garded Xiao Yu as incredibly mysterious and felt that he was even more enigmatic than their village fortune-teller."Alright, you two go back and comfort the child. I'm leaving!" Xiao Yu gave them a br...Chapter 361: Old Acquaintances

Soon, the two of them reached the end of the street. However, Xiao Yu didn't find anything worth looking at. Just as Xiao Yu and his companions were about to leave, someone walked over to them and said, "Brother, do you want to buy some antiques These are freshly unearthed!"

Xiao Yu's group looked at the person in front of them with confusion. The man was wearing a tattered track suit, and his body was covered in patches of mud and dust. Dust also coated his hair, giving him an appearance that seemed like he was a migrant worker who had come to work in Beijing.

Seeing Xiao Yu's group looking at him with confusion, the man's face turned red, and he lowered his head slightly. He originally worked as a laborer on nearby construction sites, but this morning when they were excavating trenches for construction, they unearthed an urn filled with copper coins. After discussing it among themselves, they decided to sell it here.

They had visited several shops, but the money offered by these places was too little to meet their expectations. They had wasted a day already, and even the payment from the shop wasn't enough to cover the wages of all the workers for one day.

Although they didn't know how valuable this item was, given the current craze in collecting antiques and the fact that their items were dug up from underground, they believed it must be worth a lot.

Desperate, they resorted to soliciting passersby on the street, hoping someone would buy their goods. However, after a day of waiting, no one bought anything from them, and when people heard their asking price, they immediately shook their heads and walked away without even stopping.

This was why their price had dropped from 50,000 to 10,000 by noon. If they couldn't sell it before dark, they would have no choice but to sell it cheaply to a shop and consider this as a paid vacation for the day.

Therefore, when they saw Xiao Yu and Yunxi, noticing that their attire and demeanor indicated that they were interested in buying something, they decided to give it a try. That's why when they noticed Xiao Yu and his companions walking towards the end of the street, they called out to Xiao Yu.

Xiao Yu looked at this person, glanced into his eyes, saw him with an honest look that didn't seem like he was deceiving anyone, so he nodded in agreement.

The man wasn't overly excited when Xiao Yu agreed. They had met too many people today who would only shake their heads and walk away after hearing their prices.

Yunxi did not stop him either because she didn’t have any feelings of disgust.

Xiao Yu and Yunxi followed this person into a small alley nearby. In the alley, there were four other men, all covered in lime and mud, squatting down to chat. These four men were all wearing green military coats with cotton hats on their heads; some had their hands near their mouths blowing warm breaths while others had their hands tucked inside their sleeves.

When these few people saw the other person leading Xiao Yu and his group in, they also stood up and said, "You're back! Greetings to the boss!"

Upon hearing their greetings, Xiao Yu nodded at them as well. Yunxi did the same without exception because she didn't feel any discomfort when seeing these few people.

"Where's the item Quickly take it out for the bosses to have a look! The bosses' time is extremely precious!" The person who brought Xiao Yu and his group over immediately said this as soon as he approached them.

"Right, right!" Upon hearing that person's words, these few people quickly responded. They then took out a small black porcelain jar from behind themselves and said, "Please take a look, bosses!" After saying that, they placed the small porcelain jar on the ground in front of them.

When Xiao Yu saw this small black porcelain jar, he suddenly felt his heart stir. Without any hesitation, Xiao Yu walked over to stand beside the jar.

Xiao Yu squatted down next to the jar and examined it closely. The jar had no patterns on it; there was only a layer of something akin to black paint.

"Boss, the item is inside the jar!" The laborer who brought Xiao Yu and his group over noticed that Xiao Yu was only looking at the jar but not what was inside and couldn't help reminding him.

Now, they just wanted to quickly sell off whatever it was. Otherwise, if today these few people had wasted a day without working and still couldn't sell their item, they would regret it deeply.

Xiao Yu nodded his head and looked inside the jar. Inside was a small black porcelain jar filled with copper coins. Xiao Yu took out some of the copper coins to take a look at them; these copper coins were marked with words like 'Qianlong Tongbao' (Copper Treasure of the Qianlong era) and 'Guangxu Tongbao' (Copper Treasure of the Guangxu era).

Xiao Yu knew nothing about these items, but he could tell they weren't simple just from how his heart stirred when seeing them. Earlier at Rong Bao Zhai and other shops, he hadn't felt anything unusual.

However, this small black porcelain jar had made him feel a stirring in his heart, prompting curiosity: What exactly was inside

"How much is this item" Xiao Yu only pretended to look at it briefly before standing up and asking these few people.

"Eight thousand." Upon hearing Xiao Yu ask the price, the person who brought him over was about to say ten thousand but then quickly changed to eight thousand.

It was getting late, and he feared that if they priced it at ten thousand, they might not be able to sell it later on. They would have to bring the item back with them, rendering their efforts for the day in vain. These people wouldn't waste a single day.

Why did they come here It was solely to earn money. Naturally, they wouldn't hesitate to spend time doing so if there were opportunities. If not for financial difficulties at home, who would willingly leave their hometown and come to this big city to work as lowly migrant workers

If they couldn't sell anything today and had taken a day off, it would make them extremely heartbroken.

Thus, when Xiao Yu asked about the price, before Xiao Yu even spoke, these people lowered their asking price by two thousand. They feared that Xiao Yu would turn around without saying a word, just like the previous few buyers had done upon hearing this price.

Although the shopkeepers had told them that these coins weren't worth much, with the most expensive one costing only ten yuan and cheaper ones priced at five jiao (0.5 yuan) each, they didn't believe it. They were convinced that since they'd dug these items out of the ground themselves, they must be valuable.

"Eight thousand" Upon hearing their offer, Xiao Yu looked up and nodded: "Alright, eight thousand. I'll take them!"

Xiao Yu then took out a stack of money from his bag, pulled out twenty notes to put back inside the bag, and handed over the rest to the man who had brought them there.

"What You really want it Great! Wonderful!"

Upon hearing Xiao Yu's words, these people were momentarily stunned. When they saw that he was actually taking out money, they still said in disbelief because his response had been too quick for them to process. After a brief moment, seeing that Xiao Yu wasn't retracting the offer, they quickly responded and accepted the money.

There were five of them in total, and each of them counted the money several times to confirm it was correct before finally sighing with relief. Dividing the money equally, they would each earn more than a thousand yuan, equivalent to half a month's salary. For their efforts over one day, earning such an amount satisfied them greatly.

"Boss, the money is right; this item belongs to you now. Please take good care of it!"

After putting the money in their pockets, they said to Xiao Yu and his companions.

Xiao Yu nodded upon hearing them. Although he didn't understand why he had felt a stirring sensation earlier, he knew that this item was extraordinary. For eight thousand yuan or even eighty thousand yuan, he would still buy it.

After the others left, Xiao Yu picked up the small black porcelain jar from the ground. Despite its weight due to being filled with copper coins, for Xiao Yu, these items posed no burden at all.

Xiao Yu and Yunxi left the琉璃廠carrying a porcelain jar, heading towards their vehicle. Today's trip seemed to have been in vain; they hadn't bought any gifts but ended up purchasing this jar.

"Doctor Xiao Little Brother Xiao" As Xiao Yu was about to get into the car with Yunxi, he heard two puzzled calls from behind.

Xiao Yu turned around upon hearing his name called.

"Haha, it really is you! Little Brother Xiao, we haven't seen each other in a long time!" As soon as they turned around, an excited voice came from behind them.

At this moment, Xiao Yu recognized the two speakers. They were 'Teacher Bai' and 'Teacher Cai', both well-known authentication experts. Seeing these familiar faces, Xiao Yu couldn't help but smile.

"Yes, it's been a long time since we last met! How have you both been" Upon hearing their greetings, Xiao Yu smiled and responded.

"Haha, thanks to little brother’s blessings, our health is in top condition!" Teacher Cai laughed heartily after hearing Xiao Yu's inquiry about his wellbeing.

They genuinely admired Xiao Yu's medical skills, even managing to cure Old Mao of an ailment that had plagued him for years, a chronic illness difficult to overcome. Yet within just one month, Professor Mao was completely healed under Xiao Yu’s care.

"Little brother, where are you heading" Teacher Bai asked Xiao Yu.

"Hehe, Brother Bai, I'm just going somewhere; it's an elderly person's birthday party, and I want to buy a gift," Xiao Yu explained to Teacher Bai.

"No way! Little brother, is this what you've chosen as your gift" At this moment, seeing the black porcelain jar in Xiao Yu’s hands, Teacher Cai expressed his surprise.

"Hehe, actually not. I haven't found a proper gift yet; this is just something I picked up on impulse," Xiao Yu looked at the jar and chuckled as he replied.

"You didn’t find anything What kind of gift were you looking for Teacher Bai and I will help you pick one, guaranteed to make you satisfied!" Upon hearing that Xiao Yu hadn't found a suitable gift yet, Teacher Cai confidently offered his assistance.u looked through the window. Outside, a man in his early thirties with a hat and wrapped up in black clothes stood quietly there.The moment Xiao Yu saw this figure, his eyes narrowed slightly. Althoug...