"You are all thieves!"
As Ye Fan gasped and woke up drenched in sweat...
He was leaning against the sofa of the Taoran Pavilion antique shop in Jiangcheng. With his roar, he attracted the curious glances of passing customers, followed by a wave of laughter.
Ye Fan's face was pale and weak. His gaze swept around him. It was the height of summer, and the girls passing by wore revealing and cool clothing, dressed in ways unimaginable in his own era...
Until his gaze fixed on the perpetual calendar on the wall, Ye Fan's pupils contracted even further!
His mind was a jumbled mess!
"This isn't the winter of 1941, but summer 2021, eighty years later. I, have been reborn!"
Ye Fan's ancestors had been tombkeepers for seven generations. In the winter of 1941, amidst a chaotic era, he had a close-quarters fight with a group of tomb robbers in Tongguan. While protecting the national treasure, the Su Hou Pearl...
He was forced to swallow the pearl to hide it and fled into the mountains. Unexpectedly, the ruthless tomb robbers set the mountain ablaze!
Ultimately, Ye Fan was burned to death in the sea of fire. Yet, after a dream, he found himself reborn eighty years later in Jiangcheng, his soul inhabiting the body of a similarly named convict...
With the memories of two lives merging, Ye Fan couldn't help but laugh at himself, "So, you were also a man of ill fortune!"
The owner of this body, Ye Fan, had a sister suffering from chronic myelogenous leukemia. To raise money for her treatment, he agreed with a friend who had hit someone to take the blame and go to prison in exchange for his friend saving his sister's life!
However, after three years of release, he found his girlfriend had already cheated on him, and taking the blame was nothing but a conspiracy!
His friend had long since stopped paying for his sister's medical expenses. Now, his entire family was struggling to survive, and he, with the label of a convict, had become an outcast in society...
Under the scorching sun, disheartened, he had died of heatstroke in this antique street of Jiangcheng, only to be rescued and brought to this antique shop, ultimately leading to his own inhabitation of the body...
He slowly got up.
Absorbing the subtle starlight transformed from the Su Hou Pearl, one of the two treasures of the Spring and Autumn period, countless ancient artifacts from the Zhou, Qin, Han, Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties flashed through Ye Fan's mind.
In an instant, his already considerable treasure appraisal foundation was elevated to a new level!
He couldn't help but clench his fists!
"Since I have borrowed your body, from now on, your regrets in life will be my atonement! This time, I will live a good life..."
Ye Fan now began to examine the antique shop named Taoran Pavilion.
Spanning two floors and covering over a thousand square meters, it was filled with a dazzling array of jade, porcelain, wood, calligraphy, paintings, and cultural artifacts. The large rosewood display shelves were particularly grand...
Even in his own era, compared to the increasingly popular Panjiayuan in Beijing, this establishment would be considered a major shop!
However, after a brief tour, he realized that among the thousands of items in the shop, not a single one exceeded two hundred years in age. Even the pieces placed in the most prominent locations, the showstoppers, were not particularly remarkable.
This made Ye Fan shake his head.
Tap, tap, tap~
Just then, footsteps sounded from upstairs, and an old man in a grey retro Tang suit, along with a portly shopkeeper with squinting eyes, descended...
"Young man, you're awake?"
Seeing Ye Fan stir, Ji Nanshan nodded and smiled at him. Ye Fan could tell that the old man in front of him was quite famous in the Jiangcheng antique circle, and the surrounding customers showed him respect...
"Hey, you fainted from heatstroke earlier. My master kindly saved you, can't you even say thank you?"
However, the little female disciple accompanying the old man, around ten years old and delicately carved, was displeased. Seeing Ye Fan lost in thought, she pouted with indignation.
"Nonsense."
Ji Nanshan didn't seem to mind. Instead, he gently patted the back of his little disciple's head, causing her to wrinkle her delicate nose...
Making her even more unhappy with Ye Fan.
A master naturally possessed a master's demeanor. Seeing that Ye Fan seemed to have not yet fully recovered, Ji Nanshan turned and began conversing with Manager Jiang of Taoran Pavilion...
"Master Ji, rest assured, since you have spoken, even if it means bleeding oneself, that good item will naturally be reserved for you!"
Immediately, Manager Jiang Xiaobo clapped his hands, signaling a shop assistant to bring over a brocade box about half a meter long. As it was opened in front of everyone, many people crowded around to view it.
Manager Jiang's back seemed to straighten a few degrees as he handed a magnifying glass to Ji Nanshan...
"Yongzheng Fencai Over-Branching Vase with Bats and Peaches!"
"Please, examine it!"
Dozens of eyes turned towards them. Ye Fan's brow furrowed. In the late Kangxi period, following the development of Fencai porcelain, it reached its peak during the Yongzheng era.
Furthermore, many pieces were damaged, looted, or lost during the invasion of the Eight-Nation Alliance, causing the value of surviving pieces to more than double!
If this were truly a Yongzheng Fencai porcelain, it would likely be worth tens of millions at current market prices!
The vase before him had a long neck and a wide body, narrower at the top and wider at the bottom, resembling a drumstick. It was painted with five red bats, symbolizing "auspicious fortune," and over-branching peaches symbolizing longevity.
Fencai over-branching, with auspicious fortune and longevity!
On the other side, Ji Nanshan examined it for a long time, then rubbed a drop of water inside the vase and peered at it closely.
He then used the magnifying glass to examine the bottom inscription, flicked it with his finger to listen to the echo, and his eyes grew even more excited!
However, a very subtle sound reached Ye Fan's ears, causing him to frown!
The surrounding treasure enthusiasts all looked on with envy. It was known that Yongzheng Fencai porcelain was extremely rare on the market, with few pieces ever appearing. A few years ago, a piece at a Poly autumn auction had fetched an astronomical price!
This item...
Was a treasure to be sought after.
Unexpectedly, Taoran Pavilion, which usually kept its best items hidden, was able to produce such a prized possession at a crucial moment!
Immediately, discussions erupted among the crowd.
After examining it for a long time, Ji Nanshan slowly nodded and decisively made his decision to buy it!
A final decision!
"An excellent treasure. It will surely amaze everyone at the old man's birthday banquet!"
He exclaimed with excitement, then placed a 5 million check on the table.
He said, "Manager Jiang, although the antique trade emphasizes 'buying is final,' 25 million is not a small sum..."
"This 5 million is a deposit. The remaining 20 million will be delivered immediately after my second young lady approves!"
Jiang Xiaobo hesitated for a moment, then a glint of shrewdness flashed in his narrow eyes. He laughed heartily, "If it were anyone else, it certainly wouldn't be acceptable."
"But I naturally trust the reputation of Master Ji and Miss Shen Er in the Jiangcheng antique circle!"
"With Mr. Shen's birthday banquet approaching, if this Fencai porcelain can shine brilliantly at the banquet, it will also be an excellent publicity opportunity for our Taoran Pavilion..."
Ji Nanshan was overjoyed. While expressing his thanks, he asked his little disciple to pack the brocade box and prepare to leave, intending to report the good news to Shen Tianyin immediately!
However, just as Jiang Xiaobo was about to accept the check.
A discordant voice suddenly interjected...
"Spending tens of millions on a posthumous Fencai fake from the Yongzheng imperial kiln, are you out of money?"
If it were anyone else, Ye Fan, given his personality, would not have bothered to point it out. After all, the antique trade was full of instances of misjudgment and costly lessons. He wouldn't go out of his way to cause trouble.
But at this moment, Ye Fan's words landed...
They caused everyone to turn and glare at him angrily, as if he had stirred up a hornet's nest...