Chapter 3087

At this moment, Zhang Zhang Ermao was completely panicked.

He never expected that he had intended to do a favor for Chen Yufei, but now Chen Yufei had turned his face and wanted to bite him.

However, Zhang Zhang Ermao had been struggling at the bottom of society for many years and had a very profound understanding of human nature; he understood that Chen Yufei hating him was justifiable; it was like him kindly giving someone a ride, but because of his poor driving skills, an accident occurred, leaving the other party paralyzed from the chest down and bedridden for life; in such a situation, if the other party wanted him to pay compensation, he couldn't just run to the hospital bed, point at his nose, and scold him for returning kindness with ingratitude.

A wage earner with such extremely limited skills as Chen Yufei rarely has the opportunity to find a job that is decent, profitable, and allows him to become a regional official with no one to manage or question him.

With his strength, being able to become the general manager of Jiqingtang has a lower probability than winning the lottery.

Once this hard-won, comfortable job of his is significantly affected because of him, he will definitely hate him to death in his heart.

And although Zhang Zhang Ermao is now considered a person of status, he has no influence before the Song family, so once the Song Group wants to sweep Chen Yufei out the door, he has no way to protect Chen Yufei at all.

Not only can he not protect his job, but it is also very difficult to help him find another job in this antique industry, after all, he made him lose face so miserably this time.

So the current situation is very clear: Chen Yufei will definitely be fired, and he will definitely expose him to vent his hatred.

At that time, his reputation in the antique industry will be ruined, and if Master Hong Wu or even Master Ye blames him, he will likely end up like Chen Yufei, with nothing.

Moreover, in a few hours, Xiao Xiao Changkun will land in Dubai; by then, he still has to give him a satisfactory answer, but how can he still have any way to help him get that bronze Buddha back?

Thinking of all this, Zhang Zhang Ermao felt as if he had fallen into an abyss; his bright future had been ruined by one of his own stupid operations!

Just when he didn't know what to do, the phone suddenly rang; the person calling was actually the professional forger, Teacher Cheng.

He was instantly furious, and as soon as he answered the phone, he scolded, "Cheng, you damn well still have the face to call me? You ruined me, do you know that?"

Teacher Cheng was also anxious and said to himself, "Brother Zhang Ermao, I sold the wrong bronze Buddha to Mr. Murong yesterday; I beg you to help me, let Mr. Murong return it to me; I'll buy it back at ten times the price!"

Zhang Zhang Ermao exploded instantly and blurted out, "Cheng, screw your grandfather! I haven't gone to find trouble with you, and you damn well still have the face to call and ask me for the item? Aren't you a professional forger? You can't tell if the item is from the Northern Song Dynasty or the late Qing Dynasty? You might as well gouge out those eyes of yours and let me throw them on the ground and stomp them to hear a pop!"

Teacher Cheng knew that Zhang Zhang Ermao also knew about this matter upon hearing this and hurriedly said, "Brother Zhang Ermao, since you already know, I won't beat around the bush with you; that item is worth 20 million! Mr. Murong dismissed me with 98,000; this is somewhat unreasonable no matter how you look at it, right?"

Zhang Zhang Ermao was trembling with anger and scolded sternly, "Fine, Cheng, you are truly something! Let me give you the bottom line: the item was sold to Zhou Liangyun for 300,000; now it's not just you who wants the item, that Mr. Murong also wants the item; if you have the ability, you go find Zhou and ask for it, but don't blame me for not reminding you: Chen Yufei of Jiqingtang has lost face to his grandmother's house because of this piece of crap you forged; he can't even keep his job now, and he thinks everything is my fault, so he is about to leak this matter and drag me down as a cushion; coincidentally, I also think it's your fault, so as long as he leaks me, I will leak you; if we're going down, we'll go down together!"

As he spoke, Zhang Zhang Ermao added, "I can still find your place; if this matter involves the police, I will bring the police to arrest you; don't blame me, Zhang Zhang Ermao, for not talking about righteousness; it's mainly because you, an idiot, are blind; if your professional level were solid, you would have kept that Northern Song bronze Buddha to get rich yourself, but you pretended to know when you didn't, taking a real item and passing it off as a fake; this is the first time I've seen someone do antiques like you!"

Teacher Cheng heard this and his voice trembled with fear, hurriedly saying, "Brother Zhang Ermao, calm down, Brother Zhang Ermao; I didn't mean anything else, it's just that I heard today that the item sold for 20 million, and I really feel uncomfortable; you know my business, a bunch of brothers to feed, the expenses are huge; after working for so many years, I haven't saved 20 million, and now I missed out on so much money in one blink, I definitely feel bad..."

As he spoke, he hurriedly added, "Brother Zhang Ermao, I didn't expect this matter to have such a big impact; I beg you to show mercy and don't leak me out no matter what..."

Zhang Zhang Ermao said indignantly, "I just don't understand why you people can't follow the industry rules; no matter if the item is sold high or low, don't you understand what 'no take-backs after buying or selling' means?"

Speaking of this, Zhang Zhang Ermao thought of Xiao Xiao Changkun and was even more furious, angrily questioning, "You, a forger, if you really get caught, you might not even be able to get out for 10 years, yet you still have the face to call and ask me for the item; do you think I don't know the item sold for 20 million?"

Teacher Cheng coughed awkwardly, "I... I... I just heard the item sold for 20 million and was anxious..."

Zhang Zhang Ermao scolded, "You're anxious? Why the hell are you anxious? Don't you have any idea about the operating logic of this industry? Do you think Zhou, who sold it for 20 million, will take the item back and return it to me? He picked up a bargain worth 20 million with his own ability, why should he return it? Are you guys really stupid, or is the profit so high that you've thrown your brains away? Use the 8 pounds of stuff on your shoulders to think: if this item were sold by you, would you be willing to return it? You'd rather spend 10 million to hire someone to kill all the people upstream who want the item than give away 20 million!"

Teacher Cheng stammered, "You... you are doing well following Master Wu... I thought with your ability, if you went to ask Zhou for the item, Zhou probably wouldn't dare not give it..."

"Screw your mother!" Zhang Zhang Ermao was even more furious and questioned, "You damn well calculated your wishful thinking on me? Do you think that by offering to buy it back at ten times the price, you can fool me into helping you get the item back, and that I wouldn't know the item is worth 20 million? You're so crazy about money that you don't even believe the basic logic that one plus one equals two?"

Teacher Cheng was scolded by Zhang Zhang Ermao and could only apologize in fear, "I'm sorry, Brother Zhang Ermao, I'm sorry! It was my blindness; please don't take it to heart; just pretend I never mentioned this matter; I'll accept the loss of the 20 million item; I beg you to show mercy and don't leak me out; I've put a lot of effort into this place; it doesn't matter if the item is gone, but if I lose the place too, I'm finished..."

"Get lost!" Zhang Zhang Ermao gritted his teeth and said, "I'm telling you, Cheng, I, Zhang Zhang Ermao, have been in the antique circle for so many years; I haven't made much money, but I definitely follow the rules; if you hadn't made this call, I wouldn't have exposed you if something happened, but this call of yours has destroyed my last bit of composure; I'll put it this way today: as long as Chen Yufei exposes me, I will immediately expose you; at that time, I will pin your name, phone number, and address on my Moments; you can pray for your own luck!"

Having said that, Zhang Zhang Ermao ignored Teacher Cheng, who was still shouting "Brother Zhang Ermao, Brother Zhang Ermao" on the phone, and hung up directly.

Once the phone hung up, Zhang Zhang Ermao only felt sorrow from his heart.

Although he was long used to the coldness of the world and the decline of human hearts, he didn't expect that in the face of 20 million, everyone had lost their most basic bottom line.

And he also realized clearly that as things have developed to this point, he is like someone who accidentally rolled a snowball on the top of a snowy mountain, and this snowball now has a tendency to avalanche, completely beyond his control.

Thus, Zhang Zhang Ermao no longer held any fluke mentality; he picked up his phone and dialed Ye Chen's number.

At this time, Ye Chen was at the Champs Elysees Hot Spring Hotel; suddenly seeing Zhang Zhang Ermao calling him, he was a bit surprised at first, then he probably guessed the purpose of Zhang Zhang Ermao's call.

Thus, he answered the phone and asked with a smile, "Zhang Ermao, do you have something for me?"

Zhang Zhang Ermao's voice was very uneasy, fearful, and full of regret as he said, "Master Ye, I am calling you to take the initiative to admit my mistake to you..."

Ye Chen asked knowingly, "What mistake are you admitting to me?"

Zhang Zhang Ermao sighed and choked up, "Master Ye, it was all my own obsession; knowing that the former manager of Jiqingtang, Zhou Liangyun, had returned, I thought your father-in-law had been bullied by him before and must have resentment towards him, so I acted smart and contacted your father-in-law, coming up with a bad idea to help him take revenge, but I didn't expect this matter to fail..."

As he spoke, Zhang Zhang Ermao told Ye Chen the whole story on the phone without daring to hide anything.

After listening, Ye Chen asked Zhang Zhang Ermao, "Zhang Zhang Ermao, you didn't tell me when you were planning this; you didn't tell me when you were implementing it; after the matter was done, you still chose not to tell me; now that the matter is out of your control, you tell me—what is your intention? Do you hope I'll pull you out? Or do you hope I'll help you persuade my father-in-law not to ask you for that bronze Buddha worth 20 million anymore?"

Zhang Zhang Ermao hurriedly said, "Master Ye, I am calling to confess to you, not daring to hope that you can help me solve any problems; I just feel ashamed of the support you and Master Wu have given me, so before this matter is exposed, I am confessing everything to you and Master Wu first; no matter how you and Master Wu intend to punish me, I have no complaints; as for President Xiao, I will definitely find a way to make up for his losses so as not to make things difficult for you..."

Ye Chen snorted coldly and said, "You took him to cheat people and even helped him earn 200,000; what loss does he have?"

Zhang Zhang Ermao subconsciously said, "But... but that item was sold by Zhou Liangyun for 20 million..."

Ye Chen said, "Zhang Zhang Ermao, I support you and let you work for Hong Wu mainly because you are smarter than the average person, but your intelligence must be used in the right place; what is the practical significance of you painstakingly pleasing my father-in-law? Do you really think that if he says a few good words for you in front of me, I will think highly of you?"

Speaking of this, Ye Chen said coldly, "I'm telling you, Zhang Zhang Ermao, I know my father-in-law's level much better than you do; if he praises you, not only will I not think highly of you, but I will instead doubt your ability; on the contrary, the cleverness and eloquence you showed when you sold the painting 'Mona Lisa' last time is what made me think highly of you; if you want me to think highly of you, you have to do things that make me think highly of you, not go and please my father-in-law, understand?"

Ye Chen's words woke the dreamer.

Zhang Zhang Ermao then realized what a big mistake he had made.

And he also heard that Ye Chen didn't seem to intend to take him down because of this matter, so he hurriedly asked him, "Master Ye, what should I do now? I beg for your guidance..."

Ye Chen said lightly, "It's very simple: a real man should dare to act when he makes a mistake; don't wait for that Chen Yufei to expose you; you should announce what you did one by one, and then go to Zhou Liangyun to apologize!"