114: Chapter 114 Zhong Kui Marries Off His Sister, Carrying Five Poisons and Auspicious Clouds with Flowers and Money

Yao Xiu was momentarily choked up, but he quickly smiled and explained, "Little brother, don't misunderstand. I'm a collector, and I really like that waist token in your hand. I wonder if you'd be willing to part with it?"

"Waist token?" Chen Sheng looked at Yao Xiu with a half-smile. "Are you sure this is a waist token?"

Seeing Chen Sheng like this, Yao Xiu's heart couldn't help but skip a beat, but he forced himself to stay calm and said with a smile, "Little brother, didn't the stall owner say just now? This is a waist token worn by military generals in the Qing Dynasty."

"Heh~" Chen Sheng chuckled. "Sorry! I like this 'waist token' very much too, and I have no intention of selling it."

Chen Sheng emphasized the words "waist token" very heavily.

Seeing Chen Sheng turn to leave, Yao Xiu quickly took two steps to block him. "May I ask your honorable surname, little brother?"

"My surname is Chen."

Yao Xiu cupped his hands. "Forgive my lack of insight, Boss Chen looks a bit unfamiliar."

"Haha! Is that so!" Chen Sheng answered irrelevantly.

"Presumably Boss Chen has also seen through it, so I'll be direct. I'm interested in acquiring this huabiao in your hand. I wonder if Boss Chen would be willing to part with it."

"I can certainly part with it, but I don't know if Boss Yao has the boldness to make me do so."

"May I take a look at it?"

Seeing Yao Xiu ask to handle it again, Chen Sheng didn't refuse this time. He took the zhong kui marrying off his sister huabiao out of his pocket and handed it to Yao Xiu. "Please!"

Yao Xiu took the zhong kui marrying off his sister huabiao and examined it carefully for a good while before speaking again. "How much does Boss Chen plan to sell it for?"

"Then how much does Boss Yao plan to offer?" Chen Sheng countered.

Yao Xiu pondered for a moment and held up five fingers. "Fifty thousand!"

Chen Sheng shook his head. "A Qing Dynasty Zhong Kui Marrying Off His Sister, Five Poisons Hanging Huabiao, weighing 46.2g. Its auspicious cloud hanger is a top-tier prestigious item among Su-style furnace hanging coins. Its surviving numbers aren't exactly small, but they're definitely not many, and most of them are in poor condition."

"But the one in Boss Yao's hand is in perfect condition with clear inscriptions. I agree with one thing the stall owner said—you might really not find a second one of this Qing Dynasty Zhong Kui Marrying Off His Sister, Five Poisons Hanging Huabiao in Shu City."

Yao Xiu looked at Chen Sheng in surprise. While rubbing the zhong kui marrying off his sister huabiao with his fingers, he asked tentatively, "I didn't expect Boss Chen to be so knowledgeable at such a young age. May I ask which master you studied under?"

Chen Sheng cupped his fists. "Sorry! It's inconvenient to answer."

It wasn't that he didn't want to use a big name to intimidate him, but rather that he hadn't expected to be able to sell it on the spot, so he hadn't done any homework in that area.

"Understood!" Yao Xiu nodded.

Chen Sheng: "..."

Understand my foot!

He couldn't fathom what the other party had understood.

Yao Xiu deliberated for another moment. "A similar Zhong Kui Marrying Off His Sister, Five Poisons Hanging Huabiao was auctioned at Christie's before. The auction price at the time was 87,000 yuan, but that coin's condition was better than yours. You can search for this online; there should be some photos or videos leaked."

"How about this, referencing the auction price, I'll give you this much for this huabiao." Yao Xiu gestured a seven to Chen Sheng.

Chen Sheng calculated. An auction price of 87,000 yuan would leave about 70,000-plus after deducting various fees. However, offline and online are different after all, so it could only serve as a reference.

Referencing the market price of 50,000 to 80,000 given by the intelligence system, Chen Sheng hesitated for a moment before nodding. "As the saying goes, a gentleman does not take what others love. Since this huabiao is so fated with Boss Yao, I will part with it and let Boss Yao have it."

Yao Xiu's mouth couldn't help but twitch. This 'fate' originally only cost 1,500, but in the blink of an eye, the price rose by over 60,000. He'd rather not have this fate.

He couldn't afford it!

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but slap his thigh, thinking with some chagrin, "Why did I hesitate? Why did I hesitate?"

Just by hesitating for those few seconds, over 60,000 yuan had slipped away.

Of course, although he was very annoyed, since the price was settled, Yao Xiu very straightforwardly asked Chen Sheng for his bank card and transferred 70,000 over directly through his online banking app.

[Ding! XX Bank has received a transfer...]

The amount wasn't large, and the notification SMS for the arrival of funds soon rang on his phone.

"Received. Boss Yao, I'm very happy to have met you today." Chen Sheng smiled and extended his left hand.

Yao Xiu also extended his left hand and shook Chen Sheng's. "Thank you, Boss Chen, for being willing to part with it."

After the handshake, Chen Sheng and Yao Xiu exchanged contact information. Chen Sheng then smiled and took his leave. "Sorry! Boss Yao, I have some matters to attend to, so I'll head out first. Let's have tea together another day!"

"Until next time!" Having just acquired a treasure, Yao Xiu also wanted to go back early to share it with a few friends. The two were of the same mind.

After saying goodbye to Yao Xiu, Chen Sheng drove his vehicle straight toward Deyang City.

After a journey of about an hour and a half, the vehicle successfully exited the highway and stopped next to the five large characters 'Deyang Welcomes You'. Chen Sheng entered '1010 Community' into the navigation and followed it for another half an hour, finally arriving at his destination.

Looking at the standardized buildings around him, Chen Sheng nodded. "As expected!"

Although he wasn't from the urban area of Deyang City, as someone with ancestral roots in Deyang City, he had heard quite a few local stories. For example, the numbered communities, like 105, 108, 1010, were basically resettlement communities for employees of the Heavy Industry Groups back in the day.

Management in these old resettlement communities was very loose. The community gate was wide open, with no so-called questioning or registration. Chen Sheng bought some apples from a fruit stall next to the community entrance and walked in naturally, carrying the apples.

According to the navigation, Chen Sheng found Building 23, Unit 3, and went up to the 4th floor. The unit on the right was 402.

Knock, knock, knock~

He had timed it on purpose; it was exactly mealtime, so Chen Sheng raised his hand and knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" A voice soon asked from inside the house.

With a creak, the slightly old security door was opened from the inside. A white-haired old man looked at Chen Sheng and asked curiously, "Who are you looking for?"

Although he didn't recognize the young man in front of him, as a resettlement community, the neighbors living upstairs and downstairs were either former coworkers or their family members. So even if a stranger knocked, the old man's gaze toward Chen Sheng wasn't wary. Instead, he was curious why Chen Sheng would knock at this time.

Chen Sheng quickly said with a smile, "Hello, Grandpa. I heard from my uncle that your family received quite a lot of high-quality Anthracite coal a few days ago. I need some for something, so I've come to ask if I could buy some from you."

Chen Sheng handed over the apples he had just bought at the entrance. "Grandpa, please don't take offense at my sudden visit."

"Oh! Look at you, just come if you're coming, why bring gifts!" The old man stopped Chen Sheng's hand and pushed the apples back toward him while asking, "Is your uncle Old Zhao, Old Liu, Old Wang, or Old Li, Old Zhou, Old Wu...?"

He didn't know who 'Old What' was yet, but the old man was definitely a master of humblebragging.

With this long string of names, he clearly had a wide circle of friends.

Chen Sheng picked one from the options the old man gave. "Grandpa, my uncle's surname is Li."

"So it's Old Li. That Old Li couldn't control his mouth when he was young, and even at his age, he's still a big mouth. I just mentioned it to him casually, and he went and blabbed it all out."

Chen Sheng: "..."

If there were a mirror right now, Chen Sheng felt he would see a string of ellipses floating over his forehead.

The old man called someone else a big mouth, but didn't think about that long string of names he just listed. Who could be a bigger mouth than you?

However, Chen Sheng didn't expose the old man. He knew this much about social etiquette. He smiled and pushed the apples toward the old man again. "Grandpa, since I've come unannounced, please do accept these."

This time the old man didn't refuse again. "Alright then! Since you're Old Li's nephew, I'll take them this time, but don't do this next time. Quick, come in and talk."

The old man stepped back a few paces and invited Chen Sheng inside.

Chen Sheng wasn't shy either and stepped right through the door. Just as he was about to take off his shoes, he heard the old man say, "It's an old house, no need to change shoes."

This time Chen Sheng didn't listen to the old man—at least, not completely. Although the old man's house was in an old community and the furniture was all old-fashioned with traces of age, everything large and small in the house was arranged very neatly. He was clearly a meticulous person.

As it happened, Chen Sheng saw shoe covers by the shoe rack. He took out two and put them over his shoes before following the old man into the living room.

...