Between mountains and seas

Chapter 14 Nine Curved Beads

After sending Huo Qing away, Shao Jingxing was restless as if scratching his heart with claws.

On the one hand, there are advanced medicines imported from abroad, but hundreds of thousands of medical expenses have not been settled;Shao Jingxing dreamed at night that the Millennium Turtle was chasing after him with Director Zhou's face in his face, asking him for medical bills.

At this time, fox friends and dog friends are obviously not very popular.

"...A pair of white jade lions from the Ming Dynasty are decent. The knife is rough, but the lions are full of charm. They all say 'thick and big Ming'. The things of the Ming Dynasty are not as detailed as those of the Qing Dynasty, but they are so powerful. The lion town house, the scenery Aren't you interested in making a couple?" A large part of the reason why Hu Yuan was able to hang out with Shao Jingxing was because of his personality like a dog's skin plaster, no matter what kind of cold ass others have, he can put his hot face on it.Moreover, he was good-looking, Shao Jingxing always treated him a little more tolerantly, so even if he hit a snag sometimes, he didn't care.

Shao Jingxing raised his eyelids lazily, and glanced at Hu Yuan.Hu Yuan worked in the antique shop, and often dragged him to the antique street, saying it was to let him know, but in fact it was to solicit business for those people.However, he didn't use fake products to fool him. He just falsely reported some prices to make some money out of them, which wasn't too much.

For Bicheng Group to be so big, it needs to manage relationships everywhere, and there are quite a few places where gifts need some antiques and the like.The main reason is that this thing is easy to operate, not as eye-catching as giving money, so if it is real, Shao Jingxing will buy it if he thinks it is suitable.As for spending a little more money, that's not a big deal.

But that was all in the past.Now Bicheng doesn't belong to him, let alone the money, of course Shao Jingxing doesn't want to go: "I don't need to town this house anymore."

People from Hu Yuan Ghost Spirit knew that Shao Jingxing was not interested in this "Ming Dynasty White Jade Lion".

Speaking of which, Shao Jingxing was easy to serve, but not easy to serve.Although it is always fun to spend money, things must always be what he wants, otherwise he will not care about the priceless things.On the contrary, there were some things that caught his eye, although they were not expensive, he was willing to pay a high price.

Hu Yuan thought about the things in his hands recently, and he got a count: "Speaking of what Lao Wang got recently, it's not because it's expensive, but because he found several people, but he couldn't recognize what it was. The person who brought the item said that it might be a relic, but after looking for a long time, he couldn’t confirm it, and some people said it was a Jiuqu bead. Just because of this, we almost got into a fight.”

"Nine-curved bead?" Shao Jingxing has been playing for so many years, and he is also a firm foothold in the antique shop. His eyesight is not good enough, and he has heard all kinds of anecdotes, but when he heard this "Nine-curved bead", he couldn't think of it for a while. What kind of allusion came out: "Where is such a thing?"

In fact, pearls don't often appear in antique shops.This thing has a shelf life. It is said that people are old and yellow, and they will lose their luster after a long time. , cannot be preserved to the present day.

If there is nothing to brag about, naturally there will be no way to post "added value", and no one will do this business.The so-called "night pearls" are probably the only ones that can be exaggerated, but in fact most of them are fluorites, which are not very valuable.

So when Hu Yuan mentioned this "nine-curved pearl", Shao Jingxing was surprised—what's there to brag about, a special-shaped pearl that grows in a twist and turn?I have never heard of such a thing in history.

"Yes!" Seeing Shao Jingxing's interest, Hu Yuan immediately got excited, "Nine-curved pearls are a good thing Confucius has seen. It is said that when Confucius was in Chen Jueliang, Chen Hou took out a nine-curved pearl. Said it was impossible to thread the thread, and asked Confucius to think of a way. Confucius didn’t do it, but he met a mulberry picker and told him to tie a thread around the ant’s waist and let the ant crawl through the nine-curved bead hole. So Marquis Chen sent Confucius grain and rice, and asked him to leave—"

"Talk, talk again..." Shao Jingxing couldn't listen anymore.This thing is obviously some unofficial history legend, and when did Confucius come from? Can you still read the beads from the Spring and Autumn Period now?Besides, even if the bead is real, it's nothing special, isn't it just that the eyes in the bead have turned a few more turns?What's so difficult about it, it's really not too easy to coax people.

Hu Yuan laughed: "Why don't you just say it. When I mentioned the Jiuqu Bead at the time, I almost didn't laugh to death. But the man insisted that he had seen a similar bead before, and said that the bead hole was born."

Shao Jingxing felt that this was an insult to IQ: "It's so nonsense. I still know how pearls are formed, and how could there be a natural nine-curved hole." Could it be that when the pearl oyster secretes pearls, it still remembers to leave an eye out?Why don't you say that there is a character "Shou" drilled in this bead.

Hu Yuan slapped his thigh: "Isn't that what he said. But the red-headed and red-faced argument of that person - he is old, and everyone is afraid that he will have a heart attack, so he was coaxed away by talking about it. It is also in this industry Someone with a reputation, this time, everyone doesn't know what to say."

Shao Jingxing was a little strange: "So persistent?" According to Hu Yuan, the person who talked about Jiuquzhu is quite famous in this industry.People like this are generally more cautious in speaking, for fear that they will accidentally hit their own signboard.There is such a thing as Jiuquzhu, who is so anxious and pale?

"It's quite strange to say." Seeing that he was tempted, Hu Yuan immediately added fuel and vinegar, "If you want to drill holes in this bead, it's okay to make nine curved holes with our current craftsmanship. In the Spring and Autumn Period, it was not easy to make a straight hole in a pearl, let alone a nine-curved one. I am also thinking about it, maybe there is such a thing?"

"Isn't someone saying it's a relic? Pearls and relics can always be distinguished, right?" Don't look at relics, which are amazing, and say that the bodies of great virtuous and eminent monks were burned, leaving behind radiant treasures, etc. In fact, most of the relics Either it looks like a bone or a pebble, definitely not as good-looking as jewelry.

Hu Yuan scratched his head: "I saw that thing too. To be honest, I also think it looks more like pearls. But if you say it is a relic - I dare not say that there is no such thing in this relic. The main reason is that it was sent for appraisal at that time. Someone told me that it was originally made from a Buddhist temple in India..."

Shao Jingxing understood as soon as he heard it.This is a relic bought secretly from a Buddhist temple with money. It can be regarded as a smuggled cultural relic: "Since it was obtained from a Buddhist temple, why come to appraise it now?" It is true?

"Hey, who knows..." Hu Yuan really didn't know much about it, "Anyway, I'm just watching the excitement. Why don't you go and see, Young Master Jing? Seriously, I've seen a lot of relics, like I've never seen anything like this before... maybe in a few days, when people take the things back, they won't be able to see them anymore."

He didn't intend to sell this relic, but mainly to lure this master over there first. There are some new stuffs over there, maybe one of them will attract Shao Jingxing's eye, and he will pay for it?He hasn't opened his doors recently, so he still has to work hard on this "Master Jing".

How could Shao Jingxing care about whether the relics are Jiuquzhu now, but Hu Yuan's entanglement skills are really powerful, and he looks like a dog, Shao Jingxing didn't quite reject it from his face, In the end, he was dragged to the antique street.Anyway, he didn't buy it, he just went out for a walk to relax.

The shops in the antique street are next to each other, and there are all kinds of gold, silver, pearls, jade, antiques and antiques, because they all have the word "elegant", which is different from ordinary commercial streets. It means to be quiet.

It was because of the silence that the noisy voice was particularly loud. It was the house Hu Yuan was going to. The neighbors on the left and right were out of business at the moment, and they were all sticking their heads out to watch the commotion.Hu Yuan pulled one casually: "What happened? Why are you making such a fuss?"

"Someone came to ask Lao Zheng for something..." In fact, the neighbors didn't understand very well, "A woman came and said that her husband gave Lao Zheng a treasure before. Now that her husband is dead, the family's money and The house and everything seemed to be owned by her parents-in-law, so she came to Lao Zheng to take this treasure back."

Hu Yuan often comes here, and the neighbors on both sides know him, so he said in detail: "It's the thing that Lao Zheng said someone asked him to identify."

"That relic?" Hu Yuan couldn't help frowning.This was too unfortunate, why did this happen when he brought Shao Jingxing here?

"That's it." The neighbor clicked his lips, "The problem is, that woman doesn't recognize her! She said her husband didn't give it to her."

"Huh—" Even Shao Jingxing knew that this matter was troublesome, "Why didn't you admit it? What did she say she gave?"

"The bead I gave you was not of this color." The neighbor was a little bit excited about the excitement, "She said that she had seen it when her husband brought it home. The color was very good. The color that Lao Zheng took out was hair Dark, it must be a fake, trying to lie to her."

Hu Yuan frowned into a knot: "Old Zheng can't do it...does that woman have evidence?" He has dealt with this person for many years, and there are some bragging and exaggeration in order to make more money, but he has never been too big. There are also legitimate channels to collect some things, but he probably won't do it if he cheats on other people's things.

"How can there be?" The neighbor waved his hand, "The ones who talk in plain language say it's not this, and that that must be very valuable, but she can't tell what it is, and she has been making trouble all morning."

"Look and see." Shao Jingxing's enthusiasm for gossip that had been sluggish for several days finally rekindled.Hu Yuan is timid, and those who dare to deal with them for a long time and solicit business must be the same kind of people. Do such people dare to ignorant of other people's things?Or is this woman trying to blackmail her?Hey, there is no evidence, this is exciting.

Hu Yuan wanted to shrink back a bit, but was held back by Shao Jingxing: "Go, go, haven't you seen that thing before? Go and testify..."

"Young Master Jing, it's inexplicable..." Hu Yuan smiled wryly, he didn't want to go in, but he couldn't really tear Shao Jingxing hard, so he was dragged into the shop in the end.

The shops here are all of the same specification: a two-bedroom apartment with a big outside and a small inside, with a counter and some fancy goods on the outside, and the inside is dedicated to entertaining "visited guests", and all valuable things are traded inside.

When Shao Jingxing came here, he always sat and drank tea in the back room.But at this moment, Lao Zheng was arguing with a woman outside, and he didn't bother to greet him for a while: "I told you, this thing is this thing, Xiao Zheng, give it to me, and ask me to find someone to appraise it. It's only been half a month since I got it, and I haven't figured out what it is, where can I make a fake one for you!"

"Don't try to lie to me!" The woman didn't accept this explanation at all, "My husband said when he got it back that it was brought back from abroad. It's a relic, so it must be valuable! Besides, when he got it back I've seen it all, and it's not this color at all, it's still shining brightly in the sun."

Her eye circles turned red as she spoke: "Xiao Zheng calls you brother, he's just dead now, and you're ignorant of his stuff, do you still have a conscience!"

This woman looked haggard and had red eyes, and it was indeed easy to sympathize with her.While crying, she grabbed the small box on the counter and threw it on the ground: "You have no conscience, Xiao Zheng will never let you go if he dies!"

The small box fell to the ground with a slap, and an amber bead the size of a longan core rolled out, Gu Lulu just rolled to Shao Jingxing's feet.When Hu Yuan saw it at a glance, he couldn't help but gasped, and said in a low voice, "It seems that the color is darker than before..."

Shao Jingxing bent down and picked up the thing.The whole body of this thing is round and smooth, and it really looks like a pearl at first glance.But when it is exposed to the sunlight outside the door, a small crooked hole can be reflected through the bead——from the perspective of this transparency, it is more like amber, but it is much harder than both amber and pearls.

"Although it's a little darker, I still see the original thing..." Hu Yuan still had some good eyesight after all, so he took a closer look at Shao Jingxing's hand, "The patterns on the top also have different depths and shallow ones, and it's going to be faked." It’s too difficult to be exactly the same.”

Shopkeeper Zheng was in a state of desperation, and was almost moved to tears when he heard Hu Yuan's words: "Isn't it? You've all seen it, where can I fake it?" He and this "Little Zheng" are actually middle school classmates, aren't they? At the same level, they just met by playing basketball, and they are called brothers because of the same surname.Although later he inherited the family's antique shop and Xiao Zheng became a driver for a certain leader in the city, this relationship has always been smooth.

Unexpectedly, Xiao Zheng followed the leader all the way up the ranks, and Xiao Zheng also rose with the tide. Gradually, his nostrils were a little upturned. In the past two years, he only walked around during the New Year's Eve, and the intimacy of the past has long since disappeared.

Who knew that a month ago, Xiao Zheng took this thing and ran over mysteriously, saying that it was a relic bought from abroad, and asked him to appraise it.

Shopkeeper Zheng’s family has been in the antique trade for several lifetimes. Although he doesn’t have master-level eyesight, he still has a bit of appreciation. He feels that this thing doesn’t look like relics. It’s neither gold, stone, wood, or bone. , it was left behind.

If he had known what happened later, he would never have been so curious!

When he was looking for people to appraise with this thing, he heard that the leader that Xiao Zheng followed passed away, and Xiao Zheng resigned and came back after the death of that person.

People in the antique business are extremely sensitive in certain aspects.After hearing the news, Shopkeeper Zheng felt that he might have picked up a hot potato.He was about to return the thing quickly, but he heard that Xiao Zheng had a car accident—he was hit by a truck near his home, and he was rescued in the hospital for two days, but it was still gone.

It sounds like this is just Xiao Zheng's bad luck.Once the emperor and the courtiers, the leader is gone, and the team following the leader has to move a little bit, which is also normal.Even that truck was driven by a driver who was tired, and Xiao Zheng had to be blamed for crossing the road when he went out to buy breakfast in the morning instead of walking across the zebra crossing.

But Shopkeeper Zheng felt that something was wrong anyway.He originally planned to send the things back quickly - one more thing is worse than one less thing, but Xiao Zheng's house is in a mess, his parents came to his house and had a huge quarrel with his wife, no one can get in the way.

So this matter dragged on for a few days, and it turned out that the delay was good. People came to ask for things, and they suspected that he was stealing something that was ignorant!Conscience of heaven and earth, the value of this thing is not sure, and it might be a fake, so is he going to be ignorant?

"The color is obviously wrong!" the woman screamed.Xiao Zheng's house was pre-marital property, and he had given a lot of salary to his parents in the past few years. Now that he was gone, she realized that she had nothing in her hands.The old couple of the Zheng family thought she hadn't given birth to a child, so they wished they wouldn't give her any money.But her father was ill and needed money...

The matter of Xiao Zheng’s resignation was a bit strange—he used illness as an excuse at the time, but he was not sick at all—he was restless in the first two days when he came back, and she woke up one night and found that he hadn’t slept, Instead, he was looking at it with an amber bead.

At that time, the bead was glowing softly under the light. Although she didn't understand it, she thought the light looked very beautiful.And Xiao Zheng said that this is the relic of an eminent monk who was invited back from abroad, and he also said that he would take it for identification.If it wasn't something valuable, why would Xiao Zheng be so secretive?

In fact, she also asked Xiao Zheng at that time, how did this thing come from, but Xiao Zheng didn't answer, just told her not to ask more.In this case, there might be something wrong with the origin of this thing, and she didn't want to make a fuss at first.But who knew that Xiao Zheng would suddenly have a car accident, and those two old things had no conscience at all...

She had no choice but to come and ask for this thing.If it is a valuable treasure, it can be sold to raise medical expenses.But when she came, what Lao Zheng gave her was actually a dull fake!

Shopkeeper Zheng is also in a state of desperation.The color was indeed not like this when Xiao Zheng brought it, but gradually became dull after the weather suddenly became hot these days.This kind of situation is not uncommon in the antique industry, and the most common one is that this thing is a fake, and the layer of luster is fake patina, so it will change as the environment changes.

It's just a fake, it's a pity that he didn't see it at the time, but was confused by the strange texture, and took it as a real treasure, but now he can't explain it clearly!