Chapter 7: Buddhist Statue

Cultural artifacts are cultural artifacts; the "culture" comes first, the "play" comes second.

Therefore, no matter what kind of object you encounter in the antique market, do not be surprised.

What Xiao Yuzhu found strange was the price: a town worker's monthly wage was 1,200 or 1,300, and migrant workers were even lower, averaging 800 or 900 per month.

Yet Lin Sicheng spent 400 yuan to buy a broken Chicken Feather Duster?

After looking for a long time, she blinked: "Senior Sister, is this thing very old?"

Li Zhen looked at it carefully: "The patina is very thick; it should have some years on it."

No matter how many years it has, it is still just a Chicken Feather Duster; how could it be worth 400?

Watching Lin Sicheng finish paying, Xiao Yuzhu stared at the duster: "Lin Sicheng, you're quite rich, aren't you?"

And quite good at being sarcastic?

Lin Sicheng smiled: "It's alright!"

Not expecting him to be so blunt, Xiao Yuzhu was choked up: "Why did you buy this?"

"To sweep the kang!"

Xiao Yuzhu was stunned, not knowing how to respond: he used to be quite aloof, why is he suddenly so funny?

Li Zhen curled the corners of her mouth, revealing a hint of a smile.

Another customer came to the stall, and the stall owner hurriedly piled on a smile: "Boss Chen, Teacher Sheng."

Not wanting to block others from doing business, Li Zhen and Xiao Yuzhu moved aside.

Lin Sicheng also turned around and squinted his eyes again.

Two middle-aged men were standing in front of the wood carving stall, one of whom he actually recognized: a quite famous collector in Xijing and an Expert in lacquerware appraisal.

He had the eye and the level, but his reputation was not very good: he often engaged in the business of "knowing the truth but appraising it as fake" or "knowing the fake but appraising it as true."

It seemed Li Zhen recognized him too, whispering with Xiao Yuzhu.

The two arrived at the stall, and the one in the suit pointed to a wood carving: "Teacher Sheng, it's that one!"

The stall owner hurriedly handed it over: "Teacher Sheng, please take a look!"

Teacher Sheng nodded and received it in his hands.

Lin Sicheng also took a glance: a Guan Gong statue carved from longan wood, about twenty centimeters high. The style was very rugged, and one could tell at a glance it was the axe-hewing method of the Xiangyuan School.

But the wood grain was clear, not lacking in roundness and delicacy.

Looking closer, the whole body was purplish-red, the color very deep, yet it revealed a hint of gray light.

Under normal circumstances, a wood carving would only have this kind of gray "ancient decay" after being passed down for over a hundred years, but this one definitely was not.

First, it was too bright; second, the wood grain was too deep; third, the gray light was too shallow; it was clearly artificially aged.

This Teacher Sheng should be able to tell.

Sure enough, Teacher Sheng first looked, then touched, then tapped, and then smelled it.

Finally, he dipped a bit of saliva and wiped it on the wood carving, tasted it with his tongue, and his brows immediately furrowed: "When did you acquire this?"

The stall owner hurriedly replied: "I acquired it when my old father was still alive, it's been almost ten years!"

"Oh~ the item is alright!"

Although Teacher Sheng said it was alright, he returned the wood carving.

The expression of that Boss Chen changed: was the item not right?

The stall owner was stunned for a moment, then hurriedly squeezed out a smile: "Why don't you take a look at others, like this Guanyin Statue, or this female Buddhist statue; they were all acquired by me from the Snow Region. I've had people look at them, they are at least from the Ming Dynasty!"

Teacher Sheng examined them, shaking his head at each one: "This one is too new; the small one is indeed quite old, but this is not Tibetan script!"

Immediately, the stall owner's face fell.

Lin Sicheng held back his laughter: he didn't succeed in cheating the first time, yet he wanted to cheat a second time; it would be strange if the other party didn't call him out.

The lines on the Guanyin Statue were as dense as a spider web, the pigment scorched; no matter how you looked at it, it was fake.

The one without clothes was indeed quite real, but that was clearly Mongolian script; you insist on saying it was acquired from the Snow Region?

Expert Sheng just had a bad reputation, not bad eyesight?

Wait, the one without clothes?

And it was Mongolian script?

Lin Sicheng's eyes lit up. After the stall owner sent the two away with a dark face, he pointed: "Boss, bring that Buddhist statue over for me to take a look."

"Swish," light appeared in the stall owner's eyes: "Which one?"

A guy who dares to buy a broken Chicken Feather Duster for 400, shouldn't a Buddhist statue sell for tens of thousands to him?

"The one you just pointed out to Teacher Sheng, that small female Buddhist statue!"

"Hey, alright, alright..." the stall owner responded, carefully holding it over, "Young man, let me tell you, this was honestly acquired from Hong Shan in Lhasa. So don't look at it as a remnant; at auction, it would be at least hundreds of thousands..."

Lin Sicheng just smiled happily. After looking at it back and forth twice, he held up one finger: "One thousand!"

The boss showed a difficult expression. Before he could even open his mouth, Lin Sicheng shoved the wood carving back into his hand: "If you won't sell, forget it!"

"This is an Esoteric Buddhist Statue!"

It was indeed an Esoteric Buddhist Statue, but the stall owner was just spouting nonsense and hit the mark by accident. Otherwise, such an item wouldn't be on the stall.

Lin Sicheng shook his head and turned to leave. The stall owner grabbed his arm: "Hey, this young man... one thousand is one thousand!"

Lin Sicheng took the statue and took out his wallet.

The stall owner took the money, beaming with joy: "Young man, take a look at this big one too!"

Lin Sicheng didn't even lift his head, his voice lower: "Fire-roasted!"

The stall owner was stunned: even that Teacher Sheng only said it was new?

The stall owner was also certain: Teacher Sheng only guessed, but didn't know why it was new.

This young man, on the other hand, hit the nail on the head in one sentence?

Wishing to argue a point but lacking the confidence, the stall owner squeezed out another smile: "You're joking; why not take a look at this Guan Gong statue instead? It's definitely an antique over a hundred years old; I've had it for nearly ten years since I acquired it."

Lin Sicheng looked helpless: You really are persistent, grabbing one sheep and shearing it to death?

He sighed, "You really dare to brag? When longan wood carvings are taken to the north, how could they not crack?"

The stall owner was completely stunned, his smile frozen on his face: That's right?

Longan is dried longan, its wood is dense and its grain fine, making it especially suitable for carving.

But because the south is humid and the north is dry, when longan wood carvings are taken to the north, they must have their temperature and humidity controlled, otherwise they will crack within two years.

Looking at this one at his feet again: let alone cracking, from top to bottom, there isn't even a trace of a crack.

And he himself had the nerve to say: acquired over ten years ago... if it had been sitting out in the open like this every day, it would have cracked into pieces long ago, wouldn't it?

He was both shocked and suspicious, suddenly looking up: where was there still any sign of that young man?

"What did you say to the boss to shock him like that?"

"I said my grandfather is an archaeology professor at Xida, so he shouldn't try to fool me!"

"Then why did you still get taken for a ride?"

Xiao Yuzhu pointed at the female Buddha statue in his hand, "That Expert Sheng couldn't even be bothered to look at it, yet you, on the other hand, spent a thousand yuan?"

"This is called value for money!"

"Where is the value?"

Lin Sicheng thought for a long time: he couldn't exactly say, my eyesight is super good, this thing is definitely worth money?

"At least it's quite unique; I'll put it by my bedside when I get back and take a look at it whenever I have nothing to do!"

"Pfft~"

Xiao Yuzhu let out a long sound, her face full of disdain.

It was indeed quite unique: the whole body was without a stitch of clothing, with only a ribbon hanging around the neck.

The carving was also extremely good, with protruding front and curved back; if you turned it over and looked from behind: every fold was a fold, every wrinkle a wrinkle, every strand a strand... vivid and lifelike...

The key was the expression: solemnity revealing a hint of temptation, austerity carrying a hint of lust...

She curled her lip: "Instead of looking at this, you might as well watch a movie."

Lin Sicheng was stunned for a moment.