Zhou Yang flinched, almost dropping the 1.5 million yuan on the ground. If it shattered, his dreams of a rich and beautiful wife would be gone.
Carefully, he placed the seal in the drawer and quickly opened the door.
“Fang Jie, what is this??”
“Gurgle~”
Just then, Zhou Yang's stomach rumbled. He hadn't eaten since morning and was starving.
“Zhou Yang, why did you come back from work?”
“Also, are you hungry?”
Clearly, Fang Jie had also heard Zhou Yang's stomach rumbling.
“Fang Jie, I only ate at the Antique Shop last night. Li Tuzi had something to do this afternoon and gave me half a day off, so my lunch…”
Fang Jie understood. She was quite familiar with Zhou Yang’s situation.
To put it bluntly, he had no money. He usually skipped breakfast, and the Antique Shop provided a fast-food meal for lunch and dinner.
So, with the day off today, he could only go hungry.
“You're a strapping 1.8-meter tall man, how did you end up in such a pathetic state?”
“My meal is just ready, come eat a little at my place first!”
“But let me tell you, after lunch, you still have to clean out my storage room. I want to rent it out as soon as possible!”
Zhou Yang quickly agreed. He didn't want anything else right now; he just wanted to eat.
Even if that seal was worth 1.5 million yuan, he still had to sell it first. Anyway, he was broke right now.
The dishes Fang Jie made were quite good: scrambled eggs with tomatoes, shredded pork with green peppers, and stir-fried greens.
And finally, a loofah and egg soup.
Zhou Yang was a big eater. Fang Jie hadn't made much food, but Zhou Yang ate it all by himself.
“Fang Jie, your cooking is really delicious!”
Zhou Yang said, while scraping all the leftover food from the plates into his bowl.
Fang Jie was so annoyed her chest hurt, both of them.
She didn't get to eat her own meal, and when she wanted a couple of bites of vegetables, this guy didn't treat her like an outsider at all and ate everything.
“Zhou Yang, why don't you quit that job? I'll find someone to help you get a factory job instead. You could easily make 5,000 yuan a month there.”
“Look at you, getting up early and working late, for only 3,000 yuan a month, without even a single day off.”
Zhou Yang just listened, then picked up the last bowl of soup and started gulping it down.
Fang Jie completely lost her temper. After all that, she had busied herself for nothing this lunchtime; this guy had eaten everything.
“Fang Jie, I'm going to get rich very soon. When I do, I will definitely pay back all your rent, double what I owe.”
“Also, I'll treat you to a big feast!”
After eating and drinking his fill, Zhou Yang began to make promises.
“Oh, stop it. You, getting rich?”
“If you can get rich, I, your old lady, can have a baby all by myself!”
“Now that you've eaten and drunk, hurry up and get to work, or I won't let you off!”
Zhou Yang was thus chased out by Fang Jie, but he didn't care. As long as he believed, whether others believed or not was irrelevant.
Just like that song a certain celebrity sings, 'I don't care, I don't care~'
Actually, he had mostly tidied up last night. Only a broken cabinet was left. Zhou Yang moved the broken cabinet out and threw it away.
Then he picked up a broom to sweep. Suddenly, he remembered something: where did the small tripod that had hit his head last night go?
He had planned to sell that tripod for some money, but he searched everywhere and couldn't find it. In the end, he could only give up in frustration.
He checked the time; it was already two in the afternoon.
Zhou Yang tucked the seal into his pocket, and also took a pile of cardboard boxes and scrap metal to a nearby recycling station to sell.
He sold them for a total of 6 yuan, enough for instant noodles tonight.
After finishing his tasks, he quickly went to the Antique Street. First, he wanted to sell this seal.
He definitely couldn't sell it at Li Tuzi's shop. Fortunately, there were many Antique Shops on Antique Street, and the most famous one was Jubao Studio at the street corner.
This shop was the largest here, and its reputation for integrity was also the best.
Zhou Yang walked in without a word, but at this time, there were other customers in the shop.
The boss's surname was Qin, but Zhou Yang didn't know his given name.
At this moment, Boss Qin was chatting with an elderly man over 60. Zhou Yang didn't want to disturb them, so he just wandered around.
His intention was to wait for the old man to leave, and then show his item to Boss Qin.
But he had waited for half an hour, and the two were still chatting intimately...
Fortunately, at this moment, Boss Qin noticed Zhou Yang's unusual behavior. His sense of smell was very keen, and his vision was very unique.
He immediately understood Zhou Yang's purpose.
“Young man, is there anything I can help you with?”
Boss Qin asked tentatively.
Zhou Yang decided not to wait any longer. If he waited any longer, it would be almost dark, and he still wanted to go treasure hunting later.
So he directly took out the seal and placed it on the counter.
“Boss, what do you think this is worth?”
“If the price is right, I'll sell it to you!”
When Boss Qin saw it was a seal, he immediately became interested. He quickly put on his glasses, then took out a pair of disposable gloves, put them on, and only then reached for the seal to examine it.
The moment he looked, his hand trembled involuntarily.
“Old Qin, good stuff?”
“Can I see it?”
The person speaking was the old man, around 60, who had been chatting with Boss Qin.
Boss Qin reluctantly placed the seal on the counter, signaling for the other party to examine it.
The old man picked up the seal and exclaimed immediately:
“Zhu Da's seal!”
“Young man, how much do you plan to sell it for?”
“If the price is right, I'll take it!”
Zhou Yang hadn't spoken yet, but Boss Qin spoke first.
“Old Huang, that's a bit unfair of you. You said you just wanted to look, but then…”
The old man surnamed Huang smiled and interrupted Boss Qin, saying:
“Old Qin, you know I love these things. At most, I'll treat you to tea tomorrow!”
Boss Qin shook his head helplessly. Mainly, their relationship was very good, so there was no point in competing.
“Young man, name your price. As long as it's reasonable, I definitely won't haggle!”
Zhou Yang was about to blurt out 1.5 million yuan, but suddenly he had an idea. Why should he name the price?
“Sir, this seal was left to me by my grandfather. It's a seal by someone named Zhu Da, supposedly a treasure.”
“And I've also researched that Zhu Da, whose birth name was Zhu Tong, courtesy name Xuege, and pseudonym Bada Shanren, was from Nanchang, Jiangxi. He is said to be a descendant of Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang of the Ming Dynasty, a painter from the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, and a grand master!”
“So, as for the price of this seal…”
“How about you, sir, name a price? If I think it's a good deal, I'll let you have it. If not, the deal may not happen, but our goodwill remains, wouldn't you agree?”
As Zhou Yang spoke, he subtly took the seal into his hand.
He was doing this just in case!