After Su Jialiang finished outlining his terms, I was amazed by his generosity and admired his intelligence and boldness. He was talking about hundreds of millions of yuan right off the bat, which made me feel like I was burning paper money at a grave on Qingming Festival.

Based solely on Qing Huai's words, he guessed the Qing family's current predicament and seized the initiative in the negotiations.

One billion is undoubtedly an astronomical figure, but in the long-term cooperation between the two parties, this amount of money is no match for a ten percent share.

However, the Qing family is currently in dire need of funds. This large sum of money, even if it cannot completely resolve the Qing family's crisis, can at least alleviate a great deal of pressure.

This seemingly appealing condition put Qinghuai in a dilemma: "I need to make a phone call, is that convenient?"

Su Jialiang knew that his conditions had reached a balance point, so he stepped aside to make room for me and looked at me: "Mr. Duan, could you please come out for a moment? I have something to say to you."

The reason Su Jialiang was forced to negotiate by the Qing family was because Qing Huai found out about his hideout. Although I don't know how Qing Huai did it, from Su Jialiang's perspective, it must have been me who recruited them.

Now, not only have I failed to produce what Su Jialiang wanted, but I've also caused him to lose 40% of his shares and a huge sum of 1 billion yuan. He probably feels like tearing me apart.

Given the situation, I naturally didn't want to fall into his hands, so I said with a forced smile, "Master Liang, I don't think there's any need for this. After all, this is a negotiation between you and the Qing family, and I'm just an outsider who can't make the decision. We have nothing to talk about."

Su Jialiang remained silent, simply staring at me quietly.

Seeing his resolute attitude, I sighed deeply and said, "Please."

Su Jialiang waved for Su Jiaming to stay, then led me out of the office, and after walking several dozen meters, we stood in a deserted corner: "What do you do for a living?"

I didn't expect Su Jialiang to call me over just to chat about family matters, and I was taken aback by the question: "Huh?"

Su Jialiang thought I was playing dumb, so he made his point clearer: "I mean, besides cooperating with the Qing family to take over my Cemen business, what other businesses do you have? You wouldn't happen to be a member of the Bee Gate, would you?"

In the martial arts world, there has been a long-standing legend of "all sorts of people from different schools of thought and professions."

Among them, the eight sects are divided into eight open sects, eight hidden sects, and eight sects inside and outside the martial arts world. Each of the eight sects is further divided into four upper sects and four lower sects.

The Eight Gates of the Ming Dynasty: Gold, Skin, Color, Hanging, Flat, Circle, Tune, Willow.

The Eight Hidden Gates: Bee, Hemp, Swallow, Sparrow, Flower, Orchid, Kudzu, and Glory.

The Eight Inner Sects of Jianghu: Shock, Fatigue, Drift, Book, Wind, Fire, Nobility, and Essential.

The Eight Outer Sects of the Martial World: Thief, Gu, Selling, Phoenix, Thousand, Witchcraft, Play, and Killing.

In the past, no matter what a person did, as long as their industry belonged to the lowest social strata and they were in the business of making a living through the underworld, they had to memorize this set of rules, otherwise they would find it difficult to get by.

I've always thought that these so-called Eight Gates of Jianghu are outdated things. If my grandfather hadn't forced me to learn them, I wouldn't have even bothered to look at them.

In an era where everyone has a smartphone, who would still spend all their time trying to figure out these things?

The "Cemen" that Su Jialiang just mentioned refers to one of the Eight Inner Sects of the martial arts world, and it is said that the founder of this sect was Sima Qian.

Even today, those who deal in genuine and fake antiques, sell erotic art, deal in calligraphy and paintings, and even engage in tomb raiding all call themselves members of the "Cemen" (a group of people who collect books and paintings).

The so-called "bee gate" refers to a fraud gang. It seems that Su Jialiang thinks I am a professional swindler who uses his knowledge of antiques to set up traps for people.

Having guessed his meaning, I immediately explained, "Master Liang, it seems there are quite a few misunderstandings between us. Actually, I came to Luoyang this time not to help the Qing family, but to find something at the request of a friend in Beijing."

Upon hearing the place name I mentioned, Su Jialiang immediately understood: "Is your friend's surname Leng?"

I'll be frank: "That's right! Mr. Leng said he had a genuine rhinoceros-shaped bronze vessel, which you swapped for a fake. That's why he sent me to Luoyang. As for you, Mr. Liang, you're elusive. I only dared to investigate your trail with the help of the Qing family. Of course, there's also my own motive, because I heard that Duan Jinyan is related to this artifact."

"I never expected that such a small thing that I brought back to unmold would cause me so much trouble. Life is truly unpredictable."

Su Jialiang gave a wry smile: "But I'm not asking about your purpose, but about your livelihood."

I didn't want to reveal my background to Su Jialiang, but considering that I was a complete novice and couldn't hide it from him anyway, I pouted and said, "I run a small pawnshop in Shenyang to make a living."

"The business is too small."

Su Jialiang shook his head: "After you go back, you can set up an art company. I will regularly deposit the annual dividends into your company's account. I have a top-notch team of accountants working for me, and they will launder the money cleanly. You don't need to worry about the source of the funds."

I was already completely baffled as to why Su Jialiang had come to see me, and now I was even more confused: "Profit sharing? What profit sharing?"

Su Jialiang rubbed his hands together: "From now on, you'll have a 10% share of my business. My manager will handle the details with you."

This windfall instantly put me on high alert: "Mr. Liang, there's no such thing as a free lunch. I'm too weak to carry this money."

"You're too clever for your own good, but if you want to survive in this world, you have to learn to play dumb. You're afraid to accept this money because you're afraid I'll force you to join me in this counterfeit business, right?"

Su Jialiang laughed and said, "Don't worry, I don't need you to do anything. These shares are not something I offered to you; they were offered to you by Duan Jinyan."

I was even more confused: "Could it be that the person who just called you was Duan Jinyan?"

Su Jialiang remained noncommittal: "I've said it before, Duan Jinyan is not someone to be trifled with, and I don't want to get involved with this plague. Taking this 10% share will settle our grudges."

Seeing that Su Jialiang wasn't telling the truth, I was also a little confused: "Mr. Liang, does this 10% share actually belong to Duan Jinyan, and then he transferred it to me, or are you trying to use my identity to forcibly tie yourself to him?"

"I told you, you have to learn to play dumb."

Even though there were only two people present, Su Jialiang still stepped forward and whispered in my ear, "Didn't you want to find Duan Jinyan? Give me ten percent of the shares, and I'll tell you where he is, how about it?"

"make a deal!"

Upon hearing this, I agreed to Su Jialiang's terms without hesitation.

My main reason for coming to Luoyang was to find Duan Jinyan through Su Jialiang. Now that he has offered his terms, I have no reason to refuse.

Besides, he offered me money voluntarily, so I had no reason to refuse it.

He has now given the Qing family 40% of the shares, and with my 10%, they now own half.

If he really intends to set me up, I can simply give all my shares to the Qing family and use their power to destroy him.