A lucky cat fell from the sky.

Chapter 13 Antique Market

Knowing that his current goal was to make more money, Wu Cheng didn't plan to stay in the bar any longer and prepared to leave with Lao San.

Scarface stopped Wu Cheng: "Brother, let me give you some advice: if you can resolve the conflict with Young Master Lu, it's best to do so."

"Why?" Wu Cheng asked, puzzled.

Although he and Young Master Lu weren't exactly mortal enemies, Young Master Lu had targeted him time and time again. Even a clay figure has some temper, and Wu Cheng was a hot-blooded man, so he naturally couldn't tolerate this.

It was one thing to be powerless before, but now that I am, am I supposed to just let Young Master Lu ride on my neck and cause me dysentery?

Scarface said earnestly, "Because you are a gentleman, brother, while this Young Master Lu is a villain. A gentleman takes revenge even after ten years, but a villain takes revenge from morning till night. Now the Lu family has a martial arts apprentice as a backer. If things really get out of hand, it will be quite troublesome."

"Of course, brother, you are skilled and may not be afraid of martial arts apprentices, but if someone like Young Master Lu has his eye on you, the best way is to resolve the situation unless you completely defeat him."

"Resolve it? How do we resolve it?"

"Find someone who can keep him in check and mediate. Brother, you need to learn to utilize resources. Some resources will expire if you don't use them."

Wu Cheng wasn't stupid; he knew that Scarface referred to Old Master Gu of the Gu family.

He pondered Scarface's words and felt that he should indeed contact Old Master Gu, even if it was just to use his influence to intimidate Young Master Lu.

Otherwise, if things really turn out like Scarface said, and Young Master Lu keeps bothering him, this will also be troublesome.

He realized he wasn't ruthless enough, and he didn't have the means to trample the Lu family underfoot.

So he decided to hold his tongue for now and call Grandpa Gu.

With a nervous heart, I called Grandpa Gu, and he answered after a while.

When Wu Cheng introduced himself, Old Master Gu was delighted to hear his voice: "I remember you, young man. What brings you to our Gu family's treasure-hunting competition?"

“I really hope you come. There are many outstanding young people among you. I can introduce you so you can get to know each other and grow together.”

Wu Cheng was speechless. He had originally wanted to ask Grandpa Gu to help mediate the conflict between him and Young Master Lu, but his relationship with Grandpa Gu was not that close; they were just strangers who had met once.

Wu Cheng wasn't thick-skinned enough to make a request to a stranger he'd only met once. Even if he did make the request, it was uncertain whether the person would help him.

He then accepted Old Master Gu's invitation to attend the Gu family's treasure-hunting competition.

This treasure-hunting competition is not open to everyone.

To participate in this conference, you need to meet two conditions: be young and have something to offer.

Wu Cheng clearly doesn't have any decent treasures to offer right now.

The last time a monkey like Sibu managed to find a bargain at a stall, it was just luck.

If it weren't for Jin Wanliang's guidance, how could I have found such a wonderful treasure?

However, there are very few truly bargains to be found on a street, so this time Wu Cheng decided to go to the antique market.

This antique market is much higher-end than the antique street.

When the cultural market in Longqiu City was booming, many antique markets were built all at once.

In the past two years, the enthusiasm for collecting cultural artifacts and antiques has decreased considerably.

The decline in the popularity of collecting antiques is partly due to the fact that the demand for these collectibles was originally driven by speculation. For example, a pair of collectible walnuts could sell for 500,000 yuan. This artificial speculation harvested a crop of unsuspecting collectors, leaving behind a messy collectibles market.

In the past two years, collecting has become more rational; at least there are far fewer rosin-made Vajra bracelets and plastic-made "official hat" walnuts.

This time, Wu Cheng went to a place called Dingyang Antique City. This antique city opened relatively early, and the shops here are run by genuine collectors with decent reputations.

After arriving at the antique market, Wu Cheng went through each floor.

The first floor was filled with jade items; the various sizes of jade pieces on display dazzled Wu Cheng.

Wu Cheng quickly summoned Jin Wanliang and asked it to give him some pointers on the quality of these jade works.

Jin Wanliang was lazily sleeping when Wu Cheng woke him up. He was very unhappy. After looking at the jade in each shop, Jin Wanliang casually said, "These are all ordinary things. Jade requires both excellent materials and craftsmanship. Looking at these things, the materials are no good and the workmanship is no good either. It's an insult to my eyes to see these things."

Helpless, Wu Cheng had no choice but to go up another floor.

This floor mainly contains antique and collectible items, such as amber, beeswax, and sandalwood beads.

Jin Wanliang casually gave Wu Cheng a few pointers and picked out a few reasonably priced bracelets, but the cost-effectiveness wasn't that high. It would be impossible to take them to the Treasure Competition.

After all, the real price of something like this, which costs three to five thousand, is at most eight to ten thousand.

I went up another floor, and this floor sold the Four Treasures of the Study, including bamboo pen holders and inkstones.

Wu Cheng went from shop to shop, constantly belittling Jin Wanliang along the way.

"What is this thing, meow?"

"This pen holder has such terrible carving, yet it's so expensive? I'll chop it up and use it for firewood."

"You're saying these two inks are mixed with gold powder and ambergris? Are you kidding me? They smell like salted fish. Although salted fish is my favorite food, this ink is definitely fake."

After being subjected to such sarcastic remarks, Wu Chengdu was finding it difficult to cope.

Fortunately, the shopkeepers outside couldn't hear him. They just thought Wu Cheng didn't have the money to buy it; he was just looking around for novelty so he could brag to his friends later.

We walked until we reached the last shop selling traditional stationery.

Jin Wanliang shut his mouth, sniffed the air, and said, "It smells nice here, meow. Maybe there's something good here."

Good stuff? Wu Cheng's eyes lit up immediately as he looked at the items on the store's shelves.

This shop sells only inkstones, and they are all brick inkstones.

The so-called brick inkstone is actually just an inkstone made from an ancient brick. In ancient times, scholars were poor, so they used this method to be unconventional and to show off their literary integrity.

Of course, it wasn't just impoverished scholars; even the great writer Su Shi made brick inkstones by hand.

Wu Cheng examined each brick inkstone one by one. When he picked up a brick inkstone with a fish pattern, Jin Wanliang suddenly became agitated: "Heavens! How could there be something like this here? How could this thing really exist?"