A group of us managed to stay up until dawn and rushed to the police station without even eating breakfast. After we completed the formalities and agreed on a gathering place, I dispersed the people and went around in pairs to inquire about news.
There were only fifteen of us left, so naturally we couldn't be divided into equal groups. The extra Zhang Shu insisted on joining my group, so I had no choice but to keep her.
Others were going to the village, but I took Dong Xiaowei and Zhang Shu to the business district. I was carrying the bread and eating while walking, but Dong Xiaowei couldn't eat anything and followed me closely like a puppy that was afraid of getting lost: "Wang Huan, where are you going? ?Aren’t we going to find out the news from the villagers?”
Although Zhang Shu was also following me, he kept a certain distance from us. It wasn't until Dong Xiaowei spoke that she looked over to me.
"The villagers may not know as much as the people I'm looking for. You're right to follow me." I stuffed the last bite of bread into my mouth, bought a pair of white gloves from the stall, put them on my body, and took Dong Xiaowei and the others with me. Turned into an antique street.
I walked from the street to the end of the street, glanced at each store, then exited and went to the next one.
I'm always looking for antique stores. In the field of antiques, the bigger the store, the more authentic the items. In many stores with big doors and big doors, there is not even a single decent item. Only in old stores that have been passed down for a long time can you find genuine goods and get useful information.
I was almost at the corner when I stopped in front of an inconspicuous store. That store dealt in antiques and also had cultural toys. Most of the antique shelves were filled with high-quality fakes. It was precisely because of the excellent quality of those high imitation items that I chose this store.
When I walked into the store, the middle-aged owner was making tea. When he saw me coming in, he just said hello casually and continued playing with his teapot.
Anyone in the antique business knows that young people are the weakest consumer group in the antique industry. It’s not that young people don’t have money, but few people like these things, so the bosses don’t bother to talk to us.
I walked to the shelf with my hands behind my back, put on my gloves and picked up a vase.
"Hey..." The boss saw me taking things casually and was about to stop him, but he saw me wearing white gloves and couldn't help but stand up with a smile. "There are not many young people who know their way around now! Do you guys often play with antiques?"
I held the vase with my left hand, stretched out two fingers from my right hand, with the palm of my hand facing me, tapped the vase three times with my nails, and then put the vase back: "The boss's goods are good!"
After the boss was stunned for a moment, he immediately smiled: "It turns out you are an expert. Little brother, please sit down and try my tea ceremony."
What I just did is completely in accordance with the rules of the antique shop. That vase was a high imitation, and the place I tapped with my finger was exactly where the flaw in the high imitation was. This meant telling the boss: We are all in the same industry, and we should speak according to the rules of the industry. However, this action can easily be misunderstood by others as someone coming to pick up trouble. What I said next was to reassure the boss. It meant: I am here to get the goods, and there is no other meaning.
The boss handed me a tea cup and made a "please" gesture. I picked up the tea cup with both hands and gestured slightly to him.
I also use the hand gestures used in antique shops, which means to show respect. Although there are some differences between the north and the south in these old rules in antique shops, they can generally be understood. The boss immediately nodded with satisfaction: "My little brother is from the north? I wonder what you want to get back?"
I put down the tea cup and said, "The main reason I came here is to get some novel items back. It doesn't matter whether they are plain utensils or ritual utensils."
The boss asked with a strange expression: "Those things are not easy to deal with. Even if the little brother is brave and not afraid of getting into trouble, can he sell those things if he gets them?"
Most of the ritual utensils are unearthed, and private sales are illegal, so the boss naturally has to be cautious. If the boss doesn’t believe me, things will be difficult to handle later.
"The boss doesn't understand the market in our north. People nowadays like novel gadgets. The weirder the things, the more respectable they think they have. It's really hard to sell gadgets that everyone has." I said while talking. Thinking about how to deal with the boss. I looked at the boss's expression and it seemed that he was not convinced by what I said.
I hesitated for a while, then pretended not to take out the double fox holding moon bell, put it in my hand and played with it slowly. The boss's eyes suddenly lit up: "Little brother, can you show me your bell?"
I smiled and handed the fox bell over. The boss wiped his hands before putting on his gloves. He held the fox bell in his hand and looked at it carefully. He kept exclaiming: "What a good thing! A rare good thing! This little brother is worthy of being an expert in the industry." People!”
The boss looked at it for a long time before reluctantly returning the fox bell. The boss wisely didn't ask me if I wanted to use the fox bells, but he also dispelled my doubts - if I were really a policeman or an undercover agent, I wouldn't be holding a pair of fox bells to hide my identity. Even if the official could really come up with valuable fox bells to make props for me, they wouldn't have to deal with a small boss like him, and he wouldn't have to let the police invest such a huge cost.
The boss poured me tea again: "Little brother, what do you want?"
I said calmly: "You have to see the goods first to know, right?"
"That's right. Little brother, please come over here." The boss stood up and moved us to the back room. He took out several long swords from behind the counter and placed them on the table one by one: "Little brother, look at these few swords." How about something?"
Most of those swords were bronze swords, with only one or two iron swords. They seemed to be from the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. The only difference was the shape of the hilts. Most of the bronze sword hilts are in the shape of frogs, monkeys and snakes. A few of them are so damaged that their specific appearance cannot be seen, but they can be roughly inferred to be some kind of animal.
I picked up a bronze sword and observed it carefully for a while before saying, "This doesn't seem to be something from the Central Plains, right?"
During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, Yunnan had not yet been officially incorporated into the Chinese territory, and the smelting technology should not have reached the level of the Seven Heroes of the Warring States Period at that time. The bronze sword in my hand is extremely exquisitely forged, and I believe it is the standard weapon from Chu State that flowed into Yunnan. However, the Warring States Weapons did not cast the hilts into the shape of animals, so I am not sure about the origins of these swords.
The boss shook his head and smiled: "I can't say for sure. This is something that a few craftsmen fished out from the ancient city under Fuxian Lake. Whether it can be sold at a price depends on how the little brother makes up the story."
In the antique shop, it is common to make up stories to fool people. As long as you make up a good story about something that is originally inconspicuous, you might be able to sell it for a big price.
I put down the bronze sword and said: "The bronze sword is not valuable, and it is not easy to transport. I went all the way from Northeast to Yunnan, and it is not worth it to go back with so many things, isn't it?"
The boss thought for a while and then said: "I do have a heavy weapon, but I'm afraid you won't be able to take it off."
I folded my hands in front of my chest and said, "Since I dare to come here to get food, there is nothing I can't eat. Boss, can you open your eyes to me?"
The boss pulled out a photo from under the table and pushed it over: "Since the little brother came here to make a fortune, we should treat him with sincerity. If the little brother likes this thing, please show it clearly!"
After I reached out and turned the photo over, my eyes suddenly shrank. The photo is of a bronze vessel that looks like a tripod but not a tripod, and looks like a bottle but not a bottle. Judging from the area of the table it occupies, the height of the bronze vessel should be between one and a half to two feet, and the diameter of the bottom is about one foot. .
The entire bronze vessel is like a trumpet that opens from bottom to top. The upper part is like an umbrella and is held up upwards. The lower part is supported by several round columns supporting the lower end of the opening. The bottom part is like a goblet base. The same semi-curved copper base.
It is not surprising that there is a row of soldiers holding long swords carved on the copper base of the vessel. What is strange is that the direction of the soldiers' arrangement extends under the copper base and does not disappear until the edge of the copper base.
I said calmly: "Isn't this a complete thing?"
The boss raised his thumb and said: "What a good eye! This heavy weapon comes in a set of three. I am holding the middle part, and the other two parts are in the hands of my brother. As long as you can afford the price, I will take you there right away." Go see the goods."
I knew clearly that when there were important items in the antique shop, only photos were allowed to be seen, and no one was allowed to see the real thing. I would only take people over to see the items unless they were sure they were absolutely perfect, but I deliberately said, "What can you tell from this photo?"
The boss smiled and pushed over another photo. This photo was taken of the back of the bronze vessel, but not only was there no soldier there, there was also a ghost-faced mackerel lying on it.
"Ah—" Zhang Shu behind me screamed when he saw the shark. I quickly turned around and scolded: "Why are you shouting! I told you not to follow here, but you still have to come. This is the only thing that is obvious, there are all kinds of scary things. You are a shameful thing, get out of here."
I pushed Zhang Shu aside and didn't look at her again. I turned to look at the boss and asked, "Is this also fished from Fuxian Lake?"
The boss didn't hide it either: "All decent things come from Fuxian Lake, little brother, you don't have to doubt this."
I pointed at the mackerel and said, "What is this?"
The boss frowned and said: "This should be the Shark King in Fuxian Lake, and he is also the unique overlord in Fuxian Lake. We have many legends about the Shark King here. It is said that before the founding of the People's Republic of China, there were a few girls here. Throwing it into the lake as a sacrifice to King Shark."
My heart sank slightly, but my face remained calm as I said, "Is King Shark the God of the Lake?"
The famous Shark King in the river is not necessarily the lake god, the lake god may be someone else.
"There must be a lake god in Fuxian Lake. Let me tell you this!" the boss said, "There is a boundary fish stone between Fuxian Lake and Xingyun Lake. The Kanglang fish in Fuxian Lake and the big head fish in Xingyun Lake swim to the boundary. When there is a fish stone, everyone turns back. This is the famous saying here that 'two lakes intersect and fish do not come between each other'. It is because there are lake gods in each of the two lakes that the fish on both sides do not dare to cross the boundary."