"What is unsatisfactory? Just tell me if you're selling it or not. If not, I'm leaving," the old man said smugly.
"Selling!" Li Chonglou paused for three seconds, then began unpacking. "Pay up."
"If you're selling, then sell. Why are you unpacking it?" the old man concealed his extreme joy, asking as he fumbled for his phone and keyed in the account number posted in the shop, happily transferring the money.
With one sentence, he saved himself a hundred thousand yuan. He had finally struck gold.
"You're still too young to play me."
As for whether it was packaged or not, it was irrelevant to him now.
He'd just chalk it up to teaching this young whippersnapper a lesson. What difference did it make?
*Ding dong!*
Soon, the sound of money arriving in the shop chimed.
The old man couldn't wait to grab the now unpacked snuff bottle, muttering, "So stingy. Not even a box for a hundred thousand less."
He reached out and grasped the body of the snuff bottle, but the lid remained with Li Chonglou.
As he was about to reach out and ask Li Chonglou for the lid.
Before he could utter a word, he saw Li Chonglou flick his wrist, smashing the lid hard onto the ground.
*Crack!*
In an instant, the exquisite, delicate lid shattered into countless pieces on the ground.
"Kid, what are you doing?" the old man exclaimed, shocked and furious, his face contorting.
His shifty eyes widened to their fullest.
"We agreed that eight hundred thousand was for the entire set," Li Chonglou said calmly, not even glancing at the fragments. "You paid seven hundred thousand for the bottle body. That remaining hundred thousand was the price for the lid."
"How I dispose of my property is none of your business, is it?"
Neither servile nor overbearing, a desperate counterattack.
Li Chonglou's words left the old man speechless.
No matter how unreasonable he was, at that moment, he could only admit defeat wholeheartedly.
The anger on his face slowly subsided. He gave Li Chonglou a thumbs-up. "As expected of someone Lin Yǎtou fancies."
"I underestimated you, old man. You tested me as soon as I arrived. My perspective was too narrow!"
"In terms of ability and character, you've both taught me a lesson."
"With you here, Zhen Dong can rest assured about Dong Lin."
With that, the shrewd glint in his eyes miraculously vanished.
Looking at him again, he was now benevolent.
"So you are..." Li Chonglou's heart skipped a beat. "Chonglou apologizes for his rudeness."
He quickly realized that this old man was the teacher his senior sister had asked him to receive before she left.
All the conflict just now was staged.
The purpose was to test his ability and character.
"Ah, I, Cao Chunhua, have walked the jianghu my entire life, and I've only met two young people like you!" the old man stopped him. "One is the current chairman of the National Antiques Alliance, and the other is you!"
"With time, you will achieve great things."
Cao Chunhua's praise was heartfelt.
From the moment Li Chonglou entered the shop until now, every word and action of his exuded an extremely rare confidence and assertiveness.
"Teacher Cao, my senior sister specifically instructed me to host you well, yet I made things difficult for you." Li Chonglou refilled his tea to seven-tenths full and personally handed it to Cao Chunhua. "If you need anything during your visit to Qinzhou, please don't hesitate to ask."
Li Chonglou's declaration was not for his own sake.
With his confidence and strength, he didn't even regard Lu Wei Shen highly.
Lowering his stance was purely for the sake of his senior sister and master's reputation, especially since Teacher Cao was a good friend of his master.
In his previous life, he hadn't met this person, but he had heard of his great reputation.
Perhaps it was due to his presence in this life that the trajectory of fate had changed, leading Cao Chunhua to suddenly visit Qinzhou.
"Zhen Dong sent someone to ask me to come. In the afternoon, I'll visit him in prison, and secondly, I've been invited to attend a charity auction," Cao Chunhua said as he savored the tea.
"The charity auction by the Lu Group?" Li Chonglou probed.
"That's right. It seems you've heard of it," Cao Chunhua smiled.
"I'm also attending this afternoon. How about we go together, Teacher Cao?" Li Chonglou sighed at the sheer coincidence.
Lu Chenggong's charity auction had even invited people from outside the province, clearly aiming to build momentum.
However, Cao Chunhua was just an enthusiast, not someone from the professional antiques circle.
What was the intention behind inviting him?
"No need, no need. I have someone accompanying me. Isn't it better if we each do our own thing?" Cao Chunhua's roguish expression reappeared.
Seeing this, Li Chonglou understood.
After a brief chat and finishing a pot of tea,
He took his leave.
Li Chonglou had wanted to invite him for a simple meal to apologize for breaking the lid, but since Cao Chunhua already had prior arrangements, he didn't insist.
After seeing him off, Li Chonglou received an email from Wu Hao. Upon reading its contents, his brow furrowed tightly.
A cold light emanated from his eyes. "They still dare to engage in such despicable acts. Since you're courting death, so be it!"
He immediately made a phone call to Xu Lie, who was guarding at the hospital.
Then he notified Lu Yunxu to personally bring the driver to collect the items left at Donglin, for replacement at the charity auction.
After all, it was scheduled to start at four in the afternoon.
The invitation to the banquet had completely shattered Lu Chenggong's confidence, forcing him to agree to replace the fake sweet white glaze with other goods.
Lu Yunxu also regained her freedom.
Loading the Yaozhou kiln porcelain exchanged with Li Chonglou, along with several jade pieces sold by Wang Dehai and some other items left in the warehouse onto the car, and after paying, Lu Yunxu's beautiful eyes flickered with a charming invitation.
"Brother Li, come with me. I feel uneasy without you."
From beginning to end, all the trouble had been resolved by Li Chonglou alone.
She had already established a strong sense of trust in him, and even the suppressed dependence from her childhood had quietly begun to grow.
It seemed as long as Li Chonglou was by her side, she could feel at ease with any situation.
"Okay, I have some things to take care of anyway," Li Chonglou agreed readily.
He closed the door and got into the car.
He knew very well that the Tang father and son would not allow the Lu father and daughter to pass this auction safely, and before its conclusion, his fate was closely intertwined with that of the Lu father and daughter.
Within two hours, it was still uncertain whether they could turn the tide.
The two arrived outside the grand hall where the auction was being held.
Lu Yunxu took the lead, bringing the driver to transport the items to the backstage storage room.
Just as Li Chonglou was about to go to the registration desk, a disdainful, contemptuous voice sounded from behind him: "Li Chonglou? What are you doing here!"
Upon hearing this, Li Chonglou turned around and saw a man and two women standing behind him. The one speaking was Cai Wen, his wife's best friend.
She was currently arm-in-arm with a man in a sharp suit, his hair slicked back.
The man's expression was arrogant, his nostrils pointed upwards, and he was sizing up Li Chonglou with a sneer.
Standing beside Cai Wen was his wife, Jiang Yuxin.
She was wearing a champagne-gold evening gown, exuding an unparalleled nobility.
With light makeup, she was captivating.
Indeed, she was known as one of the three beauties of Qinzhou.
At this moment, her brows were slightly furrowed, and her face was filled with confusion as she stared at him. Although she didn't speak, it was evident that she shared the same confusion as Cai Wen.
"Why are you all here?" Li Chonglou asked, not answering directly.
"Of course, we're here to discuss business. Only today can we meet the Chairman of the Lu Group. Yuxin has been meticulously preparing for this for days. I warn you not to mess up her plans!" Cai Wen said unkindly.
"On such an important occasion, how can we have a live-in son-in-law present? If the Lu family finds out, they'll think we don't respect them." As soon as she finished speaking, the man she was arm-in-arm with snorted, "Yuxin, hurry up and tell this live-in son-in-law to go home and stay there, so he doesn't embarrass us!"