A treasure-appraisal maniac

Near noon, Jubao Pavilion opened and welcomed its first customer.

A hunchbacked old woman over seventy years old was about to sell a damaged huqin.

Meng Xianguo looked at Hu Qin and said regretfully.

"What a wonderful huqin. Why is it broken? What a pity."

Lu Fei smiled and said.

"Grandma, what do they say when you go to another house?" ??

"I went to several houses, and they all said that my piano was damaged and I could only use the piano rod to turn beads. The one with the most money only gave me 2,000 yuan."

"This is all left by my wife. He said that this is a treasure."

"snort!"

"The old lady who bullied me didn't know the goods and wanted to fool me with two thousand yuan. I even used it to burn the fire and wouldn't sell it to them," the old lady said excitedly.

Meng Xianguo smiled bitterly and shook his head, thinking that the old lady had a rather stubborn temper.

If this piano was good, it would definitely be valuable, but now that it's in such bad condition, it's just used for car beads.

If it were me, I wouldn't necessarily need two thousand yuan.

Lu Fei said with a smile.

"Grandma, your grandfather is right, this piano is a real treasure."

"If my guess is correct, the headstock of this piano should be an animal head."

"Huh?"

"Young man, how do you know this?" the old lady asked in surprise.

Lu Fei handed the tea to the old man with both hands and said.

"Let me tell you clearly."

"This piano is the work of Lu Zhong, a master of the Ming Dynasty, and its value is quite amazing."

"Even though it's useless now, it's still worth a lot of money."

"If you can still find the animal head on the head of this violin, I will give you five hundred thousand."

"It doesn't matter if you can't find it. If you can trust me, I will accept this broken piano for 300,000 yuan."

"What?"

Meng Xianguo and the old lady asked in surprise.

.

"You said this is Lu Zhong's piano?"

"Are you mistaken?" Meng Xianguo asked.

Lu Fei smiled and pointed to a rough pattern on the piano barrel. Meng Xianguo quickly picked up the magnifying glass and looked carefully.

Looking carefully, there were two small characters "Zigu" on this pattern. Meng Xianguo was shocked. With these two characters, it was unmistakable.

Lu Zhong, whose courtesy name was Zigu, was a master of palace instrument manufacturing during the Xuande period. He was especially good at making Xiqin, also known as Erhu.

In his later years, Lu Zhong's piano-making skills reached its peak.

In particular, Xi Qin, the twelve zodiac head portraits made by Lu Zhong, was regarded as a supreme treasure by later generations of musicians.

According to records in "Ai Yuexuan Notes", Empress Dowager Cixi once awarded a sheep-headed Xi Qin from Lu Zhong to the famous actor Yang Xiaolou's team. The Qin was worth three thousand taels of silver at the time.

What is the concept of three thousand taels? In the late Qing Dynasty, three thousand taels could buy forty courtyard houses in Shichahai.

The old lady was even more shocked. Her husband did say that this was a treasure, but she never imagined that the broken one was worth 300,000 yuan!

"Young man, are you telling the truth?"

"Are you kidding me, old lady?" the old lady asked.

Lu Fei smiled and said.

"Looking at what you said, can I joke with you at your age?"

"It's a pity that this piano is damaged. If it were complete, it would be worth at least five million."

"To be honest, I'm not here to make money from you. I really like this piano and keep it for my own collection."

"Look at this price, are you willing to sell it?"

"Young man, you just said that if you can find the broken animal heads above, you will give me 500,000 yuan. Is that true?"

"Can you still find the avatar?"

"If you can find it, five hundred thousand is absolutely fine." Lu Fei asked in surprise.

"You can find it, you can find it."

"There is a horse's head on top. I accidentally broke it more than ten years ago. I still keep it."

"If you want it, follow me to my house to get it," the old lady said.

"No problem, I'll go with you."

"By the way, grandma, do you want cash or transfer?" Lu Fei asked.

"Let's take a look at the things first. I don't want cash. Leaving so much money at home will attract thieves!"

"Okay, shall we walk?"

"Walk!"

The old lady lives in Bancheng County, which is an hour and a half drive from the city, which is really not close.

I chatted with the old lady on the way and learned that the old lady’s surname was Ma, Ma Yuhua, and she was seventy-five years old.

His wife, Xue Wenjun, loved ancient musical instruments. After work, he went to work in a brick factory, and with the money he earned, he bought this erhu.

My wife died early, and later my son and daughter-in-law also died in a car accident.

Ma Yuhua lives with her granddaughter Xue Jinfeng.

When her granddaughter grew up and got married, she couldn't bear to worry about Ma Yuhua, so she ran home every day. Because of this, the couple often quarreled, and finally divorced the year before last.

Ma Yuhua has no pension, and her granddaughter works alone as a cleaner in a nearby kindergarten. Her income is meager, and life is difficult for both her grandfather and grandson.

Ma Yuhua couldn't bear the suffering of her filial granddaughter, so she decided to sell her erhu to improve her life.

Lu Fei imagined that the old lady lived a poor life, but when he saw the living environment of the old lady, Lu Fei frowned.

There are two old cracked tile-roofed houses, and there is nothing of value in the small yard except a low woodshed and a small vegetable patch. Even two free-range chickens and a minibus. The dogs were all skinny and listless, looking malnourished.

\u003c

br\u003e Although the house is dilapidated and the yard is small, it is kept clean.

The inside of the house was even more shabby. Apart from a 25-inch TV that had been out of service for many years, there was not even a single household appliance.

Seeing this scene, Lu Fei felt as if he had traveled back to the 1970s.

After asking Lu Fei to sit down, Mrs. Ma poured Lu Fei a glass of boiled water and asked Lu Fei to wait.

Mrs. Ma went out for a few minutes and came back with a small cloth bag wrapped in an old sheet.

When Lu Fei opened it in front of him, inside was the broken red sandalwood head.

On the top of the head of the instrument, there is a horse head with slightly turned-out ears, half-open eyes, and naturally straight mane, as if enjoying the unique melodious melody of Xi Qin.

The overall carving is natural and expressive, and the beauty is lifelike. Holding it in his hand, Lu Fei couldn't bear to put it down.

"Young man, do you think this is this?" Mrs. Ma asked.

"Yes, that's it."

"Thank you for still keeping it, that's great."

"Grandma, I'm going to transfer the money to you right now. Can you call your granddaughter back and ask her to be a witness?" Lu Fei asked.

Mrs. Ma thought for a while and said.

"Okay, I have her phone number here. Please give her a call and I'll tell her."

Half an hour later, a woman in her early thirties came back on a bicycle. This woman was Mrs. Ma's granddaughter Xue Jinfeng.

Xue Jinfeng is not tall, and is small and delicate like a typical Bashu woman.

After learning what happened, Xue Jinfeng was surprised and kept thanking Lu Fei.

Lu Fei didn't do any ink and called Xue Jinfeng's card number.

But when the text message alert rang, Xue Jinfeng was no longer calm.

"Lu Fei, didn't you say five hundred thousand?"

"Why did you call me one million?"