"You two, what's going on between you?" Seeing the conflict between Jin Muchen and Du Qiangni, and ultimately Jin Muchen driving Du Qiangni away, Ruike didn't intervene. After all, he found Du Qiangni's behavior annoying too, and although they had conducted multiple transactions before, he had never really liked the guy's character.
Jin Muchen briefly explained the incident of selling the Bentley family's garage that day, giving Ruike a rough idea of the reason for their falling out.
"To be honest, I find this Du Qiangni quite detestable. He hasn't been in this business for long, but he has a bad reputation in the circle." Ruike had nothing to hide and recounted how he came to know Du Qiangni.
"Du Qiangni is from Hong Kong. His parents were wealthy merchants there, but they immigrated to the United States when Hong Kong was returned to China. After moving here, they opened an Asian supermarket in Manhattan's Chinatown, and business was doing fine. He even married a decent wife. But then, somehow, he got into stock trading and futures, trying to play the financial game. Unfortunately, he hit the 2008 financial crisis head-on and lost everything. Later, I heard his wife also ran off with their white lawyer..." Jin Muchen couldn't help but chuckle at Ruike's story.
After a moment, Ruike continued, "Then, he had no choice but to become a chef at a Chinatown restaurant. And then, later on, I heard he used some really shady means to swindle several antiques from new immigrants from the mainland. He turned around and became wealthy again using those antiques. That's when we started interacting. But don't think I'm being too harsh; everyone in this business is like that. If he doesn't come to me, he'll go to someone else. It's just an unspoken rule in our line of work."
Jin Muchen couldn't help but feel a chill after hearing this unsavory past of Du Qiangni. It seemed like the guy deserved his misfortunes. He had been a fool to trust his white mentors so blindly, and to think he would still be groveling to them after everything they'd cost him.
Listening to Ruike's revelations, Jin Muchen realized he hadn't been too harsh at all. If anything, he had been too lenient.
Such a grandson who completely disregards his Chinese identity, but instead exploits his compatriots, was just let off lightly after a mere slap.
"Ruike, how did you come to know so much about his past?" Jin Muchen couldn't resist asking again, and Ruike raised his head to look at him.
"Frequenters of Manhattan's Chinatown are well acquainted with his ignoble deeds. Moreover, as a businessman, it's imperative to acquaint oneself with the background of one's trading partners, wouldn't you agree? After all, prudence is indispensable in our line of work." Ruike's response elicited a nod from Jin Muchen, acknowledging the validity of his point.
"Alright, that scoundrel has already been driven away. Let's not dwell on him any longer. Let's focus on examining these several lamps before us!" Ruike redirected the conversation back to its main subject, and Jin Muchen, naturally, was not inclined to waste any more time on that rascal.
Ruike picked up the second lamp on the table. This lamp featured a brass base with a peony lampshade, and to be honest, from Jin Muchen's aesthetic perspective, this lamp should be the most beautiful among the three lamps. However, fate had placed the Peacock lamp in the limelight before this one.
"The brass base, moreover, is fashioned after the design of the Eiffel Tower..." Ruike's observation drew Jin Muchen's attention to the fact that the lamp base was indeed modeled after the Eiffel Tower, explaining why it seemed so familiar upon first glance.
"The glass lampshade boasts impeccably smooth lines, a seamless creation. The luminosity of the colored glass is remarkably high, and the lamp base design exudes a pristine elegance. Upon closer inspection of the painted patterns on the lampshade, one can appreciate their intricate craftsmanship and vivid colors. With a background composed of purple, blue, and yellow hues, complemented by the vibrant red peonies, this lamp embodies a style that collectors adore. It's undoubtedly a masterpiece worthy of auctioning, certain to command admiration at first sight. Considering it's also a Louis Comfort Tiffany creation for Tiffany & Co.'s 70th anniversary, this lamp's value is surely no less than fifty thousand dollars!"
Ruike concluded his evaluation and deduction, leaving Jin Muchen feeling his heart pounding incessantly. With the previous lamp already priced at over a million, adding fifty thousand for this one, wouldn't that total surpass two million?
Even with a successful graduation from Columbia University's pharmacology program and securing a lucrative job, how many years would it take to amass two million US dollars?
At this point, Ruike had already picked up the third lamp. Honestly, among the three lamps, this one seemed the least distinctive. With a bronze base, this lamp featured a simple geometric design, with a rather clever touch at the base—crafted in the shape of a lotus leaf.
The lampshade, on the other hand, consisted of a light green hue formed by a combination of deep and light green tones. Below the lampshade were five wings interconnected to form a large dragonfly.
While the overall color scheme of the lamp couldn't be described as vibrant, its appearance exuded a simple and rustic elegance. Moreover, it seemed that this lamp had the best light transmission among the three, indicating its practical utility.
"Haha, what do we have here? Could this be the precursor to the Tiffany dragonfly lamp?" Ruike laughed heartily, and upon hearing his remark, Jin Muchen was once again taken aback.
"What's this about? Could it be that there are many interpretations of the dragonfly lamp as well?"
"Hehe, you little rascal, truly..."
Listening to his inquiry, Ruike cast a peculiar glance at this lad. Could it be that this fellow's luck was truly extraordinary?
Could it be that only a complete novice could truly stumble upon such a jackpot?
"Lewis Tiffany founded the Stained Glass Company and especially after beginning the production of lamps, they produce only a few thousand pieces annually. Moreover, he was a perfectionist; any subpar products would be personally shattered by him. But do you know which lamp from their factory circulates the most in the market?"
Jin Muchen shook his head; he genuinely had no idea!
Ruike also shook his head, then continued, "It's this dragonfly lamp!"
"Oh? Really? Ruike, I'm not quite following, could you enlighten me?"
"You see, no matter how much Louis Tiffany pursues perfection, his studio is, after all, a commercial entity. So, when a successful piece gains popularity, they quickly introduce a series of replicas or derivatives. The most popular lamp from the Tiffany studio is the dragonfly lamp. It can be said that the dragonfly lamp is one of the most representative designs of the Tiffany studio. Upon its release, it was widely embraced, prompting the studio to produce lampshades of various shapes and sizes, including for chandeliers, table lamps, and floor lamps. According to later statistics, the Tiffany studio produced approximately hundreds of dragonfly lamps in total. Therefore, the dragonfly lamp is the most widely circulated and collected lamp on the market. Due to its large quantity and wide appeal, the price of this lamp has continued to rise. And yours is the original prototype of the dragonfly lamp, so the price of your lamp will only be higher. Based on the current market conditions, the price of this lamp will definitely not be less than four hundred thousand dollars!"
Upon hearing this, Jin Muchen felt like he was about to faint. Another four hundred thousand? This time, he was truly on the verge of becoming wealthy!
A millionaire! The phenomenon of overnight wealth, such a thing was actually happening to him!
Damn, when he had money, how should he spend it? Should he dine at all the luxury restaurants in New York? Perhaps also arrange for himself a green card?
Never again would he have to resort to clandestine labor! After all, in the future, dealing in antiques in America, having a green card would save him a lot of trouble.
Indeed, obtaining a green card in America was not easy, but that was for ordinary people. For a millionaire, it was definitely not difficult, was it?