Chapter 600: Cai Ningxuan (1)
Jian Yiling accompanied her mother and the Wen family to a quaint-looking building in Beijing.
This building was hidden in the alleyways of Beijing. In addition, the owner of this building had a special ident.i.ty and status in society.
If the Jian family came by themselves, they wouldn’t be able to enter the doors of this building.
However, the Wen family had connections in this area. Therefore, Wen Nuan and Jian Yiling could enter the building today.
Of course, Wen Cheng had planned to invite his sister and niece to join in on the fun anyway.
He smiled at Wen Nuan and Jian Yiling: “Tell me if you’re interested in an item. I will buy it for you.”
Wen Cheng was very generous when it came to his sister and niece. He was very willing to spend money on them.
Then, Wen Nuan took a look at Cai Qinyue and Wen Ruo. Cai Qinyue and Wen Ruo had come along today as well. After a moment of pause, she said: “Don’t worry about us. You should buy things for your wife and daughter! If I want to buy something, I have all of my husband’s money.”
In the Jian family, Wen Nuan was in charge of their household’s wealth.
However, Jian Shuxing was in charge of his company’s wealth.
Neither of them really interfered with their children’s money usage.
Upon hearing this, Cai Qinyue had to force a smile onto her face.
Why was her husband more considerate of other people? Couldn’t he care about his own family? It was so upsetting that he was doing this.
When the five of them arrived at the building, the place looked incredibly empty. At first glance, it appeared as though not many people were in the building.
The quaint-looking building had a plaque that was hung above the door. The oil paint was peeling off this plaque. However, the words Cai[1] Ningxuan could be seen on it.
Then, a middle-aged man who wore simple clothes appeared at the door. He held a smoking pipe in his hands.
The man seemed to fit in with the building. They both gave off a very dated vibe. It seemed as though they belonged to another decade.
Wen Cheng walked up to talk to the middle-aged man: “h.e.l.lo. What performance will it be today? Ding junshan or Zhuo Fangcao?”
The man squinted his eyes at Wen Cheng. Then, he lowered his head to smoke his pipe.
“Ding junshan,” the man replied.
“Okay. We will go in to listen to the performance.”
Then, Wen Cheng entered the building with the others.
A few men were stationed behind the door. However, they did not stop Wen Cheng and the others from entering.
This was because Wen Cheng had said their code words. As he said the right thing, he could enter the building.
Once inside, the interior of the building was similar to the exterior. The building felt traditional and old-fas.h.i.+oned.
It was as though they time-traveled back to historical times in China.
However, this was only at first glance. At a second glance, one would notice that there was surveillance and monitoring equipment in every corner of the room. Furthermore, there were also infrared sensors and other modern technology.
After they entered, a young woman wearing a cheongsam led the way.
The interior of the building resembled an ancient teahouse.
There was a large stage placed in the center of the first level.
There were many seats in the first level. However, on the second level, there were several private rooms. It was possible to see the stage from every private room.
Wen Cheng and the others followed the young woman to their reserved room.
Similarly, the room also gave off a historical feeling. There was an old-fas.h.i.+oned square table in the middle of the room. The table could fit at least eight people around it.
Then, Wen Cheng smiled at the four women beside him: “In a while, there will be things brought onto the stage. Some of the things here will be fake. Therefore, you have to make a judgment using your eyes. This is pretty risky as well. It’s similar to gambling rocks[2].”
It was a bit similar to an auction. However, it wasn’t completely the same.
The price of these items would typically be cheaper than usual. This was because there was no guarantee that these items were genuine.
Therefore, it was similar to gambling.
The Wen family knew how deep the water was in the antique industry.
However, their family had a long history with antiques. As a result, until now, Wen Cheng had not misidentified an item.
Wen Cheng looked at his sister before he said: “Hey, let’s compete today.”
Wen Cheng and Wen Nuan had grown up together. Both of them were incredibly capable at identifying genuine antiques and paintings.
[1] Translator Note: This character in Chinese is different from Cai Qinyue’s name. Here, Cai = Lottery
[2] Translator Note: Refers to gambling on raw jade. Raw jade is almost always covered by base material that looks no different from any normal rock. However, people often fantasize about the glittering treasures hidden within. Therefore, gambling on rocks came out.