As the saying goes, an old dog for cunning, Director Wang’s eyes were sharp enough to immediately see Wang Guan's insincerity, making him even more curious. He couldn't help but press on, "Wang Guan, you can't just cross the bridge and tear it down. Have you stumbled upon something good again? Spit it out."

"Director Wang, you worry too much," Wang Guan chuckled. "Good things aren't cabbages; they don't just appear whenever one says they've found them."

"I can vouch for that."

Just then, Pi Qiushi, standing nearby, interjected with a laugh, "He really hasn't found anything good these past couple of days. Even when he made a purchase, it was just an old trunk for thirty thousand yuan."

"What old trunk?" Director Wang asked, suddenly interested. "Old-style furniture is getting scarcer now, a hot category for collectors, and the market is warming up fast."

The "old-style furniture" mentioned here wasn't referring to antiques from the Ming or Qing dynasties or the Republican era; those needed to be distinguished.

Because furniture from the Ming, Qing, and Republican periods had long been a hot collectible—look at Mr. Feng for proof; the Liang Yi Zang Museum is dedicated precisely to the collection of Ming and Qing furniture.

In reality, the so-called old-style furniture referred to items made after the founding of the People's Republic—from the 1950s, 60s, 70s, and 80s. You have to remember that items from that era weren't like today's shoddy goods made everywhere from composite materials, which often barely last a few years.

Back in the day, people's hearts were pure, and everything handcrafted by skilled workers was famous for prioritizing quality above all else. If properly maintained, such items wouldn't show signs of damage even after decades of use.

This is precisely why, towards the end of the 1990s, a wave of "trade-in" promotions swept across the country. Astute merchants had already targeted this market, buying up old furniture, refinishing it, repainting it, and selling it off at prices skyrocketing tenfold; people were willing to pay.

Even now, some people tirelessly pursue this business, a testament to the quality of old furniture from that time.

Of course, most current collections of old furniture stem from nostalgia. After all, those who lived through that era now form the backbone of many families, including many exceedingly wealthy tycoons. While enjoying silks and fine foods, they inevitably find themselves reminiscing about the simple, hard days of the past.

Remembering hardship to appreciate current comfort—it’s only human nature. But because preferences vary, some focus on stamps and coins from that time, others on picture-story books. Naturally, some focus on the furniture from that era…

Thus, in recent years, the market for old furniture has become increasingly vibrant, naturally making it a hot commodity.

At this point, Director Wang concluded, "If the trunk is decent, thirty thousand yuan isn't expensive."

"Indeed, not expensive," Wang Guan smiled. After a moment of thought, he suddenly excused himself, walked out to where he'd parked near the villa, and brought the small wooden trunk into the hall from his car.

On his way in, Wang Guan had also casually wiped the dust off the trunk's surface. So, what was presented before everyone now was just a seemingly ordinary, slightly old and antique-looking box, holding nothing particularly remarkable.

"Hmm, it's a fine piece, a type of traveling trunk quite popular during the Republican period."

It was Mr. Feng who spoke; he possessed extensive knowledge of antique furniture. He judged the item's origin with just one glance. Of course, everyone understood that when he said "fine piece," it was merely polite small talk.

Strictly speaking, the small wooden trunk’s material was average, and its form was unremarkable. The surface was coated with only a layer of red paint, which had flaked off by now, indicating average craftsmanship. In summary, it was just a common old object, acceptable as a collectible, but certainly not highly valuable.

"Thirty thousand yuan isn't a loss, but there's no room for profit," Old Meng commented, habitually estimating the price.

Hearing everyone's assessment, Wang Guan let out a light laugh and suddenly reminded them, "Have you noticed? The trunk has a lock."

"Oh?"

Everyone paused, confused as to why Wang Guan would deliberately emphasize this; a trunk having a lock was quite normal, so what was strange about it? With that thought, they naturally turned their gaze toward the lock on the side of the trunk.

At first glance, everyone’s eyes narrowed slightly. Everyone present was an expert; earlier, they had only focused on the trunk itself and hadn't paid attention to the lock. Now that they noticed it, they could certainly see the lock was unusual.

"An exquisite bronze lock."

Just then, Director Wang reached out and touched the lock. After feeling its weight slightly, he exclaimed in surprise, "This is the work of a master craftsman. The bronze contains gold. Even if you hit it directly with a hammer, it would only smash the wood before damaging the lock."

"Wait a minute..."

While speaking, Director Wang felt the texture of the locking mechanism, quickly flipped the lock over, and immediately spotted the Manchu script Wang Guan had drawn earlier on the other side.

Seeing this, Director Wang started again, quickly looking up, "Wang Guan, you found the words Heshuo on the lock, didn't you?"

"Yes," Wang Guan nodded gently. Since the matter was obvious, there was no need to deny it. Furthermore, bringing the item over clearly indicated he had his reasons. In any case, he was setting up a scenario now, just waiting for everyone to fall into his trap.

"Then that’s curious."

Director Wang pondered, "A lock engraved with Manchu script like this suggests it was specially commissioned by a Heshuo Prince's mansion at the time; ordinary people couldn't afford something like this. Of course, it’s also possible that during the Republican era, the lock fell into common hands, and someone who found it recognized its excellent quality decided to keep it for their own use."

"That makes sense," the others nodded in agreement. After all, following the Xinhai Revolution, especially during the warlord years, the lives of Qing loyalists and descendants weren't easy; they often had to sell off ancestral properties to make ends meet. It was likely the item circulated into private hands this way.

"Too bad, such a fine lock was pried open."

Director Wang shook his head, gave the lock a slight tug, and it sprang open. He then casually flipped the lid open, only to find it empty inside, devoid of anything. This was inevitable; in the process of the trunk changing hands over time, whatever was inside had likely already been removed.

"For such a long time, the wood hasn't turned spongy; that's quite rare," Director Wang observed for a couple more moments, then immediately smiled, "I'll find someone to clean it and steam it to drive out the mustiness; it should last another hundred years."

"Don't count on a hundred years," Wang Guan commented casually. "The trunk is fine, but it lacks a certain distinctiveness. I don't have much enthusiasm for collecting it myself. I'll just put it in the shop and let it wait for someone who genuinely loves it."

The others nodded lightly. It was Wang Guan's possession; how he disposed of it was his business, and they naturally wouldn't interfere, nor did they intend to.

"But it's a little regrettable; the corner of the trunk was gnawed by rats," Wang Guan sighed, rubbing the corner of the box. A small amount of sawdust immediately scattered down.

"Not bad, just a little bite," Pi Qiushi laughed. "It must be city rats lacking true ferocity. If it were a wild rat from the countryside, its sharp teeth could chew through the corner of a table."

"That’s true..." Wang Guan heartily agreed and continued rubbing, causing a continuous shower of sawdust to fall.

Seeing this, Director Wang frowned, about to advise Wang Guan not to fuss too much, lest the trunk be rubbed through before he stopped. However, before he could speak, something peculiar happened: as Wang Guan kept rubbing, he actually rubbed out a small ball of paper.

"Huh! What's going on?"

Seeing this, everyone’s eyes widened in astonishment.

"The sawdust doesn't look like the decaying marks left by a rat's gnawing..." Wang Guan explained, then realized his words were somewhat superfluous, as the others had completely forgotten the wooden trunk, their attention fixed entirely on the paper ball.

The paper ball wasn't large, just slightly bigger than a thumb, rolled into a bead shape. If this were anywhere else, seeing such a thing on the floor, no one would give it a second glance. But at this critical moment, everyone stared at the paper ball, their gaze so intense it seemed they wanted to melt it.

The reason was simple: this was no ordinary wad of paper. It was certainly not useless scrap, because everyone could clearly see the paper was not modern paper stock but rather an older type of oil paper.

Oil paper was made by coating tough raw paper with tung oil or other drying oils. It possessed resistance to folding and water, used for making umbrellas, pasting over windows, or for various waterproof and moisture-proof wrappings. In any case, it was rarely seen in modern life.

When something wrapped in oil paper is discovered inside an ancient wooden trunk, what would be everyone's first reaction?

Generally, smart people wouldn't guess but would directly start examining it. But even smarter people wouldn't touch it themselves; they’d let others do the work. So, for a moment, everyone looked up at Wang Guan.

"Don't just stand there, hurry up and look," Pi Qiushi urged.

Under the expectant gazes of the crowd, Wang Guan picked up the paper ball, carefully tugged at it, and slowly unfurled it, finally discovering that inside the paper ball... there was another paper ball.

Ah, the outer layer of oil paper was merely a waterproof wrapping; the item inside was the real objective. At least, for Wang Guan, that was his goal.

However, sometimes knowing the answer beforehand strips away the joy of discovery, so Wang Guan felt no great excitement, just slowly unfolding the paper ball from within the oil paper, carefully smoothing it until it formed a single page.

"It's not a page."

Mr. Feng glanced over and exclaimed with some surprise, "It looks like a bank receipt, but only a portion of one."

"Then look for more; there must be others in the trunk!"

Hearing this, everyone immediately began searching in concert. Sure enough, they found similar paper balls in the other three corners of the trunk. After reassembling them, several sheets formed a complete document.

Mr. Feng examined it for a moment, then gasped in astonishment, "This is a receipt for items deposited at HSBC bank eighty years ago."

"Really?"

Upon hearing this, the others immediately showed expressions of surprise and joy, Wang Guan included. After all, although he knew there were documents hidden inside the trunk, he had no idea what they were for. Naturally, he was interested. And since the items were stored secretly without any specified contents listed, even holding the receipt, no one knew what the actual objects were.

But the fact that the documents were hidden so cautiously meant the contents must be significant... (To be continued) No Pop-up Novel Network www.RT