Kissed and Seduced By the Most Rough Man in the Village-Chapter 119: Manager Qian’s Specially Unveiled Collection
It was unclear whether he intended to capture a hostage or was planning to go all out. The burly, nearly six-foot-tall man looked like he could easily crush Su Xiaoxiao.
Several people held their breath, and Jiang Yexun, who was a meter away from Su Xiaoxiao, moved closer. But it was clear that Wales, who was even closer, would be the first to catch Su Xiaoxiao.
However, in the blink of an eye, the delicate young girl reached out and grabbed Wales’ wrist. Before he could react, she fiercely twisted his wrist and delivered a kick to his knee. He screamed and fell to the ground.
Despite his pain, he attempted to grab Su Xiaoxiao with his other hand but received a powerful slap to the back of his head, sending him crashing to the ground. Three loud cracks echoed, making everyone cringe, fearing that she might have injured him seriously.
Jiang Yexun stepped forward and coldly twisted Wales’ arm, lifting him to his feet.
"Thank you! Thank you so much," Manager Qian and the shop assistant hurried over, bowing in gratitude.
Jiang Yexun handed Wales and the other man over to them, and the shop assistant immediately tied them together with a piece of hemp rope. During the process, Wales protested loudly but to no avail, and he was eventually pushed out of the shop by the shop assistant.
Once the shop quieted down, Manager Qian walked over to Su Xiaoxiao and said, "Thanks to you, we were able to prevent these greedy foreigners from taking our national treasures."
Su Xiaoxiao replied with a smile, "It’s nothing; every Chinese citizen should want to protect our national treasures."
Manager Qian hadn’t expected this response and was momentarily stunned. Then, he burst into laughter. "You’re right! As a Chinese citizen, we should protect our national treasures and not become minions for people like that man who just collaborated with Wales for the sake of money."
After calming down, he asked, "So, are you here today to sell something or buy something?"
"We’re here to buy, but we’re not sure what yet. We want something for our room to bring good luck after our wedding," Su Xiaoxiao replied with a hint of shyness, her happiness evident in her voice.
"Congratulations!" Manager Qian congratulated them with a smile. After thinking for a moment, he suddenly walked to the counter and retrieved a porcelain bowl with red and blue inlays from a locked cabinet. Regular antiques were displayed outside, and precious treasures were locked away. Only when they were sold to someone trusted would they be brought out.
"This is an official kiln bowl from the Ming Dynasty, known as the ’Lotus Bowl’ because its shape resembles a lotus seedpod. The colors are bright and auspicious. This would be perfect for your wedding."
He placed the bowl on the table and gestured to Su Xiaoxiao and Jiang Yexun to examine it closely.
Su Xiaoxiao and Jiang Yexun both bent down to take a closer look, their breaths momentarily intermingling. Su Xiaoxiao’s back tingled, and she swallowed hard but didn’t move away. With other people watching, she would rather endure some discomfort than have Jiang Yexun think that she was intentionally avoiding him in front of others. Blinking her eyes, she forcefully suppressed the urge to get closer.
Su Xiaoxiao carefully examined the bowl. It had a straight mouth, a deep curve, and a pointed bottom. The bottom was slightly convex, resembling a chicken heart shape, a common shape for bowls from the Xuande era of the Ming Dynasty.
Between two blue-and-white string patterns on the rim, there were cloud patterns painted on the inner rim and dragons painted on the belly. The dragons were depicted in blue-and-white, while the sea was painted in red. Su Xiaoxiao recalled that the Xuande era chicken heart bowls were often adorned with lotus flowers. This bowl, with its dragon pattern on the sea, was likely more valuable than others.
In thirty to forty years, it would easily fetch over two million yuan, which was a good investment. While it was a fine piece, it wasn’t on the level of a national treasure or museum piece. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢
"How much is this bowl?" Su Xiaoxiao inquired.
"It was originally priced at five hundred, but I can give it to you for three hundred because you helped us save that valuable painting," Manager Qian said generously.
"Really? Thank you so much!" Su Xiaoxiao was genuinely excited.
"Of course."
"Thank you very much."
Su Xiaoxiao didn’t refuse, and Jiang Yexun immediately handed the money and a foreign exchange ticket to Manager Qian.
"Wait for me for a moment. I’ll issue the certificates now, and you can continue browsing. We still have many great items here," Manager Qian pointed to three antique racks outside the counter.
"Okay, we’ll take another look," Su Xiaoxiao said.
Su Xiaoxiao walked up to the three racks and carefully examined each item. There was a blue-glazed white dragon plum vase, which would be worth over 2.7 million yuan in the future, but it was too tall and eye-catching. There was also a Dehua white-glazed string-pattern incense burner, which would be worth at most thirty thousand yuan in a few decades, making it not worth buying.
She examined each antique and finally stopped at a porcelain plate with red intertwined branches and flowers from the Ming Dynasty. It seemed that it could be sold for around 2.5 million yuan in the future and was a relatively good investment.
"Manager Qian, how much is this plate?" Su Xiaoxiao asked.
Manager Qian wrote down the last character, then looked up at the only plate on the antique rack in front of her. After some thought, he said, "A hundred and fifty yuan."
Jiang Yexun didn’t need Su Xiaoxiao to say anything; he immediately handed the money and the certificate to Manager Qian.
Su Xiaoxiao brought the plate to the counter and handed it to Manager Qian, asking him to double-check it. Manager Qian quickly issued another certificate and then packed both antiques in wooden boxes suitable for transport. He placed plenty of newspapers inside to prevent any breakage during the journey.
"By the way, if you encounter any disciplinary officers or busybodies, just show them the certificate. We’ve issued documents regarding the buying and selling of antiques in antique shops to various regions, so they should be aware. If you ever lose the certificate, it’s not a problem; we have records here. Just remember the purchase date, and you can find it when you return," Manager Qian cautioned several times, showing his concern.
"Thank you," Su Xiaoxiao said obediently.
Jiang Yexun carried the two wooden boxes tied with rope and left the antique shop. Su Xiaoxiao seemed cheerful the whole way, her smile reaching her ears. However, she didn’t talk much to Jiang Yexun. It wasn’t until they exited the subway and headed towards the state-owned restaurant that she finally asked the question that had been bothering her.
"Brother Yexun, it seemed like Manager Qian had already confirmed that the painting was real when he entered, and those two men were just trying to deceive him. How did he know?"
