Chapter 3

“Five million? Are you joking, Boss Yue?” I propped my chin on one hand and looked at Yue Pianran, the corner of my mouth lifting.

Yue Pianran put the coin back into the toad’s mouth. “Then why don’t you name a price, Miss Gu, and I’ll see whether I can accept it?”

I toyed with the toad in my hands. “Eight million. Buy the coin and get the toad free. The toad alone cost five yuan to make, you know.”

The coin was worth ten million. If I demanded the full ten million, Yue Pianran would make no profit.

Then it would be difficult to sell her anything else in the future.

Besides, eight million was already a fortune to me.

Yue Pianran took a checkbook from her drawer, swiftly wrote a check, and handed it to me. “You’re very amusing, Miss Gu. In that case, I’ll offer eight and a half million. Consider the extra half million a gesture of friendship. I hope you’ll bring any other fine pieces you find to me.”

I took the eight-and-a-half-million-yuan check and left Youming House delighted.

A message suddenly popped up on WeChat. It was from Yue Pianran:

“If you’re free, Miss Gu, you’re always welcome to visit Youming House.”

With eight and a half million yuan to my name, I booked a luxury suite at a five-star hotel downtown for six months, then bought clothes and daily necessities at the upscale mall next door.

At the register, I watched tens of thousands vanish from my account for things marked 500 or 1,000 and immediately began to regret it.

I would stick to shopping on that orange app from now on.

I lay on the hotel’s enormous bed, idly scrolling through my phone, when a headline caught my eye—

“Fu Deyou to Hold Its Third Auction of the Year; Numerous Notables Invited.”

The article included photographs of several lots and profiles of the prominent guests attending the auction.

Then I spotted a number, clear as day, on a photograph of a Yuan-dynasty blue-and-white porcelain piece.

10,000.

And among the photographs of the industry titans attending the auction…

I saw someone I never expected.

I enlarged the image several times and checked it again and again to make sure I was not mistaken.

It was the vendor who had sold me the coin toad.

He had traded his scruffy clothes for an old-fashioned Tang suit and held two priceless, glossy walnuts polished smooth from years of handling.

The caption beneath his photo read: Mr. Dong, veteran collector.

He looked nothing like the disheveled man from whom I had bought the toad at Panjiayuan.

Questions flooded my mind. I desperately wanted to attend the auction and find out what was going on.

But the event was private and invitation-only. Without an invitation, there was no way I could enter.

After a long moment’s thought, I messaged Yue Pianran on WeChat. “Boss Yue, would you do me a favor for five hundred thousand?”

She replied almost instantly. “Just name it, Miss Gu.”

“I want an invitation to the Fu Deyou auction.”

Her reply came moments later. “Done.”

I had a feeling I had offered far too much…

Yue Pianran was remarkably efficient. The next day, she had someone deliver the invitation to the hotel reception desk.

I carried an exquisitely wrapped gift box back from the lobby.

An invitation costing five hundred thousand certainly came with ceremony. The presentation alone had to be worth four hundred and ninety thousand.

Inside lay a champagne-colored velvet dress, apparently a new release from some designer’s current collection.

My long-awaited invitation rested on top of it.

In sweeping gold-embossed calligraphy were three characters—

Gu Zhichun.

I took a photograph of the dress and sent it to Yue Pianran with a single question mark.

Yue Pianran replied, “A complimentary gift. No need to thank me.”

Well, now I even had something to wear to the auction.

On the day of the event, I was the only guest who arrived by taxi.

The security guard at the entrance gave me a strange look. He even produced some instrument I did not recognize and inspected my invitation for ages before letting me inside.

The Fu Deyou auction was packed with celebrities and luminaries.

Besides industry titans and renowned experts, I saw many powerful figures from politics and business.

I had barely taken my seat when someone occupied the chair beside me.

“Miss Gu, we meet again.”

That familiar voice…

I turned and saw Yue Pianran.