"Oh, our big manager Zhuang is finally back. Quite the airs you've got, with a whole room full of people waiting for you."
As soon as Zhuang Rui stepped into the pet shop, he heard Liu Chuan's loud voice shouting. Looking inside, there were indeed quite a few people.
The first person Zhuang Rui saw was naturally Qin Xuanbing. She was wearing a loose purple sweater today, setting off her already fair skin like jade. Her usually tied-up hair was also loose, draped over her shoulders, giving off a languid aura. Even though Zhuang Rui disliked Qin Xuanbing's cold personality, seeing her like this still made his heartbeat quicken a few beats.
Qin Xuanbing was currently playing a turtle race with Nannan. It was probably Liu Chuan's idea—he caught two turtles and tossed them onto the coffee table, letting Nannan fiddle with them. Watching the two turtles clumsily crawl across the table, Qin Xuanbing and Nannan, a tall beauty and a little beauty, were both laughing happily. Qin Xuanbing's smile was like a ten-thousand-year glacier melting in an instant; looking at her, Zhuang Rui somehow felt a sense of spring returning to the earth in his heart.
Over this period, Qin Xuanbing's family background has become no secret among everyone. She comes from a wealthy Hong Kong family whose main business is jewelry, jadeite and jade, highly renowned throughout Southeast Asia. Compared to her family, Lei Lei's grandfather's industry pales in comparison. In terms of assets, reputation, and business operations, it simply cannot be compared.
As if sensing Zhuang Rui's gaze, Qin Xuanbing returned to her cold demeanor. Zhuang Rui scratched his head awkwardly and looked toward the others.
At the moment, Lei Lei was helping a customer pick out turtles at the aquarium tanks by the shop door. Having grown up in Pengcheng, she had no language barrier and handled the business naturally and vividly, without any pretentiousness.
Zhuang Rui’s gaze shifted back to Liu Chuan. On the sofa beside him sat three men—one was an old man, about sixty or seventy, thin but hale and hearty, with bright, piercing eyes that made him look quite capable. The other two were middle-aged, around forty, and from their attire, they didn’t seem like customers either.
Liu Chuan pulled Zhuang Rui over and, pointing to the old man, said, “Zhuang Rui, come here, let me introduce you. This is the owner of the ‘Jiyaxuan’ next door, Manager Lü. He’s a senior figure in Pengcheng’s antique world—also the president of the Pengcheng Antique Association and a council member of the Jewelry and Jade Association. If you have any questions, be sure to ask Manager Lü for advice.”
The old man seemed a bit dissatisfied with Liu Chuan’s title. Glaring at him, he said, “You little rascal, don’t I deserve a ‘Uncle Lü’ from you? What ‘Manager’? I’m just an old coot.”
Liu Chuan was clearly used to joking with the old man and didn’t mind. He then pointed to the other two middle-aged men and said to Zhuang Rui, “This is Song Jun, owner of Liuxiangzhai—a busy man who’s rarely in Pengcheng. And this is Brother Wang, owner of Yudingtang. These two aren’t just big names in our Pengcheng antique scene—even across the whole of Northern Jiangsu Province, they’re well-known. Back when I first opened my shop here, these guys were a huge help.”
Zhuang Rui quickly nodded and greeted them, but he felt a bit puzzled. According to Liu Chuan, this old man and the two middle-aged men were big shots in Pengcheng’s antique world. He just didn’t know why Liu Chuan was introducing them to him. He had never had anything to do with this industry.
As the saying goes, old people get wise. Manager Lü seemed to catch the flicker of doubt on Zhuang Rui's face and got straight to the point： "Young Zhuang, we've dropped by uninvited today because we heard you recently acquired a manuscript by Wang Shizhen from the Qing dynasty. While Wang Shizhen's poems have been passed down widely, his manuscripts are extremely rare. We don't have any other intention—just wanted to see it for ourselves."
Hearing this, Zhuang Rui understood at once and shot a glance at Liu Chuan, who quickly said, "You guys chat, I'll go greet the guests."
With that, Liu Chuan scurried off to where Lei Lei was. No need to ask—that guy definitely couldn't keep his mouth shut and had spread the news. Zhuang Rui secretly felt relieved that he hadn't told the fool about the spiritual energy in his eyes; otherwise, the whole world would probably know by now.
"Manager Lü, and you two bosses…"
"Young Zhuang, let an old man be bold and ask you to call me Uncle Lü." Before Zhuang Rui could finish, Manager Lü cut him off.
"Alright, Uncle Lü, Brother Song, Brother Wang. Before the new year, I did acquire a manuscript. From its appearance, it's definitely a rare ancient text. I also did some research—the content is Wang Shizhen's Xiangzu Notes. As for who transcribed it, I couldn't tell."
Zhuang Rui honestly explained the situation with the manuscript. After all, its origin was clean and no one could snatch it away. These experts wanting to see it would actually help answer his own questions.
"Brother Zhuang, can you bring it out so we can take a look？"
Song Jun, who looked somewhat rugged, said loudly. You see, among antiques, the hardest to preserve are calligraphy and paintings. Works by a great master like Wang Shizhen are extremely rare, and authentic pieces can probably only be seen in a few major museums. That's why they all wanted to see it firsthand for themselves—to determine if it was an authentic original or a fake.
“Now？？ Right here？？”
Zhuang Rui glanced at the little girl who was having a blast playing, a bit troubled. He’d have to go home to get the stuff, and besides, Liu Chuan’s shop was bustling with people coming and going—too noisy, not a good place to appreciate antiques.
“Hey, my bad. This place isn’t really suitable. Tell you what, if you’ve got time tomorrow morning, bring that manuscript over to the Jingmingxuan Teahouse next to the market—that’s my place too. We can sip tea and appraise treasures together. What do you think, old sir?”
Boss Song looked rough around the edges, but he spoke with good manners. His words still deferred to Old Master Lü, but Song Jun carried himself with a generous and easygoing demeanor—clearly no ordinary antique collector.
“I think that works. Just not sure if Xiao Zhuang has time tomorrow？” Old Master Song nodded and said.
Just as Zhuang Rui was about to reply, the cricket in his bosom suddenly chirped. Maybe because the temperature in the shop had risen. Zhuang Rui had a thought—the cricket itself wasn’t anything special, but the gourd cricket cage might have some history. He didn’t know much about it, so why not let these experts take a look?
With that in mind, Zhuang Rui spoke up： “Alright, since Uncle Lü says so, I’ll be there on time tomorrow. But Uncle Lü, I picked up a little something at the market just now. I really like it. Could you take a look and date it for me?”
“Heh, it’s a gourd cricket cage, isn’t it？ Take it out and let’s have a look…”
Manager Lü heard the cricket chirping and saw how Zhuang Rui was talking—how could he not know what he was up to?
Liu Chuan and Lei Lei heard Zhuang Rui had bought a gourd cricket cage and came over too. Even Qin Xuanbing and little Nannan, who had been playing with the turtle, were drawn in by the cricket's crisp chirping.
Zhuang Rui took out the cricket gourd from his arms, but before he could hand it to Old Man Lü, Liu Chuan snatched it away. Little Nannan was clinging to Liu Chuan's leg on the ground, yelling that she wanted to play with it too.
“Hey, Blockhead, how much did you pay for this thing? What made you think of playing with this? Are you remembering us catching crickets when we were kids?”
Liu Chuan fiddled with the cricket gourd in his hand and handed it to little Nannan, clearly not taking it seriously, but he didn't notice Old Man Lü's expression change on the side.
“I paid a thousand for it. Back then we didn’t know better—if I’d had something like this, my Green-Eyed General from back in the day wouldn’t have frozen to death...” Zhuang Rui answered casually.
“A thousand bucks！！！ Are you out of your mind again??? Do you know I used to sell these things for twenty bucks apiece, take your pick? Which jerk sold it to you? Tell me, I'll go find him...”
Liu Chuan’s voice unconsciously rose a few notches. It wasn’t that he cared about the thousand bucks—he just felt his buddy had been taken for a fool, and that really bothered him.