Chapter 166: A Different Kind of Trade Fair

Such a grand event is held once a year, and Zhang Yang certainly doesn't want to miss it.

The invitation has been delivered to my door, how can I not join in the fun?

The venue is in the suburbs of Lin'an, not far from the airport. It's just over an hour's flight from Qingzhou, so it's quite close.

The letter arrived a little late. Zhang Yang looked at the date and found that the exhibition was in two days.

Don't think too much about it, just go and take a look.

There has been no news from Li Lao Er, and it seems that Master Bi is indeed capable and can take over all the work.

As for the burial objects, there is no rush because the final performance will be in front of the tomb owner, and there are still two months left.

Zhang Yang immediately packed his luggage and prepared to set off to attend this event.

Making money is only one aspect of life. It is also necessary to appreciate the colorful world.

Before leaving, he invited the old Taoist priest.

The last incident with the robber made Zhang Yang realize that Master Zou not only had some real kung fu skills, but most importantly, he had rich experience in the martial arts world.

He knows a little bit about cheating and deceiving, and he is also good at escaping and playing dead. With him around, at least I don't have to worry about being cheated by the Taoist priest.

When Zou Tianshi heard that Zhang Yang would pay for the flight and hotel expenses to Lin'an, he immediately agreed.

I was so anxious that I rode a shared bicycle to Zhang Yang's house.

"You don't know, I've been bored to death in the past three days."

The old Taoist priest complained to Zhang Yang on the plane:

"I ate all the dishes in the hotel, and suddenly I felt that rich people are also quite miserable. They eat healthy meals like monks."

"It's not as good as the old-style pickled cabbage noodles."

"Isn't it?"

"Really, I'm tired of eating seafood." The old Taoist said with a look of disdain.

"By the way, you haven't told me yet, what are we going to do this time?"

"Go here." Zhang Yang handed the invitation letter to Master Zou Tianshi.

After reading it, the old Taoist priest suddenly stretched out his right hand towards Zhang Yang:
"Come on, shake hands."

"What?" Zhang Yang shook his hand puzzledly.

"Thank you for showing me the world."

Zou Tianshi said happily:

"I've heard of this underground trade fair in Lin'an. It's a bit like the ghost market, but the threshold is higher. It's invitation-only, and the location changes once a year."

"You've heard of this? Why have I never heard of it?"

Zhang Yang said that he had never heard of such news in his two lifetimes.

I always feel that this kind of gathering is a scene that only happened in the first half of the 20th century.

"How old are you? The last time I heard about this exhibition was five years ago. I heard that it was suspended for a while because the person in charge of the rally was arrested."

"I guess he's out of jail now."

"Now that you put it that way, it suddenly makes sense."

Zhang Yang looked at the address on the letter, which was marked as a resort.

This kind of place is indeed a prime place for antique transactions. If no one calls the police, the police generally won't come in.

Unlike the pedestrian streets of antique markets or ghost markets, the police station is just a few hundred meters away.

After being spoiled by Master Zou Tianshi, Zhang Yang suddenly became more excited about this exhibition.

He also brought some small things in his bag, but they were just some imitation Han Dynasty jades, just for show, and he didn't expect to make money by selling them.

Mainly to broaden my horizons.

……

After getting off the plane, Zhang Yang took Master Zou Tianshi to a three-star hotel a few hundred meters away from the resort.

This way the safety factor rises sharply.

The rally doesn’t start until 10 p.m.

Zhang Yang and Zou Tianshi took a nap in the hotel until 9:30 in the evening. Then each of them asked the front desk for two masks and set off with their bags.

At the entrance, the security guard took a look at the business card-sized invitation letter in the envelope and let Zhang Yang and the other person in.

At the same time, they were also given a copy of the exhibition notice. "This is very professional."

Zou Tianshi looked at the dozens of disclaimers in the exhibition instructions and said:
"I can see from the person in charge that he has been there before and has experience. He has consulted an expert and highlighted a non-stick pan."

"It's useless." Zhang Yang said with a smile: "This kind of rally, even if it is for public welfare purposes, if something goes wrong, he, the organizer, will have to take the blame."

"This thing was probably written to fool the owner of this resort."

"Hahaha, that makes sense. Zhang Yang, you really have a lot of wisdom."

"Okay, I get it, old charlatan."

While chatting idly, the two followed the direction indicated by the security guard and walked to the garden in front of the resort building.

There should have been a swimming pool, a green belt, and a parking lot there, but now, it is crowded with people under the yellow street lights.

There are all kinds of stalls everywhere.

"Shall we go shopping separately?" Zhang Yang asked the old Taoist priest for his advice.

The latter nodded without replying and ran directly to the nearest stall where various statues were displayed.

Zhang Yang didn't know where he was going, so he followed.

This stall specializes in selling statues, and the stall owner is obviously very skilled. Although the statues are newly made, whether it is the Three Pure Ones, the Moon Emperor or the Star God Dou Mu, they are all carved to look lifelike.

The level of the sculptor is very high.

"I have been traveling all over the country for so long, but this is the first time I have seen someone selling Taoist statues outside of a Taoist temple."

Master Zou bowed to the stall owner and said with respect.

The stall owner replied:
"Mercy, mercy, it turns out to be a fellow Taoist..."

It turns out the seller was also a Taoist priest.

No wonder the carving was so professional. Zhang Yang guessed that the other party probably copied the authentic one in the Taoist temple?
Zhang Yang looked at Zou Tianshi who was in shock, lowered his head and smiled, then quietly walked away.

Next to the Taoist stall was a man selling gourds.

Zhang Yang saw a customer pull out a jade sword from the gourd, and then he realized:

What I’m selling is the sword-raising gourd.

That’s amazing, no wonder customers are so happy to pay.

"It seems that not all antiques are sold here, there are also handicrafts."

"Let's find a more busy stall and have a look."

Zhang Yang looked around and saw the place with the most people at a glance.

There were at least twenty or thirty people surrounding them.

He hurried over.

There were too many people watching and I couldn't squeeze in, so I could only jump up to take a look.

It turned out to be selling coins.

The stalls inside were divided into two sides, one selling copper coins and the other selling silver dollars.

The sign on the left reads "Imitation Northern Song Dynasty tube money, 30/jin".

This price is not expensive. According to Zhang Yang's understanding of the copper coin market, the market price of the Northern Song Dynasty's copper coin is around 300 yuan.

It is equivalent to buying goods here and using them to cheat people, you can make ten times the money.

The other side is for selling silver dollars, and it says "Longyang original machine-made coin, 5/piece".

At this price, it’s obviously not even silver. The selling point is probably the craftsmanship of using original machines.

After seeing clearly what everyone was watching, Zhang Yang shook his head.

This kind of coin with high volume has no reference value to him.

You might consider special edition coins, but you have to look for high-quality ones that are not sold in large quantities.

Zhang Yang left the crowd and wandered around for a while. When he was squatting in front of a bronze stall and looking at the Xuande furnace, he suddenly heard someone talking behind him.

The man spoke with a very strong Cantonese accent, which is rare in East China.

Zhang Yang turned his head and saw the other person's profile, and he laughed.

With this outfit and hairstyle, isn’t this Master Bi?

The other party was holding a photo and asking the stone carving master who was setting up the stall:
"How much do you charge per square meter for this kind of relief from the Han Dynasty?"

(End of this chapter)