He originally wanted to write Zhou Xuan a check, but firstly, Zhou Xuan was not familiar with him and they had just met, so he was afraid that Zhou Xuan would worry; secondly, Zhou Xuan did not seem to know anything about checks, so he simply gave him cash.
Uncle Liu went into the inner room, opened the safe, took out 180,000 yuan, and placed it on the table. He then brought out a money counter and said, "Count the money on the money counter and see if it's genuine and if the amount is enough."
Eighteen stacks of banknotes, each bundle containing ten thousand, with the bank's seals still on them.
Zhou Xuan was still too embarrassed to check and count the money. Lately, Chen Sanyan's behavior and demeanor didn't seem like those of a treacherous person. Although it's said that you can know a person's face but not their heart, he still didn't feel that way. Why be so petty when someone treats you so generously? Besides, this fortune was truly unexpected; it was something he found. If he hadn't met Chen Sanyan, what use would the manuscript have been to him? He would probably have thrown it in the trash within a few days; it would be worthless to him.
“I won’t bother checking, Mr. Chen, could you give me a bag?” Zhou Xuan said with a smile, then picked up a wad of banknotes, tore off the seal, roughly separated them in the middle, took the side that looked a little larger and put it on the table, then said, “Mr. Chen, this half is for the meal.”
Chen Sanyan smiled and waved his hand. Uncle Liu then brought over a black briefcase and handed it to Zhou Xuan.
Chen Sanyan took out his phone and checked the time; it was almost ten o'clock. But he still felt bad about not going to the meal, especially since he was paying for it himself. It cost five thousand yuan, so he wanted to see what they were eating. It wasn't that he was stingy with the money, but he just wanted to see how they lived.
Furthermore, Chen Sanyan mentioned that his two friends had some unusual items to see. Before today, Zhou Xuan wouldn't have been interested in these things, but suddenly he made a fortune from them, and after listening to Chen Sanyan and Uncle Liu talk so much about calligraphy and paintings, he actually fell into the mysterious allure of antiques and calligraphy and paintings. Although he knew nothing about this, it seemed that on this path, in that hazy place, there was someone waving banknotes and beckoning him vigorously!
After closing the door of Jing Shi Zhai shop, Chen Sanyan hailed a taxi. Once inside, Zhou Xuan felt as if he were in a dream, yet he could still feel the black briefcase he was holding in his arms. His face and heart were burning hot, and his palms were covered in sweat!
16977.com offers daily updates of fun mini-games waiting for you to discover!
Volume One: The Lotus Buds Just Begin to Emerge, Chapter Six: The Way
Chen Sanyan mentioned a place name, but Zhou Xuan didn't pay any attention, still immersed in the joy of having tens of thousands of yuan in his pocket.
Uncle Liu couldn't get his long opium pipe out of him, since it was too long and inconvenient. Although he wasn't smoking it, Zhou Xuan could still smell a strong odor of smoke on him.
The taxi had been driving for almost an hour when Zhou Xuan, still half asleep, finally realized: Why haven't we arrived yet? He looked out the window and was startled again!
We had long since left the bustling city center. Here, the roadsides were lined with mountains and forests, with only a streetlamp every so often, and it was pitch black so that we couldn't see a single house.
Zhou Xuan was taken aback!
Are they planning to take him to the countryside and rob him of his 100,000 yuan under the cover of darkness?
Just as Zhou Xuan was filled with suspicion and wild thoughts, a patch of lights appeared ahead, with a road sign that read: "Ma Lao Er's Village".
They arrived in less than a minute. After getting off the car, Zhou Xuan looked around with his black briefcase in his hand. The buildings here were very spacious, but none of them were made of reinforced concrete. Instead, they were made of rows of logs, like a fence, but this one was taller and denser, and the roofs were covered with asbestos tiles.
Zhou Xuan found it a bit strange. How could a place like this cost five thousand yuan? It might just be a shady establishment like Sun Erniang's!
Unlike restaurants in the city center where you're greeted with a smile by a young woman, this place was deserted; not a single person came out to greet you.
Once inside, besides a large hall, there was another side divided into small rooms, but the walls were still made of round wooden sticks, and the floor was still tiled, which made it look more comfortable.
In the lobby, there was a fat man lying in a recliner watching TV, but the TV was playing Cantonese opera.
Upon seeing Chen Sanyan, the fat man jumped up from his recliner and said with a grin, "Boss Chen, you've finally arrived!"
Chen Sanyan said, "Something came up and I was held up for a bit. Mr. Ma, let me introduce you. This is Xiao Zhou, my little friend!"
Hearing Chen Sanyan introduce Zhou Xuan, Ma Lao Er was a little surprised and took a few more glances at Zhou Xuan. In his memory, Chen Sanyan had never brought any young nephews or friends before, but he knew Uncle Liu.
As Ma Lao Er led the way, he said, "Boss Chen, your two friends arrived early and are having tea in the small hall."
When Zhou Xuan followed Ma Lao Er into the small hall, he found it amusing. It was still a round wooden room, but the walls had been replaced with large bamboo, making it look more elegant. However, the lights in the room were so bright that they seemed to be able to see the pimples on everyone's faces.
There were three people in the room: two middle-aged men in their fifties were sitting around a large round table drinking tea, while a slightly plump girl was making tea by the window.
Looking at the girl making the tea, Zhou Xuan glanced at Ma Lao Er, then at the girl, and couldn't help but laugh. The two were practically identical; it was obvious they were father and daughter.
But Ma Lao Er shook his head at Zhou Xuan's expression and sighed, "Alas, Xiao Zhou, you also think I'm the father and she's the daughter, right? Why does everyone who comes here have this expression? If my brother and his wife hadn't had this child in another city, I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to clear my name even if I jumped into the Yellow River!"
The girl blushed and said reproachfully, "Second Uncle!"
Ma Lao Er's expression was actually feigned. His older brother's daughter didn't look much like his parents, but rather like him, her second uncle. So he had been particularly fond of her since she was little. When she grew up, he simply took her over to live with him. Firstly, she was his niece; secondly, she looked very much like him; and thirdly, he and his wife only had one son, who was in college. So he took his niece over and raised her as his daughter.
Zhou Xuan then realized that he had made another blunder; the two were not father and daughter.
After Ma Lao Er invited Chen Sanyan, Zhou Xuan, and Uncle Liu to sit down, his niece brought over cups and plates that had been scalded with boiling water.
Ma Lao Er chuckled and said, "Just kidding, this is my niece, Ma Tingting, but I really treat her like a daughter."
Apart from Ma Lao Er's niece, Ma Tingting, there were no other waiters. Zhou Xuan thought to himself, "It's a miracle that a shop like this hasn't gone out of business!"
In fact, Zhou Xuan didn't know that Ma Lao Er's farm didn't mainly rely on restaurant income, and it didn't usually receive guests. Ma Lao Er himself was a celebrity in the southern antique circle, and his farm was a base for underground trading by antique collectors. He didn't receive anyone except acquaintances in the antique industry.
To put it bluntly, what he does is auction and resell, but not openly but underground, so it has to be done discreetly. Because it's illegal, there are no outsiders here. The waitress is his niece, the chef is his sister, the person secretly monitoring from outside is his nephew, and the person collecting the money is his wife. It's all his family members coming and going, so the security is quite high.
Moreover, Ma Lao Er's income is not low when he holds a gathering. He takes a 5% commission on the transaction price of each item. Sometimes he will also make a move when he sees a good opportunity, and then resell it. He basically never loses money. Don't be fooled by his desolate appearance. His pockets are bulging with oil. His wealth is no less than Chen Sanyan's.
In fact, which of the people who come to Ma Lao Er's place doesn't have a net worth of hundreds of millions? Of course, except for Zhou Xuan, who is an exception!
Ma Lao Er's chubby face was all bunched up with laughter, and if it weren't for the slight gap in his eyes, people would think he was laughing with his eyes closed.
Ma Tingting was still boiling water in the transparent glass pot when Ma Lao Er said again, "Boss Chen, the pangolin we brought back yesterday weighs eight jin and two liang. Let's call it eight jin. The old price is 1,500 yuan per jin, which is 12,000 yuan."
Chen Sanyan smiled faintly, tapped his finger on the round wooden table, and said, "Peel them and put them in the pot!"
Ma Lao Er chuckled again and said, "You guys chat first, I'll go make the arrangements."
Zhou Xuan was secretly alarmed. He looked at all these people, none of them changing their expressions, including that little girl Ma Tingting. Twelve thousand yuan for just one meal! My goodness, the seventeen thousand yuan in the black leather bag in her arms wasn't even enough for them to eat for a week. At first, she thought she was being generous by throwing away five thousand yuan, but who knew it really wasn't enough. Luckily, she didn't insist that he pay, otherwise she would have felt even more pain. Besides, pangolins, eating that stuff is illegal!
Today, Ma Lao Er wasn't conducting an underground transaction. It was Chen San Yan who specially asked Ma Lao Er to order pangolins to entertain two of his old friends. It was just a private dinner for Chen San Yan.
Only then did Chen Sanyan introduce the people at the table. Actually, only his two old friends and Zhou Xuan didn't know each other, while Uncle Liu was an old acquaintance of theirs.
Chen Sanyan's two friends, Xu Wangcai and Wu Cheng, are both men in their late fifties and early sixties. They may not look impressive, but if you ask them to take out three to five million yuan, they won't even blink. They are veterans in the Yangzhou antique world who have been around for decades.
After Chen Sanyan gave Zhou Xuan a serious introduction, Xu Wangcai and Wu Cheng looked at him with some surprise, but then quickly looked away.