The Family Heirloom chapter 2

Afraid that he might be wrong, Mr. John tentatively asked, “What is this thing?” The young man answered quite simply, “A pickaxe!” Mr. John was a bit amused and annoyed. Was he here to cause trouble or really didn’t know anything? So he said euphemistically, “To process your pickaxe, at least three procedures are required: first, soak and wash it in water; second, use some chemical agents to remove the rust; third, coat it with a special anti – corrosion material. I think your pickaxe isn’t worth much. How can I charge you for the restoration…? I think you’d better buy a new one.”

After hearing this, the young man took out two one – hundred – dollar bills from his wallet and handed them over, saying sincerely, “Sir, do you think this is enough? If not, I can add more.” Mr. John was even more confused by this situation and couldn’t help asking, “Does this pickaxe have any special origin?” The young man nodded and said, “Let’s just say it’s… a family heirloom…” Mr. John noticed that the young man seemed hesitant to speak. Remembering the old rule in antique shops that “the origin of treasures is not to be asked”, he quickly said, “Come and pick it up in two days.”

After seeing the young man off, Mr. John quickly called an expert and invited him to appraise this “treasure”. This expert is a well – known professor in China who studies bronzes and has a good personal relationship with Mr. John.

The expert came. He carefully examined the pickaxe with a magnifying glass and said, “I can’t see anything strange about it. It seems to be an ordinary pickaxe.” Mr. John then told him the general situation. The expert shook his head and said, “Judging from the texture, it should be a modern thing, at most seventy or eighty years old; from the shape and manufacturing process, it is extremely ordinary and should be just an agricultural tool; from the degree of corrosion and the smell it has, I guess that this young man probably dug up an ancient tomb that he thought was very old and got this thing. He thought it was worth a lot of money, so he brought it here as a treasure for you to restore.” Mr. John nodded after hearing this and said, “Your analysis makes sense.”

Three days later, the young man came to “Elegant Scholar’s Studio”. Mr. John still wanted to test him, so he pretended to be in a difficult situation and said, “Normally, 200 dollars for restoring a pickaxe is already quite a lot. But we rarely restore ironware here. Two kinds of anti – corrosion materials have to be bought in the provincial capital… In my opinion, it’s just a pickaxe. Don’t have it repaired. I’ll return the money to you…”

Before Mr. John could finish speaking, the young man opened his wallet and took out all the money, including the change. “Sir, I’ll give you another 300 dollars. Is that okay?” At this time, Mr. John couldn’t refuse anymore, so he had to take the money and said, “Then come back in another three days…”

Another three days passed. The young man saw the renovated pickaxe in Mr. John’s shop. All the rust on it was gone, and the black iron showed a deep luster. Mr. John said, “The anti – corrosion treatment I used is the most advanced. It can ensure that it won’t rust for three hundred years at room temperature.” The young man was obviously very satisfied with Mr. John’s craftsmanship and kept saying, “Great, great.”