The Master’s Mask Unveiled Again
Chapter 747 - Chapter 747 Chapter 746 Whos the Unlucky Sucker

Chapter 747: Chapter 746: Who’s the Unlucky Sucker? Chapter 747: Chapter 746: Who’s the Unlucky Sucker? Ye Jinwen looked at him with eyes practically glued to the box and joked, “Qimo, why don’t you open it and take a look? Lu Mian definitely won’t say anything.”

Xiao Qimo gave him a sidelong glance, always coming up with bad ideas.

He wasn’t so lacking in taste to actually do that.

Xiao Qimo paused, “Has it been scanned with a scanner?”

“…”

Ye Jinwen looked down on him, he still wanted to know what was inside!

“Right, Qimo, I heard that Grandpa Xiao came over. Is he staying at your place now?”

Xiao Qimo replied coolly, “No. At his age, he doesn’t like being a third wheel.”

Ye Jinwen felt something was off with that remark and felt like it was a dig at him.

So, Qimo, are you complaining that I go to your house too often and turn into your third wheel?

Isn’t it the time for brothers to stick together and help each other out?

Hmph.

“Where is Grandpa Xiao now?”

“He should be chatting and drinking tea with his old friends around this time.”

—-

In an antique calligraphy and painting shop in Wucheng.

The shop was neither big nor small, furnished with several quaint shelves displaying a number of ancient ornaments.

It gave off a sense of historical sediment.

After entering the shop, Xiao Jianli casually examined the items with his hands behind his back. His eyes twinkled as he leisurely glanced over each artifact, comfortable and at ease.

Soon, Xiao Jianli lost interest in these things and his gaze shifted to the calligraphy and paintings hanging on the wall, examining them one by one.

He was fond of old things and had a special sentiment for antiques.

When he was in Jinjing, he often went to flea markets to hunt for bargains. Sometimes he was lucky and found antiques of considerable value.

Of course, this was just a hobby for him.

He had several old friends who were obsessed with antiques, each wearing something that could be worth a fortune.

Xiao Jianli’s eyes rested on a corner of the wall.

If his memory served him right, there used to be a painting hanging there, grand and magnificent.

It was gone this time?

The owner of the antique shop appeared just then.

He was carefully holding an exceptionally well-kept purple clay teapot, bending slightly as he warmly said, “Mr. Xiao, please come and have a cup of tea, my father will be here shortly.”

The owner’s father was an old friend of Xiao Jianli and also a member of the Calligraphy and Painting Association, just like him. Xiao Jianli was just passing by today and decided to drop in for a visit.

Xiao Jianli waved his hand, looking quite amiable, “No need, go about your business, no need to mind me.”

Xiao Jianli often visited Wucheng over the years and would usually stop by this shop, so the owner was quite familiar with him.

“Alright, I’ll leave it here for you.”

The owner set down the teapot, but of course, he wouldn’t really leave Xiao Jianli unattended. He stayed nearby, ready to assist at any moment.

Xiao Jianli wasn’t particularly interested in the items on the shelves, but pointed to an empty spot on the wall and asked, “I remember that the last time I came here, there was a painting hanging here. Where is it now?”

The owner followed his pointing and immediately understood, his face quickly breaking into a smile.

“Yes, it sold a few months ago.”

Xiao Jianli was curious, “Sold to someone outside the circle or someone within the circle?”

“It’s hard to say.” The owner recalled that evening, the transaction had been too memorable, and he blurted out, “That night a young couple came in. The man was quite generous, he immediately offered five hundred thousand.”

Although it’s not openly discussed how much was sold, this was a special case. The boss talked about it with relish for a long time and didn’t avoid Xiao Jianli.

“500,000?” Xiao Jianli’s eyes became strange.

“Yeah! You say they don’t know the business, but they manage to find a genuine piece among my stuff. You say they know the business, yet they readily forked over 500,000.”

“Stop playing the innocent after getting a bargain,” Xiao Jianli said bluntly.

How many genuine things are there in this shop?

Even if that calligraphy and painting was authentic, it’s not worth that much.

I wonder who was so unlucky to become such a big sucker.

But that’s the way the antique calligraphy and painting industry works: once a deal is settled, there’s no regretting after paying the money–it all depends on whether you know your stuff or not.

“You should display more real pieces!”

The boss, with an awkward smile, replied dryly, “Mr. Xiao, you jest. Our real items are all stored in the back, good merchandise is only valuable if it’s shown to those who understand! To those who don’t, even if you tell them, they won’t believe it.”

Xiao Jianli nodded, and just then, the boss’s father, Meng Zhenqing, came back and reached out his hand from afar, warmly shaking hands with Xiao Jianli.

Xiao Jianli shook hands in return.

The boss stepped aside.

“Mr. Xiao, I was guessing you would definitely come to Wucheng this year,” Meng Zhenqing asked with a smile, “What wind blew you my way?”

“Well, I was just passing by and decided to drop in.”

“That’s great. So, have you got any leads on finding that person?”

The two of them were quite familiar with each other and didn’t need those polite formalities.

Xiao Jianli waved his hand, “Don’t ask.”

“Then let’s not talk about it.”

Meng Zhenqing didn’t dwell on the matter either; after all, Mr. Xiao’s search had been going on for more than a year or two now. This quest had nearly become an obsession in his heart, almost as if he wouldn’t rest until he found the person.

What he would do after finding the person, Mr. Xiao couldn’t even say.

However, Meng Zhenqing had reason to suspect that Mr. Xiao was searching for a likable granddaughter-in-law for himself.

Considering his family’s son…

Meng Zhenqing smiled. To get that son married off would be a challenge.

The two did not continue the topic and Xiao Jianli brought up the calligraphy and painting again.

He whispered to Meng Zhenqing, “Your shop is doing really well, even managing to sell off old Lu’s painting for 500,000.”

Meng Zhenqing, somewhat embarrassedly, waved his hand, “You’re making me blush. You can’t tell old Lu about this. I bought it from him for just five yuan, it’d make him utterly miserable.”

“I can’t even meet him, what would I tell him!”

The two laughed with each other and walked towards the inner room.

Even though Xiao Jianli didn’t find the person he was looking for in Wucheng, his mood was still quite good. After sitting down, he began to chat with Meng Zhenqing. “It’s been lively at our place this year, we’ve got an extra person!”

As he said this, there was a triumphant expression in his eyes, identical to that of Xiao Qimo.

The grandfather and grandson duo were indeed similar in certain mannerisms.

Meng Zhenqing paused for a moment, “Oh, is your daughter-in-law having a second child?”

He hadn’t thought in the direction of Xiao Jianli’s grandson at all.

“What second child? My grandson has got a girlfriend.”

“…” Meng Zhenqing was caught off guard. That aloof, single-for-life Mr. Qimo had actually found a girlfriend?

It wasn’t that he was incapable of finding one, it’s just that the girls who could catch the young master’s eye hadn’t been born yet.

Xiao Jianli was in a particularly good mood, especially when he mentioned Lu Mian, his spirit lifted visibly.

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