Chapter 24: It Seems I've Picked Up Another Bargain

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After an intense bidding war, the celebrity warehouse ultimately fell into the hands of a professional treasure hunter.

The man was in his fifties. Until then, he had remained quiet and had rarely made a move.

But who could have guessed that he was actually the most formidable bidder of them all?

It was only after Sylvia introduced him that Xiao Ran learned the truth.

The man was a veteran professional treasure hunter of considerable ability, yet he conducted himself with remarkable restraint.

His eye for valuable items was exceptionally sharp as well. Once he set his sights on something, he almost never missed.

Hearing the introduction, Xiao Ran took note of the treasure hunter named Kevin, but that was all.

The next three warehouses varied greatly in quality.

As mentioned earlier, Xiao Ran participated in the bidding for all three.

He was merely putting on an act, however, and did not win any of them.

Sylvia and the others, on the other hand, acquired another warehouse.

In the blink of an eye, the warehouse auction came to an end.

Those who had failed to win a warehouse left the storage company shaking their heads, empty-handed.

The successful bidders followed the auctioneer and his assistants into the office building to pay for their purchases.

Xiao Ran was naturally among them.

After paying, Xiao Ran immediately took Eileen back to the storage area and arrived at the entrance of the pottery studio’s warehouse, ready to clear it out.

Before opening the warehouse door, Xiao Ran suddenly said, “Eileen, the warehouse is rather dirty and cluttered. You don’t need to come in and help clean it. Just wait outside and keep watch.”

Eileen shook her head.

“That’s all right, Sean. I didn’t come with you to this warehouse auction as a tourist.”

“I’d really like to see whether we can find anything worthwhile in this warehouse. The fun lies in the treasure hunt itself.”

“If you don’t mind, then that couldn’t be better.”

As he spoke, Xiao Ran took out the key and opened the warehouse.

As the door swung open, an unusual treasure hunt began.

When they stepped inside, both Xiao Ran and Eileen were extremely excited.

The people in the livestream were no different. One by one, they stared intently at the screen, their eyes shining with anticipation.

The moment Xiao Ran entered the warehouse, Cat, who was hiding in a corner, could not wait to speak.

“See that blue vase with two handles on the floor? Xiao Ran, that looks like the famous Portland Vase.”

“That vase looks pretty good. Take a look for me. If it’s particularly fine, I’ll take it.”

Following her words, Xiao Ran immediately spotted the blue vase on the floor.

He glanced at it and replied, “I know the world-famous Portland Vase. It’s one of the British Museum’s treasures, a glass vase from ancient Rome.”

“There’s no need to ask. The pottery Portland Vase in front of us is clearly a replica. It would make a decent ornament, but it isn’t worth collecting.”

Before he had finished speaking, someone else cut in.

“Xiao Ran, see if there’s any pottery here made by Hollywood stars. Are there any pieces bearing celebrity signatures?”

“This pottery studio is located in Beverly Hills, after all. We might just find something.”

Xiao Ran naturally had no reason to refuse.

“No problem. If I find anything, I’ll be sure to show everyone.”

While chatting with the others, he and Eileen began clearing the warehouse.

Although it was called cleaning, they were really only giving everything a cursory look.

He ignored the machinery, equipment, clay, and various tools inside the warehouse.

There was nothing particularly interesting about those items, and he had no intention of taking them away. Instead, he planned to sell them cheaply to other professional treasure hunters and let them handle the rest.

That way, he would not have to waste time clearing the place out or arrange for trucks to haul everything away.

As for the final removal of the rubbish, that naturally would not be his concern either.

While paying a moment earlier, he had already spoken with several other professional treasure hunters and exchanged contact information with them.

Those men were also very interested in the items in this warehouse, especially the various pieces of pottery equipment and machinery.

As they worked, Xiao Ran and Eileen focused their attention on the pottery pieces.

Some had been completed, while others were unfinished. They lay scattered throughout the warehouse.

They came in all shapes and forms: vases, cups, plates, bowls, dishes, figurines, all manner of small animals, cartoon characters, and countless other creations.

Whether finished or unfinished, the pieces were finely crafted, imaginative, and diverse in style.

That was only natural. If they had been crude or shoddily made, the pottery studio would never have kept them.

Eileen and many viewers in the livestream were full of admiration for the beautiful pottery and clearly adored it.

Several of the women began asking Xiao Ran to set aside the pieces they liked, saying they were willing to pay for them.

As he examined the pottery, Xiao Ran discovered that many of the pieces bore the names of their creators.

Unfortunately, he found no signatures belonging to any major Hollywood star.

A few pieces marked only with initials were rather suspicious. They might perhaps have been made by a celebrity.

For the moment, however, there was no way to prove it. He could only investigate the matter carefully later.

Seeing this, Xiao Ran simply took two storage crates and placed inside them all the pottery everyone had taken a liking to, along with the pieces marked only by initials.

Eileen also chose several pieces and put them into the crates.

As they spoke, Xiao Ran had already reached the back of the warehouse.

There, standing against the wall, was a shelving unit.

The treasure radiating red light was sitting on that very shelf.

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A black tarpaulin had been draped over the front of the shelving unit, concealing everything on it so thoroughly that nothing could be seen clearly.

When he reached it, Xiao Ran first examined the shelf, then gently pulled down the black tarp.

As the tarp fell away, the contents of the shelving unit were revealed.

It, too, held numerous pottery pieces of various sizes.

Compared with those scattered across the floor, these were smaller and somewhat more exquisite.

Besides the many small pottery works, the shelf also contained two storage crates filled with objects, several boxes, a few small electric machines, and various other odds and ends.

On the left side of the second tier, four rectangular picture frames of identical size were arranged at irregular angles.

The objects set into these four frames were neither paintings nor calligraphic plaques. They were four ceramic-panel paintings.

More remarkably, all four depicted landscapes in the traditional ink-wash style.

To be more precise, they were four Chinese blue-and-green landscape paintings.

The ceramic panel on the outermost side depicted a beautiful summer scene in the rain.

A misty drizzle veiled the landscape of green hills and clear waters, while several lotus flowers near the shore bloomed proudly beneath the fine rain.

An old white-haired fisherman in a straw rain cape sat in a small boat on the lake, fishing with peaceful contentment.

The entire scene was fresh and elegant, its mood deep and enduring. It carried something of the serenity of a recluse gathering chrysanthemums by an eastern fence and gazing leisurely upon the southern mountains, making it a pleasure to behold.

A layer of patina covered the surface of the ceramic panel, giving off a faint fluorescent glow.

Or perhaps “treasure luster” would be a more fitting description. It lent the piece the warm, smooth appearance of jade.

The discovery of the four ceramic-panel paintings immediately made Xiao Ran’s eyes light up.

“Oh? There are actually four blue-and-green landscape panels here. They must have come from China, and they look as though they’re quite old.”

Xiao Ran sounded astonished, his voice filled with excitement.

Naturally, he was only acting. Inwardly, he was already bursting with delight.

The moment he said this, the livestream erupted.

“Good heavens! That’s unbelievably lucky. Could it be that Xiao Ran has struck another incredible bargain?”

“These four ceramic panels all look quite old, and the scenes are so beautiful. They’re obviously the work of a master.”

Listening to the excited discussion rising and falling around him, Xiao Ran smiled smugly.

“Hahaha! Half-Asleep was right. It looks like I’ve found another bargain!”

“Whether it’s a huge bargain or a small one, I don’t know yet. Let me take a look and see which master created these ceramic panels.”

With that, he picked up the outermost panel and began examining and admiring it.

The people in the livestream, meanwhile, were consumed by envy, jealousy, and resentment.

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