Chapter 116 The villain book
Andy took two burly bodyguards to look at each stall. Of course, he was very good at those real old goods, well, just some old clothes and torn shoes. It seemed that he and the old military uniforms brought back from the Korean battlefield were simply... too bad.
Just smelling the scent of rags makes Andy discouraged. Perhaps, they can be sent to the film and television crew as props? Well, it is absolutely realistic.
Andy looked at a craft stall with some road street signs and some old items renovated. It was unique and interesting. Andy had malicious guesses that the stall owner would not be a thief, he specialized in stealing street signs... Otherwise, why would he still put up a sign that would not take photos?
To be honest, when I was visiting the flea market, Andy had no purchase goal. He just wandered around and looked at the things he was interested in. It was very interesting.
As for antiques, Andy really couldn't get interested. Looking at the bottles and jars with different shapes, dark and rough workmanship, there was really no beauty.
The truly exquisite silver antiques will not appear here, and they are incomparable to the exquisite antiques of the Celestial Dynasty. Andy just glanced at them and stopped staying.
Stopped at a stall where various 50s and 60s-style actress photos with photo frames were placed on a large long table. The oldest thing in this store was a US Victor phonograph produced in 1927.
Andy's impression of phonographs is still stuck in the TV series of the Celestial Empire, the phonograph with a loudspeaker.
Listening to the stall owner's introduction, Andy understood a little, no wonder the proud expression on his face when the boss introduced him.
This is a very rare American vinyl record machine made in 1928-29. It has a 78-turn record playback function and a radio function. It is really difficult for this Victor to survive by relying on the original electronic tube, especially since it can still work normally now, with a loud and clear sound.
Andy looked at the phonograph with a height of 140Cm. The overall wooden structure, the surface was even due to the long time and the owner's care, and formed a reflective patina. The metal accessories of the phonograph are made of brass. This phonograph is indeed a good thing.
Of course, it is not without flaws, because it still has some traces of use brought by history in the long time. There are some bumps on the right side of the top and some defects on the legs. However, it is not a big problem.
Andy didn't know whether the stall owner was saying true or not. In the late 1920s, the price of this phonograph was $475, and a person's salary was only $2 a day.
Because the stall owner's price is a bit high, it has not been sold. Many collectors often annoyed him, hoping that he can lower the price.
Andy could see that the stall owner strongly recommended him that this middle-aged American is also a smart person. It was obvious that Andy was not an ordinary person. Well, Andy was indeed a bit stupid. When visiting this kind of flea market, he brought two bodyguards behind him, either stupid or pretending to be lacking.
Sure enough, the stall owner's eyes shone, and the offer was 60,000 US dollars. Andy looked at the middle-aged man looking at him with expectant eyes. He couldn't help but curl his lips and roll his eyes, "Ma, I really think I'm stupid!"
"Twenty thousand, that's all. If you sell it, let's trade it now. If you think the price is not suitable, then you keep it yourself." Andy didn't have any good face to give the other party. The stall owner was definitely a profiteer. He originally wanted to cut half of the price, but the other party agreed to buy it. However, this phonograph was not very popular for him. He just felt that it was not easy to keep it so well and work normally for decades. It was not impossible to store it if the price was appropriate.
But wanting him to be the sucker is another matter. The stall owner saw Andy's coldness and knew that it was not good. The customer wanted to break the business. The 20,000 US dollars was indeed not low. The price he wanted to be 20,000, but in fact he could accept it 15,000.
But looking at Andy's style, he was definitely a child from a rich family. He was unwilling to accept it if he didn't kill him. Just when he was struggling, Andy found a stall not far away with a plaque of the Celestial Empire in the center, with three bright golden characters "Jibaozhai". He should not narrow his eyes. As a Celestial Empire, although he could not write calligraphy, he could still tell whether the calligraphy was well written.
Andy glanced at the middle-aged American who was still struggling and turned around and was about to leave. The American stall owner hurriedly shouted: "Okay, I'll sell it. Sir, I have some vinyl records with this phonograph. I wonder if you are interested?"
Andy doesn't want to waste time on this American, "I want 1,000 dollars, I want all your vinyl records, and I agree to let's trade it."
The middle-aged stall owner was a little terrified. A few of these vinyl records were very precious, but the young man seemed not going to continue bargaining, so he couldn't help but grit his teeth and nodded in agreement. After all, there were only a dozen vinyl records in this box that had collection value, and the others were really not valuable, and some were very worn and worn. If he struggled, he might have to smash them in his hand again.
Andy took his LV bag from Joseph, took out two American knives from it, and ordered another thousand dollars to the stall owner who was smiling. "Kenny, you ask this boss to help you put the phonograph in the car. Boss, is there any problem?"
"No, no, I have a trailer here, it's very convenient..."
Andy ignored the middle-aged stall owner and turned around and whispered to Joseph: "Don't follow me soon..."
Joseph nodded, knowing that the boss had discovered this problem, he smiled and took the bag handed over by the boss, and watched the boss put a few dollars into his pocket, which was a little bulging.
Andy took a deep breath, smiled sunnyly on his face, and walked towards the plaque with a pair of sunglasses.
Andy walked closer and carefully observed the plaque. The paint surface on the background was very mottled, and the three bright gold characters were a little bit off. The border was a bit broken, which was very poorly protected.
Looking at the small sign on the side, Andy's eyes lit up suddenly. Andy really knew the signer on it because he had been to this person's former residence.
Suzhou Top Scholar Museum, Pan Shien'en's former residence, the top scorer in the late Qianlong period, served as the Minister of Personnel, the Minister of Rites, and the Minister of Works.
Unfortunately, the appearance of this plaque is completely bad. Andy looked at the young man who was keeping his head down and cleaning the stall with his head down. He was originally black-haired and yellow-skinned, so he should be very friendly, but Andy looked at him a little unfriendly.
Originally, if the plaque was broken due to historical reasons, there was nothing we could do about it, but seeing the plaque being thrown aside casually, Andy could be sure that the young stall owner was an ABC and had never understood what he was selling.
This is also good. If you don’t know the goods, just transfer them to me, the one who knows something.
Andy squatted down and looked through the things on the stall, which attracted the attention of the stall owner. There was no happy expression on the stall owner's face, but he said mechanically: "Welcome."
Andy nodded and asked in Mandarin abruptly: "You are good things, are you brought from the Heavenly Kingdom?"
"Hmm?" The young stall owner finally had an expression on his face, and it was still the same surprised expression, but the expression on his face became a little entangled again. Well, Andy saw that the young stall owner blushed, and it was a little confused.
But as soon as the young stall owner opened his mouth, Andy understood, Damn, this Chinese language is cruel enough, it was indeed ABC. Andy smiled helplessly and shook his head, and said in English: "Your Chinese language is not as good as mine."
"Ahem... I am the third generation of Chinese, so this Chinese language is indeed not good. However, sir, your Chinese language is really good. If my grandfather saw you, he would be very happy. It's a pity... hey."
When Andy saw the sad expression of the young man, he guessed that the things in this stall should be from the young man's grandfather. The sad expression should be his grandfather's death.
"You can call me Andy. These things from you are very interesting. Most of them are from the Republic of China, especially this stack of newspapers. They were published at that time. It was really not easy to preserve them so well." Andy didn't want to explore other people's private affairs, so he could only change the topic.
"You can call me Stephen. These are all left by my grandfather. They are easy to get moldy when they are left in the warehouse. I am afraid that they will be thrown away as garbage in the end. My grandfather was very precious to these things during his lifetime. I don't want him to be angry in heaven, so I came to the flea market to find a suitable owner for them..."
Andy felt a chill when he heard it. Damn, the people of the Heavenly Kingdom believe in the gods in the heavenly court, okay, and God, bah, okay, you can't blasphemy, childish words are free, he has traveled through time, saying that there is no god or something is a slap in the face.
"Oh, by the way, sir, your Celestial Chronicle is so good. You must like Celestial Chronicle culture very much. Look, this is my favorite thing during my lifetime." As he said that, Stephen took out a small wooden box as big as the storage box sold in the supermarket from behind.
Andy looked at the things in the wooden box in a little shocked and speechless, looking at Stephen and asked, "Are you sure you want to sell these things?"
"What? Is there something wrong?" Stephen asked a little overwhelmed.
"No...no problem, just these... these villain books, well, are called comic strips in the Celestial Empire. It is rare to collect and preserve them so completely. Although they are not of great value, they are very valuable." Andy looked at the set of comic strips in the box, "Dream of Red Mansions", "Water Margin" and "The Three Kingdoms", which are really precious. Of course, he would not understand the ABC in front of him, the preciousness of these villain books printed during the Republic of China.
Chapter completed!