Li Chonglou was unaware that Zeng Qiang had been taken into police custody, but he could guess the general situation.
As the kingpin of smuggling cultural relics in Qin Province, while not as brazen as Li Hanlong, he couldn't be allowed to roam free.
His gamble was that Tong Zhaolin would only contact Zeng Qiang, not Lu Weishen.
After all, Lu Weishen, a man of pride and temper, might not have the best disposition, but he wouldn't stoop to smuggling cultural relics.
Every true antique dealer detested such behavior.
Tong Zhaolin, even if he interacted with Lu Weishen, would not dare to get too close.
He was confident about this.
As expected, Tong Zhaolin soon returned to the shop, smiling and inviting the two to sit.
With a face full of false smiles, he said, "My apologies for the delay, gentlemen."
"Are you here in Zhonghai to find me to sell something?"
He was a broker, and those who came to him were either buyers or sellers.
Li Chonglou claimed to be the son of the renowned master Li Shi, so he wouldn't have to travel all the way to Zhonghai to buy things. Beijing, whether in terms of cultural heritage or historical legacy, was far superior to Zhonghai.
Therefore, he must be here to sell treasures.
"Boss Tong has keen eyes. I have a batch of antiques to sell, but the quantity is too large," Li Chonglou said with a smile, deliberately lowering his voice and glancing around. "And they are all burial artifacts, not suitable for discussion in the open."
"I heard Boss Tong has extensive connections, so I specifically came to Zhonghai."
Upon hearing "burial artifacts," Tong Zhaolin's pupils contracted slightly.
"Burial artifacts" referred to treasures stolen from tombs, and their trade was strictly prohibited.
However, the more it was prohibited, the more people flocked to it.
While the profit from burial artifacts might not be as high as that from heirloom treasures, their quantity was vast.
If they couldn't be sold domestically, they would be taken abroad to earn money from foreigners.
Recently, Yong'an had experienced turmoil. First, Huang He was crippled and went abroad for treatment.
Then, Li Hanlong was killed by a punk named Zhang Dongxu, truly a case of a lifelong hunter being pecked by an eagle.
Having lost the stable supply lines of Huang He and Li Hanlong, Xingzhi Group immediately found itself in a deficit.
Although he had connections across the country and many grave robbers, it was difficult to find anyone with Li Hanlong's skills and Huang He's influence and connections.
He had been troubled by this matter for days.
He hadn't expected someone to offer help in his hour of need.
But even so, it didn't blind him.
He immediately got up, closed the door, and returned to Li Chonglou, lowering his voice. "Boss Li, this is no joke. It's a matter of life and death."
"Moreover, your father is a master in the antique world. Although he has passed away, his reputation still lingers."
"If your involvement with burial artifacts becomes known, it might tarnish the老爷子's reputation."
His heart was itching, yet he had to pretend to test Li Chonglou.
This showed Tong Zhaolin's caution and meticulousness.
No wonder the police couldn't find any evidence. Such a person would never speak without concrete proof.
"Hmph, master?" Li Chonglou sneered upon hearing this, his face filled with disdain. "My old man spent his entire life for just this reputation!"
"For his own reputation, both during his lifetime and after, he donated all his assets and taught me a lifetime of knowledge, calling it teaching me to fish."
"To hell with fishing! I want money. Without money, everything else is fake!"
"Just tell me if you can help me offload it. The rest is not your concern."
Hearing these words, Bai Jing, standing beside him, secretly admired him.
In an instant, Li Chonglou perfectly embodied the persona of a spoiled heir and a prodigal son. Coupled with his emaciated physique, his portrayal of cunning was exceptionally vivid.
It seemed that the organization sending him with her on this mission was not as arbitrary as she had initially thought.
Only now did Bai Jing begin to gain initial recognition for Li Chonglou's professionalism.
At least, in terms of psychology, he was not much inferior to her.
Just then, Tong Zhaolin's phone rang a few times, and he picked it up to glance at it.
Then, his face broke into a smile, and he quickly reassured Li Chonglou, "Don't rush, Boss Li. Since we've come this far, I won't beat around the bush."
"Regarding the items, we can certainly find a way to sell them, but I need to know their origin and inspect their quality."
"Then we can discuss further."
At this point, he had begun to relent.
It had to be said that Li Chonglou's acting was convincing, and with the cooperation of the police.
First, Zeng Qiang had provided a layer of security. Then, he had people investigate Li Chonglou's background. He had just received news that Li Chonglou was indeed Li Shi's illegitimate son.
Combined with the fact that Li Shi had donated all his assets to the national museum before his death,
Li Chonglou's anger was justified and well-founded, even Tong Zhaolin had to believe it.
But this was not enough; he still wanted to test Li Chonglou's mettle.
As long as his appraisal skills were sufficient, they could truly begin to establish cooperation, as finding an appraisal master to act as an undercover agent for the police was as difficult as ascending to heaven.
"The quantity is too large to bring all of it. I'll bring a sample for you to see first." Li Chonglou reached into his chest, and when he pulled his hand out, he was holding a bronze mirror.
This mirror was the one sold to him by Tian Lingli's uncle, a Wu Zixu portrait mirror from the Eastern Han Dynasty.
After arriving in Yong'an, he had left it at Ning Lang's house.
Before coming to Zhonghai, Li Chonglou had asked Bai Jing to drive there specifically to retrieve it.
Furthermore, the police had also provided a batch of unearthed bronze artifacts to be used as transaction props for this mission.
However, they had not yet been brought to Zhonghai.
Upon seeing this mirror, Tong Zhaolin's eyes lit up, and he eagerly took it.
After examining it back and forth several times, he concluded it was indeed from the Eastern Han Dynasty. He deliberately suppressed his excitement and asked, "How much of this do you have?"
"Several hundred pieces, plus some curved-handle he and xiushou ding."
"As for the origin, have you heard of the Chunqiu Tang burial sites?"
Tong Zhaolin nodded, then shook his head blankly. "Never heard of it."
Chunqiu Tang was an obscure, unknown place.
So small it couldn't be any smaller.
The reason Li Chonglou used it was precisely because it was too small, and it had not yet been publicly excavated.
It could hold water.
"Legend has it that during the Western Zhou and Spring and Autumn periods, there was a kingdom called Shu in Huizhou, which was a dominant power among the many ancient kingdoms at the time, lasting for five to six hundred years."
Li Chonglou did not answer directly but spoke eloquently. "Its contribution to the early civilization of the Jianghuai region was undeniable."
"Its reign lasted for centuries, with an estimated nearly a hundred kings."
"These kings were all buried near Chunqiu Tang in Hekou Town, Shu County. The large pond beside it is called Chunqiu Tang, said to have been dug during the Spring and Autumn period."
"Seven large tomb mounds are visible around the pond, and the pond was formed by the excavation of soil for mound construction."
"I haven't touched these seven major tomb mounds, only the adjacent subsidiary tombs. You can imagine the benefits you'll get."
"If this batch of goods can be successfully moved, then those seven major tomb mounds will also be within reach!"
These words were filled with naked temptation.
He laid out the immense profits directly before Tong Zhaolin for discussion.
You tell fairy tales to children, and you talk about profit with adults.
Who would do something without benefits?
As expected, after hearing this, Tong Zhaolin's eyes flickered, filled with greed and excitement.
He immediately made a decision: "Wonderful... Wonderful!"
"Where are the items? Let's move a batch first to test the waters. If there are no problems, we'll move the next batch."
Even with the conversation reaching this point, Tong Zhaolin was not blinded by immense profit. He proposed moving them in batches.
Bai Jing glanced at Li Chonglou.
The latter nodded in agreement without a change in expression.
Trying to swallow a whale in one gulp was unrealistic; trust was built step by step.
Moreover, their objective was not to arrest Tong Zhaolin, but to net the entire smuggling group.
Therefore, gaining trust and successfully infiltrating was the primary goal.
"However, I have a condition," Li Chonglou said calmly.
"You say it!"
"I have plenty of treasures, but how can you guarantee my safety?" Li Chonglou began to probe.
Tong Zhaolin looked confident. "Boss Li, you can rest assured. In this line of business nationwide, if I say I'm second, no one dares to say they're first."
"Our channels, connections, and even our overseas buyers are unmatched."
"Cooperation requires trust, you must trust me."
An old fox, watertight in his words.
He spoke half-truths, keeping things hidden and not fully disclosing them.
Seeing his demeanor, Li Chonglou decided to take another step. "How about this, you sign a contract with me in the name of your company?"
Upon hearing this, Tong Zhaolin's smile froze, and an unkind expression appeared. "Mr. Li, you are too calculating."
"We haven't even done a single deal, and you're already trying to probe the company's bottom line."
"Then let's not do this business!"
Saying this, he refilled the cups of tea for Li Chonglou and Bai Jing.
Indicating they should leave.
The drastic shift in his attitude was astonishing.
A trace of anxiety appeared in Bai Jing's beautiful eyes, and she wanted to speak to smooth things over.
But Li Chonglou stopped her with a gesture from below.
He drank his tea in one gulp, then got up, retrieved the bronze mirror, and was about to leave.
"I won't see you out," Tong Zhaolin said, cupping his hands.
Although Bai Jing didn't want to leave, Li Chonglou still pulled her out of Wangyue Tower.
After leaving the Cangbao Tower antique market and getting into the car.
Once on the main road, Li Chonglou finally spoke. "Don't be too anxious. This kind of thing is a tug-of-war."
"I advance, he retreats."
"The shrewdness of this Tong Zhaolin far surpasses that of ordinary brokers. To infiltrate the company through him, we need repeated back-and-forth."
"Today, when I made such a request, it touched his bottom line, and there's no point in talking further."
"But that doesn't mean there's no opportunity."
"Wait for news at the hotel. If things go as expected, he will contact us within three days."
Dealing with someone like Tong Zhaolin, a single wrong word could lead to a mistake. Li Chonglou's deliberate probing today was intentional.
Someone had to initiate the back-and-forth, so Tong Zhaolin's displeased reaction was within his expectations.
But with immense profits laid out before him, the self-control required to resist such temptation was terrifying.
Tong Zhaolin would eventually persuade himself, and even if there were risks, he would seek cooperation with him.
It was only a matter of time.
During this period, Tong Zhaolin would also send people to follow them to ensure the final risk assessment.
Therefore, what they needed to do now was to play their roles well.
Eat what they should eat, play where they should play.
"I understand..." Bai Jing, being intelligent and perceptive, grasped the meaning immediately.
Then, a smile curved her lips. "In that case, let's go shopping this afternoon!"
"Zhonghai is a shopping paradise. If we don't indulge in some consumption and enjoyment, how can I be worthy of the identity of your mistress?"
As she spoke, Bai Jing glanced at a Mercedes-Benz not too far behind them in the rearview mirror.
That must be someone sent by Tong Zhaolin to follow and investigate them.