Ding!
The lid of the music box opened, revealing a slender girl in a Western-style dress, standing on one foot in an elegant pose, as if dancing ballet.
Unfortunately, the music box function was broken. Otherwise, this slender girl in the Western dress would have twirled to the music, making her even more beautiful.
Li Yang reached out and detached the dancer, smiling as he said, "From the beginning, I wasn't buying the box, but this dancer figurine."
"Heh, so what? It's still not worth two hundred yuan. Could it be that this figurine has become sentient and will turn into a real dancer at night to accompany you to bed?" Zheng Zhi Zhang sneered, his words lewd, a stark contrast to his refined appearance.
Truly a case of gilded exterior, rotten within.
Li Yang glanced at him, "It hasn't become sentient, but this dancer is made of glass-grade colorless jadeite. It's worth at least two hundred thousand."
"Glass-grade jadeite!" Zheng Zhi Zhang's heart leaped, and he exclaimed, "Impossible! This dancer clearly isn't colorless."
"You're really quite stupid. When making it into a dancer, of course, most of it would be dyed," Li Yang said with a smile.
"I don't believe it, I don't believe it!"
Zheng Zhi Zhang couldn't accept this fact and rushed forward, pulling out a flashlight to shine on it. He discovered that the parts not dyed, such as the dancer's jade hands and face, were extremely translucent, giving the impression of something other than ordinary jade or crystal, more like jadeite.
Onlookers also crowded around to see. Those with sharp eyes immediately clapped their hands and said, "It's truly glass-grade jadeite!"
"Amazing, little brother, how did you discover it?"
"It's still the youngsters with sharp eyes."
"Hahaha, Zheng is so embarrassed now! I wonder if he'll dare to disgust others like this in the future."
"Exactly, haha."
"Shut up, all of you, shut up!" Zheng Zhi Zhang glared at the crowd angrily, then said to Li Yang, "This must be fake. Wait here, my elder brother is an expert in jadeite. I'll call him right now, and you'll be crying then."
"Believe it or not, the fact remains the same. Xinyu, let's go." Li Yang's objective had been achieved, and he couldn't be bothered with this guy anymore.
Seeing them about to leave, Zheng Zhi Zhang shouted, "Stop right there! You're definitely lying, that's why you're in such a hurry to leave. You're a liar!"
"Truly embarrassing!" Suddenly, a somewhat aged voice came.
Everyone turned to see an old man with vigorous white hair, carrying a Xiang Fei bamboo staff, walking over. He stared at Zheng Zhi Zhang and said, "Your elder brother is incompetent, and you have no shame. You two brothers of the Zheng family are truly a disgrace."
"You, Chairman Feng, why are you here?" Zheng Zhi Zhang's face changed drastically, and he said with some panic.
Chairman Feng snorted, "What, do I need to report my whereabouts to you? Or do I need to inform you when I eat?"
"No, I wouldn't dare. I absolutely didn't mean that," Zheng Zhi Zhang quickly waved his hands.
Chairman Feng glared at him, "If you don't dare, then scram! You're truly disgracing our association!"
"Yes, yes, yes, I'm leaving now." In front of him, Zheng Zhi Zhang didn't dare to disobey and hurried away.
Chairman Feng looked at Li Yang and smiled, "Young man, your eyesight is extraordinary. May I know your name?"
"Li Yang."
"Oh, Mr. Li, may I ask which renowned master you studied under?" Chairman Feng asked with a smile.
Nowadays, although some appraisers came from university archaeology departments, possessing such eyesight at such a young age likely meant they didn't come from academic circles, making him suspect a traditional master-disciple lineage.
"This skill is passed down in my family."
Li Yang smiled and said, "If there's nothing else, we'll be going now."
"Alright, if there's a chance, we'll meet again." Chairman Feng nodded, not in a hurry to build a connection. Jiangcheng was only so big, and the antique circle wasn't that large. This young man before him was exceptionally skilled. As long as nothing unexpected happened, they were bound to meet again sooner or later.
Could it be the Li family, given the surname and family tradition?
As soon as Chairman Feng's thought flashed, he immediately dismissed it. Impossible. That kid was obsessed with jadeite, squandered his family fortune, and was likely in a dire situation now. How could he be this young man?
Perhaps he was from out of town.
If that were the case, that matter would be difficult to handle.
Alas.
With a sigh, Chairman Feng left, his mind heavy with thoughts.
"Li Yang, I think that Chairman Feng really wanted to chat with you more. Why are we in such a hurry to leave?" Tang Xinyu asked, somewhat puzzled.
Li Yang replied, "What more can we discuss by continuing to chat?"
"This,"
"Don't worry, as long as we're all in this circle, we'll meet again sooner or later."
Li Yang smiled, took her jade hand, and placed the jadeite dancer in her palm, saying, "It's for you."
"This is too precious," Tang Xinyu tried to refuse.
Li Yang chuckled, "What's our relationship? Don't be polite."
"Then I'll accept it."
"Just accept it." Li Yang looked around and said, "I don't see anything else good. Let's call it a night."
"Okay," Tang Xinyu nodded, playing with the jadeite dancer.
Don't underestimate this small item. The smaller it is, the more it tests the craftsman's skill. Especially with jadeite, which has extremely high hardness, let alone the difficulty of carving it in ancient times, even in modern times, it would take a craftsman about ten to half a month to make a jadeite figurine with ordinary craftsmanship.
For a piece like this dancer, it would take at least two months of meticulous work.
And not everyone possessed the skill to make it well.
Li Yang's previous estimate of at least two hundred thousand was purely conservative. If someone truly liked it, doubling the price wouldn't be impossible.
After sending Tang Xinyu home, Li Yang glanced at the Tang family's luxurious old villa, which was worth at least several hundred million. The annual cleaning fees alone were estimated to be millions, and occasional maintenance would also cost millions.
Li Yang felt a sense of pressure, "No wonder Tang Hucheng so directly said he wasn't worthy. Ordinary people really aren't worthy. I need to earn ten billion quickly."
Upon returning home, after offering incense to his parents and ancestors, he sensed the sound of a car outside.
Li Yang was somewhat suspicious. His old house was located in a quiet area. It was almost midnight, and no one should be coming.
Who could it be?
"Boss Su, is this the place?" A group of people got out of a black car, all holding weapons. The leader was a bald man with a scar on his forehead, looking rather intimidating.
Su Qianqian sat in the black car and said with a cold smile, "That's right, this is the place. Remember what I said earlier, don't kill anyone directly. Just scare them a bit and make that kid hand over the item."
"I don't want to be implicated in a homicide case."