boyutpedia Chapter 20 A ruthless inn that preys on people without spitting out the bones [Please continue readi
Chapter 20 A ruthless inn that preys on people without spitting out the bones [Please continue readi
In the afternoon, there were quite a few pedestrians coming and going on Guyi Street.
Because the street is not wide and there are many people, it is easy for traffic jams to occur.
As luck would have it, Huang Renyi, who was in a hurry, ran into them at that moment.
He was getting impatient looking at the military jeep he was sitting in, which was not moving at all. He couldn't help but reach out and press the horn on the steering wheel.
"Beep beep!"
No matter how loudly he honked his horn, the dense crowd couldn't possibly make way for him.
"Director, you don't need to worry too much, we're actually quite early!"
The adjutant in charge of driving, seeing his superior's anxiety, quickly offered words of comfort.
"What do you know? How do you know that the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics only sent Chen Beifa?"
Do you know how many people Han Tieshan associates with?
Huang Renyi's words left the adjutant speechless.
"No, pull over, I'll walk!"
Gu Yi Street isn't very long to begin with, and Huang Renyi felt that rather than letting the car crawl along here, he might as well get out of the car and walk across.
"Director, may I go with you?"
"Come find me after you've parked your car!"
Huang Renyi ignored his adjutant and jumped out of the car with his suitcase, quickly disappearing into the crowd.
After several twists and turns, and about ten minutes later, Huang Renyi finally found Hengyazhai, the place Chen Beifa had mentioned, in a small alley.
He glanced at the signboard, then looked around to make sure no one was following him before preparing to go into the shop.
However, just then, a man came out of the shop, muttering curses:
"What a lousy shop! They have no manners whatsoever, and everything on the shelves is fake. This is clearly a rip-off..."
"roll!"
Before the man could finish speaking, a shop assistant came out and said menacingly to him:
"If you keep nagging, believe me, I'll slap you!"
"You...you're rude. Is this how you treat a guest?"
"We don't need customers like you. Those who are meant to buy will naturally do so. We don't serve people like you!"
After saying that, the man turned and went inside, ignoring him completely.
"Pooh!"
Seeing the waiter disappear, the passerby spat at the Hengyazhai shop and prepared to leave.
"Brother, please wait!"
But just then, Huang Renyi suddenly called out to the man.
"Who are you?"
"Excuse me, what did you mean when you said this shop was a rip-off?"
Upon hearing Huang Renyi's question, the passerby seemed to have found a scapegoat and immediately began to pour out his grievances:
"You've come to the right person. Let me tell you, this shop is a total rip-off."
Most antique shops have both fakes and real items, right? But this one is different; not a single one is real!
Hengyazhai used to be a well-established brand in Tianjin. I thought I'd come and take a look around today since it reopened, but I didn't expect it to be a staged performance of "Painted Skin" here...
Don't be fooled by this guy's endless chatter; it's all just empty talk.
Huang Renyi didn't care whether the store was the original established brand or not, but after hearing what he said, Huang Renyi felt much more at ease.
If it were a normal store, so many questions would naturally seem strange, but if they could be used as the reason for one's visit, that would be perfect.
A newly opened antique shop displays only fake antiques and completely ignores ordinary customers—that makes perfect sense!
For a moment, Huang Renyi felt much more at ease.
"Thanks, bro!"
Having obtained the information he wanted, Huang Renyi ignored the other party and walked into the store with his suitcase.
The guy behind me couldn't help but say, "Don't go, don't go! That's a rip-off place..."
Huang Renyi ignored him and walked into Hengyazhai, a small shop.
The shopkeeper, dressed in a long gown, was writing and drawing behind the counter, a young maid was wiping the table, and the waiter who had just scolded the customer was now sitting in a chair, drinking tea from a teapot.
At this moment, Huang Renyi came in, and he didn't even get up to ask:
Who are you?
"I'm here to buy antiques!"
"name!"
Hearing the other party's tone, Huang Renyi was momentarily dazed. How could a consumer like himself be so humble?
"Huang...Huang Renyi!"
Although he really wanted to curse, he patiently answered.
"Manager Zhou, is there such a person?"
The waiter put down the teapot and turned to ask the shopkeeper.
"Let me look!"
Huang Renyi saw the other party take out a notebook and flip through it. Soon, Manager Zhou smiled and said:
"Found him! Huang Renyi, the quartermaster of the logistics company of the 20th Regiment!"
Manager Zhou got up and left the counter, first telling the shop assistant, "Ali, go and keep watch at the door!"
He then approached Huang Renyi, cupped his hands in greeting, and said, "Director Huang, my surname is Zhou. What kind of antique are you planning to buy?"
Clearly, the two people in front of them were the shopkeeper Zhou Yafu and his assistant Mo Xiaoli.
Mo Xiaoli responded, then took a rag and led her sister to close the door, wiping it from the outside.
"Manager Zhou, could you please give me some recommendations?"
Seeing this, Huang Renyi quickly said something.
He knew he was there to be ripped off and had no bargaining power.
The fact that his own name was on it proves that the list Han Tieshan provided was indeed true.
"Damn Han Tieshan, you might as well die in the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics!"
Huang Renyi dared not hate the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics, so he could only vent his anger on Han Tieshan.
"Sure, we have three options here, all at the same price. You can choose whichever you like!"
As he spoke, Zhou Yafu led Huang Renyi to a display stand with three very small items on it: a porcelain vase, a jade bracelet, and a glass cup.
Huang Renyi, being a soldier, naturally didn't know these things, so he asked, "Manager Zhou, what's the difference between these three?"
"There's not much difference. These are all small items that can be packed in a box or put in your sleeve to carry away."
Moreover, these items are all fragile antiques; they could easily break if you're not careful!
"It's broken?"
"Yeah, it's good that it's broken. Then you can just say how much you bought it for, and that's the price you'll pay, right?"
"That makes sense!"
Huang Renyi immediately realized that if the antique he bought was broken, then no one would be able to find out.
Thinking of this, Huang Renyi pointed to a small green porcelain bottle and said, "Then let's take this one; it looks the most fragile!"
"Okay, this number!"
As he spoke, Zhou Yafu raised one finger.
"100 silver dollars?"
Upon seeing the other party's gesture, Huang Renyi immediately had a bad feeling, but he still held onto a sliver of hope.
"Trying to fob off a beggar? $1!"
"How many?"
Upon hearing this number, Huang Renyi immediately burst into a tirade: "Are you all desperate for money?"
"Director Huang, calm down. You've earned at least $3 in the past six months, haven't you? And you can keep earning more. $1 isn't even worth your life!"
"That's not all mine; I need to take care of that too!"
Huang Renyi hurriedly said.
$1 is almost half of my net worth.
"How much can you offer?"
"Up to $3000!"
"Then Director Huang, please leave!"
Zhou Yafu shook his head and refused to answer the question.
"No, no, no, how about $5000?"
"You can pay in installments, or you can borrow money from us!"
Zhou Yafu seemed to have anticipated this, and looked at Huang Renyi with a smile.
Looking at the other person's kind smile, Huang Renyi felt that the other person was clearly a heartless monster!
I work so hard, getting up early and working late to earn this little bit of money, and I have to give so much to them when they earn much more than me!
Although he was internally cursing the other party to death, he still managed to squeeze out, "Okay, deal!"