Ding Wen carefully unwrapped the old newspaper covering the porcelain piece three times, five times, and two times before finally revealing it.
Ding Wen couldn't wait to look closer at the porcelain piece. After sifting through it, he said, "Brother Yong, according to my professional knowledge, this is a piece of white porcelain from the Dehua kiln in the Song Dynasty, and it is still a fine piece of white porcelain."
Liu Yong nodded in agreement, "There is no doubt about the authenticity. After all, it was taken out of an ancient wooden shipwreck, so it cannot be a fake." He then asked, "How much is such a piece of white porcelain worth?"
Ding Wen replied, "In recent years, white porcelain from the Dehua Kiln has also been auctioned at various auctions. The price ranges from hundreds of thousands to several million. Yours is of high quality, well preserved, and very delicate. If you let me estimate the price, at least 2 million or more."
The estimated price slightly took aback Liu Yong, but he also felt a sense of ecstasy. He had thought the porcelain would only be worth tens of thousands of yuan, but he realized it was worth much more.
Ding Wen then picked up another porcelain piece, unwrapped the old newspaper, and looked at it carefully.
"Well, this is a Longquan kiln celadon chrysanthemum petal pattern dish, the enamel is like jade, smooth and intact. It's amazing," he said.
Liu Yong asked excitedly, "How much is this one worth?"
Ding Wen pondered for a while and replied, "For this one, I estimate the price to be more than 6 million."
Liu Yong was even more excited to hear this, as this piece was more valuable than the previous one. He realized that tens of thousands of porcelain pieces from the Song Dynasty were in the sunken ship, and some might be even better and more valuable.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtAfter a full three to forty minutes, Ding Wen completed the appraisal of these ancient porcelains.
He had appraised pieces from the Dehua kilns, Jingdezhen kilns, Longquan kilns, and Cizao kilns.
The prices ranged from hundreds of thousands to millions, and among them was a delicate porcelain vase from Longquan kiln, which Ding Wen estimated to be worth around 10 million.
Ding Wen admired Liu Yong and said, "Brother, where did you get so many ancient porcelains from the Song Dynasty. Many of them are high-quality goods. The value of a dozen or so ancient porcelains in this box is several thousand ten thousand."
Liu Yong then revealed to Ding Wen that he had 20,000 to 30,000 pieces of Song Dynasty porcelain.
Ding Wen was shocked and speechless, staring blankly at Liu Yong. Liu Yong then asked if he could auction all of them, to which Ding Wen confidently replied that it was not a problem, as auctions were one of the critical businesses of their Hanhai Culture company.
After a brief moment, he regained his composure and looked at Liu Yong excitedly. He tightly grasped his shoulders with both hands and exclaimed,
"Brother, did I hear you correctly? Do you have 20,000 to 30,000 pieces of ancient Song Dynasty porcelain?"
Ding Wen was utterly taken aback. He had founded the Hanhai Culture Company but faced the biggest challenge of finding enough antiques to display. He had even considered selling his private collection. But now, with Liu Yong's massive collection, Ding Wen's worries seemed to have disappeared.
Ding Wen emphasized the sheer magnitude of the collection, "Not twenty or thirty, nor two or three hundred, but two or thirty thousand!" The realization of this abundance left him ecstatic.
Ding Wen was stunned, feeling like he had been struck by a pie falling from the sky.
He asked Liu Yong to pinch him, hoping it was not a dream. As Liu Yong squeezed his arm, the pain confirmed that it was indeed real.
Ding Wen's heart swelled with ambition at the thought of having access to such a vast collection of Song porcelain.
With this many pieces, even Shen Zhouping, who had previously declined to come, could not resist. Ding Wen felt confident that other domestic experts in ancient porcelain would also be eager to visit.
Ding Wen couldn't contain his excitement any longer,
"Brother Yong, with your collection, our company will be the talk of the town. Let me take you on a tour of our facilities."
With that, Ding Wen led Liu Yong on a grand tour of his company.
Hanhai Culture had rented an entire floor of a towering office building.
Apart from the office area, a large section had been dedicated to an exhibition space, where a variety of antique items were to be showcased.
The exhibition area was well-equipped, with high-definition cameras capturing multiple angles and thick bulletproof glass shielding the display cases.
In addition to the numerous exhibition halls, an auction hall spanned two to three hundred square meters, capable of accommodating hundreds of individuals.
The company had grown so vast that Ding Wen was worried about a shortage of collections. However, this was no longer a concern thanks to the newly acquired items.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmLiu Yong was pleased with the outcome and complimented the team,
"You've done an excellent job! It looks incredible. I won't have any issues selling the items in my possession.
Ding Wen was eager to know more and asked, "Apart from the ancient porcelains from the Song Dynasty, what else do you have, Brother?"
Liu Yong responded, "For now, I have at least 20,000 to 30,000 pieces of ancient porcelain from the Song Dynasty, along with gold and silver wares, and some ancient coins. You can have them all. Your task is to sell them off."
Ding Wen was thrilled with the news and eagerly rubbed his hands together.
"Don't worry, Brother. You can hand over the items to me without any hesitation. Please give me a dozen pieces of Song Dynasty ancient porcelain for now. I'll find a buyer."
Although there were only a dozen pieces of ancient porcelain, Liu Yong insisted on having an agreement in place.
"Sure, I'll give them to you. However, you must keep an account of everything, and the money from the sale will be transferred to me. We'll discuss the commission at a later stage."
Ding Wen replied confidently,
"The commission isn't a problem. It will undoubtedly be lower than the market price."
After leaving Hanhai Culture, Liu Yong didn't go to his office but returned home instead. He was pondering how to get all the items out of the sunken ship from the Song Dynasty.
After contemplating, Liu Yong knew what he needed to do next.
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