127: Chapter 127 is worth the price, nothing more to say.

Hu Tian glanced at the inkstone, "The style of the calligraphy has similarities to the handwriting of Xu Yin, a scholar from Huizhou during the Northern Song Dynasty under Emperor Huizong. However, the inscription content is a poem about inkstones, and the signature isn't clear, so it's hard to make a direct judgment."

Antique Dealer Qiao Yougui nodded, a touch of approval in his eyes, "Not speaking recklessly—good. The origin of this she inkstone is extraordinary. I've been collecting for decades and have handled many inkstones. In terms of the material, the quarry, and the craftsmanship, this one is in the top three of all I've ever seen."

He had always been direct; coming from him, those words carried significant weight.

Professor Su Hongru chimed in from the side, "Top three? Old Qiao, you're being very generous with your praise today."

Antique Dealer Qiao Yougui huffed, "When have I ever told a lie? This item is right here; you can rank it yourself."

Professor Su Hongru waved his hand, not taking the bait, and turned his head to look at Elder Zhou Bo.

Elder Zhou Bo was still holding the jade pendant. He held it horizontally under the light, changing angles several times, his fingers gently tracing the edges of the double-dragon pattern. He applied no pressure, just letting his fingertips slide slowly along the curve of the jade, as if feeling for something.

After a long while, he placed the jade pendant back on the table, took off his gloves, folded them, and set them aside. Only then did he speak, his tone deeper than usual, "It's a piece from the Han Dynasty."

Professor Su Hongru and Antique Dealer Qiao Yougui both turned their heads.

Elder Zhou Bo tapped the edge of the jade pendant with his finger, "The double-dragon playing with a pearl pattern—this composition, with the two dragons symmetrical and the pearl in the center, the movement of the dragon bodies is similar to several jade artifacts unearthed from the late Western Han Dynasty. The lines are rounded but full of tension. It's not the style of the Eastern Han; Eastern Han lines started to become stiffer. This piece isn't like that; it still carries the rounded, flowing charm of the Western Han."

He paused, "The jade quality is celadon-white jade, translucent, with a naturally distributed patina. The main staining is at both ends, and the color transition is not abrupt. It's not an artificial stain; it was formed naturally by the underground environment. This kind of patina cannot be faked. Faked colors look superficial, but this color penetrates into the jade."

He raised his eyes and looked at Hu Tian, "Where did this jade pendant come from?"

Hu Tian replied, "I acquired it at Antique Street today."

Elder Zhou Bo was silent for a moment, "How much?"

"Four hundred yuan."

Elder Zhou Bo didn't speak, tapping his fingers twice on the table before saying slowly, "This item, conservatively speaking, is an ancient Han Dynasty jade. The condition is complete, and the craftsmanship is at this level; the market price would start at at least eight million."

The words were spoken flatly, without inflection, but the weight they carried was understood by everyone present.

Just then, Professor Su Hongru pointed to the she inkstone on the table.

He glanced at Hu Tian, something flashing across his eyes, "And this she inkstone? Which stall did you acquire this from today?"

"The third row on the left when you enter, an old man's stall,"

Hu Tian said, "He didn't recognize it himself."

Professor Su Hongru heard this and didn't respond, simply moving his gaze away from Hu Tian's face and back onto the she inkstone.

Cousin Zhang Fei, the cousin sitting next to Hu Tian, spoke up at this moment, her tone carrying a storytelling quality, "That old grandfather is actually quite pitiful."

Several people looked at her.

She bit her lip lightly, "I was walking along that street with my cousin at the time. When we saw that stall, the old grandfather was sitting alone on a small stool, and there weren't many items on the stall."

She paused, "The old grandfather mistook that inkstone for a Duan Inkstone and asked for 20,000, thinking it was just an ordinary old inkstone."

Antique Dealer Qiao Yougui's brows twitched upon hearing this, but he said nothing.

Cousin Zhang Fei continued, "When my cousin took a liking to the inkstone, I thought he would just agree with the old grandfather and buy it. Instead, he took the inkstone in his hands, looked at it for a while, and told the old man directly that it wasn't a Duan Inkstone, but a she inkstone, that the material was extraordinary, and that it couldn't be sold for the price he had asked. The old grandfather was stunned for a long time, saying he didn't believe it, thinking my cousin was just trying to drive the price down. My cousin explained it to him sentence by sentence, talking about the stone eyes and the quarry in great detail."

Professor Su Hongru touched his teacup, glanced at Hu Tian from the corner of his eye, and remained silent.

Cousin Zhang Fei's voice was steady, "In the end, the old grandfather believed him. His eyes were a little red, and he said he didn't know it had been sitting in his home for decades, and he had never recognized it himself. If it weren't for his wife being sick and hospitalized, the old grandfather wouldn't have brought it out to the stall. Later, my cousin and the old grandfather negotiated a price, and my cousin paid five million to buy the inkstone. The old grandfather said on the spot that the money was enough and that he would go back to handle his wife's hospitalization."

The room was quiet for a moment.

Antique Dealer Qiao Yougui set down his teacup, his voice dropping a degree, "Snapping up a bargain is one thing, but these two matters—Little Hu distinguishes them well. A good kid."

When he said this, he didn't look at Hu Tian, his eyes fixed on the inkstone on the table, as if he were speaking to the inkstone itself.

Hu Tian sat there, his expression unchanged, simply picking up his teacup and taking a sip, "The old grandfather's item was good, so it was worth that price. There's nothing more to say."

Elder Zhou Bo slowly raised his eyes, looked at him for a moment, then withdrew his gaze, letting his eyes rest lightly on the edge of the jade pendant before falling silent again.

Elder Zhou Bo closed his eyes and shook his head. When he opened them again, he sighed, "Things like this happen every year. The stall owner misjudges, and the item just slips away like that."

Antique Dealer Qiao Yougui picked up his tea, took a sip, set it down, and looked at Hu Tian, "The xuande incense burner—how much did you spend today?"

"One hundred and twenty yuan."

Antique Dealer Qiao Yougui stared at him, smacked his lips, was silent for a moment, then set down his teacup and said, enunciating every word, "One hundred and twenty yuan?"

He didn't say anything else, but his tone had already said it all.

Cousin Zhang Fei had been listening from the side for a long time and couldn't help it anymore, leaning over to whisper into Hu Tian's ear, "Cousin, so if you add these two items together, how much are they actually worth?"

Hu Tian didn't answer her.

Professor Su Hongru had good hearing; he turned his head to look at Cousin Zhang Fei, his tone flat, "You ask how much money—that's hard to say. Good items aren't just about money, but if you absolutely must have a number,"

He paused, "If these three items are placed together, and you find the right place and the right buyer, I wouldn't be surprised if someone offered an eight-figure sum."

Cousin Zhang Fei was stunned, her teacup nearly slipping from her hand, "Eight figures?"

Professor Su Hongru responded faintly and said no more, his gaze returning to the tabletop.

What was the concept of an eight-figure sum? Cousin Zhang Fei calculated it in her mind, then suddenly turned her head toward Hu Tian, her eyes widening, "Cousin, you… you spent a few hundred yuan and bought them back…"

"Drink your tea."

Hu Tian pushed the teacup in front of her toward her hand, cutting off the second half of her sentence with a firm but gentle motion.

Cousin Zhang Fei closed her mouth, looked down at her teacup, and didn't speak for a long time, not knowing what she was thinking.

The table fell silent again.

Elder Zhou Bo stared at that xuande incense burner for a long time, then slowly rubbed his chin, as if thinking of something. He raised his eyes to look at Hu Tian, "You entered the street this morning, and you only acquired these three items?"

"Just about."

"Just about,"

Elder Zhou Bo repeated the two words, the corners of his mouth twitching. He looked at the bag next to Hu Tian, which clearly contained a few more items, "You child, you always hold back three points when you speak."

Hu Tian didn't respond.

Antique Dealer Qiao Yougui examined the three items again, withdrew his gaze, and said in a very slow tone, "I've been in this business for over forty years. I've handled countless items and have seen plenty of good things,"

He paused, "But let me tell you, Hu Tian, leaving aside the she inkstone, acquiring these two items for a few hundred—this kind of thing isn't something that can be achieved by a sharp eye alone. A sharp eye only accounts for half; the other half is luck."

He paused again, raised his eyes again, his gaze direct, "But if a person's luck is always this good, then it's no longer luck."

When these words were spoken, Elder Zhou Bo didn't make a sound, and Professor Su Hongru's hand holding the tea paused, then he took a sip as if nothing had happened.

Hu Tian glanced at Antique Dealer Qiao Yougui, his expression steady, the corners of his mouth curving slightly, "Antique Dealer Qiao Yougui, you flatter me. I was just lucky, happened to run into them, so I picked them up."

Antique Dealer Qiao Yougui looked at him, didn't pursue it further, leaned his body back against the chair, half-closed his eyes, and stopped speaking.

Outside the window, the sounds of people on Antique Street filtered in through the glass, bustling and lively, forming two different worlds compared to the silence at this table inside Jubao Pavilion.

That xuande incense burner, that she inkstone, and that celadon-white jade pendant with the double-dragon playing with a pearl pattern—the three items were placed side by side on the table. The light from diagonally above shone down, reflecting their respective lusters, making them look calm and full.

None of them spoke again, each holding their tea, each lost in their own thoughts.

Cousin Zhang Fei secretly glanced at Hu Tian, seeing his expression calm, as if nothing had happened, just holding his teacup, his gaze resting outside the window.

She lowered her head, silently repeating the seven-figure sum Professor Su Hongru had mentioned earlier in her mind, bit her lip, and made no sound.

The fragrance of tea drifted in the air, faint and curling. In Jubao Pavilion, this afternoon sank into silence just like that.

Hu Tian and his cousin Cousin Zhang Fei left Jubao Pavilion when the sun was high in the sky, a scorching twelve o'clock. The two didn't continue browsing, returned to the parking lot at the entrance of the street, and drove toward Cloud Top Villa.

Along the way, his cousin Cousin Zhang Fei chattered incessantly.

"Cousin, you were really amazing today! When Sister Waner told me, I only knew you had a good eye, but I didn't expect it to be this good. The things you bought back for a few hundred yuan are actually worth so much money."

Cousin Zhang Fei sat in the passenger seat, turned her head to look at Hu Tian, her eyes sparkling, "Professor Su said eight figures, hey! How much is eight figures again? At least ten million, right? Oh my god, Cousin, you've become rich overnight!"

Hu Tian gripped the steering wheel, his gaze fixed straight ahead, the corners of his mouth curving slightly, "It's not that exaggerated. Professor Su meant if you find the right place and the right buyer; the actual transaction price might not be that much."

"That's still amazing,"

Cousin Zhang Fei said excitedly, "I've really had my eyes opened today. The antique industry is truly an industry where you can get rich overnight. No wonder so many people are breaking their heads trying to get in. So it really is possible to pick up bargains and make a fortune overnight."

As she spoke, she remembered something else, "By the way, Cousin, that sentence Antique Dealer Qiao Yougui said at the end, something about luck being good to a certain extent no longer being luck—what did he mean by that? Why did it sound a bit strange to me?"

Hu Tian didn't answer immediately. The car stopped at a red light, and he turned his head to look at Cousin Zhang Fei, "What do you think?"

Cousin Zhang Fei was stunned for a moment, bit her lip, "I don't really understand either, but I feel like he seems to be suspicious of something, but didn't say it explicitly."

"Smart."

Hu Tian withdrew his gaze, the green light turned on, and the car started again.

"The antique industry is very deep. Not everyone believes in luck, especially old experts like Antique Dealer Qiao Yougui. They have seen too many things and have seen too many people rise and fall, so when someone's luck is good to a certain extent, they will instinctively be suspicious."