Brothers, haven't you got the spirit? Haven't you? If we hit 3500 collections within a week, I'll immediately post ten chapters in a row! At least 30,000 words, no reneging on the promise.

“I’m eager to hear the details.” “In truth, the fundamentals of Feng Shui and divination lie in the Hetu and the Luoshu, coupled with the Eight Trigrams and the Five Elements. The Hetu concerns stillness, the Luoshu concerns movement—and this stillness and movement don't refer to physical objects, but to Qi. So now, we must look at the Luoshu combined with the Nine Stars of Zi Wei.” Time to show off my expertise to get the client to pay up! “Chen is in the Xun trigram, and Xu is in the Qian trigram. The number for Xun is four. While not auspicious, it’s not a major disaster either, meaning that even if harm occurs, it won't be life-threatening. But if this lingers for too long, things won't look good. Coincidentally, I have an Eight Trigrams Mirror here, just blessed by my master, which can perfectly deflect malevolent energy and bring peace of mind.” As he spoke, he pulled an Eight Trigrams Mirror from inside his coat. Of course, it wasn't blessed by some grand master; Zhang Enpu had been hanging it for nearly ten years; where would he find another master? He said this to inflate the price: “See, Uncle Wang, how is this Eight Trigrams Mirror different from others?” “I can’t tell the difference…” the old man said, confused. “Heh heh, Uncle Wang, there’s something you don't know. Look closely, this mirror is a concave mirror.” He carefully manipulated it for the old man to inspect. Seeing the old man nod, he continued, “There are three types of Eight Trigrams Mirrors: flat, concave, and convex. The difference lies in whether, while deflecting malevolent energy, the energy you reflect might harm others. If it harms others, it’s considered inauspicious, which is very bad for you in the long run. Some people only focus on immediate results, but I would never be like that. Hang this mirror on the exterior wall of your window, and the truth will be revealed in fifteen days. If it doesn’t work, I’ll smash my own reputation.” He delivered these words with powerful conviction, laying bare his professional stance and personal integrity. He was confident he could retain this client! “Excellent, excellent!” As expected, the old man was very agreeable: “The younger generation is indeed formidable. Thank you, Mr. Liu.” After some more pleasantries, Old Man Wang escorted Young Master Liu to the door.

Cruising in a small van that felt like a Mercedes on the city's premium roads, Young Master Liu felt utterly delighted, his coat pocket warm and pleasingly thick with the envelope of cash. He didn't dare open it immediately in front of the old man. But judging by the thickness and weight, there had to be at least twenty bills in there. Worth it! Fantastic! Crab feast tonight! Crabs are really bringing me luck!

Back at the shop, after having Bai Bing prepare the noodles, the two of them slurped them down with braised eggplant ordered from the neighboring restaurant. In the blazing summer heat, it would have been nice to have cold noodles if the shop had the facilities, but these hot noodles… it was practically like taking a sweat bath. Fortunately, his good mood made sweating a non-issue today. Bai Bing, as always, ate quietly with her head down. Young Master Liu chatted with her about his morning’s encounters, to which she offered only intermittent, noncommittal responses. A sigh escaped Young Master Liu: “Sister Bai, let's close up early tonight. I’ll buy you a new outfit; you wear the same clothes every day. Wearing damp clothes constantly will make you sick.” Bai Bing had no spare clothes. In summer, she sweated profusely, and her clothes smelled by the end of the day. She washed them at night and wore them in the morning, but it had been raining heavily lately, and everything stayed damp.

Bai Bing offered no reply. Young Master Liu was long accustomed to her mannerisms and continued speaking: “After we get clothes, come back to my place; the old man isn’t home. Tonight, we’ll eat at my house. You can sleep in my chuan (bed/room), and I’ll take the sofa. We can come to the shop together tomorrow. I’ll pick up some good food tonight to boost your nutrition. Sigh! I always make you watch the shop, and you haven’t eaten anything decent.” This man was just like that—normally stingy to a fault, but when he suddenly had several thousand yuan on him, he felt uncomfortable unless he spent it. And he felt even worse spending it only on himself—a born rogue!

The days slipped by, and his relationship with Bai Bing truly settled into something like that of biological siblings. This simple life was quite pleasant. Before he knew it, the Mid-Autumn Festival arrived.

Young Master Liu sat idly at the shop entrance, staring blankly at a pile of miscellaneous “antiques.”

He had flipped through the Republic of China edition of Notes on Antique Curios more than a dozen times. Thankfully, Young Master Liu’s memory was superb. Despite his limited experience, he had memorized roughly seven or eight of the artifact shapes and illustrations listed in the Notes. He was struggling to examine a blurry photograph of a Shang Yi Wu Shi Fang Pan through a magnifying glass when he suddenly felt his view darken. A person stood awkwardly right in front of his stall, and with a thump, a black synthetic leather bag was dropped onto the counter.

Young Master Liu flicked his eyes up and glanced at the coarse, middle-aged man standing opposite him, offering a professional platitude: “Sir, what item might you be looking to sell at our humble shop?”

The sleazy man, sporting a thin mustache, grabbed the bottom of the bag and yanked it open, scattering the contents upside down with a clatter. Young Master Liu’s eyes widened. Whoa, there were quite a few things in there. Emeralds—yes, counterfeits. Jade monkeys—yep, fakes. White marble thumb rings—uh oh, broken… Young Master Liu fought hard to keep from laughing out loud. It seemed this gentleman had a background in scavenging junk.

Young Master Liu rummaged casually through the pile of junk with one hand while teasing the sleazy man: “How much are you asking for these treasures?”

The sleazy man saw that Young Master Liu seemed distracted and was already sweating on his forehead from anxiety. He rubbed his rough hands together awkwardly and mumbled, “This… this… Little Brother, you look like an honest man, you just name a price.”

Honest? Sincere? Pfft! Who dares to do business being truly honest? In this day and age, no commerce without trickery; no merchant without deceit. Praising a businessman as honest was tantamount to insulting him for being inept at business. Hearing this, Young Master Liu understood the situation perfectly. This fellow must have seen that his shop had no customers and figured he was an easy mark to offload scrap metal.

“Sir, what you said is the age-old rule: ask high and settle low. You must name a price for your goods first, and then we’ll see if I can meet it.” Young Master Liu thought: since there was no business anyway, even though the stuff the sleazy man had was mostly worthless, it might still be worth a few scraps. With some repairs, maybe he’d get lucky and find a sucker (Yang Hu) who’d pay big money for it. Even if negotiations failed, these bits of junk weren't worth mourning over. Thinking this, Young Master Liu stroked the scattered fragments while sipping his tea. “Huh!?” Young Master Liu exclaimed softly, as a simple, ancient-looking ring caught his attention.

The ring setting was neither gold nor silver, and it didn't seem to be made of metal at all. The stone inlaid on the bezel was neither diamond nor jade; it was somewhat similar to ivory. However, it lacked the silky smoothness of real ivory; when his fingertip touched it, a chilling sensation subtly seeped into his bones. Despite the bone-deep cold, Young Master Liu felt an inexplicable, intense interest in the ring. After all, this strange ring exuded an aura that felt faintly familiar to him.

“How about it? How much are you asking for all of this?” Young Master Liu took a few more gulps of tea, desperately suppressing his excitement.

The sleazy man’s face flushed purple; he seemed even more nervous than Young Master Liu. He shakily held up five fingers on his right hand and forced out, “F-f-fifty, how about fifty?”

“Pfft!” Young Master Liu didn’t waste a single drop of tea, spraying it right onto the sleazy man’s fiercely ugly face. “Sorry, sorry…” Young Master Liu repeatedly apologized, pulling out a few tissues to wipe the tea stains off the man’s face. Inside, he thought: Damn, that scared the life out of me. This guy isn't here to sell antiques; he’s just here to dispose of trash.

The sleazy man didn't seem to care about the tea; he just stared intently at Young Master Liu’s face, pleading almost desperately: “If fifty is too much, then thirty, how about thirty?”

For no reason, a surge of generosity rose in Young Master Liu’s heart. He grandly pulled out a fifty-yuan bill from the small satchel tied to his waist and handed it over to the sleazy man with a hearty gesture.

The sleazy man casually stuffed the bill into his pants pocket, his voice laced with a sob. He grabbed both of Young Master Liu’s hands, his lips trembling as he said, “Thank you, thank you, Brother, thank you, thank you…”

Young Master Liu felt that something was off, but even if he was taken advantage of, it was only fifty yuan; what was the big deal? Setting aside everything else, just for that bizarre ring, he wouldn’t have blinked an eye if he’d been asked to pay five hundred.

The sleazy man vanished as quickly as he had arrived, as if afraid Young Master Liu would change his mind. Young Master Liu was happy to see him go, thinking: He’s afraid I’ll regret it, but I’m afraid he’ll come back to claim the money! Well, luck was good today. Forget it; close up early and go home to study this strange old ring. This is what they mean by fortune seeking the man, not the man seeking fortune. People talk about a Lin Daiyu falling from the sky—what’s the fun in that? This time, it was a massive gold ingot falling from the sky for me—no, no! It’s more like an entire mountain of gold!