The three-legged li vessel I gave to Xu Bo before was only considered a medium-quality item among this batch of high-quality imitations.

The truly valuable items here are two pottery gui vessels inscribed with oracle bone script and three pottery jue vessels, which are the top-tier items that have always attracted Xu Bo.

Seeing that Xu Bo was showing signs of anger, Song Laosan held up two fingers: "I'll offer 200,000! My friend, the price is already quite high. If we keep arguing, neither of us will make a profit. Let's compromise and I'll give you a 3% discount, okay?"

When I heard Song Laosan say that, I immediately became nervous and kept giving him meaningful glances, signaling that he had overdone the act.

There are 16 counterfeit items here, and according to his offer, the total price is as high as 3.2 million.

If Xu Bo gets a 30% cut, that's 960,000.

It's important to know that Xu Bo was just the manager of Chuanshitang, not the owner.

If he's willing to let go, he can take a million and leave, which is already quite risky.

If Xu Bo nods in approval, our plan will be completely ruined.

However, I underestimated Xu Bo's loyalty to Chuanshitang and his worldly experience.

Xu Bo completely disregarded Song Laosan's suggestion: "Since the price has already been raised this high, let's all rely on our own abilities. I'll offer 250,000!"

When Song Laosan saw Xu Bo talking back, he also became somewhat hesitant.

After several rounds of bidding, the price margin for these pottery pieces has been almost completely squeezed out.

According to records from major international auctions, the average price of these ceramics fluctuates around 500,000 RMB. However, Chuanshitang is a merchant, not a collector, so it needs to leave room for its own profit margin.

Among these artifacts, the most valuable are the pair of gray pottery gui vessels, each worth millions, which is why they dared to keep betting on the price.

After thinking for a moment, Song Laosan decided to gamble again: "I'll put up 280,000! In cash!"

Xu Bo's forehead also showed signs of sweating: "I'll offer 300,000, in cash!"

"Damn it! You're ruthless!"

Knowing that the price was close to the upper limit of the acquisition, Song Laosan stopped arguing with Xu Bo: "Fine, I'll wait here and see if you can bring cash! If you can't finish all this food today, don't blame me for stretching my chopsticks out!"

"Out-of-towner, you need to figure out where you are!"

Seeing that Song Laosan had given in, Xu Bo revealed a victorious look and waved to his henchman, saying, "Keep an eye on this shipment. I'll call someone to send the money over!"

"Mr. Xu! Wait a minute!"

Seeing this, I quickly stopped Xu Bo: "They bought their stuff for 300,000 each, but I lost hundreds of thousands before. How do you calculate this loss?"

"The rule in the antique trade is: once the goods are out of my possession, I am not responsible! What do I care how much money you lost?"

Xu Bo could have gotten a huge bargain, but he ended up spending millions more. Already upset, he shoved me aside and yelled, "Get out of my way, don't fucking bother me, or I'll make you disappear from Luoyang, you peasant!"

I was pushed aside by Xu Bo and could only watch helplessly as he walked outside. Monkey, Lin Que, and the others gathered together and started discussing. They were just shills, so they naturally didn't care about the price.

About twenty minutes later, an Alphard van pulled up outside the warehouse. A man in his fifties, leaning on a cane, entered the warehouse, accompanied by an old man and four bodyguards.

Upon seeing the other party, Xu Bo eagerly rushed forward, his face full of flattery.

When I saw the man's disabled leg, my eyes lit up. Qinghuai had shown me his photo, and this man was the limp man I was looking for.

Although Ma the Cripple was in the antique business, he had a fierce face and looked like someone not to be trifled with. He walked over and stared at Song Laosan: "You're the one who's been digging around with us all this time?"

Old Song looked unconvinced: "In the antique business, everyone is equal. Since everyone has their eye on a good item, then the best should win it. You have plenty of money, so I'll just accept it. But I don't agree with the claim that I'm raising prices."

The cripple squinted: "Judging from your accent, you seem to be from the south. Do you know any words for playing the zither?"

Song Laosan said calmly, "I am not an insider, there are no barriers to entry, and we are not compatible. I am just a casual peddler, living under the blue sky and on the ground, and I do live in the south."

"The boss behind the scenes is surnamed Su?" The cripple frowned slightly. "Sir, your 'family' is in the auction business, right?"

"Hehe, I'm not running errands for the family, but the company behind me is surnamed Su."

Song Laosan smiled and took out a cigar, exuding composure.

"I'm afraid you'll be leaving empty-handed today."

Upon hearing Song Laosan's reply, Ma Quezi became more polite to him, and then said to the old man beside him, "Please take a look."

The old man nodded slightly, took out a magnifying glass, and walked towards the pottery in front of him. He began to examine it in detail by tapping and knocking, and even subtly slid his ring gently inside the pottery.

As soon as I saw the old man's actions, I felt relieved.

The ring on his hand was made of stainless steel and was called a Tibetan knife ring.

The inside of this ring has a knife-shaped protrusion, which is specifically used to pry away the patina when inspecting bronze artifacts.

Just by looking at the old man's movements, I knew he wasn't a professional at appraising ceramics. Besides, with the help of Niren Jiang's skills, he could at most check the shape of the vessel.

Sure enough, the old man tapped and pounded for two or three minutes, then turned to Ma the Cripple and nodded: "Excellent condition, authentic, genuine."

"Great, this trip was worthwhile!"

Ma the Cripple grinned and snapped his fingers at his bodyguard: "Count the money, take the goods!"

"unlucky!"

Seeing that Ma Quezi had made his decision, Song Laosan sighed deeply and gave a perfunctory fist salute: "Your side is wealthy and powerful. I admit defeat today and take my leave!"

I saw Ma the Cripple's bodyguard carrying four travel bags from the car, and I rushed up again and grabbed Xu Bo's clothes: "Boss Xu, you can't bully people like this! They bought their stuff for 300,000, why am I only selling mine for 5,000? You said these things are antiques, I know where your shop is, if you don't make up the money for me, I'll sue you!"

"Smack!"

Annoyed by my nagging, Xu Bo slapped me across the face: "If it weren't for you being a stupid pig and reporting the news late, would we have spent so much more money? You still have the nerve to ask me for money? I'm being kind by not making you lose money!"

I grabbed Xu Bo's clothes relentlessly: "No, if you don't give me this money today, I won't let you leave."

Ma the Cripple was squatting by the pottery, admiring it. Hearing our commotion, he turned around, somewhat annoyed: "Xiao Xu, what's going on?"

"Boss, it's alright!"

Xu Bo smiled obsequiously and agreed, then looked at me threateningly: "Listen to me carefully. I'll give you 20,000 yuan since you introduced me to this business, but if you dare to say another word, I'll break your legs right now, understand?"

Seeing the crippled man's bodyguard walking towards us, I reluctantly compromised: "Fine, then it'll be twenty thousand."

...

A dozen minutes later, Ma Quezi and his group packed up all the high-quality imitation pottery and left.

Song Laosan returned to the warehouse and patted the bag of money: "How was it? Was Third Master's acting realistic?"

"I never expected things to go so smoothly!"

With everything settled, I felt much more at ease: "We can't stay here any longer. We need to leave immediately. Monkey, take out 200,000 yuan and give 10,000 yuan to each of the people Lin Que found. Let them take the next available flight back to their hometowns. Give the rest of the money to Lin Que and Manjing."

The monkey advised, "Why don't you meet them? I think these two lads are quite interesting. Since we're short-handed, why not keep them around for now?"

"We set this up to lure out Su Gouzi. We must be careful with every step. We don't know much about these two people, so we'll only use them once."

It took me a lot of effort to carry the bag of cash on my back. I said to Song Laosan, "Ma the Cripple has already taken the stuff. We need to follow up with the next move. I suggest we strike while the iron is hot and take action this afternoon."