Chapter 115: The Contest

Li Yong truly regretted it deeply. His tactics only worked against poor people without money or influence; dealing with the wealthy was an entirely different matter, and he’d been foolish to think otherwise.

This was no time to plot further schemes to extort money later. Li Yong was no fool—after what had just happened, he realized he wouldn’t get a single cent. Any further attempts might very well be the end of him in Jin City.

The man who had sliced off Li Yong’s fingertip smiled at Zhang Can and said, “Boss Zhang, let’s go. No need to worry about this guy. We’ve never encountered a situation like this before. Usually, when we deal with people, they’re right and we’re wrong. But today, this fellow was trying to extort us. Normally, if we’d really crushed him hard, he wouldn’t dare make a fuss. If he called the police, he’d be looking at at least five or six years behind bars. Two million is no small sum!”

Lying in the grass, clutching his hand in pain, Li Yong heard this and understood. They weren’t bluffing—if things went public, he’d end up in jail too. The only option was to slink back home in defeat.

“Get in the car, we’re leaving!” the man invited Zhang Can aboard. The matter was nearly settled. Li Yong lay there like a dead dog, half his courage scared away. No matter how brave he was, he wouldn’t dare show his face again at the Old Stone Studio.

Zhang Can guessed Li Yong was shaken enough and said no more. Once in the car, the leader climbed in and cheerfully asked, “Boss Zhang, do you think we handled this well?”

Zhang Can nodded. It was indeed satisfactory—they had punished Li Yong, scared him off, and caused no fatal harm. It achieved the desired effect. Smiling, Zhang Can pulled out two bundles of cash he’d prepared when he arrived—twenty thousand yuan.

“Brothers, just have a casual meal on me. Here’s twenty thousand for some fun!”

The man accepted the money with a grin and said, “Actually, Boss Zhu already paid part of it. I won’t keep that from you, Boss Zhang.”

Zhang Can replied calmly, “Doesn’t matter. Consider it making friends. It’s not much money anyway.”

“Straight shooter!” The man gave a thumbs-up. “I like your style, Boss Zhang. Young, but big-hearted!”

Zhang Can smiled faintly and said nothing further. When the car returned to the city, he pointed to the roadside. “Stop here. I’ll walk back to the shop.”

The man immediately told the driver to pull over and politely invited Zhang Can out, smiling as he greeted him. The Old Stone Studio was just six or seven minutes’ walk away, so he didn’t try to persuade him otherwise.

Zhang Can had no desire for these men to appear at the shop. Their presence might lead to slip-ups, or at the least frighten his sister and Liu Xiaoqin and the others. It was better to part ways in advance.

Strolling back to the Old Stone Studio like on a casual walk, Zhang Can pondered how to explain things, only to find Zhu Senlin inside, cheerfully chatting with an old man. Zhang Hua and the two girls, Liu Xiaoqin and Liu Xiaoli, were listening attentively.

As soon as Zhu saw Zhang Can enter, he stood up and smilingly said to the old man, “Brother Gu, this is the young Zhang I told you about, Zhang Can. He’s my partner—and truly a master among masters!”

The phrase “master among masters” carried weight. Zhu’s words made the old man’s eyes sharpen as he scrutinized Zhang Can.

Zhu quickly added, “Little brother, this is the master I invited—surname Gu, given name Jiulong. He’s famous in Jin City. I’ve tried to hire him before, but never managed to get him to come!”

Zhang Can nodded and greeted, “Greetings, Master Gu.”

Gu Jiulong studied Zhang Can for a while. He had heard Zhu’s praise—that Zhang Can was a rare appraisal expert. Frankly, he was skeptical. After all, Zhang Can was only about twenty-four or twenty-five years old. How could such a young man have mastered profound techniques?

Now that he saw him in person, the saying “hearing is not as good as seeing” rang true. Zhang Can looked even younger than expected. Gu Jiulong specialized in antiques, especially valuing age—not just in items but in people. Such skills required time and innate talent; they couldn’t simply be learned overnight. So he didn’t believe Zhang Can was any sort of “master among masters.”

Perhaps Zhu was just not a master himself, or maybe Zhang Can was simply lucky. Sometimes luck is a gambler’s fortune.

Gu Jiulong had another reason for coming to the Old Stone Studio. Recently, Zhu had dealt with him a lot and offered many extremely valuable treasures. This was incredible to Gu Jiulong because the kinds of items Zhu had obtained were rare beyond reach—treasures one could hardly expect to see, let alone acquire. How had Zhu gotten so many in such a short time?

Upon questioning Zhu further, Gu learned these treasures were all procured by Zhang Can, Zhu’s partner. That sparked Gu’s curiosity, leading him to accept Zhu’s invitation to work at the Old Stone Studio.

After shaking hands with Zhang Can, Gu Jiulong kept his gaze fixed on him. Zhang Can was quite ordinary-looking—not unattractive, but hardly handsome. Yet there was a peculiar aura about him, as if nothing could disturb his composure.

“I heard from Old Zhu that you’re a master. I’ve spent my life appraising things and love meeting true experts, heh heh…” Gu smiled without fully smiling, then invited Zhang Can to sit. “Boss Zhang, sit down and let’s talk. Since Old Zhu says you’re a master, let’s spar a bit and discuss appraisal techniques!”

Zhang Can spread his hands and smiled wryly. “Master Gu, I’m just lucky. I’m nowhere near as incredible as Old Zhu says—no master, no master at all.”

Zhang Can’s lack of arrogance intrigued the old man. He seemed steadier and more mature than most young men.

Gu Jiulong wasted no time. Placing both hands flat on the table, he said, “Boss Zhang, let’s not use the shop’s items for this test—that’s too easy. Look at what I’m wearing. Tell me how many are genuine and how many are fake.”

Zhang Can chuckled and casually glanced at Gu Jiulong. In an instant, a black-and-white world flickered before his eyes, and it took barely any time at all. Gu couldn’t detect any flaws. Even if he noticed something odd in Zhang’s eyes, he wouldn’t have known the secret. Zhang Can’s brief use of this ability was imperceptible from the outside.

Gu revealed his upper body over the tea table. He wore at least seven or eight pieces of jewelry—rings and chains. His fingers alone bore seven rings: five on the left hand and three on the right (middle, ring, and little fingers). The rings were gold, silver, and diamond-studded. On his left thumb was a pure green jade thumb ring.

Zhang Can glanced again at Gu Jiulong, who stared intently, as if testing whether Zhang was as extraordinary as Zhu claimed.

Gu did not believe hearsay; there’s truth in “seeing is believing.” Without firsthand proof, one cannot be certain.

Gu used his own jewelry to test Zhang Can because, in his mind, if Zhang’s previous acquisitions could be chalked up to luck, then there was no way luck could explain these items on Gu himself.

Looking at the jewelry, Zhang Can noted seven rings on Gu’s hands and a thick gold necklace around his neck. He paused thoughtfully and then smiled.

Turning to Zhu, Zhang Can said, “Old Zhu, let me test you. Among all these items on Master Gu, which is the most valuable?”

Zhu looked them over, stroked his plump chin, and chuckled, “No question—the jade thumb ring!”

Having made a fortune from four pieces of jade Zhang Can once found, Zhu now favored jade artifacts above all else. He believed that collecting antiques couldn’t compare to gambling on jade stones. Zhang Can had casually picked a few rough stones from pigsties and made nearly fifty million yuan. Imagine if they went to Myanmar to gamble on stones—who knew what treasures they might find?

Zhu never expected to make much money from the shop. Hiring Gu Jiulong to manage it was probably a break-even deal at best—and losing a little was no big deal, since Zhang Can would make even more money elsewhere. Zhang Can disliked staying in the shop and preferred traveling anywhere in the world. Zhu understood that wherever Zhang Can went, fortune might follow. Someday, he planned to take Zhang to the Yunnan border to hunt for valuable stones, potentially netting tens of millions—or even hundreds of millions.

Without hesitation, Zhu pointed to the jade thumb ring on Gu’s left hand as the most valuable piece. Zhang Can smiled and said, “Master Gu’s most valuable item isn’t a ring or the necklace. It’s that small wooden smoking pipe in his hand.”

Zhu and the three girls listening in were stunned. Everyone assumed the most valuable were the golden rings or the thick gold necklace, but no one expected Zhang Can to say the smoking pipe was worth the most.

Even Gu Jiulong was taken aback, sitting upright and asking, “Why do you say this pipe is the most valuable?”

His tone lost its usual condescension and became serious.

Zhang Can smiled again and said, “Let Old Zhu give his opinion first. I’ll explain about the pipe last, okay?”

Zhu laughed playfully, “You want me to say? Heh, I’m just guessing!”

Zhang Can then pointed to Gu’s rings and necklace. “Master Gu, please take off your rings and necklace so Old Zhu can appraise them.”

Gu Jiulong didn’t resist or get angry. He removed the rings and necklace carefully and placed them on the tea table for Zhu to examine.

Zhang Hua, Liu Xiaoqin, and Liu Xiaoli were curious and picked up the items. Among them were six gold pieces, one silver, and the jade thumb ring. After a long look, no one could tell which was the most valuable or which might be worthless. Zhang Can had said the pipe was the most valuable but didn’t imply the rings and necklace weren’t worth anything.

The mystery lingered.