33: Good things come to those who wait

"I've been looking for ages, I hope it doesn't turn out to be inside these two balls in the end."

Ye Su had a premonition that he might have guessed correctly.

No sooner said than done, Ye Su flipped the coffee table back over, shoved the drawer back in until it locked, grabbed a rag to cover one of the handles, gripped it with both hands, and started twisting with force.

Click—

With a crisp sound, mixed with the rustling of grinding rust, one of the handles was twisted off by Ye Su.

After weighing it slightly, Ye Su could tell that the handle was definitely not solid. Judging from the gap, it appeared to be made by joining two hemispherical balls together.

"There really is something inside."

He tentatively shook it carefully and found that there was indeed a strange sound coming from inside the handle, but it was a dull thud, and at the first listen, it didn't sound like copper coins.

Worried about cutting his hand, Ye Su twisted the handle back on, then took out a utility knife, aimed at the gap between the two hemispheres, and used a combination of cutting and prying to open a crack.

Afterward, he took out a flat-head screwdriver and, following the crack, pried it back and forth little by little until he finally pried the handle completely open.

With his left hand catching underneath, he flipped the lid open with his right hand, and a red cloth bundle containing a hard object fell into Ye Su's hand.

The moment it touched his hand, Ye Su could feel that it was indeed a round coin-purse-like bundle inside.

"Done!"

However, when he excitedly opened the red cloth, Ye Su was dumbfounded again: "Isn't it supposed to be a [qianlong tongbao·back dragon and phoenix lucky coin] in the coffee table? How did a [xianfeng heavy treasure] come out instead?"

Flipping it over to look, the characters [Dang] and [Shi] were marked on the top and bottom of the copper coin. Based on his experience researching ancient coins over the past few days, Ye Su could distinguish that the two symbols on the left and right were [Bao Su].

In his impression, this common version without special markings shouldn't be worth much, let alone compared to that [qianlong tongbao·back dragon and phoenix lucky coin].

"Then it must be in the other handle?"

The system wouldn't make such a low-level mistake; Ye Su still had that much trust in the System.

If it could even get this wrong, Ye Su would have to reconsider the authenticity of the gold price intelligence from last week.

Repeating his old trick, he pried open the other handle, and as expected, there was another red cloth bundle.

It was obvious that the object inside this red cloth was larger. Ye Su reached out to catch it underneath, but the red cloth was stuck in the handle, requiring Ye Su to dig it out.

"Good things really do take time. It's a good thing I waited until after I rented the room and bought the tools before I started looking for this copper coin."

Opening the red cloth, there was indeed a [qianlong tongbao] inside, about the width of three of Ye Su's fingers. Flipping it to the back, the inner circle indeed featured an exquisite dragon and phoenix pattern.

He took out his phone to compare and found that this [qianlong tongbao·back dragon and phoenix lucky coin] was identical to the [Qing · qianlong tongbao · back dragon and phoenix large lucky coin] that sold for 31,000 at an auction last month.

As for the condition, Ye Su was a layman and really couldn't tell which was better: the picture from the auction or the coin in his own hand.

However, the system gave a suggested selling price of 24,000. After deducting the commission charged by the auction house, the taxes paid by the owner, and a series of procedures, plus the time cost of waiting for the auction house to gather enough items to hold an auction...

Ye Su felt that the condition of the [qianlong tongbao] in his hand should be slightly better than the one at the auction. Selling it for 24,000 definitely wouldn't be a problem, and he might even be able to ask for a bit more.

"Oh right, there's also that [xianfeng heavy treasure·Dang Ten]."

He searched for it and indeed found that this copper coin was just a common version minted by the Baosu Bureau, with a market price ranging from a few hundred to over a thousand.

"A few hundred is still love; either way, it's all profit."

"But who hid two copper coins in these handles?"

When the intelligence refreshed yesterday, Ye Su was still guessing whether some brat had hidden the items in the coffee table, and the parents, not noticing, sold it along with the coffee table to the second-hand furniture store.

But after just opening the handles and finding the coins wrapped in red cloth, Ye Su overturned that guess, thinking it was some middle-aged man hiding his private stash.

Now that both handles contained copper coins wrapped in red cloth, Ye Su had to wonder if this was some kind of feudal superstition.

After all, in Ye Su's hometown, this kind of feudal superstition was quite common.

Even on his family's front door, there was still a copper coin sword with the hilt wrapped in red cloth, rusted beyond recognition.

"Forget it, if you believe it, it exists; if you don't, you make 24,000."

Ye Su wasn't afraid of ghosts, but he was afraid of being poor.

Even if these two coins really had some supernatural origin, it wouldn't stop Ye Su from taking them to sell.

The landlord only provided a sofa for the living room; this coffee table was just right for use, and Ye Su didn't plan to find someone to recycle it.

After taking pictures of the front and back of both coins separately, Ye Su sent them to Wan Yuanliang.

"Brother Liang, do you buy these two copper coins?"

"One [xianfeng heavy treasure·Dang Ten] minted by the Baosu Bureau, one Song-typeface [qianlong tongbao·back dragon and phoenix lucky coin]."

Ye Su specifically pointed out the details of both coins to act like an insider.

On the other side, Wan Yuanliang, who was brewing tea in the shop with his father, saw his phone screen light up, displaying the message from Ye Su, and immediately picked it up to check.

"A Song-typeface [qianlong tongbao·back dragon and phoenix lucky coin]?"

Hearing Wan Yuanliang's mutterings, Wan Bowen's hand stopped while pouring tea: "What dragon and phoenix coin?"

Wan Yuanliang handed the phone over: "Someone wants to sell two copper coins, one is a [qianlong tongbao·back dragon and phoenix lucky coin]."

With business arriving, Wan Bowen put down the teapot, put on his glasses, and took the phone.

He zoomed in on the two photos of the [qianlong tongbao], carefully confirmed the details on it, as well as the clarity of the font, and Wan Bowen nodded:

"The condition of this thing is not bad. If it's guaranteed authentic, it can sell for over 30,000."

There are countless imitations on the market now, and even the patina can be made to look the same. Based on just two photos, Wan Bowen couldn't be one hundred percent sure that this thing was real.

As for that [xianfeng heavy treasure], he just glanced at it once and skipped it, not even bothering to give an evaluation.

"Is it your friend who wants to sell it?"

"Do you remember last time someone sold a [british penny black]?"

"Hmm."

"It's him selling things again this time."

"Oh?"

Wan Bowen remembered that Wan Yuanliang had mentioned last time that the other party was just a Handsome guy in his twenties; why was he selling various old things so frequently?

Wan Yuanliang said the other party didn't look like those people involved in grey market businesses, and the stamp last time was said to have been given by family.

Could he be stealing things from home to sell?

Thinking of this, Wan Bowen stared at Wan Yuanliang suspiciously: It seems I need to keep an eye on this kid, don't let him end up stealing from the till too.

Being stared at by his dad for no reason, Wan Yuanliang could only ask: "So, are we buying it or not?"

"See when that Handsome guy is free, have him bring the items over for a look. If there are no issues with the items or the price, then we'll buy them."

"Alright, I'll ask." Wan Yuanliang took the phone and replied to Ye Su.

Wan Yuanliang: Buying

Wan Yuanliang: When are you free? Bring the items over first so I can take a look.

How about later? If it's convenient, I'll arrive in an hour.

Wan Yuanliang: Sure, I'm in the shop, you can just come over.

"Done."

It's just convenient to have someone you know buy things.

Ye Su shook the two red cloths clean, wrapped the coins back up, and then headed out.

First, he drove his electric scooter back to school, then for once splurged by taking a taxi, and arrived at Wan Yuanliang's antique shop just after five o'clock.