about Feng Shui, but his understanding of what he had learned in the past was much more thorough.
Mr. Wu also understood that You Fang's unselfish attitude was rare for Jianghu people, so he was also very grateful. He always called You Fang to his home for dinner when he had nothing to do, and he also took care of him a lot. Later, Wu
Lao found that You Fang had an old compass in his hand that was used by Lei Faxuan. He couldn't put it down, so he asked You Fang to take the compass to his house and play with it in the name of discussing Feng Shui.
As they went there more often, You Fang was embarrassed to always eat for free, so he would often go to Wu's hometown with his compass, buy food, and wine to check in. But the relationship between the two took a further step, and it was because of a fake
Yuan blue and white plum vase.
It was the end of the year in a blink of an eye, and the school students were celebrating the New Year. There were many activities in each class, most of which were gatherings for entertainment, group eating and drinking, etc. You Fang bought a 70% new second-hand computer from Chen Jun and rented a house.
I also received broadband here, so I took classes, practiced boxing, meditated, checked information on the Internet, and went to the library to read. My life was very fulfilling.
That day, You Fang was reading a fairy tale novel written by an online author named "Xu Gongzi" on the Internet. His cell phone suddenly rang. Mr. Wu asked him to come over to have something to do and have dinner together. You Fang went out and was in Zengguang.
On the way, I bought a northwest-style roast leg of lamb and took it to Wu’s hometown.
Anyway, we are familiar with the way, and there is nothing to be polite about when entering. However, as soon as he put down Dongxi Youfang, his face felt a little feverish, because there was a beautiful blue and white plum vase on the coffee table, and there were a few broken porcelain pieces next to it. The plum vase
No matter in terms of decoration, glaze, or shape, they are all the characteristics of Yuan blue and white, and there is almost no fault in them. Complete Yuan blue and white utensils handed down from generation to generation are too rare. If this thing is genuine, the international auction house has specially set up a trap.
The speculated price can be hundreds of millions. If it is really traded within the collection industry, tens of millions is not uncommon.
You Fang's face burned because he recognized the origin of this thing. It was not a genuine product, but a very clever imitation, made by his father You Zuming. The bottle had his father's exclusive mark on it, and he could recognize it at a glance.
Come out. You Zuming's habit is said to be imitated by a certain jade master in ancient times. He often left obvious marks on the utensils he made, but people who didn't know the details couldn't see it.
Wu Pingtong saw You Fang's expression was different, and greeted with a smile: "How about it, even if you are well-informed and have first-class eyesight, you haven't seen many Yuan blue and white vessels, have you? Come and see this bottle and these
Porcelain shards, help me identify them."
You Fang sat down uneasily, trying not to look at the plum vase. He picked up the broken porcelain pieces and looked at them for a long time and said: "The porcelain pieces should be real. The characteristics of the broken stubble are more obvious. The quality of the fetus at that time was better than that of the Ming and Qing Dynasties."
The porcelain of that era is worse. Although Yuan blue and white are expensive to buy, the firing process is not the best... As for this bottle, can you tell me where it comes from?"
Mr. Wu: "Why do you have such an expression? These things were brought by a junior. I asked her to help me collect some Yuan blue and white porcelain samples, but she also sent a bottle. Some colleagues and I looked at it and couldn't find anything wrong with it.
Come, but it doesn’t feel real, so please control your eyes. You have better eyesight than me in this aspect.”
You Fang breathed a sigh of relief: "Didn't you get it by yourself?"
Mr. Wu smiled: "I can afford these porcelain pieces, but if this bottle is real, do you think I can afford it? If it is a very clever imitation craft, it may have some collection value."
You Fang's tone flickered: "It's not true. If we discuss the price in the market, it could range from millions to tens of thousands."
This is interesting. High-defense counterfeit products also have production costs, but the price of selling them in the market is very uncertain. For example, one bottle of the same bottle may be sold for millions, while another bottle may be sold for tens of thousands of yuan.
, and they are all sold by the same person, so laypeople often don’t understand the mystery.
The plum vase on the table represents the highest level of You Zuming's imitation craftsmanship. When firing, the kiln was built entirely according to the ancient method. The porcelain clay was specially transported thousands of miles from the south, and the glaze was specially collected. After many experiments, it was successfully fired.
There are a lot of "waste products" during the firing process, and the proportion of actual utensils that are actually made is very small. Calculated in this way, the cost of firing a batch of utensils is very high.
If a total of ten pieces are burned, and the average cost of each imitation is 100,000, then are they all sold in the market for more than 100,000? Not necessarily! Because most of these things are taken away and flow into the market.
They are sold as genuine items. If one of them is sold at a high price and the cost is recouped, the other items will be added to the list. The next sale will be a net profit, which can be much cheaper. Therefore, the price of counterfeit items in the antique market is very uncertain and cannot be simply
Measured by imitation costs.
The making, painting, glazing and firing of this bottle were all done by You Zuming himself. You Fang was impressed because it was not easy to fire this thing. I remember it was bought by a Turkish Chinese a few years ago.
You Zuming asked for 200,000 yuan, which was a big deal for the family at that time. How could it appear in Mr. Wu’s house today? Although there is an old rule among antique dealers not to ask the owner about the origin of the item, but You Zuming
Fang still couldn't help but wanted to ask, but couldn't find it easy to ask.
Mr. Wu was a little confused when he heard this: "From your tone, I have concluded that it is a fake, but you didn't look at it at all just now, and your eyes didn't look right. What happened?"
You Fang looked around and asked him: "Why don't you get tested?"
Mr. Wu chuckled and looked at You Fang's expression, which seemed to have deep meaning: "I would like to do a spectral analysis, but there are too few sample data of Yuan blue and white, and the conclusion is not authoritative enough, so recently the State Administration of Cultural Heritage is also collecting Yuan blue and white porcelain pieces, I
Help me with some work, that's how these porcelain tiles on the table came to be...Xiaoyou, why do I always feel that you are hiding something from me, is there something that is inconvenient to say?"
You Fang thought for a while and replied: "I still want to ask clearly about the origin of this thing. It is indeed a fake. I wonder if your senior or other friends have been beaten?"
Mr. Wu reached out and patted him on the shoulder: "It's true that there are some. Even I can't tell whether it's true or not, but don't worry, no one was deceived, and this thing was not bought at a high price. As for the specific origin, I don't know much about it.
It’s convenient for me to tell you, but now it’s mine. If you have anything to say, just say it. Since you insist it’s a fake, you have to tell the truth, but don’t even fool me.”
You Fang shook his head, and after thinking for a long time, he decided not to hide it from Mr. Wu, and said bravely: "Give me a pencil and a piece of white paper."
After bringing the pen and paper, You Fang lay on the coffee table and traced a small pattern on the plum vase, which was the pattern of the knotted bends on the trunk of the plum tree. He did not trace the entire original drawing, but only traced a certain group in the middle of the trunk that looked like a plum blossom.
A very delicate and complicated hook was drawn on the paper, and then he wrote the word "游" next to it, and pushed the paper in front of Mr. Wu.