Chapter 7: The Buddha Statue

In the world of antiques, the "appreciation" comes before the "play." Therefore, one should never be surprised by the objects encountered in an antique market.

What surprised Xiao Yuzhu was the price. The average monthly salary for an urban worker was around twelve or thirteen hundred, and migrant workers earned even less, averaging eight or nine hundred. Yet, Lin Sicheng had spent four hundred on a tattered feather duster?

After staring at it for a long time, she blinked. "Senior apprentice brother, is this thing very old?"

Li Zhen examined it carefully. "The patina is very thick; it should have some age to it."

No matter how old it was, it was still just a feather duster. How could it be worth four hundred? After watching Lin Sicheng pay, Xiao Yuzhu stared at the duster. "Lin Sicheng, you’re quite wealthy, aren't you?"

Lin Sicheng smiled. "It's alright!"

Xiao Yuzhu was taken aback by his bluntness. "Why did you buy this?"

"To sweep the bed!"

Xiao Yuzhu froze, unsure how to respond. He used to be so cold and aloof; why had he suddenly become so funny? Li Zhen curled the corners of her lips into a faint smile.

More customers arrived at the stall, and the owner busied himself with a smile. "Boss Chen, Professor Sheng."

Not wanting to get in the way of business, Li Zhen and Xiao Yuzhu stepped aside. Lin Sicheng turned around and squinted. Standing before the woodcarving stall were two middle-aged men, one of whom he recognized: a fairly famous collector and lacquerware appraisal expert in Xijing. He had the eye and the expertise, but his reputation was poor; he was known for passing off fakes as genuine and vice-versa.

It seemed Li Zhen recognized him too, as she whispered to Xiao Yuzhu.

The two men reached the stall, and the one in the suit pointed to a wood carving. "Professor Sheng, it's that one!"

The owner hurriedly handed it over. "Professor Sheng, please take a look!"

Professor Sheng nodded and took it in his hands. Lin Sicheng took a glance: it was a Guan Gong statue carved from longan wood, about twenty centimeters tall. The style was rugged, clearly displaying the "axe-cut" technique of the Xiangyuan school. Yet, the wood grain remained clear, maintaining a sense of roundness and delicacy.

Looking closer, the entire piece was purplish-red, very deep in color, yet it possessed a faint, ashen luster. Normally, a wood carving would need to be over a century old to acquire such an ashen, "decayed" look, but this piece certainly wasn't. First, it was too bright; second, the wood grain was too deep; and third, the ashen light was too superficial. It was clearly artificially aged. Surely Professor Sheng would see that.

As expected, Professor Sheng first looked, then touched, tapped, and smelled it. Finally, he dabbed some saliva onto the carving, tasted it with his tongue, and frowned. "When did you acquire this?"

The owner replied quickly, "My late father acquired it when he was alive, almost ten years ago!"

"Oh, it's... alright." Despite saying it was alright, Professor Sheng handed the carving back.

Boss Chen’s expression shifted. Was there something wrong with it? The owner was momentarily stunned, then forced a smile. "Perhaps you’d like to see others? Like this Guanyin statue, or this female Buddha statue. I brought them back from the Tibetan region. I've had experts look at them; they are at least from the Ming Dynasty!"

Professor Sheng examined them and shook his head at each one. "This one is too new. The smaller one is quite old, but that’s not Tibetan script!"

The owner's face fell instantly. Lin Sicheng suppressed a laugh. He failed to swindle them the first time and tried a second; no wonder he was being exposed. The patterns on the Guanyin statue were as dense as a spiderweb and the colors were scorched—it looked fake from every angle. The unclothed statue was authentic enough, but it was clearly Mongolian script, yet the owner insisted it was from the Tibetan region. The expert might have a bad reputation, but his eyes were still sharp.

Wait, unclothed? And Mongolian script? Lin Sicheng’s eyes lit up. Once the owner had sent the two men away with a sour face, Lin pointed a finger. "Boss, let me take a look at that Buddha statue."

The owner’s eyes lit up instantly. "Which one?" Anyone willing to spend four hundred on a broken duster must be someone from whom he could extract thousands for a Buddha statue.

"The one you just showed Professor Sheng, the small female Buddha statue!"

"Ah, yes, of course..." The owner replied, carefully presenting it. "Young man, let me tell you, this is a genuine piece brought back from the Red Mountain in Lhasa. So, even though it's a fragment, it would fetch at least hundreds of thousands at auction..."

Lin Sicheng just laughed cheerfully. After examining it repeatedly, he held up one finger. "One thousand!"

The owner looked troubled. Before he could speak, Lin Sicheng thrust the carving back into his hands. "Forget it if you won't sell!"

"But this is a Tantric Buddha statue!"

It was indeed a Tantric statue, but the owner was just spouting nonsense, accidentally hitting the mark. Otherwise, such an item wouldn't be sitting on this stall.

Lin Sicheng shook his head and turned to leave. The owner grabbed his arm. "Hey, you youngster... fine, one thousand it is!"

Lin Sicheng took the statue and pulled out his wallet. The owner accepted the money, beaming. "Young man, take a look at this large one too!"

Lin Sicheng didn't even look up, his voice dropping lower. "It was fire-baked!"

The owner froze. Even Professor Sheng only called it "new." This young man had hit the nail on the head in one sentence? He wanted to argue, but lacked the confidence. He squeezed out another smile. "You're joking. Why not take a look at this Guan Gong statue? It's definitely over a hundred years old. I've had it for nearly ten years."

Lin Sicheng looked helpless. *You really are persistent, aren't you? Trying to fleece the same sheep to death?* He sighed. "You really have the nerve to brag? Longan wood carvings brought to the north—how could they not crack?"

The owner was completely stunned, his smile frozen on his face. *That’s right.* Longan wood was dense with fine grain, perfect for carving. But because of the humidity in the south versus the dryness of the north, longan carvings had to be kept in controlled environments, otherwise, they would crack within two years.

Looking at the statue at his feet, let alone cracking, there wasn't even a single hairline fracture from top to bottom. And he had claimed it had been here for over ten years... sitting out in the open like this, it would have been shattered to pieces long ago.

He looked up, startled and suspicious: where had the young man gone?

...

"What did you say to the owner to shock him like that?"

"I told him my grandfather is a professor of archaeology at the Western University and warned him not to try and swindle me."

"Then why did you let yourself be swindled?" Xiao Yuzhu pointed to the female Buddha statue in his hand. "That expert, Sheng, didn't even bother to look at it, yet you spent a thousand?"

"This is called value for money!"

"Where is the value?"

Lin Sicheng thought for a long time. He couldn't exactly say, *I have an incredible eye and this thing is definitely worth a fortune.* "At least it's quite unique. I'll put it on my bedside table and look at it when I'm bored!"

"Hmph!" Xiao Yuzhu let out a long, disdainful sound.

It was indeed unique: completely devoid of clothing, with only a silk ribbon hanging around its neck. The craftsmanship was exceptional—it had curves in all the right places. If one turned it around to look at the back: the folds were folds, the wrinkles were wrinkles, the details were exquisite... it was vivid and lifelike.

The key was the expression: a trace of temptation hidden within the solemnity, a hint of desire buried in the austerity...

She curled her lip. "Instead of looking at this, you might as well watch adult films."

Lin Sicheng was stunned.