Chapter 2: When the Deal Falls Through, Righteousness Remains

  When Xuan Qi arrived at Bao Ta Village, it was already afternoon. In order to rush on the road, he didn't even eat lunch and directly bought two pancakes on the road with mineral water to fill his stomach.

  He rented a motorcycle and came directly to a civilian house on the east side of Bao Ta Village, where he had been before (in his previous life) and still had an impression.

  This family is building a new house, their approach is to directly flatten the mountain behind the old house and build the new one in the back. Because the village is repairing the road, widening it, their old house happens to be right in the middle of the road, so it needs to be demolished.

  Xuan Qi arrived at the door, and the big gate of the house was open. It's like this in the countryside, usually the main gate is not closed during the day.

  Seeing no one in the hall, Xuan Qi shouted loudly at the entrance:

  "Is anyone home?"

  He shouted twice before he saw a 14 or 15-year-old girl coming out of the inner room.

  "Who are you looking for?"

  Xuan Qi rushed over and smiled at her, saying: "Hi, I'm looking for your dad. There's some business I'd like to discuss with him."

  The little girl looked at him in confusion for a long time, seemingly thinking about the credibility of what this big boy, who didn't look much older than herself, had just said.

  "Wait here for a moment, my dad is behind me, I'll call him over."

  After the little girl left, a dark-skinned middle-aged man soon came in from the back door of the house. He was covered in mud and must have just been busy building a house.

  "Son, you're looking for me? What's up?" The middle-aged man asked Xuan Qi in the local dialect.

  "Hello, big brother."

  Xuan Qi used Mandarin instead, although he could speak the local dialect, but he didn't plan to do so. Speaking Mandarin can give people a sense of being from the city, and spending money to buy this bottle makes it even more believable.

  Moreover, Xuan Qi did not intend to reveal that he was also a native of the same county, so as to avoid unnecessary trouble in case others found out about this matter afterwards.

  "It's like this, I heard from others that when your family was digging the earth, you dug up some porcelain, I want to take a look, is it okay?"

  A middle-aged man hesitated on his face.

  Xuan Qi saw the situation and hastily said: "It's like this. My grandfather usually likes to collect these bottles and jars, and since he's about to turn 70, I've been thinking of buying him a special gift. Last time, I happened to hear a classmate from university mention your village, so I came here with the mindset of trying it out."

  The middle-aged man's eyes changed completely as soon as he heard that Xuan Qi was a university student, this idea, the signboard of a university student is still very loud.

  He smiled and said, "Little brother, it's not as mysterious as what's been circulating outside. I did dig up something, but most of it is broken, only one bottle is intact. Follow me, I'll take you to see it. By the way, just call me Old Zhang."

  Xuan Qi followed Old Zhang to a dimly lit small room in the inner house, turned on the light, and saw that the floor was filled with various ceramic fragments, all of which were stuck with yellow mud.

  Overlooking these things, Xuan Qi's eyes fell on the eight-sided jade vase spring bottle in the corner of the wall. The blue and white porcelain emitted a soft glow under the lamp light.

  The bottle doesn't look like much, the county itself is famous for its porcelain and is called "Porcelain City", so many rural families here have a few pieces of porcelain such as vases, digging up something like this at home doesn't seem very impressive.

  Xuan Qi deliberately looked at the fragments on the ground, then shook his head and muttered to himself: "What a pity, they're all shattered. If they weren't broken, they would still be worth some money."

  Old Zhang heard this, and without thinking, picked up the eight-sided bottle from the corner and handed it to Xuan Qi, saying: "Brother, only this bottle is good, take a look at how much it's worth."

  Xuan Qi saw him carrying it so casually, his heart was a bit nervous, afraid that he would accidentally drop the bottle and shatter it, then his plan to get rich would be ruined.

  Xuan Qi suppressed the impulse in his heart, slowly took over the eight-sided bottle, pretended to appraise it, and then nodded, saying: "Old Zhang, you've struck it rich, this bottle is a good thing."

  Old Zhang heard this and suddenly showed a joyful expression on his face: "Really? Younger brother, you know this bottle?"

  Xuan Qi couldn't help but laugh inwardly, Old Zhang, you look honest on the surface, but are actually very astute. However, today, I've decided to buy this bottle.

  Xuan Qi had already thought of a way to buy the bottle from Old Zhang before he came here, and every move he made had its own profound meaning.

  He had long known that this old Zhang, although a peasant, looked stupid and honest on the surface, but in fact he also had the unique cleverness of Chinese peasants. Otherwise, he would not have been able to sell this bottle for a high price of 10,000 yuan at the beginning.

  What I just said was also intentional, in order to win Old Zhang's trust.

  Xuan Qi shook his head and said, "I don't recognize this vase, but I know the craftsmanship of this vase is Qinghua porcelain, it seems to be quite old, it's an antique."

  Old Zhang felt relieved in his heart and smiled on his face after hearing these words. Since he dug up this bottle, he had been thinking about it all the time, asking many people to come and see it, although they all gave him an estimate of its value, but none of them said it as clearly and openly as Xuan Qi did.

  He knew those people were intentionally trying to lowball him, so when they expressed their intention to buy, he flatly refused them all.

  This kid is not bad, quite honest, Old Zhang thought so in his heart.

  Xuan Qi continued: "Old Zhang, I'm telling you, I saw a similar bottle at an auction in the provincial city before. The size is almost the same as this one. Guess how much it was sold for at that time?"

  Old Zhang's eyes lit up: "How much?"

  Xuan Qi stretched out his right hand and made a shape like an "eight".

  Old Zhang hesitated for a moment and guessed: "Eight... eight hundred?"

  Xuan Qi shook his head and said: "8,000! A bottle like this was sold for a high price of 8,000. This is unprecedented."

  Old Zhang's eyes flashed with a hint of wild joy, this price was obviously far beyond his psychological bottom line, and it was also the first time he got an accurate and convincing quote from someone else.

  Xuan Qi's status in his eyes has also been greatly elevated with these words, he is a university student, and at first glance, he looks like the child of a wealthy family, young and having participated in antique auctions, it's really not simple!

  Lao Zhang had no idea that the Xuan Qi family was actually poorer than theirs. The new suit and leather shoes he wore were just bought from a department store to put on a show.

  Xuan Qi told him about the auction, just to establish a price reference standard in his mind, which would subconsciously affect Old Zhang's psychological price. The reason for not pushing it lower was mainly to gain Old Zhang's trust.

  Xuan Qi saw that the timing was almost right, and a hint of shyness appeared on his face. He said: "Old Zhang, I really like this bottle. My main purpose for coming here this time is to see if there's anything suitable. I don't know if you can bear to part with it and sell it to me?"

  Old Zhang hesitated again upon hearing this, looking at Xuan Qi: "This..."

  "Don't worry, the price will definitely satisfy you." Xuan Qi said with a big smile, "To be honest, my grandfather was a professor of history at the university before he retired and now loves to tinker with these ancient things. How about this, Old Zhang, name a price."

  "Little brother, how about you name a price? How much can you give?" Old Zhang kicked the leather ball over.

  Xuan Qi smiled and said, "It's still better for you to set the price. Don't have any psychological burden, we're doing business here, it's about mutual consent, if the deal doesn't work out, then so be it."

  Old Zhang saw him say this and no longer pushed back, saying: "Ten thousand, a fixed price!"

  Xuan Qi heard this and suddenly fell silent.

  He furrowed his brow and remained silent, only constantly staring at the bottle in his hand, turning it over and over again, as if he was engaged in a fierce inner struggle.

  The air around seemed to thicken, making people feel a bit suffocated.

  After a few minutes, Old Zhang finally couldn't bear it anymore: "How about it? If you agree, this bottle is yours."

  Rural people like to stick to their principles, once they are determined about something, they will not easily change. Old Zhang's mindset is also like this, he has already decided that the bottle is worth 10,000, even if you haggle with him for 1,000, he won't agree, and if you haggle with him, he might rather not sell it at all.

  The time has come, Xuan Qi and the others have waited until now, they are just afraid that he will find out that they want to buy this thing, and then ask for a high price. Now that he can't wait any longer and opens his mouth again, it's almost done.

  He said, "To be honest, the price is a bit beyond my psychological budget, but my grandfather's birthday is coming up soon and I won't have time to find such a suitable gift elsewhere... How about this? I'll pick out a few more pieces from these fragments on the ground, add them to this bottle, and make it 10,000 yuan. Will that work?"

  Old Zhang saw him nodding and felt a great relief in his heart, and said very generously: "Okay, you can choose whatever you want!"

  Xuan Qi's words made Old Zhang feel extremely comfortable, as if he had taken advantage of his opponent.

  Xuan Qi carefully selected a few pieces, then asked Old Zhang to pack them in a bag. The bottle was placed in a paper box that Old Zhang had found, and he personally made a suitable long narrow paper box to put it in.

  Lao Zhang originally thought that Xuan Qi was going to withdraw cash temporarily, but he didn't expect Xuan Qi to directly take out a stack of old man's head from his pocket.

  Old Zhang didn't think much about it, and the transaction went smoothly. Both parties were very satisfied, shook hands with each other, and parted ways.

  Xuan Qi hugged these things and walked towards the town, planning to rent a motorcycle later and go directly to the county city before returning.

  He walked to a place where Lao Zhang couldn't see him, threw away those pieces of porcelain, and then quickened his pace. However, he hadn't gone far when he heard someone shouting behind him:

  "Little friend, stop!"

  "The Supreme Demon Master" latest chapter is released by Yunqi Book Club, the fastest and most popular online novel platform! (This site provides: traditional pagination, waterfall two modes, can be selected in settings)