Chapter 62

Qin Yanan couldn’t help but feel secretly alarmed, as she rarely saw Mr. Zhang lose his composure like this.

This also showed how much Mr. Zhang valued the apprentice he had just taken on.

At the same time, it eased her worries quite a bit.

It seemed that the appraiser she had chosen had not been the wrong choice after all.

Zhang Jicheng looked at Tang Feng, his eyes not hiding the admiration within, “Today, as your master, I will first teach you the six rules of the antique industry, which could also be considered unspoken rules. If no one points them out to you, you will very likely violate them.”

Tang Feng immediately assumed a listening posture, “Please teach me, Master.”

While they were talking, a customer suddenly walked into the shop.

Zhang Jicheng immediately stood up to greet him.

Tang Feng followed behind him, silently learning from his every word and deed.

The customer took a liking to a snuff bottle on the shelf and then asked for the price.

“Thirty thousand,” Zhang Jicheng decisively quoted a price.

“Twenty thousand,” the person directly cut off a third.

Zhang Jicheng shook his head with a wry smile, continuing to haggle with the person for a while.

In the end, they settled on the price of twenty-eight thousand.

Just as Zhang Jicheng was packaging the snuff bottle and handing it to the customer,

the latter suddenly backtracked, “I suddenly remembered that I didn’t bring enough money, I only have twenty-six thousand. Just knock off another two thousand.”

Zhang Jicheng’s expression darkened, “We had already agreed on twenty-eight thousand, not a penny less.”

Upon hearing this, the customer also grew a bit angry, “I consider myself a regular here and often look after your business. Now I’m just asking you to knock off another two thousand, can’t you even give me that bit of face?”

Zhang Jicheng put the snuff bottle back on the shelf, “Rules are rules. Once the price is set, it’s set. Your going back on it means breaking the rules. You might as well look around in other shops.”

Although the customer was angry, his heart really fancied that snuff bottle, so he had to compromise, “Fine, fine, let it be twenty-eight then; hurry and wrap it up for me.”

But Zhang Jicheng’s attitude was very firm, “I’m sorry, it’s not for sale.”

“Why is it not for sale now? Even at twenty-eight thousand it’s not okay?” the customer suddenly became anxious.

“There’s only one chance. To prove that you’re not destined for this snuff bottle, you should look around somewhere else,” Zhang Jicheng said with unwavering resolve.

“I’ve set my heart on this snuff bottle. It’s just money, and I have plenty of it. Thirty thousand, will you sell it or not?” the customer was immediately provoked to competitiveness, raising his offer by two thousand.

Zhang Jicheng didn’t even respond this time, as if he couldn’t be bothered to waste his breath.

“Thirty-five thousand?”

“Forty thousand?”

The customer kept raising his offer, but Zhang Jicheng would not budge.

“Damn, too rich to make money; you must be out of your mind!”

With no other options, the customer could only curse as he left.

Tang Feng witnessed this scene and was at a complete loss.

Because he had scanned the snuff bottle and knew that its real value was twenty-five thousand.

Even if they sold it to the man for twenty-six thousand, they would have made a profit of a thousand.

If it had been him, he would have sold it on the spot.

No wonder Ya Garden’s business wasn’t doing well; was it because customers were being driven away like this?

Yet, oddly enough, Qin Yanan, the owner, had been observing from the sidelines the whole time.

She watched as Zhang Jicheng turned the customer away, without stepping in to stop him.

Zhang Jicheng noticed his confusion and laughed immediately, “Do you think your master is too rigid? That he doesn’t know how to adapt?”

“I wouldn’t dare.”

Although Tang Feng said he wouldn’t dare, his facial expression clearly conveyed that sentiment.

Zhang Jicheng patted his shoulder, “This is the first rule of the trade that your master wants to warn you about: once a price is agreed upon by both parties, there can be no reneging.”

Tang Feng was a bit puzzled, “Why? After all, we would still make a profit.”

Zhang Jicheng shook his head with a smile, “Young man, do not covet small and immediate gains. Each rule has been summarized through countless lessons by our predecessors. If we let such dishonest and profit-seeking people run rampant, our antique industry won’t last long.”

Tang Feng found his explanation to be somewhat reasonable.

If everyone in the industry went back on their word, it would be chaos.

“From the first rule comes the second, which is that neither the seller nor the buyer can ask for more money or return the item after a transaction,” he continued.

Zhang Jicheng paused and went on, “Sometimes a seller misjudges and sells something valuable for too little. Or a buyer misjudges and pays too much for a counterfeit. They will always seek recourse. We must stand firm against such behavior.”

Tang Feng had heard of this rule before, but didn’t understand the reasoning behind it.

Zhang Jicheng saw his confusion and carried on with his explanation, “The reason is simple: the antique business is not like normal buying and selling; it’s more like gambling. Can you ask for your money back after losing in a casino?”

Tang Feng laughed and shook his head, “They’d probably break your legs.”

Zhang Jicheng slowly sat back down, lifting his tea for a sip, “Antiques test one’s eye for quality. You might become rich overnight because of your exceptional discernment or impoverished due to a lack of it. That’s the allure of antiques. We must decisively resist those with ill intentions.”

Tang Feng nodded as if he understood.

This was the difference between being mentored and not being mentored.

Previously, he knew the rules but not the reasons behind them.

Today, after his master’s guidance, he had come to understand the significance behind those rules.

“Come, your master will take you to visit around,” Zhang Jicheng set down his teacup, stood up, and patted his shoulder, taking the lead outside.

Tang Feng wasn’t sure what he intended, but still followed him.

Qin Yanan also wanted to join in the fun.

Fortunately, there were other employees in the shop, so there was no worry about leaving it unattended.

Directly opposite of Ya Garden was an antique shop named Shengdingxuan, which was much larger than Ya Garden and did much better business as well.

As the three of them arrived at the entrance of Shengdingxuan, they happened to see a very jolly-looking fat man walking out.

“Oh, what brings Mr. Qin and Mr. Zhang to this wind? Rare guests, rare guests indeed.”