"What does it have to do with you?" Grandpa Lu answered subconsciously after hearing the voice behind him.

Guo Wujing, who was standing behind him, almost laughed out of anger. He switched back to Mandarin and said, "I'm the manager here. You're secretly taking photos here. Do you think it's none of my business?"

"manager?"

Grandpa Lu made a questioning sound and turned around with a frown.

Seeing Guo Wujing with his hands behind his back and a stern face, he felt that it really was the case. He subconsciously changed his face to a smile and asked:
"Hello, Manager! What's your name?"

"Oh, you're quite polite!"

"But are you mistaken? Who is in control of the situation now? You, answer my question first!" Guo Wujing said with a contemptuous smile on his face in a very strong tone.

He has been very angry recently. In the matter of Master Bi's disappearance, Guo Wujing was actually the most hidden beneficiary.

When the head is not here, the deputy head becomes the head; when Master Bi is not here, he becomes the number one figure in the Treasure Pavilion.

Even the position of appraiser at the China Guardian Auctions was inherited by him. If Lao Bi was still alive, it would never have been Lao Guo's turn.

But who could have thought that when he finally squeezed into the auction and was ready to show his skills, he was knocked unconscious by Zhang Yang's stick.

Am I a parallel importer? Unbelievable!

Before he even began to realize his dream of becoming an antique appraiser, he became a notorious expert on parallel imports. It is now unclear whether he will be able to cooperate with auction houses in the future.

Anyone would get angry if something like this happened!
Guo Wujing locked himself in the "General Manager's Office", wondering if there was any way to save the situation, while also thinking about what else Master Bi could leave him to inherit.

Inadvertently, I turned my head and glanced at the surveillance screen on the desktop, and happened to see Grandpa Lu acting suspiciously, like a spy or undercover cop, secretly investigating.

Now that the Treasure Pavilion is his territory, Guo Wujing certainly cannot tolerate such things.

He immediately decided to step forward and directly question the old man, who was very secretive, about what he was doing taking pictures.

"Why? Can't you tell?"

Guo Wujing noticed some embarrassment on Grandpa Lu's face, and the corners of his mouth curled up again. He pretended to use his cell phone to call the police, but in fact he was just threatening him.

"If you don't want to say it yourself, I can only call the police and let them question you."

"Call the police? Huh?"

Grandpa Lu was stunned for a moment. He was just formulating the words in his mind just now. When Guo Wujing suddenly said this, he thought, what does this have to do with anything? I'm just buying an antique.

If you are running a business, there is no need to make such a fuss, right?

He quickly explained: "Manager, you may have made a mistake. I just took a photo and asked a friend to help me judge it."

"It won't trouble the officer."

"Really? But doesn't it say here that taking photos is prohibited? Are you illiterate?" Guo Wujing pointed to the warning sign on the antique shelf and asked back.

Almost all large antique shops have this kind of sign. Generally, the antiques on sale are easy to handle, and they are afraid that people with bad intentions will take photos and then make counterfeits and then steal them in the shop, so antique shops basically prohibit taking photos.

The Treasure Pavilion follows such rules, and Grandpa Lu certainly understands the significance of specifications.

He smiled awkwardly: "I took the photo secretly because I saw the sign, otherwise I would have taken it openly."

"Manager, don't worry. I just asked someone to evaluate it. I definitely didn't have the intention of asking someone to copy it and then replace it with a fake."

"is it?"

"Yes!" Grandpa Lu answered confidently.

"If you say so, then it is? Who would believe it? Anyway, I don't believe it."

Guo Wujing spread his hands mockingly, and without further ado, he took out a walkie-talkie from his trouser pocket:

"Security, come over to the snuff bottle area, someone is taking photos here."

"Manager, I..."

Grandpa Lu wanted to explain.

But Guo Wujing waved his hand at him, signaling him to shut up and not explain any more, because the security guards were already jogging over from the opposite aisle.

……

An hour later, Zhang Yang was in a taxi, looking at the three big words "Zhenbao Pavilion" and frowned slightly.

It is a very grand antique shop with carved beams and painted buildings, golden plaques and two bronze lions guarding the door.

My grandfather really knows how to choose a place. Such a big store, you can imagine that the security measures are very good. Why would he think of violating the store rules?
And why does the name "Treasure Pavilion" feel like I've heard it somewhere before?
Zhang Yang thought about it carefully for a while, but really couldn't remember it. He shook his head and brought his thoughts back to the main business.

He came to save Lao Denglu Mingfei.

Although I don’t know what laws I have violated by taking photos in a store where photography is prohibited, this is Hong Kong, a very special place, and my previous understanding of the law may not apply.

Since his grandfather asked for help, Zhang Yang had no choice but to leave his two female companions behind and come here first.

After entering the store, he immediately saw Grandpa Lu sitting in the customer reception area on the first floor of the store.

Just as I was about to walk over, I suddenly realized something was wrong.

Didn’t they say on the phone that it was detained by the store owner?

But at this moment, the old man was sitting on the sofa with his legs crossed, playing with his mobile phone, and he didn't look like his personal freedom was restricted at all.

In this situation, there is nothing wrong with saying that the client is negotiating business.

Moreover, sitting opposite Grandpa Lu was a face that Zhang Yang was very familiar with...

"Oh my god, isn't this the fake Master Guo? Why is he here too?"

Zhang Yang muttered something in a puzzled tone, but instead of walking forward, he quietly stepped aside.

Let’s see what the situation is first.

There just happened to be information about the store on a signboard on the roadside near the entrance. Zhang Yang walked over silently with a curious expression and studied it carefully.

This store has quite a lot of reputations, which is worthy of such top-notch decoration.

What are the century-old brands in Hong Kong, the honorary stores of the Hong Kong Collectors Association, the honest merchants, the certified stores of the Collectors Association, the organizers of the first auction of old collections from the Qing Palace, and the senior member stores of Christie’s…

However, its value is not as good as the small sign at the door of Zhang Yang’s store.

Behind the various titles are two key pieces of information about people, namely the store owner and senior executives.

"Oh my god, isn't this Master Bi and Master Guo?"

Zhang Yang rubbed his eyes and looked at the photos on the display board twice. He was very sure that he was not mistaken. It was them.

Nowadays, all kinds of cats and dogs dare to call themselves masters, and the two in the photo are the best among them.

"It's interesting that all the parallel imports have come together."

"So this is Master Bi's lair. No wonder Li Zi's second brother was so confident after finding Master Bi. Whether it's the name or the area, it's much more impressive than my store."

"But Master Bi... I remember the old Taoist priest said that the law is long and wide, and nothing can escape it. Shouldn't he have been arrested? Why wasn't he released so soon?"

"It's fate that we can meet like this..."

Zhang Yang's imagination ran wild for a moment. It wasn't until the phone in his pocket vibrated again - Grandpa Lu called to urge him, that he remembered that his side still had a "hostage" in the hands of the other side, at least in name only.

Zhang Yang perfunctorily said that he would be there soon, while looking around for the place where his grandfather had just been looking at the snuff bottle.

He knew very well that he definitely couldn't go over there now. Putting himself in Master Guo's shoes, he thought that Master Guo must hate him to death, and if he went over there, he might be blackmailed.

So we have to think of another way.

Soon, he found the previous crime scene.

……

The snuff bottle exhibition area was much quieter than Zhang Yang had imagined. There were indeed people walking around, but they were basically young people around Zhang Yang’s age. From their eyes and actions, one could tell that they were complete laymen who were just watching the fun.

Not many people actually get to watch it.

The shopping guide should also know it clearly, so I am too lazy to explain it.

What Zhang Yang wanted was for no one to notice him, so he imitated the young couple in front of him, making "tsk" sounds as he walked, taking a deep breath from time to time and pretending to be surprised. The word "bumpkin" was almost engraved on his forehead.

The salesgirl next to him glanced at him and immediately looked away, as if she would get dirty if she looked at him any longer.

After successfully blending into the group of "tourists", it took Zhang Yang two minutes to finally find the place where his grandfather was taking pictures.

A "No Photography" sign was hung in the middle of the antique shelf, as if afraid that others would not see it.

Zhang Yang looked at it for a while, then turned to the salesgirl and pointed at one of the snuff bottles that Grandpa had taken a photo of before and said:
"Hello, waiter, come and help me wrap this..."

It's easy to save Lao Deng, just make the things he secretly filmed disappear.

Didn't you say that the purpose of taking the photo was not pure? Now that the items have been sold, what does it matter if it is not pure?
Of course, this is not the main reason why Zhang Yang bought this snuff bottle.

What happened on my grandfather's side seems less important than what might be hidden behind this snuff bottle.

He was for another matter.

"Are you talking about this snuff bottle from the late Qing Dynasty?" The salesgirl came over and asked politely.

"From the late Qing Dynasty? Can you be responsible for what you said? Is the year sufficient?" Zhang Yang asked with a deliberate smile.

"You can be assured of that, sir."

"You can rest assured? What do you mean?"

"That's right." This was not the first time the salesgirl had to deal with such a problem. She answered politely and skillfully, "All antique shops in Hong Kong do not guarantee authenticity. Even big auction houses like Christie's and Sotheby's cannot guarantee authenticity even if they have appraisal results from expert experts."

"Collecting antiques is a test of one's vision. You should trust your own judgment."

"Oh, so when you say rest assured, you mean rest assured about my own eyesight!"

Zhang Yang nodded, feeling that he had learned something new. This sales tactic would be very suitable for selling goods in the future.

"Since you are playing tricks on me, I won't hide it. I think I know the value of this thing and I am willing to pay for it. I will pay the price listed above, but... I have a request."

"Please go ahead!" The salesgirl made a gesture of invitation, with a hint of joy on her face, as if the commission had already been received.

"After I pay, can you give me the contact information of the author behind this thing? I want to consult with him."

"what?"

"What? Didn't you hear clearly?"

"I heard it clearly, I heard it clearly." The salesgirl responded repeatedly, and then hesitantly said, "I'm sorry, sir, I don't know how to answer the request you just made."

"Please come this way. I'll have our most professional manager, Guo, come and receive you."

"Don't!" Zhang Yang reached out to stop him, and whispered to him, "Do you think your manager would be willing to tell me who is behind this?"

"Or do you think that if you take me to see your manager, he will praise you?"

"..."

The salesgirl's face changed and she fell silent. After a short pause, she whispered in Zhang Yang's ear:

"The creator of this thing is a master in our store. I only know his last name is Jin, and I don't know anything else. He rarely shows up in the store."

"Except for Manager Guo, no one in the store could take the initiative to contact him."

"Okay." Zhang Yang nodded, without saying anything else, and followed the shopping guide to buy the things.

Knowing that it was Master Jin from the Treasure Pavilion was enough for Zhang Yang.

If you still can't find someone with such clear information, it only means that you are not capable enough or that it is not your destiny.

After walking out of the store, Zhang Yang found an empty corner and called Grandpa Lu. After giving him some instructions, he stood there and waited quietly.

……

Five minutes later, Grandpa Lu walked out of the door of the Treasure Pavilion with a smile and walked towards Zhang Yang.

"What do you think? Is my idea okay?" Zhang Yang took the bag from his grandfather's back and asked for credit.

"Nothing wrong!"

The old man gave a thumbs up:
"Manager Guo initially thought I was tricking him. It was only after I took him to the scene and saw that the items had been sold that he believed I had arranged it."

"Here, he also gave me a business card and told me to contact him if I want to buy any antiques in the future, especially the old collections from the Qing Palace. He knows everything about them."

As Grandpa Lu was speaking, he handed over a golden business card, which belonged to Guo Wujing.

But when Zhang Yang took the business card, the old man suddenly sighed:
"Alas, but I was still ripped off by them. There must be something wrong with the snuff bottle you bought, because when the man surnamed Guo saw the thing being sold, he laughed very meanly."

"He gave us this business card just to take advantage of us!"

Grandpa Lu has a lot of experience in being cheated. The other party's attitude after receiving the money basically shows that he has lost money or even suffered a huge loss when buying something.

Zhang Yang laughed after hearing this, patted Grandpa Lu on the shoulder and said:
"Grandpa, don't be angry. After I bought the snuff bottle, I got an unexpected gain. If it works well, it can't be measured by these tens of thousands of antique money."

"Oh? What's the matter?"

"Don't worry, I'll tell you slowly on the way back. Yiyi and the others are still buying clothes, let's go meet them first."

"No, you have to at least remind me, otherwise I will feel uncomfortable all over."

"Hahaha, okay then..."

Zhang Yang saw that his grandfather looked a bit childish and smiled helplessly.

"In fact, we can hear some clues from what Manager Guo said."

"Grandpa, think about it carefully. Does Manager Guo look like someone who knows everything about the old collections in the Qing Palace?"

"Hmm... not like that!" Grandpa Lu replied after recalling Guo Wujing's appearance.

Although it is said that one cannot judge a book by its cover, one can tell that there is a huge difference between Zhu Bajie and Sun Wukong just by looking at their appearance.

"Yes, so there must be a master behind him. The snuff bottle I bought was made by that master."

"For a person like this to stay in the Treasure Pavilion and make fake goods to cheat tens of thousands of dollars, it's a waste of talent!" (End of this chapter)