Cen Sui thought the stall owner told the story quite well. His tone rose and fell at the right places and he even managed to stir a bit of emotion.
If she had truly been a complete beginner, she might have gotten swept up in the moment, felt a rush of excitement, and already pulled out her wallet to buy this eight-sided vase with looped handles to take home and display. Unfortunately for him, she could see the flaw in the piece.
She held the vase, weighed it again in her hand, and loosened her tone. “Your vase really is quite good. Whether it is the glaze color, the crackle pattern, or the weight, there are no major problems. It is just that…”
Cen Sui had originally intended to point out the flaw on the vase’s foot to show off her talent in appraising antiques.
These stall owners treated her as a source of amusement, so she would let them witness what it meant by appearances being deceiving. She wanted them to know that using preconceived notions to look down on someone was wrong.
But just as her words reached this point, her gaze inadvertently swept to the side. In a patch of sunlight that had shifted two inches away, she suddenly saw, among a pile of broken porcelain shards, a small fragment of porcelain sticking out.
That fragment of porcelain revealed only a corner the size of a thumb. Under the sunlight, its color was a vivid emerald green, and its texture was thin and lustrous. The sight made her catch her breath, completely forgetting to continue her sentence.
It was only for an instant, yet Cen Sui suddenly felt that keeping a low profile might not be such a bad thing after all.
These stall owners’ preconceived notions were not entirely wrong either. Without decades of experience in collecting and handling antiques, it was impossible for someone to truly understand them.
A girl in her early twenties like her, how could she possibly know anything about antiques?
The stall owner had no idea what she had been about to say. Seeing her suddenly falter, he spoke to her with sincere earnestness. “To tell the truth, if it weren’t for the fate between you and this piece, I might not be willing to sell it at all. Those of us who deal in antiques also like to keep good items for ourselves. Look at my stall. I only have this one piece with golden-thread iron-wire crackle, and I can hardly bear to part with it. When it comes to antiques, everything depends on fate. And this eight-sided vase with looped handles truly has a destined connection with you.”
Cen Sui snapped out of her thoughts and looked at the stall owner. She asked, “What did you say?”
The stall owner looked at her with an expression that clearly meant he would profit only if she bought nothing today. “I said that collecting is all about fate. This eight-sided vase with looped handles and you share a bond, which is why I’m willing to let it go. Otherwise, I’d rather keep it for myself.”
This was also a common tactic used by antique sellers, a way to elevate the value of their items.
Antiques were not vegetables sold by the roadside. You could not appear too eager to sell them. You had to put on an air of reluctance and unwillingness to part with the piece.
Only something sold with supposed heartache would make the buyer feel they had indeed bought a true treasure.
Cen Sui nodded once, her gaze drifting again toward that fragment of porcelain. She murmured, “Fate truly is part of the game.”
After speaking, she quickly looked back at the stall owner. “But I only came to broaden my knowledge today. I wasn’t planning to buy something this big and didn’t bring that much money. I’m afraid I can’t afford this vase.”
The stall owner smiled. “I acquired this vase from a private home. If you really want it, I can do a good deed and help you out. For this antique to meet a young lady like you is also its fate, and I must honor that fate.”
Cen Sui lowered her head and reached out to sift through the ancient coins and porcelain shards in the tray.
She pretended as if she wanted to pick up everything to examine it, holding the magnifying glass to look here and there. Her expression was full of hesitation, and she said aloud, “I really do want it, but this is my first time buying these things, so I have to think about it a bit more.”
The stall owner could see that she truly was conflicted. After thinking for a moment, he picked up his phone, opened the notes app, typed a line, and quietly held it out in front of Cen Sui.
Cen Sui glanced at the phone screen. On it were the words: 【You already know the origins of this piece. There is fate between you and me, and fate between you and this vase as well. Today I will grit my teeth. You can take it for fifty thousand.】
After she finished reading, the stall owner quickly put his phone away, as if afraid someone else might see.
Cen Sui continued sifting through the porcelain fragments in her hand and also examined carefully the shard that had caught her attention earlier. She was certain that this fragment was the most collectible item on the entire stall.
In truth, these stall sellers were not real professional appraisers. Most of them were half-trained amateurs.
They bought their goods at very low prices, and most of the time they could not tell whether something was genuine or not. They could not take every item for authentication either. In the end, they just mixed everything together and claimed all of it was real since doing so would never bring them any real loss.
As for whether something was real or fake, that depended entirely on the buyer’s eye.
Because of this, it was easy to stumble upon hidden treasures at street stalls.
Of course, there were times when these sellers overlooked real valuables. But when it came to the replicas and counterfeits they knowingly acquired, they never made mistakes about those.
For example, the eight-sided vase with looped handles they were using now to deceive Cen Sui.
Cen Sui sifted through the porcelain fragments for a while longer, deliberately resting her arm on her thigh as she continued to play the role of someone weighing a difficult decision.
Once she had finished her performance of thinking deeply, she looked at the stall owner and said, “Since it was something I liked at first glance, and since this is my first time visiting the market, I’ll buy it. And I see that these porcelain shards of yours are quite nice too. I’d like to take two pieces with me to study them carefully.”
When the stall owner heard this, his eyes lit up instantly. Smiling broadly, he praised her again. “Miss, you really do have excellent taste. If you like them, feel free to pick any. I can give them to you as a gift. Since fate brought us together and we’ve formed a connection today, if you ever come across any treasures in the future, you can bring them here so we can exchange some knowledge.”
Cen Sui made a show of selecting carefully, spending another five or six minutes before picking out two pieces of celadon shards.
She handed the porcelain shards to the stall owner and had him wrap them up. Then she took out her phone and transferred the money to him. As expected, he did not charge her for the shards. He had probably spent only a few yuan when acquiring them anyway.
That counterfeit eight-sided vase with looped handles was naturally worthless. If it could fetch one thousand yuan, that would already be generous. Which meant the fifty thousand she paid was essentially pure profit.
In short, from the stall owner’s perspective, he had met a gullible big spender today and earned a huge windfall.
Cen Sui accepted the porcelain pieces, took out one of the shards, and said with great satisfaction, “The ceramics you’ve collected really are good. This shard here, if I’m not mistaken, should be Chai ware.”
The moment the words “Chai ware” left her mouth, the nearby stall owners who had been watching the excitement all burst into laughter.
There was only one thought in their minds: What a naive little girl. Just starting out and knowing absolutely nothing. Fearless like a newborn calf. She actually treated a counterfeit as a treasure and even claimed it was Chai ware? Has she ever even seen Chai ware before?
“A fragment of Chai ware is worth a thousand gold.”
“Ru kilns are the rarest. One may not encounter a single piece in a lifetime.”
Chai ware stood at the very pinnacle of all kilns, with extremely few pieces surviving. It was a legendary myth in the history of Chinese ceramics, something almost no one had ever truly seen.
The only people who would casually utter the words “Chai ware” were beginners who had just come into contact with antique knowledge, simply because they had no idea what those two words truly meant.
The stall owner in front of Cen Sui, having taken advantage, continued smiling as he flattered her. “That is why you have such a good eye.”
Cen Sui put the shard away, slipped it into her bag, then hugged the eight-sided vase with looped handles in her arms. She gave a slight smile. “Thank you. I’ll be leaving now.”
The stall owner quickly added, “Come again if you need anything.”