5: Shang and Zhou dynasties? I think last week's is more like it.
Chen Kai rode his little electric donkey, slowly arriving at the bustling Antiques Street.
Because of its historical geographical location, Jiangnan City had many ancient tombs. In the early years, many people made their fortunes through antiques, becoming multimillionaires overnight by managing to Score a Bargain.
Even today, Jiangnan City still had many Antiques Streets, and his brother worked as the manager at the largest Pawnshop on the Antiques Street.
"Little brother! Do you want to come to my stall and Score a Bargain? This porcelain of mine is from the Shang Zhou dynasty!"
A little old man waved at Chen Kai, his eyes filled with the desire to fleece a fat sheep.
"Forget it, I think this is more like something from last week."
Chen Kai quickly waved his hand and continued riding his little electric donkey deeper into the Antiques Street.
Believing that this antique was from the Shang Zhou dynasty would be less credible than believing the old man was Qin Shi Huang.
Just then, a speeding little electric donkey caught up from behind him. A man wearing a yellow delivery uniform incredulously drove his little electric donkey in front of Chen Kai, turning his head to take a few looks.
"It really is you? Why did you run over to this area to deliver food?"
"What? Can't the orders in that area satisfy your appetite? You have to come over here and steal food from us too?"
Chen Kai was stunned. It turned out this man was also a delivery driver from their area. Perhaps the competition was too intense, causing him to change delivery locations. He felt quite dissatisfied with him in his heart.
"I came here to get something for Appraisal, not to deliver orders."
"What? You? You actually have something worth Appraisal?" The man sneered.
He twisted the throttle harder. "Stop dreaming about winning the lottery or finding an heirloom. Go ahead and do your Appraisal, great collector! I'm going to go run a few more orders to make money!"
Chen Kai watched the receding Electric Scooter and shook his head helplessly.
He parked his little electric donkey in front of a Pawnshop.
Although he had been here a few times before, he was still shocked by the scale of this Pawnshop.
It was no exaggeration to describe it as magnificent, with a golden plaque hanging at the entrance.
Yunshang Pavilion!
There was also a large couplet posted on it.
First line: Urgently need money? Bring us your old phones, broken guitars, or ancestral night pots.
Second line: Don't mind the price; we dare to accept game consoles, old ornaments, and even aged pickled vegetables.
Horizontal scroll: Anything can be sold.
Chen Kai twitched the corner of his mouth and pushed the door open to walk inside.
A Fatty with a slicked-back hairstyle and dressed in a suit was sitting in front of the Counter playing on his phone. Hearing footsteps, he looked up.
"Holy crap! Brother Kai, why are you here?"
Chen Kai smiled, sat down in front of the Counter, and without standing on ceremony, pulled a cigarette from the Lotus brand pack Zheng Liu Chang had placed on the table.
He picked up the lighter on the table to light his cigarette, then, out of muscle memory, slipped the lighter into his own bag.
"Can't I come by if I have nothing going on?"
"What kind of talk is that? What kind of talk is that? When can my Godson not come over?"
Zheng Liu Chang said jokingly. He also picked up a cigarette from the table and put it in his mouth, groping around the table for a long time, only to find the lighter was gone, he didn't know when.
"Godson, lend me a light."
"Screw you." Chen Kai smiled and casually tossed his lighter onto the table, watching as Zheng Liu Chang finished lighting his cigarette and secretly swiped the lighter away.
"Take a look and see if your shop will accept this book. It's a second printing of harry potter, signed by J.K. Rowling. I don't know if it's real or fake, so I brought it over for you to see."
Chen Kai carefully took the book out of his bosom and placed it on the Appraisal tray.
He was very sure in his heart that it was real, but Zheng Liu Chang knew him inside and out, and he didn't have any Appraisal skills before.
"What? A second printing of harry potter? And it has a signature? Where did you get this?"
Zheng Liu Chang sat up straight, half-doubting, and entered his professional state in a second. He put on white gloves, picked up a magnifying glass, and flipped through the pages to take a look.
He very professionally rubbed the pages with his fingers, picked up the magnifying glass to look again, and only after carefully putting the book down did he let out an exclamation.
"Holy crap, Kai, you really got lucky as hell. It's real! It's just a bit of a pity; if it were a first printing, you'd have taken off directly. A first printing was auctioned at Christie's last time for seventy thousand dollars!"
Zheng Liu Chang shook his head and said with some regret.
"Being able to Score a Bargain on a second printing is already pretty good; what more could I ask for?"
"How much can this thing sell for?"
Chen Kai asked curiously. They grew up thick as thieves, and the reason he came straight to Yunshang Pavilion without asking for a price was that Zheng Liu Chang definitely wouldn't rip him off.
When he was so hard up that he had to sell his car and house, he asked Zheng Liu Chang for money, and the reply he got was that he couldn't even lend him two hundred.
But when he heard he needed to borrow eighty thousand, he threw out a Bank card without hesitation.
There was one hundred thousand in the Bank card, eighty thousand of which was money he had saved over the years, and the other twenty thousand was salary he had advanced from the boss of Yunshang Pavilion.
Having one or two brothers like this in a lifetime is worth it.
"This book has quite a bit of collection value, and it's rare on the market. I estimate the market price is around seven thousand, so I'll buy it for seven thousand five."
Zheng Liu Chang frowned and stated a number.
"How much??"
Chen Kai was stunned. The price offered was even higher than the system's quotation.
"Seven thousand six at most! Can't give any more!"
Zheng Liu Chang quickly waved his hand and took off his white gloves.
"No, you misunderstood. I saw the market price is only six or seven thousand."
Chen Kai explained, feeling a bit touched in his heart. After all, Zheng Liu Chang was just a manager—in plain terms, an appraiser—and didn't have much authority.
"Then it's seven thousand five, let your Godfather earn a one hundred commission!"
Zheng Liu Chang said with a chuckle, getting ready to take the money from the drawer for him.
Just then, a man wearing a yellow kangaroo delivery uniform pushed the door open and walked in, looking down at the order number on the delivery bag.
"Order ending in 9527, 'Want to see Wong Fei-hung,' which one of you is it?"
"Mine, bring it over!"
Zheng Liu Chang stood up and raised his hand.
When the delivery driver saw the two people in the room clearly, his eyes instantly became mocking.
"Yo, the great collector really came for an Appraisal? How was it? Did you sell it for hundreds of millions?"
"I told you, with this time, you'd be better off delivering a few more orders, right? In this short while, I've already delivered three orders."
Chen Kai frowned.
Before Chen Kai could speak, Zheng Liu Chang chuckled, placed the delivery on the table, took a stack of money from the drawer, and counted out seven thousand five in front of him.
He slapped the thick stack of money on the table. "Seven thousand five, check it. In the future, if you have good things, send them to us more often. Let's cooperate more, hahaha."
Chen Kai instantly understood what he meant. He symbolically rubbed the money in his hand and counted it a few times. "Alright, I trust the money you count. In the future, if I have good things, I'll still send them to you."
The man standing behind the two was dumbfounded. He had originally wanted to mock him to vent his anger, as it was because of Chen Kai that his performance didn't meet the standard.
He didn't expect he actually sold something for over seven thousand? That was his income for a month and a half!
What kind of dumb luck is that!
"Heh, you really got lucky. It's just one time of good luck, what's so great about that."