Chapter 79: Treasure Hunt Rewards

The opened camphorwood box was filled with various strips of cloth and scraps of paper. After reaching inside, Liang En and his companions pulled out one metallic object after another.

After spending over ten minutes, Liang En and his companion finally cleared out everything inside the box. They laid out a large pile on the attic floor.

The items included six candleholders, four beer mugs, two plates, a teapot, four teacups, two boxes, a picture frame, seven jars of various sizes, and six animal sculptures about the size of a palm.

"These seem to be tinware," Liang En said, taking one of the cups in his hand and giving it a slight shake. He quickly deduced some basic information about these items. "And judging by their appearance, they should be products from the British Straits Settlements about eighty to ninety years ago."

Liang En's confidence in his conclusion stemmed from his use of an Appraisal (N) card on the largest plate. The card displayed that the plate had been manufactured in 1917 in what was then the British Straits Settlements' Kuala Lumpur.

"It turns out they're made of tin, which explains their dull appearance," Fan Meng remarked, a look of understanding on his face after Liang En's explanation. Then, with a slightly embarrassed expression, he asked, "By the way, how much are these things worth?"

"It's a bit hard to say, but selling the entire lot along with the box for over 2700 pounds shouldn't be a problem," Liang En replied after considering the pile of items. "I examined the marks on these tinwares, and they're all of the best kind, made with low-lead tin."

"You see, during the refining process of tin, it's easy for lead to get mixed in. Once the lead content exceeds a certain limit, these tin products aren't suitable for storing food or drinks."

"So, compared to tinwares with higher lead content but larger production, these lead-free tinwares often fetch prices several times higher, not to mention that these items can be considered antiques."

However, apart from this box, they didn't find anything particularly valuable in the room. Even when they used a metal detector, they only found a few low-denomination British copper and nickel coins.

But as they moved the tea table and the camphorwood box out of the room, realizing they had two to three hours left before finishing, Liang En and his companion finally dismantled the bronze chandelier in the living room.

This wasn't an act of destruction; it was because they realized that the bronze chandelier might be worth some money. And indeed, once the bronze chandelier was taken down, Liang En discovered that it had been modified from an old-style candle chandelier.

"Unfortunately, when it was modified, they removed all the structures used to hang the chandelier and even drilled several holes inside for wiring," Liang En sighed after inspecting the chandelier.

"A complete chandelier can fetch at least 1800 pounds on the market, but after this modification, I estimate it could sell for around 500 pounds."

"Let me do the math," Fan Meng immediately began, "600 plus 1000 plus 2700 plus 500. So, we've found items worth 4800 pounds. After deducting the 2150 pounds auction fee and 100 pounds miscellaneous charges, we've made a profit of 2250 pounds."

"It's still an estimate. To know for sure how much we've made, we'll have to wait until we actually sell them," Liang En shrugged.

An hour later, the two arrived at Pierce's shop. As they entered, Pierce warmly approached. "Lawrence, the Viking trinkets you consigned with me last time sold, totaling 350 pounds."

After exchanging a high-five with Liang En, he turned his attention to Fan Meng. "And this is—"

"This is Fan Meng. Our families have been connected since my father's generation. We have a good relationship, so I've brought him on as my assistant," Liang En introduced Fan Meng to Pierce.

"Hello, you can call me Pierre," Fan Meng stepped forward and shook hands with Pierce. "Nice to meet you."

"Likewise." After shaking hands with Fan Meng, Pierce turned to Liang En and asked, "Did you come here today after finding something during your dig? I noticed you came in that van."

"Yes, we went to Surrey today. While we didn't find any exceptional treasures, we did come across some valuable items," Liang En nodded, and together they unloaded the items from the van.

Soon, everything was off the van, and Pierce started examining the items Liang En and his group had found. After around ten minutes, he stood up from beside the tea table.

"If you package these items for sale, I'm willing to offer 5000 pounds."

"That's a bit more than I had estimated. I thought these items might be worth around 4800 pounds at most," Liang En said directly about his initial estimate, given their friendship. "How did you arrive at the 5000 pounds?"

"Mainly due to this tea table. It's likely from the mid-Victorian era, and it's exceptionally well-preserved," Pierce pointed to the tea table on the ground.

"Plus, I've recently met a wealthy Indian individual who just bought a new residence near Knight's Bridge. They're interested in decorating in the Victorian style, and this tea table fits the bill. I think I can sell it to him for a high price."

"It seems luck is on your side recently," Liang En lightly tapped Pierce's shoulder, saying, "By the way, do you have any new leads for me?"

"I've been looking for you, but with Christmas just passed, information has been scarce," Pierce shook his head with a touch of helplessness.

"I've only got one deal currently, up in Dundee, Scotland. It involves clearing out a warehouse. However, based on the photos I had a local take, the warehouse seems mostly empty. And they're asking for an additional 1500 pounds on top of that. It's a bit of a raw deal."

Saying this, Pierce shared a few photos with Liang En. After seeing them, Liang En felt that the warehouse owner might be trying to deceive them into paying more. The images suggested that while valuable items had been placed near the entrance, the rest of the space was filled with rubbish.

This situation was a common occurrence in auctions – the seller manipulates the arrangement of items in the warehouse to disguise the true value of the room's contents, using deception to earn more money.

"For this pile of junk, it's not worth the trip to Scotland," Liang En shook his head. "I'll look online; maybe I'll stumble upon other opportunities."

Leaving Pierce's shop with money in hand, Liang En and Fan Meng returned to the apartment they were renting in London. Upon arriving at the doorstep, they noticed the building manager approaching, holding a thick stack of mail.

"You must be Lawrence," because Liang En and Fan Meng were the only two East Asian residents in the entire building, even though Liang En hadn't lived there for long, the manager could still recognize him.

"Yes, is there something you need?" "All these are for you." The plump African American woman handed over a stack of mail to Liang En, saying, "Since you left before Christmas, there's been mail for you nearly every day. It only stopped a couple of days ago."