Rebirth in the 50s: The Couple with the Hidden Space novel Chapter 974

Chapter 974: Chapter 847: Bargaining 3

The room suddenly fell into silence. The couple looked at each other, seemingly not expecting that what they thought were valuable treasures would be of no interest to anyone.

After a moment, Zhang Guoqing stood up, ready to take his leave, when suddenly the woman asked, "Brother, what’s the highest price you can offer?"

Zhang Guoqing frowned slightly, "Sister-in-law, listen to me, if you don’t need the money, keep them. When times change, these things will be valuable again like before."

Hearing Zhang Guoqing’s words, the couple looked at each other for a long time. The woman spoke again, "Brother, name your price first. If it’s really too low, we’ll just keep them."

Zhang Guoqing listened and shook his head helplessly, "A hundred jin of national grain coupons plus a hundred yuan. I can’t offer more, this is enough to cover two trips to Jiang Province."

He then looked towards Zhou Jiao, "Third brother, let’s go."

"Brother, wait, add a bit more."

If Zhang Guoqing didn’t understand by now that they couldn’t dare keep these things, he must have water in his brain. They couldn’t possibly have no gold, maybe even more good things, but it’s likely impossible to get them out.

He sighed, "How about throwing in five paintings and I’ll add fifty yuan? To be honest, I haven’t even seen the items yet, but offering this high a price is out of respect for the honesty of you two."

"Or maybe you shouldn’t sell them at all. Once my brother and I leave tonight, we’ll forget about it for sure, and you don’t have to worry about us leaking a word. Later on, find a place to bury them, maybe leave them for the grandchildren in the future."

"Husband?"

The man steadily looked at Zhang Guoqing, hesitated, and then finally spoke, "You take a look at the paintings first, and if they’re suitable, then add a bit more."

This time it was Zhang Guoqing who hesitated. He really had no choice, the other party probably already sensed his interest in those five paintings. After a while, he smiled wryly, "I only recognize a few words."

Saying this, he looked at Zhou Jiao, "Third brother, you take a look for me. If they’re alright, take them; if not, there’s nothing we can do."

Seeing Zhou Jiao start inspecting the paintings, Zhang Guoqing sat on the edge of the kang and smiled at the couple watching Zhou Jiao intently, "My younger brother learned some paper mounting from an old master in the provincial city. He’s not very skilled, but much better than me. You might laugh, but without him, I usually don’t dare to take any antique paintings and calligraphy, without some knowledge it’s impossible."

Seeing that the couple’s attention was drawn to him, he continued, "I have a brother who spent a hundred yuan a couple of years ago on a big box of paintings and calligraphy, guess what happened after that?"

"What happened?"

"He almost drank pesticide from the loss. They were all fake! And that’s not the worst, there was another guy who got into the business a few years before me, he collected a good box of paintings, calligraphy, and books, wasn’t it a flood that year? They were all ruined."

"What a pity..."

Zhang Guoqing clapped his hands, "Exactly. In our business, dealing with wooden books isn’t an issue, but with paintings and jars, it’s a heart-stopping experience. Besides the abundance of fakes, we’re also worried about accidents..."

Meanwhile, Zhou Jiao listened to his nonsense while roughly examining the five paintings, a smile flickering in his eyes. After looking, he stepped back behind Zhang Guoqing, "They’re all works by Republican period masters."

"Oh, so the old brother didn’t lie to me, they’re really not worth much." Zhang Guoqing realized, "Alright, since you’re being sincere, we can’t act like promise-breaking villains."

"I won’t say a hundred and fifty, let’s make it a hundred and sixty plus a hundred jin of national grain coupons. How about that? Brother, this is genuinely the highest price, any more and I can only apologize."

The man looked at his wife, seeing her hesitant, turned to Zhang Guoqing, "You paid sixty for the paintings, very generous! But these jade pieces are truly good items, could you add a bit more?"

"Yeah, brother, it’s not even enough to buy a sewing machine. We’re not asking for much, two hundred plus a hundred jin of grain coupons."

Zhang Guoqing looked at Zhou Jiao behind him in difficulty and winked at him.

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