After finishing all this, I didn't go back to sleep in the big bed in Old Tie's cabin. Instead, I took these accessories to the hotel. I pondered deeply in the quiet hotel about how to enter the game. The city management told me that most of these accessories were from the late Qing Dynasty, including dowry jewelry from the late Qing and fashion accessories from the Republic of China. Some looked very classical, while others leaned towards modern. For the classical ones, I couldn't even name them.
There weren't many of these items, packed in a drawstring pouch. Besides these, I also prepared a red cloth about three feet square. It looked festive. When spread on the ground, I could lay out the items and become a vendor in the ghost market.
Wang Zeyin agreed with this plan of personally wading into the mire. But I was considering whether to go through with it for real. Old Ghost had told me that the people in "Logical Paradox" were all extraordinary. With my current abilities, entering the game would inevitably lead to a body wrapped in a sack. However, the more I experienced, the harder it became for me to be an ordinary person. I had grown to like dancing on the tip of a knife, to savor the intrigue and deception in conspiracies. When I returned to my own world and sought safety, I couldn't find peace; life simply felt increasingly bland and tasteless.
I'm sorry, Old Ghost. Even if I have to face eighteen levels of hell, I will enter the game.
Once decided, I took out the jade thumb ring Qin Sisi had given me and, without hesitation, slipped it onto my right thumb.
...
In the afternoon, I deliberately went underground to buy a melon-skin cap and a fake pigtail. In the evening, I put on the melon-skin cap, letting the fake pigtail hang down my back. Dressed in a historically-evocative yellow robe, I headed to the ghost market. kuAiδugg
Upon arriving at the ghost market, I didn't draw any attention. I found a secluded spot and squatted down, putting on the Qing Dynasty glasses I bought yesterday. I watched the old scavengers come and go without a word.
The jewelry I had brought didn't seem valuable. Some even had their gemstones missing, appearing like scattered genuine stones, and some, I suspected, were old glass. Soon, my legs went numb from squatting. I simply sat cross-legged on the ground. Fortunately, it wasn't cold in Beijing before the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Finally, someone took a liking to a hairpin on my stall. Holding it, they said, "I've seen one with a similar appearance at the Palace Museum."
"You've got a good eye," I replied in agreement.
"How much?"
"You make an offer."
"Five yuan!"
"Go on, get lost. Are you new to Beijing? Don't you know the rules of the ghost market? You can't even buy a decent Jianbing Guozi for five yuan. Go somewhere cool and rest."
Not to mention that troublemaker, he was quite perceptive. Several people came and went, looking at this hairpin. A woman picked it up and asked, "How much?"
"600!"
"This is a Republic of China imitation of a Qing Dynasty piece. It's not worth this price."
"You make an offer."
"300!"
"You can put it down!"
A moment later, another man came over. "How much?"
"1200!"
"Qing Dynasty jewelry isn't that rare. This price is too high."
"Then you make an offer."
"600!"
"You can put it down!"
...
"You make an offer."
"2000!"
"You should look around a bit more. Put it down!"
...
Soon, another person arrived. Looking at me, he chuckled. Holding the hairpin, he asked, "How much is it?"
"It's yours."
As soon as I said that, the other party recognized me. "Tang Nan, what kind of trick are you playing?"
This person was Old Tie. I had told him I had something to do tonight, and I didn't expect to run into him at the ghost market.
"Never mind that. Help me figure out what this thing is. Someone offered 300 at first, and I didn't sell it. Now someone wants to buy it for 2000?"
Old Tie was knowledgeable. He took a flashlight and examined it closely for a while, then said seriously, "Among Qing Dynasty gold and silver jewelry, there's a type of small hairpin called 'Bao Tou Lian' (Embracing Lotus). The head of the hairpin is adorned with upward and downward lotus petals embracing a large pearl or gemstone. They are very small, and the main selling point lies in the unique choice of gemstones."
"Is this from the Qing Dynasty?"
"It is indeed from the Qing Dynasty, but it's not a palace-made item. It should be a replica by a civilian merchant."
"What's the difference if it's not palace-made?"
"Palace-made items are like imperial kiln porcelain. The same item can differ in price by a thousand or even a hundred thousand times."
"How can you tell if it's palace-made?"
"The Palace Museum has a collection of 'Bao Tou Lian' with a sapphire in the embrace. There's also a painting of Empress Dowager Cixi, and on her head, there's a 'Bao Tou Lian' hairpin. From the painting, it appears to be holding a tourmaline. Experts have researched this, and the best length for palace-made 'Bao Tou Lian' is fifteen point five centimeters. Yours is only about 10 centimeters, so it's naturally a civilian product."
I gave Old Tie a thumbs-up. "Amazing!"
"This isn't difficult. Just learn and observe more."
"If you had put in this effort back then, why wouldn't you have gotten into university? Tsinghua and Peking University wouldn't have been a problem."
"Are you in any position to say that? You didn't get in either."
I chuckled awkwardly. "Let's not insult each other. We're both late bloomers. Old Tie, you've explained the whole story. Can you tell me why this thing is valuable?"
Old Tie's expression turned a bit odd. He shone the flashlight onto the gemstone it embraced, revealing a translucent green light. My eyes lit up. "Jadeite?"
"Yes, glass type."
Glass type jadeite, rarely seen. Pieces the size of a fist can cost hundreds of thousands, and it's sold by weight like gold. Old Tie said that although it's hard to find a piece of glass type jadeite nowadays, most ancient jewelry involving jadeite was of the glass type. This was probably due to the advantage of age.
The ghost market was different from what I had imagined. I thought that when I brought items to sell, some shady characters would approach me. Clearly, that wasn't the case. This place had no rules, yet it had rules. It was true free trade.
However, after learning that this old jadeite was of the glass type, a new idea struck me.
I packed up my stall and went home!
The next day, I asked Old Tie to find a craftsman in the trade to make a Qing Dynasty earring with Tibetan silver. Then, I carefully removed the jadeite from the hairpin and painstakingly embedded it into this earring.
In the evening, I sold it for 1200 yuan at the ghost market to a local old scavenger.
After that, I packed up my stall and returned the items to the city management, even gifting him a melon-skin cap and a Qing Dynasty fake pigtail. For the next few days, I toured Beijing, visiting the Forbidden City and the Great Wall, having a wonderful time. I continued to play like this until Old Tie called me, saying that Old Lu, who sold walnuts at the Panjiayuan Furniture City, had bought a jadeite earring at the ghost market and was selling it at a high price.
Upon receiving this news, I reluctantly cut short my Beijing sightseeing. I bought a decent suit in Xidan and, following the address, found the shop where Old Lu sold walnuts.
I browsed in the shop for a while and then expressed my intention to buy jadeite jewelry. Old Lu took out the jadeite earring he was selling at a high price. I took one look and realized it was the very one I had sold at the ghost market.
I pretended to examine it with my flashlight and then showed a look of ecstatic but deliberately suppressed joy. "Boss, how much is this?"
"One hundred thousand."
"That's too expensive."
"Brother, take a good look. That's glass type jadeite, inherently valuable, and it's a Qing Dynasty item."
Qing Dynasty my foot! I had a craftsman make a replica just a few days ago.
"How about 80,000?"
"No, no?"
I sneered inwardly. He wouldn't even sell it for 80,000, yet he bought it from me for 1200.
However, since he wouldn't budge, I didn't argue further. I decisively took out ten thousand cash from my handbag and slapped it on the table. I said earnestly to Old Lu, "Boss, I'm from out of town. I'm buying this earring for my girlfriend as a gift for the Mid-Autumn Festival. I really like it, but an earring usually comes in pairs, right? Sell me the other one, and I'll give you another ten thousand."
"This is an antique, hard to find."
"Don't make things difficult for me, boss. It's a business tactic. How about this? I won't waste your time. 200,000, and I'll get another one within seven days. Here's my number."
...
When I brought back this piece of raw jadeite, Old Tie was dumbfounded. He wasn't stupid and began to understand why I had sold the glass type jadeite for only 1200 yuan, knowing its value.
"You bought it from Old Lu at the furniture market?"
"Yes."
"How much did you pay to get a matching pair?"
"200,000. Old Tie, let me explain..."
"No need. I understand what you mean. Today, I'll find someone I know to restore the jadeite back to the hairpin, and then I'll take it to sell to Old Lu."
I stared at Old Tie, finally noticing something amiss. He was starting to doubt the purity of this world, or perhaps he was disappointed with the world due to being deceived, or maybe, having stayed in places like Panjiayuan for too long and witnessing too much deception, he was trying to change himself.
To confirm my thoughts, I tentatively asked, "Old Tie, what are your plans afterward?"
"I'll take this hairpin and sell it to Old Lu. As long as I create a break mark at the tail of the hairpin, it will be difficult for Old Lu to determine if it's palace-made. Moreover, the head of the 'Bao Tou Lian' is glass type jadeite. If I sell it to him for 150,000, he'll happily accept it. Once I get the money, I'll call you, and you can go back to your hometown and hide for a while. I'll naturally explain things to Old Lu, and he won't suspect me."
I was stunned. Was this the honest, kind, and somewhat cowardly Old Tie I knew?
"Do you need money? When we first got that 'Bao Tou Lian,' we could have created a break mark and sold it for 150,000. Isn't that good?"
"Collectibles have no inherent value. They depend on the collector's wishes and financial strength to purchase. A broken 'Bao Tou Lian' without a jadeite appraisal certificate, no knowledgeable person would pay 50,000 for it. Even if they did, it wouldn't feel as satisfying as it does now."
This sentence, "it wouldn't feel as satisfying as it does now," sent shivers down my spine. I stared at Old Tie, bit my lip, and sighed, "Old Tie, bring the hairpin back, and don't get involved in anything else."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean don't get involved."
"You want to keep all the money for yourself?"
"It's not about the money. If you need money, I'll give it to you."
I shouted furiously. Old Tie fell silent, then nodded. "I understand. You look down on me."
"Old Tie..."
"I'll go and restore the hairpin for you right now."
Old Tie restored the hairpin, but he didn't give it back to me. And then something went wrong.