Once they arrived at the antique city, they found Xiao Wu and delivered the wine to him. Xiao Wu seemed quite pleased.
Originally, Xiao Wu thought that Yan Fei’s offer to bring him wine was just a casual remark and didn’t expect that he would actually deliver on his words. Xiao Wu didn’t particularly care about the wine, it was an unexpected pleasure. He thought that Yan Fei was a rather decent person.
Yan Fei had planned on selling some items since they had just eaten breakfast and the crowd wasn’t too thick. His timing was good as Xiao Wu also had some free time and he asked him to help sell the items.
But once Xiao Wu examined the items Yan Fei had brought, he remarked, "I thought you brought another surprise. These items are too common and not worth much. Let me generally divide them for you, and you can sell them however you want."
Yan Fei didn’t mind. Even though there were a lot of items, they had only cost Heizi a few dozen dollars. These items didn’t really matter to him, he would have been too lazy to sell them if it wasn’t for Heizi’s hard work.
Xiao Wu quickly divided the items into three piles: "You can sell this pile for however much you can get, just consider it trash; for this pile, you can ask for eight dimes each and the exact price doesn’t matter, you can sell them for scrap iron prices; this pile is not bad, worth a bit more money, ten to eight dollars each, but it depends if you can find a buyer. As for these books, except for this thread-bound copy which might find a buyer and is worth a few dollars, you should keep the rest for yourself to read."
So, Yan Fei took ’The Three Heroes and Five Gallants’, and sat in front of the stall to study the martial arts moves written inside the book.
Selling things can be a rather hopeless affair. Items that are too common are not wanted, while items that are slightly rare are pursued by many people. This is especially true in the antique business. Yan Fei squatted for a long time without being disturbed by customers and leisurely finished two books, even starting on the traditional Chinese version of ’General Yue Fei’.
It was close to New Year’s Day and tomorrow was a holiday, so there were fewer people in the market today. Finally, a buyer appeared and noticed the thread-bound book that he was reading and asked him, "Can I take a look at the book you’re reading?"
Yan Fei had just finished reading ’Yang Zhaixing takes the wrong path to Xiaoshang River’, and the was ’Envoy Tang Huai Commits Suicide’. He was upset to see two of General Yue’s major generals dying in succession. Hearing someone ask a question, he didn’t lift his head, "I’m still reading it! This one is not for sale."
The only one who inquired about a price all morning was driven away by him.
He was a quick reader, and by the time he finished this book, it was still early to go home and cook. However, his wife had told him not to come to her dance rehearsal! The more he was told not to go, the more he wanted to go. Since there was no business anyway, he decided to go home early and sneak in to watch.
As for other girls rehearsing as well, he didn’t care at all, he wouldn’t spare them a second glance.
When he was packing up stuff, Xiao Wu, who was wandering around, saw him. He came over and told Yan Fei, "There’s a place called Half Price Hall over there. You can go and check it out if you don’t mind their low prices. They usually also buy common items, but they significantly discount the prices, often only offering about half the market price. The sign on the door says Banxia Tang, but because of this pricing practice, everyone calls them Half Price Hall."
Yan Fei casually asked, "Such profiteers? Are they going to consider my items as trash?"
"They are not entirely unscrupulous, they are quite honest and won’t cheat anyone. Regardless of whether you understand the value of your items or not, they will tell you the truth about the price range. If you double the price they offer you, you get the market price. If you don’t want to sell, they won’t insist. It’s like they offer free appraisals, they do have some integrity. If it was a gangster inn, would I recommend it to you?"
"That works. Most of my stuff is junk anyway, I don’t mind how much they offer. I’ll go have a look." Yan Fei picked up his goods and left, "Also, don’t drink that wine all at once, it has a good medicinal property. You should drink it slowly, if you finish it, I’ll bring you more."
Once he entered the Half Price Hall that Xiao Wu had mentioned, a few young assistants were seen dusting off items on the shelves. Two elder craftsmen were playing a game of chess and one of them stood up to greet Yan as he brought in his items. The elderly man immediately called over a younger assistant to examine Yan’s items.
Things that are not worth much are despised, the old craftsman could not even be bothered to look at them himself.
The assistant was very serious and he meticulously examined the bronze coins one by one, making notes in a small notebook and occasionally asking an old craftsman a question. Somehow, they determined that the items that came as a set according to the year of issue were worth more and found that altogether it was worth over a thousand dollars.
As Yan took the money he was still puzzled, selling junk sure had a lot of conditions!
In his eyes, these antiquities that neither could be eaten nor drunk were nothing more than junk, right?
However, that thought only flicked through his mind as his attention had already shifted to the dance room of the Provincial University Law School.
While passing a bustling area near the train station, Yan Fei went into a shopping mall and bought two thick, high-quality cotton sheets, before heading back to his rented room with satisfaction.
Back at his home, he steamed a large sturgeon on Vegetable Garden Island, then opened the window and chuckled to himself. Quickly, he transformed into a small insect and flew to the university.
In the temporary dance rehearsal room of the Provincial University Law School, a group of girls were chattering happily, creating a lively atmosphere.
There was no heating in the room, but the students had somehow managed to find a stove. The roaring flames inside the stove filled the practice room with a spring-like warmth.
Because of the stove, even though the curtains were tightly drawn, the windows were left slightly open.