Chapter 3065: Perfect Props

Having spent so many years in the antique street, Zhang Ermao's various channels and connections were indeed beyond what an average person could compare to. However, there were many high-end resources among them that he had known about previously but had never been able to integrate into.

For instance, the master craftsmen who specialized in manufacturing high-end counterfeit antiques often dealt with antique dealers who possessed major clients and held relatively high social and industry status.

They simply looked down on small-time characters like the Zhang Ermao of the past.

Even if the Zhang Ermao of that time could find them, they wouldn't have even spared him a glance.

If these people were major drug lords, then Zhang Ermao was, at best, a small-time punk wandering around nightclubs, peddling ecstasy pills everywhere.

But the current Zhang Ermao was no longer who he used to be.

He was Master Hong Wu's strategist, and his connections and status in Jin Ling far exceeded those of ordinary people. So, when he called one of these veteran master craftsmen, the other party was even somewhat flattered and invited Zhang Ermao to his studio to visit and talk in detail.

Consequently, Zhang Ermao drove over with Xiao Changkun.

The other party's so-called studio was actually a den for counterfeiting, aging, and secondary processing of cultural relics and antiques.

Because this line of work could not see the light of day, the location chosen for the den was also very intriguing.

This place was in a village under a highway bridge, and furthermore, if one walked two steps forward out of the village, they would be in the neighboring Hui Zhou Province.

Zhang Ermao felt that Xiao Changkun's Rolls-Royce Cullinan would be far too conspicuous going to such a rural-urban fringe area, so he drove his own car and took Xiao Changkun there.

Don't look at the fact that the village was right next to the highway bridge; both the front and back highway exits were seven or eight kilometers away from the village. So, after they got off the highway and drove for quite a while on the bumpy, narrow county road, they finally arrived at the entrance of the village.

At this moment, at the entrance of the village, a man in his forties with a long beard was already waiting respectfully.

Seeing Zhang Ermao arrive, he greeted him and said to Zhang Ermao, "Brother Ermao, you're here! Just park the car at the village entrance; we'll walk in. It's not far, just a few hundred meters."

Zhang Ermao nodded, parked the car on the side of the road, and said to Xiao Changkun, "President Xiao, let's get out."

Xiao Changkun hurriedly lowered his voice and said, "Don't call me President Xiao. The more low-key we are with this kind of thing, the better. When you introduce me in a moment, just say my surname is Han."

After speaking, he hurriedly spat, "Pah, pah, pah, what the hell Han, just say my surname is Murong, and I'm an antique dealer from Su Hang."

Zhang Ermao nodded repeatedly, "Understood, Mr. Murong, right?"

"Right!" Xiao Changkun smiled with satisfaction, "Compound surnames are impressive; it sounds like it carries a bit of a badass vibe."

After the agreement was made, the two pushed the doors open and got out of the car. That man was already waiting respectfully not far away.

Seeing the two get out of the car, he hurriedly greeted them and said with a smile, "Please follow me, the two of you."

Zhang Ermao looked at the surrounding environment and cursed, "I say, Teacher Cheng, the place you chose is too far, and the road is hard to travel. The road into the village is narrow as hell, and there are always people parking their cars on the side of the road. Just this stretch into the village took a hell of a lot of effort."

The man called Teacher Cheng smiled and said, "Brother Ermao, you might not know, but we chose this place on purpose. And those two who were parked on the side of the road when you came in just now were also arranged by us. This way, when sitting in a car, whoever it is has to slow down. Our people also have a chance to observe what kind of background the other party has. If it happens to be the police or plainclothes officers, they can quietly send us a message, and we can just bolt."

Zhang Ermao suddenly realized and exclaimed, "You guys are really cautious!"

"That's right," the other party introduced, "In our line of work, it's too easy to offend people. There are always those who have been swindled or lost money and have an unbalanced mentality, seeking revenge on us or calling the police to arrest us. We have to guard against this. The biggest advantage of choosing this kind of place is that it's easy to hide and hard to find or catch."

As he spoke, he pointed to the highway bridge not far away and explained to Zhang Ermao, "Actually, the fastest way to get here is not to drive off the highway and then turn onto the country road, but to park on the side of the highway bridge where the relative height is lower, and then climb over the fence to get here. Since it's your first time here, I was afraid you wouldn't find the place. Actually, our old customers basically all walk down from the highway."

Subsequently, the other party continued, "There is only one road into the village that cars can travel on, with two entrances, one in the south and one in the north. Ordinary people looking at a map would definitely think that blocking the front and back would be like catching a turtle in a jar. But actually, if someone really comes to the door, we don't even need to leave the village. The brothers on the road will delay them for a while by pretending to pass them, and during this gap, we climb onto the highway bridge and leave."

Zhang Ermao asked in surprise, "You climb onto the highway from here and walk?"

"That wouldn't do," the other party said with a chuckle, "At the exit where you got off the highway, four kilometers further ahead, there is a service area. We have a car parked in that service area every day, and brothers guarding it. If there is any situation, one step on the gas to 120, and it won't take two minutes to reach the roadside."

Zhang Ermao was dumbfounded, and couldn't help but exclaim, "I've long heard that you are the most professional team in the south. I never had the chance to go deep before, but today I've seen it. You're really badass."

Teacher Cheng hurriedly said modestly, "Don't dare, don't dare, we are also forced by circumstances to make a living."

As he spoke, he asked, "By the way, Brother Ermao, what do you need today by coming to see me?"

Zhang Ermao pointed to Xiao Changkun beside him and introduced, "This is my good friend, Mr. Murong, who specializes in the antique business in the Su Hang area. I brought him here today because I wanted to see if you have any good items here that he might take a fancy to."

Teacher Cheng couldn't figure out Xiao Changkun's background. Seeing that Zhang Ermao was so polite and flattering to him, he assumed he must be a big shot, so he said respectfully, "Oh my, Mr. Murong, hello! I've always heard martial arts novels mention Gusu Murong, Gusu Murong. I didn't expect that not only is your surname Murong, but you are also from Su Hang. Nice to meet you, nice to meet you!"

Xiao Changkun nodded and smiled, saying, "I'm in a bit of a hurry this time, let's hurry up and take a look at the items first."

"Okay!" Teacher Cheng pointed to a farmhouse courtyard not far away and said with a smile, "That is our studio. The good stuff is all there, I'll take you there!"

Arriving in the farmhouse courtyard, on the surface, there was nothing extraordinary. Teacher Cheng took the two of them directly to a cowshed that had been abandoned for many years. After lifting the hay spread on the ground in the cowshed, a wooden board laid flat on the ground was revealed. When the board was lifted, there was a passage leading downwards.

It turned out that they used the cowshed as an entrance and had hollowed out the entire area under the courtyard.

Xiao Changkun followed him down and couldn't help but exclaim, "Your workload is quite large, digging such a big place!"

Teacher Cheng said modestly, "Most of us in this line of work have set up pots and robbed tombs. To put it bluntly, we all come from a background of tomb robbers. Besides being good at robbing tombs, we are good at digging soil. This little workload is nothing to us."

While talking, the three of them had already walked down the stairs dug into the soil to the hall below. It was called a hall mainly because the area was indeed not small, about a hundred square meters. But the environment inside was indeed crude. Perhaps to reduce the workload, the entire underground area was only about 1.8 or 1.9 meters high. The surroundings were all bare yellow soil, plus wooden support equipment, making it look a bit like entering a black coal mine.

That man saw that Xiao Changkun was a bit worried, so he said with a smile, "Mr. Murong, don't worry. It looks very crude from here, but it is actually very safe because the depth of the digging is very shallow. The soil layer above our heads is only one meter thick. Think about it, how much weight can one meter of thickness have? This kind of wooden support is enough. When we used to set up pots, we dug tomb tunnels ten meters deep and used the same support, and there was never any problem."

Xiao Changkun felt slightly relieved, and only then did he carefully observe the situation here.

In the space of nearly a hundred square meters, several workbenches were placed. Inside, there was a rotten, fishy smell mixed with the smell of soil, which made one feel a bit nauseous.

And in front of those workbenches, several technicians were bowing their heads and fiddling with the things in their hands. A glance seemed to show that they were all antiques.

Zhang Ermao was also somewhat amazed at the scale here, so he said to Teacher Cheng, "Introduce it to Mr. Murong."

"Alright!" Teacher Cheng hurriedly said, "Mr. Murong, my place is different from ordinary counterfeit places. Everything I do here is genuine; there isn't a single fake item."

As he spoke, he picked up a copper Buddha statue and said to Xiao Changkun, "Look at this copper Buddha, this was just completed this week. Its shape conforms to the characteristics of Ming Dynasty copper Buddha statues, and the workmanship is very exquisite, and the charm is also in place. But actually, it is a copper Buddha imitating the Ming Dynasty that we collected from the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China. The craftsmanship and details are indeed impeccable; it is a top-notch work. It's just that the previous owner didn't understand it well. It was passed down from two generations ago in the family, and he kept it at home as a decoration. He would always wipe it when he had nothing to do. Once wiped, the patina was gone, and it didn't look like an old thing. We took it back, re-aged it, and when we take it back to the market, it can be sold as a Ming Dynasty item."

Xiao Changkun didn't know much about copperware, so he asked, "Then if it is sold as a Ming Dynasty item, will others believe it?"

Teacher Cheng laughed, "We have our own methods."

As he spoke, he picked up another base, also made of copper, from the side and said, "Look at this."

Xiao Changkun took the copper base over. It looked very old, so he turned it over and looked at the bottom, which was engraved with the words "Made in the Xuande Year of the Great Ming Dynasty."

Teacher Cheng explained, "Don't look at our copper statue, it might only be a hundred years old, but the base in your hand is a genuine Ming Dynasty copper base. It's just that we don't know what this base was originally matched with. When it was in our hands, there was only this base. You should also know that although Ming Dynasty copperware is quite valuable, without the original body, only having a base, how valuable can it be? So we spent 38,000 yuan to buy this base back, and used this base to match this aged copper statue. Doesn't that make a set? And don't forget, this base is a genuine item from the Xuande year of the Ming Dynasty. We also aged the Buddha statue according to the copperware of the Xuande year. With the two of them matched like this, I dare say that more than 95% of experts will be fooled."

Xiao Changkun hurriedly asked him, "Then if such a set of items is genuine, how much is it worth?"

Teacher Cheng thought for a while, "Copperware from the Xuande year of the Great Ming Dynasty, with a mark, and such exquisite shape and production, can definitely be auctioned. A conservative estimate would be between one and two million."

Xiao Changkun asked again, "If I want this set of items, how much will you give it to me for?"

Teacher Cheng hurriedly said, "To be honest with you, Mr. Murong, we generally charge 30% of the market price for making such things. I just told you that the conservative estimate for this item should be between one and two million. We take a median number of about 1.5 million. 30% of 1.5 million is 450,000."

Xiao Changkun immediately said, "No, no, your price is too expensive. What if I get stuck with it for over 400,000?"

Actually, Xiao Changkun's inner thought was: "Damn, I have to spend over 400,000 just to buy this thing. How much is appropriate to ask Zhou Liangyun for? Ask for 800,000? He has to have it too."

Teacher Cheng heard this and hurriedly said, "Oh my, Mr. Murong, you are too honest. In our line of work, don't we all quote high?"

As he spoke, he hurriedly added, "I won't play games with you either. I just told you that the cost of the base is 38,000, and we spent 60,000 on the copper statue itself, plus labor costs and so on. The normal transaction price will not be lower than 200,000. Since you are Brother Ermao's friend, I'll give you a final price, 150,000!"

Zhang Ermao on the side immediately said, "Teacher Cheng, we have known each other for so long, this is the first time we are doing business. I won't say anything else. Just give me face for this first order. Don't earn Mr. Murong's money. Didn't you say the base was 38,000? The copper statue was 60,000, right? We'll give you 98,000, just as making a friend."

"Making a friend..." Teacher Cheng sighed, "Of course I want to make a friend of Mr. Murong, but we also have to put in effort for this aging, and I still have to pay the master for the craftsmanship."

Xiao Changkun waved his hand and said generously, "Since you've said so, let's round it up, 100,000 yuan, that's fair enough, right?"

"One hundred thousand..." Teacher Cheng felt depressed.

Although the craftsmen in their line of work cannot see the light of day, their craftsmanship is truly valuable. Doing such a job requires at least 20,000 yuan in labor fees for the master, otherwise, why would people stay here and work hard for a few days, and also not be able to see the light of day?

Although he was full of grievances, after thinking carefully, in this situation, he shouldn't bargain with him anymore. After all, he didn't know this so-called Mr. Murong, but Zhang Ermao was indeed doing well now. Giving him face could also be considered as making things convenient for himself in the future.

So, he looked at Zhang Ermao and said seriously, "Brother Ermao, since it's your friend, then I definitely have no second words. Let's not do 100,000. I'll do the favor to the end. Let's do 98,000! 98,000, you're going to get rich! It sounds good and auspicious!"

Xiao Changkun heard this and thought: "Hey, alright, saved another 2,000! And this thing feels relatively appropriate. An item worth one or two million in the market, selling it to Zhou Liangyun for 400,000, 500,000, or even 600,000, isn't that a standard price for picking up a leak? As long as he buys it, his starting capital will all be dumped in. Then let Zhang Ermao find someone to expose this thing. It will be hard for him to sell it and recover his money. I guess selling it for 50,000 or 60,000 would be the limit! This is simply the perfect prop for setting up a trap!"

So, he immediately agreed and blurted out, "Good! It's a deal!" ===== CHAPTER 3066 =====