Chapter 136
The old piece of cloth was unfolded to reveal a seal, about the size of a palm. The stone was made of white agalmatolite. To be honest, this stone seemed quite ordinary and didn’t look like the kind of treasure an emperor would use. However, Su Xiaoxiao didn’t make a hasty judgment and continued to examine it closely.
The elderly farmer pushed the item closer to them so they could get a better look. Su Xiaoxiao examined the first carved lines with precision. When she first saw the stone, she thought it might be fake. But after observing the fine craftsmanship, she was now more convinced that it had a forty percent chance of being genuine. The smooth, exquisite lines of the carved stone lions on the seal showed the work of a skilled artisan, likely someone employed in the imperial court.
“Could you please lift the seal and let us see the inscriptions underneath?” Su Xiaoxiao asked.
The farmer followed her request, and the words “the treasure of Qianlong’s imperial view” immediately caught her eye.
“Turn the seal around, so we can all have a look,” Su Xiaoxiao continued.
This time, the farmer became impatient. “Do you know anything about it? Why are you so persistent?”
“Then give it to us, and we’ll examine it ourselves,” Jiang Yexun said directly.
The farmer quickly concealed the item and stepped back, wearing a guarded expression. “Don’t even think about it! What if you just snatch it away from me? I can’t catch up to you!”
Other vendors nearby saw the unreasonable behavior of the farmer and began to mock him. “People who sell antiques usually let customers touch the items, even if they are only worth a few bucks or a few tens of bucks. You’re selling it so expensively, and you don’t even want to let them check. If you’re not serious about selling, you won’t find any buyers coming here every week and wasting money.”
“That’s right!” another merchant chimed in. “Don’t get fooled by him. Several people who love buying antiques have seen this item, and they all agree it’s fake. They say the seal should be oval.”
It wasn’t necessarily the case. There were actually three seals with the inscriptions “the treasure of Qianlong’s imperial view,” with two being oval and one square. However, the square seal was reserved for special, highly valuable artworks. Even the famous painting, Stepping Coach, by Yan Liben, bore this square seal. But at that time, China had few antique experts, and these valuable paintings were either overseas or yet to be discovered, so nobody knew about the square seal.
Su Xiaoxiao, however, remembered the dimensions distinctly – approximately 11 centimeters in height and 8 square centimeters in surface area, just as she had remembered. Yet, she needed further confirmation.
“You don’t have to hand it over to us, but could you show this square seal to us?” Su Xiaoxiao asked.
The farmer, who had just been scolded, was no longer impatient. He quickly followed her request and showed them the square seal from various angles. It wasn’t until the lion’s face was reflected in Su Xiaoxiao’s eyes, and the several cracks extending from the bottom of the seal caught her attention that the light in her eyes flickered.
What she remembered most clearly was the one-centimeter-long crack extending from the bottom of the square seal. Red ink had seeped into the crevice, and the color couldn’t be washed out, no matter how hard they tried. Su Xiaoxiao remembered this clearly because she had been shocked by the price of 153 million when she went to the auction house with Jiang Yexun in her previous life.
If you calculated the value of this seal based on a forty-fold increase in prices for antique items over several decades, it would be 3.82 million.
“I can’t be sure whether this item is genuine, but I really like the stone lion carved on it. But the price of 500 yuan is a bit high for me,” Su Xiaoxiao frowned delicately, feeling conflicted.
As soon as the old farmer heard this, he got anxious. “How can you do this? I’ve already said I want 500 yuan. It’s because you insisted on inspecting it. But now, you’re saying it’s too expensive. Isn’t that bullying?”
“If we go by the consensus of everyone here and my uncertainty, this item can only be classified as fake. If we buy a fake for 500 yuan, wouldn’t we be foolish? If you keep trying to sell it this way, you’ll definitely not find a buyer. It’s better to lower the price and sell it to us.”
Su Xiaoxiao spoke in a casual manner, as if she could take it or leave it.
“Then… how much are you willing to offer?” the farmer asked with a hint of bitterness.
“Twenty yuan,” Su Xiaoxiao stated her price directly.
As soon as the old farmer heard this, he was unwilling to proceed. “No way! You’re clearly taking advantage of me! Twenty yuan isn’t even equal to the monthly wages of you city folks.”
“Well, then, name your price, as long as it’s reasonable,. Don’t try to sell it as a genuine item, as no one recognizes it,” Su Xiaoxiao emphasized.
The farmer glared at Su Xiaoxiao and Jiang Yexun impatiently. Then, with a sense of exaggerated deliberation, he lowered his head.
As soon as he did, a hint of ecstatic greed filled his eyes. Getting 20 yuan for something he believed was fake was already a good deal in his eyes.
But he needed more than 20 yuan. A young man with money like this should cough up a bit more for a hardworking farmer.
After quick mental calculations, the farmer gritted his teeth and said, “300! I won’t accept a penny less!”
Su Xiaoxiao furrowed her delicate eyebrows and sighed as though it was a struggle for her. After scrutinizing the farmer for a while, she reluctantly agreed, “Alright, 300 yuan it is.”
“You people are wasting money like this! Others usually touch and examine the items before buying, even if it’s only worth a few dozen yuan. You guys are fools,” the nearby vendors complained.
“I just really like the stone lions carved on the seal,” Su Xiaoxiao said helplessly.
Jiang Yexun directly pulled out 300 yuan from his bag and handed it to the farmer.
The farmer eagerly took the money and handed the square seal to Jiang Yexun, then immediately turned and walked away. He even quickly snatched the tattered cloth away from the seal. Su Xiaoxiao watched him with a somewhat bemused expression.
It seemed that despite all the criticism, the farmer had secretly accepted that the seal was fake. He had stayed here only because he wanted to get money, to find a gullible person who would buy his fake item as if it were real.
“Let’s go and clean this seal,” Su Xiaoxiao said, looking at the seal in Jiang Yexun’s hand with some distaste. While the item was genuine, the dirty cloth was unbearable. She couldn’t bear to touch it. So it was better to wash it clean rather than carry it around and risk soiling other things.