While thinking, he brought up the matter of buying the bronze cauldron again. "I was going to ignore them, but they pulled me aside to look at what they had in their bag, this bronze cauldron. To my eye, it was indeed a fine piece in terms of color and appearance. The two of them told me that they were from the countryside in Henan, and that they had stolen it from the ground. They had heard that the antique market in Beijing was booming, and they were hoping to sell it for a good price."
He slowly began to recount what had happened the day before yesterday. The two country folk hadn't initially said they wanted to sell to anyone. They only said they weren't familiar with the area and were afraid of being taken advantage of. They offered to pay 20% of the price if he could find a reliable person to help them store the goods in these shops and sell them.
He was immediately intrigued. After all, this was his livelihood anyway; there was money to be made and no fear of being scammed, so why wouldn't he do it? Besides, this stuff really did look like a good product!
The group negotiated their terms in the alley. They eventually agreed that **would first take the item to a friend's shop to see if anyone would buy it. If it did, **would receive a 20% commission. They even wrote a note, one copy for each party. However, ** added a condition: if he were willing to buy it, he would have priority.
In reality, the official knew that such a note was useless; it was a private transaction after all. Moreover, the two men's belongings were from tomb raiding, which is illegal, so it couldn't be made public. Writing this note was merely to reassure the two country bumpkins. By this point, the official had completely assumed the role of a superior.
Then he took the bag to the antique market in Panjiayuan. He knew He Laosan very well and had done a lot of business with him, so he went straight to his shop and displayed the item. He Laosan was an expert in this business, and his shop was always ready to appraise new and used goods. He was well-equipped with instruments and tools, and immediately gave the item a rough appraisal. The conclusion was that it was a Warring States period bronze ding (a type of ancient Chinese cooking vessel) with a history of 2,300 years, and its value should be at least 2.5 million RMB.
He was so excited at the time that he was completely overwhelmed. Aside from the two hundred thousand or so he made from the ancient copper coins he had made from Lu, the rest of the profits were only a few thousand to twenty or thirty thousand. After deducting all expenses, he could still save about two or three hundred thousand a year. Of course, he was the smallest shrimp in this industry, but for him in the past, this kind of income and life was undoubtedly a dream come true.
Leave the bronze tripod with He Laosan. If someone is interested and willing to pay for it, call him to let him know.
As soon as he got out, he took the two country folks to a small hotel far away from here, booked a room for them to stay in, and paid two thousand yuan in advance for spending money, which was nothing to him.
The next day, ** began waiting at He Laosan's shop. He waited for most of the day, and quite a few people came to He Laosan's shop. However, no one was interested in the bronze cauldron. Around three o'clock in the afternoon, a tall, large foreigner arrived. He could speak Mandarin quite well, and upon entering the shop, he noticed the bronze cauldron, observed it for over ten minutes, and then asked the price. ** boldly quoted three million.
The foreigner hesitated for a moment. Then he offered 2.8 million, which surprised and delighted him. Without even haggling, he immediately agreed. If the deal went through, he could earn 560,000 without any loss—the terms he had agreed upon with the two country bumpkins. He would take 20% of the selling price.
The foreigner readily agreed and immediately took out 50,000 RMB in cash from his bag, saying it was a deposit. He said he didn't have enough money with him and would bring the rest at 7 a.m. the next morning. The company gave him a note stating that if he didn't come to pick up the goods before dark the next day, the agreement would be canceled and the 50,000 RMB deposit would not be refunded. If the company breached the contract, it would have to compensate the foreigner with three times the deposit.
As soon as the foreigners left, **he took 50,000 yuan and went straight to the hotel to find the two country bumpkins.** He'd been plotting something the whole way there. Once at the hotel, he pretended to chat for a while, then said he wanted to buy them. He planned to sell them later, asking how many characters they wanted.
Unexpectedly, the two country bumpkins were quite demanding, asking for 1.5 million right off the bat. He was secretly calculating that even at 1.5 million, he could still make 1.3 million. This was practically the best deal he could get, but business is business, and they had to negotiate further. After much haggling, they finally settled on 1.18 million – a good price, an auspicious number, and both parties were satisfied.
After agreeing on the price, he immediately went home to raise the money. He had 800,000 in his bank account and another 210,000 at home. In their line of work, cash is sometimes required, so he kept about 200,000 at home to cover expenses. With the foreigner's 50,000 deposit, he had a total of 1,060,000, but was still short 120,000.
After getting the money from home, they rushed to the bank to withdraw more. Normally, large withdrawals require advance notice, but the bank staff were already familiar with them, having done many cash transactions with them. As long as the bank had enough cash, they would withdraw it without much trouble. They then borrowed another 120,000 from He Laosan.
He Laosan was quite straightforward, readily withdrawing 120,000 taels of silver from the shop and telling him that since the transaction was underway, he should take the bronze cauldron home. After all, its origins were illicit, and trading it was illegal. He could repay the money later, and if the man wanted to express his gratitude, he would treat him to a meal. He Laosan thought it made sense, so he picked up the bag containing the bronze cauldron. Then, carrying 1.18 million taels of gold, he hurried to the inn. He settled the money with the two countrymen in person and retrieved the receipt.
That night, everyone was dreaming about money. Money was everywhere they looked.
Hearing this, Zhou Xuan understood. Boss Zhang had fallen into their trap!
I don't know how to explain it. I've been talking for so long, my mouth is dry. I went to the hall and drank a big cup of tea, then came back into the room and asked Zhou Xuan, who was deep in thought, "Little brother, what's wrong with you?"
"Listen to me, Boss Zhou Xuan was trying his best to calm her down. He thought that since she bought a car and was planning to buy a house, she'd probably have three to five million yuan. He figured he could just consider this loss of a million or so as a lesson learned. But now it seems that won't work. This loss of a million or so yuan will break Boss. It'll send him back to the Stone Age, and to that extent... I don't know what will happen to Liu Yufang. He's seen many cases of the rich getting together and the poor breaking up, and it might even end in divorce and separation!"
"Boss, let me tell you, you've fallen into their trap. You may not believe it, but it's true. In my opinion, that foreigner and the two country bumpkins are a gang. If they know you well and are specifically targeting you, I think even the antique shop owner, He Laosan, might be one of them."
"Impossible." He immediately took out the note, waved it, and said, "This foreigner's note is still here, one for each of us. It has his phone number and mine on it. Besides, this is 50,000 yuan. How many years can you work to save 50,000 yuan?"
Zhou Xuan shook his head, pointed to the note, and said, "Boss, try calling this number. He said the deal is today, right? Ask him!"
He muttered to himself as he picked up his phone and dialed a number, but the voice on the other end said, "Sorry, the number you dialed is out of service!" followed by a string of English words.
Thinking I had dialed the wrong number, I dialed it again from the note, but the result was the same!
After a moment of stunned silence, Zhou Xuan began to panic. He had already made up his mind and said, "Boss, I'll go with you to the hotel to check. I doubt those two country bumpkins are still there."
Without saying a word, he quickly grabbed his car keys and rushed out the door. Zhou Xuan followed him.
When the two arrived at the hotel, they asked the receptionist and found out that the room was registered in his name. The check-out time was ten minutes after he finished his transaction with the two country bumpkins. The receptionist's face immediately darkened.
If the bronze tripod were genuine, those two country bumpkins wouldn't have rushed off immediately after the transaction. They were racing against time; I'm in this business myself, and I've seen my share of scams. Even now, though I still don't want to believe it, a sense of despair is creeping in!
This is clearly a trap set for him!
It wasn't so easy to fall into the trap, but He Laosan was the one who suffered. Because He Laosan had no connection with those two country bumpkins, his assessment and determination led him into the trap first. And then, because of the foreigner's large deposit, it became a series of interconnected schemes, making it impossible for him not to get caught up in it.
Volume 1, Chapter 57: Setting a Trap
The second chapter is delivered, please vote for me next month!
After Zhou Xuan ruthlessly pointed out his flaws, his mind gradually cleared up.
Everyone has an escapist tendency. The closer one thinks to happiness and success, the less one wants to think about or confront the possibility of failure. This indirectly obscures one's analytical and judgment abilities.
Now that he has thought about the whole story clearly, all the threads have come together, and he can almost be sure that he has been tricked. There is still a sliver of hope that the bronze cauldron is real, but he thinks that if He Laosan is also one of them, then this theory cannot stand. In fact, he thinks that He Laosan is becoming more and more suspicious.
However, there is no evidence to prove that He Laosan is part of the other party's group.
Her face was terribly gloomy. She glanced outside the hall and saw that the child was already asleep, placed in a stroller in the hall. Liu Yufang was busy with something in the kitchen.
He took a few breaths, then whispered, "Little brother, what do you think we should do? Call the police?"
“Calling the police is the stupidest thing to do!” Zhou Xuan said calmly. “What you did was illegal. I’m sure most of your money was ill-gotten. If they investigate, even if they catch the other party, you will still lose more than you gain. Besides, there’s no evidence. It’s practically impossible to find those two country bumpkins and the foreigner now. The only suspect left is He Laosan, but without evidence, even if you report it, you might not be able to find out. I do have a way.”
My heart sank to the bottom of the water. I never imagined that five or six years of hard work would be poured out like this. To turn things around would be extremely difficult. In my utter confusion, I suddenly heard Zhou Xuan say that he had a way. My nerves immediately tightened. I asked nervously, "Brother, what way do you have?"
"I can't guarantee 100% certainty about this, but the probability is probably around 70% or 80%!" Zhou Xuan pondered.
He was extremely anxious, staring at her with wide eyes and whispering, "Are you trying to drive me crazy? Tell me quickly, what's the solution?"
“My method is,” Zhou Xuan said with a faint smile, “They made a fake, so we’ll make a fake too, and return the original to its owner!”
He immediately deflated, sighing and saying, "Little brother, how can you be so naive? Those two country bumpkins and the foreigner are nowhere to be found. You still want to make a fake? Who will you sell it to? Who will you turn to?"
Zhou Xuan smiled and said, "Boss, don't worry. I'm good at making fakes, but I have a few conditions. You have to obey 100% for this to succeed. Otherwise, you won't get your 1.18 million back!"
Seeing that Zhou Xuan didn't seem to be joking at all, he felt a little uneasy. However, the more than one million yuan in cash made it impossible for him to relax. He would hold on tightly to any straw he could grasp.
"Tell me, what are the conditions?" he asked nervously.
"First," Zhou Xuan said, staring at the **, "Firstly, after I finish preparing this bronze cauldron and pack it up, you deliver it directly to He Laosan's place. During the journey, or while it's at He Laosan's shop, you absolutely cannot open it to look at it. Can you do that?"