Chapter 698: Chapter 695 Barter

“The sales area has four levels, with the first and second levels being the private antiques of small traders, all of whom have rented booths from us. It’s not until the third level that you’ll find our sales area’s exclusive booths. The fourth level is the trading hall, and there will be a major auction at nine o’clock tonight. If you’re interested, you could go down and take a look then,”

The middle-aged man had been diligent in his duties, providing them with a general overview of the entire Ghost Market before walking away.

As the trio walked and browsed, they each took an interest in different items, and it wasn’t long before they separated.

Fortunately, Ji Kun had anticipated this and had arranged for them to meet outside the entrance to the fourth floor underground at nine o’clock.

Unable to find Zhou Shitao and Ji Kun, Huo Sining gave up looking and decided not to think further on it, choosing instead to stroll around on her own.

She lowered her head, carefully observing the items on the booths.

In the Imperial Capital Ghost Market, there are many strange rules. The rent for booths on the first level is very cheap; it is said that one only needs 100 yuan to participate, as the area is quite small. As a result, many traders cannot display their goods in an organized manner and simply spread them out on the shelves.

When someone comes forward to pick out items, these traders neither greet them nor obstruct them, watching with indifference. They only speak up when the person expresses a desire to make a purchase.

On the display shelves of several vendors, there are also lizards. In oracle bone script, ‘lizard’ is represented by the character ‘Yi ‘ (to exchange), and in the Imperial Capital Ghost Market, if a trader puts a lizard at their booth, it implies that in addition to cash transactions, goods can also be traded for goods at their booth.

This means if you have valuable items you wish to sell and you are interested in something from the vendor’s booth, you can directly swap items, provided both parties come to an agreement.

Unlike Zhou Shitao and Ji Kun, who were very selective in their browsing, Huo Sining examined each booth’s offerings with great care, as with her Heavenly Eye, she could quickly appraise the items.

With a single sweep of her hand, she could swiftly discern which items on the booth possessed Spiritual Energy and which did not.

Unfortunately, being on the first level of ordinary booths, after looking at many items, Huo Sining found that antiques with Purple Spiritual Qi were very rare. On the rare occasion she found one with Spiritual Energy, it was either priced too high or had flaws.

While the Heavenly Eye could detect Purple Qi to determine the authenticity of the antiques, for those that were damaged, there was nothing she could do, no matter how skilled she might be.

Since this was not a formal trading market, with the quality of items being so varied, Huo Sining couldn’t help feeling disappointed. She had set her expectations too high upon arrival, and now it felt like a cold bucket of water had been poured over her, dampening her enthusiasm.

She didn’t know how many booths she had passed by, but as she approached the end, Huo Sining had only picked a highly refined blue-and-white Garlic-head Vase.

The vase had a substantial amount of Purple Spiritual Qi. Huo Sining tentatively estimated it to be from the Kangxi-Qianlong Period. Its only flaw was that it had been produced by a famous kiln, possessing some of the lively spirit of folk art but lacking the exquisite grandeur of an imperial kiln.

After such an extensive search, it wouldn’t do to come away completely empty-handed.

Although the Garlic-head Vase looked ordinary, it was still an antique, and most importantly, it had several tiny cracks. Despite the owner knowing it was a Qing Dynasty antique, the value was significantly diminished due to its incomplete preservation. After Huo Sining’s aggressive bargaining, she managed to bring the price down from ten thousand to just three thousand.

Huo Sining felt the price was still somewhat high, but seeing the vendor with a pained expression on his face, she reluctantly took out three thousand yuan from her pocket and traded with the vendor.

Bargaining was the most practical skill Huo Sining had learned since her rebirth. Having visited Antique Street in S City with Su Qingqing many times, she had witnessed all sorts of bargaining tactics used by Su Qingqing, and Huo Sining took note and learned quite a bit.

Truth be told, Su Qingqing’s bargaining tricks might seem silly, but they rarely failed when used on these vendors.

A farmhouse and pecking poultry, nothing but a common blue and white pattern, yet it also counted as an antique. After settling the transaction with the vendor in silver, Huo Sining contentedly took the vase. It was only then that she turned around and continued to walk onward, soon reaching the end of the row.

With nothing much gained, Huo Sining was ready to head back to the entrance to take the elevator down to the second floor. However, as she turned, her gaze inadvertently caught the stall at the very end, and puzzlement filled her heart.

At that stall, an old man was sitting, but astonishingly, the display was completely empty, with nothing on it.

Huo Sining felt curious and couldn’t help looking over at the old man a few more times.

Just as she was wondering, the old man suddenly lifted his head and looked at Huo Sining, his gaze falling on the garlic-head vase in her hands, and a glint flashed in his eyes.

Suddenly, the old man stretched his wrinkled face into a smile and beckoned to Huo Sining, calling out, “Young lady, I have something good here, do you want to take a look?”

Huo Sining felt that the old man was somewhat odd, but with the hustle and bustle of people around, she thought there shouldn’t be any major issues, so she gathered her courage and walked up to him.

The old man reached into his backpack with his bony, stick-like hand and after a moment, pulled out a stamp album.

“This is a collection of stamps I’ve accumulated over decades, with each stamp being a rarity and a treasure,” the old man said in a hoarse voice as he saw Huo Sining reach out to flip through the album.

The album was about five to six centimeters thick, indeed containing a large number of stamps, including “The Whole Country is Red,” “The Blue Army Post,” and several other misprinted stamps.

But Huo Sining was no fool; if anyone truly had such a collection of precious stamps, why would they sell it to an inconspicuous young girl like her? There had to be a catch.

After a moment of thought, Huo Sining instinctively asked, “Sir, how much for this stamp album?”

The glint of cunning in the old man’s eyes flickered, but his gaze remained firmly fixed on the garlic-head vase in Huo Sining’s hands:

“I’m not selling this album, but if you really like it, young lady, we can trade. How about you exchange the vase in your hands for it?”

The corner of Huo Sining’s mouth curved slightly, but her eyes carried a hint of coldness. The old man indeed was a cunning one, quickly recognizing that the vase in her hands was a vintage piece and now attempting to swap his worthless album for her valuable item!

Huo Sining was just about to rebuke the old man for his wild fantasies when, unexpectedly, as her hand nonchalantly flipped to the last page of the album, her previously idle Heavenly Eye suddenly opened. Through the Heavenly Eye, she clearly saw a light purple Spiritual Qi shrouding the album!