Chapter 455: Xiaonian Encounter
Yang Ruiping and Shi Xiaoya prepared lunch for the Yan family. There were not many people, and they made simple home-cooked dishes. Yan Bugui did not drink either, saying that he was going out for a walk in the afternoon.

After finishing his meal, Yan Jiekuang had nothing to do, so he thought about going out for a walk, but not with his father, as his father must have gone to his brothers' homes. Yan Jiekuang walked along Beiheyan Street and headed towards Qianmen.

On the eve of the Chinese New Year, every household was busy at home. Although there were stalls and shops on the street, there were not many people and not many pedestrians. Yan Jiekuang walked leisurely, and when he arrived at the front gate, he turned into Langfang Ertiao. He wanted to go shopping at Liulichang.

Before I even reached Liulichang, I ran into an acquaintance, Old Liu, who was wearing a tweed coat and a mink hat and looked like a nouveau riche.

Yan Jiekuang called him from a distance. Old Liu turned around and saw that it was Yan Jiekuang. He immediately stopped and waited for Yan Jiekuang to catch up.

Yan Jiekuang smiled and said, "Old Liu, you are dressed very stylishly. Where are you going in such a hurry?"

"Stop talking nonsense, hurry up, and talk while walking." After saying that, he pulled Yan Jiekuang into a small alley.

"What's the matter?" Yan Jiekuang asked puzzledly.

As Old Liu walked, he said, "A friend of mine told me that there is an auction going on in a small courtyard on East Street today. They say there are some things with big doors, and they are said to be handed down from generation to generation, and there are more than one."

Yan Jiekuang became interested and said, "Is it real or fake? It's handed down from generation to generation, but it's auctioned. There are very few private auctions in this courtyard."

"Yes, otherwise why would I be so anxious? People there don't wait for anyone." said Old Liu.

After a while, the two of them arrived at East Street and turned into an alley. The small courtyard was at the end of the alley. Old Liu knocked on the door, and a man in his fifties opened the door. When the man saw Old Liu, he shouted, "Master Liu, why are you here so late? You are the only one missing."

"Sanzi, are there many people today?" asked Old Liu.

The third son said, "It's OK, about ten people, please go in quickly, wait, this person doesn't look familiar."

Old Liu said, "Don't talk nonsense. I am a junior."

The third son did not ask any more questions and said with a smile, "You two, please come in to the main room."

The two of them walked straight across the yard and pushed the door into the main house. Yan Jiekuang went in and took a look. Wow, there were quite a lot of people. He looked around and didn't recognize anyone. Yan Jiekuang felt strange. He had been in the antique business in the old city for a long time, so how come there wasn't a single old man from Liulichang here?

Old Liu walked into the room and looked around, frowning. Apart from the third boy, he only knew Old Shitou who organized the party.

Old Stone smiled and looked at Old Liu and said, "Old man, you are the only one missing. I thought you were not coming. Okay, let's not waste time and start now."

There was a square table under the middle counter, with a chair next to it. Old Shitou sat on it, and Old Liu pulled Yan Jiekuang to sit on a bench near the door.

Old Stone said: "As usual, in the order of small, medium and large, the first item will be presented first, a set of Tianhuang seals."

When Yan Jiekuang heard this, his heart skipped a beat. Things called seals are the seals of emperors. How could such a thing appear here?

After a while, a waiter came in with a tray and put it on the square table. Lao Shitou uncovered the red cloth on it, and a Tianhuang seal with a panlong button appeared in front of everyone.

Yan Jiekuang lost interest at first sight. He had this thing too, but this one looked new, probably less than two years old.

Yan Jiekuang glanced at Old Liu, and Old Liu also noticed it. He also glanced at him and then closed his eyes to rest.

A few people seemed interested in the seal. Old Stone took one look and said, "Okay, if you're interested, come forward and take a look."

Several people walked up, but no one made a move. Only one person put on gloves, put on his hands, and looked at it for a while. When the others finished looking and returned to their seats, Lao Shitou said, "One tael of Tian Huang is worth ten taels of gold. Call your price." A man with a big gold chain looked around and saw no one spoke, so he shouted, "I'll start with fifty thousand."

A man wearing glasses seemed to have thought it over for a long time and shouted, "Sixty thousand."

For a while, there were continuous bidding sounds. In the end, it was the man with the big gold chain who won the bid for 90,000. The man with glasses glared at the man with the big gold chain fiercely.

Yan Jiekuang took a special look at the man with glasses. There were calluses on the inside of his fingers, and it was obvious that he was a sculptor who had been doing sculpture for many years.

Old Stone smiled and said, "Okay, man, let's do the second one."

The waiter brought another tray and put it on the table. Old Shitou directly lifted the red cloth. The moment the red cloth was lifted, Yan Jiekuang's eyes widened in shock. Old Liu also stood up immediately.

They were all players who had been in the antique market for many years and should not have behaved so out of control, but the main reason was that the item was too shocking.

Old Shitou didn't notice Old Liu's gaffe and said, "This is a Hetian jade lampstand from the Ming Dynasty. If anyone is interested, please come forward and take a look."

When Yan Jiekuang heard what Lao Shitou said, he frowned, feeling that something was wrong. This was not an object from the Ming Dynasty at all. No matter the shape or the meaning, or the dating of the jade, it could not be from the Ming Dynasty. But why did Lao Shitou say it was from the Ming Dynasty? Lao Shitou must be a veteran antique dealer and it is impossible for him to make such a mistake.

Yan Jiekuang didn't stand up, so Old Liu didn't sit down and just walked over.

Yan Jiekuang stared at Lao Shitou and Sanzi, and the two seemed to be communicating something with their eyes. Yan Jiekuang felt something was wrong at this time. He frowned and waited for Lao Liutou. It took a long time for people to finish looking at the object, because except Yan Jiekuang, almost everyone gathered around.

Old Stone looked around and said, "Call the price."

The big gold chain directly called out 100,000, followed by a series of biddings, and soon it reached 500,000. Just as Old Liu was about to bid, he was pulled back by Yan Jiekuang. Old Liu looked at Yan Jiekuang in confusion, and Yan Jiekuang whispered two words in his ear while no one was paying attention: "Set up a trap."

Old Liu sat on the bench in a daze, looking at Yan Jiekuang. Yan Jiekuang said, "If I'm not mistaken, the next one will be from the soil."

Old Liu looked at Yan Jiekuang. He still couldn't believe what kind of scheme this old stone could set up. He sat on the stool and thought about it. As he thought, he seemed to suddenly realize something and looked at Yan Jiekuang in horror.

Yan Jiekuang nodded and whispered, "If the thing below is a big one in the soil, just pretend to have high blood pressure and we will retreat quickly."

They both guessed that this should be a setup by the government to catch the cultural relics dealers and tomb robbers. If Yan Jiekuang guessed correctly, there should be several tomb robbers in the other room waiting eagerly for their money.

For people like them, who can say that their collections are all clean? There are always a few pieces that come from underground sources, and when the time comes, they will be found out for sure. This is why Old Liu is afraid.

After a short while, the bid reached 800,000 and was finally bought by a southerner. However, Yan Jiekuang knew that he would never get it.

Old Stone said with a smile: "Okay, the next item is a pair of bronze wine jars from the Warring States Period."

The waiter brought a tray and put it on the table. This time there was nothing on it, so everyone saw it at a glance. When Old Liu saw it, he fell to the ground, foaming at the mouth and twitching all over. Yan Jiekuang saw it and immediately shouted, "Uncle Liu, Uncle Liu, what happened to you? What happened to you?"

Sanzi hurried over and squatted down to look at Old Liu. Yan Jiekuang kept shaking Old Liu. Old Shitou, who ran over, said, "It looks like a cerebral thrombosis. Send him to the hospital immediately."

Yan Jiekuang nodded hurriedly and carried Old Liu on his back. Sanzi led the way in front. Yan Jiekuang walked quickly with Old Liu on his back. When they got out of the yard, Sanzi said, "Sir, I have something else to do here. Go by yourself. Go quickly. It will be over if you are late."

Yan Jiekuang nodded in gratitude, then ran out of the alley carrying Old Liu on his back and disappeared at the entrance of the alley.

(End of this chapter)