Tomb Raider: I Am Hu Bayi's Cousin

Chapter 5 Turning hostility into friendship
Seeing Hu Ming's attitude, Big Gold Tooth became quite timid and said, "Master Ming, yesterday I, Big Gold Tooth, was not convinced. After all, you know the rule in the antique business: buy low and sell high. And I admit, I, Big Gold Tooth, was also momentarily blinded by greed and lowered Fatty's price."

"I know it was my fault. I, Big Gold Tooth, am willing to apologize to you, sir. This is just a small token of my respect." After saying this, Big Gold Tooth took out a roll of banknotes and placed it in Hu Ming's hand.

Hu Ming held the money in his hand and glanced at it; it seemed to amount to three or four thousand. Hu Ming thought to himself: "Big Gold Tooth's sincerity is quite good; I like it."

Hu Ming put the money away and said to Big Gold Tooth, "Let him open all his things, let's go inside and talk."

Hu Ming quite admired Da Jinya. Da Jinya was a loyal friend, and being on good terms with him would be beneficial for Hu Ming and his friends to settle down in the capital in the future.

However, Big Gold Tooth wasn't in a good mood at the moment.

"What? You want to come inside?"

Big Gold Tooth, his face ashen, cried out to Hu Ming, "Master Ming, I have elderly parents and young children to support. Please, have mercy on me!"

Seeing this, Hu Ming knew perfectly well that Big Gold Tooth was up to no good.

Hu Ming said irritably, "What are you thinking? I called you in because I have something to talk to you about. Come in quickly."

Upon hearing this, Big Gold Tooth felt relieved and quickly walked into the house, bowing as he asked, "Master Ming, what brings you here?"

Upon hearing this, Hu Ming said to Big Gold Tooth, "It's nothing. I'm also a history major, and I even minored in archaeology. My brothers and I might be going to work in this field in the future, so you'll have to help us out then."

After Hu Ming finished speaking, he deliberately took a sip of water from his glass, then picked up Hu Bayi's bag and said, "Old Hu, I'm putting the money in your bag, okay?"

Although Hu Bayi was a little puzzled, he still nodded.

Hu Ming put the money in his bag, then deliberately flipped the dragon-seeking compass over to reveal a corner, which was seen by Big Gold Tooth, who had been watching him closely.

Big Gold Tooth's eyes darted around, and he said, "Look, I'll treat. Today, let's have a good chat. First, so I can apologize to my brother; second, to celebrate our successful cooperation. How about it?"

At this moment, Big Gold Tooth completely forgot about the unpleasant things that had happened before. He hurriedly called Hu Ming and the others to the mutton restaurant from yesterday and ordered the waiter to serve a table full of delicious dishes and meat.

Seeing this, Hu Ming didn't hold back either.

During the hot pot meal, Big Gold Tooth had glanced at Old Hu's dragon-seeking compass several times.

At this moment, it seems that they can no longer hold back.

Big Gold Tooth spoke up, "Master Hu, is that the dragon-seeking compass you're carrying over there, passed down from the older generation?"

Old Hu then took out the Dragon-Seeking Compass and said to Big Gold Tooth, "Oh, you mean this?" He looked at the Dragon-Seeking Compass in his hand and then at Big Gold Tooth.

Upon seeing this, Big Gold Tooth immediately said, "Yes, that's it." His gaze was fixed intently on the dragon-seeking compass. Then he couldn't help but ask, "Master Hu, where did this thing come from?"
Hu Bayi didn't seem to care when he heard this and said, "The thing you're talking about was actually left behind by my grandfather, who is also Mingzi's maternal grandfather, and it was passed down to me."

After listening to Hu Bayi's words, Big Gold Tooth thought for a moment and said, "Master Hu, if you don't mind, could you let me take a look at this Dragon-Seeking Compass and have you examine it?"

Hu Bayi generously replied, "Take a look if you want!"

Upon hearing Hu Bayi's agreement, Big Gold Tooth was somewhat excited and immediately took the Dragon-Seeking Compass with both hands, examining it carefully.

Big Gold Tooth couldn't help but say, "Not bad, not bad! Finding the dragon vein and looking at the mountain, dividing the gold and finding the burial site! To be honest, my ancestors were all tomb raiders. I've known about the antique business since I was a child. My father was also a folk tomb raider in his early years."

Later, he was conscripted by warlords and became a soldier. He suffered a lifelong disability on the battlefield, so when he returned to the capital, he had no choice but to go into the antique business. Unfortunately, the family's treasure-hunting skills passed down from my generation were lost.” Big Gold Tooth finished speaking with a look of regret on his face.

At the dinner table, everyone chatted casually.

"Come on, Ming, Hu, and Fatty, eat meat and drink wine, drink heartily!" At this moment, Big Gold Tooth kept adding meat to Hu Ming's bowl and filling the wine cup with sake.

As they drank, Big Gold Tooth looked at Hu Ming. He himself was nearly drunk, but Hu Ming had drunk a lot of baijiu and was still perfectly fine. Big Gold Tooth couldn't help but secretly admire him.

Hu Ming looked at Big Gold Tooth and said, "Mr. Gold, would you like some more?"

Upon hearing this, Big Gold Tooth shook his head, his face turning pale at the mention of alcohol. He immediately began to boast about his own drinking capacity, saying that he was already a little tipsy.

Seeing this, Hu Ming didn't force him, and said to Big Gold Tooth, "If you don't want to drink, that's fine. How about we talk about something else?"

As they chatted, the conversation drifted to tomb raiding.

At this moment, Big Gold Tooth patted his belly, grinned, and said to everyone, "See these gold teeth? They are from the Ming Dynasty enamel gold."

At that time, someone was dealing with mummified corpses, and I went over out of curiosity. Unexpectedly, the mummified corpse came back to life and knocked out my teeth.

As a result, I was so angry that I found a few people and smashed that big rice dumpling to pieces. Look at these teeth, look at them, they were all pulled out of that big rice dumpling.”

Fatty Wang, who had been eating the whole time, looked at the gold tooth in Big Gold Tooth's mouth and couldn't help but feel a little nauseous.

He had no choice but to put down his chopsticks and listen as Hu Bayi recounted his experiences as a soldier and a sent-down youth, as well as some of the things he encountered on the Kunlun Mountains, which amazed Da Jinya.

Big Gold Tooth couldn't help but exclaim, "Master Hu, it turns out you're quite the expert too!"

Hearing what Big Gold Tooth said, Old Hu smiled.

(End of this chapter)