Chapter 130 The Jade
Those three objects that had been passed several times
He Zhijun knew about.
But he wasn't concerned about it that much.
After all, they were only worth two or three million. It wouldn't hurt if they stayed unsold.
A general manager couldn't be bothered by trivial troubles like that.
But he didn't expect those three objects to be sold. And the buyers were standing in front of him.
Still, people were welcome to take them home.
Because it was a good thing for Wuji Group.
But what did you mean that you wanted them sold back to us?
"Mr. Ye, you said you want to sell it back to us? How come? Something wrong about the goods? You mean like, they are fake?"
He Zhijun frowned.
"No, no, Mr. He. Don't get me wrong. They are not fake. On the contrary, they are indeed rare treasures. And by selling them back to you, I didn't mean at the price where we got them. Uh, about the price, we can come to that later. Now, could you please summon in your appraisal experts!" Ye Chen explained.
"What? What do you need them for?" He Zhijun was puzzled.
In fact, he was not the only one who had no idea what was going on. Zhang Jingshan was clueless, too.
"Mr. He, rest assured. This is definitely a good thing for you. You only need to find your appraisal experts. You will have me to thank if you figure this out later, trust me."
Ye Chen changed his smile and stated seriously.
Yet his words sent He Zhijun into further confusion which was clearly demonstrated by his frown.
But seeing that he was with Zhang Jingshan,
He finally nodded in agreement, "Alright, I hope you could deliver."
After a phone call He Zhijun made,
several middle-aged and elderly people entered the meeting room.
"Mr. He, what's the matter?"
Several appraisal experts asked him the moment they set foot in.
He Zhijun shook his head and looked at Ye Chen, "Now that experts you wanted are here. Tell me what you need."
Ye Chen nodded.
and sat down on the sofa.
He reached out and picked up the wooden carving wrapped in the golden cloth that Zhang Jingshan had just placed on the coffee table.
After Ye Chen took off the cloth,
the appraisal experts immediately asked in amazement.
"Isn't it the wood carving from the Qing Dynasty?"
"The ornament in the palaces of the royals in the Qing Dynasty for auction? What's it doing back here?"
Listening to their puzzlement,
Ye Chen smiled slightly.
"Experts, please wait. I can explain. You are right. This is the decoration in the palaces of the royals in the Qing Dynasty. But it is worth way more than that!"
After saying that,
Ye Chen picked up the fruit knife on the coffee table.
"Mr. He, can I use this knife?"
"Go ahead!" He Zhijun nodded amid confusion.
Smiling,
Ye Chen put the wood carving down on the coffee table.
And then he looked at Zhang Jingshan again, "Jingshan, do you mind me cracking it open with this knife?"
"Eh... sure. Brother Ye, you can smash it if you want. You can do whatever you want with it."
Although he still didn't know what Ye Chen meant,
Zhang Jingshan still blurted out without hesitation.
"Cool!"
Ye Chen stopped talking.
Amid the puzzlement across the whole meeting room,
with the knife, Ye Chen found a very small crack in the wood carving,
which seemed to be from a previous dropping of it.
And then, he directed the tip of a knife at the crack and started to penetrate.
"No!"
"No!"
"What a waste! God, what a waste! It's good stuff"
Anyway, it was an ornament in the palaces of the royals of the Qing Dynasty. At least they are worth hundreds of thousands. If damaged, it would much be much less valuable!
Seeing this, the appraisal experts
shouted anxiously unanimously.
Even He Zhijun's face was trembling.
What the hell did this mad man want?
However, Ye Chen turned a deaf ear to their exclamation.
After the tip of the knife got plunged into about a centimeter, he slashed hard to the side.
Hiss...
The scraps suddenly rose.
But to everyone's surprise, the scraps were clearly not from wood.
They seemed to be from the pulp around a jade.
"This..."
At this time, the faces of the appraisal experts all changed drastically.
Because they all saw a seam where Ye Chen slashed the carving with the fruit knife.
That seam was obviously not by Ye Chen. It was already there originally.
Combined with the pulp scraps falling around the seam.
They were sure that there must be something in it!
But Ye Chen didn't wait for it to sink in.
He followed the seam, turned the other side of the wood carving, and continued to scratch it with the tip of the knife.
Hiss
Hiss
Hiss
Three seams appeared.
The wood carving, if seen through these four seams, appeared to be a box.
Ignoring people's reaction,
Ye Chen squeezed one end of the wooden carving box and broke it with force.
"Click."
The wood carving box was instantly divided into two.
Inside it,
a crystal-clear jade made its stunning appearance.
Even if it was not an antique, just the appearance of this piece of jade was worth at least several million!
"OMG"
"This, how is this possible?"
There was such a huge surprise behind this piece of woodcarving in the Qing Dynasty?
"No, no, this wood carving has been in our hands for a long time. How could we have no idea about this before!"
In an instant,
the appraisers exclaimed in disbelief.
It seemed that they were overwhelmed by what they were seeing.
"Ye, Brother Ye... What's going on here?"
Zhang Jingshan was so shocked by this scene that his stammered.
"It's known that Empress Dowager Cixi's love for jade is unprecedented. That's why jade went extremely popular during that period, especially among the officials. One would feel proud to obtain a jade of high quality already, and it would be a supreme honor to be rewarded one by the Empress Dowager Cixi."
"And it is said that during that period, Cixi would occasionally reward jade of lower quality to government officials. Rumor has it that Cixi's rewards were divided into two levels. One was that the jade was wrapped in yellow cloth, and the other placed in a box. The box was made of Phoebe shearer mostly used in the palace with some drawings and texts engraved on it."
"However, this latter kind of reward can be seen not publicly, but in private. So, there is very little historical research on it. And it is said that only jades that were highly valued by Cixi could be rewarded in the fancy box. That means only a few distinguished officials are entitled to it."
"Originally, this was about a great honor for the whole family. But it is said that some officials who accidentally broke or lost the jade rewarded got themselves into serious troubles. Since then, whoever was rewarded, they valued the jade more than their lives. As you can imagine, especially those who got the wooden carving box..."
"And then, for this reason, they had to find skilled craftsmen to seal the box. In order to avoid accidentally knocking the box over and breaking the jade or losing it."
"Therefore, when I saw the wood carving box at the Wuji auction, I was almost sure that was it. Fortunately, I didn't meet with disappointment."
Ye Chen explained eloquently.
Actually, his explanation was the research result of scholars in his previous life.
Ye Chen was just repeating what he heard before.
After hearing what Ye Chen said,
those appraisal experts and He Zhijun were all dumbfounded.
"So, you cracked open the box to sell this jade back to Wuji Group?"
After coming to, He Zhijun asked suddenly.