157: Chapter 155: Transaction Completed 157: Chapter 155: Transaction Completed Yesterday, when I checked into the hotel and was putting away my luggage, Chen Hai carefully took out the bottles and pots he had brought with him to inspect them.
After confirming that the bottles and pots in his backpack had not suffered any bumps or knocks during his journey, he then put them away again.
At that time, Li Dajiang was watching.
Chen Hai had brought four snuff bottles, which was already clear to him at the time.
Now, as he began to remind Chen Hai, it wasn’t with any ulterior motive; it was genuinely well-intended.
After all, he could tell that Chen Hai wasn’t completely satisfied with selling three snuff bottles for ninety thousand yuan.
By mentioning the remaining snuff bottle in his backpack, Li Dajiang was also thinking that since Chen Hai had made a special trip to Haizhu City, it would be good if he could sell his items for a bit more money.
“Brother Li, Boss Zhang, I do indeed have one more snuff bottle in my backpack, but that snuff bottle is slightly damaged; the mouth of the bottle has some cracks…” Chen Hai said hastily, slightly taken aback and after a moment of surprise.
However, Zhang Zhongxiao didn’t seem to mind these issues.
He smiled and said, “A snuff bottle, if it’s truly a rare item, can still have some value even if it’s a bit damaged, as long as the damage isn’t too extensive and it can be restored.”
“Just like the three snuff bottles you’ve decided to sell to me, if each had one or two chips, I wouldn’t go as far as to say too much about it, but selling them for two or three thousand yuan is still possible.”
“For you people from the Mainland, two or three thousand yuan can already buy a big color TV to take back home, so it’s really not a small amount!”
“Let’s not worry about whether your remaining snuff bottle is damaged or not, just take it out and let me have a look first!”
Zhang Zhongxiao leisurely picked up the cup of hot tea that Li Dajiang had just poured for him and took a light sip.
Having come this far, whether it was three snuff bottles or four, he planned to buy them.
If the last damaged snuff bottle that Chen Hai had was indeed valuable, he wouldn’t mind buying it as well.
Tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands might be a considerable sum to others, but to Zhang Zhongxiao, it was really nothing.
The family business of the Zhang Family was booming.
Although he didn’t hold a large share in these companies, the money he received each year was more than enough for him to spend.
He had two great passions in life: beautiful women and snuff bottles.
Despite his age, he was a typical playboy.
There was always some gossip about him in the tabloids of Tai Island.
It was rumored that several of the popular actresses there had somewhat unclear relationships with him.
Appetite comes with eating.
Li Dajiang, too, was skilled in these matters, and the reason he got along so well with Zhang Zhongxiao might have something to do with this aspect.
It’s possible that they had even fought together on the same battlefield.
Seeing that the buyer, Zhang Zhongxiao, had spoken, Chen Hai had no reason to object.
He opened his backpack and took out the slightly damaged snuff bottle, placing it on the coffee table in front of Zhang Zhongxiao.
“Qing Qianlong imperial?
A copper enamelled snuff bottle with western painting?”
Picking up the slightly damaged snuff bottle and only after looking at it for a moment, Zhang Zhongxiao, who had been calm until then, suddenly lit up and exclaimed with surprise.
“Boss Zhang, is this thing very valuable?” Chen Hai asked, looking puzzled.
“This item, in the world of snuff bottles, can truly be called a treasure!” Zhang Zhongxiao said with joy, nodding his head.
When he saw the slight crack and the small chip the size of a rice grain at the mouth of the bottle, he expressed regret with a sigh, “If it was in good condition and completely intact, this item of yours could be worth at least a million.”
At this point, he sighed deeply, as if he felt genuinely pained by the small defect on the snuff bottle.
“This little thing could be worth a million, that expensive?”
In just a few words, Chen Hai was thoroughly shocked and quickly pressed for more information, “So now, Boss Zhang, how much is my item worth?”
Tilting his head, Zhang Zhongxiao pondered for a while: “Your item is in quite poor condition; the crack and chip, though repairable, are not easy to fix.”
“I can offer up to a hundred and fifty thousand at most, what do you think?”
Although the price he offered was somewhat lower than the market value for such items in Tai Island, it was certainly not much lower.
To be honest, his offer was quite generous!
Of course, the reason for this, besides his genuine love for snuff bottles, was mainly that he was not lacking in money.
“A hundred and fifty thousand?
Okay, then I’ll sell this item to you, Boss Zhang!”
Without much consideration, as soon as Zhang Zhongxiao’s words reached Chen Hai’s ears, he quickly nodded and agreed right away in just a few breaths’ time.
Originally, he had thought about selling just one or two snuff bottles to Boss Zhang.
But when it came down to the transaction, he ultimately couldn’t resist the temptation of money and sold all four of the snuff bottles he had.
After all, he had little use for these items in his hands.
If he didn’t sell to Zhang Zhongxiao and sought other buyers in Yanhuang Country, the price offered would painfully low to him just to think about.
“Four snuff bottles, a total of two hundred and forty thousand, I’ll write you a check right now!”
Seeing Chen Hai nod, Zhang Zhongxiao took out his checkbook.
“Swish, swish, swish,” he had filled out the check in no time and handed it over to Chen Hai.
“This…” Taking the cashier’s check, Chen Hai was full of suspicion.
With his background, where would he have had the chance to deal with something like a cashier’s check?
In his eyes, this small piece of paper was equivalent to two hundred and forty thousand yuan, which he found somewhat unbelievable.
“Chen Hai, with this cashier’s check, you can go to any of the major banks in Yanhuang Country and exchange it directly for cash!”
Li Dajiang, who was on the side, explained with a smile, nodding his head.
Perhaps because his old friend Zhang Zhongxiao was there, he felt it would be a bit embarrassing to keep calling Chen Hai ‘Young Master Chen.’
So he had simply started to call Chen Hai by his given name.
“Got it!
I know!” Chen Hai nodded.
Thankfully, at this moment, his pager in his pocket suddenly started beeping, momentarily covering his embarrassment.
“Brother Li, Boss Zhang, I need to return a call!”
After alerting the two people in the room, Chen Hai picked up his pager to check the displayed number.
A number starting with 901, and it didn’t even show an area code.
This phone number left Chen Hai somewhat perplexed.
However, after thinking for a moment, he picked up the landline from the nightstand and dialed the number displayed on his pager.
“Dial…
dial…
dial…” After several rings, the call finally connected.
“Hello, who just paged me?” Chen Hai asked tentatively as soon as the call went through.
“Chen Hai, where are you?” It was a pleasant female voice.
This voice seemed familiar to Chen Hai, but he couldn’t immediately recall who it belonged to!
“I’m in Yuedong, Haizhu City, may I ask who…”
“Nonsense, my brother already told me about your trip to Yuedong, Haizhu City.
I’m asking for your location in Haizhu City!”
“Xiang State here, at New Beauty Hotel.”
“Which room?”
“1808…”
As Chen Hai had just reported his room number, before he could ask who the girl on the phone was, ‘click,’ the call was abruptly disconnected.
“Seriously bizarre!” Chen Hai muttered to himself silently.
From the tone of the woman on the call, she had to be from Haizhu City without a doubt.
Yet in Haizhu City, the only woman who knew his pager number seemed to be Miss Dong.
But Chen Hai was certain that Miss Dong’s voice would absolutely not sound like that.
“Could it be some relative’s daughter who’s working in Haizhu City?
Knowing that I came here, she paged me?”
Frowning, Chen Hai thought to himself.
His family were all very clear about his pager number, and his parents were likewise aware of his trip to Yuedong, Haizhu City.
After all, before coming over, he had specifically gone home to pick up some bottles and jars that he had left there.
If his parents happened to mention his trip to Haizhu City while chatting with relatives and friends and if the other party also had someone in Haizhu City,
Then it wasn’t implausible that his parents would share his pager number with them, asking their children to get in touch with him.
While Chen Hai was on the phone, the transaction now complete, Zhang Zhongxiao had already opened the portable safe he was carrying and was carefully moving the snuff bottles inside.
Li Dajiang, on the other hand, didn’t have much to do, merely chatting idly with Zhang Zhongxiao with a grin on his face.
However, their conversation was somewhat profound, talking about double flying, ice and fire, and such—Chen Hai couldn’t quite understand what the two men were actually talking about!
“Brother Li, may I ask you something?
This phone number starting with 901, what area code is it from?”
After a slight hesitation, Chen Hai spoke up tentatively, asking Li Dajiang.
“A phone number starting with 901?
That’s a mobile phone, not a landline.”
“The business at the factory is doing well; I’ve been planning to get one of those things for myself in a while.”
“That gadget might not have the best signal, but having a mobile phone on hand does make conducting business a lot more convenient!”
Li Dajiang nodded with a laugh as he responded.
“A mobile phone?
One of those that cost tens of thousands…”
Chen Hai, who had assumed the person on the phone earlier was some relative, felt completely lost after Li Dajiang’s explanation!