"On my way here, I overheard two old men talking and they mentioned this name, so I remembered it. I didn't expect it to actually be him," Xing Zhaozhao casually lied.
Qin Shi had no doubts at all: "So that's how it is. Not surprising. Mr. Liu is a celebrity in our Lanyuan Town. In fact, he's second only to your Gao family."
Xing Zhaozhao narrowed her eyes slightly and asked curiously, "Oh? What does he do?"
"I know quite a bit about Old Liu." Old Mr. Lu, who was standing to the side, chuckled as he listened to them mention Liu Feiyue and took over the conversation. "Old Liu is from Liujia Village in your Lanyuan Town. He was originally just an ordinary farmer. During a special period, Mr. Wei, the old clerk of the time-honored Xiangfa Pawnshop in Beijing and a famous antique appraisal expert, was sent down to Liujia Village. He fell ill and almost died, and it was Old Mr. Wei who secretly saved him."
"Mr. Wei was grateful for his life-saving grace and taught him two skills in appraising antiques. Unexpectedly, he was very talented and learned them very quickly. Mr. Wei cherished talent and took him as his last disciple. Later, after he was exonerated, he took him to the capital and introduced him into the circle. From then on, his career took off."
"He has an extremely accurate eye; he has never made a mistake in anything he handles. He also opened his own pawnshop and auction house, saving many national treasures that had been lost to the public and were almost destroyed."
"The most famous time was when he returned to Lanyuan for a short stay. One morning while jogging, he noticed a bottle sticking out of a man's bag that seemed off, which led to the cracking of a major antique smuggling case. The seized antiques, according to experts, came from a large Han Dynasty tomb. Unfortunately, by the time the police found the tomb raiders, they were all dead, so the location of that Han Dynasty tomb has never been found. By the way, the tomb raiders died a very gruesome death, and there have been rumors online that they were cursed by the tomb's owner."
Xing Zhaozhao shuddered upon hearing this: "A curse? Does such a thing really exist?"
Mr. Lu was taken aback for a moment, then quickly shook his head with a laugh and said, "People on the internet are just making things up. How could it possibly be true?"
Xing Zhaozhao felt a little relieved and looked at Mr. Lu, asking curiously, "If it wasn't a curse, how exactly did those tomb raiders die?"
"The police speculate that it was probably a dispute over the loot, which led to infighting and ultimately mutual destruction," Mr. Lu said.
Xing Zhaozhao: "..." This is actually a kind of curse, a curse of greed.
However, as Xing Zhaozhao listened, she felt that the Liu Feiyue that Mr. Lu was talking about was not the same person as the Liu Feiyue she knew. Either she had misunderstood him, or he was just too good at pretending.
A cold glint flashed in Xing Zhaozhao's slightly narrowed eyes. She wondered if the boxes her godparents had hidden were still there. If they were gone, she would definitely have to find out who stole them. Maybe then she could find out whether that person was a human or a ghost.
Xing Zhaozhao thought to herself, then looked at Qin Shi and comforted him, "Don't worry about this, I'll find a way to find out the truth."
Qin Shi thought that she must be able to use some supernatural powers down there, so he readily nodded and agreed: "Okay, then I'll trouble you, Aunt."
By this time, Mr. Lu had finished examining all the items that Xing Zhaozhao had brought and confirmed that they were all genuine. Just like before, he signed the consignment auction contract.
Seeing that things were almost done, Qin Shi checked the time and realized it was getting late, so he asked Xing Zhaozhao, "How about we have dinner together before you leave?"
Xing Zhaozhao shook her head apologetically: "I can't today, I have plans with my family."
Qin Shi looked regretful: "Then we'll have to wait until next time."
Just then, Xing Zhaozhao's phone rang. She took it out and saw that it was Ying Rongrong calling. She answered immediately: "What's up, Rongrong?"
"Where are you now? I'll come pick you up," Ying Rongrong asked.
"I already told Hongfei that I would just call him and ask him to send someone to pick me up. Why do I need you to come pick me up in person?" Xing Zhaozhao asked curiously.
“I told Hongfei,” Ying Rongrong explained. “I prepared a set of clothes for you, and I was going to pick you up and take you to Zhaolan’s store to change before we went to the hotel together.”
"You prepared clothes for me?" Xing Zhaozhao's face quickly lit up with a smile. "You don't need to pick me up. I'm at Xunlan Tea House now, which is in Zhaohong Square. It's not far from Zhaolan's store. I can go there by myself."
After saying that, Xing Zhaozhao hung up the phone, grinned, looked at Qin Shi, and said, "I have to go now. My daughter-in-law has prepared a beautiful dress for me. Let's meet up again next time."
Qin Shi knew that her destination wasn't far, so he didn't mention offering to take her. He smiled and nodded, "Okay, let's meet again next time."
Xing Zhaozhao picked up her basket and was about to leave when she noticed a bundle lying on it. Remembering something, she took it out, turned to the waiter standing behind the counter, and called out, "Xiao Zhou..."
Waiter Xiao Zhou immediately came forward: "What can I do for you, Miss Xing?"
Xing Zhaozhao handed her the bundle in her hand: "These are freshly made incense sticks. Your boss was talking about them to me last time. Please give them to her for me."
Xiao Zhou quickly took it, overjoyed, and said, "That's great! Our boss has been wanting to buy this for a long time."
"The money..." Xiao Zhou looked at Xing Zhaozhao questioningly.
Xing Zhaozhao waved her hand and said, "Just tell her to transfer the money to my bank card when the time comes."
Xiao Zhou smiled and nodded: "Okay, I'll talk to the boss."
Xing Zhaozhao slung her basket over her shoulder and prepared to leave.
Qin Shi suddenly stood up and called out to her, "Wait a minute, Auntie."
Xing Zhaozhao stopped and turned to look at him, puzzled: "What's wrong?"
Qin Shi stared intently at the bundle in Xiao Zhou's hands: "That incense... was it made by my grandfather?"
Xing Zhaozhao nodded: "That's right."
"I want one too," Qin Shi said.
Xing Zhaozhao looked at the bundle in Xiao Zhou's hands with a troubled expression: "It's all here..."
Qin Shi looked at the bundle in Xiao Zhou's hand, his gaze becoming even more intense.
Sensing something was wrong, Xiao Zhou quickly hid the bundle behind his back, looked at Qin Shi warily, and said, "This is what our boss wanted..."
Qin Shi reached out and grabbed it, saying, "There's so much of it, what's wrong with sharing some with me?"
"No, this is far too much. It's just a little bit; even our boss doesn't have enough for himself," Xiao Zhou insisted.
Qin Shi directly used force: "Since that's the case, why don't you just give them all to me? Your boss isn't here, so it's first come, first served."
Xiao Zhou was so angry she almost cried: "You can't do this, Mr. Qin! If you keep doing this, I'm going to tell the boss..."
Qin Shi ignored it completely.
Xiao Zhou looked to Xing Zhaozhao for help: "Miss Xing..."
Xing Zhaozhao: "..."
She didn't know who to help or who she should help, so she simply pretended not to know anything, turned around and left. "You guys can make a scene yourselves," she said, "I don't care anymore."
I could faintly hear Xiao Zhou crying and calling Fu Hong from behind: "Boss, something terrible has happened..."
Then Fu Hong's furious voice rang out from the speakerphone: "Qin Shi, how dare you..."
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