Hou Yuanming

When he got home, Chu Chen sorted through the goods he had just acquired, hastily ate some lunch, then turned on the computer and browsed the news, checking for information about auctions and getting a feel for the market.

The antique market really seemed to change by the day. Prices could change in the blink of an eye. In particular, with so many wealthy businessmen joining the ranks of collectors, antique prices had risen with the tide. If you failed to keep an eye on the market for a while, someone else could easily buy something at a bargain price.

After reading the market news, Chu Chen casually browsed the forums, chatted with his fellow forum members, and answered several questions about porcelain. This made him feel increasingly accustomed to life online.

By chance, Chu Chen saw a pinned post. It was extremely popular, and its content described how the poster had found a bargain that day, along with beautiful photographs for everyone to admire. After reading it, he became very interested and wondered whether he could also post photographs of some antiques on the forum for everyone to enjoy.

For example, he could post a photograph of the black-and-white jade pendant he had acquired that day, allowing his forum friends to share in his happiness as well. As the saying went, happiness shared was greater than happiness enjoyed alone, wasn't it?

Besides, if he often posted fine pieces on the forum, he might even gain new sales channels. Of his five friends on the forum, two had fairly substantial assets. If they needed something, based on his performance on the forum, they might well ask him first. Wouldn't that mean gaining another customer?

At the thought, he felt extremely happy. However, there was a problem: he had no idea how to transfer photographs to the computer. He knew that mobile phones had cameras, but the pictures they took were unclear, and his current phone did not have that function anyway.

After searching online, he learned that there was something called a digital camera, which could take photographs that could be viewed directly on a computer. That sounded good, so he decided to buy one.

Thus, Chu Chen called the person who had helped him buy the computer earlier. The man really did have one in stock and asked what brand he wanted, saying that the ones made on the island country were somewhat better.

Chu Chen already had nationalist leanings, so he naturally refused upon hearing that. The man was unfazed and told him he could even get a military-grade one. It might cost a little more, but it was definitely reliable and no worse than the mainstream models.

A little more expensive was no problem. As soon as Chu Chen heard it was military-grade, he cheerfully agreed. They settled on a price, and the other party promised to deliver it that afternoon.

Perhaps because this kind of camera was difficult to obtain, Chu Chen grew bored from being online. It was not until evening that a young man, panting heavily, delivered the camera to his home. He then taught Chu Chen a few simple operations, took the payment, and left.

The camera was fairly compact, though its workmanship was somewhat rough. Chu Chen did not care about that. What mattered was that it was sturdy and durable. More importantly, it had four million pixels, and the photographs it took were already quite clear. This pleased him greatly.

The good thing about digital cameras was that they were point-and-shoot devices. For someone like Chu Chen, who rarely dealt with electronic products, it was easy to learn.

After dinner, he put what he had learned into practice. He photographed the black-and-white jade pendant, added the picture to the post he had just made on the forum, and wrote down the pendant's specifications and his own analysis.

As soon as the post was published, many people immediately replied. Most of them merely expressed their envy, while only a few could offer genuinely insightful comments. Even so, Chu Chen was delighted. It gave his vanity a small but satisfying boost.

"Ding-dong."

Chu Chen refreshed the webpage, and the forum immediately notified him that he had several private messages. When he opened them, he found that they had all been sent by a friend named "Hide All Under Heaven," asking whether he was willing to sell the jade pendant. If he was, he should reply with a phone number.

Chu Chen was not unfamiliar with this friend named Hide All Under Heaven. He was the first forum friend Chu Chen had added, and one of the two people mentioned earlier who had fairly substantial assets. The two of them had gotten along quite well before.

As for the man's actual circumstances, Chu Chen had no idea. However, people on the forum said his reputation was good, so Chu Chen sent him his phone number through a forum message.

"Beep beep."

Less than a minute after he sent it, Chu Chen's phone rang.

"Hello, who is this?"

"Hello, is this 'Treasure Appraisal Life'? I'm 'Hide All Under Heaven' from the forum." The other man's voice was somewhat deep. He sounded like a middle-aged man, and his accent was similar to Zhou Wenping's. He was probably from San Qin, or perhaps even from Xijing as well.

"Oh, hello. Yes, I'm Treasure Appraisal Life. You can call me Chu Chen or Little Chu."

After hearing his affirmative reply, the other man said happily, "Little Chu, here's the thing. I really like that jade pendant of yours. If it's convenient, could you give me a price?"

"As for naming a price, that's not impossible. If you're sincere about buying, I'm sincere about selling, and I definitely won't take advantage of you. The key is, how are we going to complete the transaction? I forgot to tell you that I'm currently in the capital."

The other man was silent for a moment before saying, "I'm from Xijing. I might not be able to go to the capital until next month. I really do want to buy it. Could you hold on to it until then?"

"Heh-heh." Chu Chen laughed. "That won't be necessary. My friend and I will be going to Xijing next week. We'll get in touch then."

"Really?" The other man's voice immediately rose. "I'll send you my mobile number and phone number by text message. Be sure to contact me when you arrive. I'll host you when you get here. Oh, I forgot to tell you—my name is Hou Yuanming."

"Sure. I'll definitely contact you when I arrive."

Chu Chen hung up and thought that the internet really was convenient. He had gained something so quickly. Of course, he had no idea what his friend Hou Yuanming was like in real life, but he assumed he could not be too bad.

That was the downside of the internet. While it was convenient, it also made it impossible to know the identity of the person on the other end—except in cases involving crime, of course. It would be better if the forum had some kind of verification system.

When Chu Chen refreshed the webpage again, he received several more messages asking whether he was selling the pendant. All he could do was apologize, then edit the post to state that it had already been sold. Sure enough, things became much quieter afterward.

After that, Chu Chen had nothing much to do. He had spent the whole afternoon online, and it was getting rather dull, so he played Monopoly instead. Once he had played for long enough, he went to bed.

The next day, Chu Chen did not plan to acquire more calligraphy and paintings. Instead, he intended to gamble on jadeite.

After changing his mindset the previous day, Chu Chen no longer cared much about his earlier decision. Besides, he had a reason. Wasn't it perfectly normal to gamble again after winning? If he won again, that would be proof of both luck and ability. Surely no one would suspect him then. Besides, he was not foolish enough to gamble every day, and he certainly would not win every time.

However, this time Chu Chen did not go to Zhang Guosheng's Cuiyuan Zhai. The quality of the rough stones there was truly poor. Take the glass-type jadeite he had found the day before—having one piece appear in an entire year was already remarkable. That showed what kind of rough-stone stock Zhang Guosheng had purchased. And even then, Zhang Guosheng had not set off firecrackers to celebrate. It left Chu Chen speechless.

When he arrived at the Juyuan Pavilion he had mentioned before, he found that it was more than two or three times larger than Cuiyuan Zhai, and its popularity was undeniable. Not long after opening, customers were already streaming in and out without pause.

After he entered, a female sales clerk warmly asked him, "Sir, how may I help you?"

The sales clerk's appearance was ordinary, but her voice was exceptionally pleasant, making Chu Chen feel as though he were bathing in a spring breeze.

He thought that if he opened a shop in the future, he would also hire a sales clerk like her. When customers were happy, they might even buy a few more things.

"Please take me to see the jadeite rough stones," Chu Chen replied with a smile.

The sales clerk then led Chu Chen into the back courtyard, where jadeite rough stones of all sizes were arranged in separate categories.

Actually, this was not Chu Chen's first visit. The reason he still had the sales clerk lead him in was that he had heard that if a customer brought in by a sales clerk bought jadeite rough stones, the clerk would receive a certain commission. If the rough stone produced jadeite and the shop purchased it, the clerk would receive a bonus as well.

Since that was the case, Chu Chen saw no reason to play the villain. Every time he came, he let a sales clerk lead him in. It was convenient for others and convenient for him. Of course, after coming several times, he only remembered buying something here once—and it had been rough stone worth merely two thousand yuan. In the end, unsurprisingly, he had cut out a piece of jadeite worth... two hundred yuan.

Sigh! The past was too painful to recall!

The back courtyard was divided into several areas. The rough stones occupied three sections: the thousand-yuan section, the ten-thousand-yuan section, and the section for stones worth over five hundred thousand yuan. As for the hundred-yuan stones, customers could look for them by the wall at the entrance.

There were also four stone-cutting machines in the courtyard. One was large, while the other three were the same as those at Zhang Guosheng's shop. The large one was rarely used, reserved only for enormous rough stones. At present, two of the other three machines were operating, with many people gathered around them.

As soon as Chu Chen entered, he encountered Mr. Liu from the previous day. At that moment, he was squatting in the thousand-yuan section, examining a piece of rough stone.

It was rare to meet someone he knew, so when Mr. Liu stood up, Chu Chen went over and greeted him.

"Oh, I recognize you. You're the young man from yesterday who later cut out apple-green jadeite, aren't you? Truly, the younger generation is formidable." Mr. Liu recognized him immediately and warmly shook his hand.

"It was entirely luck. How could I compare with your wealth of experience, Mr. Liu?" Chu Chen said humbly, waving his hands repeatedly.

Mr. Liu smiled faintly, noncommittal. "Luck is sometimes part of ability too. Take me, for example. I've worked with rough stones for so many years, yet what happened? I ended up losing everything. Even my wife and children ran off with someone else."