Chapter 475: Isn

The gate was ajar.

The voices from inside leaked through the gate's crack; the room was very quiet, Wu An set down his tea cup and focused on eavesdropping.

It was still quite clear.

From the sound, only Zhang Lao and that young man's voices could be heard; probably only those two were in the inner courtyard.

So.

The two guards at the gate were that young man's.

What's his background?

Anyone who can go out with bodyguards isn't an ordinary rich second‑generation.

Wu An had never before seen such so‑called nobles and dignitaries; he felt rather strange, mostly curious. Earlier, when he frequently watched short videos, the recommendations always showed the lives of people who seemed to belong to a different world.

And right before him, he was seeing a genuine, living one for the first time.

Moreover.

He had arranged two guards to watch the gate, so no one would disturb them.

He was also curious: what business did this person want to discuss with Zhang Lao?

And he actually managed to overhear it.

Zhang Lao called that person Xiao Liang, who had come to buy ambergris; not knowing how he found out that Zhang Lao had some ambergris, he specially came to the door to request a purchase.

Zhang Lao sighed and said, "Xiao Liang, no need for a markup; I originally bought these three pieces of ambergris for 200,005, and I'll still sell them to you at that price."

Xiao Liang thanked him and said, "Zhang Lao, as long as you're not short of money, but I came to your door seeking a favor; please accept this 300,000."

"If you can obtain more ambergris later, please be sure to contact me."

"This is not just for a birthday celebration; it's also to save a life."

"To be frank, the reason my family has been scouring everywhere for ambergris is that it is a very important ingredient in an ancient prescription."

Zhang Lao exclaimed in surprise: "It's Liang Lao Yezi…"

Xiao Liang: "Exactly."

Zhang Lao shook his head, let out a sigh, and said, "I understand."

Hearing footsteps, Wu An hastily dropped his eavesdropping pose, picked up the empty tea cup and drank tea, while beside him, Gu Anran stared intently at an antique.

When people are covering up something, they really pretend to be busy.

Actually, it's obviously fake at a glance.

The ajar gate opened; Zhang Lao walked out first, the young man followed closely behind, and upon seeing Wu An and Gu Anran, his expression shifted slightly and his gaze turned sharp.

Zhang Lao said, "These are the guests I invited in."

Wu An nodded in acknowledgment.

Xiao Liang withdrew his gaze and walked straight out, ignoring them.

He walked to the gate.

After greeting Zhang Lao and thanking him repeatedly, he went out; at the gate, the sound of the two guards apologizing came drifting in.

Zhang Lao approached.

Before Zhang Lao could act, Wu An proactively poured tea.

Zhang Lao chuckled and said, "Don't mind it; it's just some meaningless taboos."

Wu An chuckled and said, "I think it's quite interesting."

"Zhang Lao, sorry, I wasn't intentionally eavesdropping; your conversation carried over, I caught a few sentences—was that person here to buy ambergris?"

Zhang Lao nodded: "Yes, it's fine; it wasn't really a shameful secret anyway."

"The family's patriarch fell ill and needs this ambergris as a medicine; of course it's not just this one herb, the family's descendants, trying to curry his favor, have been scrambling to collect it everywhere."

Gu Anran couldn't help but exclaim in sudden realization: "This is exactly noble family feuding!"

Wu Anle laughed: "Indeed… it's not at all surprising."

"Anran, I'm not entirely sure what noble family feuding is like, but do you know what business warfare is like?"

He was in a good mood.

Isn't this just a case of 'just in time'?

He had been worrying about how to offload such a large amount of ambergris without trouble; as it turned out, the big shot who wanted to buy ambergris had already come ahead of time to see Zhang Lao.

So now.

It's not that he needs to figure out how to sell it.

Rather, the other party is begging to buy it.

Gu Anran thought for a moment and said, "Like in TV dramas, capital operations…"

Wu An shook his head.

Gu Anran asked, "Does that mean everything in TV dramas is fake?"

Wu An chuckled: "Yes and no."

"You think high‑level business warfare is capital operations, stock‑market turbulence, bigwigs chatting and stirring up storms—no, no, no!"

"It's a bunch of people rushing into the office to seize the company seal, using boiling water to kill your money‑tree, cutting off power and water, the chairman secretly filming confidential info and getting caught by security on the spot, plus stirring up trouble in others' comment sections, and bigwigs greeting each other's parents on Weibo…"

These old clichés made Wu An laugh as he said them, while Gu Anran listened with stars in her eyes; although she didn't fully understand, she felt Wu An's explanation was thorough and impressive.

After hearing that, Zhang Lao fell into thought and asked, "A An, you're young but you know quite a lot."

Wu Anle laughed: "Zhang Lao, have you experienced that?"

Zhang Lao said, "What you said is actually just trivial."

"Just as you said."

"Those who don't understand think business warfare or noble feuding is profound and mysterious, but in reality it's as meaningless as dogs overturning a stove."

"You said there's good goods, what is it?"

Wu An said: "Ambergris."

Elder Zhang: "Ah?"

Wu An said: "You said this isn't a coincidence?"

Elder Zhang nodded: "This really is a coincidence."

"How much did you get this time?"

Wu An said: "Originally it was sixty-six jin, but these two days were delayed, the wind blew, this morning when I went out I weighed it, only sixty-four jin left."

Elder Zhang asked: "Same as before?"

Wu An nodded.

Elder Zhang, somewhat impatient, asked: "Where is it? Bring it over here."

Wu An said: "Too much, I put the stuff in the car."

Elder Zhang stood up: "Careless."

"How could you just leave it in the car? What if you run into thieves?"

"Go, go, go."

Elder Zhang went out, walking very fast.

Arrived at the parking lot.

Just then a Porsche Cayenne drove off, the rear window rolled down, and Xiao Liang greeted: "Elder Zhang, you're in such a hurry..."

Elder Zhang saw him and immediately greeted: "Good, you haven't left yet."

"Come, let me introduce you."

"This is Wu An."

"This is..."

Xiao Liang smiled: "Elder Zhang, I don't need an introduction, right?"

The subtext is simple, anyway he's just an insignificant nobody, not worthy of hearing his name.

Elder Zhang patted his car: "Fine, then no introduction."

"Get out of the car quickly."

"And your bodyguards also get out; later they'll protect me back to the shop."

Xiao Liang frowned: "This... I still have something later."

Elder Zhang said: "I'm going to get the ambergris; I'm afraid of being seen and robbed halfway. If you have something to do, then forget it."

Just as he finished speaking,

Xiao Liang immediately got out of the car: "You should have said earlier."

"Willing to go through fire and water, Elder Zhang!"

Those two bodyguards were already ready, quite professional, blocking Wu An and Gu Anran outside.

Elder Zhang pointed at Wu An and said: "The goods are his."

Xiao Liang looked at Wu An.

Wu An smiled and waved at him.

Xiao Liang immediately put on a smile, stretched out his hand: "Hello Wu An, I'm..."