Chapter 9 Antique Dealer Pays Back, Apologizes, and Becomes a Henchman
Old Master Wu said with lingering fear:
"This afternoon, He Kai had just entered my antique shop when a bunch of special police officers suddenly appeared and surrounded my shop."
"My God! Fully armed! Live ammunition!"
"I've lived for over forty years and never seen anything like this. It scared the crap out of me."
He recalled the scene and was now breaking out in a cold sweat again.
Ning Jinli's eyes lit up. "He Kai has been arrested?"
Third Master Wu nodded vigorously, "He was arrested a long time ago, and he's still being interrogated at the police station!"
"I was interrogated for several hours before I was cleared of suspicion. Later I learned that he was carrying a national treasure! There should be big news about this soon, a truly explosive story!"
"By the way, this matter is related to your uncle, right? His whole family was arrested... I found out after making some inquiries that you are actually from the Ning family."
Hearing this, Ning Jinli breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that the Azure Jade had safely reached the hands of the authorities.
"Third Master, I actually have nothing to do with the Ning family anymore... You said you came specifically to apologize to me and even offered me money, what exactly do you mean? Is it related to this?"
“This…cough…” Old Master Wu shuddered.
He didn't know what was going on.
Anyway, a short-haired woman wearing sunglasses warned him.
He said that if he dared to cheat Ning Jinli again, he would make sure Ning Jinli had no place to stand in the country.
He didn't know who that powerful woman was; he only knew that among the people accompanying her at the time were several high-ranking national figures…
"Let me give you the money first." Uncle Wu took out his phone and quickly transferred the money.
The next second, Ning Jinli received a text message from the bank on her phone.
Forty-seven million yuan arrived instantly.
"This is……"
Ning Jinli was shocked.
So much money? And it arrived in the account so quickly?
Master Wu's face was full of flattery, yet it was also tinged with utmost sincerity.
"Hehe, Miss Ning, I don't want a single penny of the money from the auction of your jade pendant, I'll give it all to you."
"Consider the 100,000 yuan I paid for your jade pendant as my apology."
"In the future, if Miss Ning has any antiques, as long as they are not of cultural relic level, I am willing to help you sell them."
Ning Jinli was startled again!
Forty-seven million! That jade pendant actually sold for forty-seven million at auction!
Her gaze towards Master Wu changed, and she pursed her lips, uttering two words: "Shady businessman!"
With a fawning smile, Master Wu nodded and bowed, "Yes, yes, Miss Ning is right. I am a cunning businessman, I am shameless."
If someone insults him like that, he can remain calm and say, "The antique business is all about having a good eye and luck. If the seller doesn't have the eye and sells it cheaply, they can't blame anyone else. That's the rule."
However, facing Ning Jinli, who had the backing of a mysterious bigwig, he dared not resort to such江湖言言 (jianghu yanyan, a term referring to the world of martial arts and chivalry) rhetoric to argue his point.
Seeing that Ning Jinli's face was still flushed with anger, he raised three fingers and said, "I, Wu Laosan, swear to God that if I ever cheat Miss Ning out of a single penny again, I'll fucking kill my whole family!"
“You…” Ning Jinli was speechless.
"Miss Ning, from now on I'm your little brother. Just call me if you need anything, I'll be there anytime, anywhere."
After politely leaving his business card, Master Wu left.
Ning Jinli stared at her phone screen, counting her bank account balance several times.
The five million in state prize money, plus the forty-seven million already received...
"Holy crap... fifty-two million..."
"I...I'm rich now?"
Ning Jinli pinched her arm.
Ouch, that hurts!
It's not a dream.
Ning Jinli was so excited that she spun around in circles!
No debt!
Cash deposits of 52 million!
How can I spend this money in a way that's truly enjoyable?
"Calm down, calm down... This isn't the time to think about these things. I have important things to do..."
She took a few deep breaths, then walked into the factory with her head held high.
When she arrived at the warehouse behind the factory, she discovered that the time tunnel had changed.
The fluorescent vortex at the back door of the small warehouse sprayed a continuous stream of light into the sky.
The stream of light rose to a height of more than ten meters, cascading down like a fountain and forming a bowl-shaped light curtain that was inverted above the warehouse.
The light screen was so large that it almost covered the entire 5,000-square-meter warehouse in the food section.
She instinctively took out her phone to take a picture.
But they discovered that they couldn't capture the light screen; only her eyes could see it.
"Could the time-space channel be upgraded?"
"What caused this? Can it be used for anything else now that it's like this...?"
Ning Jinli muttered to herself as she walked through the back door of the small warehouse.
"Fairy Jinli! Fairy Jinli has arrived!"
Upon arriving at the cave, she heard shouts and stared in astonishment at the soldiers of Linxian Village kneeling and bowing to her.
Fairy Jinli?
Is he calling her?
"Fairy Jinli! How is the Emperor?" someone asked, weeping.
Ning Jinli quickly told them to get up.
"He's fine, he's receiving treatment. Please don't do this, I'm not a god, just call me Miss Ning or Jinli."
Upon hearing that Xiao Qidi was alright, more than a dozen soldiers kept thanking her.
They also said that she had given them so much food and water that they had never seen before, and everyone was treating her like a goddess.
They absolutely refused to call her Miss Ning, fearing it would be disrespectful.
She asked anxiously, "Tell me quickly, what happened? Why was Xiao Qidi injured?"
"Yes, Fairy Jinli."
One of the soldiers explained the situation.
"The Kingdom of Yu has launched a surprise attack with an army of 50,000! Xitun Pass has fallen, with 3,000 soldiers killed. The remaining 10,000 troops were led by the King to retreat to Linxian Village. The King was wounded during the retreat when he was pursued by the elite vanguard of the Kingdom of Yu!"
Ning Jinli was stunned. "Fifty thousand troops? Why the sudden attack?"
“This…” The soldiers looked hesitant.
Ning Jinli became anxious, "Speak quickly!"
They all knelt down again in unison, and the leading soldier said:
"Because the spies from the Yu Kingdom had been tracking the whereabouts of the Azure Jade, just a few days ago they learned that the Azure Jade was in the hands of a group of bandits."
"It just so happens that... they are the band of bandits who came here to wreak havoc on the people."
"The king of Yu Kingdom has dispatched an army of 50,000, not hesitating to invade the border territory of my Xuan Kingdom, in order to seize the Canglan Jade."
"But the bandits have been wiped out by His Majesty, and His Majesty has presented the Azure Jade... to you, Fairy..."
Upon hearing this, Ning Jinli's mind went blank.
She has already handed over the Azure Jade to the state; she can't possibly ask for it back...
What should we do?
“Fairy Jinli, we do not want the Azure Jade.”
The leading soldier immediately said, "Given the temperament of the King of Yu, even if we obtain it here, he will order his 50,000 troops to slaughter us..."
Ning Jinli reviewed the historical knowledge she had learned in the past.
After the collapse of the Zhou dynasty's rule, the seven major vassal states in the Central Plains each sought to dominate the region.
Among them, Yu Kingdom is the smallest in area, but it possesses many mineral veins and is very wealthy.
However, the king of Yu was greedy and bloodthirsty, which led to the Yu army being extremely tyrannical and capable of slaughtering everyone here.
"Please, Fairy Jinli, save us!" A loud cry suddenly came from outside the cave.
Ning Jinli looked up and saw dozens of people gathered outside the cave.
The soldiers looked grief-stricken. "Our lord originally ordered us to lead the people of Linxian Village to evacuate as soon as possible, but they refused, vowing to stand with our lord through thick and thin..."
"Fairy Jinli... Fairy Jinli..." An old man with white hair crawled on his knees to the cave entrance.
Ning Jinli hurriedly ran over.
The old man was frail and thin, like a withered tree, and his clothes were more tattered than a rag.
Ning Jinli burst into tears instantly and tried to help him up.
The old man refused to get up and knelt on the ground, saying:
“Fairy Jinli…I am the village chief of Linxian Village.”
“Our village has preserved a thousand-year-old golden nanmu ebony for generations. This secret is known only to the village chiefs of each generation.”
"Now... I have everyone dig out this wood and offer it to the fairy."
"Please, fairy, save everyone..."
He turned around and waved with difficulty.
More than fifty villagers, emaciated to the point of being unrecognizable, used straw ropes to drag a shiny black log, exerting all their strength to carry it into the cave.
Dozens of soldiers went to help from inside the cave. With the combined efforts of over a hundred people, they managed to get the wood in, their teeth even bleeding from clenching their teeth.
Not only because the cave was located at a high altitude, but also because the log was ridiculously heavy.
“This… I can’t accept it!” Ning Jinli waved her hands repeatedly.
Ebony formed from thousand-year-old golden nanmu wood is extremely valuable.
But this is a treasure passed down through generations in their village.
Seeing her refuse without hesitation, the old village chief and the villagers looked on with despair, which pained Ning Jinli.
Ning Jinli said, "It's not that I don't want to help you, but this thing is too valuable, I really can't accept it."
But the old village chief and the villagers simply knelt down and refused to get up.
The leading soldier advised, "Fairy Jinli... please accept it; at least it will put their minds at ease."
Ning Jinli was both touched and troubled.
I can't move it...
How should I accept it?
It would be great if it could go to the main warehouse by itself.
Without realizing it, a thought crossed his mind, and the thick, long golden nanmu ebony instantly vanished.
"Huh?" Ning Jinli was stunned.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
