Merchant of the Underworld

After returning from the Grand Canal, Li Mazi and I both felt exhausted, so we simply did some business and lived a leisurely life. I often accompanied Yin Xinyue out shopping, finally letting her feel the presence of her husband for once.

On this day, Li Mazi came to the store carrying a basket of hairy crabs and two bottles of Shaoxing rice wine. He shouted at me to steam the crabs before he even stepped through the door.

As soon as the crabs were steamed, we couldn't wait to catch them and eat them.

Unexpectedly, before the first crab was eaten, a figure walked in.

"Hey, Mr. Liang, what brought you here?" Li Mazi was facing the door and greeted the visitor with a flattering smile.

When I heard this title, I quickly wiped my mouth, turned around and said with a smile: "Master Liang, what brings you here?"

Don’t blame us for our attitude. Mr. Liang is just in his early sixties this year, and his hair is half white. He looks like an ordinary old man. In fact, he is a great figure in the antique circle. None of the antiques that have passed through his hands have ever been sold. The reputation is very high.

Although we are all involved in the antique circle in Wuhan, we usually have little contact. Mr. Liang really looks down on a shop like ours that openly uses antiques as a cover. I don’t know why he took the initiative to come to the door today.

Mr. Liang glanced at us, with a bit of worry on his face: "Brother Zhang, Mr. Liang came to our door today to make trouble. There is really an antique that I can't understand."

"What Master Liang said, if this is an antique that you can't understand, wouldn't it be even more difficult for us to understand it?" Li Mazi said blankly.

I glared at Li Mazi and told him not to cause trouble. Can the antiques sent by Mr. Liang be normal antiques?

Li Mazi quickly reacted and said to Master Liang with a smile: "Please come this way."

Taking Mr. Liang to the back room, I quickly asked him if he had encountered anything weird. This is especially true for people like Mr. Liang who touch antiques as long as they are good without asking where they came from. Something weird happened to him. Not surprising either.

"It's indeed a bit weird..." Mr. Liang looked a little hesitant, and I didn't rush him. I winked at Li Mazi, and he quickly touched the pot of wine and poured a glass for Mr. Liang.

Mr. Liang took a sip and then spoke: "I recently collected a jade fan... I didn't expect that after playing with antiques all my life, I still got a scratch."

"Is this jade fan blind?" I asked after careful consideration.

"Blind goods" is a jargon in the industry, which refers to fake goods. No one who plays antiques is willing to use the word "fake" in their mouths, so they use a different excuse.

Mr. Liang shook his head: "That's not true. The goods are good. To be honest, I picked it up. But now it seems that the seller was eager to get rid of it, so I took advantage of it. Tsk, this is really a bargain. It’s not easy to occupy!”

Li Mazi and I looked at each other, and we were even more sure that there was something weird about this jade fan. I smiled and said, "Master Liang, since you are here today, you must know what we do. Do you think it's time to get straight to the point?"

After all, I really don’t have the patience to go around.

Mr. Liang also laughed: "Brother is indeed impatient. I don't want to be circumvented. I really don't know whether this is the vagina you talk about." He glanced at me as he spoke, and continued when I didn't say anything. He continued: "After taking back this jade fan, I put it in a special treasure pavilion. I stayed late in the treasure pavilion a few days ago because I was studying a calligraphy and painting, so I simply made do with it. Go to sleep. Who knew that in the middle of the night, I would feel hot all over my body. I thought it was a fever, so I wanted to get up and drink some water, but then I realized something terrible...the jade fan was burned."

"Burned?" I was surprised. Although I have never been to Mr. Liang's treasure pavilion, I also know that the protection measures for his treasure pavilion are very strict. Let alone being burned, not even a spark can enter. go.

Mr. Liang smiled bitterly and explained that it was not burned, but spontaneous combustion, because after a while the fan returned to its original state. He thought his eyesight was dim, so he kept watch for a few days, but he found that every day between midnight and one o'clock, the jade fan would suddenly burst into flames.

"Brother Zhang, do you think this is strange?"

I asked Mr. Liang a few more questions and found that apart from spontaneous combustion, the jade fan had no other negative effects on him. Even the collection he put together did not suffer any loss. I thought it shouldn't be a big problem, but seeing Mr. Liang's cautious look, I still asked to take a look at the fan.

Unexpectedly, Mr. Liang didn't bring it with him. When asked why, it turned out that he was not sure whether the jade fan would suddenly burst into flames, fearing that it would be unsafe to carry it with him.

"In that case, Master Liang, I will come with you." I stood up and asked Li Mazi to look at the store first, and followed Master Liang to his antique shop without bringing anything.

It was also my first time to come to Mr. Liang’s antique shop. It was a lot better than ours. However, seeing him in a hurry, I felt embarrassed to appreciate it in detail, so I followed him directly into the treasure pavilion.

"This is it." Mr. Liang carefully took out a jade box from the Duobao grid. After opening it, a jade fan slightly shorter than an adult's forearm lay inside.

This jade fan is exquisitely made and the jade quality is transparent. At first glance, it is hard to tell that it is an antique. At best, it is just a high-quality jade product.

When Mr. Liang saw me like this, he explained with a smile that the jade looked new at first glance, but as soon as he touched it, he knew it was extraordinary. If he looked at the texture and the words engraved on the fan handle, he could determine the dynasty.

I studied it carefully and nodded: "Master Liang, you are making a lot of money! According to me, this is not only an ancient relic from the Ming Dynasty, but it may also have come from the palace."

After saying that, I felt a little embarrassed when I saw Mr. Liang's expression as normal. Yes, he has seen a lot of things, so he naturally knows what the value is.

I stopped talking nonsense and walked around the treasure pavilion, looking specifically at the grid where the jade fans were placed. Then I shook my head at Mr. Liang: "I didn't see anything weird."

Master Liang obviously didn't believe it, and I had no choice. I took out two talismans from my arms and gave them to him, asking him to press one under the jade box and put the other one on his body. After all, I reassured him.

Back in the store, the heartless Li Mazi was dealing with the last hairy crab. When he saw me, he asked me what was going on.

I shrugged and said it was nothing. I guess the fan came from something shady and Mr. Liang had something on his mind.

Li Mazi snorted: "Brother, this is impossible. Mr. Liang has been dealing with antiques all his life. How many of the treasures in his treasure pavilion are genuine?"

I also knew that this didn't make sense, but I really didn't feel any yin energy at all, and nothing major happened, so I impatiently said a few perfunctory words and dismissed it as a matter of course.

Li Mazi didn't hesitate. He waved at me with a toothpick in his mouth and left the store. I looked at the crab shells on the table angrily and resignedly picked up the rag to clean them up.

Li Mazi came again in the evening, just to have a drink with me and brag. After drinking, we both felt dizzy and fell asleep directly on the table.

Bang bang bang!

I didn't know how long I slept, but I was woken up by a violent knocking sound. I frowned because my head, which was dizzy from drinking, didn't realize what the sound was. It wasn't until the sound kept ringing for a while that I realized that someone was banging on the door.

"Who is it?" I yelled, rubbed my head, got up and wandered to open the door.

As soon as the door opened, my arm was grabbed before I could react: "Something happened, little brother, something happened!"

"Master Liang?" I looked at Master Liang, why is he here at this moment of dawn?

Mr. Liang pulled me and ran, still saying something. Halfway through, I finally figured out that there was a fire in the Treasure Pavilion!