84: Chapter 84 What?! Border Region Tickets!!!
"So, how much are you willing to pay for this entire set?"
Upon hearing this, Xin Quan's face immediately twisted into a bitter smile as he waved his hands repeatedly. "Big Brother! You think too highly of me! Even if I sold everything I own, including my company, I wouldn't be able to scrape together even a fraction of what this treasure is worth!"
"This item is already beyond the level that people like us can handle."
"You can't afford it?" Shen Wang paused, looking a bit confused. "Then why did you come rushing over here in such a hurry?"
Xin Quan hurriedly explained, his eyes burning with eagerness. "Big Brother, I can't afford to buy it, but I can help you manage the sale!"
"If you trust me, I can stake my entire network and reputation to contact the country's top auction houses and organize a special 'Late Qing Dynasty Relics' auction just for you!"
"With this box of antiques as the main attraction, that set of imperial green jadeite will be the grand finale, the centerpiece of the show!"
"I am confident that this set of jadeite will absolutely break records! It will shock the entire jewelry world!"
Shen Wang understood.
An auction was indeed the best way to maximize profit.
He thought for a moment and said, "I can let you handle it."
"If everything sells, I will give you 5 percent of the total transaction amount as a commission."
"5 percent?" Xin Quan was so pleasantly surprised he almost jumped up on the spot!
For an auction of this level, the commission usually given to intermediaries or partners is between 2% and 3%; 5 percent was incredibly generous!
This meant that if the total transaction reached hundreds of millions, his commission would reach an astronomical tens of millions!
This single deal would earn him even more than he had made in the past few years!
"Big Brother, don't worry. I guarantee I'll handle this beautifully for you! I will absolutely secure a sky-high price!"
Shen Wang nodded, then continued, "Don't get too happy too soon; I have one requirement."
Xin Quan quickly asked, "Big Brother, please tell me. No matter what your requirement is, I will definitely meet it!"
He also knew that the 5 percent commission surely wouldn't be easy to earn!
Shen Wang spoke slowly. "My requirement is very simple: it needs to be fast!"
"I don't care what method you use; I want to see the money in the shortest time possible!"
It wasn't that Shen Wang was impatient; he wouldn't mind waiting a month or so.
But while he could afford to wait, the Eighth Route Army could not!
In just over a month here, it would already be 1942 over there!
Therefore, he needed to get money as soon as possible to buy things like food.
On the other side, Xin Quan gritted his teeth. "Alright! I will strive to finish this auction for you, Big Brother, within half a month!"
Usually, for an auction of this caliber, the preliminary preparations take at least a month.
Xin Quan promising half a month was already very fast.
However, Shen Wang was a bit dissatisfied.
"I will give you one week."
At this, Xin Quan was completely stumped.
"Big Brother, one week is too short. At least… at least ten days! Any shorter and I really can't do it!"
Shen Wang shook his head. "Just one week. If you can't do it, I'll find someone else."
Upon hearing this, Xin Quan quickly waved his hands. "No, no, no! I can do it! No need for ten days, one week is enough!"
Only then did Shen Wang nod with satisfaction.
Just kidding, was that 5 percent commission given for free?
Next, Xin Quan and his assistant took photos and registered the items in a catalog.
Things worth hundreds of millions certainly couldn't be let go with him.
By the time they finished, it was almost dark.
"Big Brother, I'll take my leave now. I guarantee I'll have everything handled perfectly for you within a week!"
At this moment, Xin Quan's smile was impossible to suppress.
As long as he helped Big Brother complete this deal, he wouldn't have to worry about his livelihood for the rest of his life!
However, Shen Wang said, "Wait a moment. Help me look at this too, see if it's worth anything."
Shen Wang took a stack of border region currency out of another box nearby.
This border region currency had naturally also weathered the passage of time.
But it hadn't become tattered and worn like ordinary paper; instead, it was almost like new, as if it had been perfectly preserved.
After all, the paper used to print money was definitely different from ordinary paper. If preserved properly, even after decades, it could still look almost new.
Therefore, although this stack of border region currency bore the marks of time, it looked almost as if it had just been printed.
Shen Wang placed the border region currency on the coffee table. When he looked up at Xin Quan, he found that the man seemed to have been frozen by Sun Wukong's immobilization spell.
It wasn't just Xin Quan; the assistant beside him gasped, and the notebook in his hand fell to the floor with a "clatter."
Both of their gazes were nailed firmly onto that stack of banknotes.
'Border… border region ticket?'
Xin Quan's brain was screaming wildly, almost ready to burst through his skull!
'This, damn it, is a border region ticket! The red currency from that era! How is it possible… how is it possible for it to appear here? And a whole stack of them?'
'And this condition… what kind of century-old joke is this! That's something from eighty years ago! This… this is simply heaven-defying!'
Xin Quan suddenly looked up at the calm-faced Shen Wang, his eyes full of shock!
This Big Brother… who on earth is he?
What kind of sacred figures were his ancestors?
He could bring out items used by the Emperor, he could bring out peerless jadeite, and now… now he could even pull this kind of thing out as casually as if it were scrap paper?
Shen Wang watched their foolish expressions and felt assured; it seemed this border region currency was also a treasure.
"Hey, snap out of it. Is this thing worth any money?"
Xin Quan came back to his senses and swallowed hard. "Worth any money? Big Brother! This is a border region ticket! Its value cannot simply be measured by money!"
"No matter how expensive it is, doesn't it have a price?" Shen Wang said indifferently.
"That's true, that's true! Big Brother is right!" Xin Quan nodded repeatedly.
Then he added, "The specific value of this currency depends on its denomination, condition, and the year of issue…"
As he spoke, Xin Quan put on his white gloves again and picked up the stack of banknotes extremely gently.
"Look at the denomination, one yuan… uh… that's good, it's good that it's a one-yuan note…"
He muttered to himself, as if comforting himself, and also as if confirming.
The one-yuan denomination was not the rarest among border region tickets.
However, when his gaze swept to the date on the banknote—
"Holy hell!!!"
"Re… Republic of China Year 30?"
Xin Quan's voice instantly went up an octave.
"Quick! Help me check! What year is the 30th year of the Republic of China!"
The assistant hurriedly picked up his phone to check.
Actually, for both of them, it was very simple to know what year the 30th year of the Republic of China was.
It was just that Xin Quan couldn't believe it.
Soon, the assistant replied, "Brother Quan, the 30th year of the Republic of China… is 1941!"
"1941…"
With a boom, Xin Quan's brain almost stopped thinking.
The reason he couldn't believe it was because… 1941 was the very year the border region ticket was officially issued!
There were some before, but they were in the form of stamps.
The ones issued in the form of paper currency started in 1941!
Because so many big things happened that year!
But now was not the time to think about that.
The problem now was, could this stack of border region tickets… be the first edition?
Immediately after, as if thinking of something, Xin Quan carefully and quickly flipped through the edges of the stack of banknotes.
"…001… 002… 003… Good heavens! Sequential numbers! They are actually sequential! From 001 to 100, not a single one missing!"
Xin Quan was completely stunned!
A whole stack of first-batch, sequentially numbered border region tickets?
Big Brother, who on earth were your ancestors…"]}```