Du Xiaowei intentionally slowed down. When we passed by the upstart, he deliberately coughed a few times, causing that upstart to clench his teeth in anger and cursed, “Fuck you!”
“Who are you cursing?” The traffic police immediately got mad when he heard the upstart curse. He has dealt with so many drivers that violated regulations, every single one of them smiled guiltily. This guy actually dared to curse! Just moments ago, the guy was speaking softly, and the moment he turned around, the guy completely changed attitude. Although the person cursed softly, he still heard everything clearly. He had wanted to let the person go once, but now, he immediately changed his mind and decided to punish him with the heaviest punishment.
“I…” The upstart wanted to explain, but noticed that the Santana 2000 was already long gone.
“Take out your driving license!” The traffic police said angrily.
I sent Xia Jing back to my mansion first. Zhao Yanyan and Xia Jing were old friends, while the other girls knew about the purpose of my trip to the US earlier, so they were extra-intimate towards Xia Jing.
I got Xia Jing to stay in the mansion for a few days, then said that I would visit her parents with her.
Then, Xu Er and I went to the study, while he told me about his sister’s situation.
Xu Er’s little sister used money very carefully while studying in Yanjing city, and she acted as a hourly maid at a rich person’s home. The male employer often makes advances on her when the female employer wasn’t home, but after she refused, the guy did become more honest. However, he still continued to harass her verbally, and after raises some unacceptable requests, including wanting to take Xu Er’s little sister as a mistress.
Although Xu Er’s little sister was disgusted by his actions, due to the high wage, she merely endured it and continued to work. However, a recent accident changed all this.
While Xu Er’s little sister was wiping the cabinet, she accidentally pushed one of the vase onto the floor. Actually, after the incident, when Xu Er’s little sister recalled the situation, she noticed that the vase was put in a very illogical position, and it would be pushed down if she was just slightly careless. However, since it had already happened, thinking about that was no use. Thus, Xu Er’s little sister wanted to compensate him with money. Yet, the guy pointed at a small stamp at the bottom of the vase and said that the vase was from a government official in the Ming Dynasty, making it worth a fortune. It was at least worth five hundred thousand!
Xu Er’s little sister immediately freaked out after hearing that. Since her birth, the most money she had seen was several thousand yuan, and that was the school fees she brought with her. Five hundred thousand was an astronomical number for her, a number that she would never be able to earn in her entire life.
At that moment, the guy changed his tone and said that as long as she follows him and be his mistress for ten years, that would payout the five hundred thousand. That caused Xu Er’s little sister to cry in fear, so she ran out to call Xu Er. Then, after Xu Er arrived in Yanjing city to talk with the male employer, they were unable to get to any sort of result after a long time. The male employer just stubbornly said that the vase was worth five hundred thousand, and the only two solutions were either for Xu Er’s little sister to be his mistress or for them to compensate him with money.
The male employer was a local and the director of a company, so he had both money and influence. There was nothing Xu Er could do at all. Xu Er was foreign to Yanjing city and didn’t know anyone here. Thinking that they might not even win if they go to court, he could only call me in his helplessness. He didn’t dare to tell Ding Baosan directly, and since he knew that I was on good terms with Ding Baosan, he wanted me to help him ask to see if it was possible to get his salary beforehand. That was how the situation where he called me occurred.
“Did you managed to get hold of the vase fragment?” I asked a rather important question. This sort of situation was common later on. Many people placed some fake antiques at home and intentionally got their maids or babysitters to break them in order to extort money from them. Actually, those antiques were just forgeries. Although I wasn’t sure that the guy also used a forgery, but just because he seemed to have planned it, he definitely did not have any good intentions, so whether the vase was real or not became of utmost importance.
“No, the person didn’t give it to me,” said Xu Er.
“You should have asked for the fragment, then got it appraised,” I said.
“Appraised? Why… Oh! I understand, you’re saying that the vase might be forged?” Xu Er instantly understood.
“Yes!” I nodded.
“But that’s not possible, right? He’s a rich person, why would he put a fake vase in his home?” Xu Er said in confusion.
“Why?” I shook my head. “It’s because of your little sister!” It wasn’t his fault that he didn’t understand. This wasn’t a common occurrence in 1999, but even children knew about this several years later.
“Now that you said it, that really does seem like the case! Thinking about it, if he clearly knows that the vase would break, then why would he use a real one! A fake one can work the same!” Xu Er nodded.
“Precisely! That’s why the fragment of the vase is the key to the issue!” I sad.
“Okay, then I’ll go and ask for the fragments now!” said Xu Er.
“I’ll go with you, you are too honest, and don’t know the evilness of people!” I said. “I’m worried that he would make it difficult for you!”
Du Xiaowei drove the three of us to the place that Xu Er talked about.
Xu Er was right, this person was a rich person. The compound he was living in was a very high-class one. All the apartments inside were duplexes. What’s more, I already knew beforehand that the person in question was called Lv Baoqiang.
Lv Baoqiang opened the door and was surprised to see three people. He didn’t expect that Xu Er, a non-local, would find two helpers. However, he didn’t think much of it, he didn’t believe that this sort of certain thing would change anything.
“Xu Er, did you come to bring me the money or are you prepared to agree to my terms? My patience is limited!” said Lv Baoqiang.
“Mr. Lv, we came here this time to discuss about it with you!” I spoke up first.
“Who are you? Are your words of any use?” Lv Baoqiang looked at me and asked.
“I am the person Xu Er called over to deal with this. What I say represents what Xu Er says,” I replied.
“Is that the case?” Lv Baoqiang looked at Xu Er.
Xu Er nodded.
Only then did Lv Baoqiang said unhappily to me, “Then let’s discuss about what should be done!”
“Alright, you said that Xu Er’s little sister broke a vase, where’s the vase?” I asked directly.
“Vase? What are you asking about that for!” Lv Baoqiang looked at me vigilantly.
“You said that she broke a vase from the Ming Dynasty, I haven’t even seen the vase, so why should I believe you?” I asked.
“Alright! Then I’ll show you!” Lv Baoqiang turned around and went into the study, then took out a box, which he handed to me.
I opened to take a look. It was the fragments of a clay vase. Due to my work, I would often accompany my clients to antique auctions, so I did have some appraisal ability. Although I wasn’t a professional, I was certain that the fragments in front of me was something from the Ming Dynasty, which he claimed. This sort of low quality trash wasn’t any different from the clay stuff that sold for two yuan by the streets!