The Feeling of Opening a Treasure Chest

"One thousand is one thousand, I'm admitting defeat!" Yu Lao San said through gritted teeth. At this point, if he didn't back down quickly, things would get out of control.

"One thousand yuan is to buy this wooden box and the broken porcelain, not because I'm compensating you! Let me clarify, I didn't hit you, the item fell on its own." Chen Mo said. He absolutely wouldn't take the blame for breaking the item. He needed to state things clearly and handle matters explicitly.

"Fine! Whatever you say, give me the money!" Yu Lao San said. He actually admired Chen Mo's mindset. Even now, he hadn't relaxed and kept emphasizing the situation. He was being extremely cautious. Alas! Young people nowadays are not easily fooled. What a damn information explosion! It's not as good as over a decade ago, when people were so simple and pure!

At this moment, the onlookers around didn't understand what was happening and felt their time was wasted. They didn't expect this fake accident to end so anticlimactically. Their interest in watching the show dwindled, and they began to despise Yu Lao San and his group. They were so unskilled at deceiving people, what a waste of effort! With no more drama, the crowd gradually dispersed.

Chen Mo took out a thousand yuan and gave it to Yu Lao San. Then, he picked up the wooden box and porcelain from the ground, put the broken porcelain pieces into the wooden box, and turned to leave.

Yu Lao San and his group were also bored. They could only take the thousand yuan and leave. Although they didn't make much today, a thousand yuan was still money.

Several market personnel looked at each other. Seeing that the situation had ended, they couldn't say anything to Chen Mo and could only watch him leave. The leader looked gloomily at Chen Mo's retreating back.

Before he had walked far, a shout came from behind Chen Mo: "Little brother, how about selling me the wooden box in your hand?"

Chen Mo turned around and saw an old man and a young girl. The old man was white-haired, with a youthful look despite his age. However, the young girl beside him, when Chen Mo looked at her closely, he was surprised to see such a beautiful girl here. She had bright eyes and white teeth, was spiritual and elegant, and beautiful and moving. She wore a floral dress, revealing her fair and tender legs, which made one's heart beat faster. He had only caught a glimpse earlier and hadn't looked closely. Now, seeing her again, he was somewhat stunned.

"Hey! Where are you looking? My grandpa is talking to you!" The young girl rolled her eyes and secretly thought, 'This fellow is such a rogue!'

"Huh? Excuse me, what did you say?" Chen Mo snapped back to attention, feeling a little shy. He hadn't expected that even as a cultivator at the first layer of Qi Refining, he still couldn't resist beautiful things.

"Little brother, would you be willing to sell me the wooden box in your hand?" The old man smiled, not taking offense. Who hasn't experienced youthful admiration? Moreover, the young man in front of him had no lustful color in his eyes, only the look of someone who appreciates beautiful things, so there was nothing to fuss about.

"Wooden box?" Chen Mo asked noncommittally.

"That's right, the wooden box!" The old man said calmly.

"How much are you willing to pay?" Chen Mo asked.

"How about two thousand yuan?" the old man said.

Chen Mo shook his head.

"Three thousand yuan!" the old man continued, but his brow was already furrowed.

Chen Mo still shook his head and said, "This price is too low, I won't sell."

"Hey! You're going too far. You won't sell a wooden box for three thousand yuan? We kindly wanted to help you earlier, and I didn't expect you to be this kind of person! Grandpa, let's go." The young girl pulled the old man, about to leave.

The old man, however, waved his hand, signaling her to wait. He turned to Chen Mo and said, "Young man, I don't know if you can tell, but the wooden box in your hand is made of chicken-wing wood. Three thousand yuan is already a very high price. If I hadn't thought it might be from the Republic of China era, I wouldn't have offered this price. You should consider it."

Although the old man wanted to buy the wooden box, he didn't want to be ripped off. 3,000 yuan was already a high price for such a wooden box. He felt a bit displeased with this young man. However, after decades of ups and downs and seeing all kinds of life, he didn't show his displeasure on his face.

But he directly stated his judgment of the wooden box, wanting to see how the young man would choose. He had already offered a high price. If the young man still expected a higher price, he would turn and leave. He wasn't desperate to buy this wooden box; he was just captivated by it.

Chen Mo smiled. He looked at the old man with new respect. If it were an ordinary person, if he didn't sell, he would never tell Chen Mo what kind of wood the box was made of. Therefore, he had a new understanding of the old man's mentality. He was a good old man, with a peaceful mindset, mutual respect, and he completely understood the meaning behind the old man's words, which made him respect him even more.

So, he said to the old man, "Gentlemen, would you like to go have a cup of tea together?"

The old man heard Chen Mo's invitation and knew that he wanted to discuss something inconvenient to say there, so he used drinking tea as an excuse. He smiled at Chen Mo and said, "Okay."

He actually wanted to see what this young man had to say. Although Chen Mo's handling of the fake accident was a bit naive, he was very steady. Such a temperament was rare for someone his age. If it weren't for the feeling Chen Mo gave him today and his excitement at encountering a rare opportunity, he wouldn't have approached him for a chat.

Although the young girl pouted, she saw that her grandfather was in high spirits. She grumbled a couple of times and followed them. In her heart, she had cursed Chen Mo a hundred times! If he didn't say something worthwhile later, she would definitely let this scoundrel know how formidable she was. Hmph! I'll draw a circle and curse you!

There was a tea shop in the market, decorated in an antique style that was very pleasing to the eye. There were quite a few people drinking tea inside, but tea shops were generally places for heart-to-heart talks, so the decoration had some clever touches. Although they were all in the main hall, each tea seat was out of sight of others, and conversations were relatively private.

The tea shop's waitresses were all beautiful women in qipaos, with graceful figures that could stir anyone's desires. However, Chen Mo wasn't inviting the old man for tea because he was aroused by the waitresses; he had other intentions. Therefore, he requested a private tea room, ordered some tea snacks, and then asked the waitress to wait outside. This made the old man's granddaughter look at him with a little admiration. She hadn't expected that this fellow, despite having a slightly mischievous heart, had decent character.

If she could hear Chen Mo's inner thoughts, she would definitely not describe his character as decent. Chen Mo was the type who wouldn't act without a motive. How could he ignore potential profit? He would definitely prioritize making money before looking at girls. This was also greatly related to his family's not-so-good economic situation. If he hadn't studied well and worked part-time to earn money in recent years, his own studies might not have continued. Therefore, making money was a priority for him.

Although he was already a cultivator, he had never thought of relying on his cultivation for anything. In his heart, cultivation was just a way to exercise his body, increase his lifespan, and enhance his abilities. He didn't think cultivators were noble or anything.

Just now, when he was being scammed by Yu Lao San, he used his Spiritual Sense to examine the wooden box and discovered that there was something special inside, and an item was hidden within. He was also taken aback, thinking that scammers nowadays were so cunning, perhaps planning a scam within a scam? But the development of events exceeded his expectations. He didn't expect Yu Lao San to pay any attention to the wooden box. He then realized that Yu Lao San didn't know about the item hidden in the wooden box. He had merely bought it casually and used a piece of porcelain as a prop for the scam.

However, even though he knew there was something in the wooden box, he wasn't sure if it was valuable. What if it was just some cheap stuff, and he ended up scamming himself? Although his Spiritual Sense saw a long object, he wasn't an antique collector. He could only spend a thousand yuan to buy it. If it was a scam, so be it.

But when the old man wanted to buy this wooden box and said it was a relic from the Republic of China era, Chen Mo felt a surge of joy. He didn't know what chicken-wing wood was, nor did he know what was inside the wooden box. But if the wooden box itself was from the Republic of China era, then the item hidden inside might be valuable. At least it proved that the item inside the wooden box was an old object from the Republic of China era, which made him feel like he was opening a treasure chest!

His major was biology. If he were asked about chicken-wing wood, such as what kind of plant it was, where it originated, and what family it belonged to, he could definitely answer without hesitation. But when it came to the wooden box being made of chicken-wing wood and being a Republic of China artifact, he was clueless. He could only understand that the material of the wooden box was chicken-wing wood; other information? He knew nothing!

Moreover, he saw that the old man had a magical, restrained demeanor, with a youthful face and extraordinary bearing. He was clearly not an ordinary person. So, Chen Mo thought about taking out the item inside, seeing how much it was worth, and then selling it to the old man. Perhaps his startup capital would be secured. Although he didn't understand antiques, he had watched many treasure appraisal shows and had some knowledge.

Besides, even if the old man didn't buy it, he could serve as a witness. The fact that he could identify the wood of the wooden box at a glance, with such sharp eyesight, meant he was no ordinary old man. He definitely had some expertise in antiques. That's why Chen Mo invited the old man to open the treasure chest with him.