"One yuan, will you sell it?" David Carter asked. If he weighed it in his hand, this piece of brick was probably only a third or a quarter of its original size, but it still weighed seven or eight jin. If he really put it in his bag, it would be quite a burden. In the past, he wouldn't have bought it, but since Henry Brooks promised to find him a job, carrying a brick didn't matter anymore.

"One yuan? That's not even enough for breakfast. At least ten." The vendor said exaggeratedly. From the other party's offer, he knew he probably couldn't sell it for a high price. But this brick really wasn't light. If it sat here for a few more days and no one wanted it, he might just toss it away. Bricks like this from the city wall were stacked up like the Great Wall in the nearby antique market—they weren't worth much.

"Two yuan. Any more and I won't buy it. Carrying it is a burden." David Carter put down the brick and said slowly. Although he knew there was something special about this brick, he was still a novice when it came to antiques and didn't know the current market. He just felt a comfortable sensation when holding the brick earlier. Last night, he spent a third of his savings for that feeling; he couldn't afford to do something so foolish again today.

"Five yuan. Deal. Just take it." The vendor held out a hand and said firmly.

"For five yuan, you have to throw in this ink stick and this stack of paper... and this brush." David Carter casually picked up a two-finger-wide piece of broken ink and a stack of ordinary xuan paper from the stall. Though it was called a stack, he felt it was less than half a stack. As for the brush, although it looked somewhat antique, it was actually newly made.

"This broken ink stick is out of the question, but you can have the paper. As for the brush, that's extra." The vendor's face darkened a bit. If there weren't so few customers right now, he would have ignored David Carter long ago. Although the broken ink stick wasn't worth much, it was genuine antique ink—the oldest item on his stall. Of course, being old didn't necessarily mean it was valuable, but it was still something to talk about.

Many people think antiques are expensive, but most don't know why they're so valuable. Some believe antiques are costly because they're a game for the rich, or because of the obsessions of people in ancient times, who would pay any price to obtain what they loved. Others think antiques are valuable simply because of their age—the older, the more valuable.

Actually, these ideas are all incorrect. There are mainly two reasons why antiques are expensive. First is the intrinsic value of the antique itself. For example, antiques with excellent craftsmanship and exquisite artistry that later generations simply cannot replicate. Take the paintings and calligraphy of the Tang and Song dynasties—their level of mastery is unattainable no matter how hard people try today. Or the bronzes and jades from the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties, which are extremely fine and usually inscribed, providing great help to modern archaeology. Even things like porcelain, ink, paper, inkstones, and ancient coins are valuable for similar reasons.

The other reason is man-made. To be honest, antique collecting is actually a rather boring activity. Nowadays, people spend time, money, and effort collecting and playing with the relics of those long dead—what's the point?

Yet for thousands of years, everyone has been fascinated by antique collecting, some even obsessed for a lifetime. Why is that? In fact, it's a matter of necessity, closely related to the social system of the time.

Besides eating, sleeping, and resting, humans must think. With thought comes ideas, which then form into personal philosophies. And with philosophy comes action. For example, Marxism-Leninism and Mao Zedong Thought—without the ideas of those great figures, there would be no modern China.

However, for thousands of years, China practiced autocratic monarchy. Emperors, to maintain their rule, naturally wanted their subjects to worship them. All rulers would instill in their people the idea that the monarch was mandated by heaven. Moreover, if you encountered a tyrant or corrupt official, criticizing the current situation or discussing politics could not only endanger yourself, but also implicate your entire family. So, in ancient times, scholars and officials avoided having improper thoughts. Aside from studying and serving in government, they tried not to engage in other activities.

Of course, nowadays, there are all kinds of entertainment—singing, dancing, playing cards, gambling, bathing, massages, gatherings, clubs—all greatly enriching our spiritual lives. But in ancient times, these were considered heretical and forbidden by law and public opinion. So, as a last resort, people turned to studying antiques for amusement. Moreover, antiques played an important role in the lives of officials and scholars: hiding wealth.

Chinese people have always believed in keeping wealth hidden, especially officials. For example, if an official with an annual salary of less than a hundred taels of silver owned property worth over a thousand taels after ten years, such obvious wealth would cost him his position if reported by a censor.

But antiques were different. Antiques had no fixed price—something worth a hundred taels could be bought for one tael or sold for ten thousand taels. So no matter how many antiques you had at home, it was still reasonable. That's why, in ancient times, officials often used antique collecting as a clever way to hide wealth, which is another reason antiques became so valuable.