"This thing..." Li Yang smiled, about to tell her the origin of the porcelain bottle in his hand.
Just then, a young man walked over. Staring at their intimate appearance, a trace of jealousy flashed in his eyes. He opened his mouth and sneered, "What good stuff? It looks like junk to me."
"Xiao Qing, why don't I take you to see my family's private collection? That's where the real treasures are."
"What do you say?"
"Yes, Miss Fang, our Young Master Shen's private collection has been accumulated by generations of ancestors. It's full of heritage and extremely rare. Ordinary people are not allowed to view it," said a sycophant behind the young man.
Fang Xiaoqing glanced at them, shook her head, and said, "I'm not interested in seeing any private collection. And Young Master Shen, our relationship isn't that good. Please don't call me Xiao Qing anymore. It will cause misunderstandings."
"Xiao Qing..." Young Master Shen's face suddenly changed.
Fang Xiaoqing immediately interrupted him, "I told you not to call me Xiao Qing. We're not familiar with each other."
"Brother Li, shall I treat you to a meal and we can talk as we walk?"
"Okay," Li Yang nodded.
Seeing them about to leave, Young Master Shen's face turned somewhat unpleasant. He gritted his teeth and growled, "You, boy, stop right there!"
"What do you want with me?" Li Yang glanced at him and asked.
Although he didn't want to fall out over a petty matter of romantic rivalry, if someone actively sought death, he wouldn't be lenient.
Young Master Shen sneered and pointed at the porcelain bottle in his hand, "Of course I have something to say. You're pretending a piece of junk is a rare treasure. You're a joke."
"I don't like it. I order you to smash the porcelain bottle in your hand right now!"
"That's funny. Whether my things are good or bad, it's up to me to decide whether to smash them. When did it become your turn to order me around?" Li Yang said with a chuckle.
Young Master Shen snorted, "One hundred thousand. Will you smash it?"
"A mere hundred thousand isn't even worth a fraction of this treasure of mine," Li Yang said with a smile. "How can you have the nerve to ask me to smash it?"
"One million!" Young Master Shen stared at him coldly, determined to make him smash the item in his hand himself, thereby admitting to the woman he liked, Fang Xiaoqing, that it was just junk.
In his opinion, doing so would not only embarrass Li Yang but also showcase his own prestige as Young Master Shen.
Many people present looked over, "Smash this porcelain bottle and get a million?"
"Oh my god, why do good things like this always happen to others?"
"Young man, do you want to hear the sound of porcelain being smashed? I can provide it for a thousand yuan each, guaranteeing your satisfaction."
"Kid, a million is quite a lot. Hurry up and smash it!" Those sycophants sneered proudly at Li Yang.
Unexpectedly, Li Yang sneered dismissively, "One million is indeed a lot, but it's only enough to buy a small part of this porcelain bottle of mine."
"Young Master Shen, if you're sincere about me smashing it, you should at least give me two hundred million."
"Ridiculous!"
Young Master Shen's face turned cold, and he stared at him, "How can such a piece of junk be worth two hundred million? You must be crazy for money."
"Miss Fang, this kid is a complete joke. If you stay by his side, you'll be ridiculed too. Come over to my side."
"Young Master Shen, is there a possibility that he's not the joke, but you are?" Fang Xiaoqing said.
Young Master Shen's face immediately turned extremely ugly. This damned kid, judging by his attire, was clearly a penniless fellow, yet he was so good at charming women, making Fang Xiaoqing trust him so much.
"Young Master, this kid must have said sweet nothings to Miss Fang, otherwise Miss Fang wouldn't be talking to you like this," the sycophants quickly appeased him.
"You're right," Young Master Shen said with a grim expression. He had looks, a family background as a young master of the Shen family, one of the eight great families of Jiangcheng, and many women threw themselves at him. Moreover, he was actively pursuing Fang Xiaoqing.
It must have been something this kid said to Fang Xiaoqing that made her so indifferent to him.
"Kid, you say this piece of junk is worth two hundred million. Where's the evidence? Can you prove it?"
"Of course I can, but I won't tell you," Li Yang chuckled, took Fang Xiaoqing's hand, and prepared to leave.
Seeing this, Young Master Shen was about to explode with anger. "Stop! If you can prove it, I'll give you two hundred million!"
"Otherwise, you will disappear from Miss Fang's side forever!"
"Oh?" Li Yang's eyes lit up. His promise of ten billion was still quite short of money!
As expected, there were many wealthy young masters in Jiangcheng, and they were also generous.
"Since you want to give me money, I'll oblige you."
"Hmph, let's see how you can praise this piece of junk to the heavens," Young Master Shen said coldly and dismissively.
Everyone also looked at Li Yang curiously. Many of them knew where he had bought this item and how much he had spent.
Even the vendor who sold him the porcelain bottle came to watch the excitement. Hearing Li Yang say the item was worth two hundred million, the vendor almost burst out laughing like a pig.
This kid was not only an amateur but also very funny and blindly arrogant. Now there would be a good show.
Li Yang calmly raised the porcelain bottle and pointed at the paintings on its belly. "There are four paintings on it: Mulan Joins the Army in Place of Her Father, Xiao He Chasing Han Xin Under the Moon, Kongming Burning Chibi with Fire, and the last one, Zhuge Liang's Dragon Gate Formation. They are all related to military affairs, and almost all of them are fictional stories."
"So what?" Young Master Shen said coldly. "Even if the paintings are exquisite, what does that have to do with being worth two hundred million?"
"It has a great deal to do with it," Li Yang said with a smile. "As we all know, the paintings on ancient porcelain are almost always a whole. But my porcelain bottle is different. The four story illustrations open four windows. This is a very typical Yuan and Ming dynasty porcelain style."
"Open windows? There are no windows open?" someone in the crowd was puzzled, not understanding what Li Yang meant.
Li Yang smiled and explained, "The so-called 'opening windows' in antique porcelain doesn't mean opening a window, but rather creating a window-like space specifically for painting. It's also called 'kai guang' (opening light)."
"So that's how it is." Some people suddenly realized and looked at the porcelain pieces they could see around them. They indeed discovered a problem.
That is, even if these porcelain pieces depicted several paintings, they only had one window opened. There were truly none like the one Li Yang held with four windows opened!
Young Master Shen's expression changed slightly, and he gritted his teeth, "What does that prove?"