The mood in the hall was tense.
The people were carefully inspecting each item on display. Offers were rarely made.
They were waiting for someone else to make a move. There were many items on display there, though they knew that imitation items were a possibility. One would be unlucky if they picked up an imitation item.
Even if they knew that an item might be genuine, they had to be careful not to overpay for it. An item appraised to be from an ancient era might actually be from a more recent era. That would also be a great loss of money.
Of course, there was always a chance of picking up a bargain.
Tang Hao walked around the hall. He carefully inspected and touched each item.
He could feel the qi on each of the items. They existed in varying intensities.
The older an antique was, the stronger the qi it contained. The opposite was true: The newer an item was, the weaker the qi.
With that, Tang Hao could roughly gauge the age of those antiques.
He stopped walking after making a complete revolution around the hall. His brows were furrowed and he looked disappointed.
He had expected to find something special, but none of them were.
On the other hand, Artifacts were incredibly rare items. Finding one was already incredibly good luck. There was no guarantee that an Artifact appeared at every trade meet.
He pondered for a while and decided that he would check out the other stores later.
Meanwhile, Qin Gang had his eyes on a jade statue of a cow. The handiwork was delicate and the statue was lifelike.
The price tag said that it was from the Song dynasty and it cost 120,000 yuan.
Qin Gang stood in front of it for a very long time and carefully appraised it. Then, he made up his mind to buy that jade statue.
Just when he was about to make the offer, he heard a piercing voice next to him.
“Oh, this jade statue looks not bad! It’s genuine Song jade, what a bargain! Come, wrap this up for me. I, Master Diao, want it!”
That person was none other than Fatty Diao.
“Oh, Young Master Qin! Are you interested in the jade statue too! The saying is right, great minds think alike! Unfortunately, I had my eyes on it first. We can bid for it if you want to!
“I’m afraid that you won’t outbid me though!”
Fatty Diao walked in front of Qin Gang. His face was brimming with glee.
Qin Gang was immediately red with anger. He glared at the fat man and said, “I saw this first, you fat bastard! You’re vying for my items again!”
“Eh! Your items? The antiques are placed on the table, and everyone has a chance to make an offer. If you’re not happy, we can bid for it! I don’t mind it at all, I have the money anyway.”
Fatty Diao grinned and became more arrogant than ever.
“You…” Qin Gang was burning with anger.
He was not as loaded as that fat bastard. Qin Gang owned a toy factory, while Fatty Diao was in the property business. He certainly could not outbid him!
The people who crowded around them looked indignant.
Fatty Diao had snatched items from some of them that way before.
“I don’t want that stupid thing anymore!” Qin Gang grunted angrily, then turned around and went elsewhere.
“Dammit, that fat bastard!” Qin Gang was still cursing under his breath as he walked next to Tang Hao.
Tang Hao looked at that fat man then at his brother-in-law. Suddenly, he grinned mischievously.
“Do you want to get back at him, Brother-in-law?” Tang Hao leaned over and whispered into Qin Gang’s ear.
“Oh?” Qin Gang was surprised. He looked at Tang Hao incredulously. “Of course I want to, but how would you do it?”
“That’s easy. Just observe!”
Tang Hao smiled, then walked to a corner of the hall. A jade annulus was displayed on a table.
The jade annulus was a fairly common jade ornament from ancient times. It was a flat disk with a hole in the middle, and figures of dragons and clouds were carved on both sides. It was a lavish ornament and usually fetched high prices at antique trade meets.
The annulus on the table was intricately carved with dragons.
The price tag said that it was from the Song dynasty and was worth 80,000 yuan.
Jade ornaments were difficult to appraise, and there were many recent imitations. Not many people dared to gamble their money on jade ornaments. Many people had examined the annulus, but none made an offer.
Tang Hao could discern from the qi of the item that the annulus was older than the Song dynasty. Rather, it was from the Han dynasty, and it could easily fetch tens of times of its current price tag.
That was a bargain.
Tang Hao beckoned at a worker standing not too far away. “I want this item!”
His offer gained the attention of the people around him.
They turned around and looked at the boy.
“It’s Young Master Qin’s friend. He looks so young!”
“He’s quite daring! His first item is a jade antique!”
Everyone laughed as they discussed Tang Hao’s purchase.
They thought that he was being impulsive.
Fatty Diao glanced at him and chuckled. He was not interested in snatching that jade annulus. He stalked the regulars, and that was why he was so brazen in snatching the deals.
In his eyes, Tang Hao was a newbie. He would be making a loss if he snatched the deal from Tang Hao.
“What an idiot! He doesn’t know anything!”
Fatty Diao muttered, then turned around to look at the other people.
Qin Gang came over and said worriedly, “What are you doing, Younger Brother-in-law?”
“Buying jade, of course! This piece looks not bad.” Tang Hao took out his debit card from his wallet as he spoke. He handed the card to the worker, who immediately swiped it.
“It’s done, Young Master Tang! Should I wrap up this jade annulus for you?” The worker handed Tang Hao his card with a bow. He looked more respectful than ever.
From that card alone, he knew that Tang Hao was a very important customer.
“No need!” Tang Hao waved his hands. “Do you know if there’s a master appraiser of jade on this street?”
“Well…” The worker was shocked. “Young Master, do you mean…?”
“I’m looking for someone to appraise this jade annulus, of course. I think that there might be a problem with the year of origin of this jade annulus,” Tang Hao said with a smile.
Everyone was shocked when they heard that.
Then, they burst out laughing.
‘What a joke! He’s just a young newbie, and he doesn’t trust Spirit Atelier’s appraisal?
‘What would he know? Does he want to get a second opinion from a master appraiser? That would only be wasting his money and the appraiser’s time!’
They guessed that most master appraisers would not accept the offer.
“I think that’ll be a little tricky, Young Master!” The worker said with some difficulty.
“The appraiser just wants money, right? I’m offering a hundred thousand yuan. Do you think that’s enough?” Tang Hao said calmly.
“Well…” The worker was at a loss for words.
The customers in the hall also looked incredulous.
The jade annulus cost 80,000 yuan, but the kid was spending 100,000 yuan to hire an appraiser! Did the kid have too much money and did not know where to spend it?
“Is that not enough?”
The worker hesitated, then said, “Please wait a moment, Young Master. I’ll go ask the boss. He’ll have to agree for it to be appraised.”
“Alright!” Tang Hao nodded.
The worker bowed, then went deeper into the store to look for the storekeeper.
