"You tell me to leave, but I insist on staying. I want to see what good things you have, a junk collector!"
Gold Mu Chen glanced at the stubborn behavior of this guy. It seemed difficult to drive him away. Fine then, if he wanted to stay here seeking stimulation, let him stay.
"Later, after Rick finishes looking at my three lamps, let's see if you can still stay here?"
Hehe, I want you to see how the trash in your eyes can be turned into treasure in my hands!
"Mu Chen, take a look at this..."
With the two customers arguing, Rick felt somewhat awkward. Although he didn't like Du Qiangni, this guy was still a regular customer. It might be a bit too much to drive him away.
But this kid Mu Chen was not bad, and besides, he had the Louis Tiffany lamp he wanted to see.
"Hehe, I'll let you embarrass Rick then. Well, if he wants to stay here seeking stimulation, let him stay."
Mu Chen glanced at Du Qiangni and said coldly.
"Qiangni, you can stay, but you have to abide by the rules here!"
As soon as Mu Chen relaxed, Rick turned around and said to Qiangni. But at this point, his attitude towards Qiangni had changed, no longer so friendly.
"Rest assured, Rick, I'll give you face. I just want to see if this junk collector can produce anything good?"
Mu Chen ignored him and followed Rick to his desk, then opened the cardboard box and carefully took out the three lamps.
"Tch, I thought it was something good. Turns out it's just those broken lamps you picked up that day. What's so special about them? You're just a junk collector. I don't understand the elegant art of antiques, but do you? Do you think wiping these few broken lamps dry and installing light bulbs can pass them off as antiques? Spare me your nonsense."
Seeing that Mu Chen had taken out several lamps, Du Qiangni couldn't help but sneer sarcastically.
Mu Chen remained silent, but Rick standing beside couldn't bear it anymore.
"That's enough, Qiangni, if you don't want to stay here, please leave!"
Damn, what's wrong with the world? How come these foreigners are so fond of this northerner? Damn it, Rick, after all these years of doing business together, making you how much money, you're treating me like this now?
Seeing Rick talk to him like this, Du Qiangni suddenly felt a surge of resentment. Was all this ass-kissing for nothing?
But at this point, Rick didn't care what Du Qiangni was thinking. All his attention was now focused on the three lamps that Mu Chen had brought out.
Seeing that Rick had no further words, Du Qiangni was reluctant to leave. He wanted to see what treasures these few broken lamps, picked up by this northerner, could possibly be!
I don't believe it. Are these few broken things some national treasure? You just laughed at me, now it's my turn to laugh at you, right?
Later, when Rick could identify that these are nothing but junk, you'll see how I'll tease you!
Du Qiangni's eyes rolled around, but this time he wisely stood beside Mu Chen and Rick, saying nothing.
The first thing that Mu Chen took out was the tortoiseshell lamp base with a lampshade.
Rick was stunned at first glance. "There aren't many works like this by Tiffany. He mainly likes to use painted glass to make table lamps, but there are a few made with tortoiseshell, although they are rare. I heard that in his lifetime, he only made four such lamps. One is in the National Art Museum of America, and the other two are collected by major collectors. I didn't expect to see this fourth one here today. It's really beautiful, truly living up to its reputation!"
Hearing Rick's words, Du Qiangni, standing beside him, was suddenly shocked. He turned his head to look at Mu Chen, wondering, could it be that this northerner really stumbled upon a great opportunity?
Impossible, this couldn't be true!
But at this point, no one paid attention to what he was thinking.
Rick placed the lamp on the small round table in front of him, carefully inspecting it, not missing any details such as the material of the lamp, the signature of Louis Comfort Tiffany inside the lampshade, and the inscription under the lamp base.
Finally, he sighed deeply with his eyes closed. Seeing his expression, Mu Chen knew there must be something about this lamp.
"How is it? Rick, what do you know about this lamp?"
Rick glanced at him, with a smile in his eyes, and said, "Kid, do you know how lucky you are? This lamp is already a masterpiece among masterpieces, saying it's once in a lifetime is not an exaggeration!"
Hearing this, Mu Chen's heart felt like it was holding a small cat, scratching it a hundred times! What he wanted to know most now was the price of this lamp.
"This lamp should be the Peacock Lamp created by Louis Comfort Tiffany in 1907. It should be a fine souvenir he personally designed and made for the 70th anniversary of the founding of Tiffany & Co. There were only four lamps made at the time. One was kept by him for personal use, and after his death, it was donated to the National Art Museum of America. The other two were given to his friends and should be in the collections of those major collectors. As for this fourth lamp, it's here now. This lamp is made of tortoiseshell both for the lamp body and the lampshade. The material is quite expensive. Moreover, the craftsmanship is extremely exquisite. Look at the tortoiseshell used on the lampshade. In order to ensure translucency, it needs to be combined with optics and artistic composition. Each piece has been professionally polished, composed, designed, and then assembled to form the pattern on the lampshade. Look at it from top to bottom, from purple to red, and then to the green below. Doesn't it look like the gorgeous pattern on the peacock's tail when it spreads out?"
As Rick spoke, Mu Chen carefully observed. Indeed, from a distance, the lampshade resembled the pattern of a peacock's tail when spread out, which looked quite beautiful.
Especially when the light bulb inside was lit up, under the illumination of the light, the lamp emitted a magnificent glow. When the light passed through the lampshade and projected the colored light onto the wall, it appeared colorful and extraordinarily charming.
Indeed, this was an artist highly sought after by Americans, truly talented.
In the past, Mu Chen's understanding of antiques mostly revolved around Chinese porcelain, calligraphy, and painting, which were relatively easier to comprehend with a similar cultural background. At that time, he always admired the ingenuity and exquisite design of the ancient masters.
But now, looking at the works of contemporary American artists, it seemed not bad either. It completely embodied a different style, yet still conveyed a sense of beauty from exotic cultures.
"As for the price of this lamp, I dare not estimate. Even if it were put up for auction, it would likely fetch a very good price!"
Rick looked at the lamp and said, "With my experience, this lamp should be worth at least one million to start, and the final price should be between one million four hundred thousand and one million five hundred thousand."
Rick's words made Mu Chen feel a bit dizzy. This was in dollars! Over a million dollars, was he going to become a millionaire?
"Impossible, this is absolutely impossible! How could a trash picker like you, a northerner, have such good luck? This lamp definitely has an illegitimate source, it must have been stolen by you!"
The price quoted by Rick was not only heard by Mu Chen but also by Du Qiangni, who was standing nearby. Between one million four hundred thousand and one million five hundred thousand, Rick's words felt like a bomb dropped into his mind. He felt like he was going crazy.
He had spent a high price to sell the porcelain plate he brought over, only to find out it was fake. But this guy, without spending a penny, turned his worthless junk into something worth one million five hundred thousand?
What was happening in this world?
Before he could fully go crazy, there was a crisp sound in the room. It turned out to be Mu Chen fiercely slapping him across the face. The intense pain from the slap snapped Du Qiangni out of his hysterical state.
When he woke up, he found Mu Chen standing in front of him, holding his collar, staring at him fiercely like a wolf.
"You bastard, listen to me carefully. If you speak nonsense, I'll sue you for defamation. Clearly, you have poor judgment and can't recognize treasures, yet you dare to slander this lamp as stolen? I swear, if you dare to speak nonsense again, I'll beat you to death!"
Seeing Mu Chen's fierce gaze, Du Qiangni finally woke up, scared, and dared not speak again.
Mu Chen forcefully pushed him to the ground and pointed to the door, "Now, get out, disappear from my sight immediately!"
This time, Du Qiangni didn't even dare to fart. He just bowed his head, turned around, and left.
This scene today brought him too much excitement. A ragpicker actually became a millionaire overnight by picking up trash. This luck was simply heaven-defying.
And then there was the fierceness of that kid. He had no doubt that if he had said one more word just now, that kid could have snapped his neck.
But kid, it's not over between us. Just wait for me!