"No problem, it's a deal for 800,000."
Li Yang smiled and nodded, then immediately took out his phone and said, "Can I transfer it via phone?"
"Yes, yes!" The seller was overjoyed, never dreaming that a desperate situation would turn around. He quickly pulled out his phone to receive the payment.
With a ding, the money arrived. He bolted, afraid Li Yang would change his mind. "Thank you, Mr. Li, I'll definitely burn incense and pray for you later."
"No need. Uncle, you don't want the cart?" Li Yang called out as the seller ran about seven or eight meters away.
The seller shouted back, "It's yours!"
"Thanks." Li Yang smiled.
"Haha, hahahaha!"
A burst of laughter came from Han Bao Zhai. Li Yang turned to see it was the owner, Xu Zhongding.
Before he could finish, Xu Zhongding stopped laughing and continued, "What rich people! Eighty thousand, what better could they buy than a screen from the last era, and made of ordinary stone? Tsk, tsk, tsk, truly remarkable."
"Boss Xu, why are you speaking so sarcastically? Is it because the shop is full of men and the yin and yang are unbalanced?" Li Yang said with a smile.
Xu Zhongding's face stiffened. "You, hehe, so it's Mr. Li. My apologies, I didn't see clearly just now and didn't recognize you. Otherwise, I wouldn't have laughed at your poor eyesight."
"Yes, I didn't recognize Mr. Li either just now, and I almost laughed too." Several store clerks immediately followed Xu Zhongding, clearly mocking Li Yang, and they intended to escalate the situation.
As soon as he finished speaking, several clerks walked out onto the street and shouted loudly, "Come and see! This kid spent 800,000 on a piece of junk stone screen!"
"Come and see the excitement!"
"Come over and take a look, open your eyes!"
"Oh, what's going on?" Many people, hearing this, immediately gathered around. A few recognized Li Yang and asked in surprise, "Isn't this the young man from the day before yesterday?"
"What day before yesterday? Yesterday I saw him at the antique street, he taught that show-off surnamed Zheng a lesson."
"His name is Li Yang, isn't it?"
"It's him, what is he doing?"
"Heh, everyone, this Mr. Li just spent 800,000 to buy this stone screen. Everyone, take a look, is it worth it?" Seeing dozens of people gathered to watch, Xu Zhongding immediately launched his attack.
After losing face that day, he had completely resented Li Yang and had been thinking about how to get revenge. He never expected Li Yang to walk right into his trap, and such a perfect opportunity. He would not miss this chance for revenge.
The crowd immediately looked at the stone screen. Some who were knowledgeable about calligraphy shook their heads and said, "Whether this screen is good or not is hard to say, but these characters look like the 'Guan Ge Ti' style."
"Then it's not worth much?"
"One hundred percent not worth anything. Think about it, Guan Ge Ti was the standard font for ancient printing, with a vast quantity in existence and little artistic value. It was merely a product of industrial demand."
"Wow, so this thing is mass-produced?"
"Yes, it's a common item."
"Eighty thousand, this young man is going to lose big."
The terms "common item" and "mass-produced" both refer to goods produced in large quantities, just with different phrasing. As the saying goes, rarity breeds value. Mass-produced items are inherently for the needs of the masses, so their prices naturally cannot be high, otherwise, how could the masses afford them?
Because of this, the quality of mass-produced items is usually not too high, and their artistic and collectible value cannot be high either.
Even if some mass-produced items appear exquisite, their selling price would only be tens to thousands, at most a few thousand, definitely not six figures.
Anyone who saw Li Yang spend 800,000 on such an item would feel it was not worth it.
"Haha, Mr. Li, listen to them, why were you so impulsive, spending 800,000 on such a piece of junk?"
Xu Zhongding sneered, "If you had just asked anyone on the street, you wouldn't have lost this 800,000."
"Boss Xu, your eyes are sick, you should go to the hospital for treatment." Despite the continuous mockery, Li Yang was not angry at all. Instead, he stared at Xu Zhongding and said.
Xu Zhongding's face immediately turned stern. "Mr. Li, I was kindly reminding you. What do you mean by that?"
"I'm just stating the facts. You made a mistake last time, and you're making another mistake this time. I'm really curious, is your treasure appraisal skill just a reputation?" Li Yang said with a smile.
Xu Zhongding said angrily, "You're the one with the undeserved reputation! Last time I said I was too tired, that's why I misjudged. It has nothing to do with my ability."
"So, this time, Boss Xu, you're not tired and you've looked carefully?" Li Yang said "oh."
Xu Zhongding immediately said, "Of course! This time I'm full of energy. This stone screen is definitely not worth 800,000. In fact, ordinary families wouldn't even sell it!"
"Exactly." Many people nodded in agreement.
Ordinary families only have so much space. Where would they put such a stone screen if they bought it?
Moreover, it was so heavy, and its appearance wasn't particularly outstanding. Who would want it?
If they really wanted to buy a screen, there were too many choices.
Li Yang smiled and said, "Boss Xu, people say you should get up after falling, and not fall twice in the same place. I see you're not like that. You haven't learned from the lesson last time, and you're going to fall even harder."
"Ridiculous!" Xu Zhongding said with a cold face, "You kid, stop the nonsense. If you really have the ability, tell me, what is the origin of this stone screen?"
"You're not wrong about this stone screen; it's just an ordinary old item, worth at most three to five hundred yuan." Li Yang said with a smile, "But what's inside is not simple."
"Who has a hammer? Lend me one."
"Will a drill work?" someone asked.
Li Yang smiled, "A drill is even better."
"Then I have a drill." A man walked over and handed him a drill, saying, "Don't worry, my drill can definitely drill through stone."
"Thank you." Li Yang started the drill and began to drill into the surface of the stone.
The crowd watched with half-belief, unsure of what to expect.
"Boss, could this kid be telling the truth? Is there a treasure hidden inside this stone screen?" the clerk asked in a low voice, feeling uneasy.
Xu Zhongding sneered, "Nonsense, you believe it too?"
"Stone is a natural product, how could there be..."
Before he could finish, Li Yang had already drilled through a section of the stone surface and pushed it aside. The crowd saw a golden light flashing from within.
"Oh, what is it? So shiny?"
"Damn, could it be gold?"
"It's possible there's gold hidden inside. In the last era, the rich were heavily persecuted. Perhaps some rich person, fearing their gold would be confiscated, hid it inside a stone screen!"
"Boss, there's really something inside, what should we do?" The clerks began to panic.