Antique Pavilion!

It was the most powerful force in the antique mall except House of Treasure.

The owner of Antique Pavilion was surnamed Qian, and he had an interesting name, Qian Duoduo. As a fat man, his eyes would narrow into a line when he smiled. As a result, he looked like Maitreya.

When Chu Xun and Hong Ling stepped into Antique Pavilion, a servant went to inform Qian Duoduo. As Antique Pavilion and House of Treasure were on the same street and Hong Ling was very famous, most of the people there knew her.

Several moments later, the servant ran back and invited Chu Xun and Hong Ling to go to the inner room.

Just like House of Treasure, Antique Pavilion had many hidden rooms.

Qian Duoduo was introducing a white porcelain vase carved with two dragons to a man and a woman.

Seeing Hong Ling, he smiled like a Maitreya with his eyes narrowed into a line. He said with a smile, “Your presence brings light to my humble shop, Miss Hong Ling.”

“I'm so flattered, Mr. Qian.” Hong Ling nodded with a smile and continued, “You can continue with your business since you got guests here.”

Qian Duoduo smiled apologetically at her, let Chu Xun and Hong Ling sit down, and asked a servant to serve them with tea.

Though he was smiling, he was wondering about Hong Ling's intention. Both trading antiques and treasures on the same street, they should be opponents.

Fortunately, both of them were smart, and they never interfered with each other and made a living all by themselves.

The male guest had stared at Hong Ling closely with eager eyes since she came in, and he swallowed his throat at her.

The female guest looked displeased but seemed to be afraid of the man and dare not the vent her anger on him. Thus, she turned to shout at Qian Duoduo angrily, “Do you want to carry on the trade or not, sir?”

Qian Duoduo collected his thoughts and smiled at the woman, but he despised her in his heart. The male customer was his regular customer and was from the Qi Family in Gujiang City. The Qi Family was a powerful old family with many properties in the city.

As for the female customer, she was good-looking and had a good figure. It was very likely that she was a part-time model, or an unknown actress, or a prost.i.tute in a high-end entertainment venue.

No comparison, no hurt. Compared with Hong Ling, the woman was overshadowed in terms of both appearance and body figure.

This explained why the male customer would neglect the woman's feelings and showed a strong interest in Hong Ling.

Qian Duoduo picked up the milk-white porcelain vase and said, “Please look here, Young Master Qi. The two dragons on this vase are s.h.i.+ning dazzlingly, seeming to fly away riding on clouds. It's a masterwork. Now, please take a look at the glaze. It's pure white and crystal clear. The vase was an antique from the Tang dynasty. According to historical recordings, Emperor Qianlong inherited the vase and then gave it to h.e.s.h.en as a reward. Later, when Emperor Jiaqing went to confiscate h.e.s.h.en's property, he picked it out from countless objects. After so many twists and turns, the vase was collected by a master from the Republic of China. After that, the vase was missing and did not appear until several days ago. I paid a lot to get this vase.”

Qian Duoduo spluttered and squinted his eyes, which were s.h.i.+ning with cunning lights, just like those of foxes.

“Why is here a crack?” Young Master Qi finally took his eyes off Hong Ling and asked, pointing at a crack on the vase with an arrogant expression and his head raised high.

However, he behaved so pretentiously that one could tell he was pretending to be condescending at one glance.

Qian Duoduo smiled and replied in an unhurried tone, “You don't understand, Young Master Qi. This is the so-called beauty of imperfection. You know, sometimes, perfection means defects. After hundreds of years and even a thousand years, this vase is still kept well, isn't it a miracle? This is a good gift for your father's birthday, Young Master Qi. It's still in a good condition after so many years, so it means longevity and bears the hope of one's name remaining immortal. Is there any gift better than this one?”

Young Master Qi's eyes were full of pleasure as he patted Qian Duoduo on the shoulder and said with a smile, “Good point. Then, I'll buy it. Pack it up for me.”

“Yes!” Qian Duoduo nodded with overjoy in his eyes. “You're so filial, Young Master Qi. Filial people are always kind-hearted, just like you.”

Young Master Qi looked happy upon hearing the flattering words. He showed a big smile and said loudly, “Piety is the foundation of all virtues, and I'm a man of piety.”

Qian Duoduo smiled as well and said, “It costs 20 million yuan in total.”

To ordinary people, 20 million yuan was really a huge sum of money.

However, Young Master Qi did not even blink his eyes when he heard the price. He waved his hand, signaling Qian Duoduo to pack the vase for him.

After that, he looked at Hong Ling.

Hong Ling smiled politely at him. However, she did not know Young Master Qi took the smile as a signal of affection.

“Spending my money as much as you want” was the best gift Young Master Qi could think for a woman.

Moreover, the “gift” never let him down when he pursued women.

He stared at Hong Ling's hot figure with eager eyes and swallowed his throat. Seemingly to see the scene of Hong Ling moaning under his body, he grinned happily.

The female customer looked at him and then looked at Hong Ling and snorted coldly at her with jealousy in her eyes.

She was just a n.o.body in the modeling industry, and it took her great effort to pick up with Young Master Qi. As she saw it, whether she could live a luxurious life in the future all depended on whether she could satisfy him this night.

She had made many preparations for that night, including watching adult videos about binding, whips, candles, and so on, and practicing them with other men. She believed she could let Young Master Qi enjoy great s.e.xual pleasure.

However, after seeing Hong Ling, she had a sense of crisis because Young Master Qi seemed to be fascinated with Hong Ling.

At the moment, Qian Duoduo walked to the woman with the wrapped vase.

The woman received the vase carefully.

Young Master Qi took out his checkbook and wrote a check of 20 million yuan quickly.

“Let's go, Young Master Qi,” the woman said in a sweet voice and pressed her soft breast against the man's body.

Young Master Qi looked at the woman beside him and then looked at the charming Hong Ling, and immediately lost his interest in the woman with him.

Hong Ling had noticed Young Master Qi's salacious expression for long, but she did not take it to her heart. Almost every man she met would look at her with eager eyes except Chu Xun.

“Hey, miss, I'm Qi Lu. Would you like to make friends with me?”

Young Master Qi could not hold back his desire anymore. He left the woman standing beside him alone and walked to Hong Ling, trying best to keep his composure.

Hong Ling chuckled, and she, in fact, knew his intention. However, she did not show any trace of disgust on her face as she replied, “Mr. Qian and I are fellow traders. If I make friends with you, won't I become someone who cuts the ground under his feet? Others will scoff at me if they know this.”

Qi Lu's expression froze on his face, and he did not know how to respond. Hong Ling turned him down directly.

The woman brought there by Qi Lu glared at Hong Ling ferociously as if they were arch enemies.

Hong Ling seemed to have sensed the woman's hostility. She looked back and was shocked, but soon, she realized what was going on and just smiled without paying more attention to the woman.

“Mr. Qian, I heard you got several pieces of top-level jade materials. Is that right?” Hong Ling came straight to the point, so as to avoid misunderstanding between them and Qian Duoduo's wild guesses.

Qian Duoduo was surprised and also felt relieved after hearing that Hong Ling came for jade materials. Among all the people in the antique mall, he feared Hong Ling the most because the woman was excellent both at doing business and handling interpersonal relations.h.i.+ps.

“Yes, I do have several pieces of good jade. One of my friends consigned them to me,” said Qian Duoduo with a smile.

“How much are they? Don't price them too high, or I won't be able to afford them. If you can sell them at a good price, I'll buy all of them,” Hong Ling said in a seemingly joking tone.

As a matter of fact, it was Chu Xun who told her to buy all of them.

Qian Duoduo looked surprised, but he did not ask too much and just replied with a smile, “I'll bring them here first, and let's talk about it after you see them, Miss Hong.”

Qian Duoduo walked away and a moment later, returned with a sandalwood box in his hands.

After he opened the box, others saw four pieces of crystal-clear jade in the size of an adult's fist. The surface of the jade was rough, but it was common among raw jade materials.

Chu Xun could tell that these four pieces of jade materials were rare fine ones on earth without taking a look at them.

He nodded slightly at Hong Ling.

Hong Ling was surprised as well. She believed she had seen a lot of fine jade, but none of them could be compared to these four pieces.

“Name your price, Mr. Qian. I'll buy all of them,” said Hong Ling in an imposing way.

Qian Duoduo was slightly surprised and felt overjoyed inside. “It seems the G.o.d of wealth visited my shop today.” he thought to himself.

The vase he sold to Qi Lu just cost him one thousand yuan, which was really a low price.

The vase, of course, was from the Tang dynasty, but its history was not as mysterious as he said.

Now, he could make a lot of money with these pieces of jade.

As an old saying goes, gold and silver have their price, but jade is priceless.

Qian Duoduo stretched out two fingers and said, “20 million each piece.”

In fact, the owner of these four pieces of jade was a grave robber. He dug them out of graves and consigned them to Qian Duoduo. Back then, they priced them at 5 million yuan each, but now, Qian Duoduo quadrupled the price.

Hong Ling showed a cold smile and replied, “Mr. Qian, do you think I'm a laywoman? Even though jade is priceless, it shouldn't be so expensive.”

“Miss Hong Ling, you misunderstood me. To get these pieces of jade, my friend went through a narrow escape. It's he who decided the price, and I can't get a penny from you in this deal.” Qian Duoduo complained.

However, he felt complacent inside. In the industry, one might not be able to make a deal in three years, but once he managed to make one, the money he earned could cover his expenditure in three years.

According to what he knew, Hong Ling's House of Treasure was doing well every day and earned a lot of money. As a result, the shopkeepers on that street all were jealous of Hong Ling. Qian Duoduo decided to grab the chance and rip off her.

Hong Ling looked solemn for she knew Qian Duoduo demanded an exorbitant price.

“These four pieces of jade, I'll buy them,” Standing aside, Qi Lu suddenly said. Others in the room all thought he had left and did not expect him to be there and even interfere in the business.

Qi Lu walked to Qian Duoduo and handed him a check.

Qian Duoduo was dazed for a moment, and when he realized what was going on, he grabbed the check tightly in his hand. He didn't care who bought the jade as long as he could make money from it.

Chu Xun narrowed his eyes.

Seeing this, Hong Ling was shocked and afraid that Chu Xun would beat the silly Qi Lu to death with a slap.

Qi Lu handed the box containing the four pieces of jade to Hong Ling with both hands and said, “Miss Hong Ling, I just want to make friends with you. To show my sincerity, I'd love to give them to you.”

Hong Ling was stunned and looked at Qi Lu like looking at an idiot.

Qian Duoduo's hands trembled and almost tore the check apart. He looked at Qi Lu with an astonished look and cursed in his heart, “You idiot, who would pursue women in such an extravagant way like you?”

The eyes of the woman brought there by Qi Lu turned red with jealousy. “Eighty million yuan! With them, I could lead a luxurious life for the rest of my life.” she exclaimed in silence.

A jealous woman could be really terrifying sometimes. The woman with Qi Lu rushed to Hong Ling, pointed at her and scolded, “b.i.t.c.h, stay away from my boyfriend.”

Qi Lu's face fell after he heard the words. He pushed the woman away and said to Hong Ling hurriedly, “Miss Hong Ling, please don't misunderstand us. She is not my girlfriend…”

Before he could finish his words, Hong Ling interrupted him by saying with a cold smile, “Whether you have a girlfriend or not has nothing to do with me.”

After saying this, Hong Ling walked to the woman. She had dealings with many big shots in Gujiang City, which contributed to her imposing aura, and an amateur model was no match for her.

Every time when Hong Ling took a step forward, the woman would take a step backward.

Hong Ling paused her steps and said with a frosty smile, “If you're a prost.i.tute, respect your job and name your price. Don't pretend to be virtuous while selling your soul. If you're not a prost.i.tute, dress like a lady, watch your mouth, and keep an eye on your boyfriend. Don't suspect every woman you met of coveting your boyfriend, and don't judge others with your own nasty measure, ok?”

Hong Ling hated the word “b.i.t.c.h” the most, so the woman's unjust censure irritated her.

Facing the queen-like Hong Ling, the woman was rendered dumbfounded, and her beautiful face turned pale.

Chu Xun observed Hong Ling with interest in his eyes and thought that she was an interesting woman.