“Ten years, haha,” Old Master Gu slowly shook his head. “Girl, I’m not short of money, and it looks like I won’t live for another ten years.”
“This…” Chen Kejiao paused, clearly she hadn’t thought about this question.
Seeing that things were getting a bit out of hand, I quickly jumped in: "What do you mean by 10 years and all that money? How about this, Mr. Gu, you love collecting antiques, right? Miss Chen's items are all top-quality. Consider it a loan to you. You have money, right? Think of it as helping a junior, giving her a hand. When she's able to pay you back, and you've had your fill of collecting, you can give the items back to her. We can still be friends afterward. Why make it so complicated?"
I spoke frankly, but I know it's a bit of nonsense. These two are meeting for the first time and won't trust each other much. A verbal agreement alone might mean Chen Kejiao's antiques won't be redeemed in the end. Of course, Master Gu would never do that, but that would mean he'd be lending hundreds of millions to someone else for nothing. In this era where money makes money, even close brothers keep clear accounts; loans always come with interest.
Sure enough, Old Master Gu looked at me with a half-smile and said, "Kid, I'm really at a disadvantage here. Who is this girl to you that you're helping her so much?"
I casually replied, "A girl, of course."
Chen Kejiao glanced at me but didn't know how to refute me. Finally, she said to Master Gu, "How about this, Master Gu, we'll stick to the original plan and increase it by 20% every year. I'll pay you back as soon as possible, so it shouldn't take 10 years."
Old Master Gu chuckled: "We've brought up money again. Girl, let me ask you, aren't you afraid I'll take your antiques for myself? Or what if I die before you pay me back?"
Chen Kejiao was taken aback. A person like her, meticulous in everything she did, would never say something like, "I believe you're not that kind of person" or "You'll definitely live to be a hundred." It seemed inevitable that one of them would suffer a great loss in this deal, because it wasn't as simple as a buy-and-sell transaction; it involved many uncertain factors.
Mr. Gu quickly answered the question himself: "Actually, you can rest assured. I have no children, so money is useless to me, and I have no need to be greedy. In fact, I have already left a will, and after my death, all my antiques will be donated to the country free of charge. I will not do anything that harms others without benefiting myself, so you don't need to worry that I will take your things, nor do you need to be afraid that I will kick the bucket the day after the agreement is reached. My lawyer will continue our agreement."
A look of joy appeared in Chen Kejiao's eyes.
"But—" Old Master Gu's eyes flashed, and he slowly said, "Why should I help you?"
I finally asked that question. Old Gu said he doesn't lack money. Even if you multiply your money tenfold or twentyfold, he won't care. In the end, he's the one helping you.
The situation has reached a stalemate again. Chen Kejiao isn't the type to give up easily. Master Gu is a true江湖人 (jianghu person, a person of the martial arts world), but he's not a chivalrous knight-errant. Having experienced the coldness and warmth of human relationships, he understands the power and value of money, and no one has the right to criticize him.
Then it finally dawned on me: So what if it's an antique? I, Xiaoqiang, seem to lack everything, except antiques! The knife I use to peel potatoes is from the Qin Dynasty. What about Liu Bang's imperial robe? He wore it as pajamas!
I stood up abruptly and said to Grandpa Gu, "Wait for me, I won't let you help me for nothing." Then I ran to the playground and ran into a group of 300 soldiers maintaining order. I stopped them and said urgently, "Anyone who has anything they brought from your time, please donate it."
The young soldiers didn't ask many questions and started taking things out. I found a newspaper to hold them. Then one pulled out a hairpin, another pulled out a flint, and later all sorts of strange things came out—small pieces of paper, scraps of cloth, keys. As I took them, I said, "Anything from your time is fine, nothing too valuable."
Actually, the soldiers didn't have anything valuable on them. In the end, I gathered a bunch of random little things, ran back to the office, put them in front of Grandpa Gu, and said, "I know you don't like money, so let's use these things as interest."
Grandpa Gu fiddled with it with one finger and asked, "What is this?"
"See for yourself."
Master Gu picked up a hairpin, initially unconcerned, but after a glance, he immediately bent over, pulled out a small magnifying glass from his pocket, and examined it closely, muttering, "This is from the Song Dynasty." I didn't say anything, but gave Chen Kejiao a smug wink.
Grandpa Gu picked up another key: "This is also from the Song Dynasty." He then picked up something that looked like a jade pendant. I was surprised; I hadn't looked closely at it then. I hadn't expected a soldier to have such a thing on him. It was probably something he had carried before joining the army and kept as a souvenir. Grandpa Gu glanced at it and said, "This is made of stone."
I was finally relieved.
Grandpa Gu added, "But the stone is from the Song Dynasty. After processing, it's worth much more than jade today." Then he pulled half a hard bread from the newspaper and asked in surprise, "What is this?"
I'm going crazy. Who did this? They made them take things, even the stored rations.
I snatched it and stuffed it into my mouth, mumbling, "This doesn't count." I was really afraid that Grandpa Gu would realize that this pancake was also from the Song Dynasty, which would be a huge problem.
I munched on a Song Dynasty-style flatbread while watching Grandpa Gu inventory the items. Grandpa Gu carefully examined all the worthless trinkets, then asked me with a hint of excitement, "Where did this come from?"
I crossed my legs and said, "I run a pawnshop."
"Does running a pawnshop mean you always carry around a bunch of Song Dynasty antiques?"
"..." This old guy seems really hard to fool!
Fortunately, Lao Gu didn't have time to delve into the matter. He pressed me, "You gave me all of these?"
"It's not a free gift, it's interest." The reason I did this was entirely because of what Lao Gu just said. If these things were given to the country after his death, it wouldn't cause trouble for me, and besides, I would consider myself a patriot.
After his initial excitement subsided, Mr. Gu felt a little embarrassed. He chuckled a few times and said, "Actually, that's not what I meant... I was just asking casually. By the way, girl, when are you going to send your things to me?"
Chen Kejiao had been in a daze ever since I came in, and only now did she come to her senses. She exclaimed in surprise, "You're willing to help me?"
Mr. Gu chuckled awkwardly, "You've already used a bag worth several thousand yuan to cushion my butt, how could I not help you?"
Chapter Fourteen: The Universal Key
I don't know exactly how much the things I gave Master Gu were worth. I guess they probably weren't much, at least not more than the profit Chen Kejiao had promised. Master Gu certainly didn't want to suffer a loss without making a sound, nor would he take advantage of someone for nothing. He agreed to help mainly because I catered to his tastes, which was exactly what he wanted.
Grandpa Gu examined each item one by one. I stuffed the last piece of biscuit into my mouth, choked, and asked with wide eyes, "Grandpa, which one is the most valuable?"
Grandpa Gu picked up a stick-shaped key and stroked it in his hand, saying, "None of them are worth much..." The key was smooth and shiny in the old man's hand, as if it had been used yesterday. Grandpa Gu suddenly changed his expression and said, "Something's not right!"
"What?" I was startled.
Grandpa Gu then examined the keys in his hand more closely with a magnifying glass. Finally, he put down the glass and muttered to himself, "They are indeed from the Song Dynasty, but—" He suddenly asked me, "Who did you get these from? Why are they so well preserved?"
Yes, whether it's an iron key or a bronze key, after 900 years of history, even if it's well preserved, it's impossible for it to be completely free of rust, let alone so shiny that it's like a mirror.
I stammered for a long time with my mouth agape, and finally said, "Maybe the kid who sold me came from a family that had been thieves for nine generations, and this is a master key that has been passed down through generations?"
Grandpa Gu seemed not to hear what I was saying at all. He absentmindedly picked up a small piece of paper, unfolded it, glanced at it, and exclaimed in horror, "Amulet? If this is also from the Song Dynasty, then it's really a ghost story!" The paper was slightly yellow, but because of the rough paper and the fact that it was completely undamaged, I guess he wouldn't even dare to call it a thousand-year-old artifact if he were to put a traitor on the tiger bench and force-feed him chili water.
The problem is, it really is a thousand-year-old artifact! Unlike the pancake, I saw this piece of paper earlier, but subconsciously categorized it as worthless. Spending so much time with Qin Shi Huang and Xiang Yu has completely eroded my sense of history and time; if this continues, I'm bound to be exposed. I can eat the pancake, but what about the amulet? The key problem isn't solved yet. You can't expect me to eat everything that seems out of place in the future, can you?
Fortunately, Grandpa Gu wasn't that good at identifying paper. While he was in a daze, I quickly came up with a clever idea and said, "That's a good luck charm that my wife got for me. I just grabbed the wrong one in my haste."
Grandpa Gu looked at me suspiciously, showing no intention of returning it to me.
"How about I give it to you as a souvenir?" I said, using a feigned retreat as a pretext for further action.
"Your nickname is Er Gouzi?"