Chapter 6144

Master Cheng couldn’t figure out Dave’s background.

Seeing that Ervin was so polite and complimentary to him, he thought he must be a big shot.

So he said respectfully:

“Hey, Mr. Murong, hello! I have always heard martial arts novels mention Gusu Murong.”

“I didn’t expect that not only is your surname Murong,”

“But you are also from Suzhou and Hangzhou. I’m glad to meet you!”

Dave nodded and smiling, he said, “I’m in a hurry this time,”

“So let’s take a quick look at things first.”

“Okay!” Master Cheng pointed to a farmyard not far away and said with a smile,

“That’s our studio. All the good things are there, I’ll take you there!”

When they arrived at the farmyard, it didn’t look like anything extraordinary.

Master Cheng took the two of them directly to a cowshed that had been abandoned for many years.

After lifting up the hay on the ground in the cowshed,

A wooden plank laid flat on the ground was revealed.

The wooden plank was lifted to reveal a downward passage.

It turned out that they used the cowshed as the entrance and hollowed out the entire yard.

Dave followed him down and couldn’t help but sigh:

“Your workload is quite heavy, digging such a big place!”

Master Cheng said modestly: “Most of the people in our profession have done some cooking and dumping.”

“To put it bluntly, they are all dirt.”

“As a master, in addition to being good at tomb-robbing,”

“He is also good at digging soil. Such a small amount of work is nothing to us.”

As they spoke, the three of them had already walked down the digging stairs to the hall below. Mainly because the area is indeed not small, almost a hundred square meters,”

“But the environment inside is really simple, maybe to reduce the workload, the entire underground height is only about 1.8-9 meters, surrounded by exposed loess.”

“Coupled with the wooden support equipment, it looks a bit like entering a black coal kiln.

Seeing that Dave was a little worried, the man smiled and said,

“Don’t worry, Mr. Murong. It looks very simple from here, but it is actually very safe, because the digging depth is very shallow, and the soil layer above our heads is only one meter thick,”

“Think about it, how much weight can it have if it is one meter thick?”

“This kind of wooden support is enough. When we used to support pots, we used this kind of support when we dug holes ten meters deep. Nothing can go wrong.”

Dave felt relieved and then carefully observed the situation here.

There were several workbenches in a space of nearly 100 square meters.

There was a rotten smell mixed with the smell of earth, which was a bit nauseating.

In front of those workbenches, several technicians were lowering their heads and playing with the things in their hands.

At first glance, they seemed to be antiques.

Ervin was also a little amazed at the scale of this place, so he said to Master Cheng:

“Introduce them to Mr. Murong.”

“Okay!” Master Cheng said quickly:

“Mr. Murong, my place is different from other places where counterfeiting is done.”

“Everything I make here is genuine, not a single one is fake.”

As he spoke, he picked up a bronze Buddha statue and said to Dave,

“Look at this bronze Buddha, we just completed it this week. Its shape is in line with the characteristics of Ming Dynasty bronze Buddha statues.”

“The workmanship is also very exquisite and the charm is very good. But in fact, it is a bronze Buddha we collected in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China that imitated the Ming Dynasty.”

“The craftsmanship and details are indeed impeccable. It is a top-notch work, but the previous owner didn’t understand it well.”

“It was passed down two generations earlier in the family, so he kept it as a decoration at home, and would always wipe it randomly.”

“After wiping too much, the skin had gone, and it didn’t look very good.”

“Like old things, we take them back, make them old again, and then take them to the market and sell them as things from the Ming Dynasty.”

Dave didn’t know much about bronzes, so he asked,

“What if we treat it as something from the Ming Dynasty? We try to sell it, do others believe it?”

Master Cheng smiled and said, “We have our own way.”

Then he picked up a copper base from the side and said, “Look at this.”

Dave took the base over and it looked very old,

So he opened it and looked at the bottom.

It was engraved with the words “Made in the Xuande Year of the Ming Dynasty”.

Master Cheng explained: “Don’t look at our bronze statue, it may only be a hundred years old, but the base in your hand is a serious Ming Dynasty copper base.”

“It’s just that this base was originally equipped with something.”

“When we got it, we only had this base. You should also know that although the Ming Dynasty bronzes are quite valuable, but there is no deity, only a base,”

“How valuable can it be to us? I spent 38,000 yuan to buy this base, and use it with this old bronze statue,”

“Wouldn’t it become a set? And don’t forget, this base, it’s a set.”

“It’s really something from the Xuande period of the Ming Dynasty.”

“We also made this Buddha statue according to the bronzes of the Xuande period.”

“I dare say that more than 95% of the experts will be impressed by the combination of the two.”

Dave asked him quickly: “Then. If such a set is genuine, how much would it be worth?”

Master Cheng thought for a while: “The bronze wares from the Xuande period of the Ming Dynasty are of a certain type,”

“And the shape and production are so exquisite.”

“They can definitely be put up for auction a conservative estimate would be between one million and two million.”

Dave asked again: “If I want this set of things, how much will it cost me?”

Master Cheng quickly said: “To be honest, Mr. Murong, when we make such things, we usually charge 30% of the market price.”

“I just said that let me tell you, the conservative valuation of this thing should be between one million and two million.”

“Let’s take a middle number of about 1.5 million, 30% of 1.5 million, which is 450,000.”

Dave immediately said: “No, no, your price is too expensive.”

“What should I do if I throw away more than 400,000 yuan?”

In fact, Dave’s inner thought was: “Dmn, I will have to pay more than 400,000 yuan to buy this thing.”

“Ask Liangyun to buy it. Will he buy it for 800,000?”

When Master Cheng heard this, he quickly said:

“Oh, Mr. Murong, you are too honest,”

“The price is higher for people in our industry. Do you think so?”

He quickly added: “I’m not trying to fool you. I just told you that the base cost is 38,000 yuan, and the bronze statue itself costs 60,000 yuan.”

“The normal transaction price will not be less than 200,000 yuan.”

“Since you are a friend of Brother Ervin, I will give you a fixed price of 150,000 yuan!”

Ervin on the side immediately said: “Master Cheng, we have known each other for such a long time.”

“This is the first time we are doing business.”

“I don’t want to say anything else. Just treat this first order as a favor.”

“Don’t make money from Mr. Murong.”

“Isn’t your base worth thirty-eight thousand? Like 60,000, right? We give you 98,000, just to make a friendly exchange.”

“Friendly exchange…” Master Cheng said with emotion,

“Of course, I want to make Mr. Murong a friend,”

“But to help with the work, I have to pay the masters for craftsmanship.”

Dave waved his hand and said boldly: “Since you said so, let’s put it together. 100,000 yuan is enough.”

“One hundred thousand yuan. …”

Master Cheng was very depressed. Although the craftsmen in their profession are invisible,

Their craftsmanship is really valuable.

To do such a job, the master must be paid at least 20,000 yuan,

Otherwise, why would they stay here and work for a few days without seeing the sunlight?

Although he was full of grievances, but after thinking about it carefully, in this case, he decided to not bargain with him anymore.

After all, he did not know Mr. Murong, but Ervin was indeed doing well now, so it was okay to give him a face. Make it easier for yourself in the future.

So, he looked at Ervin and said seriously:

“Brother Ervin, since I am your friend, then I will definitely have nothing to say.”

“Let’s not give up one hundred thousand. I will stick to my favor and give it to ninety-eight thousand! Ninety-eight thousand, that’s it!”

When Dave heard this, he thought:

“Hey, it saves another two thousand! And this thing seems to be more suitable,”

“The market price is one or two million, and if it is sold to Liangyun.”

“As long as he buys it, all his start-up capital will be invested.”

“When the time comes, let Ervin find someone to expose this thing,”

“This is the perfect prop for the game!”

So he immediately agreed and said, “Okay! That’s it then!”