Cheng Hai's Old Acquaintance

"Zhang Yang, don't brag, okay?" Cheng Dongxue trusted her own eyes more. She had only seen him appraise Antiques once, and he had examined just two pieces: a bronze mirror that turned out to be a modern craft piece, which he had correctly identified, and the Han dynasty White Jade Hairpin he had bought.

With the Han dynasty White Jade Hairpin, Zhang Yang had shown his true eye for antiques and scored a bargain. In a single night, he had made a net profit of four hundred thousand yuan.

Using the White Jade Hairpin as her example, Cheng Dongxue calculated that if it had been worth five million yuan, Zhang Yang would have made four million in the blink of an eye. By that reckoning, he might earn five million quickly enough to help the Cheng Family through its financial crisis.

As they talked, Cheng Hai learned that Yang Gang and Zhang Yang were going to Antique Street. Having been fooled several times himself, he fancied himself an experienced judge of fakes and came downstairs to join them.

"I'm coming too!" Cheng Hai climbed into the car and sat beside Cheng Dongxue in the back seat.

"Dad—"

Cheng Dongxue was stunned. Cheng Hai wasn't coming because he trusted Zhang Yang or wanted to learn from him. He thought he had seen enough of the Antiques trade to supervise Zhang Yang and keep him from being cheated.

"Then let's head out. Here's to good luck." Yang Gang started the car and drove away from the Cheng Family Villa.

Gong City's Antique Street was smaller than Liulichang in Kyoto, but it offered just as wide a variety of Antiques. Rare pieces turned up there from time to time, and people had struck lucky bargains that made them rich.

Before long, the BMW 3 Series stopped at the entrance to Antique Street. All four got out, each with a different purpose in mind.

"I know a few people here. We can start with them and look for Antiques we can turn a profit on." Cheng Hai had spent a long time around Antiques and handled plenty of them, but nothing especially valuable had ever come his way.

"Dad..." Cheng Dongxue knew the Antiques trade was a deep pool because of her father. He had bought Antiques several times and been fooled almost every time, buying high and selling low. On the rare occasions he hadn't been fooled, the pieces were worth so little that even selling them at the highest possible price brought no substantial profit.

Cheng Dongxue felt sorry for Cheng Hai. Whenever he brought home another piece that was either newer than claimed or an outright fake, Yang Su flew into a rage and berated him without end.

Yang Su wasn't very old. She dressed well, still looked youthful, and had kept her figure. At first glance, she was attractive and pleasant to look at, but her temper, character, and treatment of others were another matter.

For years, Cheng Hai had skirted the edge of being completely henpecked.

"Dad, Antiques aren't something you can buy carelessly. You have to be careful," Cheng Dongxue warned.

She warned him because several of the Antiques Cheng Hai had brought home had come from so-called acquaintances. The Antiques trade had its own rules: once a sale was complete, the seller bore no responsibility for whether the piece was genuine, what it was worth, or whether the buyer had been cheated.

"Xue, your dad's been around the Antiques trade a long time. I can spot the obvious fakes, at least," Cheng Hai argued. The fakes he had bought at first had indeed been crude, but after paying so much for his lessons, he was no longer a buyer who could be fooled by just anything.

Zhang Yang stayed silent. He knew Cheng Hai would never trust him.

"Dad, let's take our time," Yang Gang said. He loved Antiques and had spent plenty of time studying them online and in books, but he had never put that knowledge into practice. He knew the trade was deep water, and anyone who couldn't swim would drown.

Yang Gang was passionate about Antiques, but he wouldn't rush blindly into the market. It was the same approach he took to business: unless he was seventy percent sure, he wouldn't spend money just to learn a lesson.

He had always hoped someone reliable would guide him into the trade. Today, he seemed to have found that person, though he still wasn't ready to put his full faith in Zhang Yang. He had come mainly to learn, not to buy Antiques outright. But if a chance to pick up a bargain appeared, he wouldn't hesitate.

"Let's not stand around. No one's going to hand us the good stuff. We have to find it in all this clutter," Zhang Yang said, pursing his lips. He hadn't meant the remark for anyone in particular, but everyone heard it.

The four entered Gong City's Antique Street.

It was nine in the morning.

Every shop on Antique Street had opened for business. The weather was clear, and the Antiques dealers with street stalls had laid out their wares to wait for customers.

Finding something good took time, and Zhang Yang had plenty of patience. He wouldn't pass up even an ordinary street stall.

Few merchants on Antique Street called out to customers. Most waited until someone showed interest in a piece before introducing it or striking up a conversation.

"Boss Cheng, I've got a few good pieces here. Come have a look." A fat man in a shirt spotted Cheng Dongxue and called out to them.

Cheng Hai smiled. "What have you got? Let's see."

Cheng Hai had already stepped into the fat shopkeeper's store. Old objects lay scattered haphazardly inside, with piles of copper coins on the floor.

The shop was small, but it held a wide variety of goods, and plenty of them.

"It all looks pretty ordinary." Cheng Dongxue knew nothing about Antique Appraisal, but the mess made her instinctively doubt there was anything good in the shop.

Cheng Hai followed the fat man, while Zhang Yang looked around the shop.

Curious, Yang Gang went with his father-in-law to see what the man brought out: two pieces of Antique Jade.

"Boss Cheng, this jade is absolutely genuine. You won't find many pieces like these on this street. I saved them especially for you. If you like them, buy them now, or I'll have to find another buyer."

The fat shopkeeper spoke as though he and Cheng Hai were close friends.

Zhang Yang gave a cold laugh. In the Antiques trade, a claim like that was only half believable at best. Zhang Yang wouldn't trust a single word of it.

He watched Cheng Hai, who seemed to believe every word.

"Let me see," Yang Gang said.

"And this is...?" the fat shopkeeper asked suspiciously. He didn't like anyone else getting involved in a deal already under discussion.

"My son-in-law. He's here to buy Antiques too," Cheng Hai said proudly. Few people took up Antiques, especially young men like Yang Gang.

"Oh." The fat shopkeeper smiled, convinced that Yang Gang knew nothing about antiques and would be easy to fleece.

Yang Gang picked up one of the Antique Jade pieces from the counter. It was genuine jade, warm and smooth to the touch, with a decent texture and signs of discoloration from age. To the naked eye, it looked like old jade.

"Well? Good stuff, isn't it?" Seeing Yang Gang's uncertainty, the fat shopkeeper realized he couldn't make sense of the piece, much less tell whether it was genuine.

"Zhang Yang, come take a look." Yang Gang couldn't be sure, though he was leaning toward believing the Antique Jade was genuine.

Only then did Zhang Yang walk over. The fat shopkeeper stared at him. Zhang Yang was well known as the Cheng Family's live-in son-in-law; his wedding had caused a stir across much of Gong City, and many people recognized him.

Hmph... Just a live-in son-in-law. A good-for-nothing like you knows Antiques? The fat shopkeeper knew nothing about Zhang Yang's earlier appraisal of a bronze mirror on Antique Street, much less how he had bought the White Jade Hairpin at Antique Pavilion.

"No need to look. I'll buy them!" Cheng Hai agreed before Zhang Yang could reach them.