Chapter 38 - Judgement

Chapter 38 Judgement

“Uncle Zhao, where are we going?”

Su Xiaofan followed Zhao Zhengshan. He thought they would find a restaurant near the antique market to have some food, but Zhao Zhengshan hailed a taxi.

“We’re going to have a competition, so we need a judge.”

Zhao Zhengshan smiled. I’ll take you to dinner first. After dinner, we’ll find an expert to see which one of us has found the best item. Oh, don’t tell anyone about it during dinner. Otherwise, there won’t be any surprises.

“Uncle Zhao, do you really have to do this? I spent a little more than a thousand Yuan and made it look like a ceremony.”

Su Xiaofan looked at the excited Zhao Zhengshan speechlessly. He was not as excited as Zhao Zhengshan even when he repaired the Song dynasty brush wash and the Ming Dynasty brush holder.

“We’re from Liulichang.” After the car stopped, Su Xiaofan saw the sign of Liulichang outside the window.

“The experts of the officials are all at the Xinong Museum, and the experts of the common people are all at Liulichang.”

Zhao Zhengshan laughed. “Our Luochuan has a branch of Jingxin Hall here. I heard that Uncle Jing will be in Yanjing for a few days. Let him be the judge.”

“Looking for Uncle Jing to be the judge? I think we should forget about it. ”

Zhao Zhengshan addressed Jing Shizhen as Uncle Jing, but Su Xiaofan did the same. However, he couldn’t care less about the seniority, because he had been avoiding Jing Shizhen for the past few days because of the yin fiend stone.

“It’s hard to say if we’ll bump into them. Let’s go and eat first.”

Zhao Zhengshan brought Su Xiaofan to a small restaurant. The restaurant didn’t have a big entrance and didn’t have a signboard, but business was good inside. The small space was basically full.

“Boss, I’ll have two fried livers, one fried tripe, one bowl of marinade, and four more with xuanji fire…’ It seemed like Zhao Zhengshan was a frequent customer. After they found an empty table and sat down with Su Xiaofan, he listed a few dishes without even looking at the menu.

The dishes were served quickly. After asking Su Xiaofan if he drank, the two of them started eating.

Su Xiaofan had not eaten breakfast, so he was famished. He had eaten four of the dumplings by himself. Zhao Zhengshan asked for six more, and he ate two. Su Xiaofan finished the remaining four.

Su Xiaofan ate a little ruthlessly and felt like he couldn’t get up. He patted his belly and said, “Uncle Zhao, this is what life is like.”

In Su Xiaofan’s eyes, Zhao Zhengshan was very different from the rich people he had imagined. He was humble and didn’t live a luxurious life. If Su Xiaofan didn’t know he was Zhao hengjian’s son, he would have thought he was just an ordinary doctor.

it’s better to be young. When I was young, I could eat as much as you for one meal!

Zhao Zhengshan looked at Su Xiaofan enviously. “I can’t eat much now. I have to control my diet at night, but I feel old when I see you guys.’ “Come on, Uncle Zhao, let’s go to the Jingxin Hall.”

Su Xiaofan stood up and rushed to scan the code to pay the bill. He had also thought it through. Sooner or later, he would meet Jing Shizhen, and there was no way he could escape this knife.

Unlike Luochuan’s entrance, which was not afraid of the smell of wine, Jingxin Hall’s entrance in Liulichang was very stylish, with ancient carvings of Dragons and phoenixes outside.

After entering, the smell of sandalwood filled his nose, and a beautiful young saleswoman came over to greet him. The floor was about 70 to 80 square meters, and it was full of antique shelves and all kinds of antiques.

There were also some antiques that were placed in glass covers. In short, once you entered Liulichang, it was like entering a Museum. Everything you saw was antique, displaying a deep historical and cultural heritage.

“Is Uncle Jing in? Uncle Jing isn’t here,” Zhao Zhengshan said as soon as he entered. “Head shopkeeper Liu is fine too. He’ll help me take a look.”

The greeters in front of the door could tell that they were regular customers, so they quickly let the two of them into the inner hall. It was different from the antique decorations outside, but there were a few luxurious couches in the inner hall, giving off a modern feeling.

“Uncle Jing knows how to do business.” Su Xiaofan looked around in admiration. He knew that although the wooden tables and chairs looked stylish, they were not as comfortable as the sofa. The softness of the sofa could also make people feel more relaxed.

“Good job, Su Xiaofan. I’ve been calling you for days, but you didn’t pick up, did you?”

Su Xiaofan had just sat down and hadn’t even taken a sip of tea when he heard Jing Shizhen’s confident voice.

“How could I? Uncle Jing, my phone was in out of charge a few days ago. I didn’t know about it until I topped it up yesterday.”

Su Xiaofan, who hadn’t even sat down properly, stood up immediately and stood there obediently. He was still very respectful to Uncle Jing.

For example, Uncle Jing had given up on 600,000 Yuan when he sold Zhao Hengjian’s Wind-occupying Bell to Su Xiaofan, which was a huge favor to him.

“Zhengshan, how did you two end up together? Sit, sit down and talk.”

Jing Shizhen greeted Zhao Zhengshan, then turned to Su Xiaofan and said in an annoyed tone, “You threw away a few million just like that? Are you that prodigal? What’s there to be afraid of?”

“Uncle Jing, it’s mainly because Brother Gang kept asking me to throw them away, so I didn’t think it was auspicious to bring them home.” Su Xiaofan felt that Zheng Dagang’s waist was thicker, so he should be the one to take the blame. His small arms and legs couldn’t stand Uncle Jing’s blame. “Foolish, you two are both foolish!”

Jing Shizhen sighed and said, “If there’s something you’re not sure about, you should find someone to look at it. You think you’re smart. Now that you’ve lost a few million, you know you’re at a disadvantage, right?”

“Got it, Uncle Jing. I’ll definitely give you a call the next time I have something I’m not sure about.” Su Xiaofan accepted the criticism.

“Uncle Jing, what’s wrong with little Su? What did you throw away?”

Zhao Zhengshan was curious. He knew that Su Xiaoxiao had to apply for a tuition fee exemption when she went to college. Su Xiaofan’s family was not very well-off. It was unlikely that he would throw away something that was worth millions, right? “This kid threw a yin stone. Zhengshan, do you know about yin stones?” Jing Shizhen glanced at Zhao Zhengshan and didn’t hide anything. “Yin stone? I’ve seen one before, but doesn’t that thing have some evil properties?” Zhao Zhengshan was stunned.

“You’ve seen it before?” Jing Shizhen turned his head immediately. “Where did you see it? Who has the yin stone?”

“I’ve seen it more than ten years ago. It’s something that belonged to the Jingang temple’s abbot. I really don’t know who has it now…” Zhao Zhengshan explained.

That happened when Zhao Zhengshan was still a doctor in the emergency room. One night, the ambulance brought a monk who was ill. The monk passed away the next day.

Zhao Zhengshan had seen the yin stone when he was packing the monk’s belongings. He did not know what it was, but he felt a chill in his heart when he held it. It seemed to be evil. It was only when the disciple of the monk came to the hospital that Zhao Zhengshan found out that the person who pardoned the death was the abbot of the Jingang temple. Out of curiosity, he asked what the stone was when he returned the monk’s items.

The senior monk’s disciple told Zhao Zhengshan that they were yin stones formed by yin qi. One had to use Dharma to dispel the evil qi in them. Ordinary people should not touch them, or they would fall sick or even lose their lives.

“The disciple you’re talking about should be Reverend Hui Zheng. That means he’s an old friend.”

Jing Shizhen nodded. Now that he knew the origin of the yin stone Zhao Zhengshan saw, he didn’t ask any further.

“You two, what did you come here for today?”

Jing Shizhen looked at Su Xiaofan and Zhao Zhengshan.

“Uncle Jing…”

“Uncle Jing, Uncle Zhao and I…” Su Xiaofan and Zhao Zhengshan opened their mouths at the same time and then shut them up. Both of them called him Uncle Jing, but Su Xiaofan called Zhao Zhengshan “Uncle Zhao”, which was a little awkward.

“We’re all talking about our own matters, what’s there to be conflicted about?” Jing Shizhen pointed at Zhao Zhengshan and said, “Zhengshan, tell me, what are you doing in the Jingxin Hall?”

“Uncle Jing, it’s like this. I went to the antique Street with Xiaofan this morning,” Zhao Zhengshan said with a smile. “Both of us found some items. I’m here to ask you to take a look at it…”

“Your collection is different from the others.” Jing Shizhen clearly knew Zhao Zhengshan well. “If I give you ten eye palms, can you buy the right things twice? I told you to come to my shop if you wanted to buy antiques, but you just wouldn’t come. You’re making it seem like I’m taking advantage of you.” Uncle Jing, I like the thrill of picking up treasures from treasure hunting. I don’t feel that way when I buy from you.

Zhao Zhengshan shook his head with a smile. He had introduced Jing Shizhen to his father when he first met her. Later on, Zhao Hengjian and Jing Shizhen became very close. Zhao Zhengshan rarely visited Jingxin Hall except for asking him to appraise antiques.

“Alright, let me see the thing.” Jing Shizhen extended her hand to Zhao Zhengshan and said, “Same old rules. I won’t charge you if it’s real, but if it’s fake, you can go to the cabinet and pay the appraisal fee.”

“Uncle Zhao, how much is the appraisal fee?” Su Xiaofan asked in a low voice. He didn’t understand Jing Shizhen’s rules. Logically speaking, only after the item was appraised and proved to be real would the appraiser be willing to pay the fee. Paying the appraisal fee after buying a counterfeit was like cutting a person’s wound.

“If it is identified as a counterfeit, it will be 10,000 at a time.” Zhao Zhengshan didn’t mind the fee. He passed the bag to Uncle Jing and said with a smile, “Uncle Jing, you’re teaching me a lesson.

This is called remembering the pain after being beaten.”

“I didn’t see you remember the pain.’ Uncle Jing took the bag from Zhao Zhengshan, but he didn’t open it immediately. Instead, he put on a pair of gloves and took out the contents of the bag.

“A root carving of a character?” Jing Shizhen didn’t rush to make a judgment as he looked at the item in his hand. Instead, he took out a magnifying glass and carefully examined the dark red root sculpture that was about 27 to 28 centimeters tall. It was a Dharma-shaped root carving. The Dharma had one hand on its chest, its eyes closed, its forehead raised high, and large earrings hanging from its ears. The most distinctive feature was the wire-like hair curling around its face. Every strand of hair was visible, and it looked very realistic. “Zhengshan, tell me your judgment.”

After looking at it for about three to five minutes, Jing Shizhen put down the magnifying glass and placed the sculpture back on the table.