Through the exchange between the two, I gained a general understanding of the situation.
The woman surnamed Guan, it turned out, ran an auction house abroad, which explained why old man Qu was so polite to her.
I had heard before that many foreign auction houses would come to Hua Xia to "dig for treasures," but their way of "digging for treasures" was entirely different from ours.
They had specific supply channels, both overt and covert.
I had heard from someone before that several tomb raiding gangs in Guangling were specifically supplying a foreign auction house called Xi Rang.
My own Anyuan Hall had also cooperated with a foreign auction house.
However, by rights, auction house owners generally didn't show themselves easily.
The woman surnamed Guan chatted and laughed with old man Qu for a few sentences, then took out a business card and handed it to me: "Little Xiang, think it over carefully."
I took the business card, said thank you, and glanced at old man Qu beside me. He was smiling, and I couldn't discern anything from his expression.
I looked at the business card. Besides the three Chinese characters "关贞婉," everything else was in foreign languages.
"These items will be priced according to what Little Xiang said," Guan Zhenwan said with a wave of her hand. She took out a chequebook from her handbag, wrote down a sum, and handed it over.
This woman was truly rich and overbearing. Without batting an eye, she directly acquired them without even inspecting the goods. If any of them were fake, wouldn't she lose a fortune?
Then I thought again, old man Qu was her long-term supplier, and he probably wouldn't dare to pass off fakes. If she found out, her supply route would be cut off.
Tomb raiding gangs valued sales channels the most; a good channel could save them a lot of trouble.
After the transaction was completed, old man Qu was very happy. After dropping Xiao Si off, he gave me a stack of money, no less than three thousand yuan.
Er Mao dropped him off in an alley, then said to Er Mao, "Arrange for Xiao Fei properly. We'll be in Mohe for two days. Wait for my call, and then we'll go back together."
After old man Qu got out of the car, I asked Er Mao, "Where is Grandpa Qu going?"
He raised his eyebrows and smiled, "Of course, to his mistress's place... Brother Xiang, shall we go have some fun later?"
I smiled, "I'll do whatever Brother Mao says."
As I spoke, I took out two thousand yuan from the three thousand yuan old man Qu had given me and handed it directly to Er Mao, saying that everything was up to him.
Seeing my generosity, he became even more intimate with me.
It seemed that old man Qu was certain I wouldn't run away, especially since Fatty was still in their hands. If I really ran, they would probably...
It seemed I had to stay by old man Qu's side for a while longer. Only after Fatty and the others were safe could I extricate myself.
However, since I was here, I would make the best of it...
Er Mao took me to a bathhouse. We separated after entering. I said I was a bit tired and wanted to sleep, so I found a private room and slept.
The next morning, Er Mao had already disappeared somewhere. The car was still parked outside, so I went to the front desk and used the landline to call Hong Yunpeng to inquire about the situation at Anyuan Hall.
As for my own situation, I didn't tell him, because it would be useless to tell him, and it would only make him worry more.
After the call, I went out for breakfast. When I returned to the bathhouse, Er Mao had finally woken up. I told him I wanted to go out and wander around alone. He didn't say anything, but instead gave me his phone number, saying to call him if I needed a car.
It seemed that after what happened last night, old man Qu had completely let down his guard regarding me. Otherwise, Er Mao would definitely not have let me act alone.
But thinking about it, from old man Qu's perspective, my friend was in his hands, and I could make money by staying with him, so I naturally wouldn't cause any trouble.
I went to an old district according to the address Yan Yuhe had given me. The purpose of coming here was naturally to find "Old Chen."
However, when I found the place, it wasn't Old Chen.
Old Chen's original name was Chen Anjiang. He was a collector of antiques in Guangbei before, and later went to Jiangdong.
As for other information, I didn't know much.
After asking several people, I finally managed to find out Old Chen's whereabouts. Some said he had gone into the mountains, to some Taoist temple.
I asked where the Taoist temple was, but no one knew.
I couldn't find the address of the Taoist temple from several locals, but I did find out from Er Mao.
When we were having dinner together that night, I asked him if he had heard of "Xiao Qing Guan."
He asked me why I was asking about Xiao Qing Guan.
I said, "I have an uncle who was originally in Mohe. I came here to find him, and I heard he went to that Xiao Qing Guan."
"Xiao Qing Guan is quite far. From Mohe, it takes a day and a night to drive there, and then another ten kilometers on foot to Shiziling. It's all deep mountains and old forests. Without a guide, you'll never get out once you go in," Er Mao said. "I went there once with Grandpa Qu years ago."
"What did you go there for?" I asked.
He smiled, "What do you think?"
I feigned surprise and asked in a low voice, "Are there tombs there?"
"Of course... and it's a general's tomb," Er Mao said. "But we didn't get anything good."
"Do you still remember the way?" I asked.
"I remember it... What, you want me to take you?"
I smiled, "Brother Mao, my parents passed away early, and I only have this one uncle. I want to go see him. You can name your price if you take me."
"Why talk about money? It hurts our feelings," Er Mao said, his eyes rolling. "It's not that I don't want to take you, but you know, Grandpa Qu is busy with a big job right now, and we can't leave for a while."
"After the job is done, will you take me there?" I smiled.
"This..."
"Thirty thousand yuan, for the guiding fee."
"Why are you bringing up money again? Fine, fine, I'll take you then."
"Thank you, Brother Mao."
After dinner, I found a hotel to stay in. Er Mao went back to the bathhouse.
Around eight o'clock, there was a knock on the door. I initially thought it was Er Mao, but when I opened the door, I found Xiao Si, the translator who Grandpa Qu used to have with him.
I was a bit surprised and said, "Brother Si? Is something wrong?"
He smiled, "I just had a phone call with Er Mao and heard you were here, so I came to have a chat."
I was a bit suspicious. What was this guy here to chat about? We weren't close.
Seemingly sensing my confusion, he said, "Actually, it's not me looking for you, it's Boss Guan. He asked me to bring you over."
Hearing this, I was a bit slow to react. Wasn't this guy one of old man Qu's men? Why was he taking orders from Guan Zhenwan?
"Boss Guan usually takes good care of me, so..." he said with a smile.
So he was a double-dealer, which was quite something.
"I wonder what Boss Guan wants to see me about?" I asked.
"I don't know either. You'll find out when you get there."
"Alright then, thank you for leading the way, Brother Si."