Chapter Thirty-Nine Sympathy

  The gentle morning breeze brings a refreshing breath of air, making one feel invigorated and uplifted. Occasionally, a few sparrows linger on the branches, adding to the vibrant vitality of spring.

  With a plastic bag in hand and a Wang Ke pastry in the other, he ate while hurrying to the antique trading market. Yesterday's heroic act had made him aware that many people would remember him, so he was secretly planning to keep an extremely low profile for the next few days, trying his best to make others forget about him.

  He was so anxious to come to Changji City, but it was because he was too famous. As a result, on the antique street, no one was willing to sell him the items on their stalls.

  Keeping a low profile is the right way; making a fortune without showing off is the royal way.

  This is Wang Ke's definition of life in his heart.

  Half an hour later, Wang Ke returned the clothes to Cheng Renjie and hastily walked into Zixing House.

  Zhao Menfeng, who was sitting at the counter, raised his eyelids and glanced at Wang Ke, his gaze sweeping over the plastic bag in his hand before slowly standing up and asking, "I heard you were a hero yesterday?"

  Wang Ke was stunned, he didn't think that yesterday's rescue would actually reach Zhao Menfeng's ears, a smile appeared on his face, Wang Ke nodded and said: "Coincidentally passing by there. Old Zhao, I have an antique here, can you appraise it for me, is this really a genuine antique?"

  Zhao Meng looked at Wang Ke in surprise, watching as he pulled out a copper Buddha statue from the plastic bag. Only then did he reach out to take it, his face expressionless as he asked, "Where did this thing come from?"

  Wang Ke said: "The man who jumped into the river yesterday, later he insisted on inviting me to his home for lunch, so after I arrived at his home, I..."

  After telling Zhao Menfeng about the events of yesterday in great detail, Wang Ke smiled and said: "I really dare not confirm whether this is a genuine antique or not, so I brought it over for you to appraise."

  Zhao Menfeng gazed at the bronze Buddha statue with a hint of stupidity in his eyes, slowly raised his head and fell on Wang Ke's face, stupidly asking: "You bought this thing mainly because you want to give it to that jumping river beggar?"

  Wang Ke's face changed, and he said in a deep voice: "Old Zhao, what I did was not alms, but my heartfelt intention. I think that Li brother who jumped into the river is worthy of my help, and isn't there this bronze Buddha statue? Maybe good people will be rewarded, and I can make a profit from this item! Risk and profit have always been interdependent. Besides, Li brother is not a useless person, everyone makes mistakes, and being able to correct them is what makes a real man. I think he's a person with good character."

  Openly offending Zhao Menfeng, Wang Ke had a thread of worry in his heart, but he was not afraid. After contacting Zhao Menfeng, he didn't think Zhao Menfeng was a narrow-minded person. He said this, probably with another meaning.

  As soon as Wang Ke's words fell, an old man with a thin build and dark skin rushed into the gate from the main entrance. The old man's eyes were filled with tears, and he was holding a bundle wrapped in a floral cloth in his arms.

  "Mr. Zhao, please... take a look at this item and tell me how much it's worth? I'm in urgent need of money, my son is still on the operating table and if we don't have 140,000 yuan, they won't perform the surgery. Please, I beg you, take a look at this thing and see if it's an antique or not. Can you buy it for 140,000?" The old man's face, full of wrinkles, was filled with hopeful color.

  Zhao Menfeng didn't reach out to take the wooden fish handed over by the old man, but instead turned his head to look at Wang Ke and said: "You take a look! This thing...hmm!"

  Wang Ke's eyebrows slightly furrowed, he had a feeling that something was off about Zhao Menfeng today.

  After hesitating for a moment, Wang Ke finally reached out and took the wooden fish.

  The wooden fish is shaped like a carp, with a hollow abdomen and an opening in the middle of its head. The tail is curled around, giving it a raised-head-and-tucked-in-tail appearance. The back (the striking surface) is sloping, with two triangular sides and an elliptical bottom. The diameter of the front face is about 20 cm, and the overall color is dark brown with hints of reddish-brown. The wooden mallet has an olive-shaped head, on which are carved coiled dragon patterns that seem to come alive.

  "It's slightly heavy, the color is somewhat dark, the carving craftsmanship is exquisite, and it feels slightly cool to the touch, with a good texture. The back of the wooden fish is slightly concave, clearly formed by years of knocking. This thing has an 80% chance of being a genuine antique." Wang Ke thought to himself.

  "Hey, young man, do you think this is a genuine antique or not? My son's surgery money is still waiting!" The old man looked at Wang Ke with anticipation, hoping to hear the evaluation he wanted.

  His gaze returned from the wooden fish, Wang Ke looked at Zhao Menfeng, after all, whether it was a genuine antique or not, he really didn't dare to confirm!

  "Don't look at me, this is just a small test for you. How much it's worth, you estimate yourself, even if you can't afford it, it has nothing to do with me, if you want to buy it then buy it, if not then forget it, I'm not interested." Zhao Menfeng glanced at Wang Ke and walked towards the chair behind the counter.

  Wang Ke's eyebrows furrowed slightly, and suddenly, he had an idea: he couldn't be 100% sure if this was an antique or not, but he could use his special ability to observe it and see if it was a magical artifact! If the wooden fish was a magical artifact, then it must be an antique. If it wasn't a magical artifact, then he could just decline and that would be that.

  As he thought of this, he immediately mobilized his true energy and slowly gathered it to his own eyes. After the slight pain disappeared, a milky white gas appeared on the wooden fish in front of Wang Ke. This gas was originally flowing along a special trajectory, but when he looked at it with his heterochromatic eyes, the white gas suddenly stopped following its original trajectory, as if it had gained spirituality and struggled to pounce towards his eyes.

  It's the law!

  Wang Ke's heart was filled with joy, and after swiftly cutting off the true energy, he raised his head and said to the old man: "Old sir, this wooden fish is indeed an antique, and it's not just an antique, but also a magical instrument. As for the price, I dare not confirm, but you just mentioned that your son needs 140,000 yuan for surgery, so I'll give you 140,000 yuan. If you're willing to sell it to me, I'll take you to get the money right now, and we can make a deal on the spot. How about it?"

  The old man's face showed a look of surprise, and he nodded vigorously without hesitation, excitedly saying: "Good good good, then we'll exchange money for goods, thank you to this young brother, you are my benefactor! You are the benefactor of my son! I represent my son, representing our whole family, thanking you."

  "Foolish!"

  Behind the counter, Zhao Menfeng let out a cold hum, and a low voice came over.

  Wang Ke's expression froze for a moment, and his eyes showed a puzzled look.

  What's going on?

  Why did Zhao Lao say that he was foolish? Didn't he recognize that this was a ritual vessel? Or did he think the price he offered was too high?

  Forget it, this old man urgently needs money, even if the price he gave is a bit higher than his own, he will absolutely not lose much. Being able to buy such a treasure also counts as passing Zhao Mengfeng's test, right?

  Thinking of this, Wang Ke filtered out the words Zhao Mengfeng had just said and looked at the old man saying: "Old master, let's go! To the bank."

  The old man's face was filled with a radiant smile, but after Zhao Meng said those two words, his expression turned strange. His dim and cloudy eyes slowly narrowed as he carefully examined Wang Qi from head to toe several times before suddenly shaking his head and saying: "Forget it, I don't want to sell this wooden fish anymore. I can sense that you're cheating me. If this were a magical artifact, its price would definitely be higher than what you offered. Thank you for helping me appraise it, young man. I'll go take a look at other shops and bid you farewell."

  After saying this, he reached out and grabbed the wooden fish from Wang Ke's hand, turned around and walked towards the gate of Zixing Residence.

  Wang Ke was stunned by this sudden change.

  What's going on?

  Isn't this old man saying that his son is still on the operating table waiting for surgery? Isn't he in urgent need of money? And it's 140,000 yuan, how can he suddenly not sell it?

  Or rather, he never intended to sell the artifact at all, but instead went to other shops to get a free appraisal, just like what he did some time ago.

  Wang Ke's face showed a look of shame and anger, staring fiercely at the old man's back as he quickly walked away.

  Zhao Men walked out of the counter with a calm and collected expression, even with a hint of mockery in his eyes. He said indifferently: "What's wrong? The cooked duck is about to fall into your hands, but it suddenly flew away, isn't that uncomfortable? I'm telling you, kid, do you understand the business of antiques and artifacts? That old man came to sell antiques, but you bluntly told him it was an artifact. Tsk, tsk, can the price of antiques be compared with artifacts? Did your brain get watered yesterday?"

  Wang Ke smiled awkwardly and said, "Old Zhao, I was wrong. The reason I gave him a price of 1.4 million was because the old man said his son urgently needed money on the operating table, so..."

  Zhao Menfeng waved his hand to interrupt Wang Ke's words, coldly smiling: "It's precisely because of this reason that you can't even estimate the approximate price, and yet you gave him 140,000? Foolish, I've never seen anyone as foolish as you. Don't forget what industry you're about to enter - it's antiques, it's artifacts. In this line of work, if you want to make a fortune, you have to rely on your own genuine skills and successfully snag a bargain to earn big money."

  "If I were you, if I could confirm that the old man just brought out was a treasure, I would tell him without hesitation that it's just an ordinary antique, barely worth a few thousand or tens of thousands of yuan. When the old man is disappointed, use flowery language to deceive him into selling the treasure to me, and then resell it at a high price, earning countless times the difference."

  Zhao Menfeng's face was even more furious, and he shouted: "Do you think you are kind? Do you think you are helping him? What's the result? You also see what happened to you! When others heard it was a magic weapon, they turned around and left without hesitation. This is like trying to scoop water with a bamboo basket, all your efforts were in vain."

  "Are you kind? In the antique and artifact circles, there are countless deceitful businessmen who will take advantage of your pitiful kindness, cheating you to the point where you won't even have pants left. If that old man just now was holding a high-quality imitation artifact, you still can't be 100% certain that it's a genuine artifact. Are you going to follow your conscience and buy it from him for $140,000, just like how you couldn't even tell if that shocking copper Buddha statue was authentic?"

  "I..."

  Wang Ke couldn't help but secretly smile wryly in his heart, he understood that Zhao Men Feng had struck a chord with him. If it weren't for the heterochromatic eyes, perhaps... perhaps out of sympathy, he would have bought it too?

  Zhao Menfeng glared at Wang Ke, who was trying to explain himself, and said in a deep voice again: "In the antique world and the law enforcement world, dragons and snakes are mixed together, and all kinds of people are present. Countless people take advantage of the buyer's poor judgment, using various methods, even the 'immortal jump' can be used, to deceive you kind-hearted people into a miserable state. Isn't that man who jumped into the river just an example of this?"

  Zhao Menhong finished speaking, perhaps realizing his tone was too heavy, and let out a sigh before continuing in a serious and heartfelt manner:

  "This is a society where you have to be constantly on guard against others, because every time you let your guard down, you will pay a painful price. I hope you can learn from this and listen to me, if you want to thrive in the antique and artifact world in the future, you need to adapt to this treacherous industry and put away that pitiful sympathy of yours."