Cen Sui asked with a hint of impatience, “How much is it?”
They genuinely had not expected her to buy it, so none of them had discussed a price beforehand.
Zhao Zicheng paused, then considered how much pocket money she might have.
So that she would be able to afford it, he thought for a moment, then said, “One hundred thousand.”
If he asked for more, he feared Cen Sui would not be able to come up with the money and would not buy it.
After all, they were still students who had not yet taken over their family businesses. No matter how wealthy their families were, their pocket money was not unlimited.
Hearing the price, Cen Sui immediately took out her phone. “I will take it.”
Zhao Zicheng almost failed to hold back the smile tugging at his lips. In his mind he thought, Damn, that was way too easy. A casual one hundred thousand, just like that.
Suppressing the grin, he pulled out his phone as well. “Think carefully. Once you buy it, you cannot return it. If I were not short on money, I would not be selling this.”
Cen Sui nodded. “I understand the rules of the antiques trade. Payment and item exchanged, and neither party is allowed to regret the deal.”
Trying to hide his glee, Zhao Zicheng handed her his Alipay QR code for payment and glanced at Wen Ting, Wang Jie, and Zhou Yimiao.
All four of them wanted to laugh and were fighting the urge with all their might, practically bursting with joy.
Cen Sui made the payment, then put the incense burner away inside the counter. She smiled at Zhao Zicheng and said, “Thanks.”
Zhao Zicheng also smiled. “No need to be polite, we are friends.”
Cen Sui continued looking at him, the smile at the corners of her lips growing deeper. She suddenly asked, “Do you know what a Xuande censer actually is?”
Still basking in the joy of having swindled one hundred thousand yuan, Zhao Zicheng put away his phone and looked at her with a proud expression. “A bronze incense burner made during the Xuande period of the Ming dynasty. That is why it is called a Xuande censer.”
Cen Sui pressed her lips together, holding back a fuller smile, and asked again, “And where did your censer come from?”
Zhao Zicheng replied, “My dad got it recently. I am short on cash, so I brought it to exchange for some money.”
As he spoke, provocation gleamed in his eyes. He looked at Cen Sui and laughed. “My dad said this censer is a… replica…”
In Zhao Zicheng’s expectations, the moment he said those words, Cen Sui’s expression would surely change drastically. She might even rush over to hit him.
After all, one hundred thousand yuan was not a small amount for any of them.
Yet after hearing his words, Cen Sui continued smiling sweetly, and the more she smiled, the more unsettling it felt.
Then, still wearing that smile, she said crisply, “Yes. The bottom of the censer is inscribed. It was made during the Chongzhen period, not the Xuande period.”
Zhao Zicheng was not stupid. Hearing this, he suddenly felt as though he had been struck by lightning.
It was not because he understood any subtle difference between the Xuande and Chongzhen eras. What hit him was the sudden realization that Cen Sui had been fooling him too!
The hidden grin on his face disappeared completely. He looked at her and asked, “What do you mean by that?”
Cen Sui was still smiling as she looked at him. “How did you dare to come out and scam people when you do not know anything?”
Seeing the slight crease forming between his brows, she added, “Brother, do you know how deep the waters of the antiques world run?”
Zhao Zicheng was starting to feel confused, suddenly unable to tell whether Cen Sui was bluffing or telling the truth.
Wang Jie and Zhou Yimiao also withdrew their smiles. Only Wen Ting looked at Cen Sui and said, “Stop acting. You got fooled because you don’t understand anything. Just admit it. Trying to save face like this, what’s the point? We came here just to mess with you.”
Cen Sui continued smiling. She wanted to annoy them on purpose.
She tapped her finger twice on the counter, looked at Wen Ting, and said slowly, “We were friends once, so today I will give you a free lesson. The Xuande censer refers to the bronze incense burners designed and supervised personally by Emperor Xuanzong Zhu Zhanji in the third year of the Xuande reign. Collectors also call them the Xuan Three Censers.”
As she said this, she looked toward Zhao Zicheng. When she glanced at Wang Jie and Zhou Yimiao, she noticed a few more people entering the shop.
It was obvious these newcomers were simply there to watch the commotion. Cen Sui did not bother with them and let her gaze fall back on Wen Ting. “You know Emperor Xuanzong Zhu Zhanji, right? Zhu Di’s grandson. He was a good emperor, though he did not live long.”
Watching Cen Sui’s posture and demeanor as she spoke, Wen Ting suddenly lost her earlier confidence.
Seeing her expression, Cen Sui gave a small smile before turning to Zhao Zicheng and continuing, “It is rare in history for an emperor to personally supervise the making of incense burners. Zhu Zhanji had a particular fondness for appreciating censers.”
“To cast these censers, Zhu Zhanji used fengmo copper that had been presented as tribute by Siam. But that was not enough. The craftsmen also added gold, silver, and other precious materials into the metal. Normally, the material for incense burners is refined four times. Since the craftsmen feared the emperor would be dissatisfied, they refined it twelve times. The material cost was enormous, which is why Xuande censers have such a pure and delicate texture, as smooth as a baby’s skin.”
“All the fengmo copper tribute was used up, and only three thousand censers were produced in total. Three thousand is not many, and after several centuries, genuine censers cast in the third year of the Xuande reign have become extremely rare.”
While Cen Sui was speaking, Zhao Zicheng could hardly breathe.
Only when she reached this point did he silently exhale and look at her. “So what? You showing off how much you know?”
Cen Sui smiled and continued, “When the Xuande censers were first made, they were already considered priceless treasures. Countless people were obsessed with them. From the Xuande period all the way to the Republican era, antique dealers never stopped producing replicas of Xuande censers. You heard your father say this censer is a replica and immediately assumed that meant it was a worthless fake. You did not bother to ask which period replicated it, or what materials were used.”
Suddenly, a realization struck Zhao Zicheng. “Chongzhen…”
Cen Sui was still smiling. “Not completely stupid, I suppose. It is a Ming Chongzhen period tripod censer with ascending handles and gold-sheet inlay. Let me give you another bit of history. Chongzhen was the sixteenth emperor of the Ming dynasty, and also the last one. In the seventeenth year of his reign, when Li Zicheng’s forces captured Beijing, he hanged himself on Coal Hill.”
Zhao Zicheng’s face had already turned ashen.
Cen Sui lifted her cup, drank a sip of water, set it down, and asked, “Brother, would you like to continue listening?”
Zhao Zicheng’s hands trembled with anger, and inwardly he howled, Brother your mother’s…!
Seeing his expression, Cen Sui almost burst out laughing. She lowered her head and forced herself to hold it in.
After all, there were more of them than her. If they hit her later, that would not be good.
She lowered her head to suppress her laughter, took a deep breath, and raised her head again. Looking straight at Zhao Zicheng, she continued, “Let me finish. The most remarkable feature of Xuande censers is their color. Your triple-legged censer with ascending handles and gold-sheet inlay has a natural, lustrous patina. Its sheen gathers inward, containing a glow within. Its shape is dignified and elegant, and the texture feels exceptionally fine. Those gold patches on the body are real gold sheets, and they are indeed from the Chongzhen period. There should be only this one in the world. It is a genuine treasure.”
“You did not bother to ask anything, fine. But you did not even look at the inscription on the base before bringing it out to fool someone. Did you think everyone else is stupid?”
“Oh, no. You simply thought I was the stupid one.”
“Unfortunately, I am not.”
Zhao Zicheng stared at Cen Sui, feeling as if he could not catch his breath.
Wen Ting, Wang Jie, and Zhou Yimiao all tensed, holding their expressions tight. No one dared to breathe out, let alone laugh.
Wen Ting kept slightly more composed and, sounding faint, said, “You say it is, so it is? You only just got into this line of work a few days ago, right?”
Hearing Wen Ting, Zhao Zicheng’s face loosened a little and he weakly echoed, “Yeah, who are you calling an expert?”
Cen Sui stayed silent this time. From among the onlookers a voice suddenly called out, “May I take a look?”
Everyone present turned toward the sound. The speaker wore a hat, sunglasses, and a mask, as if trying not to be recognized.
Cen Sui glanced at him and did not refuse. She went behind the counter and fetched the censer.
The man, dressed all in black, came forward to take the censer Cen Sui set on the counter. He touched it with his fingers, then turned his back to the crowd, pulled his sunglasses down a little, and used the magnifying glass on the counter to examine it carefully.
Under everyone’s watchful gaze, he finished examining the censer, then turned to Cen Sui and said, “You are correct. It is a censer from the Chongzhen period. It was made as an imitation of the Xuande censers. The craftsmanship and materials are not bad at all, and the gold sheets on the body are real.”
After speaking, he asked Cen Sui, “Boss, are you willing to sell this censer?”
Cen Sui paused for a moment. “You want it?”
She had been minding the shop for so long, and no one had ever actually bought anything while Rong Mo was away.
The man did not put the censer down. He nodded to her. “If you are willing to part with it, I will take it. Replicas of Xuande censers of this quality are nearly impossible to find now. Since fate brought me here today, I would like to bring it home.”
Cen Sui felt a jolt of excitement and answered somewhat belatedly, “Sure.”
The man did not hesitate, afraid someone might try to snatch the censer from him. He immediately asked, “How much are you willing to sell it for?”
When Cen Sui was about to name a price, she suddenly froze, realizing she had no idea.
After freezing for a moment, she hurriedly took out her phone, snapped several photos of the censer, including close-ups of its details, and sent them all to Rong Mo. She added her appraisal conclusion and asked him, 【Boss, how much is this worth?】
A few minutes later, Rong Mo replied: 【If your conclusion is correct, it is worth around two million.】
Cen Sui did not explain anything further. She simply replied: 【Thank you, Boss.】
After sending the message, she set down her phone, looked at the man, and said, “Two million.”
The man gave her a smile. “A surprising young lady.”
She had not raised the price just because she saw how much he liked the censer, nor tried to overcharge him.
If this censer entered the market, it would indeed fetch around two million.
Truthfully, even if she had asked for more, he would likely have bought it.
Hearing the number two million, the onlookers all began whispering among themselves.
Zhao Zicheng and Wen Ting were still standing beside the counter, their faces turning a ghastly shade of green.
Wang Jie, sitting in his chair, reached out and pinched Zhou Yimiao.
Watching Cen Sui and the man in the hat complete the transaction, Zhao Zicheng looked as if he might cry.
He was already panicking so badly that he could hardly stand it. His voice trembled as he called out, “You… you wait a moment.”
Cen Sui glanced at him once but had no intention of stopping the transaction.
She accepted the man’s payment, carefully placed the censer back into its box, and set it down on the counter in front of him. Smiling, she said, “Come again if you need anything else.”
The man took the box with a smile. His voice remained muffled behind his mask as he looked at her through his sunglasses. “You explained things very well just now. Why don’t we add each other on WeChat? We can talk more when we have time.”
Networking was important in this field, so Cen Sui did not refuse. She took out her phone. “Sure.”
Just like that, the two of them exchanged WeChat contacts under the knife-like stares of Zhao Zicheng.
Zhao Zicheng was truly desperate now. He moved as if to snatch the box and barked in a harsh voice, “Cen Sui, I told you to wait. Didn’t you hear me?!”
The man holding the box dodged instantly, then looked at Zhao Zicheng and said, “Young man, do not be so narrow-minded. The rule of the antiques trade is that once money and goods are exchanged, neither party is allowed to regret it. If you cannot handle the game, you had better not play. Anger is bad for your health.”
At that moment, the onlookers also spoke up, directing their comments at Zhao Zicheng.
“That’s right, you were the one who tried to trick the young lady first!”
“Your intentions were bad to begin with. How can you be shameless enough to regret it now?”
“If you cannot handle it, then do not play!”
“Do not ruin the rules of the antiques world!”
…
Hearing the chaotic voices around him, Zhao Zicheng felt his consciousness begin to blur. Everything before his eyes started to sway.
He tried to speak, but discovered he could not force out a single word.
The sounds surrounding him grew sharper and sharper, like blades aimed straight at him, making him want to run away.
Under the pressure of those voices, he grabbed his backpack and turned to leave. But as soon as he stepped out of the door and descended the stone steps, his body stiffened and tilted, and with a loud thud he collapsed onto the ground.
Wang Jie rushed out with Zhou Yimiao in a panic. He reached out to help Zhao Zicheng up and, gritting his teeth, said to him, “Just pretend you lost a sports car, and stop being so useless!”
Zhao Zicheng opened his eyes, then collapsed into Wang Jie’s arms. Tears fell instantly as he burst into loud sobs. “I am afraid my dad will beat me to death. That censer is the only one of its kind in the world. And I sold it for one hundred thousand… wuwuwu…”