Hong Kong.

“Master Qiu isn’t here again?”

Du Zhaohui wore a look of disbelief.

Chai Hai, who had been dealing with him regularly, nodded sincerely. “Young Master Du, I truly apologize. Master Qiu encountered some trouble while sourcing items this time and hasn’t returned to Hong Kong. It’s not that the old master doesn’t want to meet you. As for the vase you want to buy, the collector refuses to sell it. We can’t forcibly take it, can we? Perhaps you’d consider choosing a different vase?”

How obsessive can one be about a specific vase?

Why couldn’t he choose another one?

Chai Hai could see that Du Zhaohui had no appreciation for antique vases, so why was he so fixated on this particular one?

Du Zhaohui’s expression darkened.

Other vases weren’t what Xia Xiaolan had asked him to find. Although he didn’t know why Xia Xiaolan wanted this specific vase, being able to buy it would certainly be better. Unfortunately, the vase’s owner refused to sell, and no matter how many times Du Zhaohui approached Chai Hai, he always got the same result.

How could Du Zhaohui not be angry? He’d better not find out who the vase’s owner was, or he truly couldn’t control his urge to beat them up.

“Hmph, no matter how good other vases might be, they’re not the ones I want. I don’t believe Master Qiu can stay away from Hong Kong forever. I’ll visit again in a few days.”

These rich young masters had problems in their heads.

Chai Hai had heard that Young Master Du was doing business in mainland China and had recently stirred up quite a commotion. Even Master Qiu himself wouldn’t want to offend a Hong Kong tycoon lightly… but dealing with someone as unreasonable as Young Master Du was truly exhausting for Chai Hai.

When Du Zhaohui said he’d visit again in a few days, Chai Hai felt a headache coming on.

After seeing Du Zhaohui off, Chai Hai left the villa, driving toward a remote location.

Master Qiu always held his private auctions in luxury villas, but none of them were his property. They were all rented. While subordinates like Chai Hai, who dealt with wealthy buyers, could live in villas and drive Mercedes-Benz cars, Master Qiu himself lived in a village house.

Village houses were where Hong Kong’s indigenous inhabitants lived, essentially the countryside of Hong Kong. Generally, anyone with means would look down on such places.

But Master Qiu lived there quite contentedly.

Chai Hai wondered about this too. It wasn’t that Master Qiu couldn’t afford a villa. While he didn’t know about the past, in recent years, Master Qiu had established his network of connections and made quite a lot of money.

For someone living in a village house to put on airs by renting villas would be called vanity.

But for someone who could afford a villa to choose to live in a village house – that was what you called having realm.

Chai Hai couldn’t understand Master Qiu’s realm, nor did he dare to think too much about it. He simply followed Master Qiu’s instructions obediently.

After many turns, the car finally reached its destination. Being nighttime, the village was quite quiet. Chai Hai had the car parked far away and walked the rest of the way. Occasional dog barks echoed through the village. In June, Hong Kong was already very hot, and Chai Hai was drenched in sweat by the time he reached the village’s end.

The broken wooden door looked ready to collapse. Chai Hai knocked carefully.

With a creaking sound, the door opened. A very thin person pulled it open. The courtyard had no electric lights, and only his silhouette was visible in the moonlight. Despite the heat, Master Qiu wore long sleeves and long pants, seemingly unaffected by the weather – another aspect of his realm that Chai Hai couldn’t comprehend.

Chai Hai lowered his head:

“Master Qiu.”

“Come in, don’t stand at the door. There are lots of mosquitoes here.”

Master Qiu’s voice didn’t sound fierce at all.

Some people in Hong Kong who had never even met Master Qiu spread rumors that he was ruthless and would even dig up his ancestors’ graves for money – utter nonsense. If Master Qiu cared about material comforts, he could have been living a luxurious life long ago. Why would he choose to live in the countryside feeding mosquitoes?

However, with all the money Master Qiu had earned, since he didn’t enjoy it himself, Chai Hai didn’t know where it all went.

Chai Hai only managed part of the Hong Kong business. Master Qiu’s business network was extensive, with people managing operations in mainland China and various Southeast Asian locations, all reporting only to Master Qiu, never meeting or contacting each other.

In the corner of this courtyard, there were piles of various vessels and containers. Though unremarkable in appearance, they were all antiques transported back to Hong Kong from other places.

The piled items might be goods Master Qiu didn’t think highly of, or perhaps there were other reasons he temporarily didn’t want to sell them, so they were just casually left in the corner. They would still be worth quite a bit of money.

The real premium items were kept inside the house.

Chai Hai walked in with a slight bow.

A single electric light was on, with some items arranged on the table, giving off a subtle glow under the light… Chai Hai looked up to see it was a table full of jade items. Jade vases, pendants, rings, thumb rings, and the like – a dazzling array that would drive any jade enthusiast crazy.

“This—”

Master Qiu casually pointed at the table, “It took this long to gather this many. We can hold a jade-specific auction.”

“Yes!”

While Chai Hai was thinking about how to organize this jade auction, his mind was still on the Du family matter:

“Young Master Du from the Du family came to find me again today. He hasn’t given up on tracking down the vase’s buyer. I don’t know what’s wrong with the Du family – Young Master Du inquires about the vase, and in February, the Du family’s second young master sent people to ask about several items. What do you think about this—”

The Du family was really strange.

Chai Hai suspected the Du family wanted to get involved in Master Qiu’s business, which was why they were sending people to probe separately.

The Du family was too greedy. Wasn’t the smuggling business profitable enough for them?

“February… which items did the second young master send people to ask about?”

Master Qiu usually didn’t concern himself with such small matters. Initially, Chai Hai hadn’t reported it, but after encountering Du Zhaohui’s unusual behavior again, he brought up both incidents together.

“It was the goods Old Ding and his people brought from the mainland – there were paintings by Qiu Ying, some seals, and several Song Dynasty books. This batch of goods was clean, and bought properly by Old Ding and his people. The Du family sent people to inquire about them, and I don’t know what they meant by it.”

Business is certainly about making money.

Buy low, sell high – merchants in all industries do this.

Although Old Ding and his people bought the goods very cheaply on the mainland, once they reached Hong Kong and were properly packaged, they could sell for dozens of times the original price, but this was normal!

If the sellers didn’t recognize Qiu Ying’s paintings, should antique collectors be responsible for teaching them?

When Chai Hai said “clean,” he meant these items had been well-preserved and were properly inherited collections, not “mingqi” freshly dug up from the ground.

“Mingqi” referred to burial objects. Master Qiu didn’t want to deal with such items – porcelain freshly dug up from graves sold to wealthy Hong Kong buyers wouldn’t do, as Hong Kong people believed in feng shui, and the rich would consider such items inauspicious!

“Mingqi” rarely included paintings and books anyway. No matter how famous the paintings or ancient books were, once they were buried with the dead and remained underground for hundreds of years, they would be ruined as soon as they contacted air after being dug up.

Chai Hai was loyally reminding Master Qiu.

Master Qiu himself didn’t seem too concerned, “Wasn’t Qiu Ying’s painting bought by the second young master? He sent people to inquire once, but has he mentioned it again since? If not, don’t worry about it. As for this eldest young master, people say he’s a playboy, but I think he might be the winner in the Du family’s inheritance battle. If he comes again, tell him the vase isn’t for sale, but you can bring him to meet me.”

Chai Hai respectfully acknowledged this.

Master Qiu surely knew what he was doing with his own business.

Chai Hai only needed to report what he knew – how could he make decisions for Master Qiu?

Master Qiu’s meaning was that the Du family wasn’t interested in getting into the antiques business – Chai Hai couldn’t understand why the Du family’s two young masters insisted on making their presence known at Master Qiu’s place!