Super-rich: Spending money is just a job!

"It's true, it's that cheap where we are. We'll buy it and ship it to you in containers, so the shipping cost shouldn't be much."

By the way, how much material do you plan to use for this renovation? I'll have someone assess it for you and see how much it would cost to purchase it domestically.

Charlie and his family gathered together again to discuss, "Yeah, let Meng help us with the purchases. The prices of building materials there seem really low."

"Dad, the construction company you hired quoted too high a price."

"Let's take out the list first and have Meng take a look."

Xiaomeng took a picture of their building materials list and sent it to Mr. Luo, who owns a construction team, asking him to help estimate the purchase price.

Mr. Luo then asked someone to help them do a rough calculation, and it turned out that it would cost three to four hundred thousand yuan, because the list included a lot of cement mortar, paint, wood flooring, ceiling, and plasterboard. Although the quantity was not large, the types were quite complicated.

The quote sent back by Boss Luo was in RMB. After Xiaomeng converted the RMB price of over 400,000 into pounds sterling according to the exchange rate, she found that it was less than 40,000 pounds sterling.

The price stunned Charlie and his family.

Originally, the family planned to sell three or four antiques to raise money, but they weren't sure if that would be enough. Now they discovered that selling just one screen would be enough to buy materials, and it seemed like there would be some left over. Saving money was making money, and Charlie's family declared Xiaomeng to be their best friend.

Xiaomeng thought about it and realized that, in addition to building materials, construction workers could also be sent from China, just like helping Boss Luo get an overseas decoration project.

This way, we wouldn't have to pay Charlie's family too much cash. It also helped Mr. Luo's construction workers find new business.

Charlie and his family were delighted to learn that Xiaomeng had arranged a construction team for them. If they had tried to find a local construction company and workers themselves, they probably wouldn't have been able to accomplish so much even if they had spent all 10 pounds.

Although they didn't need to sell many antiques, they discovered that Xiaomeng knew quite a lot, so they were happy to let her continue to appraise their family's antiques.

“Meng, take another look at this plate. This plate must be royal porcelain; it’s very beautiful.” Little Charlie carefully took out a plate with a diameter of more than 20 centimeters from a box.

When Xiaomeng saw the thick, coarse body of the plate, she thought the craftsmanship was quite ordinary. She didn't even want to look at it a second time. But when she turned the plate over, she found a mark on the bottom: "Made in the Xianfeng period of the Great Qing Dynasty?" In that case, the craftsmanship matched up.

The Xianfeng era was incredibly chaotic, and the imperial family was poor, so the porcelain they produced was indeed of poor quality.

Considering Charlie's family background, they might actually be genuine.

Xiaomeng used an appraisal technique, and yes, she was right. Because few pieces of Xianfeng porcelain were made and many were stolen, there are surprisingly few left in the country, and the price can reach two or three hundred thousand.

However, Xiaomeng really disliked the craftsmanship. The porcelain body was too thick and not delicate at all.

Charlie's heart sank when he saw the look of disgust on her face. His whole family had always thought that this porcelain plate was the most valuable antique in their collection.

"Could this be a fake?" Charlie couldn't help but ask.

“It’s not a fake. This is a porcelain plate used for court sacrifices during the Xianfeng era. I just don’t like it. If you want to sell it later for a higher price, you should take it to Hong Kong for auction. It’s a bit of a hassle, but someone will be willing to pay a high price. After all, there aren’t many porcelain pieces of this type in existence,” Xiaomeng advised him.

"Oh," Charlie's family said, relieved. "Meng, you are such an honest friend, and so knowledgeable too."

"Hey, it's nothing. It's just that I've been seeing a lot of things lately. I'm planning to set up a museum, and I've been looking at antiques a lot lately, so I know a bit about them."

"I see. Now look at this, do you know what it is? We've never understood what it's for."

Charlie took out a box and placed it on the table. Inside the box were two exquisite little objects.

One is an exquisite rectangular box. The small box has a small lid that can be picked up with a fingertip. The bottom of the box is engraved with the words, "Made by Wensi Academy in the tenth year of Chengtong, silver and gold flower, nine taels." A section of the text in the middle is blurred and illegible, as if it has been worn down by too much use.

The box is silver, and some parts are severely oxidized and blackened, but it still looks very exquisite with its gilded patterns.