The first ray of dawn shone upon Qin Yu, who slowly stood up and took a deep breath. He had spent the entire night sitting by the stele, and now he noticed that his clothes were slightly damp, probably due to the dew from the night's frost.
"I spent the whole night here, really getting absorbed." Qin Yu shook his head in self-mockery. Even he hadn't expected that the feng shui and physiognomy techniques recorded in the Zhuge Nei Jing would be so captivating. In his memory, the only time he had read a book all night was during high school when he would stay up late reading thick novels in the dormitory.
The Zhuge Nei Jing was no less than ten thousand pages thick, and Qin Yu had only read the first part about physiognomy during the night. The content about physiognomy alone had him deeply engrossed, and he could only skim through the sections on feng shui and talismans.
Today was the day the tour group returned. He hadn't returned to the hotel with the guide last night, so he assumed everyone was now preparing to board the bus at the hotel. This place was still some distance from the hotel, so Qin Yu didn't dare to delay. He patted the dust off his buttocks and quickly walked out of the Zhuge Pavilion.
"What's wrong with you? You were nowhere to be found all night, and now you're making everyone wait for you."
Back at the hotel entrance, the guide was leading the tourists to the bus. Seeing Qin Yu, the guide's face was not pleasant as he said.
"Sorry, I ran into an old classmate last night and stayed at his place." Qin Yu said apologetically.
"An old classmate?" The young guide's face showed a look of suspicion, and he muttered under his breath, "I bet you went out to have fun."
Qin Yu's ears were sharp. Although the young guide's voice was low, he still heard it. He gave the guide a sharp look and then smiled. This smile left the young guide puzzled, thinking to himself, "Is this guy crazy? I said that to him, and he still smiles."
Qin Yu smiled because he had glanced at the young guide's face. His nose was red, and the tip had a slight black dust, which, according to the physiognomy section of the Zhuge Nei Jing, indicated a financial loss. Moreover, the lower lip was cracked, forming an inverted 'three' shape, which, when combined with the black dust on the nose, indicated a significant financial loss was imminent.
Since he knew the young guide was about to suffer a financial loss, Qin Yu didn't take his words to heart. He turned and followed the other tourists onto the bus, ignoring him.
The bus took everyone on the return route but stopped at a shopping mall halfway. The young guide announced, "This is the most famous mall here. You can buy some souvenirs. You can't come all this way and leave without buying anything, right?"
The tourists on the bus were in an uproar. Who doesn't buy souvenirs at tourist spots? But the young guide ignored their complaints and gave the driver a nod. The driver then said,
"I need to clean the bus at the front. You all get off and wait here for an hour. I'll come back to pick you up after it's clean."
After saying this, the driver started to shoo people off. The tourists, though unwilling, had no choice. This was a common occurrence in China, where travel agencies often collaborated with malls near tourist spots. The guides would lead the tour groups to the malls to shop, and the malls would give a commission.
Of course, you could choose not to buy anything, but most people who go on tours have some disposable income or live relatively well. Few can resist the temptation to buy something when they're in a mall.
Even those who didn't plan to buy anything would feel compelled to make a purchase when they saw other tourists carrying large bags, out of a sense of competition. Everyone wants to keep up with others, and not buying anything would make you look stingy, especially with the guide looking at you with disdain.
"Guide, is there anything good to buy in here?" A middle-aged man with a thick gold necklace around his neck took out a pack of soft Zhonghua cigarettes, pulled one out, and handed it to the guide, asking.
The man was about forty, with the appearance of a nouveau riche. His hair was greasy and shiny, and a curvaceous young woman was leaning on his arm, her 36D chest occasionally rubbing against his arm, causing the young guide to swallow hard.
"Brother Chen, I still need a bracelet. Go in and buy me one," the woman said, clinging to the man's arm, her chest swaying. Not only the young guide but also other male tourists couldn't help but glance at her.
"Sure, sure, I'll go in and buy it for you. Guide, take us to the jewelry store," the middle-aged man laughed, opening his briefcase to reveal stacks of unopened hundred-yuan bills. He took out a few and handed them to the young guide.
"Boss, you're too kind. I know this mall well. I'll take you to the best jewelry store," the young guide said, his face lighting up at the sight of the money. This man was clearly a nouveau riche, and the young guide had dealt with many such people who were often generous, allowing him to earn extra tips.
However, the young guide didn't forget to remind the other tourists to return to the meeting point in an hour before leading the man to a section of the mall.
"From his face, this middle-aged man seems to be a deceitful and boastful person. Such people are often lazy and unproductive," Qin Yu observed the man's face, feeling something was off. According to the Zhuge Nei Jing, this man's face suggested he was a swindler, not a wealthy person.
Although he didn't plan to buy anything, Qin Yu still entered the mall and wandered around. The mall was not far from the tourist spot, and he often saw tour groups being led by guides to shop.
The mall was filled with a variety of goods, spread across three floors. The first floor mainly had jewelry counters and cosmetics stores. Qin Yu saw the young guide leading the middle-aged man and the curvaceous woman into a counter, but the woman seemed unsatisfied with the jewelry and moved to another counter.
"Huh, what's going on?" Qin Yu noticed an elderly man in simple clothing stopping the woman, showing her something. The woman's face lit up with surprise, and she clung to the middle-aged man, talking to him. Soon, they quickly left the mall. Although curious, Qin Yu didn't follow them and continued to wander around the mall.
After aimlessly wandering around the mall, Qin Yu bought a can of gum, paid, and headed to the agreed meeting point for the bus. He found the young guide standing there, his eyes scanning the surroundings, looking excited, as if he had won a five million yuan prize.
The young guide was tightly holding a small, elegant box, which Qin Yu recognized as a jewelry box. When he saw Qin Yu, his eyes lingered for a second before continuing to scan the area.
"Wasn't he with those two buying jewelry? Why is he alone now?" Qin Yu was puzzled. He felt there was something fishy, especially with the appearance of the elderly man. Recalling the young guide's face indicating a financial loss, a thought formed in his mind: "This guide must have fallen for a scam."
Although he didn't like the guide, Qin Yu still walked over and warned, "Be careful, you might have been set up and scammed."
"Set up and scammed?" The young guide looked at Qin Yu suspiciously, not understanding why he said that.
"Are you waiting for that middle-aged man, and did you lend them money?" Qin Yu guessed.
The young guide looked surprised and then nodded, saying, "Mr. Chen's... cousin liked a blood jade bracelet, but Mr. Chen didn't have enough cash, so he borrowed thirty thousand from me. Mr. Chen is now at the bank to get cash to pay me back."
"Did he borrow thirty thousand from you? Did you know Mr. Chen before?"
"No, but Mr. Chen gave me the blood jade bracelet to keep, so there's no problem," the young guide said, a proud look on his face. Mr. Chen had promised to pay him back fifty thousand, with the extra twenty thousand as interest.
Thinking about earning twenty thousand in just half an hour, the young guide was overjoyed. This was equivalent to half a year's salary for him.
"It seems I was right," Qin Yu thought for a moment and said softly.
"What do you mean?" The young guide was still immersed in the joy of the twenty thousand, not noticing the sympathetic look in Qin Yu's eyes.
"If I'm not mistaken, when you were shopping in the mall, you met an elderly man who wanted to sell a blood jade bracelet. Mr. Chen's cousin liked it, and you all left the mall to make the deal. At that point, Mr. Chen realized he didn't have enough cash, but the elderly man insisted on cash and was in a hurry. So, Mr. Chen borrowed thirty thousand from you to pay the elderly man and gave you the blood jade bracelet to keep, saying he would go to the bank to get cash to pay you back. Am I right?"
"Hey, how did you know?"
Qin Yu's guess was correct. The elderly man they met in the mall claimed that his family was in trouble and needed money, so he wanted to sell the blood jade bracelet. However, the pawnshop offered too low a price, and he refused to sell it. He came to the mall to see if anyone interested in jewelry would buy it.
The young guide dismissed the elderly man's story but couldn't resist when Mr. Chen's cousin liked the bracelet. They followed the elderly man out of the mall to a corner to discuss the price.
"Six hundred thousand, not a cent less!" The elderly man was firm, looking pained, saying the bracelet was a family heirloom and he wouldn't sell it for a million if not for the family's urgent need for money.
Hearing the price, the young guide gently tugged at Mr. Chen's sleeve, pulling him aside to advise, "Mr. Chen, there are too many scammers nowadays. Just because this old man says it's a blood jade bracelet doesn't mean it is. It might be a scam. Let's just look, but don't buy it on impulse."
He had no idea what a blood jade bracelet was, but he knew six hundred thousand was a significant amount. However, Mr. Chen smiled and handed him a business card.
"General Manager Chen Xuan Yu, Shanghai Xuan Yu Jewelry Co., Ltd." The gold-embossed words stunned him. It turned out the man was in the jewelry business, and he had been worrying unnecessarily.
Mr. Chen smiled and told him that the blood jade bracelet was genuine and, based on current jade prices, its market value would not be less than a million. Buying it for six hundred thousand was a good deal.