Year: I had a good time when I was young

Chapter 763 761 Poaching officially begins filming

After looking at the Ge kiln vase, Chu Xiangqian's eyes were once again set on another pink-glazed Fu Shou Lu jade huchun vase.

At just one glance, this thing looked 100% real, but Chu Xiangqian had seen so many treasures that he always felt that there was something wrong with the shape of this jade huchun vase.

But after watching it again for several minutes, I still couldn't figure out what was wrong.

Helplessly, Chu Xiangqian stopped hesitating. When he picked up the bottle and looked at the amount on the bottom, the sound of +23 gold coupons rang in his mind.

Then I saw the inscription on the bottom was "Made in the Yongzheng period", and I instantly realized that this jade huchun vase was definitely an imitation of the official kiln in the middle and late Qing Dynasty.

Otherwise, even if this famille rose vase cannot reach the level of a national treasure in this era, it is still a rare treasure among fine products.

Moreover, decades later, the number of antiques that experienced the ten-year special period has decreased significantly, and this famille rose vase is a veritable national treasure-level porcelain.

It is absolutely impossible to just add twenty or so gold coupons.

Chu Xiangqian had the answer in his mind, but when he looked at the pastel bottle again, the more he looked at it, the more he felt that something was wrong.

And the more I have the answer in my mind, the more I look for the problem and find several things wrong in a moment.

Putting down the famille rose vase, he looked at Lei Luo, Lan Gang, Fei Bo and Bai Fanyu with a regretful expression on his face and shook his head, saying, "What a pity, what a pity, this famille rose vase is an imitation of the Yongzheng famille rose vase from the official kiln in the middle and late Qing Dynasty.

The stuff is not fake, and the craftsmanship is so great that I almost misjudged it myself."

Having said that, Chu Xiangqian did not intend to let it go.

It's not that he wants to cheat people with this pastel bottle, but holding this thing in his hand and playing with it from time to time will also be good for his eyesight.

In the future, when my children and grandchildren become interested in antiques, this pastel bottle will be a great tool for them to broaden their horizons.

Besides, the imitation is so good and it is an official kiln product, so its future value will not be low.

Since I have encountered it myself, there is no reason to leave it to Renault and the other two.

Lei Luo and Bai Fanyu couldn't help but look at each other secretly, and they were full of admiration for Chu Xiangqian.

I have consulted several masters before, but they just couldn't confirm whether this famille rose bottle was an imitation or a genuine Yongzheng official kiln product.

Chu Xiangqian said the same thing now, and he was only in his early twenties. Compared with those antique shop owners and collectors who had been dealing with antiques all their lives, he was naturally more talented and had better vision.

Chu Xiangqian's mind was now entirely focused on the remaining two pieces of calligraphy and paintings, so he had no time to care about what Bai Fanyu and Lei Luo, the father-in-law and son-in-law, thought.

Because the calligraphy and paintings were rolled up, Chu Xiangqian could only spread them out by himself. However, as soon as he started reading, one of them rang out 82 gold coupons, while the other only rang out 79 points.

After Chu Xiangqian finished reading it, he immediately burst into laughter.

Lei Luo, Lan Gang, Fei Bo and Bai Fanyu were confused. Bai Fanyu knew that Chu Xiangqian was usually easy to talk to, and he was curious.

He hurriedly asked, "Ah Chu, is there something wrong with these two paintings?"

Chu nodded, then shook his head, which made Baifanyu and the other three even more confused.

Then Chu Xiangqian asked, "Does the master think that these two paintings are imitations made by later generations?"

Bai Fanyu didn't bother to hide it and nodded hurriedly, "Actually, I bought these two paintings in 52 from an old man who moved south from Shanghai and settled in Hong Kong Island.

I asked someone to take a look at it at the time, and he said that it would be worth even 20 large yellow croakers, let alone 20 small ones.

All these years, I have always believed it to be authentic.

But this time, when I took them out, an old master said that these two paintings were probably imitations.”

Chu Xiangqian smiled and nodded. Just as he was about to give the answer, something suddenly occurred to him. He looked at Bai Fanyu and asked, "Didn't you ask who these two paintings belong to?"

Bai Fanyu was stunned and shook his head in confusion, then saw Chu Xiangqian's face suddenly darken.

Lei Luo and the others immediately knew that there was a problem, and it was related to the father-in-law. Lei Luo couldn't help but ask anxiously, "Mr. Chu, please don't keep us in suspense."

Chu Xiangqian nodded, "These two landscape paintings by Shi Tao are definitely imitations by Daqian. Even if the price is not as high as Shi Tao's originals, the master who appraised Uncle Bai's paintings was right."

These two paintings were definitely worth 20 large yellow croakers back then.

Now, I still have $20,000 or $30,000.”

Twenty to thirty thousand U.S. dollars is equivalent to 8 to 12 Hong Kong dollars at the current exchange rate. However, the antique master who came to show Lei Luo the antiques did not say that the painting was an imitation of Daqian. There is an 8% chance that he has bad intentions and has set his sights on these two paintings.

At that time, Daqian had become internationally famous after he was selected as a great painter of the world by the New York International Art Society in 57.

In recent years, he has held art exhibitions in many foreign countries, and his fame has further expanded. It is common for a painting to cost ten or twenty thousand dollars.

It is understandable that the master had evil intentions.

However, Chu Xiangqian thought again and realized that there were actually many imitations of Daqian's works. Famous artists of all dynasties had imitated his works, and there were at least hundreds of imitations of Shitao alone.

Even Mr. Beihong, an authority on Shi Tao's paintings, made a mistake and suffered a loss on a Shi Tao imitation.

The master who appraised the painting for Lei Luo and Bai Fanyu felt that there was something wrong with the painting, which seemed reasonable.

But Chu Xiangqian thought again, since Mr. Beihong made a mistake, then since the master thought it was a copy, his eyesight must be very good.

In addition, the fact that Daqian imitated the works is no longer a secret in the circle.

After all, he has been famous for a long time, and the master's imitation is just a copy, which has a high value in itself, so it cannot be considered a fake.

If it were a painter who never went out, the outcome would be different.

Since it was no secret to people in the circle, and the chef clearly saw the problem but didn't tell Bai Fanyu, it was impossible for Chu Xiangqian not to have wild thoughts.

Bai Fanyu started to curse after hearing this, but after cursing for a while, he took a deep breath, showed an ugly smile and said to Chu Xiangqian, "Since they are good things, then these two paintings are the thank-you gifts from uncle to you."

Chu Xiangqian glanced at Renault and saw that his face was livid. He knew that the father-in-law and son-in-law would definitely make trouble for the appraiser afterwards.

If the other party doesn't give a reasonable explanation, your life might be over.

But Chu Xiangqian didn't care about the master's ending. No matter if he had some bad intentions or just saw the problem, he didn't know what went wrong.

It has nothing to do with me.

Then Chu Xiangqian looked towards the shelves in the basement where antiques were stored.

Lei Luo knew what Chu Xiangqian meant. The total value of these two paintings, a Ge kiln and an imitation Yongzheng famille rose vase should be more than 50 Hong Kong dollars.

Even a Ge kiln bottle alone could easily fetch tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars if it were taken to an auction in Neon.

But in Hong Kong Island, it might be only 200,000 or 300,000. Otherwise, there wouldn't be so many wealthy Japanese businessmen who send people to Hong Kong Island to participate in auctions all year round.

So Lei Luo had no idea of ​​the true value of the Ge kiln bottle. In addition, more than half of the 40 Gurkha mercenaries were killed or injured for the three chief Chinese detectives.

Even though Lei Luo and the other two gave compensation for casualties, and the surviving Gurkha mercenaries also received bonuses, it was unreasonable for Chu Xiangqian and Linda not to give any reward when so many of their men were killed or injured.

Lei Luo smiled helplessly, "Mr. Chu, many of the things here were sent by Lan Gang and Fei Bo. If you like, the three of us can give them all to you as a thank you gift."

Now it was Chu Xiangqian's turn to be in trouble.

If you take everything, you will appear too greedy and it will be embarrassing.

Chu Xiangqian thought about it and decided to buy it with his own money. Lei Luo, Lan Gang and Fei Bo were not short of money either. If one or two million Hong Kong dollars were divided among the three of them, it would be even less.

Not only do they not want it, they also look down on them.

Fortunately, Chu Xiangqian has always been quick-witted.

In just a moment, an idea came to my mind.

He smiled and said, "My people found another white tiger in the old forest in the north. I will contact London and give it to Norton in your name. What do you think?"

Lei Luo, Lan Gang and Fei Bo were overjoyed after hearing this. Although Norton was still a young man, his grandfather was the commander-in-chief of the three armies.

Moreover, he and Philip are uncle and nephew, so in Lei Luo's view, Norton is a royal relative.

If you have the chance to get in touch with him, if anything happens in the future, even if you have to give him money, there will be a way to solve most of the troubles.

So Lei Luo, Lan Gang and Fei Bo nodded and agreed without hesitation.

Chu Xiangqian was secretly delighted and talked to Lei Luo and others about Norton's personality, habits and other unimportant information, while looking at the various antiques on the shelves one by one.

As for Bai and Hu, they had to be given to Philip as a reward for Ge Bai's obtaining the title of knight.

In the end, no matter whose name it was sent in, Chu Xiangqian only needed to find an excuse that he did not want to show up, and then pass it to Philip through Norton. Philip would definitely not care.

As for the matters between Norton and Lei Luo, Fei Bo and Lan Gang, Chu Xiangqian didn't need to explain them to Norton. The boy would imagine on his own that Lei Luo and the other two became Chu Xiangqian's white gloves.

From now on, Norton will pay much more attention to Lei Luo and the other two than before.

This indirectly made Lei Luo and the other two believe that they really had a relationship with Norton.

After looking at hundreds of antiques on five shelves, Chu Xiangqian became more and more satisfied.

Although porcelain, calligraphy and paintings from the Ming and Qing dynasties are not considered precious in this era, the more than one hundred antiques that Lei Luo and the other two feel are worth showing off are naturally not bad.

These hundreds of pieces are worth at least 200,000 or 300,000 Hong Kong dollars, but after the new millennium, it would be no problem for their value to increase by hundreds or thousands of times.

Of course, Chu Xiangqian knew that he would be old in a few decades, and no matter how many antiques he had, they would no longer be important to him.

But if you consider collecting antiques as an investment, it is indeed a high-return project.

Besides, I have my own Novice Village, so I don’t have to worry about the items getting damaged or being stolen if I keep them in the warehouse.
-
After having lunch at Lei Luo's house at noon, Chu Xiangqian drank a glass with Chen Xijiu who toasted him, and suddenly remembered the brothers Huang Qifa and Huang Bingyao who worked under Chen Xijiu.

These two guys may not look that great now, but the fact that Wong Bing-yao will be able to become director in the future shows that he has considerable ability, luck and opportunities.

Since he was planning to place some personnel into the mobile force, he might as well test the quality of these two brothers.

If the ability to do things is really good, Chu Xiangqian wouldn't mind having two subordinates.

And there are actually many benefits to being in a mobile force.

Zhu Youzai has to come to give money every month. When the Independent Commission Against Corruption is established in the future, detectives of all sizes will either be arrested or abscond. The two Huang brothers who stay in the mobile force can easily avoid the future catastrophe.

Those two brothers will definitely be promoted in the police force in the future.

Chu Xiangqian will have his own people in the future and continue to stay in the police force.
-
A week later, the auction day finally arrived after being postponed for almost a month.

Chu Xiangqian drove his Rolls-Royce into the Kowloon Racecourse. Uncle Hai waited for him to get out of the car and immediately reported, "Boss, all preparations for the auction have been completed. We guarantee that there will be no mistakes in today's auction."

Chu Xiangqian still has great confidence in Uncle Hai's abilities. Besides, Zheng Shufen and Linda will assist him in the auction.

Chu Xiangqian naturally didn't need to worry about these trivial matters.

Around 8: in the morning, luxury cars began to enter the stables and were then taken into the indoor training grounds by the people at the stables.

The area that can be used as a horse racing training ground is not only large enough, but also allows buyers to go to the track in person and watch the racehorses to be auctioned up close.

Even if you want the racehorse to run a few laps, there are special stable boys, horse trainers, and riders to cooperate with you and actually ride the horse on the track to run one or two laps.

The auction officially started at 9: in the morning, and the first batch of items to be auctioned were naturally the most popular Arabian horses.

Because the number of horses being auctioned this time exceeds that of previous years, reaching a full 120 horses, it is impossible to auction them one by one.

Chu Xiangqian simply sold them in batches of 10.

This has led to many potential buyers having to join together and try their luck.

Selling 10 horses at a time also makes the auction extremely risky. What if two or three horses only look good on the outside but are not even qualified to race on the track?

Then you can only buy it back as a stud.

Although the price of a Arabian stallion is not low, it is still far less than that of a horse qualified to race on the track.

Therefore, many potential buyers were very cautious in bidding for the first batch of 10 Arabian horses.

Starting from 800 million US dollars, after more than a dozen buyers made offers, the price did not even reach 900 million.

However, those who are truly capable often do not bid so quickly.

When the price climbed to $950 million, someone directly offered $1000 million.

Buyers from Southeast Asia, Magnesium, and Europe immediately began to hesitate, calculating how many years it would take to earn back the $100 million price tag.

This scared more than 9% of the buyers at once.

When the auctioneer dropped the hammer, Chu Xiangqian couldn't help but break into a brilliant smile.

There are 40 Arabian horses this time. If the auction price is similar to the first round, these 40 horses can be sold for 4 million US dollars.

The result was similar to what Chu Xiangqian had estimated.

Although the market recognizes the quality of the horses auctioned at the Kowloon Racecourse, and in addition to Wuzhui winning the Triple Crown in the past two years, some Arabian horses have also won championships in their own countries on various horse racing tracks in various countries.

However, the market still positions the Arabian horse as a "strong competitor in speed races."

Since its fame and performance are not as good as those of purebred horses, buyers have always set the price of the Arabian horse at less than 100 million US dollars.

Chu Xiangqian had no good solution to this problem. Whether the status of the Arabian horse could be further improved still depended on the good results achieved by each Arabian horse on the track year after year.

(End of this chapter)