Riding the wind of rebirth

"I just went there yesterday. How do you think about the decoration of my place today?" Old John knew that Zhou Zhi was unlikely to buy anything, so he smiled and asked him for his opinion on today's decoration.

The same is true for thrift stores abroad, where they keep a store open for three years if they are closed for three years. However, for stores with sufficient inventory, they will regularly remove items on display and replace them with other inventory to keep regular customers feeling fresh.

At the same time, this is also a display of one's own strength.

"Very good." Zhou Zhi picked up an export porcelain plate and looked at it.

Although this type of export porcelain was only exported to earn foreign exchange in the 1980s, the actual firing time is often earlier, and there is a ten-year gap in between.

In other words, many of the porcelains that flowed out of Jingdezhen in the 1980s were actually fired and stored in inventory in the 1960s or even the 1950s. It was just that they were too "expensive" for Chinese people before. Generally, a department store only displayed one or two sets. Except for the Capital Friendship Store and a limited number of foreign-related hotels, there was basically no market for them.

There are many fine pieces among this batch of porcelain, especially those created by several masters who have been famous since the Republic of China after the founding of the People's Republic of China. Their value is also very high in later generations.

For example, several of the famous Eight Friends of Zhushan, and those who were selected to receive art training at the Central Academy of Fine Arts because of their outstanding skills after the founding of the People's Republic of China, and then returned to the factory to create.

"This kind of plate is actually quite special." Old John looked at a Huangshan scenery plate in Zhou Zhi's hand and said, "Here, we prefer the animal and flower themes you created."

"If you like this plate, I can give you a 30% discount."

Zhou Zhi smiled and shook his head, then put the plate back. "I don't need this. Although the picture is beautiful, it lacks the sense of time. I prefer things with an old-fashioned flavor."

"George, your taste is indeed quite unique." Old John thought to himself that if it were not so, he would not know how long he would have to keep those porcelains with neither outstanding painting nor glaze. "Then, George, are you interested in the Persian-style porcelains?"

In fact, Persian porcelain also has its own unique features. The use of blue and white background is earlier than that of China. After all, Persian porcelain is the authentic origin of Sumaliqing.

However, with the exception of some special cases in the batch that was custom-made and shipped from China, most of the patterns on Persian porcelain were complex and symmetrical, expressing the beauty of geometry rather than the traditional natural beauty of the East, which did not suit Zhou Zhi's preferences.

So Zhou Zhi still shook his head: "Thank you, Old John, I have no interest in Persian porcelain. Okay, I'll go to another store to have a look."

When Zhou Zhi walked out of the store, before he took a few steps forward, Old John suddenly caught up with him and said, "George, there is an auction at the customs. I wonder if you are interested."

"What auction?" Zhou Zhi asked.

"It's an auction where the customs handles goods regularly." Old John said, "You know, we have the world's largest and busiest airport and seaport here. Every year, a large amount of goods are stranded at the airport and seaport for various reasons."

"It's impossible for all these things to be stored in the warehouse. Every once in a while, the customs will take out the items that have reached their preservation period and auction them off."

"Aren't the goods at the customs varied?" Zhou Zhi was a little curious: "If they conduct classified auctions, do they have so many people?"

"You hit the nail on the head." Old John's mouth curled up slightly. "So the customs couldn't have opened every box to inspect the goods and determine the value before starting the auction. They adopted an extremely irresponsible approach." "What approach?"

"We'll auction them by the box," Old John said. "From large containers to large packaging boxes, they will simply scan the items they think are not valuable and send them to the auction. Everyone will bid, and the highest bidder will win. Whether the items sold in the end are profitable or not depends entirely on fate."

"Isn't this a bit too much of a gamble?" Zhou Zhi found it incredible: "Is it just pure blind guessing?"

"It's not a completely blind guess," Old John said. "For example, they will open the container door for everyone to see, but the things inside are often carefully sealed, so we can only make inferences based on some clues that are revealed."

"However, the packaging of porcelain and glassware is usually shockproof," said Old John. "It is relatively friendly to us, but we can only determine whether it is new or old based on the small clues on the packaging."

"I buy tickets for the auction every year. If you are interested, I can take you to have a look. However, according to the rules of the industry, I will charge you 3% of the transaction price as a commission. How about it?"

"But how did you know there would be porcelain at today's auction?" Zhou Zhi asked.

"Young man, the United States is a country that excites adventurers." Old John spread his hands and said, "If everyone thought like you, the Mayflower would not have set sail until today."

“Hahahaha…” Zhou Zhi was happy: “Old John, you have successfully aroused my curiosity. Let’s go and take a look.”

Old John took Zhou Zhi into his car, and the two drove quickly towards the airport.

Along the way, Old John introduced to Zhou Zhi that there are two places where the customs handles expired stranded items, one at the seaport and the other at the airport.

Things at the seaport are in bulk, often measured by containers, with a high total price, large quantity and low unit price. Generally, those who go to buy them are large stores with wide channels.

The items at the airport are much smaller than those at the seaport. Although the number of items inside is small, the unit price is often higher. Therefore, the total price of an item is actually not cheap if many people are interested in it.

The service at American airports is quite poor. Many pieces of luggage have been stored for decades before they are taken out for auction. Therefore, it is a natural fit for old shops like the one opened by Old John to go shopping. The luggage, which were not originally old items, have been stored for decades. For Americans, whose country's history is not too long, they naturally become antiques.

Different antique dealers would exchange items they found with each other. Old John talked about his own highlight moment. He once took a photo of the luggage left behind by an Indian and found a snake-shaped dagger inside it. The dagger itself was made of Damascus steel with a lost technology in the shape of a snake. The handle and scabbard were inlaid with red and green sapphires with gold, and the top of the scabbard was decorated with a teardrop-shaped Kashmir cornflower sapphire.

The sapphire alone was worth as much as 30,000 US dollars, and the dagger was finally sold at the China Guardian auction house for 560,000 US dollars.

While Zhou Zhi was complimenting Old John on his luck, he was sighing in his heart that even Indian handicrafts were more famous than Chinese artworks in the international market.

Not to mention anything else, the pair of Qianlong dragon and phoenix ear enamel vases with holes that Zhou Zhi found in front of Old John's store would not be worth less than this sapphire dagger, and any one of the several official kiln Kangxi multicolored porcelains he found in his warehouse should not be worth less than this number.

But it was thanks to this that Zhou Zhi had the opportunity to pick up a big bargain. Thinking of this, it’s time to say Amitabha. (End of this chapter)