Chapter 53: Fakes All Over the Floor, Desperate Henry
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Chapter 53: Fakes All Over the Floor, Desperate Henry
While Li Yi and the others were selecting items, the stall owner cautiously asked, "Brother, what's the relationship between these two foreign friends and you?"
"Friends!" Li Yi replied.
Seeing Li Yi pick up a bracelet, the stall owner eagerly said, "Brother, let me tell you the truth. This is an item from the Ming Dynasty palace, belonging to the empress. It's very rare!"
Li Yi took a look and said disdainfully, "Are you sure the ladies in the palace would wear something like this?"
The stall owner hesitated, "This..."
"Brother, even if you make a fake, it should at least be made of silver, right? What's this? Aluminum?" Li Yi complained.
"Hahaha, no, no, this is not it!" the stall owner stammered.
Seeing that Li Yi's attention was drawn to a jade pendant, the stall owner continued, "Brother, this jade pendant belonged to Lord Baylor in the Qing Dynasty!"
Li Yi looked at the crude jade pendant in his hand, his lips twitching. How could he say such a thing?
If those Baylor gentlemen from the Qing Dynasty wore this, would they still be called Eight Banners disciples? This was far too cheap.
Weighing the jade pendant in his hand, Li Yi smiled and asked, "Brother, how much is this jade pendant?"
The stall owner's face lit up. He maintained his calm demeanor, coughed lightly, and then said, "Brother, if you really want it, it will be three hundred yuan!"
Three hundred yuan?
Li Yi's face twitched. This ridiculous asking price was even worse than the old man's! At least the old man only asked for a hundred yuan, but this kid was setting the price at three hundred. Did he think he could get away with this?
At that moment, Henry stepped out from behind Li Yi. Naturally, he noticed the jade pendant in Li Yi's hand and thought it might be something valuable. He asked curiously, "Li, what is this jade pendant? Is it very valuable?"
Li Yi cleared his throat and replied, "He says this jade pendant belonged to a Baylor from the Qing Dynasty. To put it in your words, it's like the Duke's ornaments."
"The Duke's ornaments?"
"Yeah, and this guy is asking me for three hundred!"
Hearing this, Henry's eyes lit up! The asking price was three hundred. Could it be a good deal?
But then Li Yi poured a cold bucket of water over Henry's enthusiasm. "Henry, if you think you've found a good bargain, I think you need to reconsider!"
"What do you mean?"
Li Yi replied, "This is not the real Duke's item. In fact, it's just a modern imitation. It's worth no more than 20 yuan!"
"How is that possible? This jade looks like it has some age to it!" Henry said.
"Haha, that's called old craftsmanship!"
Li Yi pointed at the jade pendant and said, "Look, the texture of this jade pendant wasn't formed through quenching, but is machine-processed. You can tell it's fake right away!"
Hearing this, Henry's eyes widened in disbelief.
"Li... It's actually fake?"
Li Yi, understanding Henry's confusion, handed the jade pendant over to him and explained, "The antique industry is very complex. Take this jade pendant, for example. It has several flaws that are easy to spot if you look closely."
"First of all, the patina—it just doesn't feel aged. You can tell right away it was artificially made. Secondly, the white lines on it are drawn by a machine. That's very obvious!"
After hearing Li Yi's words, Henry started to examine the jade pendant carefully, and his expression turned gloomy. What Li Yi said was true. The jade pendant was machine-made and had no value at all! It wasn't worth the three hundred yuan the stall owner was asking for.
Henry silently handed the jade pendant back to Li Yi, sighing as he said, "Li, thank you. Otherwise, I might have been fooled!"
Li Yi understood that Henry had no prior experience with antiques, and he didn't know much about them. Li Yi relaxed, knowing that as long as Henry didn't understand, it would be easy to help him avoid getting scammed.
Li Yi wasn't an expert, but he had friends with good business contacts, some of whom were knowledgeable about antiques. So, when they occasionally chatted, Li Yi picked up useful tips. Additionally, people often gave Li Yi various antiques, such as porcelain and paintings, but he wasn't particularly interested in them, so he just kept them in a warehouse. Even so, he knew more than these small-time vendors, as experience always brought insight.
Henry, feeling a little upset at the vendor, didn't act impulsively. Instead, he smiled at Li Yi and said, "Li, let's move on to the next one!"
Li Yi nodded with a smile and returned the jade pendant to the stall owner. He then led Henry and Jason toward the center of the market. Eventually, they found a truly valuable antique in front of another shop.
Henry's attention was immediately drawn to it.
"Li, what is this? It looks like a stove!"
Li Yi smiled and said, "This thing is called a tripod. If it were more complete, it would fetch a sky-high price!"
"A sky-high price? How much?"
"100,000 pounds—about 1.1 million Dragon Yuan!"
"100,000 pounds?" Henry was surprised. That price was much higher than he had expected.
"This stove... it's not really a stove, is it? What makes it special?"
"Henry, the tripod is a symbol of fortune from the ancient dynasties. Ordinary people can't just own one. That's why it has great historical value and is very rare!"
Henry smiled, clearly impressed by the explanation. But Li Yi's next words threw him off.
"Of course, the premise is that what you buy is real!"
"Is this tripod real?"
"No, it's a fake. A counterfeit!"
"Fake again?"
"Yes, Henry. Take a look around. Doesn't it seem like the entire market is filled with these things? How can so many of the same type appear together?"
Henry looked around, and sure enough, he noticed that many stalls had similar tripods. Realizing what Li Yi said was true, a doubt began to form in his mind. Could it really be possible to find a genuine treasure among all these fakes?
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