I'm back in 1990

Chapter 373: Shooting Yourself in the Foot

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Zhang Yun did indeed buy all 169 pieces of Ming and Qing dynasty furniture that were originally to be auctioned. However, because she was in a hurry to return to the United States, she entrusted all the subsequent receipt, inspection, and storage of these furniture pieces to Huang Xiaochuan.

After hanging up Zhang Yun's call, Huang Xiaochuan shook his head. This woman really listened to advice and actually did it!

After careful consideration, Huang Xiaochuan did not rush to contact the auction company to hand over the furniture. Instead, he asked someone to invite two renowned experts in the field of Ming and Qing furniture research from the Shanghai Museum—Song Yinxin and Liu Yunchan.

Song Yin is nearly sixty years old this year and has a deep understanding of ancient Chinese furniture. Liu Yunchan is in his prime, in his forties, and has a deep understanding of the making of Ming and Qing furniture and the study of wood.

Mai Guangde arranged for a car to take the two experts directly to the auction company, where Huang Xiaochuan shook hands and greeted them.

"You two have really worked hard today. I'm so sorry to have troubled you to come even though you're both so busy," Huang Xiaochuan said politely.

Song Yinxin merely shook hands briefly before his gaze was drawn to the mountain of furniture piled up beside him. He muttered to himself, "These are all treasures." He walked eagerly toward the furniture, seemingly oblivious to everything around him.

Liu Yunchan replied with a smile, "You're too kind, young man. We feel very honored to be able to see so many precious Ming and Qing dynasty furniture pieces."

As he spoke, he curiously looked around at his surroundings.

"Your boss is really generous!" Liu Yunchan exclaimed. "He bought up all the items to be auctioned at once. I'm truly amazed. A friend of a friend asked me to look at a few pieces before the auction, hoping to acquire them, but your boss just bought them all!"

Huang Xiaochuan smiled slightly and explained, "Some people like porcelain, some like calligraphy and painting, and naturally some people have a special fondness for Ming and Qing furniture. It's a matter of personal taste. This amount of money is really nothing to her."

"That's right, that's right." Liu Yunchan nodded, then asked curiously, "If I may ask, what does your boss plan to do with all this furniture?"

Huang Xiaochuan shook his head: "I don't know about that."

"Haha, I was just being nosy, young man, please don't mind," Liu Yunchan said with a smile.

Huang Xiaochuan glanced at the time: "Let's hurry up and finish this so you two can get some rest sooner."

"Yes, we need to look at all this furniture for a while!" Liu Yunchan said, taking out a pair of gloves from his pocket and putting them on, ready to begin the inspection.

Huang Xiaochuan arrived here before the two of them, and upon entering, he found that the actual items were even more stunning than those in the brochure.

Upon entering, you'll see a huanghuali luohan bed with smooth lines and a simple design.

It stands quietly in the center of the exhibition hall, like an elegant dancer.

The bed frame is made from a single piece of huanghuali wood, with a delicate and natural wood grain, resembling a natural ink painting. The lines of the bed frame are smooth and rounded, without any superfluous decoration, yet perfectly showcasing the simple and elegant style of Ming Dynasty furniture.

A soft silk cushion lay on the bed, creating a striking contrast with the hard wood, giving a sense of beauty that combines strength and softness.

Next to the daybed was a set of rosewood round table and six drum stools.

The deep color of sandalwood exudes a noble aura.

The round tabletop is smooth and flat, with clearly visible textures, as if they were the marks left by time.

The edges of the table are carved with exquisite patterns, with delicate and smooth lines, and every detail shows the superb skills of Qing Dynasty craftsmen.

Six drum stools surround the round table. The drum stools have a unique shape, with a wide belly that tapers to a small top and bottom, and short legs.

The seat uses the natural grain of rosewood, which complements the carvings on the stool body.

The carvings on the stool are exquisite, with various flowers, birds and animals depicted in lifelike detail.

There's also a complete set of rosewood furniture, including a long table, a grand master's chair, an eight-immortal table, and an altar; it seems like they brought all the central hall furniture from Heshen's house.

Other items include a writing desk, a music table, a canopy bed, a wardrobe, a display shelf, and a screen.

The styles of Ming and Qing dynasty furniture are relatively easy to identify. Ming dynasty furniture is characterized by simplicity, elegance, and practicality, emphasizing the beauty of lines and structure, with less carving and decoration, and is mostly made of hardwoods such as huanghuali and zitan.

Qing dynasty furniture was characterized by its ornate, elaborate, and heavy style, with an emphasis on carving and decoration. It often used techniques such as inlay and gilding, and was made from a variety of materials, including rosewood, mahogany, and ebony.

Therefore, anyone who understands these characteristics can roughly tell the dynasty in which the furniture was produced. All the furniture in this exhibition hall is of high quality!

The price of this furniture is not high now, but its value will be astonishing in 2015, twenty years from now.

These pieces of furniture are part of the collection of the private Ming and Qing furniture museum that Zhang Yun plans to establish in the future. She does not intend to take these pieces of furniture abroad, so Huang Xiaochuan still needs to find a suitable place to properly store them.

After a busy afternoon, the two experts inspected all the furniture.

"Young man, we've checked them all. There's nothing wrong with any of the furniture. They're all genuine, and the wood is fine too," Liu Yunchan and Song Yinxin concluded after verifying that everything was in order.

"Okay, thank you both for taking the time out of your busy schedules to help. I'll arrange a car to take you back right now. Thank you for your hard work."

"Guangde, please arrange for someone to escort the two experts."

Mai Guangde readily agreed and left with Song Yinxin and Liu Yunchan. When he saw them off to their car, Mai Guangde took out two thick envelopes from his briefcase and gave one to each of them.

"Please accept this as a token of your appreciation. Just tell the driver where you'd like to go; he can take you straight to your door. I won't see you off. Goodbye!"

When Song Yinxin poured it out, he was startled to see a stack of brand-new green fifty-yuan bills: "Wow! That's too much!"

"Don't worry, just accept it! Goodbye and don't come back!"

"Thank you! Thank you!"

For large furniture, such as canopy beds, they carefully disassembled the bed into individual parts according to pre-drawn disassembly diagrams, then packed them in order. They also redrawn the assembly diagrams and labeled each part's box with a number and part name.

During disassembly, they also pad key areas with soft foam or blankets to prevent damage from impacts. For parts that are easily scratched or damaged, such as furniture corners and handles, they wrap them with multiple layers of thick bubble wrap.

For some particularly precious pieces of furniture, such as huanghuali luohan beds and zitan round tables, they would wrap an additional layer of moisture-proof paper over the blanket to ensure that the furniture would remain intact in any environment.

These pieces of furniture are temporarily stored in a house owned by Guangda Real Estate. The reasons for choosing this location are: firstly, it is located in the city's sub-center and has convenient transportation; secondly, the interior environment is clean and dry; and thirdly, the temperature and humidity inside the house are suitable, and it has been professionally inspected and found to be free of pests.

Furthermore, there is dedicated security guards around the clock. This batch of furniture has been entrusted to Nan Hui for safekeeping. After the Guangda Real Estate Building is completed and handed over in the future, this furniture will be transferred to Nan Hui for safekeeping.

As the saying goes, "lifting a stone only to drop it on one's own foot," the idea came from Huang Xiaochuan, but Zhang Yun ran away without a second thought. Huang Xiaochuan didn't trust anyone else to handle the matter, so he had to take matters into his own hands.

It took Huang Xiaochuan two or three days to prepare these pieces of furniture. Huang Xiaochuan felt that he had done justice to the melon-shaped teapot that Zhang Yun had given him from Chen Mingyuan.