Page 27

Around him gathered a flock of gawking fools craning their necks, eyes wide, mouths agape as they nodded repeatedly, gasped, and squealed without end. Every so often, someone raised a hand to interject, hoping to catch the handsome young man's attention.

The tourists chattered noisily over one another, yet the handsome young man remained remarkably patient. The earnest way he answered their questions was so stunning that people could not help feeling restless.

President Shen paused. The next second, relying on his imposing six-foot-three frame, he forced his way into the crowd and deftly squeezed up beside Gu Jiuque. With great restraint, he asked, "It's beautiful. Can I touch it?"

Gu Jiuque's expression softened as he smiled. "Of course."

As he spoke, he carefully set the shard of broken porcelain resting in his palm back onto the stall.

The next second, a large bronze-colored hand closed around Gu Jiuque's slender, well-proportioned wrist, as exquisite as carved jade. Under the sunlight, the veined, clearly knuckled bronze hand stood in stark contrast to that wrist, pale as creamy jade.

Everyone froze.

Under everyone's watchful eyes, Gu Jiuque's expression changed in an exceedingly subtle way. The smile that had made people feel like they were basking in a spring breeze gradually faded, and his gentle, mild eyes turned cool. His dark pupils fixed unblinkingly on the right hand gripping his wrist.

Seeing Gu Jiuque stare silently at his hand, Shen Heng smiled slightly. As he withdrew it, he explained with restrained politeness, "Sorry. I thought you were going to place that shard directly in my hand. My apologies for the offense."

Gu Jiuque explained, "At an antiques market, goods are not handed directly from one person to another. It prevents accidents."

That was also an industry rule. Anyone with even a little experience knew that when browsing an antiques market or cultural relic shop, if a customer took interest in an item, a rule-abiding stall owner or merchant would not hand it directly to them. They would first place it on the counter or in front of the customer and wait for the customer to pick it up themselves. This was to prevent any mishaps during the exchange—for instance, dropping and breaking something, resulting in financial loss.

Some unscrupulous vendors deliberately used this tactic to cheat inexperienced customers. For example, they might intentionally "lose their grip" and break an item while handing it over, then demand exorbitant compensation. Many first-time customers did not understand the market and could only pay up and swallow their bad luck. Or they could simply call the police. No matter how they chose to resolve it, it would be troublesome.

"I've learned something." Shen Heng looked enlightened. After apologizing again and again, he struck up a conversation with Gu Jiuque. "I didn't expect someone as young as you to be not only so learned, but also so experienced."

With that, Shen Heng picked up the shard of sky-blue glazed porcelain from the stall and examined it in his palm for a moment, but he could not make heads or tails of it.

Shen Heng turned to Gu Jiuque. "From your explanation, this shard may be an imitation of Ge Kiln, but it still counts as an antique from the Qing dynasty. What would it be worth?"

The stall owner sitting opposite them, sweating profusely as he fanned himself with a palm-leaf fan, brightened immediately and quoted a price.

Shen Heng paid him no heed. His blazing gaze remained fixed solely on Gu Jiuque's face.

Gu Jiuque considered it briefly before saying, "The price the stall owner quoted is fair enough."

Hearing that, Shen Heng smiled again. He first nodded to Gu Jiuque in thanks, then said to the stall owner, "Wrap it up!"

Ignoring the stall owner's delight at making a sale, Shen Heng put the shard back on the stall and smiled at Gu Jiuque again. "I can see that you know a great deal about porcelain..."

Before he could finish, the stall owner, who had already wrapped up the shard right before everyone's eyes, immediately chimed in, "More than that! Sir, you really do have a sharp eye. Don't be fooled by his young age—he's the young master of Antique Appreciation Studio. Old Master Gu, the chief appraiser of Antique Appreciation Studio, is his grandfather. That gentleman is a renowned domestic expert in cultural relic restoration, an antique collector, and a master appraiser. He's never misjudged an item in his life. If you can get his grandson to appraise things for you, you can rest completely assured! No matter how much you spend, it'll definitely be money well spent."

Yet Shen Heng held the wrapped shard out in front of Gu Jiuque. "I'll take your kind words to heart. I also hope that giving porcelain to a beauty will prove money well spent."

Gu Jiuque: "..."

The onlookers sucked in a collective breath and instantly perked up!

Gu Jiuque said, "I can't accept a reward I haven't earned."

Shen Heng smiled. "How could it be an unearned reward? This is clearly an apology for my earlier offense. Or perhaps..."

At that, Shen Heng paused slightly and held out his other arm before Gu Jiuque. "You don't want to accept my apology? Then, to be fair, I can only let you touch me back!"

Gu Jiuque: "..."

"Go on!" Shen Heng rolled up his sleeve and brought his arm closer to Gu Jiuque. To make the lines of his muscles look even better, he even clenched his fist. "You can touch it for a while longer, too. I can't let you get the short end of the stick!"

Gu Jiuque: "..."

The onlookers were dumbfounded as well. None of them had expected things to take such a bizarre turn!

"Is he shameless, or is he just too honest?"

For a moment, everyone was baffled.

"You can do that?"

"If I'd known, I would've gone up and touched him too! At worst, I'd just let the handsome guy touch me back! Why didn't I think of that excuse? If I had thought of it first, I'd be the one touching the handsome guy's arm just now!"

The moment she said that, the surrounding tourists all turned to stare at her.

The other girl traveling with her hurriedly covered her mouth and scolded her under her breath, "...Stop embarrassing yourself!"

The young girl, her head finally cleared of jealous fury, covered her eyes in embarrassment.

Still, it had to be admitted that the girl's impulsive outburst had indeed voiced the thoughts of some of the younger crowd. As a result, the looks they shot Shen Heng grew even more condemning.

Faced with everyone's accusatory stares, President Shen not only felt no guilt or shame, but even waved at them with a genial smile. His bright white teeth gleamed in the sunlight, somehow giving people the impression of a large predator baring its fangs.