Chapter 56

"Mr. Qi, are you really clueless, or are you just pretending to be confused?" At this moment, Xiaoding whispered, "The water in the trade is deep, and you are an old hand. Haven't you heard of some... situations?"

Qi Xiang's heart stirred, and he immediately understood a bit: "You mean... you want me to forge an appraisal report?"

"Yes, exactly." Xiaoding nodded repeatedly, "Just use some standard appraisal terms to confirm that the item is genuine. It should be simple, right? It won't take much effort..."

"No way." Qi Xiang rolled his eyes, "Isn't that falsifying? I have principles..."

"Mr. Qi, look at what you're saying, who doesn't have principles?" Xiaoding sighed lightly and complained, "But we're all just trying to make a living, right?"

"I know you just made a big profit and probably don't care about the small fee for appraising. The main reason I came here is to give you face, and I'm very grateful..."

Xiaoding said emotionally, "But Mr. Qi, you're from out of town. Even if you don't do this, you can just go back to Nanjing, and Young Master Zhu can't do anything to you."

"But I'm different. I still have to stay here and can't afford to offend the rich and powerful."

Xiaoding said with deep helplessness, "To the powerful, I'm just a nobody. They can easily get rid of me. If I'm really thrown into the lake one day, probably only my family will be worried, and no one else will care."

Xiaoding's words were pitiful, but Qi Xiang knew they were half true and half false. If someone like Zhu Qiao really wanted to get rid of a nobody, it wouldn't take much effort. But even if Zhu Qiao were as arrogant as he was, he wouldn't go to great lengths over such a small matter.

The Zhu family had plenty of money, and even if Xiaoding was too proud to do it, there would be plenty of others willing to do it.

In other words, it wasn't Zhu Qiao who was asking for help, but giving Xiaoding a chance to show loyalty and gain favor...

That's how the world works. Money can do wonders, and having money is great!

Qi Xiang understood this, so Xiaoding's pleading didn't move him at all. Mainly because his acting was terrible. He rubbed his eyes for a long time but didn't even shed a single tear. Poor performance!

Just as Qi Xiang was thinking this, he suddenly heard a commotion from outside the screen. Then a voice, rough but with a hint of softness, echoed through the hall.

"Little Zhu, come out and greet your guest..."

The voice lingered, filled with a sense of mockery, satisfaction, and arrogance.

"Oh no!"

Hearing this voice, Xiaoding seemed to realize something. His face changed abruptly, and he quickly rolled up the blank scroll on the table, then hurriedly pulled Qi Xiang to a corner.

"What's going on?" Qi Xiang was puzzled.

"Shh!"

Xiaoding peeked around and whispered, "Trouble is here!"

Qi Xiang was taken aback, not understanding.

But soon, he understood. A moment later, a group of people rounded the screen and appeared in the luxurious living room. The leader was a young man of average height, not fat but with a lot of flesh, and a light goatee.

The young man entered as if he owned the place, striding confidently and without any courtesy.

Beside him were several security guards, who looked helpless. They seemed to want to stop him but didn't dare to, hesitating...

Qi Xiang was surprised and whispered, "Who is he?"

"Big Zhu, Zhu Shen!" Xiaoding's lips didn't move, but his voice came out, "He's Young Master Zhu's arch-rival. They hate each other like fire and water. When both are in the same place, it's like a comet hitting the earth, about to explode..."

"Anyway, listen to me. When everyone is here, pretend to be deaf and dumb, and stay as far away as possible. Don't get close, or you might get caught in the crossfire..."

Xiaoding warned solemnly and pulled Qi Xiang a few steps away.

At this moment, Zhu Qiao also heard the commotion and came out, looking puzzled. Seeing Zhu Shen, his face darkened, turning grim: "It's you... What are you doing here?"

"Your house isn't an ancient imperial palace. Why can't I come?" Zhu Shen smiled, his light goatee twitching with a hint of malice.

"Little Zhu, I heard you got a treasure recently. I came to appreciate it."

Zhu Shen smiled and said, "I even brought a gift, a proper visit. Our families are old friends, right? You wouldn't kick me out, would you?"

Both were surnamed Zhu, and even if they weren't from the same clan, they were definitely from the same family five hundred years ago.

Being of the same surname and both wealthy, and not direct competitors in business, the two Zhu families often interacted and maintained contact.

So Zhu Shen's claim of being old friends was not at all false.

But what was strange was that despite the deep friendship between the two families, Zhu Shen and Zhu Qiao seemed to have a grudge from a past life, fighting each other since childhood, for over a decade without stopping.

Of course, their fights were mostly about pride and didn't cause any real harm. The families didn't bother with them, letting them play around. This was why no one dared to stop Zhu Shen when he barged in.

"Right, where's your treasure? Bring it out quickly for me to appraise."

At the same time, Zhu Shen took charge, sitting confidently in the armchair, his legs resting on the coffee table as if he were at home.

Zhu Qiao looked at him with great anger, very dissatisfied: "Zhu Shen, don't go too far. Do you really think this is your house? Do you want me to have you thrown out?"

"Go ahead." Zhu Shen shook his leg, smirking, "If you dare to throw me out, I'll call your father. I'll tell him that I came to visit him, but you threw me out. See if he doesn't beat you..."

"You... despicable and shameless." Zhu Qiao, in a rage, reached for a vase nearby and threw it.

The vase whizzed through the air, seemingly heading for Zhu Shen's head.

Seeing this, the others tensed up, instinctively turning away, unable to bear to watch.

"Bang!"

A loud noise, the vase shattered on the ground next to the armchair, breaking into pieces. Zhu Shen smirked, but remained unmoved, as if he had expected Zhu Qiao not to hit him.

"Trick!" Zhu Shen dusted off his clothes, sneering, "If you dared to hit me, I'd respect you..."

"Hmph!"

Zhu Qiao puffed up his cheeks, his eyes wide with a murderous look.

Zhu Shen, of course, wasn't intimidated. He felt quite pleased and said with a smile, "By the way, I forgot to tell you, I also got a nice thing recently. But unlike you, I'm not so stingy and unwilling to share..."

"I'm very generous."

As he spoke, Zhu Shen beckoned, "Bring it out, let him see."

Hearing this, someone immediately came over and placed a brocade box on the coffee table. He carefully opened the box and quickly retreated.

This person was smart, knowing that the quarrel between the two rich kids was not something he should get involved in.

In the corner, Qi Xiang glanced and saw the item in the box.

It was a teapot, with a rather unique design. It had the shape of a teapot, but the surface was uneven, with patterns resembling tree bark and warts. The spout and handle looked like withered vines, very strange.

Despite the strange design, the teapot had a vibrant and layered color. The body was dark and golden, with a faint purple glow, exuding a precious light.

At first glance, Qi Xiang knew it was a famous teapot, a renowned Yixing purple clay teapot.

As everyone knows, authentic Yixing purple clay teapots are produced in Yixing.

Yixing purple clay teapots have been famous since the Zhengde period of the Ming Dynasty, with a history of over five hundred years. Over the years, many famous teapots have been created by renowned masters, deeply loved by people.

As the saying goes, worldly jewels are not worth much, but Yixing purple clay teapots are truly valuable.

For years, many people have spent a lot of money to acquire a famous teapot. Especially teapots made by renowned masters, which are highly collectible and often hard to come by.

However, Yixing is under the jurisdiction of Wuxi, and as the son of a Wuxi tycoon, it's not surprising that Zhu Shen could buy a famous teapot.

Anyway, Zhu Qiao glanced at the purple clay teapot and immediately sneered, "A broken teapot, and you call it a treasure? Do you think I can't go to the warehouse and get a dozen to throw at you?"

"Ha, blind as a bat." Zhu Shen sneered, "Can your teapots compare to my treasure? This is called a tree knot teapot. Do you know what it is? I bet you don't... ignorant and uneducated!"

Zhu Shen said with disdain, "If you don't know, quickly call someone who does and have them explain it to you."

Zhu Qiao's face darkened like a pot bottom. He suddenly turned and pointed, "You guys, go and take a look. I want to know what's so special about that broken teapot that it's called a treasure!"

"You guys?" Xiaoding was taken aback and secretly cursed. He had hidden in the corner to avoid getting involved, but he was still dragged out.

At this moment, Xiaoding wished he could bury his head in the ground and pretend to be an ostrich, out of sight.

On the contrary, Qi Xiang was quite interested and took the opportunity to walk to the coffee table to carefully examine the purple clay teapot in the box.

Purple clay teapots are famous collectibles, and he was certainly familiar with them. When he lived in Huzhou, he had even taken the time to visit Yixing to study the production process of purple clay teapots.

So he knew that Zhu Shen wasn't lying. The strange-looking purple clay teapot in front of him did have a specific name: the tree knot teapot.

However, such a tree knot teapot had another name that was well-known in the industry: the Gong Chun teapot!

Mentioning purple clay teapots, one cannot ignore a person: Gong Chun.

According to historical records, Gong Chun was the founder of purple clay teapots. It was through his hands that purple clay teapots gained fame and developed, eventually forming the large scale we see today...