Yu Huaiqing was also a ruthless man; thirty thousand silver dollars was no small sum, and for him, it was a gamble.
If the golden Buddha had the slightest flaw, the money he paid out would be completely wasted.
However, this decisive move this time allowed him to earn a fortune.
After purchasing the golden Buddha, he brought it back to Beiping, causing a sensation. At that time, Japanese bandits had established a Yamashiro Chamber of Commerce in Beiping, an organization specifically dedicated to collecting Chinese antiques and cultural relics and reselling them to other countries.
It could be said that many of China's national treasures were lost overseas through this chamber of commerce.
The Yamashiro Chamber of Commerce bought the golden Buddha from Yu Huaiqing for one hundred and fifty thousand silver dollars, then sent it to New York to be sold to the wife of a young Rockefeller. The final transaction price was two hundred and twenty-five thousand US dollars.
Later, this golden Buddha was donated by the Rockefeller family to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in the United States.
What I didn't expect was that Yang Hanxue actually told me that the golden Buddha was a fake.
Logically speaking, that was impossible.
Setting aside whether Yu Huaiqing could be mistaken, the appraisers in the Yamashiro Chamber of Commerce were not to be trifled with, and some foreign appraisers were also very skilled.
With so many checks and balances, if this golden Buddha were a fake, it would be impossible for it to enter the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Yang Hanxue seemed to see my confusion and said, "Actually, there are two gilded Maitreya Buddha statues. The one in the Metropolitan Museum was created at the same time, a one-to-one replica of the original. In other words, two golden Buddhas were made in total at that time, and the one in the Metropolitan Museum was just a defective product."
Upon hearing this, I was stunned: "How do you know?"
He gave a wry smile and said, "It's not that I know, but the Young Lady knows..."
"How does she know?"
Yang Hanxue sighed, a helpless wry smile on his face, "She said that when these two golden Buddhas were being made, she was present..."
I froze, then exchanged glances with Yang Hanxue.
This...
"She... how does she remember being present at that time?" I asked.
"I don't know about that; you'll have to ask her," Yang Hanxue said helplessly.
If what he said was true, then An Ying had existed since the Northern Wei Dynasty?
How old was she now?
I took a deep breath, my heart filled with mixed emotions.
Although I knew An Ying could live forever, I knew absolutely nothing about her past.
It had been more than 1,600 years from the Northern Wei Dynasty until now, which meant An Ying was at least 1,600 years old?
Thinking about this, my head began to spin.
This matter was absurd, yet it was true...
"If you want to find her in the Philippines, I can help you," Yang Hanxue said. "I know someone there, a friend of my father, who is familiar with the local situation. Perhaps he can help you find the Young Lady."
...
After leaving the hospital, my complicated feelings gradually calmed down.
No matter what, I had to find An Ying first.
Now was not the time to dwell on how old she was or why she could live forever; I needed to quickly find out about my father's affairs.
After staying in Shangdu for two days, I had Hong Yunpeng transfer some money to me, and then Fatty and I embarked on our journey to the Philippines.
Just a few days ago, I thought I would never go abroad, but now I had already stepped out of the country so quickly.
After two days of transit, we arrived in Paracale and found the person Yang Hanxue had introduced.
He was a middle-aged man in his fifties, with dark skin and a height of about 1.65 meters.
According to Yang Hanxue, his name was Zhu Li, and he met Yang Hanxue's father when they were prospecting for gold. At that time, Zhu Li was a follower of Yang Hanxue's father.
Later, after Yang Hanxue's father left, Zhu Li ran off to the Philippines.
They were both gold prospectors. The reason Yang Hanxue and he were in contact was that Zhu Li had attended Yang Hanxue's father's funeral.
Zhu Li was still engaged in his old business in the Philippines, but he used to work for others, and now he had become his own boss.
He owned a mine in Paracale and had a group of workers under him.
He said he also had a partner, who was a local.
As soon as Zhu Li saw us, he was very enthusiastic, treated us to local delicacies, and arranged accommodation for us.
I wasn't here for a vacation, so I didn't have much mood for leisure.
Yang Hanxue had already told him the purpose of our visit, and he kept inquiring about the golden Buddha.
I originally thought it would take a long time, but within two days, there was news.
One day, while Fatty and I were still at the hotel, Zhu Li came to find us, saying that someone knew where the golden Buddha we were looking for was.
Hearing this news, I was naturally very excited; as long as I found the golden Buddha, I could find An Ying.
"Xiao Xiang, it's quite a coincidence that this matter came up. My partner happens to know about the golden Buddha," Zhu Li said with a smile. "After lunch, I'll take you to see him."
"Then I'll have to trouble Uncle Zhu," I said.
"What trouble is there? You are friends with Hanxue, so don't be polite with me," Zhu Li said. "However, before we go to see my partner, there are some things I need to tell you."
"What is it?"
He hesitated and said, "Our mine here is a bit special..."
"Special?" I asked, somewhat confused.
"Let's do this, I'll tell you more on the way after lunch."
I was bewildered, and Fatty was also a bit dazed.
After having lunch, Zhu Li drove a pickup truck and took us to the mine.
On the way, I learned that the mine they were operating was an illegal mine.
And his partner was a local gang leader. Zhu Li had saved his life years ago, and they had maintained a good relationship, after which they started this mine.
Actually, I didn't have much concept of gold mining, and regarding illegal mines, in my understanding, it was just a mine without a license.
However, when we reached the place, I realized that this so-called illegal mine was far beyond my imagination.
The car was very bumpy all the way, driving on narrow paths, and in the jungle here, let alone finding our way, I couldn't even tell where I was.
After passing through a hidden trail, we came to a roadblock. As the car stopped, two burly men with guns jumped out.
Zhu Li greeted them, and only then did they move the roadblock.
"Master Xiang... those things on their backs look like AK-47s, don't they?" Fatty whispered.
I nodded, not saying anything more.
At this moment, Zhu Li smiled and said, "Those are all my partner's men. It's fine as long as I'm here."
A sense of doubt arose in my heart: What exactly was the situation with this illegal mine? Why were there people guarding it with guns? And in such a hidden location?