The beautiful woman smiled radiantly. "Hello, I'm Shirley."
After a pause, she added, "Actually, I'm from Dragon Country too. My surname is Yang. You can call me Shirley Yang."
Big Gold Tooth glanced at Shirley Yang a few times.
He curled his lip. "Why would someone from Dragon Country use a foreign name? You've forgotten your roots."
Shirley Yang kept smiling, as though she hadn't heard his remark.
Big Gold Tooth looked coldly at the old man. "What do you want, bringing a foreigner to my place?"
The old man's smile deepened every wrinkle on his face. "Wasn't your father a Gold-Seeking Commandant? I wanted to ask you about a few things."
Big Gold Tooth froze at that.
His father had never been a Gold-Seeking Commandant. Back in South Lake, he had merely run with some people from the Old Nine Gates. Later, he had been forcibly conscripted, and after the country was founded, he had eventually found his way back to Yanbei City and started a small business trading antiques.
But in this line of work,
sometimes you needed a reputation before people would trust you.
So his father had often passed himself off as a Gold-Seeking Commandant, even making two fake Gold-Seeking Talismans to bolster the disguise.
Big Gold Tooth knew all about his old man's little tricks.
Still, the title of Gold-Seeking Commandant really did open doors.
So he had never exposed his father.
Not only that, he had quietly promoted his father's supposed identity, inventing plenty of stories to lend him an air of mystery. In Panjiayuan, few people might have heard of Big Gold Tooth, but his father, Old Goldhead, was a household name.
Riding on his father's reputation, he had thrived in Panjiayuan too.
"My dad's been dead for over ten years. If you've got questions, go down there and ask him yourself!"
"Let me make this clear: I don't know anything about his affairs."
Big Gold Tooth immediately washed his hands of the whole thing, distancing himself completely from his father's activities.
He knew perfectly well who this old man was.
An archaeologist working for the authorities.
The people he hated most were tomb robbers.
Whenever those grave-robbing thieves came up in conversation, he would bristle with rage, as though he wanted to tear them apart alive. Now his attitude was so different that he seemed like another person entirely. Big Gold Tooth had to be careful.
He couldn't afford to fall into a trap.
The old man didn't mind his attitude and remained cheerful. "You little brat, what are you panicking for? I'm not here to get you into trouble. I just want to know whether you've learned the Gold-Seeking Commandants' art of Gold-Fixing and Acupoint-Determining."
Big Gold Tooth's eyes widened in disbelief.
"Old Chen, don't try to get me in trouble. I don't go into tombs or rob graves. Why would I learn that stuff?"
"Then do you know anyone who does?"
"You're asking the wrong person. I honestly don't."
The old man and Shirley Yang exchanged a glance.
Shirley Yang took out her wallet, which was stuffed with cash.
She pulled out all the cash, a thick stack of green U.S. Dollars.
"There's ten thousand U.S. Dollars here. Consider it payment for information, Mr. Jin. If you can provide a solid lead, I'll reward you generously on top of that."
As she spoke, she pushed all the money in front of Big Gold Tooth.
Ten thousand U.S. Dollars?!
Big Gold Tooth's eyes lit up instantly.
He grabbed the bills and held them beneath his nose, taking a deep sniff.
Sure enough, the ink on U.S. Dollars smelled different.
What a shame.
He truly had no information. Otherwise, he would have sold out his own father to earn that money.
"Huh?"
Big Gold Tooth suddenly noticed a photograph tucked among the bills.
He pulled it out.
It showed a strange design that looked like an eye.
When Shirley Yang saw the photograph in his hand, her expression changed at once. "Sorry, that photograph is mine. It got mixed in with the money by accident."
She stood up to take it back.
But Big Gold Tooth turned away, leaving her grasping at empty air.
"Mr. Jin, that photograph belongs to me. Please return it."
Shirley Yang's expression turned cold.
"Hold on. Don't talk!"
Big Gold Tooth snapped impatiently, then stared at the photograph with a deep frown.
He felt as though he had seen this design somewhere before.
But he couldn't remember where.
Old Chen noticed his unusual reaction too. He held Shirley Yang back and shook his head at her.
Then he asked, "Big Gold Tooth, do you recognize this design?"
Struggling to remember, Big Gold Tooth nodded instinctively. "I think I've seen it somewhere."
Old Chen was startled.
He glanced at Shirley Yang, who looked equally surprised.
"You've seen it? Where?"
Big Gold Tooth said, "I can't remember, but I'm sure it was recently."
Old Chen gently prompted him. "Think carefully about where you saw it. It isn't an isolated design, but a form of writing. There may have been other designs with it. It might have been carved on some object, such as a tortoise shell, or appeared in a rubbing, or on a piece of jade..."
Big Gold Tooth suddenly snapped to attention and stared at Old Chen. "What did you say?"
Old Chen repeated, "It might have been carved on some object, such as a tortoise shell, or appeared in a rubbing, or on a piece of jade..."
A jade pendant suddenly appeared in Big Gold Tooth's mind.
"That's it!"
"That piece of jade!"
Old Chen narrowed his eyes. "You saw this design on a piece of jade?"
Big Gold Tooth was about to answer.
Then he noticed that both Old Chen and Shirley Yang were watching him intently, their expressions grave.
An idea stirred in his mind.
He suddenly settled back against the sofa, his face slipping into its earlier indolent expression.
To all you handsome readers, writing a book isn't easy, and mine isn't one of those formulaic tomb-robbing stories.
If you think it's decent, please send some flowers, ratings, and tips.