123: Chapter 123 Finding a Bargain in the Antique Street

"This piece is a modern imitation. The porcelain body is too white, and the blue-and-white coloring is wrong. Real ming dynasty blue-and-white has a hint of grey in the blue, not this kind of bright blue."

Hu Tian whispered to his cousin, Cousin Zhang Fei.

Cousin Zhang Fei leaned in to take a look and nodded, seemingly understanding but not quite.

Hu Tian didn't linger; he led Cousin Zhang Fei away from the stall and continued walking further in.

In fact, from the moment he stepped into the entrance of Antique Street, the Treasure Hunting Radar in his mind had already quietly activated.

It was a wonderful feeling, as if he had a pair of invisible eyes that extended a scanning range of nearly two hundred meters around him, taking in most of the information of the entire street.

Halos appeared one by one on the virtual map in his mind.

Hu Tian glanced at them, his heart stirring slightly.

There were actually three yellow rare halos.

He hadn't been here for a month, and the goods on Antique Street had changed quite a bit.

Besides the three yellow rare halos, there were also eleven blue high-quality halos scattered throughout the street.

Blue high-quality halos represented antiques of certain value, while yellow rare halos meant real treasures that were hard to come by.

He quickly pinpointed their locations in his mind.

Of the three yellow rare halos, one was in a shop on the left, and the other two were at stalls.

Of the eleven blue high-quality halos, six were in shops along the street, and five were scattered among various stalls.

It wasn't that the items in the shops weren't worth looking at, but most shop owners were experts. The prices were often already raised to a reasonable or even high range, leaving little room for finding a bargain.

The real show was still at the stalls.

The stall owners were a mixed bag; some were real experts, while others were ordinary people who didn't know the trade. Occasionally, someone would sell an ancestral treasure as ordinary second-hand goods, and that was where the opportunity for finding a bargain lay.

Hu Tian had a plan in mind, but he remained impassive on the surface, leading Cousin Zhang Fei slowly further into the street.

"Cousin, you just said that things are sometimes real and sometimes fake. How did you train your eyes like this?"

Cousin Zhang Fei asked as she walked, curiously eyeing the items on the stalls around them.

"By looking at more, touching more, and suffering more losses, you naturally train them."

Hu Tian replied casually.

Cousin Zhang Fei chuckled. "Suffering more losses? Cousin, you've also had times when you misjudged?"

"Everyone has times when they misjudge,"

Hu Tian said, "In the antique business, no one dares to say they've never misjudged. Anyone who says that is either lying to you or is too new to the industry."

Of course, Hu Tian had another thought in mind. With his cheat code in hand, there was basically no chance of him misjudging.

As they talked, they had already reached the middle of the open-air stall area.

Here, the stalls were side by side, with cloths spread on the ground covered in various objects.

Some stall owners sat on small folding stools, while others simply stood aside, lazily watching the passing crowds.

Hu Tian's gaze swept through the crowd. On the virtual map in his mind, a yellow rare halo was flashing not far ahead.

He calmly led Cousin Zhang Fei toward that direction.

The halo was located at an inconspicuous little stall. The owner was a middle-aged man in his fifties, wearing a faded plaid shirt with messy hair, looking down at his phone.

There weren't many items on the stall, just a dozen or so scattered about, mostly ordinary goods like copper coins, old porcelain shards, and old wooden items.

Hu Tian glanced over, his gaze landing on an inconspicuous little incense burner in the corner of the stall.

A thick yellow rare halo was emanating from that incense burner.

It was a bronze incense burner, not very large, about the height of a fist. It was dark brown all over with a thick layer of patina on the surface, looking unremarkable and even a bit dirty.

Hu Tian crouched down, casually picked up a copper coin nearby to look at it, put it down, and then nonchalantly picked up the incense burner.

It felt very heavy in his hand, with substantial weight.

He turned it over to look at the bottom. There was a three-character mark on the base. The characters were somewhat blurred due to rust, but upon careful inspection, one could only faintly make out three characters.

Hu Tian's heart skipped a beat.

A xuande incense burner?

Just as Hu Tian was staring at the mark on the base and carefully identifying it, a message box suddenly popped up in his mind from the system.

"[Item Name: xuande incense burner (Marked 'Made in the xuande Era of the Great Ming')][Era: xuande Period of the ming dynasty, approximately 1426–1435 AD]"

"[Source: This burner was commissioned and supervised by Emperor Xuanzong of Ming, Zhu Zhanji. It was originally a display piece in the Imperial Palace. It left the palace during the wars at the end of the ming dynasty and passed through the hands of several collectors. It flowed into the hands of the common people during the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China. After changing hands several times, it finally ended up here.]"

"[Material: Wind-milled copper, containing various precious metals such as gold, silver, and tin. It was refined more than three times, resulting in a fine texture and a warm luster.]"

"[Condition: 80% new, with natural patina. The mark on the base is slightly corroded, but the overall preservation state is good, with no traces of man-made damage.]"

"[Valuation: Market reference value is approximately between 30.8 million and 50.2 million RMB. If appraised and certified by an authoritative institution, the auction price is expected to exceed 80 million.]"

"[System Note: This item is undoubtedly authentic. It is recommended to acquire it at a low price. Do not alert the stall owner and cause suspicion.]"

As the pieces of information appeared one by one in his mind, Hu Tian's breathing slowed down slightly.

It really was a xuande incense burner.

And it was even an imperial masterpiece from the Inner Court.

He used almost all of his willpower to keep his facial expression from showing any fluctuation.

He flipped the incense burner over casually and then nonchalantly put it back in its original place as if he had no interest. He then reached out and picked up an old wooden box nearby to take a look.

"How much for this wooden box?"

He looked up and asked the stall owner.

The middle-aged man looked up from his phone and glanced over. "Eighty."

"A bit expensive. Will you take fifty?"

"No. This is made of old rosewood; eighty is already cheap."

Hu Tian put down the wooden box and casually pointed at the bronze incense burner. "How much for this broken burner? It looks filthy and is just taking up space here."

The stall owner glanced down and said nonchalantly, "That? Two hundred yuan. It was collected from the countryside. An old man in a village used it as an incense burner for many years. It's just ordinary copper, not worth much."

Hu Tian frowned. "Two hundred yuan? Even copper isn't worth that much. I'll take it for a hundred."

"One hundred and fifty. Not a cent less."

Hu Tian stood up and clapped his hands, looking like he was going to leave because it was too expensive. "Forget it, I'll check other places."

He actually turned around and took two steps away.

The stall owner behind him paused and then said, "Fine, fine. One hundred and twenty. Take it."

Hu Tian turned back, looked at the incense burner, then at the stall owner, and slowly pulled his phone out of his pocket to scan and pay.

"Find me a bag."

The stall owner casually grabbed a black plastic bag from the ground, stuffed the incense burner inside, and handed it over.

Hu Tian stood up with the bag. Cousin Zhang Fei hadn't spoken the whole time, but now she couldn't help but lean in and ask in a low voice, "Cousin, do you really want that broken burner? Is it worth spending over a hundred yuan on something so dirty?"

Hu Tian slung the bag over his arm, a slight smirk playing on his lips. "Let's go, keep looking."

Cousin Zhang Fei followed him with a puzzled look, completely unaware that her cousin had just found a bargain worth potentially tens of millions for only one hundred and twenty yuan.

Bronze incense burners cast during the xuande era of the Great Ming are among the most famous bronze wares in Chinese history and are treasures dreamed of by collectors throughout the ages.

Very few real xuande incense burners have survived. The vast majority circulating on the market are imitations from later generations, but even imitations from the Ming and Qing dynasties have considerable collection value.

Cousin Zhang Fei looked at the unremarkable incense burner, then at Hu Tian, hesitating to speak.

She vaguely felt that her cousin buying this incense burner was definitely not as simple as "just for fun."

The two continued forward. On the virtual map in Hu Tian's mind, a second yellow rare halo was flashing at a stall ahead.

After walking about fifty meters, Hu Tian saw his target.

It was a stall run by a female owner in her early thirties. She was dressed very ordinarily, and the items on her stall were quite varied: old books, old photos, old porcelain, and a few pieces of old jade.

A yellow rare halo was emanating from one of the jade pieces.

It was a jade pendant strung on an old cord, placed haphazardly among a pile of old things, looking completely unremarkable.

Hu Tian crouched down and picked up the jade pendant.

The jade was warm and smooth with a greenish-white color. It felt slightly cool to the touch, and the carving was exquisite. It featured a pattern of Two Dragons Playing with a Pearl, with smooth lines and a vivid expression.

He held the jade pendant up to the light. The jade was translucent, with no obvious cracks or impurities inside.

The moment Hu Tian's fingers rubbed the surface of the jade pendant, the Treasure Hunting Radar System in his mind automatically triggered, and lines of information appeared deep in his consciousness like a light screen.

"[Item Appraisal Complete][Name: Greenish-White Jade Pendant with Two Dragons Playing with a Pearl Pattern][Era: Early Western Han Dynasty, approximately 2,100 years ago]"

"[Source: A funerary object buried with a Western Han vassal king or noble. The place of excavation is unknown. It is suspected to have circulated among the people until today and was not obtained through formal archaeological excavation.]"

"[Material: Xinjiang Hetian greenish-white jade. The jade is fine and warm with a very strong oily feel. It belongs to high-grade seed material. There are no obvious cracks inside, and it is in perfect condition.]"

"[Craftsmanship: Han Dynasty 'thin-thread' carving technique. The lines are as fine as hair, and the knife work is smooth. The two dragons have a primitive and vigorous shape, full of spirit, and possess distinct characteristics of Han Dynasty jade carving style.]"

"[Historical Value: Extremely high. Han Dynasty jade pieces are rare to begin with, and such noble-use jade with complete condition and excellent carving is even more of a rarity. It holds significant historical research and cultural relic value.]"

"[Market Valuation: Based on recent auction house records, the market transaction price for Han Dynasty jade pendants of the same level ranges between 8 million and 15 million RMB. If formally appraised by an authoritative institution, the value may be even higher.]"

"[System Tip: It is recommended to add this item to your collection; do not sell it easily.]"

Hu Tian's eyelid twitched slightly.

He took a deep breath, maintained a normal expression, and flipped the jade pendant over, pretending to look at it casually. After a few more glances, he calmly looked up and spoke to the female owner.

"How much for this jade pendant?"

The female owner looked up. "That? Eight hundred."

Hu Tian put down the jade pendant and stood up. "Too expensive."

"You can make an offer,"

The female owner said, "This belongs to my mother-in-law. She said it's an old item. I don't really know, either. If you want it, six hundred."

"Three hundred,"

Hu Tian said.

The female owner shook her head. "No, at least five hundred."

"Four hundred,"

Hu Tian said, "I'm just looking around; I don't have to buy it.""}],