Chapter Seventeen: Feng Shui Layout

  The bright moonlight emitted a soft glow, and the vast night sky had only a few twinkling stars. In the quiet night, on the second floor of Li Ruoxi's villa, the crystal chandelier illuminated the entire bedroom like daylight. Li Ruoxi wore a snow-white pajama, sitting quietly at the head of the bed, flipping through a thick stack of documents.

  "Ding ding ding......"

  The melodious ringtone of her mobile phone broke into her concentration on reading materials.

  Li Ruoxi picked up her phone and looked at the caller ID before answering it. "How's the investigation going?" she asked calmly.

  "Boss, all the materials have been sent to your email, you can take a look now." A pleasant female voice came from the phone.

  "Alright, I got it!"

  Li Ruoxi hung up the phone and came to the computer to start it up.

  After more than ten minutes, a smile appeared on her stunning face, and her bright black gemstone-like eyes showed a hint of confusion. She muttered to herself: "Her family background is clean, except for being relatively poor at home, there are no other problems. However, he actually found three artifacts in just two days? This is also too unbelievable! Is it luck? Or is he particularly knowledgeable about antiques and artifacts?"

  Antique. Ritual vessel.

  She understands some of it, although she's not very proficient, but since childhood, she often followed the elders in her family and was influenced by them, which also made her very optimistic about the market prospects of antiques and artifacts.

  It is said: in times of chaos, gold is king; in prosperous times, collectibles are treasured.

  Nowadays, in this peaceful and prosperous world, antiques and artifacts are quite valuable.

  In the cool morning breeze, Wang Ke got up early to practice his inner energy for two hours. He then went to the courtyard and practiced the "Dragon Elephant" moves ten times before returning to his room to take a refreshing shower and change into clean clothes.

  At the dinner table, Li Ruoxi looked at Wang Ke, who was in high spirits, and said lightly: "Today is a day off for you. If there's anything you need to buy, go out and get it back, and take the opportunity to familiarize yourself with Changji City. I won't be going out today."

  Wang Ke's heart was delighted, and he nodded slightly without changing his expression.

  He is now somewhat eager to visit Zhao Menfeng, trying to see if he can follow him to learn about antiques and artifacts. Last night, he searched online for the bus route from the villa district's nearest bus stop to Antique Street, and found that it would take only 40 minutes by bus.

  Changji City Antique Street, with a mix of classical and modern architecture, has two or three-story buildings with elegant facades and antique shop entrances that exude elegance; there are also ancient-style pavilions filled with retro charm.

  Wang Ke, who had already arrived at the entrance of Antique Street, looked as if he was Liu Laolao entering Daguanyuan for the first time, with a face full of shock and novelty.

  The antique street in Changji City is more than ten times larger than the one where he used to work. The endless stream of people, as well as the number of vendors setting up stalls, are also more than ten times that of the previous antique street where he worked.

  "What a magnificent view! This antique street is so big, this antique market shouldn't just be limited to this one street, right? Those intersections up ahead must lead to other streets. The scale, the thriving scene of this market, it's all so exciting!"

  Walking on the bustling antique street, Wang Ke sincerely sighed in his heart.

  "Take a look, take a glance, this stall of ours isn't selling antiques or artifacts, nor is it a law enforcement tool. What is this? It's a mountain of gold and silver! Brother, do you want to take a look at our goods? I guarantee you'll be satisfied..."

  "Don't miss out on the way, ancestral old objects, just dug out from the cellar not long ago, absolutely genuine antiques, genuine artifacts, fair and reasonable price, visit and purchase at will..."

  "Blue and white porcelain, bronze ware, jade articles, everything is available. If you miss this village, there won't be a shop like this! Hurry up and take a look, who knows which genuine antique or treasure will fall into your hands..."

  "Ma Tiao Fei Yan, the world's one and only Ma Tiao Fei Yan, is right here. Would you like to take a look, sir? The price is absolutely reasonable..."

  "Kangxi Emperor's imperial seal, after being appraised by experts as an antique, is also a ritual object, eighty-eight thousand eight hundred and eighty-eight..."

  "Wutai Mountain Treasure Master personally consecrated Dharma instrument, 160,000 yuan no price negotiation, which wise friend willing to purchase..."

  “……”

  The hawkers' cries, the murmurs of discussion, the sounds of haggling, all reached his ears.

  The entire antique trading market perfectly interprets the chapter of antiques and artifacts.

  Buy at a low price and sell at a high price, this is the way to succeed in picking up leaks. There are many stalls here, and the shops are also one after another. However, there are more people coming here to dig up treasures. Three or five people gather together, everyone wants to pick up leaks successfully and make a big profit.

  "He's made a fortune, that Wu Qing kid has really lucked out! He actually managed to buy a genuine 'Qing Shan Le Ju Tu' for just 200 yuan, it's outrageous, there's no justice in this world! And then he turned around and sold it for 80,000 yuan, I'm so envious I've got stomach ache."

  A young man standing a dozen meters away from Wang Ke looked at another young man with envy and admiration.

  "Is this really the 'Qing Shan Le Ju Tu' painted by Chen's own hand, the great Ming dynasty painter? What a stroke of luck! I saw this painting at another stall earlier and didn't even recognize it!" A middle-aged man in the crowd exclaimed with a mixture of regret and pain on his face.

  "I also remember that painting. Yesterday I chose two, but didn't buy 'Qing Shan Le Ju Tu'. How could it be the real thing?" another person called out.

  Wang Ke quietly watched the surging crowd in the distance, a surge of hot blood rapidly flowing through his body.

  This is simply a treasure trove, and having the ability to see through things with my Heaven-Defying Cheating Artifact is the capital to find countless treasures. For now, let others be happy first, wait until I, Wang Ke, gain more knowledge about antiques and artifacts, I will definitely make a big move.

  He silently withdrew his gaze and turned around, walking towards the depths of the antique market.

  Half an hour later, he was about to reach the end of this street, but still hadn't seen Zhao Menfeng's antique shop: Zixingju.

  He stood by the street for a moment, then turned around and came to a stall.

  "Hey little brother, take a look at what you like on my stand? The goods here are all genuine, the price is fair, and I don't cheat anyone." The stall owner was a middle-aged uncle, who showed a bright and enthusiastic smile when he saw Wang Ke walking over.

  Wang Ke smiled and said, "I'm not buying antiques today. I want to ask you about a store. Do you know where 'Zi Xing Ju' is? I've almost walked the entire street and haven't seen its sign."

  The stall owner's enthusiasm weakened by three points after hearing Wang Ke's words, he pulled out a cigarette, lit it and took two puffs before saying: "Of course I know, I've been doing business on this antique street for over a decade, there's no store or stall that I don't know. Zixingju is not on this street, it's on the next one, you go around from the front entrance, then walk left for 20 meters and you'll be there. Little brother, you look unfamiliar, you probably don't come to the antique market often? If you need anything in the future, come to my stall, I guarantee you'll get a great deal."

  Wang Ke smiled and nodded: "No problem, I also look forward to finding treasures here with you."

  Bid farewell to the boss of the stall, two minutes later, Wang Ke saw the sign of Zixingju about 20-30 meters away. However, what made him feel a little puzzled was that the sign of Zixingju was very small, and the door was not very big either.

  "How can this Zixing House be so small? Previously, Zhao Menfeng was able to quickly identify the artifacts and should be very powerful. Even the prices he quoted were almost accurate, how could a master operate such a small shop? This Zixing House is not even as good as Shang Baoxuan!" Wang Ke's eyebrows furrowed slightly, just about to take a step towards the entrance of Zixing House, when the conversation between two middle-aged men nearby caught his attention, and he didn't take that step.

  "Brother Cao, isn't it strange? The feng shui of this place is not very good, how come it's still not closed down?" said a middle-aged man looking at the signboard of Zixing Inn.

  Another middle-aged man next to him nodded and said, "Yes! I've been secretly puzzled all these years. Logically speaking, the Feng Shui layout of this self-occupied house is clearly a wealth-dispelling trend, but why can it last for so many years? It's a well-known fact in our Feng Shui circle that 'mountains govern people and water governs wealth.' However, the Feng Shui layout of this self-occupied house occupies all five elements - metal, wood, fire, earth - yet lacks only water. This kind of Feng Shui terrain will ultimately lead to complete loss, no matter how much money the boss invests. How did this self-occupied house manage to survive?"

  "Alas, this self-occupied Zhao Lao and I are also old acquaintances. Ten years ago, I carefully studied the feng shui layout of this building with a compass, and told him all my thoughts. This scattered wealth trend will inevitably lead to poverty, but he just smiled mysteriously at me, then ignored it and continued as usual. It's already a miracle that these years have not gone bankrupt." The middle-aged man surnamed Cao sighed.

  "Is there something special about this building? Otherwise, it shouldn't be. You're familiar with Old Zhao, is he also a master of Feng Shui?" Liu asked in puzzlement.

  "This I know, Old Zhao is quite knowledgeable about Feng Shui, but there's one thing that puzzles me. Sometimes when I discuss Feng Shui with him, he becomes deep in thought and doesn't speak, and sometimes he even makes some strange movements." said the middle-aged man surnamed Cao.

  "Never mind, let's not talk about this issue anymore. This Feng Shui layout is the worst of the worst. Although Zhao Lao's shop has not gone bankrupt all these years, the business situation is not very good either. Otherwise, the storefront would have changed long ago. Come on, come on, let's go to my place for a drink."

  Wang Ke stood quietly not far away, a strange expression floating on his face.

  Feng Shui Layout?

  Feng Shui Master?

  Listening to these two middle-aged men, they are quite knowledgeable about Feng Shui!

  Zhao Menfeng's skills are something I've witnessed myself, but over the years, his business has remained small, could it really be because of the poor feng shui of this ancient building?

  Watching the two middle-aged men leave, Wang Ke quietly pondered for a moment before lifting his legs and walking towards the gate of Zixing House. He didn't understand Feng Shui at all, so he couldn't see its subtleties.