"I suppose," he said smugly, "Sixty thousand yuan! Sixty thousand yuan!"
This was exactly what Zhou Xuan had expected. Coins from the Qianlong era of the Qing Dynasty weren't that valuable. He then said smugly, "Seeing the old man sell it for 60,000 yuan, how could I stay calm? Hehe. I quit my job, bought a train ticket home, and my relative scolded me, saying I wasn't working hard on the construction site and didn't earn enough money, otherwise I wouldn't have money to renovate my old house or get married. But my mind was made up, and what he said was useless. I immediately went home, grabbed those thousand-plus copper coins, and rushed back to Beijing. Hehe, 1,400 copper coins, weighing over 30-40 jin."
Zhou Xuan chuckled and said, "Boss, you don't even know the value or authenticity of copper coins. If you take them to the secondhand market, they'll rip you off."
He nodded, then exclaimed, "How did you know? Yeah, those cunning guys are all shrewd. They can tame something worth ten thousand and make it worth only one dollar, or even nothing at all. They wouldn't take it even if it were given to them for free. I'm not that stupid. I went to the bookstore and spent over two hundred dollars on several sets of ancient coin appraisal books. Damn it, I managed to find two mother coins from the Sui Dynasty, had them engraved, and sold them for two hundred and one thousand dollars."
Zhou Xuan's estimate was correct, and he nodded in approval, saying, "Not bad."
It was rather strange that Zhou Xuan didn't seem very excited or envious. The smugness and excitement on his face had also faded considerably. He asked, "What do you do for a living in Guangdong? And why are you in Beijing again? You didn't come here specifically to look for me, did you? Hehe!"
"I work as a lifeguard in Chongkou, Guangdong. I only make about two thousand yuan a month. Before, I mostly worked in factories, where I earned even less."
Zhou Xuan shook his head and replied, "I came to Beijing with a friend. We had nothing to do, so we didn't come specifically to see you. We just arrived last night. We were just out for a stroll today and unexpectedly ran into you, Boss. What a coincidence!"
He chuckled and then said, "It's good that we met. Hehe, little brother, there's nothing else to say. If you hadn't come, that would have been fine. Since you're here, why don't you move in with me? Staying with your friend isn't a long-term solution. Land in Beijing is more expensive than gold. Renting a tiny apartment costs several thousand yuan. Since you don't have a job anyway, staying with me is a good opportunity to work with me. You can earn three to five thousand a month, which is much better than working in a factory or construction."
These words were true, and judging from his expression, he wasn't lying. Zhou Xuan was still very grateful. This old man had become shrewd, but his feelings for his childhood brothers remained unchanged.
I don't want to lie to him, I'll tell him slowly. I'm driving right now, so I don't want him to get excited and cause a car accident.
Zhou Xuan shut up after thinking about this, letting ** drive with peace of mind.
**'s residence is quite far from the bustling city center. It's located in the most remote suburbs of Xuanwu old district. The house itself isn't too bad, but the surrounding area is rather deserted. It's a six-story building, and ** lives on the fifth floor. It has two bedrooms and a living room. Li parked downstairs, and ** smiled and said, "This is a private house, unlike in a residential complex where parking is charged. Mine is free; the rent is 1900 yuan a month."
The two of them chuckled as they climbed to the fifth floor. These private apartments didn't have elevators. Wiping away sweat, one of them chuckled and said, "Brother, this apartment is pretty good. In the Dongcheng or Xicheng districts, it'd be over 4,000 yuan a month, and you might not even be able to rent it. Add the parking space downstairs, and this apartment would easily rent for over 5,500 yuan. Land in Beijing is as expensive as gold. They say Dongcheng is rich, Xicheng is poor, Chongwen is poor, and Xuanwu is poor. Houses are too expensive to buy, so we can only rent for now. It's a bit far, but it's cheap and affordable. Besides, we have a car now, right? I think if this deal goes through, we can buy an apartment, kid. Don't expect to work for two years and then go back to the countryside. Make more money, buy a house in Beijing, get married, and become a Beijinger."
He got excited talking about it, then went to the door, grabbed his keys, and pushed it open easily—the door wasn't locked.
Turning to Zhou Xuan, he said, "Come in quickly."
Zhou Xuan followed him into the house. There was a shoe rack by the door. He took off his shoes and changed into slippers. The floor of the room was very shiny, but the living room was a bit messy. On the sofa, a woman was breastfeeding a baby with her chest exposed.
Zhou Xuan quickly turned his head away, but didn't notice this. He smiled and said, "Yu Fang, look who's here! Do you recognize them?"
When Zhou Xuan heard the woman say the name "Yu Fang," he paused for a moment, then looked over. The woman breastfeeding also looked up at him.
The two locked eyes, and after three seconds, the woman exclaimed in surprise, "Zhou Xuan? Zhou Diwa? Is that you?"
Zhou Xuan recognized her too. This was Liu Yufang, from the same village and class as him and **. However, Liu Yufang was pretty and delicate from a young age, like a flower, but she didn't like to talk to people.
In the rural school, Zhou Xuan and his classmates didn't have the concept of "school beauty" or "school hunk." But everyone knew that Liu Yufang was the prettiest girl in the whole school.
Back then, he often told Zhou Xuan, "When you're looking for a wife, you should marry Erniu. Of course, marrying Liu Yu or Fang would be even better. But Liu Yu and Fang don't listen to him."
As soon as Liu Yufang recognized Zhou Xuan, she quickly stood up, handed the child to the woman, and then made tea and poured water.
Holding the child, he gestured for Zhou Xuan to sit down, smiling broadly and saying, "How's it going, little brother?"
Zhou Xuan was quite impressed that Zhang Laoda had managed to win over the lustful Liu Yufang; it was even more surprising than Zhang Laoda's involvement in antiques and car buying.
He chuckled, his expression genuinely smug: "Little brother, learn from your older brother. As long as you do well, finding a wife is a piece of cake. Look at me, when I was a kid, I thought Yu Fang was beautiful. I'd even give up a year of my life for sleeping with her. And look, we're sleeping together without shortening my lifespan. My second goal is to buy a house in Beijing and become a true Beijinger."
Liu Yufang brought Zhou Xuan a teacup. She spat and said, "You old scoundrel, you've fooled me!"
Volume 1, Chapter 56: Fallen into a Big Trap
The two women, Liu Yufang and Mu, were cursing each other, but their faces were smiling. It was as if they were truly loving to see the sacrificial lamb being cursed!
He proudly kissed the child on the cheek and said loudly, "That's because I, Zhang the Elder, am charming. Didn't you see? When I returned to the village in glory, the matchmakers who came to my house could stretch from my main room to the village entrance."
Liu Yufang cursed, "Shameless!" Then she added, "I don't know why I was so bewitched back then. I went along with him in a moment of weakness. Zhou Xuan, please have a seat. I'll cook dinner after I've put the child to sleep!"
"What are you cooking? You take care of the child. We'll set up a table outside later. After all these years of brothers meeting up, let's go out for a nice meal!" He said, handing the child to her.
Liu Yufang took the child and smiled at Zhou Xuan, saying, "Alright, you two chat then. I'll make you some ginseng milk tea first. I bought it specially for the eldest to nourish his body."
Zhou Xuan saw that ** and Liu Yufang got along quite well. He was happy for them. He was surprised to meet **, but even more surprised to see that ** and Liu Yufang were a couple. Liu Yufang's complexion was fair and her face was pretty. Compared to her appearance in previous years, she had gained more mature beauty and lost some of her girlish innocence.
Liu Yufang held the child and soothed him as she went to the kitchen to make milk tea.
He pulled Zhou Xuan up, made a gesture, led him into the bedroom, dragged a cardboard box from the corner of the wall, and then turned on the light. He then opened the cardboard box.
Inside the cardboard box, there were crumpled pieces of paper and foam. He peeled back the paper and foam, picked up the contents, and carefully placed them on the floor. Then, excitedly, he said to Zhou Xuan, "Look what this is! Do you recognize it? Hehe, 1.18 million! I checked, found a way in. This thing is worth over 2.5 million! I can make 1.3 million from this one deal!"
Excitedly, Zhou Xuan had already begun examining the object.
This is a bronze cauldron about 30 centimeters tall, with three legs, the bottoms of which resemble animal hooves. There is also a lid on top. The body of the cauldron is carved with three dragons, the dragon patterns are fine and delicate, and the heads of the three dragons extend out of the mouth of the cauldron.
Judging from the ancient rust on the cauldron, it was a very old thing, but Zhou Xuan couldn't tell just by looking at it, so he immediately activated his ice energy.
The moment the icy air touched the bronze cauldron, Zhou Xuan's heart skipped a beat!
This bronze cauldron is not an antique at all. Apart from the obvious signs of wear and tear all over its surface, the cauldron itself is a modern casting. However, its shape is a replica of an ancient artifact, clearly the work of a professional forger. The craftsmanship is very sophisticated, and the patina is genuine, dating back a full 2,300 years!
It's said that Zhou Xuan used to know nothing about this industry, and although he still doesn't understand much now, after going through so much, he has come to understand quite a bit. For example, the methods of counterfeiting, using high-tech means, are something that even countless veterans and experts would stumble over, let alone this idiot!
Seeing this, he was very excited, his eyes fixed intently on Zhou Xuan. His eyes seemed to gleam with nothing but money.
Zhou Xuan didn't know what to say, so after thinking for a moment, he asked, "Boss, let me ask you. Did you pay for this? If it's fake, can you afford it?"
"Pah! Pah! Pah!" He spat several times and said, "Young man, don't talk nonsense. In our line of work, omens are everything. I've already had this thing appraised. It's from the Warring States period, you know? It's an antique that's thousands of years old. Besides, they've already paid me a deposit of 50,000 yuan, you know? 50,000 yuan! How many people would throw 50,000 yuan into the water like that?"
Zhou Xuan had no doubt about his own supernatural ability, ice energy. It was a fact that Boss Zhang had been scammed. However, not understanding the whole story, he frowned and asked again, "Boss, tell me. How did you get this bronze cauldron? And who gave you a deposit?"
**He found Zhou Xuan's behavior strange. He pretended to know a lot, but didn't this guy himself know everything? They'd been together since they were kids. He even knew whether someone had a mole on their penis. He chuckled and said, "Little brother, don't pretend. You're no match for me in this business. Let me tell you about this. I paid 1.18 million for this bronze cauldron. —It's a must, such an auspicious number!"
“The day before yesterday afternoon, when I went to Panjiayuan, two middle-aged men who looked like country bumpkins quietly pulled me out of the shop and asked me in a deserted alley if I wanted anything good. I’ve been in the antique market for four or five years and have seen plenty of scammers, so naturally I don’t trust them.”