"Who is it? Me?" Grandpa Lu came over and pointed at himself.

It was originally a joke, but Zhang Yang showed a thoughtful expression, and then he actually nodded and said, "Grandpa, it's great that you can take the initiative to stand up."

"Huh? Me??"

"Yes, it's you." Zhang Yang smiled and told the old man: "Snuff bottles are not only found in the British Museum. Even the snuff bottles in the British Museum are not considered the best..."

"Then what is considered the best?" Grandpa Lu interrupted Zhang Yang and asked.

"Hey, Grandpa, you should ask him."

Zhang Yang pointed at Master Jin, who smiled in tacit understanding and began to introduce what the snuff bottle that he thought was most valuable for collection and study looked like.

According to him, the collection of snuff bottles is different from that of ordinary antiques. The age is not important, but the quality of the item itself is more important.

It is not surprising that the works of modern masters are more expensive than the snuff bottles made by the emperors of the three dynasties of the Qing Dynasty.

Of course, the most precious of these snuff bottles are those used by the three emperors Kangxi, Qianlong and Yongzheng.

Although it is not as fine an art as "inner painting", the painting skills and craftsmanship of Western paintings are both top-notch.

"Imperial use" is not just as simple as "made by the emperor". It must be exquisite to the point that it can be seen at first glance as something used by the emperor.

"I saw two enameled snuff bottles made by Emperor Qianlong in the British Museum... If I could get them and copy them, I would definitely gain a lot."

As Master Jin spoke, a longing expression appeared on his face, and he looked at Zhang Yang meaningfully.

It seemed as if he was waiting for Zhang Yang to fulfill his wish.

Zhang Yang immediately looked at Grandpa Lu next to him.

"What do you mean?" Professor Lu seemed to smell something ominous and asked cautiously, "Will there be enamel snuff bottles for sale at this auction? And you want me to buy one for him, right?"

"You said I could satisfy him, but it wouldn't be this kind of satisfaction, right?"

"No way? No way!"

"Why not?" Zhang Yang asked with a sly smile, "Grandpa, don't you want to do your part to protect the national treasures? Once you get the things in the British Museum out, you'll be a big star in the collection circle!"

"People donating a faucet can cause a big uproar. If you bring a national treasure home, you have to cover it with the national flag, right?"

"Cover the national flag? No, no, no, I'm not worthy." Grandpa Lu waved his hands repeatedly, showing his cowardice. He took two steps back to express his determination not to get involved.

It wasn't until he saw the smile on Zhang Yang's face that he realized:

No! He and Zhang Yang are family, how could this young man cheat an old man like him?

Specifies a variable.

Grandpa Lu wanted to regret it, but it was too late, Zhang Yang had already spoken again.

"Grandpa, you are the one who is scared. Don't say I didn't give you a chance."

"Master Jin, you want to learn how to make an enamel snuff bottle, right?"

"Yes!" Master Jin nodded and replied, "We all teach inner-painted snuff bottles, but in fact, Emperor Kangxi had already hired Western craftsmen to make enamel ones."

“I have always wondered if I could combine enamel and murals.”

Combined?

Zhang Yang sketched out the scene of enamel painting the inside of the snuff bottle in his mind. It was extremely brain-burning. It seemed that with Master Jin's level, he would probably have to spend the rest of his life on this.

That won't do, this guy is the one he specially hired as his destiny worker. "Mr. Zhang, don't you think it's a good idea?" Master Jin asked, looking at the subtle expression on Zhang Yang's face.

"Indeed, I am a little pessimistic... I think you should first understand the concept of enamel."

Zhang Yang shook his head and gave his final plan.

He would definitely not buy the enameled snuff bottle worth millions at the auction. Taking over the snuff bottle at this time would be a textbook example of injustice.

Snuff bottles are clearly a declining collectible category, and there are no longer any ships that can carry them in the new era.

However, he can make an identical one for Master Jin.

I can’t say it’s 100% similar to the auction item, but it shouldn’t be difficult to achieve more than 90% similarity.

Rounding it off, it’s equivalent to saving several million. The value of Zhang Yang’s craftsmanship is immediately apparent.

So how can we imitate an identical snuff bottle?

Of course, he would go to the auction site and find the buyer who bought the enamel snuff bottle, have a careful, in-depth and sincere chat with him, use reason and money to persuade the other party to lend the item to Zhang Yang so that he could imitate it by comparison.

Zhang Yang promised Master Jin:

If the imitation doesn't look like the original, just buy the real one and give it to him.

As for how to tell whether the imitation is similar or not, of course, use the old method - put the two together and let Master Jin pick out the authentic one.

If he picks it right three times in a row, even if Zhang Yang fails in his imitation.

"This method..." Master Jin touched his chin, nodded vigorously and said, "I think it's okay, but we have to make it clear in advance that the things you give me cannot be counted as wages or bonuses. We have to sign a voluntary gift agreement."

"Hey, you are such a cunning person..." Grandpa Lu couldn't help but pointing and saying.

Master Jin was not in a hurry after hearing this. He just laughed shamelessly. He also realized that Zhang Yang was the one who kept his word, while grandpa was just a bystander.

Whether his idea will work depends on Zhang Yang's words.

"No problem!" Zhang Yang agreed readily. He was very confident in his craftsmanship.

If you can't even fool Master Jin, then forget about it and go back home to sell bronze wares in your small workshop.

Zhang Yang agreed readily, and Master Jin generously took out the communication records between him and Higgs, a researcher at the British Museum.

The way the two contacted each other was a bit outrageous. They actually hooked up through eBay.

This researcher named Higgs opened his own store on eBay. At first glance, it looks a bit like the domestic Xianyu store, selling second-hand goods.

The items on sale are gemstones, coins, jewelry, etc. with obvious patina, and the product notes are "private collection of a deceased relative."

People who don’t know much about this may not be able to see anything. Even if they recognize that the items being sold are treasures from other ancient countries, they may still think that these are truly the collection of an old British robber.

But maybe Master Jin's luck came. When he was browsing the Internet, he noticed that among the things sold in Higgs's shop, there was an ivory chess piece.

Sold as a gem in West Asia.

Not only did he spend money to buy the chess pieces, he also asked Higgs whether there were more Chinese cultural relics in the inheritance from his relatives.

He also said: money is not a problem, as long as the product is good, he and his financial backer (Zhenbao Pavilion) can afford it.

It just so happened that Higgs was helping to sort cultural relics in the storage room of the British Museum at that time.

The latter looked at the tens of thousands of unregistered cultural relics in the warehouse, couldn't help swallowing his saliva, and replied to Master Jin:
Whatever you want, I have it here. (End of this chapter)