HBWnovel Chapter 621 Xiao He from Hangzhou
Chapter 621 Xiao He from Hangzhou
"Who?"
"Mr. Mei, you've met him before."
"Is this the one who bought our iron pot last time?"
Seeing me nod in agreement, Xiaoxuan smiled and said, "I heard everything. Do you and her have something going on? If so, you don't need to hide it from me."
"Don't overthink it! It's just normal business talk. I'm going out for a bit, I'll be right back. If the boss asks, just say I went to town to buy something."
Then I called the number Meimei sent me.
The call was answered instantly; the voice belonged to a young man.
This person later became the famous "Little He from Hangzhou". At that time, he was not famous, and because he was outside the entertainment industry, I did not know him.
Xiao He is not only a famous coin dealer, but also a very capable buyer. Between 2000 and 2010, many rare ancient coins that are not available in museums flowed to island nations and Singapore through his hands. This time, he was the middleman for Mei Mei Dang, and he did not know what I did.
After that incident, I stopped sending photos to people easily. If I encountered something I couldn't understand, I wouldn't leak the photos even if I sold them at a low price. If someone can't understand something, it means they're not capable.
There's a saying in the industry: "Keep it a secret." Some people might get their hands on a good item and be eager to sell it. They'll send photos to several people, agree to everyone's offer, and then compare prices. This behavior itself isn't wrong, but it violates an industry taboo.
Around 4 PM, I met Xiao He from Hangzhou in the square near the bus station.
Xiao He looked to be about twenty-six or twenty-seven years old. He was wearing a black baseball cap, was slightly overweight, about 1.75 meters tall, with small eyes, a big nose, sparse hair, and a slightly oily face. He had been waiting for me for four or five hours, but he didn't look angry at all; instead, he was all smiles.
He shook hands symbolically and laughed, "Brother, you have an aura that makes you seem like an ordinary person. Just call me Xiao He. Ever since I saw the picture of your coin, I haven't been able to eat or sleep. Luckily, Boss Mei introduced me to you. Did you bring the actual coin? There are too many people around here. Why don't we go to my car to take a look? Or let's find a less crowded restaurant to sit down and chat."
"You're from Hangzhou?"
"Yes, as soon as I heard you were here, I drove over immediately. It's only a little over an hour's drive."
I looked at him and said, "You're not just a coin dealer, you've also been involved in a lot of hoarding. The total amount you've handled over the years is at least 200,000 jin. There aren't that many in the south. You must have a close relationship with those people in Siping, right?"
The other person paused for a moment, then said, "We shouldn't know each other. My public identity is just a coin dealer and buyer. How did you figure out that I've been involved in hoarding?"
I pointed at him and said, "Your right middle and ring fingers are habitually unable to straighten. In addition, your lower lip is bluish and your teeth look black. These are all caused by handling large amounts of storage over the years."
"That's right, brother, you guessed correctly. There was no other way; I had to make a living, so I officially entered the industry when I was fifteen, haha."
I nodded.
His teeth turned black because of the accumulation of heavy metals in his body. I'm not exaggerating. Ancient coins before the Song Dynasty were made of bronze. When bronze was mixed with soil underground, it was soaked and deposited by rainwater, causing the heavy metal content in the soil to exceed the standard. After being dug out, the soil dried very quickly, and when you brushed it, powder flew everywhere. If you stayed in that environment for a long time, even wearing a mask wouldn't help, and you couldn't avoid poisoning. If you don't believe me, go find some of the original soil from those jars and try using it to grow flowers or throwing it into a fish tank. The fish will die in no time.
"Hey bro, wanna have one?"
"No need, I'm not used to it, I'll smoke my own."
I took out a cigarette and said, "Meimei told me you came for someone nicknamed 'King of Money'? This person probably exists, but I don't think you're actually buying it for him."
He said, "That's not important, brother. What's important is the price I can offer. I have cash in my car. I'm here today with sincerity."
I laughed and said, "It's not important, but I don't like this roundabout way of meeting. I never lie, so I prefer to be straightforward and deal with easygoing people. Meimei almost knelt down and begged me to be the middleman. There might be a reason she doesn't want to say. Let me guess."
"Since you're a big player in the hoarding business, did you recently acquire a batch of military cooking pots from Meimei for hoarding?"
He changed instantly.
Seeing his reaction, I had a rough idea of what was going on, but I didn't say it out loud.
Here's what happened: To minimize her losses, Meimei followed my instructions and repackaged the counterfeit cooking pots. They ended up in the hands of this guy, Xiao He. When he realized something was wrong, he confronted Meimei. Meimei knew the pots were fake, and if word got out, it would not only damage her reputation but also affect Meiqian Pavilion's business. That's why she was willing to be scolded by me to act as the introducer. To put it bluntly, the favor was just an excuse; Meimei had something she couldn't say openly that this Xiao He from Hangzhou had in his hands.
As evening approached, more and more people were strolling around the square, and I followed Xiao He to his Passat to continue our conversation.
A woman was sitting in the back row eating an apple. When I opened the door, I was startled. Xiao He said she was her cousin, and the woman immediately smiled and greeted me.
The woman was in her early twenties, with short hair, fair skin, and was very beautiful. Her figure was also amazing; her upper body gave off a heavy, voluptuous look, even surpassing that of Sai Xi Shi... I only glanced at her twice and didn't pay much attention to her.
Xiao He sat in the passenger seat, the woman moved over a bit, and I sat next to her.
The car windows were closed.
I took out a folded newspaper and placed it on the center console armrest. Inside were those few ancient Manichaean coins.
Xiao He picked them up one by one and examined them carefully, exclaiming in admiration as he looked:
"This is amazing! It's an eye-opener. The real thing is far more stunning than the photos. I've never seen such ancient script and style before. Have you done any metal composition analysis? Is it made of silver or tin? Would you mind revealing its origin?"
I shook my head: "I can't say its origin. The material is tin-plated coins, and the inscription should be a special script from the Manichaean religion during the Northern Song Dynasty."
"Only these few? Do you have any more? I think the inscriptions on these few seem to be a set." He, A-Shuo,
"That's all. These are the few we found in total. They're all here. I'm here because I'm interested in trading. I just want to cash out, not hide them."
He looked at me and said, "Ten years ago, a jar was found in a mud pit in Poyang Lake. At the bottom of the jar was a silver coin of a novel variety. The inscription on the obverse was Zhao Bao Chongxing in regular script, and the reverse was the characters 'Dang Wu Er'. I think the style of your coins is quite similar to that of the others."
"What currency??"
"Zhao Bao Chongxing, some experts believe it should be pronounced Chengxing Zhao Chongbao. The specific background of its minting is unclear, but it is tentatively dated to the late Song and early Yuan dynasties. Have you ever heard of this coin, brother?"
I shook my head: "I don't know, I've never heard of it."
He laughed and said, "I bought it for 50,000 and sold it for 670,000. I heard it was resold again two years ago for 3 million."
"Brother, what price are you asking for these few?"
"You've already mentioned the price."
"three hundred?"
I nodded and said yes.
Actually, I think these ancient coins are rare, but their condition is too poor due to the material. They should be worth around 100,000 yuan each, totaling around 500,000 to 600,000 yuan. I wanted to rip him off because I knew he was determined to get them.
Sure enough, he looked troubled and said, "I really want it, but the price is a bit over my budget."
"Is that a lot? Not really, only three hundred." I said, pursing my lips.
"and many more."
He got out of the car, opened the trunk, and took out a rolling suitcase.
"I only brought this much cash with me. Brother, let's settle this. If it's about right, you can keep this box, and I'll take the money."
I glanced at them; there were probably around a hundred, all bundled together in new bills.
“nO is not enough,” I refused.
His expression turned somewhat grim.
At that moment, the woman sitting on the right suddenly bent down and stood up. She rolled down the car window over me and threw the apple core out of the car.
That one moment made me feel suffocated, and the faint fragrance made me vaguely think it was winter.