Li Yang frowned. This guy looked like a decent person, but his personality was so bad. He thought he had struck a bargain, only to be mocked by the other party right after the deal was done.
Even Old Man Huang didn't expect such a stark contrast between this person's character and appearance. He chuckled sheepishly and said, "Heh, what this gentleman says has some truth to it. But as the saying goes, antiques find people, not the other way around. Finding treasures is purely a matter of luck."
"Luck is brought by strength. Without strength, where would luck come from?" the middle-aged man sneered, glancing at Li Yang. "Do you know who painted this picture I bought?"
"You know?" Li Yang looked at him, his expression unperturbed.
In the antique and jade circles, there were always those petty individuals who, after a stroke of luck, couldn't resist showing off. The best place to show off was naturally in front of those who had been outsmarted or had missed an opportunity. This middle-aged man was exactly that kind of person.
He chuckled, unfurled the scroll, and pointed to the inscription. "Kid, open your eyes wide and look carefully. Although the inscription is a bit blurry, if you look closely, you can still see two characters."
"Oh, what characters?"
"Tang Yin."
The middle-aged man declared proudly, "Do you know who Tang Yin is? The famous Tang Bohu, the great scholar of Jiangnan!"
"His calligraphy and paintings are worth a fortune nowadays. Any one of them can fetch at least tens of millions at auction!"
"And I, Zheng Zhizhang, only spent five hundred thousand to acquire this painting. It can definitely be considered a rare major find in the entire Jiangcheng, hahaha!"
"Oh my, this painting has such a history?" Some people gathered to watch the commotion. Hearing this, they looked surprised and uncertain.
"It's him! He's known for being a jerk who must show off after finding a bargain."
"Boss Huang and this young man must be regretting it to their guts now, right?"
"Tsk, this fellow named Zheng is really something. To show off after finding a bargain, what's the difference between that and slapping someone in the face? It's too much!"
"All of you, shut up! I found a bargain, so why should I hide it? I just like to show off publicly, what can you do about it?" Zheng Zhizhang said smugly.
His gaze shifted to Li Yang's face, hoping to see an expression of pain and regret. To his surprise, he saw a mocking smile on Li Yang's face, and he was stunned.
"You, what's so funny, kid? You missed such a treasure, yet you can still smile?"
"Nothing, I just suddenly felt like smiling." Li Yang smiled and looked at the pale-faced Old Man Huang. "Boss, could you let me see that music box?"
"Ah, yes, yes, you can." Old Man Huang, with a mournful face as if someone in his family had died, picked up the ancient music box.
"Young man, I'm too shocked right now to force a smile and entertain you. If you like this thing, you can take it for two hundred yuan. No bargaining."
"Alright, then it's a deal for two hundred yuan." Li Yang directly took out two hundred yuan from his pocket and gave it to him.
Old Man Huang mechanically took the money. Anyone looking at him would think he had suffered a severe mental trauma, and they sighed for him. How could he sell such a great treasure for such a small amount of money!
"What do you mean by this, kid?" Zheng Zhizhang stared suspiciously at Li Yang. "This great bargain of mine was originally yours, why aren't you moved?"
"Could it be that I'm faking it?"
"Heh, you're quite amusing." Li Yang said with a smile, "I don't even want to bother with you, yet you keep shoving your face in front of me."
"Fine, then I'll slap you across the face."
"You want to hit someone?" Zheng Zhizhang was startled. He was indeed smug and arrogant, but he hadn't escalated to the point of physical violence.
Li Yang shook his head and pointed at the inscription. "I won't say much else. Let everyone here take a look at this inscription and see if they can recognize the two characters, Tang Yin."
"What do you mean?" Zheng Zhizhang asked suspiciously.
Before he could do so, someone nearby said, "I saw it clearly, there are indeed the two characters Tang Yin."
"Me too."
"I saw it too."
"It is indeed the two characters Tang Yin."
"No, so what if everyone saw it? What exactly do you want to do, kid?" Zheng Zhizhang said impatiently.
Li Yang smiled, "Don't you understand yet? Why don't you think about it, if everyone can see it, why couldn't the stall owner?"
"What!" Zheng Zhizhang's face suddenly changed. He quickly turned his head to look at Old Man Huang.
He saw that Old Man Huang no longer looked like a robot. He was packing a pile of items with extreme agility, carrying several large bags on his shoulders. As soon as he saw Zheng Zhizhang's gaze, Old Man Huang took off running. "I have something to do, I'll be going now."
"You're ripping me off!" Zheng Zhizhang suddenly realized and exclaimed.
As Old Man Huang ran, he shouted, "What ripping you off? Antique trading relies on discernment. You can't just make money and not lose money, can you?"
"Blame yourself for your poor discernment!"
"You damn it! Stop right there!" Zheng Zhizhang was furious and quickly tried to chase after him.
But Old Man Huang was clearly experienced. He had already parked his car nearby, got into it, stepped on the accelerator, and sped away. Human legs simply couldn't catch up.
Seeing this, Zheng Zhizhang could only give up, but his anger intensified. He smashed the painting onto the ground. "This damned swindler, how dare he trick me!"
"Don't let me find you, or you'll be in trouble."
"That sounds like you can't handle losing." Li Yang said with a chuckle. "Weren't you quite pleased when you found the bargain earlier?"
"You, you saw it was fake from the start, didn't you?" Zheng Zhizhang immediately glared at him.
Li Yang smiled, "Yes, those two characters were so clear that anyone with eyes could see them. How could the stall owner not notice? So there must be something wrong."
"Therefore, no matter how low the price, I wouldn't buy it."
"Then why didn't you warn me!" Zheng Zhizhang said angrily.
"Funny, why should I tell you? Am I your grandson?"
"You,"
"What about you? If your discernment is poor, go home and practice more. If you're a noob, don't come out here giving money away." Li Yang threw back his own words at him.
Zheng Zhizhang's face turned red with anger. He gritted his teeth for a while. "My discernment is poor, but how good is yours, kid?"
"A broken music box, you wouldn't even pay fifty yuan for it, yet you bought it for two hundred. Aren't you also losing money and making a mistake?"
"That might not be the case." Li Yang's lips curved slightly, and he opened the music box with his hand.