"Where did you take this photo?" I asked, holding up the picture of the stone tablet.
The man glanced at it and said, "I didn't take it..."
"Then where did you get the photo from?"
"It was a woman... she had bought something from me before. She gave me this photo and asked me to find out what era the stone tablet in the picture was from."
The man furtively eyed me and said, "After that, I contacted some people. Many were unsure about the era of the stone tablet. Eventually, someone mentioned that others were also looking for the item in my photo and gave me their number. At the time, I was digging up an empty grave with some of my brothers to recoup our losses, so I thought I'd lure you here for a double-cross..."
"You said the photo belonged to a woman? What does she do?"
"She seems to be in the antique business as well."
"Give me her contact information."
"I don't have her contact information. I only know where she lives. I usually go directly to her place to find her."
"The address," I asked.
"Little Alley Lane, Number 122."
After noting down the address, we left the warehouse.
Zhang Jiande took us to a breakfast shop. While we ate, he asked me, "Mr. Xiang, do you want me to accompany you later?"
"There's no need for that. I'm very grateful for your hospitality and help these past few days. How about this, I have something urgent to attend to. Since you want to cooperate with Anyuantang, why don't we discuss it now?"
"Right here?" Zhang Jiande seemed surprised, glancing around.
"It's the same anywhere," I said with a smile.
He pursed his lips. "Alright then. My idea is this, Mr. Xiang has surely investigated what I do, so I won't hide anything. I get a batch of items every so often, and there are some fine pieces I'd like to sell through Anyuantang. I hope to cooperate with Anyuantang. As for the commission, as long as it's not too high, I can accept it."
"Mr. Zhang, we've become friends. How about this: I'll have Anyuantang help you find buyers for your items. We won't discuss commission for now. Let's cooperate for a year. During this year, Anyuantang will not take any commission. If you feel the cooperation is satisfactory after a year, we can discuss the commission then, what do you say?"
Anyuantang rarely dealt with funerary objects; most of their items were legitimately sourced.
Cooperating with Zhang Jiande this time carried some risk. However, since I had promised him, I wouldn't go back on my word.
Although funerary objects yielded high profits, to avoid unnecessary trouble, I decided to put those profits aside for now and return the favor.
Anyuantang would help facilitate the sale of his items, acting as an intermediary without taking any benefit. If something were to happen later, it wouldn't implicate Anyuantang.
Upon hearing this, Zhang Jiande's face lit up. "Mr. Xiang is indeed a man of great business acumen! If you ever need anything in the future, Mr. Xiang, please don't hesitate to ask!"
"Mr. Zhang is too kind. I was thinking, if you have time in the future and visit Guangling, please call me. I'll host you properly."
"Certainly, certainly!"
After chatting for a few more minutes, I called Hong Yunpeng in front of him and explained the situation.
Although Hong Yunpeng was usually a bit slow, he was a sharp businessman. As soon as he heard my words, he understood the implications.
"Mr. Zhang, I need to find someone first. I'll visit your shop later," I said.
Zhang Jiande nodded. "Alright. As I said, if you need anything in Gui City, feel free to call me anytime."
After parting ways, Fatty and I went to the bank first. We deposited fifty thousand yuan and kept fifty thousand in cash.
Fatty seemed a bit puzzled. "Mr. Xiang, I don't understand business very well, but you said you wouldn't take any commission from that fellow for a year. Won't that be..."
"You just said you don't understand, so why are you asking?"
"That's precisely why I'm asking," he replied.
I explained my thoughts to Fatty. Upon hearing them, Fatty exclaimed, "So that's how it is! Are we doing a loss-making business for this year?"
I said, "How many good items do you think he can acquire in a year? Three or four successful transactions would be considered good. We shouldn't owe someone a favor for such a few transactions. As for this fifty thousand yuan, we'll pick out an antique from his shop later and use this fifty thousand to buy it."
"We have to return the money to him?"
"Of course," I replied somewhat exasperatedly. "This was money he fronted. We can't just take it for free."
Back in the warehouse, when Zhang Jiande mentioned that he had paid fifty thousand yuan, I had already decided to return it.
If I returned it directly, it would have offended him. So, I decided to pick out a less expensive item from his antique shop later and buy it with this fifty thousand yuan, thus settling the favor.
However, that was for later. The immediate priority was to find the origin of the stone tablet in the photo.
Fatty and I hailed a taxi and quickly arrived at the alley. When we reached our destination, we found a stationery store.
There was an old lady in the stationery store. I walked in and asked, "Excuse me, Grandma, about this photo..."
As soon as I took out the photo, she glanced at it and pointed upstairs, saying, "It's on the second floor."
Fatty and I exchanged glances and headed upstairs.
The stairs were made of old wooden ladders. After climbing them, we entered a wooden structure room of over a hundred square meters. The entire room had an antique feel, divided in the middle by a honeycomb-shaped wooden cabinet, with a screen beside it.
We could vaguely see someone sitting in the innermost part.
Walking around the screen, we found a woman sitting at a desk, fiddling with a desktop computer in front of her.
"Hello..." I said. The woman turned around upon hearing my voice.
She was a woman in her late twenties or early thirties, with her hair tied in a ponytail and wearing black-rimmed glasses. She wore a white shirt on top and a pair of gray-white casual pants on the bottom, giving her an intellectual appearance.
Her computer desk was piled with books and files. I glanced and found that most of them were history and antique books.
"Who are you?" she asked, looking at Fatty and me with confusion.
I took out the photo and handed it to her. "Hello, is this photo yours?"
She took the photo, and her brows relaxed. "Do you recognize this stone tablet?"
I smiled. "Shall we sit down and chat?"
She realized something and gave a slightly awkward smile. "Please, have a seat."
She led us to a solid wood sofa nearby, poured two cups of water for Fatty and me, then sat down opposite us, placing an ashtray in front of us.
I noticed several cigarette butts from ladies' cigarettes in the ashtray. I hadn't expected her to smoke.