Opening an antique shop and getting rich through all the worlds

Chapter 111

The day after getting the blueprints, Shen You went to visit a folk expert on Antique Street. The master craftsman who had previously restored the wooden carvings for Xi Garden.

Of course, she wasn’t foolish enough to take the originals there. She scanned and printed portions first.

When the shop owner saw the partial blueprints, he immediately went to close the door, saying nervously:

“Boss Shen, illegally excavating ancient tombs, that’s something we can’t do.”

Shen You smiled calmly. “My studio cooperates with museums. Would I do such things?”

“True.” The owner nodded.

With the world’s only fire resistant cloth on her body, she definitely wouldn’t risk anything for small gains.

“So the museum is making big moves?”

“No, I acquired an ancient book a few days ago that mentioned this. I don’t know if it’s real or fake, so I was curious and wanted to ask.”

The owner nodded, his interest piqued. “Indeed, we haven’t discovered underground palaces with this kind of structure yet. Quite interesting.”

“According to the records you mentioned, this place’s original geographical conditions are already quite treacherous. Solving the problem won’t be easy. Let me take a photo first, and I’ll message you when I have some ideas.”

At this point, the master craftsman seemed hesitant to speak.

“You didn’t buy a fake ancient book, did you? Looking at the terrain, it doesn’t match our area.”

This was also one of the reasons that dispelled his suspicions.

He hadn’t expected Boss Shen, with her good eye, to also have moments of failure.

“Fake?” Shen You feigned distress. “I’m not very skilled with ancient books. I thought it was just a few thousand yuan for a unique copy, so I bought it.”

“At least the loss isn’t much.” The master craftsman mentioned recent events.

“You don’t know, just the day before yesterday, someone who didn’t know better brought a tattered book that was falling apart to sell, saying it was a family heirloom. In the end, someone picked up a bargain and bought it for 100,000 yuan. The seller was so happy.”

“Guess how much that book was worth?”

Seeing his expression, Shen You became interested. “How much?”

The master craftsman sighed with regret:

“Why didn’t I buy it! That book has a market value of over a million, it’s an original Ming Dynasty official publication. You don’t need me to tell you its value in modern times.”

“Yesterday, the seller came back wanting to buy it back for double the price. Who would spit out something they already have in hand?”

Shen You was also shocked by the buyer’s good fortune. The profit margin rivaled her cross-dimensional trading.

How much the book seller must regret it. Indeed, people who don’t understand the trade and play with antique transactions usually get swindled down to their underwear.

But such opportunities are rare. Besides having good judgment, you need luck.

Without that luck, even wandering around every day won’t guarantee encountering genuine items. She often browsed there herself.

Shen You stuffed the copies into her bag and, after leaving the shop, took a detour to browse the antique stalls.

Walking to where ancient books were sold, there were indeed some, but they were all modern and not particularly valuable.

Shen You also went to the museum, where she met a big shot under Professor Li’s guidance.

She knew him too. He’d previously visited her studio’s exhibition.

Hearing her say it was drawn according to an ancient book, several professors examined it carefully for a long time, reaching similar conclusions as the master craftsman on Antique Street.

They all thought she’d bought a fake book.

“Strange, the book is fake, but the contents are so rigorous.” Tu Guangsong was puzzled.

“This setup is very difficult to crack, but it’s worth pondering.” Another professor said.

“If you’re interested in ancient books, I can accompany you to browse the stalls next time.” Xu Jiayan stood beside Shen You. “I also have quite a few ancient book materials.”

Shen You understood he meant that with him along when looking at ancient book stalls, she wouldn’t buy fakes.

She had to take the blame for buying a fake book.

Professor Li was also comforting her: “It’s fine. Misjudging is normal. People who’ve worked in Antique Street for most of their lives sometimes get it wrong.”

“Although the book is fake, what you mentioned still has some research value. Your drawing is also quite good.”

Shen You maintained her smile after buying the fake ancient book: “I had a friend draw this.”

With these national team experts and folk masters from Antique Street supporting her,

She felt quite hopeful about that matter.

The old emperor of Great Qi absolutely must live longer.

At noon, Shen You and Xu Jiayan went to their cafeteria for lunch. Professor Li was originally coming down too, but he said he wanted to chat with Deputy Director Tu and sat over there directly.

“What are your plans this afternoon?” Xu Jiayan asked.

Shen You answered without hesitation: “Going to the studio.”

“I’m also going to South Lake later. How about we all have dinner together tonight?”

Shen You thought about it. “Alright.”

After finishing work in the afternoon, she probably wouldn’t want to cook for herself anyway.

When Shen You arrived at Xi Garden, it was still early. She brought several boxes of pre-cut afternoon tea from the fruit shop for everyone.

Rest a bit first, then work.

At this time, her contact in the county sent a message about those relatives’ affairs.

Shen You immediately signed her parents, who had been resting for a while, up for a seven-day cruise tour to let them go out and relax.

Her parents were very happy when they received the call.

“Xiao You, why don’t we go together? This time Mom and Dad will pay. You keep your money.”

“I’m busy recently. You two go ahead. I’ve already paid. When you get to Sea City, take a taxi to the meeting point hotel. The tour guide will arrange everything after that.”

After hanging up, Shen You sent over the itinerary and tour guide’s contact information.

It was the same tour company as the guide from their last trip to the imperial capital.

Since experiencing the scenery outside, her parents no longer revolved around those relatives’ trivial matters all day.

Shen You had originally planned to arrange more trips for them anyway. Moving it up a few days would prevent people from finding them.

The studio’s normal closing time was 5:30. After confirming no one was around, Shen You collected the items needing restoration into her storage space.

Taking them home for restoration would be faster.

The four people from the studio went to dinner with Xu Jiayan, with Shen You directly charging it to the studio’s account.

With more people on their side, they couldn’t very well let their museum collaborator treat them.

Gu Shaoyu said he had something to do and left right after eating, taking the other two with him.

Only Shen You and Xu Jiayan remained standing by the lake.

“There’s a program at the teahouse now. Want to go together?” Xu Jiayan asked tentatively.

“I have something tomorrow, so I’d better not go.” Shen You politely declined.

She had deliveries to receive tomorrow. Great Qi still needed thermal clothing.

“Alright.” Xu Jiayan responded disappointedly. As they walked toward the parking area, he gathered courage to ask:

“What do you think of me?”

He’d wanted to ask this question for a long time, but she’d been busy with the studio’s establishment.

Shen You’s expression froze slightly, then returned to normal. “You’re fine, a good friend.”

Xu Jiayan stopped walking and asked tactfully: “Can we only be friends?”

“Mm.” Shen You turned around and nodded firmly.

“Is it because of my family?” He asked urgently, wanting to say the Xu family wasn’t as harsh as she thought, and his grandfather also supported them being together.

“That’s part of it, but mainly because I don’t have those kinds of feelings.” Shen You said honestly.

She didn’t dare tell anyone in the present world about the shop’s existence, nor did she want others to discover it.