Artifact Reading Inspector

Chapter 93: Artifacts the Father Left (1)

Chapter 93: Artifacts the Father Left (1)

The next day, Haejin went to his museum at the same time with Eunhae. He introduced her as the person who would manage the museum to his staff.

They were very much puzzled about a young girl, pretty enough to be an actress, being their new boss, but when Haejin told them that she had been the owner of Saeyeon Gallery till recently, they quickly accepted her.

Of course, Curator Lee Jisu, who knew Eunhae, was grateful about having her workload greatly decreased.

“It’s small compared to your former office, right?”

They finished talking to the staff and went into the office. It used to belong to Haejin, but as he had agreed to give it to Eunhae, it was now hers.

“It’s cozy, I like it even more. Anyway, if you’re giving me your office, are you going to stop coming here?”

“It’s more like I’ll only be coming here sometimes. Haha!”

Haejin had never had a job with regular office hours and didn’t like staying at one place for long, so he liked the idea of having Eunhae there instead of him. However, when she pointed that out, he smiled sheepishly and look away.

“Wow… do you know how much money I can make if I sell the artifacts here?”

“I think that I trust you that much.”

“Well… even if…”

Eunhae turned a little shy because of Haejin’s compliment.

“What should I tell you… Ms. Jisu would tell you this, but we have an artifact that the city is trying to designate as a national treasure, so we must corporate with its Cultural Management Team.”

“Wow… a national treasure added to Picasso’s painting would raise this museum’s reputation even higher.”

“Right? And as the museum’s homepage is still crude, please take extra care of it.”

As Haejin had opened his museum in a hurry, while the museum itself was somehow working fine, it didn’t even have a proper homepage.

Haejin had commissioned it to an outside company, but as Haejin didn’t have the time to check it thoroughly, there were many parts he didn’t like, and as there were not enough staff, he wasn’t able to add the explanation about each exhibited artifact.

So, the homepage only had information about the museum’s schedule, location, and explanation about a few of the most important artifact. It wasn’t enough at all.

“That’s what I’m good at.”

“There’s also a very important artifact being restored in the restoration room. I’ve hired experts for it. It should be ready next week, so please keep it in mind. It is also good enough to be a national treasure.”

“What is it?”

Eunhae’s eyes sparkled. Haejin showed her a photo on his phone.

“I’ve found an incense burner as good as the Gilt-bronze Incense Burner of Baekje. Its pattern and its shape aren’t fully revealed yet, in this photo, as it was taken just after it was excavated. What do you think?”

Eunhae took Haejin’s phone. Because their hands touched slightly, he could feel the butterflies in his stomach.

“Wow… this is very similar to the photo that was taken when the Gilt-bronze Incense Burner of Baekje was excavated. After it is restored, we should call the reporters to make it an issue.”

“That would be great.”

Haejin had only brought artifacts, but after recruiting Eunhae as a manager, he could now promote them properly.

Eunhae gave Haejin his phone back.

“And I’ve found out who Gang Hyosang is.”

“Already?”

“Even though I have quit, I hired and taught the staff in Saeyeon Gallery. It’s not like I asked for a huge secret. It was just finding an art dealer who dealt with us decades ago, so it wasn’t that hard.”

Eunhae opened her bag and put a piece of paper on the table.

“Sadly, Mr. Gang Hyosang passed away in 2005, so you will have to ask his son about him.”

“What does his son do for a living?”

“He’s living a hard life. He runs a junk shop in Bucheon. The shop is also small, so it looks like he is quite poor. Of course, we are not the police or the government officials and cannot find out about his financial conditions, so he can turn out to be a billionaire.”

“I didn’t expect you to find out such details.”

Haejin was disappointed. When people become poor, they sell everything that is worth some money.

So, there was no way Hyosang’s son still had that coral sculpture that looked luxurious.

“Then, are you going to go to him now?”

“You are taking care of this place for me, so I should go when I can afford to.”

Still, Haejin had to check.

“Oh…”

“Then please, do well.”

“You’re leaving already?”

Haejin stood up. Eunhae got up, too.

“Let’s have dinner together if I get to return early.”

“Okay, I’ll wait.”

That made Haejin’s heart flutter, but he did his best to avoid her gaze.

When he arrived at the address Eunhae had given him, there was a junk shop surrounded by high iron plates.

He didn’t have the phone number, so he parked his car nearby and banged on the door.

Bam Bam Bam!

“Is anyone there?”

Soon, a rusty voice answered.

“Door’s open!”

Haejin pushed the other door. It gave way. Haejin regretted banging on the door and went in. Huge piles of junks overwhelmed him.

“Who is it?”

A man with gray hair came with an old electric fan.

He was in his 40s but, judging from his big muscles, he was quite strong.

“Hello, I am Park Haejin. I work as an antique appraiser.”

“Antique? You’re looking for something good at a junk shop?”

The man immediately frowned.

“Are you the son of Mr. Gang Hyosang?”

“You’re here because of my father? Please, come in first.”

He relaxed and led Haejin inside his container office. Haejin sat on a very old sofa. The man brought him a cup of instant coffee. Then, he sat down opposite to Haejin and offered his rough hand.

“I’m Gang Seungho.”

“Oh, yes. Nice to meet you.”

Haejin thought he was asking for a handshake and tried to take his hand, but he shook his hand.

“No, you must have a business card.”

“Oh, right. Here…”

Haejin gave him his business card. The man looked at it and frowned.

“This says you’re the director of a museum.”

“I’ve let a management specialist take care of it. My original job is appraising.”

“Hmm… I guess you are rich?”

“No.”

Haejin smiled awkwardly and shook his hand. Seungho snorted.

“Of course you are… so, if you’re looking for my father, you must have a reason. Is there something you want?”

Seungho got straight to the point. It made it easier for Haejin to talk.

“Your father sold a sculpture to Haevici Gallery years ago. It looks like a Dokkaebi, but it’s standing on a turtle.”

“I don’t know about that… so?”

“The one your father sold to Haevici Gallery isn’t that good, but your father had something much better. It is similar, but it is decorated with all kinds of precious materials like gold, silver, and jade.”

“Huh huh… my father really had huge money… how did he blow it all away?”

Seungho was shocked to hear that his father had such a great treasure. He looked at the air.

That let Haejin know that he didn’t have that sculpture. Still, he asked.

“Then, you don’t have that sculpture?”

“If I had something like that, I wouldn’t be living like this. I would already have bought land at Bundang or Dongtan and let my kids study abroad!”

“Oh… it’s a shame.”

“But, why did you come only now? Why didn’t you come before my father passed away?”

“I didn’t know it then.”

“Well, even if you had known, my father wouldn’t have just given you that. Oh… where did those expensive artifacts go… all that is left are some lame things that can’t even be called junk…”

That woke Haejin up.

“Has your father left you some antiques?”

“Khmm… yes, but… you want to take a look?”

“Yes. If there’s something good, I’ll buy it at a good price.”

“All the better for me, but don’t even think about ripping me off. I’ll do what I have to do.”

“Oh, yes, of course.”

Seungho took Haejin to a temporary building on one corner of the huge yard full of junk. It had a blue plastic plate as the roof. He took out a wooden box that was 1m tall.

“Wow… you are strong.”

It would be better if he used wheels, but he just dragged it out. Haejin thought it was impressive.

“I used to be stronger in my youth. Why aren’t you helping me.”

“Oh, okay.”

Haejin hurried to help him drag out the box. Then, he watched Seungho open it.

“I’ve sold almost everything, and this is what’s left… I don’t know if there’s something good here.”

“Let me take a look.”

The things inside the box were those that can be easily found in Insadong.

Things like buddha that looked old but weren’t special at all and had been made in the early 20 th century at most, a candlestick, not-so-valuable elephant and lion sculptures were the most common.

“I told you there’s nothing useful here.”

Seungho said it at seeing Haejin’s hand get faster while rummaging through the box.

“Hmm… there’s really nothing good here…”

Haejin had thought there had to be at least one decent thing inside the box, but he was getting disappointed as nothing good came out till he got to the bottom of the box. Then, he spotted a box.

It was about 40cm wide and was decorated with the mother of pearls. It definitely looked old.

“Why? You like that box? How much would it be? Huh?”

Seungho would easily get fooled by frauds. He was impatient and openly showed his feelings…

“Although I didn’t get the sculpture I wanted, I did find something good that I didn’t expect?”

“Really? What is it?”

“Lacquerware inlaid with the mother of pearls made in Goryeo period. Although I’ll have to check to know more.”

Seungho didn’t expect it, he looked surprised. He had thought that the box was a little too old, but it was actually from Goryeo.

He gulped hard and asked.

“So, how much would it be?”

“About 100 million, I think.”

“Oh…”

Suengho’s legs wobbled. He sat down on the spot and looked up at Haejin’s face.

“Then, you’ll buy it? At 100 million?”

“If you sell it.”

Haejin was being honest because of the same reason he had had when he had bought the Silver Cup with the Bronze Stand. He didn’t want to rip people off like Gaidasis.

Seungho was shocked. He blankly stared at the air and muttered.

“I thought I would never get help from my father…”

One mistake can make an art dealer perish. So, there are very few art dealers who are successful till the end.

It was even worse in the old times when there were no scientific methods. Haejin could guess that Gang Hyeosang had lost everything at once.

“Life is unpredictable.”

Haejin tried to comfort Seungho. Then, he stood up.

“Wait a moment. I have something to show you.”