366: Chapter 366: If I Say It’s Fake, Then It’s Fake 366: Chapter 366: If I Say It’s Fake, Then It’s Fake The middle-aged man said sternly, “Young lady, what you just said isn’t right.
Stealing is illegal; although we’re street vendors, we are also law-abiding citizens.
This is Ancient Jade from 800 years ago, I’m only asking for twenty thousand yuan, which is already cheap.
Some people have offered fifty thousand, and I didn’t sell it.
Young lady, don’t be ungrateful.”
“You must think I’m a three-year-old, don’t you?
It’s obviously fake jade; how could real jade shatter when dropped?
It’s clearly made of glass.
Could they even make glass 800 years ago?
Who would believe that?
Fine, I’ll give you two hundred yuan.
Stop causing trouble, or I’ll call the police,” Liu Shanshan said.
She had always been well-behaved and didn’t want to stir up trouble.
Although she knew she had been scammed, she attributed it to bad luck.
Being a girl, she felt powerless to argue with these grown men over rights.
Life is full of disappointments, and sometimes you have to let things slide.
“Hmph, two hundred yuan?
You think you’re dismissing a beggar?
Young lady, it looks like you still don’t recognize the kindness shown to you.
Since that’s the case, just call the police.
Even if you bring the police here, this Jade Bracelet is worth at least twenty thousand yuan,” the middle-aged man said with a sneer, his face cold, showing no fear, his confidence apparent.
At this point, Liu Shanshan could guess that these people either had some unspeakable dealings with the police or were simply determined to be unreasonable.
“What exactly do you want?
If two hundred isn’t enough, how about five hundred?” Liu Shanshan said angrily.
“Anything less than twenty thousand, I won’t accept,” the middle-aged man said, shaking his head in refusal.
“How can you be so unreasonable?
Let’s just let the police handle this,” Liu Shanshan said angrily, indeed encountering such a situation for the first time.
She reached for her phone to call the police while the middle-aged man did not stop her.
However, four others nearly surrounded her, preventing her from escaping.
Just as Liu Shanshan was about to dial, the middle-aged man tilted his chin up and said, “You’re looking for the police, right?
There’s one coming up right behind you.”
Liu Shanshan turned and looked, indeed seeing a policeman approaching.
Seeing such a coincidence, Liu Shanshan furrowed her brows slightly, feeling a vague sense of unease, but at that moment, she could only wave to the policeman: “Officer, over here.”
The policeman, who looked to be about thirty, heard Liu Shanshan’s call and walked over, his gaze lingering on her for a long while before finally moving away, a barely perceptible glint flickering in his eyes.
“What’s the matter?” the policeman asked as he approached.
Liu Shanshan pointed at the middle-aged man and said, “I was passing by when he insisted on giving me this bracelet.
When I didn’t take it, he dropped it, and it shattered.
Now he’s demanding twenty thousand yuan in compensation, which is practically robbery.
It’s obviously fake; officer, you need to handle this.”
“Young lady, you can’t just say whatever you want.
The item was given to you, and you broke it; how can you blame me?
This item is a treasure in my possession, and asking twenty thousand yuan for it is already less than its worth.
You say it’s fake which is simply laughable.
This item has been passed down from generation to generation in my family; how could it be fake?
Who says jade can’t break?
Even if it’s not top-quality jade, if preserved for eight hundred years, it still counts as an ancient relic.
If it were top-quality jade, twenty thousand yuan?
Hmph, not even two hundred thousand would be enough.
Officer, she broke my property, and she must compensate.
Just because she is a woman, doesn’t mean she should get special treatment,” the middle-aged man said.
“Twenty thousand yuan is robbery.
I’ll compensate you five hundred yuan at most.
In the market, I could buy three or four of such items for two hundred yuan each,” Liu Shance said.
“Hmph, to think a young person like you, presumably educated, can speak such unreasonable things without any manners.
You broke someone else’s property and still stand here spewing nonsense without a sense of responsibility,” the middle-aged man scoffed.
Liu Shanshan’s face turned slightly green with anger, realizing that reasoning with these people was only inviting more frustration.
“Alright, alright, stop arguing.
I understand the situation now.
Let me take a look at this bracelet,” the policeman said, gesturing with his hand.
He picked up the shattered bracelet, inspecting it carefully, and even borrowed a magnifying glass from the middle-aged man for a closer look, before asking, “What’s the story behind this Jade Bracelet?”
The middle-aged man proudly boasted, “This Jade Bracelet was passed down from my great-great-great-great-grandfather…
It’s a family heirloom, known as the ‘Marriage Jade Bracelet,’ said to possess the magical power of connecting fates.
Even aside from these magical effects, the bracelet itself is immensely valuable.
Had it not been for her being a young girl, I wouldn’t have let her off for just twenty thousand yuan.”
Liu Shanshan simply chose to stay silent, waiting for the policeman to make a decision.
However, she still harbored a bad feeling, sensing something was off.
The policeman shook his head and said, “Whether what you say is true or not, we can’t tell.
However, from what I’ve seen of this bracelet, although I’m not versed in jade, it does seem to have some age and doesn’t look like glass,” he finished, then looked at Liu Shanshan and continued, “Miss, you say the bracelet is fake, but that might not be entirely the case.
Why don’t you take a closer look too, to avoid any accusation of bias on my part.”
“Just because it’s not glass doesn’t mean it’s not fake.
Real jade wouldn’t be so fragile that it would shatter on impact.
That’s common sense,” Liu Shanshan said.
“It might not necessarily mean that.
Perhaps this jade isn’t top-grade.
Of course, considering that even today’s workmanship, genuine top-grade jade couldn’t be valued under twenty thousand.
This issue really isn’t easy to resolve; the bracelet did break while in your hands, right?” the policeman said.
“He insisted on putting it in my hands.
I never even held it,” Liu Shanshan said.
“Young lady, how can you say that?
It was indeed in your hands.
You threw it, causing it to shatter,” the middle-aged man claimed.
The officer waved his hand again, “Enough, enough, you both have your points, but arguing like this isn’t getting us anywhere.
How about this: you both come with me to the station, and I’ll have a professional authenticate it for us.
However, it might take a while, so you’ll have to stay at the station for a few days and wait for the results.
Second, just settle it between yourselves; these kinds of disputes are hard to resolve no matter where you take them.
Actually, miss, I suggest that you settle.
After all, you don’t want to stay at the police station for a few days, do you?
Regardless of the outcome, you might not be able to escape compensating.”
Liu Shanshan was somewhat speechless, the officer was clearly biased towards the other party, no wonder they were so confident; they must have had connections with the police.
If it really went to the police station, Liu Shanshan knew she wouldn’t gain much.
Authenticating?
What a joke, it was so easy to forge that stuff.
Once the report was faked, she would have nowhere left to argue her case; even jumping into the Yellow River wouldn’t clear her name.
Besides, Liu Shanshan naturally didn’t want to go to such a place as a police station.
There was nothing to do but chalk it up to bad luck.
“Then what do you think we should do to settle this privately?” Liu Shanshan asked the officer.
The officer shook his head, “You shouldn’t be asking me that.
I’m just a mediator.
You’ll have to discuss among yourselves how you want to handle it.
I can’t make decisions for you; at most, I can just mediate.”
“He wants me to pay twenty thousand, and you think that’s reasonable, right?
Don’t say I don’t have twenty thousand; even if I did, I wouldn’t accept this loss.
I’ve said it before, I’d accept five hundred, but no more,” Liu Shanshan said.
The middle-aged man said, “Officer, you see, she really doesn’t want to compensate.
What can five hundred yuan do?
It’s not even enough to shoo away a beggar.
Since she doesn’t want to pay, let’s just go to the station then, let them test it.
I believe modern technology can reveal the truth of my claims.
By then, it won’t just be a matter of twenty thousand yuan; we would be going by the market price.
A real antique like this could fetch maybe a hundred thousand at auction.”
“You—,” Liu Shanshan was choked with anger, her face turning a delicate shade of rosy pink.
“How about this, both of you, twenty thousand might indeed be too much for this lady, who appears to be just an ordinary worker.
Big brother, you must bear some responsibility too; you can’t put it all on this lady.
Let’s do this, I’ll mediate at five thousand yuan; both of you make a concession.
What do you think?” the officer said with a well-meaning face.
The middle-aged man’s expression darkened, and after pondering for a good while, he said, “Alright, officer, I’ll take some responsibility here.
Seeing that this young lady has it tough, I’ll settle for five thousand.
I’ll take that loss.
I’m actually quite charitable at heart.”
“You’re all in this together; five thousand is out of the question,” Liu Shanshan stubbornly said.
The expressions of a few people darkened slightly.
“Five thousand, daylight robbery of a decent young woman, you’ve got some nerve,” a stern voice suddenly interrupted, startling both the middle-aged man and the officer.
Upon hearing this voice, Liu Shanshan was initially startled but then her face lit up with surprise, because she knew Tangyu had arrived.
With him here, anything could be settled.
This sense of security had deeply ingrained itself in her heart.
The middle-aged man and the officer both darted apprehensive glances at Tangyu, the middle-aged man coldly and sinisterly said, “Young man, what do you mean by that?”
“I’m working on a case here, what do you mean by that, trying to obstruct official duties?” the officer also said sharply.
Tangyu glanced at the officer and said, “Police?
Are you really police?”
The officer’s eyes twitched under Tangyu’s gaze, his heart skipped, wondering who this guy was.
Did he see through him?
The officer’s change in expression did not escape Tangyu’s eyes, affirming his suspicion that this man was not really a police officer.
Tangyu had intended to drive Mo Xiaoqing back to Donglin University, but had not expected to encounter this scene and had quickly gotten out of the car.
Tangyu had pretty much figured out what was happening here.
“Nonsense, of course, I’m a police officer.
Are you blind?” the officer retorted angrily.
“Hmph, still lying?
I’m from the Donglin University police station, and I’ve never seen you before.
You still claim to be a police officer?” Tangyu rebuked coldly.
The officer was taken aback and suddenly felt uneasy upon encountering a real officer, but it didn’t make sense; he did not know of such a figure at the Donglin University police station.
Ignoring the fake officer, Tangyu turned to the middle-aged man and said, “Your item is a fake, and yet you dare bring it out to deceive people.
In broad daylight, you’ve got quite the nerve.
Is there no law left?”
“Who— who says it’s a fake?” the middle-aged man stuttered, somewhat intimidated by Tangyu’s imposing demeanor, believing that he was indeed an officer from the Donglin University police station.
“If I say it’s fake, then it’s fake,” Tangyu said.