Chapter 1

Translator: Zayn_

Luochuan city, also known as Luochuan, had more than 5000 years of civilization history and more than 4000 years of urban history. It was one of the birthplaces of Huaxia civilization and the starting point of the Silk Road in the East. In history, 13 dynasties had built their capitals in Luochuan. Until now, the ruins of the five major capital cities were still there. The largest mausoleum group site in Huaxia, the Mangshan Ancient Tombs, were located in Luochuan.

Such a deep historical and cultural heritage had also created a unique historical and cultural atmosphere in Luochuan. Luochuan was famous for “digging three feet and finding treasure”. Since ancient times, it had been a gathering place for all kinds of cultural relics dealers. This had also led to the prosperity of the Luochuan Antique Market. Just like how people in Beijing talked about politics, when they came to Luochuan, all they heard was about antiques.

“Brother Gang, help me look after the stall. I’m going to the toilet.” At a street stall in the antique market in Luochuan, behind a stall full of all kinds of bronze wares, Su Xiaofan, who had just turned 20, was a little restless.

Su Xiaofan wasn’t in a hurry, but his right eyelid was twitching violently. The last time he had encountered such a situation was when he was in fifth grade when he was eleven. At that time, in order to complete the homework given by his teacher to do good deeds like Lei Feng, Su Xiaofan had insisted on carrying an eighty-year-old woman who had just crossed the road back and even fallen off a horse. As a result, he had been chased by the old lady’s grandson for three streets. If he wasn’t familiar with the terrain, he would have certainly been beaten up.

“You’re so young, but you already have kidney problems. You’ve gone to the toilet three times.” Brother Gang, who was at the stall next to him, scolded him with a smile and waved his hand to signal for Su Xiaofan to come back quickly.

Brother Gang’s full name was Zheng Dagang. He was in his early 30s. His family was an old landowner near the antique market. When the antique market was demolished and expanded, his old house was occupied, and in return, he was compensated with 12 commercial houses. So, Brother Gang became the second generation landowner. The family lived in two houses and rented out the remaining ten houses. Zheng Dagang, who had been interested in antiques since he was a child, quit his job and went to the antique market to start a business.

There were fixed stalls and shops in the antique market, but Zheng Dagang liked to manage his stall and talk to people. After a while, he became familiar with Su Xiaofan, who also set up a free stall. There were seven days in a week, and the two of them hung out six days. Su Xiaofan did not open his stall on Sunday, saying that he was going home to take care of his sister.

The toilet was in the antique market. After passing through the fixed stalls, Su Xiaofan went to the innermost toilet to relieve himself, lit a cigarette, and chatted with the nearby stall owner for a while before slowly walking back. He was still mumbling in his heart that he had not helped anyone since he was eleven. His eyelids were twitching weirdly today. He had to pack up and go home soon.

“Eh? What are those people doing?” After leaving the antique market, Su Xiaofan saw four or five people standing in front of his stall. He was stunned when he saw one of them. He shrank his head and was about to turn back, but it was too late.

“Little Fan, did you splash the water into the Pacific Ocean? You took so long to come back?” The sharp-eyed Brother Gang saw Su Xiaofan and shouted at him, “Come here quickly. There’s business. Are you still doing business?”

“Brother Gang, I… I’m having a stomach ache.” Seeing the people in front of the stall turn around, Su Xiaofan couldn’t help but complain inwardly, but it was too late to run, so he could only brace himself and walk over.

“Aiyo, big brother, it’s you. Why do I feel like I heard magpies chirping as soon as I went out today? It turns out that an important guest has come.” Su Xiaofan quickened his steps and greeted one of them with a bright smile.

Su Xiaofan, who had just lost his childishness, was very good-looking. He was 1.82 meters tall and had sharp brows and bright eyes. When he smiled, he had the shyness of a big boy. He was the only one in the antique city with such looks. The young girls who accompanied their elders to the antique city loved to hang out at Su Xiaofan’s stall.

“Magpie? Are you sure you didn’t hear crows when you went out?” The man Su Xiaofan called “big brother” was in his forties. He wasn’t tall and had a buzz cut, but his eyes were bright and he had a faint smile on his face as he stared at Su Xiaofan.

“How could that be? When big brother comes, it’ll definitely be the sound of a magpie.” Su Xiaofan walked to his stall and took out a pack of cigarettes. He skillfully flicked a few out and gave them to the people in front of him. “Big brother, you’re here to help me with my business again?”

“That’s right. Let’s clean up the stall and talk in the back.” The middle-aged man nodded and said, “The sun is so hot. Let’s find a teahouse to sit down.”

“Don’t, big brother. I just set up my stall not long ago. I haven’t even sold anything yet.” Su Xiaofan looked at the expressionless middle-aged man and couldn’t help but shiver. He could smell that the people in front of him had a lingering smell of dirt. Su Xiaofan had roughly guessed this person’s identity during the last deal.

“Xiaofan, brothers, what’s going on?” Zheng Dagang, who was next to them, realized that something was wrong. He had thought that these people were interested in the items at Su Xiaofan’s stall, but when Su Xiaofan talked to the middle-aged man, he immediately understood that these people had come with ill intentions.

Su Xiaofan had been in the antique market for two years, and Zheng Dagang had always treated him as his little brother. Now that he was in trouble, he naturally wouldn’t back down. He took a step forward and stood in front of Su Xiaofan, saying, “Big brothers, let’s talk this out. Xiaofan is still young. If he has offended you in any way, I’ll apologize on his behalf.”

“There’s nothing much, but I still have a business deal I want to make with him.” The leading middle-aged man shook his head and said, The last time I received an item from him, he said it was from the Western Zhou Dynasty. I spent 8000 Yuan on it, but was it even real? Do you think he should give me an explanation?”

“Oh, so that’s what happened.”

Hearing the middle-aged man’s words, Zheng Dagang heaved a sigh of relief. “Brother, you look like an expert. Bronze is a cultural relic that is prohibited from being traded. If he dares to put it on his stall, he will be arrested in less than ten minutes. How can he have an antique from Western Zhou? That is a national treasure. In my opinion, one is willing to sell and the other is willing to buy. You can’t blame Xiao Fan for this.”

As he spoke, Zheng Dagang couldn’t help but smile. What kind of place was the antique market? It was a place full of lies. Any random stall owner would dare to blow the spittoon on his stall as if it had been used by the Emperor of Qianlong. It was normal for Su Xiaofan to introduce the items on his stall like this.

Especially for temporary stalls like Su Xiaofan and him, they would not be responsible for the things after they left their hands. If there was no invoice, there would be no three guarantees. Since the items sold at the stall weren’t expensive, and the people who came to buy things were just for fun, they basically all knew that the items were fake. Therefore, Zheng Dagang had never seen anyone look back for them in more than ten years. However, the shops in the antique market would have some disputes from time to time.

Moreover, even if they made a scene, Zheng Dagang wasn’t afraid. Although these people in front of him looked fierce, Zheng Dagang was a local resident. He had been in the antique market since he wore open-crotch pants. If the other party wanted to be unreasonable, Zheng Dagang could call over half of the market’s stall owners with a shout. These four or five people in front of him were really not enough.

“I don’t buy my things from stalls.” The middle-aged man waved his hand at Zheng Dagang and said, “Brother, he knows what happened. I just want to have a chat with him. Don’t worry, this is your territory. I won’t cause trouble here.”

“Eh? What’s going on?” Zheng Dagang turned around and looked at Su Xiaofan. “Did you sell your artwork as an old item? That’s not in line with the rules of our world.”

Zheng Dagang had known Su Xiaofan for a few years and knew his situation. He knew that Su Xiaofan was born in the famous bronze village in Luochuan city, and the biggest and most important rule of the bronze village was that the bronze they made could not be sold as genuine, and they had to tell the customers that it was a handicraft.

If anyone broke this rule, the old man who founded the bronze village would not show any mercy. He would either expel them from the village or send them to the police station. As the saying went, money could move people’s hearts. In the past few decades, it was not that no one had been tempted, but they were all sent to the police station by the old man. The most severe one was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Since then, no one dared to break this rule.

In the antique business, you could boast when you bought something from a stall, but a person’s judgment was their own. No one dared to put real bronze ware on a stall, and those who bought and sold them knew that the items were fake. But if Su Xiaofan sold them in private, Zheng Dagang couldn’t guarantee that he didn’t break the rules. It was common to smuggle cultural relics in Luochuan. With Su Xiaofan’s craftsmanship, it was difficult for ordinary people to distinguish the authenticity.

“I didn’t break any rules.” Hearing Zheng Dagang’s words, Su Xiaofan was a little anxious and quickly said, “Big brother, didn’t I tell you that I couldn’t see through the item? It could be a handcraft, and you were the one who insisted on buying it. How can you come back and ask for a refund now?”

“But the receipt you gave me said it was from Western Zhou.” The middle-aged man’s eyes widened and he took out a receipt from his pocket. He felt a little awkward. He had been in this line of work for more than 20 years, but he did not expect to be defeated by a young man.

“A receipt?” Zheng Dagang was stunned for a moment and immediately turned around to glare at Su Xiaofan. This kid usually looked like a monkey, how could he make a mistake at this moment? How could they give someone a receipt in their line of work, and even indicate the year? Wasn’t he just waiting for someone to settle the bill?

“Big brother, you must be mistaken. When did I give you a receipt for Western Zhou item?” Su Xiaofan smiled wryly and gestured at the receipt in the middle-aged man’s hand, indicating Zheng Dagang to take a look.

“Huh? This… This is four- four weeks?” Zheng Dagang didn’t take the receipt with his hand. He just used his hand to shelter his head from the afternoon sun. He glanced at the receipt and couldn’t help laughing. He was wondering why Su Xiaofan would leave such a handle for others. It turned out that he had dug a hole for the other party with the receipt.