Chapter 444: Wine Pot
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
Never Miss A Treasure was. .h.i.t right in the spot and replied with some anger,
“d.a.m.n it! The guy told me that the Fighting character inscribed from the wine pot would be good enough to be taken as genuine. I’ve been selling it for a month, and ten people have seen through it! Ten people! I must be blind…”
Lou Cheng laughed out loud. “What wine pot? Show me.”
In less than a minute, Never Miss A Treasure sent Lou Cheng a photo of an ancient rose gold wine pot of the size of a palm with an explosive, defiant Fighting character on one side as if one sip of the wine was enough for the drinker to rise up high to create a tremendous uproar in the heavenly palace.
“Quite imposing and very delicate…” praised Lou Cheng before switching to a very flat tone. “I like this wine pot. Quite special. Is it for sale?”
“You want it? How can I make more of this Fighting character cloth if I sell it? Are you trying to destroy my business?” scorned Never Miss A Treasure.
“It has been several months since the national tournament. The Nine Words Sound is no longer a hit. Aren’t your sales going down? Sell it to make some money when you still can. I don’t believe you have no stock of the handkerchief!” Lou Cheng presented a plausible argument.
“It makes sense…” said Never Miss A Treasure after a moment of silence. “Give me 1,200 and the pot will be yours.”
“1,200? You must be kidding me! 100 is my final offer!” Lou Cheng bargained hard as Coach Yan had instructed.
“This is a humiliating bargain! I paid more than 100 to get it. My friend, what about 380, including the delivery cost?” Never Miss A Treasure tried to sound like he was offering a deal at a loss.
Lou Cheng thought about it and replied with some hesitation, “I guess so. Put it up and I’ll bid.”
“Let’s do it in some other way. If I put the pot up, everybody will know my product was not real,” suggested Never Miss A Treasure with his two palms facing up.
“Whatever.” Lou Cheng sounded interested but not keen.
The deal was made and Lou Cheng used the name Qi Fang with their home address, considering he was more or less famous now.
After, he sent the photo of the wine pot to Yan Zheke and sneered.
“Check this out?”
“Hmm… The Fighting Formula… It feels real!” Yan Zheke was stunned.
She had seen many notes about the Nine Words Formula recreated by the Shushan Study. Lou Cheng was certain the Fighting Formula part was not correct but quite close.
“Yeah, I felt the same as soon as I saw it,” answered Lou Cheng proudly.
“Incredible! That’s my Cheng. You got it?” Yan Zheke was very generous with her compliments.
“Of course.” Lou Cheng put on a cunning smile. “Even though I couldn’t figure anything out, there must be some clues. Look how fine and delicate this pot is! My master will love it for sure. It could be a good present for him.”
“Hmm… How rare for you to be so thoughtful about Coach s.h.i.+!” Yan Zheke opened her eyes wide.
Lou Cheng was transfixed. “What do you mean rare? I’m always very respectful.”
“Hmm… How come I only remember the times you were being sarcastic with him?” Yan Zheke looked up and rolled her eyes.
“My tongue might be mean, but he’s always on my mind,” said Lou Cheng solemnly.
“Really?” Yan Zheke sat gracefully. “How much did you pay for the pot?”
“380…” Lou Cheng sighed, his hands covering his face.
…
In a rental home in some city.
Never Miss A Treasure stretched and hummed, very pleased with himself. On the computer desk in front of him stood the imposing rose pink wine pot.
He stood up and pulled a black cloth from a chest, revealing over a dozen of the same wine pots, none of which had the same overwhelming bearing.
He paid a factory to make these artificial ones at a very low price.
“Hahah… Fancy my wine pot? My trap is set for you!” Never Miss A Treasure sneered, wagging his head.
The Fighting character handkerchief would be enough to lure those with little knowledge or bad taste. If someone saw flaws in the cloth, he would play innocent and let them take the pot at a good price.
Most people wouldn’t expect one trap after another. They would very likely be quite pleased with themselves for getting the pot.
Besides, these people were usually arrogant. Losing a few hundred bucks was not worth the ha.s.sle to make it a big deal. In the worst scenario, they would throw some bad words at him and he would stand still and stick to his story firmly.
Never Miss A Treasure wasn’t very concerned about the treasure. When he first got the pot, he honestly believed there must be some connection between it and the Fighting Formula. He attempted to apple polish a Dan stage martial artist with the pot, but the master didn’t sense the feeling and couldn’t visualize with it. He found it pretty but nothing more.
Those fools should be able to figure things out after if they spent some more time on it.
Who would travel across the country for a few hundred bucks?
“However sneaky or smark you are, you can’t jump out of my palm…” Never Miss A Treasure took one rose gold wine pot out of the batch with a chuckle, packed it up, and began to fill in the delivery form.
“Xiushan…”
…
Two days later, Lou Cheng received a phone call after his training in the Gushan Martial Arts School and his parcel had arrived.
He went back with the package. As soon as he opened it, his eyebrows rose and his face seemed annoyed and amused.
He logged into the site and spoke frankly to Never Miss A Treasure,
“You sent me the wrong item.”
“No. Compare it with the photo. Aren’t they identical?” The very experienced Never Miss A Treasure responded confidently.
“It doesn’t have the explosive, defiant bearing.” Lou Cheng pointed out the key.
Never Miss A Treasure was taken by surprise. “It is a photography effect. Don’t you know PS? Don’t you know photo retouching? Don’t you know the Beauty Camera? Here. I have another photo, black and white. Isn’t it calm and ancient? Anyway, file a complain if you want. I don’t really care.”
“I’ll call the police!” Lou Cheng replied without anger.
Never Miss A Treasure felt relaxed upon seeing Lou Cheng’s reply. ” The bigger words they brag, the slimmer chance they take action. A villain always throws out some threat after a street fight.”
“Only a few hundred bucks. Cops won’t take it seriously.”
“Hahah. Go ahead.” Never Miss A Treasure took a sip of water from his mug.
Lou Cheng copied the link and sent it to his QQ friend Rapid March.
“This is a highly possible clue for the Fighting Formula.”
He frequently sent clues and traces to his master to pa.s.s on to the military. Much annoyed, Geezer s.h.i.+ connected him with this guy.
“Got it.” Rapid March’s answer was brief.
…
At 2 PM, Never Miss A Treasure woke up to an intense pounding on his door.
He sat up and shouted, “Who is it?”
“For the water meter,” a guy responded outside.
“Has it been one month already?” Never Miss A Treasure put on his s.h.i.+rt and shorts and opened the door, very confused.
Clang!
Two muscular men dashed in as soon as the door was opened, one of whom held his legs and the other grabbed his arms. Never Miss A Treasure was pressed tightly against the floor.
“What are you doing?” Never Miss A Treasure screamed with fear. He saw several pitch-black handguns pointing at him and two China Police doc.u.ments.
“I… I’m selling fake products…” Never Miss A Treasure attempted to explain, completely stunned. Tears were circling in his eyes.
…
“That’s the story.” Lou Cheng sat on a chair, looking at Yan Zheke, who was sitting on the bed and checking the fake rose gold wine pot.
“So… You were prepared to receive a fake?” She looked up thoughtfully. “Why didn’t you contact the military earlier? You hoped to get it by yourself?”
On a precious, cool, July day, she wore an elegant, round collar s.h.i.+rt.
“Something like that…” Lou Cheng smiled vaguely.
Yan Zheke put down the pot and threw a glare at him. “You dragged me over to view this fake pot? I was planning on taking you to shop some clothes. My grandparents like cultured gentlemen.”
“We have time. Your relatives are still there, aren’t they?” Lou Cheng rose and smiled. “Besides, Ke, as you said before, it doesn’t matter what we view as long as we are together.”
He stepped towards the door and locked it from inside.
Yan Zheke blinked her clear, bright eyes, at a loss.
Lou Cheng walked to the window and looked at the confused little fairy with a grin.
“My mom is sending Qi Yunfei back to Ningshui and won’t come back today. My dad has to work late, probably until seven or eight…”
He closed the curtain and the room was suddenly dim and dusky, faint lights dancing with shadows.
“… You are…”
The clear, gentle voice screeched to a halt.
…
At 5 o’clock, in the dim room, a fair arm was resting on Lou Cheng’s chest, in sharp contrast with her black, long hair. The room was filled with silent, invisible beauty and joy.
After checking on the asleep Yan Zheke, Lou Cheng picked up his mobile and checked new messages.
Rapid March wrote one hour ago,
“The wine pot doesn’t have the bearing of the Fighting Formula. We think it was made by an exceptional craftsman with no martial arts roots less than 30 years ago. We have reasons to believe he carved the pot in reference to the original artifact.
“We will dig out the origin of this wine pot.”