Chapter 82: The Black Market for Antiques (Part 2)

  Driver Ah Chao drove the car to a relatively remote place under Ma Tu's guidance. There was an abandoned factory there, and the gate looked very dilapidated, but there was still an old man who looked deaf and blind guarding the door.

  Chu Chen originally thought they would enter through the front gate, but Ma Tu Zi had them drive to the factory's back door instead. At this point, Ma Tu Zi asked Zhao Qi Rui for a previously prepared ID card, and then came to the back door, where he knocked in a rhythmic pattern of one long, three short, two long, and two short knocks.

  After half a bell, someone opened a small window on the door and shouted:

  "Who is it?"

  Ma Tuizi didn't answer, but instead directly handed the ID card through the small window.

  "Look, Zhao Qirui explained with a smile in the car: 'Don't underestimate this detail, the knock on the door is a different code each time, and if Ma Tuizi answered just now, it means he has a problem.'"

  Chu Chen was stunned after hearing it, but thinking about it, such things are indeed illegal, and being careful with safety is also normal.

  Since it's illegal, does the buyer have any responsibility? This question was also explained by Zhao Qirui on the road. Generally, for things like this at an auction, the buyer is basically not responsible and just needs to return the item, and if they have some power, they can even get their money back.

  Of course, this is only for ordinary people or those with some power. For someone like Zhao Qirui with a strong background, the police would at most ask a few questions and wouldn't take back what they've already taken.

  After a while, the person inside handed out the ID card from the small window again. Ma Tuizi hurriedly ran back to the car and returned the ID card to Zhao Qirui. At this time, Chu Chen discovered that an blue stamp had been stamped on the ID card.

  At this moment, the back door of the factory was opened, and Ah Chao saw it, immediately driving in.

  After getting out of the car, Chu Chen found that there were already more than a dozen cars parked around him, and among them were luxury cars. Especially one Hummer, its domineering appearance made Chu Chen's blood boil with excitement.

  Zhao Qirui, who was standing beside him, smiled and said, "How is it, Little Chu? You like the Hummer? Now that you have money, it's indeed time to consider buying a car."

  Chu Chen thought so too, especially in his line of work, and especially when going to nearby places to dig houses, having a car would undoubtedly make things much easier. So he smiled and replied:

  "I like Hummer, but just looking at it is enough. If I drive it myself, it would be too showy. But now I don't know how to drive a car, so even if I buy one, it's useless."

  "This is easy, next time I'll introduce you to a friend, as long as you're not stupid, within a week, you can learn and get certified, guaranteed. As for the car, when the time comes, let Ah Chao take you to Auto City to take a look, it's definitely cheap." Zhao Qirui smiled.

  "Then thank you, Zhao Ge."

  Then, the three followed Ma Tu to a dilapidated factory gate, and there were two strong men at the gate. Chu Chen was surprised, could it be that they still wanted to check their identities? This was being too cautious.

  However, he then saw that Ah Chao opened the suitcase in his hand and showed it to the two men. The suitcase was filled with nothing but a large amount of red tickets.

  Then Ma Tuizi opened the flashlight he was carrying with him and led the three people into that old abandoned factory.

  As they looked around, the factory was very dimly lit. Except for the path they walked on, which was relatively clean, everywhere else was covered in thick dust or piled with miscellaneous items. When they reached the end, another door blocked their way, making Chu Chen think to himself that this was completely like an underground worker's hideout.

  It was another rhythmic knock on the door, and the person inside opened it. At this time, Ma Tuizi immediately nodded and bowed to let them go first.

  As soon as they entered, Chu Chen felt that several gazes were staring at them, but it was only for a moment before they withdrew. This eerie feeling made his heart somewhat tense.

  The brightness in the house is better than before, but it's still relatively dim with those small light bulbs. Chuyan was worried about the limited conditions here, but unexpectedly, there are air conditioners installed, and it seems that the organizers have also considered this carefully.

  But thinking about it, those who can come here are either rich or noble. In the summer, such basic conditions must be prepared, otherwise, in a room that is not too big, with so many people, it's hard to say whether they will suffer from heatstroke or not, and the air quality will definitely be noticeably poor.

  In front of the room, on the left side, there was a corner with another door, which should also be for safety reasons. The furnishings in the room were quite simple, with a long table at the very front, on which were placed a pile of bottles and jars, as well as some calligraphy and paintings. However, from afar, the quality was really not impressive, at least Chuyan didn't have much interest in such things.

  At this time, Chu Chen felt strange in his heart. Could it be that this was the thing to be auctioned off at the antique black market? It shouldn't be, right? Something like this, how could it attract people to flock to it? Maybe there were still some things that hadn't been brought out yet.

  Under the long table were several rows of old-fashioned benches, and at this time, there were already several people sitting on the benches.

  Zhao Qirui led everyone to a position that was not too close to the front and then smiled, "Let's sit here, it's not interesting if we're too close."

  The seats were arranged quite openly, so there was no need to worry about running into others. However, Chu Chen had good eyesight and after scanning the surroundings, he could basically see everyone's faces clearly. Of course, there wouldn't be anyone he recognized among them. No, actually, there was someone he knew, and upon seeing this person, his eyebrows furrowed involuntarily.

  Zhao Qirui raised his eyes and saw Chu Chen's expression, somewhat strangely asked: "Xiao Chu, what's wrong? Is there a problem?"

  "No problem at all, but I saw a familiar face, didn't expect him to be here too." Chu Chen pointed to someone sitting in the front right.

  Zhao Qirui looked in the direction he was pointing and his face immediately turned ugly: "Hmph! So it's those two!"

  The person who made both of them feel uncomfortable was none other than Qian Changxing, a man with an extremely narrow mind. Sitting next to him was a young man in his early twenties, and judging from Zhao Qirui's expression, he probably didn't have a good impression of this young man either.

  Those two men probably felt that Chuyan and the others were looking at them, so they also turned their heads around. The young man saw Zhao Qirui and smiled slightly, while Qian Changxing was expressionless, but with Chuyan's keen eyesight, he still caught a glimpse of the flash of anger in Qian Changxing's eyes.

  "Huh? Isn't that Yu Shao?" said Ma Tuizi, who was sitting on one side.

  "Hey, Yu Shao!"

  Zhao Qirui said with disdain, while Ma Tu saw this and immediately knew that he had a bad impression of Yu Shao. He quickly closed his mouth, and Chu Chen was curious, but it wasn't good to ask too much at this time either.

  Everyone waited a little longer, and several people came in one after another. These people were also paired up like Chu Chen and the others. So far, Chu Chen hadn't seen anyone who had come to participate in the auction alone.

  At this time, a woman with a lot of charm came to the front of the stage and smiled all over her face: "Hello everyone, because of well-known reasons, I won't introduce much, let's get straight to the point. The first thing to be auctioned is what's on this table, if you need it, please come up and take a look."

  Upon hearing this, Zhao Qirui smiled softly and said: "I'm not interested in this thing, little Chu, are you?"

  Chu Chen shook his head, if he wanted to buy such things, it would be better to go to Panjiayuan, why bother coming to this antique black market.

  After a moment of silence, someone started to go on stage to watch. Seeing this, another three or four people also went up to observe in a circle, but overall, there were not many people who were interested.

  When everyone returned to their seats, the woman began the formal auction.

  The first item to be auctioned was a painting. The woman introduced the painter, praising him as being one of a kind in heaven and earth, implying that not buying this work would be a huge loss. However, the starting price was only 5,000 yuan, which made Chu Chen shake his head and smile wryly.

  However, it was clear that no one liked the painting. The woman called out several times, but in the end, there was still no response. She had to put away the painting with a disappointed look on her face, as if everyone present had suffered a great loss.

  Chu Chen saw this situation and thought to himself, "If this girl isn't an actress, then it's really a pity. The world would be missing another superstar!"

  Next, the items on the stage were changing one after another, but the people below were all uninterested, and only one or two out of ten transactions were concluded. The whole auction was dull and uneventful, making Chu Chen feel very bored.

  Zhao Qirui saw his appearance and smiled lightly: "Xiao Chu, are you feeling a bit disappointed?"

  Chu Chen nodded and said: "Yes, the scene here is not as lively as I imagined. If the black market is at this level, it's really a bit disappointing."

  The horse beside him heard this and laughed: "Chu Shao, don't worry, the good stuff hasn't arrived yet, now it's just a warm-up. With those things on the stage, can't show the level of our auction? And if that's all, how dare I inform Zhao Zong?"

  Chu Chen also knew this, but felt that the drop was a bit big. After all, the people in the organization are not fools, and they wouldn't have brought out good things at first, and handling him this way probably had some safety factors involved.

  After a round of auction, the woman let everyone take a break for a few minutes. Some people went to the toilet, some chatted with each other, and those who wanted to get some fresh air basically didn't have anywhere to go, after all, outside was just an abandoned factory building.

  During this time, what made Chu Chen a little strange was that Yu Shao actually came over and greeted Zhao Qirui, while Zhao Qirui just replied with a few perfunctory sentences.