Alone and Infinite

She couldn't resist picking up the silver coin, intending to go back inside to find someone to help her examine it.

Just then, a hand pressed down on the box, with long, slender fingers.

The woman looked up in surprise and saw Li Xia staring at her, saying calmly:

"Isn't this against the rules?"

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1. Monthly pass 2. Recommendation vote

Snowflakes are falling... the north wind is howling...

Chapter 19 Three Million and the Coach

Even though Li Xia knew nothing about antiques, he still knew the most basic things: to look at and inspect them face-to-face and never take them out of his sight.

The woman realized she had been too hasty, and her face flushed slightly. She then took out a business card and handed it over.

"I'm sorry, I was being presumptuous. Please have a seat. My eyesight is limited, so I need to ask my master for guidance."

Li Xia nodded, watching the woman hurriedly run to the back, and looked down at the business card.

"Facial expressions."

It's a rather artsy name. A little while later, an older man followed behind, whose appearance was very similar to Yan Yi's.

This must be her father; it turns out it's a family tradition.

The three greeted each other and exchanged names. Yan Ya then asked her daughter to make a cup of tea, put on her glasses, and began to carefully examine the silver coin.

At the same time, they chatted casually, asking questions like, "Where are you from, young man?" and "What did your family do before?"

Li Xia had never eaten pork, but he had watched many live-streamed treasure appraisal shows, and he was also a very meticulous person.

He immediately realized that they were trying to trick him into revealing the origin of the silver coins.

For example, if the family was once high-ranking officials, or if they had other connections to silver coins, the provenance of the silver coins becomes more convincing.

If someone had been a poor peasant for eight generations, even if you were given silver coins, you definitely wouldn't have kept them this well. It's not that I look down on poor peasants.

Rather, the difference lies in perspective and preservation techniques.

But Li Xia didn't want to waste time arguing with him anymore. Time was so precious, there was no time for idle chatter.

Yan Ya couldn't get any information out of Li Xia, so his eyebrows furrowed even more. He was now certain that Li Xia wasn't a middleman, because middlemen love to tell stories.

It wasn't a tomb raider either; he could smell the stench of a tomb raider from two miles away.

It seems more like a chance acquisition or a family heirloom, but the problem is that its condition is too good, so good that it's frightening.

To achieve a similar effect, the coins must be relatively new and have been carefully cleaned to remove moisture. They should be wrapped in paper and then sealed with high-quality wax.

Only by storing it in a dry place can it remain as good as new even after more than a hundred years.

After hesitating for a long time, Yan Ya raised his head: "Young man, how much are you planning to offer?"

"I wonder how much Mr. Yan plans to charge?"

Yan Ya's heart skipped a beat, and he sighed. He was most afraid of encountering people who had no moral compass. He wanted to give up, but he really couldn't bear to.

He gritted his teeth and took the gamble! If it were true, he would definitely become famous in the coin collecting circle. Even if he lost, he could afford to lose!

Most importantly, if I'm not mistaken, these coins are usually stored in a stack, and this kid has nine of them!

"Mr. Li, to be honest with you, buying it is a gamble for me. If it's genuine, its condition alone would fetch at least this much at auction."

Yan Ya pinched her index, middle, and ring fingers together:

"Seven million! Japanese collectors will go crazy. This coin is in such excellent condition that it's one of a kind. It takes incredible foresight to protect this precious silver coin so early on."

Li Xia remained silent. He had nine more of these, or even more precious ones.

"So I'm willing to take the gamble, 350 million! If I lose, I'll just consider it as losing a house."

“350 million.” Li Xia tapped her index finger lightly on the table, and after a moment of contemplation, she straightened up.

"Sure, but I have some additional conditions. I don't know if Mr. Yan can accept them."

"What conditions?"

"First, I want cash. Mr. Yan only needs to give me three million, and the remaining five hundred thousand is for Mr. Yan's tea money."

I hope Mr. Yan can help me contact coaches for our provincial teams—for weightlifting, track and field, and kickboxing.

Yan Ya's expression immediately turned strange, his eyebrows raised, and he was extremely surprised, because he could actually do this!

Looking at his expression, Li Xia knew he had guessed correctly. Since ancient times, literature and sports have been inseparable, and the probability of someone in the cultural field knowing someone in the sports field is definitely over 80%.

"Do you have a friend who wants to pursue a career in sports?"

"No, I would like to have these coaches provide me with individual training for a month, and I am willing to pay for it."

Individual training? Yan Ya pondered for a few moments, something just didn't feel right. Cash only, boxing coach, track and field weightlifting...

"Hiss!" Yan Ya gasped. Could this kid be planning something big?

Combat sports are for hitting people, weightlifting is for hitting people harder, and track and field is for chasing or escaping people quickly, plus cash is difficult to track.

It matches! It matches perfectly!

But what does this have to do with me? I'm just a coin collector.

Yan Ya suddenly realized that the fact that the kid didn't rush to leave after selling the item actually increased the likelihood that it was genuine.

"Alright! Young man, I agree to this condition!"

When it comes to cash reserves, you have to look at this group of antique dealers. Yan Ya only has a little over a million yuan. He picked up his phone and made a few calls.

Within the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, several more people brought cash in bags, some of them wearing jackets with names like "Gu Zhen Xuan".

"We are basically all in places like San Tiao Xiang and Luosi Xiang. From here to Hanzhongmen, we cover most of the merchants in the Nanjing numismatic circle."

This currency circulates quite quickly, and everyone is very familiar with it, so young man, don't rush.

This business operates on a cash-on-delivery basis, with no credit allowed. So even though Yan Ya was very tempted by the silver coins, he could only calm down and chat with Li Xia.

Yan Yi, who was standing next to them, would occasionally chime in, and everyone seemed to be having a very pleasant conversation.

When the three million was finally raised, Yan Ya practically jumped up, and pulled out several banknote counting machines with a clatter:

"Three million, just a small token from you, young man."

It was during the banknote verification process that Li Xia learned that the banknote verification machine could not be used continuously; it needed to cool down after counting 20 banknotes.

Otherwise it will easily overheat, which is why Yan Ya brought out several units. The whole process took about an hour.

Once Li Xia nodded in confirmation, Yan Ya immediately held the silver coin in her hands, her mouth agape like a lotus flower, clearly delighted with it.

"Brother Li, it's my treat tonight. I've invited a few coaches you need, and we can all have dinner together. What do you think?"

"Okay, I'll go and take care of the money first."

Li Xia had no objection to this; money actually served no purpose for him, it was merely a necessity to achieve his goals.

"Then you go. By the way, Brother Li, do you need security?"

Yan Ya put down the silver coin in her hand, then suddenly remembered something and pointed outside:

“There are a lot of people and eyes in this alley, and the amounts involved in our business are not small, so there’s no guarantee that someone won’t be watching us.”

Someone's watching? Li Xia shook his head. His excuse for handling the money was just that—an excuse. He would simply go out and put the money back into his spatial storage.

There are really some people who are blind to reason.

"Bang!" The glass door was smashed open, and a man with bloodshot eyes, holding a strange-looking gun-like object wrapped in duct tape and steel pipe, shouted loudly:

"Do not move!"

The three people in the room were immediately stunned, and Yan Ya exclaimed in surprise:

"Old Liu???"

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1. Monthly pass 2. Recommendation vote

Uh, even though nobody's reading this, I'll still ask: is there more or less content about the real world? If you want to read a couple more chapters, I can fill in the gaps—no, I mean write them.

If you don't want to watch it, I'll just skip to the urban section.

Chapter 20 Who Wants to Buy My Life

Li Xia sized up the person who rushed in. He was quite old, probably around fifty or sixty, with sparse, greasy hair plastered to his scalp.

His complexion was sallow, the muscles on the sides of his cheeks bulged, and his eyes were bloodshot.

"Old Liu? What are you doing?"

Yan Ya quietly slipped the silver coin into a corner where no one would notice, her expression of surprise deepening.

Old Liu is also the owner of an antique shop. They're all in the same circle and know each other quite well. They're not extremely wealthy, but they're certainly much better off than the average person.

How could someone do such a thing?

"I'm sorry, Lao Yan, but I... I have no choice. I understand you're trying to raise cash."

Old Liu's expression grew increasingly frantic. With a sob in his voice, he pointed the strange-looking gun at the three men.

"Close the door now and lower the roller shutter!"

"Old Liu, you—"

"Oh!"

The gun spat out flames, carrying a strong smell of gunpowder, and shattered the vase on the counter.

Yan Yi couldn't help but scream. Yan Ya was a little better, but he still trembled.

"Old Liu, calm down, I'll shut it off right now!"

The creaking roller shutter door began to descend, and Old Liu, already an expert, turned on the chandelier beside the door.

Li Xia stood aside, his thoughts racing. If he made a move, there was a good chance he could win.

But this will cause trouble, such as with the police.

Just as he was pondering this, he saw Yan Ya wink at him. Li Xia was taken aback. Did this mean he didn't need to be afraid?

My gaze shifted, and I saw that Yan Yi was still holding her head, seemingly very scared, but actually quietly moving her feet.

Oh? They have a backup plan? These people are truly not to be underestimated; they're incredibly meticulous.

"Old Yan! Tell your daughter not to move! Your alarm is installed over there, isn't it?"

"Damn it!" Yan Ya almost cursed out loud. He shook his head helplessly at his daughter. All coin shops like theirs basically followed the same pattern.

The locations of the alarms were also roughly the same.

"Old Liu, I'm not trying to criticize you, but I heard about what happened the other day. There's no hurdle you can't overcome, so why make things difficult for yourself?"

When stealing chickens didn't work, Yan Ya started playing the emotional card, trying to ease the atmosphere by chatting about everyday things.

Li Xia stood quietly to the side, listening, seemingly implicated but not targeted.

"What we're saying is, who hasn't paid tuition when they first entered the industry? If you cross over into jadeite and lose money gambling on stones, isn't that normal?"

"If you have any difficulties, talk to everyone. Why resort to guns?"

Yan Ya kept nagging, raising her hands and earnestly persuading:

"You think you can escape once you've drawn a gun? Old Liu, if you stop now, I promise I won't call the police. We can't let this one mistake ruin everything!"

After this, Lao Liu's expression seemed to have softened somewhat, but the gun in his hand did not waver in the slightest.

He just shook his head, his voice trembling with tears: "I'm sorry, buddy, I had no choice. My wife and son have been detained, I can't do anything, I have no choice at all!"

Yan Ya's face immediately darkened. Old Liu had a son late in life and spoiled him rotten. It was his son who had instigated the trip to Myanmar to gamble on jade. He heard that the son had lost a huge sum of money, even emptying the family's savings, and now he was being held captive.

"Old Yan, have your daughter connect her phone to the TV and cast it to the screen—"

Yan Yi glanced at her father and had no choice but to do as she was told.

"Open the bank app, don't try any tricks. I know which banks we are VIPs of. Transfer a total of 12 million to these accounts."