Chapter 32: Raging Sea: Hero Mountain Old Hai

Third Uncle left in a great hurry, just grabbing a suitcase and leaving his laptop, clothes, and some odds and ends here.

He was usually very cautious in his dealings; a situation like this shows that by the time he left, he had already lost his reason.

In the few days after he left, I kept thinking about what exactly he had finally understood. In my view, something this complicated couldn't have any explanation; it could only be a mystery. Unless there was still something I didn't know.

Unfortunately, my understanding of that matter was limited to Third Uncle's oral account—incomplete and unreliable. I couldn't make heads or tails of it, and finally had to give up. Soon enough, I gradually began to forget about it.

Over the next few days, I stayed cooped up in my room watching TV during the day and went for foot baths and massages at night, living a decadent life like a god. This routine was forced to an end only when the service girl from the hotel's foot bath center came up to settle my bill.

Although the prices here weren't high, we were used to signing tabs, and before we knew it, I had racked up a debt of over sixty thousand yuan.

As a business owner, letting you owe sixty thousand yuan in bills was already a big favor. I couldn't refuse, so I had to write a check to settle the account.

With that, the money I had on hand was nearly gone. I myself could manage—at worst, I'd move to a cheaper hotel—but Panzi's medical expenses in the hospital were a very large sum.

I paced back and forth in my room, fretting, when I suddenly noticed the gold-thread jade coffin cover still lying in the bag off to the side.

Third Uncle cherished that thing immensely; he had even wrapped it in four or five layers of oil paper. As I looked at it, a rather impulsive idea suddenly struck me.

I wanted to find an antique market, sell this thing, and raise some emergency cash. For one thing, this item was too hot to handle—keeping it around wasn't safe.

For another, money was now an urgent problem. It would be a minor issue if I got kicked out of the hotel, but it would be serious if Panzi's medication got cut off.

I thought about it, went down to the lobby to ask the front desk for some place names, then took a taxi and started wandering around Jinan.

The main concentration of larger antique and calligraphy shops in Jinan was at Hero Mountain. This market had some history, was crowded and noisy, but I heard most of the goods were fakes.

I got out of the car carrying that dead-heavy jade coffin cover, thinking to find a larger storefront. This thing wasn't something ordinary people could afford. Those big shops must have connections with wealthy clients, and through them I could get an introduction.

As for the value of this item, I had a rough idea. I had discussed it with Third Uncle on the way back, and he said it was around a million yuan. Things like this have a price but no market. First, it's hard to find someone willing to buy such an expensive item, unless it's a foreigner. But this thing was too big to take out of the country.

I strongly dislike national treasures flowing abroad. I figured it would be best to find a patriotic entrepreneur—half sell, half give it away. Of course, national treasures should stay in Chinese homes.

I looked around the market, and after a few steps, I suddenly spotted a bronze incense burner in the window of a shop. It had some engraved human figures on it, and at first glance, it looked a bit peculiar.

This was the first time I'd seen something like that. I bent down to get a closer look when the shop owner came out and said, "Hey, you've got a good eye, but unfortunately, this piece is not for sale. It's just for display. Which outfit are you from (brother on the road)? Want to take a look at something else?"

I heard from his accent that he was a Beijinger, and from his words, it seemed he had some connections with tomb raiders. So I patted my bag as a hint, indicating that I had something to sell.

He gave me a once-over, with a disdainful expression, probably thinking I was too young to have anything good. Then he waved me inside to talk.

After I went in, a pretty young girl poured me a glass of plain water. Then the boss laughed and said, "Young man, what do you have to sell? We don't take ordinary stuff, you know."

I glanced at the items displayed in his shop—they were genuine, almost all priceless treasures. I nodded and said, "I have a set of jade pieces I'd like to show you. Roughly, how much would they be worth?"

He chuckled and said, "Jade, and a set at that? Truly unheard of. Alright, since there's no business today, let me take a look."

Wanting to show off a bit, I took out the jade coffin cover and revealed just a corner for him to see. Whether a person is a connoisseur or not shows in their reaction. The moment he saw it, his face changed. Then he touched it and nearly fell over.

Without another word, I stuffed the jade coffin cover back in. Smiling, I looked at him and asked, "What do you think of this jade?" He stood up, pulled down the rolling shutter door of the shop, sent the female assistant away, then personally poured out my water and replaced it with a different cup of tea. I took a sniff—damn, top-grade Tieguanyin. The treatment had upgraded way too fast.

He wiped the sweat off his forehead and said, "May I ask, what should I call this master craftsman?"

I saw that this guy was no ordinary antique dealer—his reaction was so fast, and he could tell at a glance that this was something dug up. I had to show some respect. I smiled politely and said, "My surname is Wu. And what should I call you, boss?" The man said, "Just call me Old Hai. So, Master Wu, are you planning to sell this thing, or do you want me to take a look?"

I said, "I'm definitely selling it. This thing is a bit hot to handle."

He paced around the room a few times and asked, "Is it complete?"

I nodded: "Not a single piece missing. Fresh out of the oven, still hot."

He sat down and said softly, "Well, Master Wu, I'm a straightforward man. I dare say that in all of Hero Mountain, I'm the only one who dares to take this thing. But there's no point in haggling seriously over a treasure like this—you can't put a price on a treasure. Just tell me honestly, how much would you let it go for? I'll make a call and ask my friend."

I thought about it. I figured I'd ask for a million. Da Kui's family needed 300,000, Panzi's hospitalization required at least 200,000, and Fatty had already said to send him his share after the sale. That would leave me with just over 100,000 per person. Thinking about what I had risked my life for, it felt too little. But Third Uncle said that's what tomb raiding is like—otherwise, why would people go from one tomb to another? No matter how precious the things you bring out of a tomb, if nobody buys them, they're just garbage. So he never took things that were too good, because they'd be unsellable.

I estimated that 1,000,000 was about right. I made a 'one' gesture to Old Hai. He was delighted and hurriedly nodded, saying no problem.

I felt a bit frustrated—had I set the price too low? He told me to wait, then hid in a corner and made a quiet phone call. After he finished, his face was red with excitement. He said, "Done! Done! Master Wu, you're lucky. Someone was just waiting for this. 1,000,000 is too low, 2,000,000 is too high. I quoted 1,200,000. What do you think?"

Hearing that, it was 200,000 more than I had expected. I had nothing to say. If it was a loss, I had brought it on myself. So I nodded and agreed to the deal, then asked about his commission.

He smiled and said, "To be honest, the other side already set aside a bit extra for me. You keep the full 1,200,000. This is our first transaction—let's consider it making friends. Next time you have something like this, don't ask around elsewhere. Bring it straight to me. Whatever price you want, I'll mark it up by 20%. You should know, my behind-the-scenes client is extremely wealthy. He'll buy anything that others dare not take."

Seeing that I looked a bit anxious, he quickly said, "Take a seat for a moment. I'll prepare the money for you. Don't let this small shop fool you—I have enough in the accounts. I'll advance it to you."

I was just worrying about how to get paid. Seeing how straightforward he was, it suited me perfectly. I nodded and said, "That's great. I'm in urgent need of money. Sorry for the trouble."

Old Hai nodded, called out, summoned the young girl from outside, and sent her to fetch a 1,200,000 yuan cashier's check.

The girl looked at me in surprise, said nothing more, and ran out. Old Hai then said, "Master Wu, you couldn't have only gotten this one item out of that haul, right? You must have some other good stuff left. If you don't mind, show a few pieces to me, Old Hai, so I can have a look."

I didn't really want to go into all that with him, but it reminded me of Third Uncle's two bronze fish. So I described them to him. As soon as he heard this, his expression changed, and he lowered his voice to ask me, "Do you really have this thing?"

Seeing his expression shift, I thought something was up, so I quickly asked, "Of course I do. What, boss, do you know where this thing comes from?"

Old Hai shook his head, his expression strange. He thought for a moment and said, "Master Wu, whatever I tell you, you must never repeat it. Although I don't know the origin of these two fish, I do know there's someone offering a very high price to buy them. The price is so high you absolutely can't imagine it. Even someone like me, who does tens of millions in business every year, wouldn't dare take that deal. If you really have this thing, I advise you not to go through with it either. Wealth can burn you."

I asked, "Do you know who that person is? Honestly, I only want to know what this thing is used for. I don't really care about the rest."

Old Hai shook his head. "I've never met her. It's a woman, surname Huo. That's all I know. And according to our rules of the underworld, even if I knew more about the client, I couldn't tell you."

Seeing how firm he was, I knew pressing further would only hit a dead end, so I gave up. We chatted about other things for a while, then the check arrived. After verifying it was correct, I stood up and took my leave, and the deal was done.