18: Chapter 18 Making a fortune

Han Jingyang was surprised internally, but his face was filled with an enthusiastic smile: "Ma'am, I'm buying. My shop just opened not long ago, so as long as it's a genuine item, I'll take anything, and I guarantee the price I offer will be higher than the competition."

The old lady realized: "No wonder I don't recognize this place, so it just opened."

"Oh, from what you're saying, Ma'am, are you a regular here?"

"Yes, I'm old, and my children and grandchildren aren't filial, so I have to rely on selling my late husband's belongings to get by. I have to come here every so often."

Han Jingyang didn't know how to respond to that.

Join her in denouncing her unfilial children?

He was an outsider; it wasn't his place to interfere in someone else's family affairs.

So, he directly changed the subject: "Was your late husband a collector?"

"Collector, what collector? He was just a scavenger who dragged anything he saw back home."

"I see," Han Jingyang gave Liu Jing a look and brought over a rattan chair for the old lady: "Ma'am, please have a seat and drink some tea. We can take our time looking at your items."

"Thank you, thank you," the old lady said repeatedly: "Your shop is really nice. Coming inside feels like discovering a whole new world."

"You flatter me. Ma'am, where are the items you intend to sell?"

The old lady patted her handbag and fished out a blue-and-white vase.

The vase was about twenty centimeters tall.

The shape was a classic pear-shaped vase, with a flared mouth, slender neck, drooping belly, and ring foot.

The pattern was a classic cloud-and-dragon design. Amidst the curling clouds, a giant dragon with bared fangs and brandished claws was exhaling mist. Its shape was imposing, its aura fierce. The dragon's body, partially obscured, wrapped around the entire vase, with its head on the neck and its tail on the belly—the layout was quite appropriate.

The blue-and-white brushwork was also good, delicate and flexible, placing it in the upper-middle tier among most porcelain.

But the most outstanding feature was the blue color itself—the tone was rich and vibrant, with excellent shading effects. It was a deep, vivid blue, and against the delicate, oily, and white base glaze, it looked even more brilliant.

This was an item from the Ming Dynasty.

Han Jingyang had his answer after just one glance.

The features were too distinct; it was genuine at a glance.

Even without using his Appraisal Technique, the vase's value wouldn't be low.

Han Jingyang took the vase and first examined the base.

The shape of the base and the traces of trimming were very natural, and the exposed body material was entirely consistent with the characteristics of the mid-Ming Dynasty.

He turned the vase and saw the six-character regular script mark "Made in the Xuande Era of the Great Ming" at the junction of the neck and belly.

Some Ming Dynasty porcelain didn't have marks, or they were written on the body rather than the base; this was also a characteristic for identification.

The style of this mark was also quite unique and difficult to forge, serving as excellent corroborating evidence.

After examining it back and forth for two or three minutes, he looked up and asked the old lady: "Ma'am, how much do you intend to sell this vase for?"

"You decide the price."

"..."

Han Jingyang feared this the most.

If the seller didn't name a price first, it was awkward for him to quote either too high or too low.

But he wasn't willing to play mind games with such an old lady, so he just said bluntly: "How about this, 250,000. In all of Yingxiong Mountain, you definitely won't find a higher price than this."

"How, how much?"

"250,000, what's wrong?"

"250... thousand?"

"Yes, six figures, 250,000." Han Jingyang knew immediately that he had offered too much—not just a little, but far exceeding the old lady's psychological expectations.

But the words were out, and there was no taking them back, so he had to accept it.

Anyway, he definitely wouldn't lose money.

The market price of this vase was not just 250,000; it started at 500,000 and could sell for 600,000 or 700,000. If it went to auction, there was no limit. After all, it was a genuine Xuande blue-and-white pear-shaped vase in quite good condition. Someone who loved this item might even bid over a million for it.

Moreover, this vase could be identified; he had just received a prompt.

Just consider it as paying a high price to show sincerity. If this old lady could produce a vase of this caliber, perhaps she had even better items.

With this unexpectedly high price, the old lady wouldn't consider anyone else when selling her things in the future.

He knew perfectly well what prices other antique shop owners would offer. Those old guys were desperate to make a lifetime's worth of profit in one go, pressing the price as low as they could. Getting over 10,000 for a vase like this would be considered good; some shop owners would only offer a few thousand or even a few hundred—they were as unscrupulous as could be.

Unless the seller also knew their stuff.

Therefore, Han Jingyang directly transferred the money to the old lady.

Seeing the extra 250,000 in her balance, the old lady was very excited. She grabbed Han Jingyang's hand and shook it vigorously: "You are a kind person, really. Thank you. You've solved my biggest problem. Thank you, thank you."

Han Jingyang smiled: "Ma'am, don't get too excited. Drink some water. This isn't a small amount of money, so keep it safe and don't let anyone swindle you."

"I understand, I understand."

"Also, if you have any more items like this at home that you want to sell, just bring them to me directly, or call me, and I'll come to see them. It'll save you from carrying them around. If there's any bump or damage, the loss would be huge—a 250,000 item could become worth less than 25,000."

"Okay, okay, okay," the old lady said, and then she took a peace buckle out of her pocket: "Do you think this is worth anything?"

Han Jingyang took it and glanced at it: "It's a Hetian jade peace buckle. The jade quality is white jade, which is okay, and it's about a hundred years old. However, it's not very big, and it has no carving. Plain buckles aren't worth much; one this size is only worth about a thousand or so. I'll give you 1,500 for it."

"It's that cheap?"

"Yes. For jade, especially old jade, to be valuable, it must meet three criteria: first, the jade quality must be exceptionally good—if it's not mutton-fat jade, it must at least be top-tier pebble jade; second, the carving must be exquisite; third, it must have been used by a famous person." Han Jingyang touched the peace buckle: "Your buckle lacks all of these, so it really can't fetch a high price."

Hearing this, the old lady nodded: "Then I'll just give it to you."

"That won't do. I'm running a business..."

"Running a business still requires human kindness. Giving a small bonus worth a thousand or so on a 250,000 transaction is perfectly normal, isn't it?"

Han Jingyang had nothing to say.

It was indeed perfectly normal.

In a six-figure transaction, the rounded-off change was often more than a thousand, so giving a few thousand as a bonus was the most normal thing in the world.

But the problem was that this peace buckle also triggered his Grandmaster-level Appraisal Technique.

What to do?

Han Jingyang hesitated for only half a second before agreeing.

Anyway, before he used his appraisal, this peace buckle was genuinely not worth much; he wasn't swindling her.

The value after appraisal had nothing to do with the original owner; that was his ability.

He had a clear conscience.

After accepting the peace buckle, he glanced at the old lady's handbag again: "Ma'am, do you have anything else?"

"No more, no more. I'll come again another day."

"Alright, call or text me before you come. Come, come, let's add each other on WeChat, it'll be easier to communicate if anything comes up."

After exchanging phone numbers and adding each other on WeChat, Han Jingyang finally sent the old lady out. Learning that she was going to take the bus back, he immediately called a private car for her.

Once the old lady got in the car, he hurried back into the shop.

He immediately used his Appraisal Technique.

A Xuande-era blue-and-white pear-shaped vase, and a late Qing/early Republic period Hetian white jade peace buckle.

Upon seeing the appraisal results, he almost jumped up.

He hit the jackpot!

He was raking it in!