Xu Zhengyang smiled, but there was a hint of guilt in his eyes.
"Hey, Zhengyang, remember to bring your phone when you go out next time," Xu Neng said as soon as he picked up the phone.
"Okay, I got it," Xu Zhengyang replied.
"Will you be back tonight?"
"ah."
"I'll buy two bottles of Wuliangye. I'm craving some, but you can't buy it in our village."
"Okay, sure."
...
After hanging up the phone, Xu Zhengyang stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray, got up, and put on his leather jacket. He said, "Let's go get something to eat; I'm starving."
Chen Chaojiang got up and walked out the door without saying a word.
The living room was spotless, with sparkling clean windows and a floor so shiny it could be seen.
As soon as Xu Zhengyang stepped out of the room, he noticed that it was unusually clean and said with a smile, "Chaojiang, you've tidied this up a bit too well."
“If you have nothing to do, do this.” Chen Chaojiang replied coldly.
"You haven't even left the house, have you?" Xu Zhengyang asked in surprise.
"We've already bought all the food and drinks, what are we going out for?"
Xu Zhengyang felt a surge of warmth, followed by a pang of sadness. Chen Chaojiang had even skipped his daily morning exercise, rain or shine, just to stay and guard this room. Ten days… As he walked out, Xu Zhengyang asked, “Aren’t you bored?”
"It's not boring."
"Didn't you do anything else?"
“I carved something.”
"Where is it? Let me see."
Chen Chaojiang had already reached the door. After hearing Xu Zhengyang's words, he turned around and went back into the house. He took out a wood carving made of mahogany from under the coffee table and handed it to Xu Zhengyang.
Xu Zhengyang took it with both hands, his eyes instantly lighting up.
I really don't know what was going through Chen Chaojiang's mind to come up with such a strange thing. The rosewood carving wasn't small at all, over two feet high, more than two feet wide, and over ten centimeters thick. This piece of wood was originally used by Chen Chaojiang after he finished carving a classical beauty, but this time it was carved into a wooden sculpture; the entire sculpture featured a dragon with its claws outstretched, swimming above the crest of a wave, with ripples carved below it. The dragon was lifelike, and the water was vividly realistic; but that wasn't surprising. What was strange was that the dragon's neck and head were... well, to put it more vividly, it was riding a crab!
The crab was the size of a dragon's head, its eight claws tightly gripping the dragon's scales. One pincer was raised high, while the other was clamped onto a dragon horn. The crab's body was slightly twisted, its two eyes bulging, and its two door-like mouths were crookedly grinning as if it were laughing triumphantly.
What an arrogant, domineering, and awesome crab!
After staring at it for a while, Xu Zhengyang grinned, carefully placed the wooden carving on the sofa, stood up and praised, "Good, good, it's carved so well! Take it to Gu Xiang Xuan, I'll buy it, Chao Jiang. Name your price."
Why should I pay?
"Nonsense! How could I not pay you for what you carved? Besides, I'm a shrewd businessman; I don't do business that doesn't make money!"
"Yao Chushun has always helped me sell them."
Xu Zhengyang was taken aback, then laughed and said, "I haven't really worried about that. How much money have you made from carving?"
"Twelve thousand."
"Only this much?"
"We've only sold three; the rest are still unsold." Chen Chaojiang hesitated for a moment before saying, "Yao Chushun's asking price is too high..."
"Not high at all, just listen to Master Gu!" Xu Zhengyang cheerfully put his arm around Chen Chaojiang's shoulder and walked out, saying, "How about this? You sell this wood carving to me, okay?"
How much money are you offering?
"Hmm, I'll think about it... 80,000!"
"Could you have a little more?" Chen Chaojiang smiled.
"Damn... 100,000!" Xu Zhengyang grinned from ear to ear; Chen Chaojiang was joking with him again.
"make a deal."
...
Stepping outside, a cold wind swept over me, its chill biting.
The bright, dazzling sun was already setting in the west; it was past two in the afternoon. Snow was piled up everywhere in the neighborhood, and there were few vehicles and pedestrians.
Two disheveled young men strolled to a small restaurant outside the residential area, had a simple meal and some drinks, then got haircuts, showered, and went home to shave and change their clothes. At Xu Zhengyang's request, Chen Chaojiang, carrying the wooden carving that Xu Zhengyang had euphemistically named "Crab King Capturing the Dragon," went with them to Gu Xiang Xuan.
In the winter, there were very few stalls in the middle of the market, only seven or eight people, huddled together in twos and threes among the piles of snow that looked like grave mounds. Because business was bad, the stall owners wore thick cotton coats, gloves and hats, and chatted idly while smoking.
A Yamaha 250 drove into the market, its powerful, deep roar breaking the silence.
The motorcycle drove straight to the entrance of the Gu Xiang Xuan shop in the middle of the southernmost part. Chen Chaojiang got off the back seat, carrying the wood carving into the shop. Xu Zhengyang put the motorcycle back on and followed behind with a smile on his face.
Inside the store, Wang Jiayu had already run to the door, pushed it open, and greeted everyone with a cheerful and endearing expression: "Brother Jiang, Brother Yang, you're here." Xu Zhengyang had already instructed Wang Jiayu not to call him boss, but just call him big brother.
Chen Chaojiang didn't answer and walked in coldly.
Xu Zhengyang reached out and patted Wang Jiayu on the shoulder, smiling slightly, "Jiayu, are you tired from working?"
"Not tired, not tired at all. The work is very easy." Wang Jiayu replied happily. He always felt that Xu Zhengyang was the best boss. He always treated him like an older brother, kind and gentle.
Upon entering the store, before Xu Zhengyang could even speak, Jin Changfa, sitting behind the counter, laughed and said, "Zhengyang, you're quite the absentee boss. You don't even come to visit for ten days or half a month."
"With you and Master Gu here, I'd only be an outsider causing trouble." Xu Zhengyang smiled as he stepped forward, took out a cigarette and offered it to him, saying, "How's business these days?"
"Good, very good, hehe." Jin Changfa said cheerfully, "You and Master Gu are different, much better than me, Jin Er..."
"It's all thanks to Master Gu's abilities. I really benefited greatly, haha." Xu Zhengyang chuckled, then asked, "Is Master Gu upstairs?"
"Hey, go up and say hello to Master Gu. He's been talking about you these past few days, and he's been a bit unhappy about it."
As they were talking, they heard footsteps coming from the stairwell, and Yao Chushun’s distinctive hoarse voice rang out: “Jin Er, you son of a bitch, when did I say I was dissatisfied? If you keep talking nonsense, I’ll deduct your salary at the end of the month!”
Yao Chushun, carrying a purplish-brown briarwood pipe in his left hand and toying with two yellow jade balls in his right, walked down the stairs, laughing and cursing. He wore a reddish-purple embroidered coin jacket, black trousers, and handmade cotton cloth shoes, looking exactly like a modern-day Huang Shiren (a notorious landlord in Chinese folklore).
"Master Gu, you're getting more and more luxurious in your attire!" Xu Zhengyang said with a smile.
"Wealth my ass." Although Yao Chushun said this, his face was all scrunched up, and he laughed and cursed, "You son of a bitch, where have you been wandering around these days? I was thinking that you had been kidnapped by that kid Chaojiang. I called home several times, and I had to lie to you."
Xu Zhengyang smiled and said, "I went out to take care of some things."
As they spoke, the two walked to a round table on the east side and sat down. Chen Chaojiang had already placed the wooden carving on the table, while he stood coldly to the side.
"Huh? A new carving by Chaojiang?" Yao Chushun's eyes lit up when he saw the triangular wooden carving. He reached out and gently stroked it, admiring it for a while before shaking his head and sighing, "It's a pity, a real pity. You could have carved a dragon, but why put a crab on it? It's such a waste..."
"Master Gu, to each their own. I really do have my eye on this crab, haha!" Xu Zhengyang said cheerfully, "I've already promised Chao Jiang that Gu Xiangxuan will buy this wood carving for 100,000..."
"One hundred thousand?" Yao Chushun's eyes widened. "Are you crazy? Even without the crab, this thing is worth at most thirty thousand! This is only because Chaojiang's carving skills are high; it can be sold as a fine work of art!"
Xu Zhengyang laughed and said, "In the antique business, your mouth is the price bureau."
"No, no, Zhengyang, we're running a business here. Don't act impulsively or fool around." Yao Chushun was very serious about this.
Chen Chaojiang stood to the side with a cold expression, his expression unreadable.
Xu Zhengyang seemed completely unconcerned and said with a smile, "Alright, to be honest, I've taken a liking to this wood carving. Put it on my desk, and, well, it'll be on Gu Xiang Xuan's books."
"Damn it!" Yao Chushun glared at him with his triangular eyes and said irritably, "Fine, let's do it this way. I'll write the check in a bit."
Yao Chushun had no choice. He thought about how his own desk still had a rosewood stand with an expensive jade ruyi on it. Xu Zhengyang was, after all, half the owner of Gu Xiang Xuan. Although Xu Zhengyang had hardly ever spent time in his office since the new store opened, it was still reasonable for him to have a few antiques displayed in the room.
Immediately, Yao Chushun pondered Xu Zhengyang's thoughts, perhaps considering Chen Chaojiang's feelings? So the shrewd old man, Master Gu, smiled and said, "Actually, Zhengyang, it's not that I'm unwilling. Our business is different from others. Take this wood carving, for example. The design is unique and distinctive, the carving is exquisite, it can be called master-level. If it were someone who truly knows their stuff, they would be willing to pay tens of thousands more than 100,000. The problem is... how many people these days truly know their stuff? They only care about whether something looks good or not, right?"
Xu Zhengyang smiled and nodded, thinking to himself that Master Gu was truly a shrewd old man. He waved his hand and said, "Jiayu, move this wood carving to my office and put it on the table."
"Yes," Wang Jiayu replied, stepping forward to pick up the wooden carving.
"Be careful, don't bump into anything," Grandpa Gu reminded him from the side.
Wang Jiayu became increasingly cautious as he carried the wooden carving upstairs to the second floor.
After a brief chat, Xu Zhengyang asked seriously, "Master Gu, I have two questions for you."
"Hmm? Tell me about it." Yao Chushun looked surprised. Xu Zhengyang rarely asked him questions about antiques.
"A hundred-year-old piece of frozen iron, a thousand-year-old piece of withered tree root... have you ever seen these two things?" Xu Zhengyang asked.
While bathing in the sauna, Xu Zhengyang squinted and recalled his recent trip to the underworld. Without the usual officials, the underworld lacked many of its established rules, leading to some chaos. Although Xu Zhengyang wasn't yet capable or qualified to manage it, he knew that one day, after becoming the City God, he would occasionally have to venture into the underworld to handle some trivial matters. Moreover, in the mortal world, as the current chief judge under the City God of Fuhe City, he truly needed another handy divine weapon. The Soul-Striking Whip… what an awesome thing! It could forcibly blast the souls of living people out of their bodies, and that wasn't all; it could also severely punish ghosts. Thinking of those few evil spirits still wailing and suffering in the River of Three Crossings, Xu Zhengyang felt a surge of anger. Damn it, those little devils dared to mock and despise this judge! How could they tolerate that?
Yao Chushun frowned and thought for a while before saying, "While there are thousand-year-old dead tree roots, they are hard to find. However, there are thousand-year-old dead trees, which are actually ebony."
"What is ebony?" Xu Zhengyang asked in confusion. "I've never heard of such a tree."
Yao Chushun smiled and explained, "Ebony is actually made from trees from the past. Earthquakes, floods, and mudslides buried all the plants and organisms on the ground in low-lying areas such as ancient riverbeds. Some of the trees buried in the silt, under conditions of lack of oxygen and high pressure, under the action of bacteria and other microorganisms, underwent a carbonization process that lasted for thousands of years to form ebony. So it is also called 'carbonized wood'. Because it has been buried underground for many years, it is also called 'sunken wood'. It is also known as the 'Oriental Sacred Wood' or plant mummy. Although this stuff is valuable, it is not too rare. However, if we are talking about roots, they are even rarer. I think there should be some."
"Oh..." Xu Zhengyang understood and said, "Master Gu, please keep an eye out or make some contact to see if anyone has ebony root. No matter the price, buy it for me."
"Why would you buy that thing?"
"It works, hehe." Xu Zhengyang smiled.
Seeing that Xu Zhengyang's answer was not clear, Yao Chushun did not ask any further questions and nodded, saying, "Okay, how much do you want?"
"One or two will suffice for now." After saying that, a thought suddenly flashed through Xu Zhengyang's mind, and he immediately said, "Take as many as you can find."
"Damn, that stuff is expensive, why do you need so much?"
Xu Zhengyang smiled but remained silent.
Yao Chushun didn't ask any further questions and said, "As for Hundred-Year-Old Frozen Iron, I've never heard of that. Oh, it does appear in martial arts novels, but those are all fictional. However, judging from the name, it should be an iron block that has been frozen under ice for over a hundred years, right?"
"Probably...maybe." Xu Zhengyang wasn't sure either.
“This stuff isn’t worth much, and nobody bothers to get it. It’s hard to find around here.” Yao Chushun shook his head and said, “If you look in the snow-capped mountains in the southwest or the far northwest where the snow never melts, you should be able to find some, but most of them are buried in the snow and hard to find… Zhengyang, this thing is really worthless, so don’t bother. It’s a useless thing.”
Xu Zhengyang nodded and said, "Okay, I understand. You should look for the ebony root first."
"Okay, I'll contact him for you right away." Seeing that Xu Zhengyang looked very serious, Yao Chushun took it seriously and got up to go upstairs.
“Master Gu, you can go ahead and look for me. Chaojiang and I are going home. We’ve been away for ten days and haven’t been home yet,” Xu Zhengyang said, getting up.
"Oh, go back, go back. I'll call you if I hear anything from Wumugen." Yao Chushun turned his head and replied.
Xu Zhengyang greeted Jin Changfa, Jin Qiming, and Wang Jiayu one by one, and then walked out of Guxiangxuan with Chen Chaojiang.
The two rode their motorcycle to Shenghua Supermarket, bought two bottles of Wuliangye liquor, and some other items before heading back to their hometown. Xu Zhengyang, sitting on the back of the motorcycle, was carrying a large bag, which was quite inconvenient, and he suddenly felt that he really should buy a car. Dong Yuebu had already processed their driver's licenses for them, so they had essentially graduated from driving school.
Just as the motorcycle left Fuhe City, Xu Zhengyang felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, so he patted Chen Chaojiang on the shoulder, signaling him to pull over.
After the motorcycle stopped, Xu Zhengyang took off his helmet and gloves, pulled out his phone from his pocket, and saw that it was Dong Yuebu calling. Xu Zhengyang answered the call.