Jiang Chen nodded confidently: "Seven hundred thousand."
"Seven hundred thousand..." the old man muttered, and he didn't come back to his senses for several minutes. "With seven hundred thousand, can I live in the city? Can I get Miaomiao a city hukou and let her go to school in the city?"
Jiang Chen was not clear about the household registration, but he was sure of other things: "You can buy a house and go to school."
"Buy a house and go to school. Miaomiao can go to school in the city... She can study hard and be as smart as her parents... Thank you, young man, thank you for telling me this." The old man grabbed Jiang Chen's hand and shook it: "Thank you so much."
"You're welcome."
The old man wiped his face, put away his excitement, and somewhat embarrassedly stuffed the ancient coin he had saved into Jiang Chen's hand: "Young man, this money is for you, please accept it."
Jiang Chen was stunned, raised his eyes and saw the sincere and kind face of the old man. He was surprised for a moment, then suddenly realized, smiled and shook his head, "I can't accept it."
"Why not?" The old man insisted on giving it to him, saying, "You can accept it. If it weren't for you, Miaomiao might have been scratched by a cat. And if it weren't for you, this money would be just waste paper to me. I'm old, and Miaomiao didn't go to school for many years, so she might never know the value of this money. You can tell us this, which has changed our lives."
"Old man..."
The old man interrupted him, with a kind smile in his clear eyes: "Just now outside, you saw the value of the money in Miaomiao's hand at a glance. If you wanted, you could have taken the money directly, or tricked Miaomiao into giving it to you, but you didn't. Not only did you not do that, you also brought Miaomiao back and told me the value of the money without reservation. For these alone, you are worthy of my repaying you with this ancient coin."
"Besides, I'm old and haven't left the village for more than ten years. I'm not a native of Yan City. Even if I knew the value of this money, I can't turn it into cash. I give you this coin not only to repay you, but also to hope that you can help me turn this money into cash. By having you do this, it can be regarded as a reward for your hard work."
Jiang Chen was curious: "Aren't you worried that I won't return your money after taking it?"
"Why should I worry?" The old man smiled and said, "I have lived for so long. I don't know much else, but I know how to judge people by their own will. What you have done is enough to show your character. You are a good child who is trustworthy. I believe in you."
Hearing this, Jiang Chen no longer refused: "I won't let you down."
The next afternoon, Jiang Chen brought the ancient coins to the largest auction house in Yan City.
The receptionist at the front desk was smiling, and even in front of Jiang Chen, who was simply dressed, she was still just as friendly and enthusiastic. She placed the water on the small coffee table in the living room and said, "Mr. Jiang, what item do you want to auction?"
Jiang Chen took out a math book from his bag. The receptionist remained calm, but the two assistants behind her looked at each other, exchanged glances, and then looked at Jiang Chen who was flipping through the book without leaving a trace.
The paper pages cut through the air, revealing something stuck between the pages with a rustling sound.
"This is..." The receptionist's eyes widened slightly: "...the Hubei Official Money Bureau's silver bill?"
Jiang Chen nodded, his lips curved slightly: "This is what I am going to auction at your bank."
The receptionist had put away the expression on her face and smiled, "Is this the one? Or does Mr. Jiang have other items?"
"More than one."
"Wait a minute."
The receptionist looked at the people behind him, and one of them nodded and went out with his phone.
A few minutes later, a young man in a suit and tie walked in. He smiled and extended his hand: "Hello, Mr. Jiang, I am Zeng Fei, the manager of Shiyang Auction House."
"It has been sorted out."
Zeng Fei looked at the young man in front of him without leaving any trace, and said with a smile: "Sit down, sit down, sit down. I heard that you have a double-image silver note printed in the 30th year of the Guangxu period?"
Jiang Chen took his hand back, sat down opposite him, and pointed at the ancient coin sandwiched between the pages of the book: "There are four in total, this is one of them. If you want to check whether it is real or not, you can take a look at this one first."
Zeng Fei did not waste time. He raised his hand and a man with a full set of tools came forward and examined it carefully wearing white gloves and a magnifying glass.
Not long after, the man stood up and nodded to Zeng Fei.
Zeng Fei smiled and said to Jiang Chen, "Mr. Jiang, forgive me for being so presumptuous, but I want to ask, is this banknote your collection or... I don't mean to pry into my guests' privacy, but you are still a minor. If you sell something belonging to an adult in your family, it will be difficult for us to explain to your family."
Jiang Chen's eyebrows twitched slightly. It turned out that Zeng Fei and the others thought he was the second-generation who auctioned off the collection of his family elders. This could explain why the receptionists were just right in enthusiasm when they saw him at first. Although he didn't know why these people had such a misunderstanding, it didn't do him any harm.
Jiang Chen avoided the main point and said, "Don't worry, I got the approval of the owner of the banknotes. If not, I wouldn't have sold four at once."
"That makes me feel relieved." Zeng Fei smiled. Anyway, the goods were in their hands, the money and goods were settled, and if someone really came to cause trouble, they would be in the right. In fact, if the boss hadn't come here to catch up on sleep on a whim today and happened to see this scene and asked him to come and see it, he would definitely not ask unnecessary questions.
"To be honest," Zeng Fei continued, "we actually have an old customer who loves to collect ancient coins. If you're in a hurry to get the money, you don't have to wait until our auction on the 15th. We can directly contact the collector for you. If he wants it, he will most likely take all four of your double images."
Jiang Chen: "I want to know the estimated value, auction price and transaction price of Zeng Li."
"If it's auctioned, I personally estimate the highest price to be around 850,000, but the premise is that it's sold individually. Scarcity makes things valuable, and I believe Mr. Jiang understands this. But I can guarantee that we will help you sell all four double images within half a year."
"If it's a private transaction, he's always generous. I believe if you want to sell it as a package, it's most cost-effective to find him."
Jiang Chen hesitated for a moment before looking up and saying, "I need some time to discuss. If it is a private transaction, how will the auction house's commission be calculated? There is still time."
"Five percent, three days at the latest."
"I'll give you an answer tomorrow."
After sending Jiang Chen to the door and watching him leave, Zeng Fei turned around and got on the elevator, which stopped at the top floor.
He knocked on the door: "Boss, Mr. Li."
"Come in." The man who opened the door had a pair of peach blossom eyes, three buttons of his burgundy shirt unbuttoned, and messy hair: "Xiao Fei, I've told you so many times, knock louder, only Shi Fengyue can hear you knocking."
Zeng Fei smiled and nodded, then walked past him towards the man in black who was lazily lying on the sofa with his eyes closed.
"Boss, Mr. Jiang downstairs is auctioning Hubei official money notes from the 30th year of the Guangxu period. He has four of them. He doesn't look like he's in urgent need of money, but from what I've seen, he may prefer a private transaction."
Shi Fengyue didn't even open his eyes, he grabbed a pillow and put it in his arms, saying lazily: "If there's no problem, I'll take it."
"OK."
Li Nanfeng sat down next to his armrest, pulled out the pillow from his arms, and asked before he lost his temper, "Who is that kid? You got off the car at the hospital gate last time for him, right? He looks about the same age as Shi Ao. Whose kid is he?"
Shi Fengyue pulled back the pillow and held it loosely in his arms. His slightly hoarse voice was full of fatigue: "The son of a patient."
Li Nanfeng clicked his tongue and shook his head: "I don't know. We are great doctors, and we also care about the warm feelings of patients' families, but..."
"If you disturb my sleep again--" Shi Fengyue's slender fingers clamped around Li Nanfeng's neck, and his misty eyes suddenly opened, and he said sinisterly: "I'll let you feel my warmth."
"Come on!" Li Nanfeng opened his arms and fell into his arms: "Brother is willing to sacrifice himself for you."
Shi Fengyue couldn't help laughing, turned over and kicked him off the sofa: "Get lost."
"Okay, I'm leaving." Li Nanfeng rubbed his butt and stood up, smiling, "Let's have dinner together tonight, have a good sleep, and I'll pick you up later."
Shi Fengyue threw the pillow, Li Nanfeng dodged it with a laugh, and went out with Zeng Fei.
As soon as the door closed, the man on the sofa closed his eyes. He lay on the sofa with his tall figure and long legs. He could only curl up and sleep on his side with the pillow in his arms. After a few minutes, his breathing became even.
When I woke up again, the sun had already set.
Shi Fengyue was too lazy to get up, so he just lay on the sofa, half-closed his eyes and looked at the orange and yellow color outside the floor-to-ceiling window.
The knock on the wooden door was barely audible. His eyelashes fluttered, and his voice was still a little hoarse from just waking up: "Come in."
"Boss." Zeng Fei walked in, stopped three steps away from the sofa, and reported: "There is no problem with the source of Mr. Jiang's ancient coins, but it is not consistent with my guess. He got it from an old man in Donghua Village. It is said that he went to Donghua Village for an outing and accidentally encountered the old man's child playing house with ancient coins. He sent the child back home and told the old man in the child's family the value of the ancient coins. The old man wanted to thank him and also wanted to cash in the ancient coins, so he had the scene this morning."
Shi Fengyue raised his hand, his bony fingers covering his eyes, blocking out the orange sunset, and said in a dull voice: "Zeng Fei, you have to change your habit of getting to the bottom of things when you encounter new things."
"I thought the boss would be interested." Zeng Fei smiled, no longer as serious and reserved as before, leaning against the sofa and said, "Mr. Li said that you have a different view of Mr. Jiang Xiao, so of course I am curious too. And since we want to trade, it is better to know both ourselves and the other party."
Under the slender fingers, his eyes slowly opened, and Shi Fengyue suddenly remembered the conversation between the mother and son that he overheard in the hospital. The boy's smile like the bright moon and the bright wind could still appear in front of his eyes. He suddenly bent his eyes and said, "I remind you that Jiang Chen is not as harmless as you think. It's best not to play tricks on him."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com