Unexpected Person

Tuesday, July 17th—today was the day to head to Jin Province and dig through old houses. Chu Chen was so excited that he got up early, dressed neatly, bought breakfast, and strolled over to Uncle Wu's shop while eating.

Yesterday, aside from exercising and eating, Chu Chen had stayed indoors all day. He'd originally planned to restock his goods, but thinking about the trip tomorrow, he decided to save his money instead—who knew if he'd need it later.

That whole day, Chu Chen read through all the antique reference materials in the room. Compared to before, his knowledge base had grown significantly; he was only lacking some hands-on practice. Unfortunately, most of the materials were about ceramics, with only a few on jade and jadeite. For those two areas, he was still purely theoretical.

Chu Chen arrived at Uncle Wu's shop just past six. As expected, Uncle Wu wasn't there yet, but he had a key to the shop, so he didn't have to wait outside.

After entering, Chu Chen tidied up a bit, then turned on the computer and started browsing the web. He was already quite skilled at operating it, showing no sign that he'd only learned to use a computer less than three days ago.

When Uncle Wu came back that day and saw Chu Chen operating the computer so smoothly, he was very surprised and asked if he'd secretly come over to learn earlier. Chu Chen then bragged about himself—calling himself smart, a genius, and so on—which made Uncle Wu so envious and annoyed that he gave him a few knuckle raps on the head.

Just before seven, Uncle Wu arrived at the shop. After some preparations, he took Chu Chen to meet up with Zhao Xueyi.

When they got there, Zhao Xueyi and an elder who looked to be in his fifties were already waiting.

Chu Chen wasn't unfamiliar with this elder. He was Zhu Dafu, Shopkeeper Zhu of Yuebao Pavilion, a large antique shop in Panjiayuan, and an old friend of Uncle Wu's.

In the antique trade, the circle wasn't that big. At least in places like Panjiayuan, anyone with a bit of fame knew each other. The trade relied on connections, and as long as there wasn't some deep-seated grudge or mutual dislike, people generally got along well.

Although Zhu Dafu looked only in his fifties, that was because he took good care of himself and was also a Tai Chi master. He was actually seventy-two years old.

After Uncle Wu and Chu Chen greeted them respectively, Zhu Dafu said to Chu Chen with a beaming smile:

"Xiao Chen, I have an impertinent request. I heard you made a mistake with that Tang Sancai. Ah, no other meaning—I just want to take a look and learn."

Zhu Dafu's kind and gentle demeanor toward Chu Chen wasn't just because he had a favor to ask.

As mentioned before, Chu Chen's adoptive father had a family tradition of Tai Chi, which he had taught Chu Chen when he was young. Over the years, except for the few days after getting the Tang Sancai, he had practiced diligently without stopping. He might not be a master, but he had reached a considerable level in Tai Chi's form, intention, and spirit.

Chu Chen lived not far from Zhu Dafu. Once, while practicing Tai Chi in the park, Zhu Dafu happened to run into him.

Both of them practiced ancient-style Tai Chi, which focused on combat techniques. This made it troublesome for Zhu Dafu to exchange ideas with others. When he saw Chu Chen's technique, he was thrilled. After Chu Chen finished his practice, he immediately went up to talk with him.

Chu Chen had no prejudice against different schools. Besides, in this age of technology, martial arts couldn't compare to bullets.

The martial path was in decline. After his adoptive father passed away, Chu Chen had no one to exchange ideas with either. Meeting Zhu Dafu made him just as happy. Over time, the two became close friends despite the age gap. Later, Zhu Dafu learned that Chu Chen was Uncle Wu's nephew, which made him even warmer toward him. However, this meant Chu Chen was considered a generation younger.

After hearing Zhu Dafu's words, Chu Chen clapped his hands and said, "Uncle Zhu, I thought it was something big. But you're so experienced—how come you're interested in my Tang Sancai?"

"Oh, Xiao Chen, didn't I tell you not to call me Uncle Zhu? It makes me sound like I have a fat head and big ears," Zhu Dafu sighed. "Also, I'm not that experienced. I've just taken a few more steps than you. In this trade, the fakes and forgeries are so advanced now that it's hard to guard against them. Zhang Huo Ni can be considered their founding master, so his works are very instructive."

With modern technology, there were indeed many more fakes, and high-quality imitations were countless. One wrong move and you'd be fooled. So people in the antique trade studied forgery methods to avoid paying tuition on the same tricks.

Chu Chen nodded and said, "Alright, I'll bring it to your shop when I get back."

Then Zhao Xueyi said to everyone, "Alright, everyone's here. Let's set off."

Uncle Wu asked in surprise, "Just the four of us?"

Zhao Xueyi walked as he spoke, "There's also an old acquaintance of ours, Manager Zhao. But he's in Jinyang now; we'll meet up when we get there."

Seeing Chu Chen's confused look, Uncle Wu knew he didn't know Manager Zhao, so he introduced him: "Zhao Qirui, Manager Zhao of Huite Trading. He's a big boss worth over a billion. He also loves antiques, but he usually goes through your Uncle Zhao to make connections."

Chu Chen understood. Huite Trading was a very famous import-export company in the capital, and it was rumored that its boss had a lot of influence. He didn't expect him to be into antiques too.

The four of them arrived at an old Santana. Zhu Dafu laughed and said, "I say, Xiao Zhao, you're worth millions. Why don't you get a better car?"

Zhao Xueyi opened the car door and said, "You know, this car is old, but I'm used to it. If I changed cars, I wouldn't be able to adapt for a while."

The three of them laughed, then got in the car and set off.

After driving for a while, Zhu Dafu said to Chu Chen, who was in the front passenger seat, "Xiao Chen, I feel like your spirit and energy are different from a few days ago. Did you break through?"

Chu Chen was taken aback, then smiled and said, "Uncle Fu, your eyes are sharp. I did just break through to the Minor Heavenly Cycle."

The ancient Tai Chi they practiced had three realms: the Minor Heavenly Cycle, the Major Heavenly Cycle, and the Innate Realm.

It sounded like the martial arts in novels, but it wasn't as fantastical as leaping over roofs or plucking leaves to hurt people. Still, if one reached the Innate Realm, living past 150 years old was achievable.

However, as Chu Chen had heard from his adoptive father, no one in their lineage had broken through to the Innate Realm since the Qing Dynasty. As for whether there were higher realms beyond Innate, they had no idea.

Chu Chen's breakthrough to the Minor Heavenly Cycle was somewhat inexplicable. Yesterday, as soon as he started practicing his boxing, he felt that the energy inside him was different—a sign of breaking through to the Minor Heavenly Cycle. He was both surprised and puzzled, and finally guessed that it might have been influenced by his special ability.

Zhu Dafu laughed happily and said, "Well done, Xiao Chen. You can be considered a Tai Chi master now. Truly, the waves behind drive the waves ahead. I was already forty when I broke through to the Minor Heavenly Cycle. If this were ancient times, you'd definitely reach the Innate Realm."

Chu Chen humbly declined.

Zhao Xueyi drove as he asked, "That Minor Heavenly Cycle you're talking about—is it really like what's written in martial arts novels?"

Zhu Dafu chuckled and said, "How could that be? If it were like in the novels, wouldn't we be superhumans? Would the martial path be in such decline? But reaching the Minor Heavenly Cycle means you can at least live to ninety, and you can handle eight or nine grown men."

Zhao Xueyi said after hearing this, "That's still pretty good. Even better than a special forces soldier. Especially in our line of work, if you go to some unfamiliar place to buy goods and someone sets up a 'scam,' you won't be completely helpless."

The waters of the antique trade were too murky. From ancient times to the present, schemes like "scams" were not uncommon. So during transactions, you had to keep your eyes wide open, or you might fall into a trap. The situation Zhao Xueyi described wasn't rare.

Then, as he drove, Zhao Xueyi introduced some details about the homeowner they were visiting. After listening, Chu Chen realized that this trip wasn't strictly about digging through old houses. The owner, being advanced in age, wanted to dispose of his collection of many years, so he contacted Zhao Xueyi, leading to this trip.

After that, Zhu Dafu exchanged some boxing experience with Chu Chen, and then they talked about some interesting anecdotes in the antique trade. The car fell silent.

Four hours later, they stopped at a service station for a quick lunch and then continued on their way. By then, Uncle Wu had taken over driving, as Zhao Xueyi was very tired after four straight hours.

Their destination was a place called Qianxiu Town, under Yunzhong City, not far from the service station. An hour later, they arrived at the meeting point with Zhao Qirui.

Zhao Qirui's car was a Mercedes. When Chu Chen and the others arrived, Zhao Xueyi got out, walked over to the Mercedes, and greeted him. Then he switched back to driving, and they headed toward their destination in a line.

Zhao Xueyi drove while grumbling, "What a pain. This time, Manager Zhao actually brought that fool Qian Changxing along."

Zhu Dafu immediately said in surprise, "Ah, hasn't Manager Zhao always had Old Dong do the appraisal? Why did he switch to Old Man Qian this time?"

Uncle Wu said, "That's normal. Old Dong and Qian Changxing are on good terms. Maybe something came up for him, so he had Qian Changxing come in his place."

As for why everyone disliked this Qian Changxing, Chu Chen knew something of the reasons behind it.

To be fair, Qian Changxing did have some skill in appraising antiques. In his early years, he used some connections to get into the Forbidden City Museum, doing appraisal work just like Uncle Wu. But the man's character was poor—he actually colluded with others to set up schemes and acquire fakes. During that time, he happened to be discovered by Uncle Wu. Although he avoided prison thanks to his family's pleas, he certainly couldn't keep his job. And because of that, he bore a grudge against Uncle Wu. That was around the early days of reform and opening up. Qian Changxing used his knowledge to appraise items for others or act as a middleman. If he had played it straight, by now he'd have at least a few million to his name, if not great wealth. But he never changed his ways and started scheming with others again.