"Are you treating me like a fool?" Li Zuoquan looked at me with an unhappy expression.
I also put on a displeased look. "You said earlier that we could ask for any materials we needed. Now that I've asked, you're calling me a fool. If that's the case, then I don't need anything. I'm just a character going through the motions."
In reality, all of this was an act. Those materials were just my way of making things difficult for Li Zuoquan, simply because I couldn't stand his pretense of being a saint while trying to exploit others.
Li Zuoquan's face immediately turned dark, his eyes burning with a shadowy "flame." If he hadn't been in a wheelchair, I imagined he would have wanted to get up and slap me across the face.
I smiled kindly, completely unfazed by his anger.
"You want these materials? Don't say it's just me; even the great families in the capital might not be able to procure all of them. You're deliberately playing games with me, aren't you?" Li Zuoquan replied with certainty.
I spread my hands and shrugged. "How could I dare to play games with you? I saw these materials in a book and thought that since the Li family is such a prominent clan, capable of obtaining even thousand-year-old lightning-struck wood, these would just be ordinary materials. How could you not have them? If I had known this, I wouldn't have made this request..." I said, shaking my head in apparent regret, as if annoyed by the condition I had just put forth.
Upon hearing the words "thousand-year-old lightning-struck wood," Li Zuoquan's face visibly twitched. He seemed extremely annoyed and regretful, then clutched his chest, looking pained.
"Second Uncle..."
Li Jian, seeing this, quickly reached into a pocket behind the wheelchair, took out a porcelain gourd, poured out two pills the size of firecrackers, and fed them directly to Li Zuoquan, then gave him a mouthful of water.
After this series of actions, Li Zuoquan's complexion recovered slightly, but he appeared to have aged by three years.
Seeing that Li Zuoquan seemed out of danger, Li Jian turned his gaze to me. "Song, don't push it too far. My Li family doesn't entirely rely on you..."
"Shut up." As he spoke, Li Zuoquan almost fell out of his wheelchair. Li Jian looked back and, without continuing his sentence, immediately steadied him.
"Second Uncle..."
*Slap—*
Li Zuoquan gave Li Jian a fierce slap. "Cough cough... I'm not dead yet. It's not your place to dictate things in the Li family. If you dare to say another word, you'll face family punishment."
Li Jian's expression clearly showed some unwillingness, but upon hearing the words "family punishment," his face changed slightly. He mumbled, "Understood," and then stood behind Li Zuoquan, his gaze towards me conveying a desire to kill me with his eyes.
"Young man Song, I truly do not have the items you requested. These are also not things you can use at your current level, so I cannot agree to your terms. I can only compensate you financially."
I pursed my lips and remained silent, appearing somewhat displeased.
Inwardly, however, I felt a bit guilty. Regardless, Li Zuoquan was an old man on his last legs. If I had truly angered him to death just now, I would have felt remorse for a while. Now that he was alive, I felt somewhat relieved.
Seeing my silence, Li Zuoquan assumed I had agreed and had Li Jian transfer another two million to me. As I heard the notification from my phone, a smile appeared on my face.
After being "respectfully" escorted out the door by Li Jian, I looked up at the still gloomy sky and, for the first time, felt that this Mo Lu Village was quite good, perhaps my lucky spot.
Leaving the Li family mansion, Zhang Dabiao was anxious to go home, saying he needed to prepare some emergency items. Before I could even finish my suggestion to browse the antique shops here, he left with the thousand-year-old lightning-struck wood, seeming very hurried.
Thinking that I had nothing else to do upon my return, and with some new money in my pocket, I turned and headed towards the street specifically for antique shops.
It wasn't that I was fond of antiques, but sometimes, powerful weapons were hidden within them.
Take, for instance, the green-moss-covered bronze basin in my master's house. It was the first year I joined my master's household. My father was in a coma, and my mother had run away from home, so I had to share a room with my master. In the middle of the night, I was woken by some noise.
Opening my eyes, I saw a woman with a ridiculously long tongue standing not far from the door, staring intently at me. I was so scared I almost wet myself. Just as I was about to call for my master, the green-moss-covered bronze basin began to hum. Immediately after, that malevolent spirit turned to dust before my eyes, leaving not even a speck behind. It was then that I realized its power.
Although I knew I didn't have the knack for treasure hunting, I still wanted to join the fun and see what was there. At the very least, it would broaden my horizons.
The antique street during the day was different from the night. Almost every shop had its doors tightly shut. The few that were open seemed indifferent to me, a young fellow, their faces longer than a horse's, as if I owed them a lot of money.
I quickly reached the end of the street. Either the shops were closed, or they looked down on me. I wasn't willing to give my money to them. When I reached the last shop and saw it was also closed, I was about to leave. Sudan Novel Network.
"Oh my! The magpies are chirping this early morning, I knew good business was coming. Esteemed guest, please stay."
I couldn't help but stop and look back.
A thin man, appearing to be in his forties, poked his head out from inside the door, looking at me with a joyous expression.
Fearing he would try to trick me because of my young age, I pointed to myself. "You say I'm an esteemed guest?"
The thin man quickly came out from inside. "Oh, you're the only one on this street. If you're not an esteemed guest, who is? Don't underestimate the size of the shop; though small, it has everything. Esteemed guest, please come in and take a look?"
After wandering around and being ignored by almost everyone, I was, to be honest, quite frustrated. Now, being praised by this thin man made me feel a bit dizzy. I then followed him into the shop.
The shop wasn't large, only about thirty square meters. To the left of the entrance was a glass counter displaying various items. On the wall to the right hung various scrolls, all marked with prices, with "replicas" in parentheses below the prices.
This startled me. Damn it, I'd walked into a shady shop selling textiles? Wasn't this like calling a pockmarked person "pockmarked"? This was a rip-off!
The thin man who followed me in, possibly sensing my slight pause, spoke with a hint of a smile.
"Esteemed guest, is this your first time visiting an antique shop?"
I nodded subconsciously, then quickly shook my head. I didn't want to be fleeced like a lamb.
He smiled and didn't expose my being a first-timer, instead explaining carefully.
"Although my shop is small, all the items inside are guaranteed to be authentic. However, in the antique business, genuine items are rarely put out for display, as they are too easily damaged. If one were to accidentally damage it, it would be difficult to assign responsibility, wouldn't it?"
I immediately understood what was going on. Antiques and calligraphy are usually priceless, with the cheapest not below a million. Let alone damage, even tearing a corner could result in a loss of hundreds of thousands. So, displaying a photograph here was understandable. If someone truly wanted to buy, it wasn't impossible to bring out the real item.
In this regard, I could only admire their shrewdness in business. This way, neither party would have trouble, making it the best business strategy.
Since they had seen through me as a novice, I couldn't pretend to be an old hand anymore. I had to be honest.
"I am indeed here for the first time. Do you have any 'Ming Wu' that catches my eye?"
Upon hearing this, the eyes of the thin man in front of me lit up. Without saying a word, he first walked to the door to check if anyone was following outside, then closed the door before giving me a fist bump.
"I didn't expect to meet an expert in the underground trade."