16. Guan Xiaosheng

“Brother, may I take a look at the piece of fabric you’re using to wrap your bundle?”

Yang Fan heard someone speaking to him and turned around.

A man stood behind him, accompanied by a very beautiful female secretary. In his late forties, with a fair complexion, he wore gold-rimmed glasses and carried an air of scholarly refinement. He looked every bit the intellectual.

“Hello, Director Guan,” the beautiful woman who had just spoken to Yang Fan said respectfully.

Director Guan nodded but didn’t respond to her. Instead, he extended his hand toward Yang Fan. “My name is Guan Xiaosheng, Vice President of Baoli. Pleased to meet you,” he said with a warm smile.

Yang Fan felt a surge of excitement. He had been wondering how to make contact with someone from Baoli Auction House today, and now fortune had smiled upon him. It was as if a pillow had been handed to him just as sleepiness struck.

Still, he felt a bit apprehensive. Baoli Group was a cultural enterprise, and the auction house was just a subsidiary. The level of vice president was quite high.

“Hello, Vice President Guan, of course, please take a look,” Yang Fan replied humbly.

“Let’s sit over there,” Director Guan said, pointing to a large circle of sofas lining the edge of the hall.

“Alright,” Yang Fan said, hoisting his bundle and walking with Director Guan to the sofas, placing the bundle on a large rosewood tea table in the center.

Director Guan walked over, wiped his glasses, then leaned in to carefully examine the five-foot square piece of fabric wrapping the bundle.

Yang Fan watched his expression change—sometimes serious, sometimes puzzled, and occasionally showing a sudden realization.

After a while, Director Guan’s gaze held a trace of doubt. Then he gently pinched the fabric with his fingers and nodded.

“Brother, could you unwrap this fabric so I can take a closer look?”

“Sure, no problem.” Yang Fan untied the bundle, revealing armor folded and wrapped in coarse cotton cloth, tied with ropes.

Yang Fan lifted the wrapped armor and placed it beside him. It was heavy, weighing about forty pounds, causing the rosewood tea table to creak under the weight.

Guan Xiaosheng looked puzzled. “What’s inside that’s so heavy?” He didn’t pay much attention to the contents of the bundle; in their line of work, they had seen many things.

It was rare for an item to be both heavy and valuable unless it was a tripod or incense burner. Judging by the soft appearance, it didn’t seem like that.

“This is an antique I brought for appraisal.”

“Heh, what kind of antique is so heavy?”

“A full set of Eight Banners armor.”

“Eight Banners armor, huh? That’s quite rare.” Guan Xiaosheng chuckled, somewhat amused. This young man was using such a rare Ming Dynasty silk fabric as wrapping for his bundle. He didn’t know what to say.

“I’m here specifically for this set of armor. Would Baoli Auction House be interested?”

“Well, it depends on the situation. Weapons and armor are somewhat niche, and I’m not very familiar with them. But we can certainly invite experts to have a look. This piece of silk fabric is quite interesting—I’m very intrigued. Would you be interested in discussing it further in my office?”

“Sure, no problem. I wasn’t sure how to get in touch with Baoli Auction House anyway. Vice President Guan, do you know the people over there?”

“Vice President Guan is the Baoli Group’s executive in charge of auction operations,” the female secretary said with a smile.

“Follow me. Xiao Qing, reschedule your afternoon appointments, and have the auction team invite Old Tang, Old Huang, and Old Chen over. Also, bring Huang Ying from the auction items department. I can’t appraise this myself—let’s have everyone take a look together.” Director Guan laughed heartily.

On the 36th floor, inside Director Guan’s office—a spacious, suite-style room.

The furnishings were classically antique, all traditional furniture. A multi-treasure cabinet displayed many jade pieces, porcelain, and incense burners.

Among them was a small bronze incense burner, ten centimeters wide and just five or six centimeters tall—short and flat, with three legs and two handles. Yang Fan had seen one like it during the Ming Dynasty; it was called a Xuande censer.

Yang Fan looked on enviously, hoping someday to have such an imposing office.

The armor was carefully mounted on a stand, appearing as if worn by a person. The five-foot square silk wrapping was laid flat on a rosewood strip table.

Yang Fan recognized the table from Wei Bancheng’s home—it was the same style.

“Vice President Guan, this mortise-and-tenon table with raised edges is a masterpiece of late Ming Dynasty, specifically from the Tianqi era. What’s more remarkable is that it’s made of huanghuali wood—a fine piece!” Yang Fan said, admiring the table.

Director Guan noticed Yang Fan was dressed in standard construction camouflage and had initially assumed he was a country lad selling old family items—a rural youth. He hadn’t expected Yang Fan to speak with such expertise. His impression of him immediately changed.

In the antiques trade, the key is the match between the seller and the connoisseur. Without true knowledge, you won’t earn genuine respect.

At that moment, Secretary Xiao Qing entered with several elderly experts. Their eyes immediately shifted when they looked at Yang Fan.

“Brother Yang is impressive! To accurately name the table and its material—many experts can do that, but to precisely date it to the late Ming Tianqi era isn’t common. Excellent eye.”

Director Guan was stunned. This table had never been accurately dated. Many experts only broadly classified it as mid-to-late Ming. Eventually, they had to invite a retired Palace Museum expert in his eighties to confirm it was indeed a Tianqi late period style.

Director Guan and the experts in the room showed great respect. This young man, unassuming and seemingly under twenty, was a true connoisseur.

The treatment of a connoisseur is very different from that of a novice. Several elders immediately approached, warmly exchanging greetings. In this field, knowledge knows no rank—true skill commands respect.

In truth, Yang Fan didn’t understand much. His chubby friend had one just like it at home and boasted it was a new style from Nanjing, bought three years ago. This year was the first year of the Chongzhen era; three years prior was the Tianqi era.

Though Yang Fan hadn’t dealt with antiques before, he had heard of “finding a bargain.” Without knowledge, people can easily deceive you. Yang Fan’s intention was simply to command respect. When others respect you, they serve you wholeheartedly.

“Brother Yang, these gentlemen are the most renowned experts on ancient weapons and silk textiles at Baoli. Let’s take a look together.”

“Please, gentlemen.”

As the experts arrived, their eyes immediately fixed on the silk fabric. The armor received only a cursory glance.

As soon as Yang Fan finished speaking, they all donned white gloves and took out magnifying glasses to examine the fabric closely.

Yang Fan felt a bit frustrated—his prized full set of standard Plain Blue Banner armor was being ignored.

They studied the fabric for half an hour, then whispered among themselves, finally nodding in agreement.

Director Guan asked, “Old Chen, I’ve looked over this myself. It seems to be a mid-Ming piece, woven in Suzhou.”

An elder nodded. “This is a Suzhou masterpiece, a Dharani sutra wrapping cloth. The characters are Sanskrit, woven using a special technique. However, this piece only contains the upper half of the sutra, so I suspect there should be another matching piece, making a pair.”

The other experts agreed. Silk is difficult to preserve, and without their careful examination, such fine condition might have been mistaken for a forgery.

They had even used handheld microscopes and infrared microscopes to inspect it. They accurately identified a type of silkworm silk that has since become extinct, with other silk sources also from Suzhou, woven using methods long lost.

Director Guan felt a surge of excitement but maintained a calm exterior. This fabric had been used simply to wrap items; at no point had they said they intended to sell it. What they wanted to sell was the armor.

Though the armor was remarkably well preserved, museums like the Palace Museum, Fengtian Museum, and Inner Mongolia Museum already had ample Qing Dynasty armor treasures. Such items rarely fetched more than four or five hundred thousand yuan at auction.

However, the Dharani sutra wrapping cloth was a rare treasure. Ming Dynasty silk relics are scarce, and those unearthed often suffer damage due to inadequate preservation techniques. To find one in such excellent condition and with such rare subject matter was exceptional.

Three days later, at an important auction event, the company placed great emphasis on securing a standout item—not necessarily the most expensive, but a rare treasure to maximize excitement and boost brand influence.

Having confirmed its authenticity, Director Guan pondered how to address Yang Fan. He had initially thought Yang Fan was an amateur, easy to persuade. Now he realized Yang Fan was likely a connoisseur and that the use of this fabric as wrapping was a deliberate statement—a display of status within the circle. Possessing this Dharani sutra wrapping was enough to call oneself a collector.

Would he be willing to part with such a precious item?