"Director Qi is a notorious figure, known throughout Jiangcheng by anyone who deals with antiques. Yet you dare say you don't know him!"
"Oh, so because he's a big shot, not knowing him means I'm disrespectful?"
Li Yang watched him with amusement and said, "Why don't you ask ordinary people if they know the name of their neighborhood committee director?"
"For them, it's enough to know that China has a great leader."
"You, you're twisting words!" Cai Yiming said angrily.
Li Yang shrugged, "Whatever you think it is, it is. If there's nothing else, please let me pass. I need to go back."
As he spoke, he took a step forward.
"You're not allowed to leave!"
Cai Yiming roared and reached out to block Li Yang.
*Does he think I'm a cute little kitten just because I don't show my fangs?*
Li Yang's brow twitched slightly. He continued to step forward, but without physically pushing Cai Yiming's arm away, an invisible surge of true qi erupted from within him, directly repelling Cai Yiming who stood in his path!
"Ah!" Cai Yiming had no idea what had happened. He suddenly felt a pain in his arm, cried out, and stumbled back a few steps, landing on the hood of the Hongqi car, his face flushed red.
Looking up, he saw Li Yang calmly walking away. Cai Yiming roared, "You brat..."
"Enough!" Qi Tongwei frowned and reprimanded him, then turned to Li Yang and said, "Mr. Li, please wait a moment. We have no ill intentions in seeking you out."
"You call this no ill intentions?" Li Yang looked at him and said, "If I treated you like this, would you believe me?"
"I apologize. This is my poor guidance. However, there is a reason why Xiao Cai acted this way towards you."
Qi Tongwei said apologetically, "And you weren't entirely in the right either."
"What did I do?" Li Yang asked suspiciously.
Before Qi Tongwei could speak, Cai Yiming gritted his teeth and said, "You held the Treasure-Appraising Grandmaster, Zheng Xibei, Mr. Zheng, under house arrest. This happened just a few days ago. Boss Li, you can't be that forgetful, can you?"
"So that's what this is about," Li Yang said, understanding dawning on him. He chuckled, "Then you should also know about the wager between Mr. Zheng and myself, right?"
"Moreover, I had proactively told Mr. Zheng that the wager could be considered a draw, but he insisted on fulfilling the bet and staying at my shop."
"You're lying! It was clearly you who used despicable means to narrowly defeat Mr. Zheng! And you also used Mr. Zheng to threaten Master Wang Dongsheng to stay and work for you," Cai Yiming said coldly.
"Boss Li, as a man, why are you afraid to admit what you've done? It's rather contemptible!"
"How amusing. Who told you that? Do you have any evidence?"
"Of course, I have evidence. This is a confession letter from Xu Zhongding, the owner of Han Bao Zhai, Master Xu, listing all your crimes." Cai Yiming pulled out a letter and tossed it to Li Yang, saying, "If you have the guts, open it and read it!"
"Is what Xu Zhongding says credible?" Li Yang glanced at him with amusement, then said, "Director Qi, if you're blocking me because of this, then let's cut the nonsense and go directly to the shop to ask Mr. Zheng and Wang Dongsheng about this matter."
"I believe these two individuals, as the parties involved, would have the courage to speak out if they were framed, wouldn't they?"
"Fine, let's go! I want to see how long you can quibble!" Cai Yiming said angrily.
Qi Tongwei sighed. This Xiao Cai was still too impetuous, easily swayed by emotion, and needed more tempering.
He said to Li Yang, "Mr. Li, actually, after returning from my inspection work in the suburbs last night, I intended to go directly to your shop to see Mr. Zheng and Wang Dongsheng. But I unexpectedly encountered you here, so I wanted to stop and chat for a moment."
"Seeing your calm demeanor, I suspect there's an issue with Xu Zhongding's confession. However, Xiao Cai is too easily deceived. If he doesn't confront them in person, he won't admit he was fooled."
"Therefore, I ask for your understanding, Boss Li. When I leave your antique shop, I will definitely buy a few items to show my support and express my apologies. What do you think?"
"As expected of a director, your words and actions are on a different level from ordinary employees," Li Yang said with a smile.
Cai Yiming said angrily, "Stop your veiled insults! Once we get to Mr. Zheng, the truth will be clear!"
"Alright then, let's go now," Li Yang said, getting into the Hongqi car.
Cai Yiming was taken aback, "You, what are you doing?"
"What else? I didn't drive out, so to go back, I'll naturally take your car. Otherwise, if we meet Mr. Zheng later and you claim I did something to them on the way back, how could I possibly explain it clearly?" Li Yang said.
Cai Yiming snorted. Although unwilling, he still got into the driver's seat, turned on the navigation, and headed towards Li Hao Antique Shop.
*This Xiao Cai.*
Qi Tongwei shook his head helplessly. If it weren't for Cai Yiming's passion and integrity, given how easily he was deceived, Qi Tongwei would never have kept him as his assistant.
Turning to Li Yang, Qi Tongwei said with a wry smile, "I apologize, Mr. Li. Please bear with us."
"Director Qi, you don't need to worry. When the truth comes out, he will be the one most embarrassed," Li Yang smiled and began to play with the small teapot in his hand.
Qi Tongwei couldn't help but look at the item in his hand. At first glance, he felt it possessed a special aura and instinctively judged it to be genuine.
On the second glance, he noticed some text-like markings on the exterior of the small teapot and squinted to look a third time.
Upon seeing it, his expression suddenly changed drastically, and he exclaimed in surprise, "Nai Zi Fu?"
"Director Qi has sharp eyes," Li Yang said with a smile.
Qi Tongwei immediately took a sharp breath and asked, "Boss Li, where did you get this treasure?"
As soon as he asked, he immediately wanted to slap himself. In the industry, there was an unwritten rule: never pry into others' privacy.
In the circle, the sellers and buyers of others were highly private matters and absolutely not to be inquired about.
"It's alright, Mr. Li. I haven't been active in the field for a long time, and my mouth is a bit loose. Just pretend you didn't hear what I just said, and don't answer me."
"It's fine, I don't mind such things," Li Yang said with a smile, shaking his head. He then pointed towards the old teahouse and said, "I just bought it from there."
"Old Li, look quickly, that young man seems to be pointing this way!" Outside the Chenglou Teahouse, a group of elderly men, elderly women, and a few middle-aged women saw Li Yang's gesture from inside the car and exclaimed in surprise.
Old Li's face had already turned pale.