chapter 9

Ye Chen looked up at the voice to see a young man swaggering over two meters away.

The young man was handsome, but he did not have a healthy complexion. He wore a casual Armani t-shirt and a light yellow beaded bracelet on his left wrist. There was also a dark green jade ring on his thumb.

What attracted the most attention was the heavy, long golden necklace he wore on his neck. There was a gold charm in the shape of a lock at the end of the necklace.

Meanwhile, there were three to five thugs behind the young man. They looked lowly and evil together. From afar, they looked like thugs hanging out during ancient times.

“Ah, isn’t that Master Gu? It’s been a few days since I’ve seen you.” Elated, Chen Houzi sprinted to welcome him. He was beaming so much that his face looked like a flower.

Master Gu gave a perfunctory response and said impatiently, “Chen Houzi, stop buttering me up. Give me that thing you were holding earlier. I want it.”

“But…” Chen Houzi peered at Ye Chen next to him and looked troubled as he spoke, “Master Gu, I’ve already sold the thing to…this…this brother.”

Chen Houzi could not be clearer about who that person before him was. A wealthy bully aside, the man was fond of collecting little trinkets, especially strange items that nobody could distinguish.

Master Gu then looked at Ye Chen before glancing at the plastic bag in Chen Houzi’s hand and checking Ye Chen out for a while. He said in slight disdain, “Shouldn’t you be giving this out? How much did you sell it for?”

He began to observe the black item through the transparent plastic bag as he spoke. He squinted and said, “What’s that? It’s dry and irregular. It’s not smooth at all. I’m dying to squeeze it!”

“200 yuan. I risked my life to get it from the Mount Tai phenomenon…” Chen Houzi attempted to say what he told Ye Chen earlier immediately. He suffered a slap on his face before he was even done speaking.

“Stop your nonsense!”

Chen Houzi froze and thought he would be completely honest now. He said before Ye Chen, “Master Gu, if I can be honest, I got this from a recycling bin in my hometown a few days ago. I’ve no idea what it is. Even the people at the appraisals couldn’t tell.”

He glimpsed at Ye Chen next to him, feeling very guilty after saying that. However, Ye Chen had no expression on his face from the beginning until the end, as if he did not hear what he said at all.

“Not bad, not bad. I love stuff that even experts can’t recognize. How about this? I’ll pay you 1,000 yuan and bring it back for research,” Master Gu said while rubbing his chin, ignoring Ye Chen completely.

Chen Houzi’s eyes lit up at the moment. He rolled his eyes and turned around as he said to Ye Chen with a grin, “Brother, I’m sorry. Master Gu is rather…you know what I mean, so hehe…”

1,000 yuan?

That was five folds of what Ye Chen had paid earlier. It was the equivalent of his half month’s profit.

Ye Chen said expressionlessly, “So, Boss Chen, are you saying that you’re backing out on your promise since he’s paying more than me, and you’re selling my belonging to him instead?”

“Hehe, I’m really sorry.” Chen Houzi rubbed his hands and forced a smile.

In reality, there was something else that he did not say out loud. He could tell that Ye Chen did not have a powerful background, and no wise man would offend Master Gu because of him.

Standing aside, Master Gu was impatient. “Chen Houzi, what the hell are you waiting for? Give me that thing now.”

Chen Houzi nodded and passed the plastic bag to Master Gu.

“Wait!” A voice devoid of emotion rang out. Chen Houzi turned his head to look immediately and was surprised to see Ye Chen was grinning at him. “Are there still rules here, Chen Houzi?”

Ye Chen’s volume was loud enough for Chen Houzi’s soul to feel suppressed. He gulped and looked at Master Gu with trouble in his eyes. “Master Gu, err…what do you think?”

The smile on Master Gu’s face froze as he glared coldly at Ye Chen.

“Must you offend me, Master Gu, you hillbilly? Let me tell you this. You’re nothing in my eyes. I’m richer than you, more powerful than you, and I’ve outnumbered you!”

“What I say are the rules, so f*ck off now if you know what I mean!”

As his voice boomed, everyone who was watching had a change in expression.

The Gu family!

It was the wealthy family of Tiannan City!

Ye Chen locked eyes with him fearlessly and enunciated word by word, “Nobody can take away the what I have locked my eyes on!”

Gu Shaokun walked to Ye Chen and stared at him closely. He said with a smirk, “What a coincidence. Nobody would dare to say no to what I want. I’m taking this home today!”

“You won’t!” Ye Chen said calmly.

Gu Shaokun laughed. “I’d like to see you try!”

Ye Chen stared straight at him. “I’d like to see you try!”

“Chen Houzi, give it to me right now! I’m loaded and I’ll pay you 5,000 yuan!” Gu Shaokun smiled instead of being mad.

Jubilant, Chen Houzi walked over to pass him the plastic bag.

Ye Chen smiled coldly. “Chen Houzi, I’m asking you this one last time. Are there any rules here?”

Chen Houzi stopped walking immediately. An ugly, twisted smile appeared on his face.

“There’s a rule in the antique world. As soon as the buyer and the seller have come to an agreement, the other buyers won’t be able to interrupt. Meanwhile, the buyer can’t back out of his agreement unless the initial buyer initiates the back-out!”

“I’ve paid you earlier!”

“However, you didn’t give me the item. Everyone around here saw that!”

A terrifying and imposing aura exploded from Ye Chen’s body. “So, Chen Houzi, are you breaking the rule now?

Chen Houzi collapsed onto the ground directly, appearing gravely pale.

Ye Chen was right. There was indeed such an unwritten rule in the antique world. To put it in layman terms, it was first come, first serve.

Indeed, the item was in his hands, so he could ignore what Ye Chen said and sell it to Gu Shaokun directly. However, it would mean that he, Chen Houzi, was a dishonest person. If his reputation went bust, he would lose his place in the antique world.

Chen Houzi’s expression changed a few times and he spoke after taking a deep breath in, “Brother, I’ll give you the stuff. I, Chen Houzi, surrender!”

Standing aside, Gu Shaokun was furious. “Chen Houzi, you…”

“Gu Shaokun, are you trying to break the rule too?” Ye Chen stepped forward and looked at him with a terrifying stare. The power in his body was like a mountain that nobody could move.

“You…” Gu Shaokun panicked a little.

“You *sshole!” Ye Chen interrupted him, “What else can you do apart from bullying the weak by riding on your family’s wealth? What can your Gu family do with the wealth that you have in this world of justice? Can you oppress everyone here? Rules are rules! Of course, if you insist on going against the rule, I won’t be talking about rules anymore! Because nobody can take what I, Ye Chen, want!”

At that very moment, a ferocious gleam flashed through Ye Chen’s eyes. It was incredibly powerful, and the people around gasped. One must know that Gu Shaokun was the master of the Gu family.

Gu Shaokun glared deadly at Ye Chen. His face turned green and white as he breathed heavily. That went on for approximately ten seconds. He laughed all of a sudden and scoffed as he spoke, “I know more about rules than you do, hillbilly. You can have it! I can’t believe I’m fighting with you, a hillbilly, for a piece of trash. It’s humiliating now when I think about it. Only a hillbilly like you would spend 200 yuan to buy trash that nobody wants even if it’s a gift. That’s why you’re a hillbilly.”

Gu Shaokun took off the light yellow bracelet from his left hand as he was speaking. He said in a bragging tone, “Do you know what this is? This is an antique owned by a third-rank minister during the reign of the Chongzhen Emperor in the Ming Dynasty. You can’t even buy one of the beads with the money that you’ll make throughout your entire life.”

Chen Houzi’s eyes lit up as he stepped forward to get a good look at the bracelet and said in disbelief, “M-Master Gu…Can this be…the item that was sold at 1.8 million yuan in an auction earlier?”

The people exclaimed after he said that.

“You’re not too shabby to have such good taste!” Gu Shaokun responded arrogantly and looked at Ye Chen coldly in an attempt to see how he looked right now. He expected shock, envy, and regret.

However, Ye Chen merely responded expressionlessly, “Oh.”

The smile on Gu Shaokun’s face froze. He took off the thumb ring on his hand in rage and said, “This was worn by Heshen during the Qing Dynasty when Emperor Qianlong reigned. Do you know how much is this? It’s 4.3 million yuan!”

The crowd exclaimed again while Chen Houzi’s eyes lit up as if he was a wolf that had not eaten for a few days.

“Oh.”

Gu Shaokun was going crazy facing Ye Chen’s nonchalance. He felt like he was punching air. His eyes turned red as he tugged and broke the big, golden necklace on his chest. He said after kissing the lock charm, “Hillbilly, I’ll show you the most valuable thing I have. This is the lock charm the Taichang Emperor, Zhu Changluo, got a famous blacksmith to make for the Third Prince, Zhu Youji. The Third Prince was named Prince Qisi after his death…”

“Oh,” Ye Chen responded casually again.

Gu Shaokun shrieked, “You…you reckless piece of sh*it!”

Ye Chen smiled coldly before he said confidently, “Catastrophe has befallen. Your life will end soon, but you’ve no idea about anything. You’re even treating a demonic ware like a precious treasure!”