It's you? (revised)

"Fine, then. What can I say? It caught my eye..."

Four thousand yuan was indeed Zhang Jianmin's final purchase price in the plot of "The Dying Man," and Lin Zhengping had also stepped in to expose the scam in the original story. That pretty much meant this really was Qian Chenghe's lowest acceptable price.

"Wait, young man, he's obviously a swindler. How could this Guanyin Statue be worth four thousand? It's not even worth four hundred. You could find one at any craft shop for two hundred at most."

Hearing Xia Xu actually agree, Lin Zhengping couldn't stand by any longer. He earnestly tried to persuade him. "No matter how much money you have, you shouldn't squander it like this. If you really want to buy antiques or a decent Buddhist statue, young man, I can introduce you to someone. I'm the president of the Star City Antique Association. At the very least, I wouldn't ruin my reputation over such a small sum."

"Thank you for your kindness, sir. I just like the look of this statue. My hunches are usually pretty accurate. Who knows? I might even snag a real bargain."

Xia Xu knew the old man meant well, but he couldn't explain things at the moment, so he could only give an awkward smile.

After meeting Lin Zhengping, he had found all the supporting characters in this bargain-hunting scene from "The Dying Man," so naturally, Xia Xu had also seen this part of the plot.

It wasn't complicated. In fact, it was a clichéd, melodramatic story. Zhang Jianmin ignored the warnings and insisted on buying the Guanyin Statue, only to accidentally smash it and discover something hidden inside. Through sheer dumb luck, he really did land a bargain, while also proving Lin Zhengping wrong after the old man had confidently declared it impossible.

Still, he did a good deed in the process. What was hidden inside the Guanyin Statue was a medicine that happened to be exactly what Lin Zhengping's wife needed after a stroke had left her comatose. Zhang Jianmin sold it to him on the spot, making a profit while Lin Zhengping brought his wife out of her coma. Everyone went home happy.

But now Zhang Jianmin hadn't arrived, and Xia Xu had gotten involved instead. That meant he had no choice but to buy the Guanyin Statue.

After all, this was the medicine that would save Lin Zhengping's wife's life. Without it, a life would effectively be lost, and it would be because he had forcibly interfered with the plot. That was no different from indirectly causing someone's death.

He didn't consider himself a great man or a saint, but he still needed the basic conscience and moral boundaries of a human being. Naturally, he couldn't stand by and let that happen.

Besides...

Xia Xu glanced at Qian Chenghe, his eyes narrowing slightly.

This bargain-hunting segment of "The Dying Man" was nothing remarkable, but for a plot like this to make sense, it had to explain the item's history and how it had ended up being sold for a song.

In the Guanyin Statue's backstory, Qian Chenghe was quite a ruthless character. Xia Xu might have to play the good Samaritan again today and have a little chat with the Uncle Policemen.

"Finding a bargain isn't that easy. When people do, it's experts taking advantage of amateurs. How could someone who knows nothing find one through luck alone? Any genuine antique on the market would've already been checked over countless times by experts."

Lin Zhengping continued his distressed attempts to dissuade him. In the original plot, he was an exceptionally warmhearted man with a strong sense of justice. At this moment, he was faithfully fulfilling his role in every sense.

Yet before one disturbance had settled, another arose. Even Xia Xu felt that buying an antique today had involved far too many twists and turns.

"It's you!"

A girl's voice suddenly rang out, charged with fury. Those two short words alone carried barely restrained anger, along with traces of hurt and sorrow.

"???"

Hearing the vaguely familiar voice, Xia Xu turned around in bewilderment.

Behind him, a girl was storming toward them, her face full of anger. He knew her, too. She was Xia Xue, whom he had met briefly on his previous visit to this construction site.

When did I offend this girl?

While Xia Xu puzzled over what he might have done, Xia Xue had already rushed over. Soon, however, he realized she wasn't coming for him, but for Qian Chenghe.

"You old swindler! Give back the money you cheated my grandpa out of!"

Xia Xue hadn't even noticed Xia Xu. With reddened eyes, she lunged at Qian Chenghe, showing none of the gentle sweetness she had displayed the last time they met.

"Hey, hey, hey! What do you mean, cheated him? When did I cheat your grandpa out of his money? Where did you come from, girl? Hit me again and I'll hit back!"

Perhaps knowing he was in the wrong, Qian Chenghe kept dodging and didn't dare retaliate. Otherwise, with her petite, frail build so similar to Tang Youxin's, Xia Xue clearly wouldn't have been a match for him.

"You still deny it? If you hadn't swindled my grandpa out of all his retirement savings, he wouldn't have had a brain hemorrhage. He's still in the hospital, and he hasn't woken up..."

As she spoke, Xia Xue's eyes grew even redder. Huge tears spilled down her cheeks. In the end, she stopped chasing and hitting the construction-site old man, crouched down, and buried her head in her arms as she sobbed.

"A... a brain hemorrhage? That's got nothing to do with me."

Qian Chenghe sounded rattled and guilty. He hurriedly said, "I sold an antique, and your grandpa bought it. Since when are antiques guaranteed to be genuine? If he bought a fake, that just means he misjudged it. He should accept his bad luck. Don't you know the rules?"

"But my grandpa only bought it because you guaranteed it was genuine."

At that, Xia Xue lifted her head and protested through her sobs.

"It's true that people sometimes misjudge things in the antiques trade, but that's between knowledgeable buyers and sellers making a willing deal. Both sides know there are genuine pieces and fakes.

"But what you're doing is different. I saw it clearly just now. You're deliberately passing off fakes as genuine articles to defraud people."

Lin Zhengping had always been a man with an exceptionally strong sense of justice. After hearing Xia Xue's story, he could no longer stomach it. He angrily berated Qian Chenghe. "You even cheated someone out of his retirement savings! Are you human at all? You don't look like you've got many years left yourself. Aren't you afraid you'll be fried in a cauldron of oil when you go down below?"

"You're the one who hasn't got many years left! I could easily live another few decades!"

The three of them were soon embroiled in a noisy argument.

Meanwhile, Xia Xu gradually began to make sense of things.

Xia Xue clearly had no plot fate and wasn't a character in "The Dying Man." Her appearance now was probably just a coincidence.

This was the real world. Besides being a plot character, the construction-site old man, Qian Chenghe, was also a living person. If he could cheat Zhang Jianmin in the story, he could naturally cheat other people as well. Those other people wouldn't have Zhang Jianmin's luck in stumbling onto a genuine bargain.

From Xia Xue's words, it wasn't hard to tell that her grandfather had probably fallen for Qian Chenghe's construction-worker scam. After discovering the truth, he had become so furious that he suffered a brain hemorrhage and ended up in the hospital.

It had presumably happened in the past couple of days. After all, Xia Xue had been quite lively the last time he saw her.

Right now, Xia Xu was cutting in ahead of time to claim the bargain, so he wasn't actually within the unfolding plot of "The Dying Man."

He had merely happened to run into Qian Chenghe and Lin Zhengping this time. It wasn't particularly hard to understand how Xia Xue could unexpectedly show up and encounter Qian Chenghe, who had cheated her grandfather.

Perhaps they were always going to run into each other today, and encountering Xia Xue was precisely what would drive Qian Chenghe to another construction site, where he would meet Zhang Jianmin. Or perhaps Xia Xu had caused a slight butterfly effect, bringing together people who weren't supposed to meet. Any of those possibilities could be true.

Faced with Xia Xue and Lin Zhengping's accusations, Qian Chenghe refused to give ground verbally, but he crouched down and began gathering the items on his stall. He looked ready to pack up and flee.

"Wait."

Now that he understood the situation, Xia Xu certainly couldn't let him leave. Smiling, he reached out to stop him, pressing his palm squarely onto the top of the Guanyin Statue's head.

Qian Chenghe grew flustered, his voice turning somewhat shrill. "What do you mean by that? Are you trying to rob me? I'm telling you, this is a society governed by law!"

After all, the tall, well-built Xia Xu was nothing like the frail Xia Xue or Lin Zhengping, who practically had one foot in the grave. If things turned physical, Qian Chenghe really wouldn't be able to fight back-not to mention Yang Bowen, who looked even sturdier, standing beside him.