Since returning to Qin Province last time and selling the junk to Li Chonglou, he had made a large sum of money.
Tian Meng's life had changed drastically ever since.
First, he bought a small car, then he thought about demolishing the old house and rebuilding it.
However, that money was already spent almost entirely.
Just as he was wondering where to get more, Tian Lingli called.
It was truly a case of "pillow delivered when sleepy." Li Chonglou was now his God of Wealth in his eyes.
"Second Uncle," Tian Lingli greeted, but her tone was very distant.
As the saying goes, closeness fades after the first generation.
Her generation, unlike the elders who liked visiting relatives, was particularly self-centered.
Because of this, she ran from Shuyu County to Qin Province, hundreds of kilometers away. Although Qin Province wasn't much bigger, it was more liberating.
At least she didn't have to face constant emotional manipulation, put-downs, and comparisons from relatives.
Even though she was now the most accomplished child in the family, she still disliked dealing with relatives.
"Lili, please come in quickly, bring your friend in. Wife, get the tea ready, and bring out the fruit platter!" Tian Meng said with a beaming smile.
As they walked into the main hall of his tiled house not far from the lake, everyone followed.
A pungent, damp smell greeted them, which even the burning incense couldn't mask.
This was a common problem with rural tiled houses; they were close to the ground and heavy with dampness.
Li Chonglou didn't care about such things. After entering, he looked around.
Frankly, he didn't expect to find any more treasures here. After all, if there were truly good items, Tian Meng would have taken them to Qin Province last time.
He was just there on a whim, to see what was there.
Before coming, he only knew they lived in the mountains, but in reality, the lakeside had already been connected by a环湖大道 (Ring Lake Avenue), making it no different from a city.
Except for the copper coins and bronze mirrors dug out from his cellar, it was unlikely to find anything else.
After all, the thorough excavation during the road construction had been absolutely thorough.
Wang Meng's wife was an ordinary middle-aged woman with dark, dry skin. Holding tea, she came out smiling and greeted them.
Li Chonglou scanned the room, found nothing special, and asked, "Sister-in-law, no need to be so polite."
"I came this time to see if you have any more good items to sell."
"If you do, feel free to bring them out."
To show respect, he did not activate his Heavenly Eye, as it was a private residence.
It wasn't a moral issue, purely for peace of mind.
Antiques were about fate.
When fate arrived, it was like the sixteen-kingdom statue in the dilapidated temple on the mountaintop, which others didn't discover for decades, but he stumbled upon it.
It was also like that bluestone slab, which remained his even though it was placed in plain sight.
Such examples were countless.
Conversely, if fate was not there, there was no point in forcing it, otherwise, it would be like drawing water with a bamboo basket – a complete waste.
In fact, Li Chonglou had thought about this idea very clearly. His master had searched for Shi Boqiong for many years without success, which was precisely why.
But this was his master's obsession, and it couldn't stop.
What he could do was use clues to alter the trajectory of fate, allowing it to appear sooner.
"Yes, yes, yes, wait a moment, I'll get it!" Tian Meng was eager for Li Chonglou to ask directly and immediately rushed into the room.
Soon, he came out holding an aluminum tea canister with a round opening and straight sides.
The can was about fifty to sixty centimeters tall.
He directly opened the lid and poured a table full of copper coins with a clatter.
These were all collected by him after returning from Qin Province, thinking he might have another chance to exchange them for money in Qin Province.
Since Li Chonglou had come, it saved him a trip.
"Where did you get these things?" Li Chonglou glanced at them and frowned.
"I bought them. I paid a lot of money," Tian Meng said exaggeratedly.
Li Chonglou thought for a moment and asked, "Can you still find the person who sold you these?"
"Why would I look for him? He sold all his things to me, that's all there is," Tian Meng thought Li Chonglou had a big appetite and wanted to buy more, shaking his head like a whirling water drum.
"Then I'll be direct." Li Chonglou clearly saw the greed in Tian Meng's eyes and said, shaking his head, "These copper coins are all modern replicas, artificially aged. Not a single one is genuine."
"However, they are replicas of famous coins, and there are even 大齐通宝 (Da Qi Tong Bao) among them."
"Do you know what Da Qi Tong Bao is?"
Tian Meng's smile froze, then he looked disbelievingly and shook his head, "Impossible, they wouldn't lie to me."
"Master Li must have misjudged. These coins of mine are definitely copper, genuine!"
Li Chonglou felt speechless upon hearing this.
This often happened in the antique world. Someone would bring their collection to an expert for appraisal. If the expert gave an honest assessment, they would be overjoyed if it was real.
If it was recognized as fake, the result would be laughable.
People with higher cognitive or cultural levels would immediately realize their mistake after the appraiser provided supporting evidence.
Those slightly less knowledgeable, even if unconvinced and thinking the expert was deceiving them, wouldn't say it to their face. They would only agree and then seek appraisals from several other sources.
However, people of lower levels, like Tian Meng.
They treated junk as treasures, and when pointed out, they immediately became unconvinced.
They thought that the things they had correctly identified could not be wrong, and that the appraiser was trying to trick them.
The reason was that antiques relied on personal eyesight and judgment, and everyone only did what they believed was right.
Even if something looked fake at a glance to professionals, these people, brainwashed by others' logic and marketing, and having a preconceived notion, would insist it was correct.
Arguing with such people would only lead to self-humiliation.
Because they would not objectively examine themselves at all, but would extremely subjectively affirm a certain matter.
Therefore, seeing him like this, Li Chonglou stopped talking and did not intend to argue with him on this matter.
He got up and said, "Da Qi Tong Bao was the first type of currency minted by Li Bian, the founding emperor of Southern Tang. To date, only two pieces have been found to exist."
"One of them is chipped, known as Chipped Da Qi, and the other was discovered in Poyang, Jiangxi, in the 1920s by a child who drilled four holes in it and used it as a shuttlecock."
"These two pieces are now in the National Museum."
"You have five Da Qi Tong Bao here. Enough said, goodbye!"
Upon hearing this, Zhou Yacheng, Tian Lingli, and others immediately realized that this pile of coins was ten out of ten fake.
Huang Jian had already seen it. Although he wasn't an expert in copper coins, he had good eyesight.
The patina and the edges on them showed at a glance that they were fakes.
It was a pity. Tian Meng, having spent a lot of money to collect them, would definitely not admit they were fake.
"Hey, hey, don't go... don't go, Lili," Tian Meng hadn't reacted yet. Seeing Li Chonglou about to leave without even taking a sip of tea, he urgently called out, "I'll take you, I'll take you to find the person who sold me the coins, okay?"
"I know your boss is a big spender and doesn't think much of this little money of mine."
"I'll take you to find him and have him tell you directly whether these are real or fake!"
In his words, he actually thought Li Chonglou was putting on a show to extort him.
Angered, Tian Lingli's pretty face changed, and she turned to scold him, "Second Uncle, you can't just..."
However, before she could finish, Li Chonglou stopped her and said calmly, "Alright, you take me to find the person who sold the coins."