Chapter 54 Liulichang Ancient Books
Zou Shifang: "Recycling station? That sounds a bit unreliable!"
Ma Weidu smiled and said: "It sounds unreliable, but that's the easiest place to find bargains. As long as you're lucky, you can find a national treasure."
Liu Hongmin nodded and made a judgment in his mind. As for antiques and cultural relics nowadays, as long as you buy the real thing, you are picking up a bargain. So the garbage recycling station is not suitable for him, and the Friendship Store is second. He can go to these two places occasionally and make a few large purchases. The main target is still Liulichang, after all, there are many good things there, and there is a lot of room for appreciation in the future.
"I am more interested in Liulichang."
Ma Weidu said with a smile: "Liulichang is indeed the most suitable place."
"When Liulichang first started, it was a place that sold ancient books. Although ancient books are generally collected now, they can still be bought in Liulichang."
When Liu Hongmin heard this, he immediately said, "Then let's go to Liulichang tomorrow."
Ma Weidu immediately agreed, "I will come to see you tomorrow morning."
They agreed to meet at Liulichang, and the three of them continued to toast each other, and only separated after three rounds of drinking. The next morning, Ma Weidu got up early, asked for a day off from the factory, and then went to the agreed place.
Even so, he arrived earlier than Liu Hongmin and the others. Although he drank a lot yesterday, his mind was unusually clear now. He had a premonition that this would be a turning point in his fate.
Not long after, Liu Hongmin and Zou Shifang came over on their bicycles.
Ma Weidu led the way and soon they saw antique shops.
"These shops are public-private partnerships, but not all the items inside are authentic. After all, antiques require a keen eye, and anyone who dares to say they are 100% authentic is definitely lying."
"Among these shops, Rongbaozhai is the most authentic. With hundreds of years of reputation, few people can buy fakes from Rongbaozhai. However, this also makes Rongbaozhai's antiques the most expensive."
As they were talking, the three of them arrived at the gate of Rongbaozhai. After parking the bicycle, Liu Hongmin walked into the gate of Rongbaozhai first.
"Xiao Ma, you're here again?"
The staff greeted Ma Weidu and joked, "You are not alone today, but you brought a friend with you?"
Ma Weidu said with a smile: "I don't have money to buy these things, but my friend does. So, I'm here to introduce you to some business."
The staff looked at Liu Hongmin carefully. Liu Hongmin was even worse dressed than Ma Weidu. However, since everyone was dressed badly these days, he was not a snob.
"Want to buy something? Our Rongbaozhai has absolute credibility and guarantees."
Liu Hongmin pointed to the antique shelf nearby and asked, "What era are these books from?"
The staff led the three people over and said, "Most of them are from the Qing Dynasty, and some are from the Ming Dynasty. There are very few from before the Ming Dynasty. They are usually hidden in museums and will not be sold."
When we came to the antique shelf, the staff introduced: "These ancient books are relatively well preserved, and the age and author can basically be determined, so the price is a bit expensive."
Liu Hongmin picked up a book, opened it and took a look. "It doesn't matter if it's expensive, as long as you have good stuff."
“Of course the stuff is good.”
Liu Hongmin raised his eyebrows. This book was the Compendium of Materia Medica from the Qing Dynasty.
“Are these all unique copies?”
The staff member laughed and said, "How can that be possible! If it is a unique copy, it will basically be collected in the museum and will not be sold."
Liu Hongmin felt a little regretful, but he would buy a copy no matter whether it was a rare copy or not. "Give me a copy of all these ancient books."
"Ah?" The staff thought they had heard it wrong.
Liu Hongmin smiled and said, "You heard me right. Give me a copy of all the ancient books in Rongbaozhai. And I also want a copy of all the ancient books in your inventory, even if they are not well preserved, as long as the contents are recognizable."
The staff was stunned. It was the first time they had seen such a crazy customer.
"Sir... do you know how much these ancient books cost?"
Liu Hongmin didn't waste any words and gestured to the staff at the suitcase in Zou Shifang's hand, "Find a single room."
"Wait a moment!" The staff immediately ran to call for help. Soon, the manager of Rongbaozhai came over and said, "Three of you, please follow me."
The manager led the three people into his office and said with a smile: "My name is Zhang. I have been working at Rongbaozhai for more than ten years, but this is the first time I have met three big customers like this."
Although shops are all stable jobs in this era, the service attitude of Rongbaozhai is obviously better than that of other state-owned shops outside.
Liu Hongmin shook hands with him. "My name is Liu Hongmin. I am currently studying history at Peking University. So I am very fond of ancient books. I wonder how many ancient books are currently preserved in Rongbaozhai?"
Manager Zhang was shocked. He was a little skeptical when the staff just said that the three guests were a little crazy. But now he saw it with his own eyes, it was no longer crazy, but crazy beyond measure. However, can you be more crazy than Rongbao Rongbaozhai?
"We have at least 100,000 ancient books in our Rongbaozhai inventory. Excluding duplicates, there are 30,000 to 40,000 individual books. If you want to buy them all, it will cost at least 500,000 or 600,000."
Five or six hundred thousand is a huge sum of money in that era. Apart from some departments and units, only foreigners can come up with this amount of money.
However, Liu Hongmin just nodded and said, "I have ordered these books. Please help me sort them out and calculate the price. We will pay and deliver the books by the end of the year at the latest."
"what?"
Manager Zhang coughed twice, not believing what he heard. "You said you want them all?"
"Yes!" Liu Hongmin nodded. "If you don't believe me, I can leave you a deposit of 10,000 yuan. I will receive royalties in the second half of the year, and then I can buy all these ancient books."
Zou Shifang and Ma Weidu looked at each other. Although they knew that Liu Hongmin was very wealthy, they were still shocked. That was five or six hundred thousand, equivalent to the annual salary of one thousand employees.
Shit! Is writing novels so profitable?
The two of them instantly made up their minds to write novels well and make a lot of money in the future.
"Royalty?" Manager Zhang was stunned for a moment, then suddenly thought of something.
"So you are a writer. I was wondering if your name sounded familiar to me. The Judge Advocate of the Song Dynasty should be your work, right?"
Liu Hongmin smiled and nodded, "That's right."
Manager Zhang became even more enthusiastic. "I've heard a lot about you! It's my fault that I didn't recognize you just now."
As he spoke, he took down a book from the bookshelf behind him. It was The Judge of the Song Dynasty. The book was fluffy and had a bookmark on it. It was obvious that Manager Zhang didn't buy it for display, but was actually reading it.
He was a little embarrassed. "I've been reading it sporadically, and I haven't even read half of it yet. I wonder if you could please sign it for me?"
Liu Hongmin didn't expect to meet a book fan and couldn't help laughing.
"no problem."
(End of this chapter)
