At five o'clock in the evening, when Jenkins got off work, another customer actually walked into the store. It was a tall middle-aged man wearing a wide-brimmed hat, and the collar of his windbreaker was turned up to cover his profile.
His body was tightly wrapped in clothes, and even his hands were covered with white gloves. Even if Winter's Tail is still on Nolan, such a dress is extremely inappropriate.
"Welcome to Papa's Antiques."
Jenkins said, but it was Dad who went to greet the guests. Generally speaking, the customers dressed in this picture are here to sell stolen goods or resell goods that are not easy to sell.
But such deals typically take place after the sun goes down, when Jenkins is off work, rather than on a Wednesday evening, when the streets are bustling with people.
"What do you need?"
Seeing the customer approaching the counter, the old man asked softly. But the visitor did not answer directly, but lifted the windbreaker to reveal the things hidden inside.
The lifted clothes just blocked Jenkins' vision, preventing him from seeing what it was. But since such a transaction method is adopted, the item he wants to sell must not be from a legitimate source.
Jenkins curled his lips and stood a little further away. Stores similar to Papa's Antique Store, most of them will buy some shady things within a reasonable range. Of course, the price will be correspondingly very low.
Pop wouldn't let Jenkins get involved in such a deal just yet, because he was still only an apprentice. And usually when someone comes to resell illegal items, they will not choose Jenkins' working hours. This is the first time he has seen such a person this year.
Blinking his eyes, the red aura surprised the young apprentice:
"Ordinary people, but that's a numbered item. This is my first day at work after the Skull Sword... what a coincidence?"
The old man had already taken out his monocle, and told Jenkins to bring the portable gas lamp that provided the light to the counter. After connecting the gas lamp with the gas pipe protruding from the wall with a special gas pipe, the dazzling light came from the lamp radiate out.
The old man put on the gloves, then lowered his head and inspected carefully.
It was a rusty silver-white nut. Those rust marks were not like the traces of the nut itself being corroded, but like foreign objects clinging to the nut itself. Although Jenkins stood farther away, he could still see the engraved pattern on the nut.
Considering that this is obviously a product after the steam industry, and the inscription on it is ancient, once it is identified as an antique, its value will be incalculable.
After obtaining the permission of the mysterious guest, Dad simply cleaned the surface of the nut with water and a small brush. Then he asked Jenkins to go to the back of the warehouse to bring a thick ancient Chinese translation dictionary, and tried to translate the small words on the nut against the dictionary.
This inspection lasted for nearly half an hour, during which the three people in the store did not speak. Both the father and the guest were staring at the nut, while Jenkins was wiping the shelf unconsciously with a rag while looking wistfully at the crowd in the mist outside the window.
"Should I find time to ask Hathaway or Britney out on a date?"
He couldn't make up his mind, and since the two girls had expressed their intentions, he couldn't be silent. It's just that Hathaway and Britney both asked to hide their relationship with Jenkins from each other, which caused Jenkins to be very embarrassed about his position.
"Guest, can you explain the origin of this item?"
Dad's voice came from behind, and Jenkins took a rag and pretended to get closer unintentionally.
"When sorting out my father's belongings, I dug up some buried old things in the basement of his house. Those antiques were appraised and sent to the auction house. This was dug up when I checked the basement again yesterday."
This sentence is a lie, but it is also normal. After all, it is absolutely impossible for a customer who comes to sell things with this appearance to tell the true origin of the goods, but this lie is too perfunctory.
In fact, the old man didn't care what he said, he handed the nut back to the guest, and then took off the gloves slowly.
"The nuts are modern and worthless. The ancient characters on them are of some research value, and I don't know who carved them so leisurely. It's not easy... 4 shillings."
Jenkins paused as he wiped his non-existent right hand, but soon resumed pointlessly wiping the shelves.
"Four pounds."
"Are you kidding? Jenkins, don't be lazy, I noticed you've been parked there, that piece of wood is going to be polished!"
While talking, the old man put away the utensils used for identification just now. He showed an attitude of not caring, which is one of the means of negotiating the price.
"Three pounds, it can't be lower."
The guest's voice was particularly dull, a falsetto that was disguised.
"Three shillings."
"..."
Jenkins held back a smile and continued to clean the shelves. Although it hadn't been in normal business for a long time, the shelves were still clean, and he had already wiped them after lunch.
"Sir, let's stop haggling. Twelve shillings, if you want to sell it to me, we'll do it; if you're not satisfied with the price, you can go to another store, and Dad can assure you, it's a good deal." It is definitely the best price you can get in Nolan."
A lot of force was deliberately used when closing the counter drawers, so that the sound of the collision was just right louder.
The guest was silent for a few seconds, and then decisively threw the nut on the counter. The old man shook his head with a helpless look, opened the drawer again and started counting the money.
It wasn't until the bell rang at the door and the customer who sold the nut left that Jenkins came back to the counter. Dad has already taken a red velvet box, put the nut in the box, and then rummaged through the files to write a report.
"I remember that today is Wednesday, and you are going to the church to give an evening class. Wait a while before leaving, and send this item and the report to the special item management center of the church for me."
"no problem."
Jenkins was not surprised that his father knew that it was a special item, but he was actually more curious about the purpose of that nut.
It's just that if no number matching the characteristics can be found in the data, the identification process of the church will be very long. Every new item assigned a number needs to go through a rigorous process of identification, experimentation and proofreading, which is complicated but really important.
It was five-forty past five when Dad finished his report, and he handed Jenkins the flat case with the nuts and the report in a file bag.